The Unexpected Draw
Anxiety, uncertainty—none of it mattered. My mind went completely blank at the result of someone else’s first mock battle. A draw wasn’t entirely impossible, of course. If time ran out without a decisive winner, or if both fighters were ruled defeated simultaneously. Still, that kind of outcome only happened when rookies completely botched their training courses, and even then it was rare—usually not until second-year winter or third year. A draw in the spring of the first year? Unless someone threw the match on purpose, it was unthinkable by any normal standard.
The completely unexpected result left me staring at him with a sour expression, my voice flat with disbelief.
“What happened? Did you fall asleep mid-fight?”
“N-no… I mean, it just sort of… happened?”
Kair’s face twisted like he was being scolded, and he mumbled an excuse, clearly too embarrassed to explain. At this point he couldn’t have run into any particularly strong opponent, so the reason was obvious.
Hesitation.
Those three letters flashed through my mind. Even when adults had assured them it was safe, even when they knew they had to bring their opponent down, a sliver of doubt remained. Could they really swing magic or blades at another person? Unlike me, who had taken that first step fueled by revenge, the students who had joined the mock battle simply for fun couldn’t help but hesitate.
“Unbelievable…”
I understood how they felt, but the frustration still slipped out in a sigh.
“D-don’t worry, next time I’ll be fine!”
“You’d better be.”
Kair looked slightly flustered by my sigh, but he still promised there wouldn’t be any problems next time. I answered with a half-hearted grunt. We still had such a long way to go—if he stumbled here, that would be a real problem. Grow strong, fulfill your role as the protagonist. That’s all I needed.
Once all the matches finished, regardless of year, the students scattered. Those with someone waiting for them headed straight for the carriages without needing to be called. The rest walked toward the academy gates, uniforms or not.
“You heading for a carriage?”
“Yeah. Shelly’s probably here to pick me up.”
I asked Kair as we walked together until our paths diverged outside the arena. He answered casually, mentioning the familiar maid’s name.
Shelly…
That name came up so often. If she was someone the protagonist cared about this much, I should have at least seen her standing illustration, even with all the skipped dialogue. Yet for some reason, I had no memory of her at all. She was the one person in the current timeline I understood the least.
I was still mulling over the strange sense of dissonance surrounding the maid named Shelly when Kair turned to me.
“What about you? Isn’t that armored mercenary coming to get you? The guy… or uncle?”
“Armored guy…? Uncle…? Ah, yeah.”
For a second I didn’t understand, but then it clicked—he was talking about Reina. I let out a short sigh and nodded. Whether by design or not, we’d never spoken in front of him, so he’d naturally assumed she was male.
Reina didn’t have fixed workdays, but if she was up in the morning, she was usually out on mercenary business. She probably wasn’t free enough to come watch an academy event.
While we talked, we reached the edge of the arena grounds. From here our paths split.
“See you next week.”
“Yeah.”
Kair waved and headed toward the carriage square. I turned and walked toward the academy gates on foot.
The closer I got, the fewer students in uniform I saw. Some of the others openly glared at me with obvious resentment—perfectly understandable hostility toward anyone wearing the academy uniform after being used as target practice. I hadn’t personally targeted anyone, but right now, to the students who had just been beaten senseless in the mock battles, every uniform looked the same.
It felt like walking a tightrope. Pretending not to notice the hostile stares, I kept my eyes on the ground and quickened my pace.
Once I passed through the gates and reached a quieter street, a presence suddenly appeared beside me and grabbed my arm and shoulder.
“Where are you rushing off to in such a hurry?”
The familiar voice was gentle, as if she had never intended to hide in the first place. I flinched at the sudden contact, but the tension faded almost immediately.
“Reina? Weren’t you working today?”
“Watching kids fight is the most entertaining thing there is.”
She grinned, dismissing the mock battles as nothing more than children squabbling. She had a point—compared to an A-class mercenary, even the fiercest student matches were just play-fighting.
“Couldn’t miss such an interesting show.”
Even though the atmosphere had been closer to one-sided bullying, Reina still called it entertaining, her hands still resting on me. From her overwhelming position, it probably didn’t feel bad at all. If I were an A-class mercenary myself, I might have felt the same.
Curious how I must have looked from her perspective, I asked,
“How did I do?”
“You? I only got there around the third match…”
Her voice trailed off, and I swallowed nervously. This was an evaluation from someone who could be considered my teacher, after all. But the words that followed weren’t praise or criticism.
“How could I tell anything from just that? I’d need to watch you for a lot longer before I could even think about judging you.”
“Ah… right.”
Her blunt, almost complaining tone made it clear she couldn’t evaluate me yet. She needed to see more matches before she could make any real judgment—especially since matches decided purely by overwhelming power revealed nothing.
I scratched my cheek awkwardly, unsure how to respond, when she suddenly spoke again.
“Still, you did well.”
Her index finger poked my temple lightly. She looked genuinely pleased, even if she wasn’t saying it outright. My victory in a mock battle that was beneath even fighting monsters had earned her approval. It was shameless of me to want praise for something so trivial, but the compliment still made me happy.
“You’re planning to go undefeated until graduation, right?”
I tried to keep my expression neutral, but her next words made my mouth twitch downward. She was asking if I could keep winning all the way through the third-year winter mock battles.
I tilted my head, uncertain.
“Well… they might be pretty strong…”
“What, no confidence? They’re just students. It’s not like it’s a big deal.”
She sounded surprised that I wasn’t more confident. She was right—student matches shouldn’t be a problem for me. If every fight stayed at today’s level, going undefeated through my entire academy life would be easy.
But that’s not how it works…
The real issue was the third-year winter mock battle. The forty-eighth and final match featured an unknown student as the protagonist’s opponent. No information, full-face mask, identity completely hidden—even the name was unknown. That person appeared out of nowhere and crushed the player with overwhelming skill, turning the final match into a loss. No matter how skilled the player, that single defeat was what turned a perfect 48-0 record into 47 wins and 1 loss. The character had left such a strong impression that they ranked second in popularity polls.
Keeping that existence in mind, I spoke to Reina in a tone that suggested she shouldn’t expect too much.
“You never know. There might be someone incredibly strong hiding their power…”
“Pfft, as if.”
She laughed it off like it was a joke. That “as if” is what beats people to death, I thought. She brushed off my near-prophetic warning and let go of me, walking ahead.
“Let’s stop somewhere on the way.”
“Okay.”
My feet, which had been heading straight home, changed direction at her casual suggestion. I followed behind her without knowing where we were going.
…Huh.
The place we arrived at was a weapon shop that sold only weapons—no armor. Reina walked in without hesitation, and I hurried after her. By the time I stepped inside, she was already holding a sheathed one-handed sword in both hands.
This was the continuation of the weapon conversation we’d had before. With an easy smile, she held it out to me.
“Here. A gift for your entrance ceremony… and your first mock battle.”
I took the sword, gripping the hilt and scabbard separately. The weight and the way it fit my hand felt like it had been made for me. I hadn’t even considered other weapons—something I liked had appeared so suddenly.
Unable to hide my joy, I smiled and thanked her sincerely.
“Thank you.”
“Yeah. Take good care of it.”
Reina’s faint smile looked especially bright today.