The Inter-Class Competition
Bang! Pa-ba-bang! Bursts of multicolored smoke exploded across the sky in brilliant streaks. At last, the inter-class competition that nearly every student had been eagerly awaiting had officially begun.
I lounged casually among the crowd, letting the headmaster’s long-winded speech drift over me like background noise.
Once the headmaster stepped down from the stage, a second-year professor took his place as the event’s official emcee. After reciting the rules and safety guidelines, he led everyone through warm-up exercises before finally declaring the competition open.
The crowd erupted.
The first event was the individual sprint. It went by grade level, so I jogged at a lazy pace—just fast enough to avoid dead last—then returned to my seat. The events continued in that relaxed fashion until the fetch race, where something interesting finally happened.
“Ah!”
“What is this?”
The class representatives had been sent out for this one. Deborah and Alissa both stared down at the slip of paper, reacted in their own ways, and shot quick glances in my direction. After a brief moment of hesitation, they moved at the same time and stopped right in front of me. The two girls became aware of each other, then spoke simultaneously.
“Luan, come with me!”
“Hey. Follow me.”
The surrounding students let out a wave of intrigued murmurs.
I frowned. “What? Why do I have to go?”
“Yes! It’s absolutely necessary!” Deborah insisted.
“…And you?” I asked, turning to Alissa.
She flinched like she wanted to bolt from the spot, but forced herself to answer anyway. “There’s no rule against getting help from another class, is there?”
“So you need my help?”
“I don’t need it!”
“Then what the hell do you want from me…?”
She needed my help but hated the idea of actually receiving it. What a selfish woman. I let out a hollow laugh at the absurdity, then made my choice. Obviously, I picked Deborah. I took the hand she offered.
“Let’s go.”
“Ah, y-yes!”
Deborah gave Alissa one last sidelong look before practically dragging me toward the judging area. I matched her pace and glanced back. Alissa clenched her fist, clicked her tongue in irritation, and hurled the crumpled note to the ground before storming back to Class 6’s seating.
After the fetch race ended, I returned to the same spot. The note was still lying there. Pretending to retie my shoelace, I carefully peeked at it.
Bring the person you want to reconcile with.
……
I had expected something negative—maybe a person she hated or wanted to avoid—but it was the complete opposite.
Reconcile, huh…
What could have caused such a change in Alissa’s feelings? Could it be that she had reflected on something during her argument with Deborah last time? I couldn’t be sure, but the important thing was that her twisted anger and hatred seemed to have diluted, even if only a little. Whether that was a good thing or not, I still didn’t know.
I folded the note carefully and slipped it into my pocket before returning to my seat.
The emcee’s voice rang out again. “Next up is the girls’ magic dodgeball! All participants, please come to the center of the field!”
Almost before the words finished, five girls including Deborah dashed out. The rest of us waved cheer sticks and shouted encouragement.
“You got this, girls!”
“Fight!”
Their opponent was Class 1—the class where my ex-fiancée, Scadia, belonged. That fact alone made the surrounding area buzz with noise.
“Think there’s gonna be a fight?”
“I mean, it’s the ex and the current girlfriend.”
“Nah, they probably moved on. Scadia and Luan don’t have feelings for each other anymore, right?”
“It’s not that simple, you know. This is why virgins don’t get it.”
“What? You wanna say that again?”
It looked like a brawl might break out among the spectators before Scadia and Deborah even faced off. I ignored the nonsense and focused on the field.
Who’s going to win this?
Deborah had recently reached the 5th circle after an epiphany, so their overall power was roughly even. Besides, magic dodgeball ultimately came down to hitting your target, so raw magical ability wasn’t the only factor. It was hard to predict.
While I was thinking, the match began.
“Fireball!”
With a thunderous roar, one of the girls gathered her mana and hurled a flame-wrapped ball. Despite the impressive power, its speed was mediocre. Rugia, whose reflexes had been honed by countless sessions of self-training, caught it easily.
“Heh! Try doing some physical training once in a while!”
She shouted confidently and threw the ball back wrapped in a swirling current of water. The spinning liquid on its surface made it incredibly difficult to catch. If you didn’t grab it perfectly on the first try, it would slip right through your fingers.
Just before the seemingly delicate girl from Class 1 was about to get hit, Scadia stepped in front.
“Freeze.”
With a simple chant, ice crystals bloomed from her hand and instantly froze the ball solid. Scadia caught it effortlessly, poured a massive amount of mana into it, and fired it back.
The explosion was deafening.
“Kyaaa!”
The first elimination came immediately. Rugia had tried to catch it, but the burst of cold that erupted on contact sent her flying. Thankfully the protective magic prevented any real injuries. As she left the field, she shouted back.
“Deborah! I’m counting on you!”
“Got it! Leave it to me!”
Deborah took the ball with a serious expression and threw it. Her physical abilities weren’t exceptional, so the speed was nothing special, but she had a very powerful weapon at her disposal.
“W-wait, which one is real?”
“Does anyone know?”
Thanks to her illusion magic, the ball instantly split into three. Worse, they kept swapping positions, forcing the Class 1 students to constantly re-evaluate. In the end, they couldn’t handle the illusions and were eliminated one by one.
From that point on, the match belonged completely to those two. Eventually every other player was eliminated, leaving a one-on-one showdown.
Scadia caught the ball and declared, “This next one ends it.”
“Haa… haa! Bring it on!” Deborah panted, clearly exhausted.
Scadia stared at her, then poured mana into the ball. Rippling blue energy rose like mist, generating intense cold. Sharp icicles formed over the ball’s surface. At the same time, she released it.
“Try blocking this with that mana of yours.”
The ball shot forward with a sharp whistle and exploded on contact.
“Kyaaaah!”
The moment it touched Deborah’s hands, the condensed cold burst apart, sending razor-sharp ice shards flying in every direction. It worked like a magical grenade. Deborah, whose mana was already depleted from the prolonged fight, couldn’t endure it and tumbled across the ground.
The Class 3 girls rushed over.
“Deborah! Are you okay?”
“Ugh… I-I’m fine. No injuries—huh?”
While trying to reassure everyone, Deborah suddenly let out a confused sound. I looked at her eyes and sighed.
“Ah… damn it.”
They sparkled with a brilliant, star-like glow. Those cosmic purple eyes were blinking in plain view. The lens had come off. The protective magic prevented direct damage but couldn’t completely absorb the impact, so the rolling had dislodged it.
She stared at Rugia, who was closest and looking at her with concern, then quickly lowered her head. Fortunately she found the lens right away, but Deborah’s face remained stiff with tension. After the match ended and she returned to our group, she sent me a discreet telepathic message.
-Luan. Can you follow me for a moment? I need to talk to you.
She told Sara she was going to the restroom and left. I sighed and approached Sara.
“Professor. I need to use the restroom too.”
“…You too?”
“Yes.”
“…Go ahead.”
“Thank you.”
Except for the first time we met, Sara had never once made eye contact with me. I smiled bitterly and turned away. Behind me, my classmates were joking about comforting Deborah well and not staying away too long, but I didn’t respond.
A short while later, we reached a secluded path. Deborah spoke first.
“Luan, you saw it just now, right?”
“You’re the one who saw it, not me. What future did you see?”
“…There’s a bomb planted in the academy.”
“What? A bomb?”
“Yes. It’s going to explode at sunset.”
So that’s why the mood had been so heavy. She must have seen Rugia caught in the explosion. Anyone would be shocked after watching a friend who cared about them die in an unexpected accident.
“Give me more details. How exactly does the bomb go off?”
“Well… a magic circle suddenly appeared in the sky, then explosions went off across every section of the academy. At the end… I don’t know. There was a flash of light and my entire vision turned white.”
“Hmm… so it’s not just one bomb. This is bad.”
Multiple bombs meant that even if we found some, we couldn’t relax. But stopping the entire sports festival would require revealing Deborah’s foresight, and I doubted people would believe it easily. Of course, if we could just stop the magic circle from activating, the problem would be solved—but if it were that easy, I wouldn’t be worried.
“Who would do something like this? Why plant bombs in the first place…?”
“It has to be the Dark Cult. Who else would it be?”
I had already lost count of how many times those bastards had pulled stunts at the academy since the start of the school year. If it was them, they had more than enough motive.
Deborah trembled with rage. “I can’t forgive them. We have to stop this no matter what!”
“We do. But the two of us alone aren’t enough.”
“That’s true, but…”
“So here’s my idea. Are you willing to reveal your foresight?”
“Huh?”
“I don’t mean to everyone. I can meet Isis directly. If we tell only her, she can mobilize the entire student council.”
The student council held considerable influence. With Regina the imperial princess also present, they could even command the knight order dispatched for her protection.
Deborah nodded. “If that’s the case, then yes. Shall we go right now?”
“Yeah. Let’s go.”
We left the path and headed for the operations tent where the student council was waiting. Student council enforcers blocked the entrance. Standing at the front was Oscar Caldrick, the Class 5 representative who had played a supporting role before.
“Halt! What business do you have here?”
“We’re here to see the student council president.”
“Do you have an appointment?”
“No. But it’s an urgent matter. You know me, right? I’m Luan Priulri.”
“I’m sorry, but without an appointment you cannot meet her.”
Oscar Caldrick maintained an impenetrable attitude. As expected, this rigid guy couldn’t be persuaded with words alone. Annoyed, I simply shouted.
“Sister!! It’s me, Luan! I have something important to say!”
“You must not cause a disturbance!”
“Stand back!”
The other enforcers were acting like imperial knights guarding the emperor himself. Not long after my shout, the tent flap opened and Isis appeared.
“Luan? What brings you here?”
“Ah, Sister. An urgent problem has come up. Can we talk for a moment?”
“Of course! Come inside. The rest of you, please wait outside!”
“Isis. Surely that doesn’t include me?”
“Yes. You too, Lady Regina.”
Isis ushered the officers out without even asking for details. When she tried to send Regina away as well, I spoke up.
“One moment, Sister. Let’s have Lady Regina hear this too.”
“…If you say so. All right, Lady Regina, please come in as well.”
Inside the operations tent, only four of us remained: me, Deborah, Isis, and Regina. Isis glanced at Deborah and asked.
“Who is this friend of yours?”
“Ah, this is Deborah, the representative of our class.”
“Class… representative?”
“Yes. This matter actually concerns her.”
“I… I see.”
The brightness that had filled Isis’s face when she saw me darkened strangely. She looked back and forth between us with oddly anxious eyes, then dropped a bombshell.
“Are you… pregnant?”
“…Excuse me?”
“Eh? Ehhh?”
Both Deborah and I let out dumbfounded noises at the completely unexpected question.
What kind of nonsense is this?