Chapter 334
Chapter 334
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 334
Chapter Title: A Midwinter Night (5)
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Shirone squeezed Amy’s hand tightly.
“Amy, you’re strong. Stronger than anyone I know. You’ll definitely find a solution. You always have.”
Amy turned to look at Shirone’s face. The moment their eyes met, it felt as if electricity coursed through her body.
The moonlit scenery, the sounds carrying through the walls, the touch of Shirone’s hand—it all made her heart pound.
As if the moments just before, when even a glance made her shudder, had been a lie, a fiery courage welled up in both their hearts.
‘Shirone…’
Amy had to make a choice.
She had been given another year, a year that would be like hell all over again.
Having already experienced defeat once, all she needed to focus on was the mastery of her magic.
But this was the first time in her life she had ever wanted to rely on, to lean on someone so much.
She had neither the strength nor the confidence to overcome this alone.
Even in this moment of silence, Shirone was looking at her with an unwavering gaze.
She had to cross a point of no return.
If she looked away now, Shirone would surely leave her side.
To not lose Shirone, she had to accept.
Amy thought she had steeled her resolve. But at the same time, a new wave of hesitation washed over her.
A selfish thought.
Was it greedy to wish he would stay by her side as he always had, even if she chose nothing, even if she acted coldly indifferent?
‘Just one year… Can’t you give me just one more year? Can’t you stay just like this until then, so I can make a decision carefully?’
Amy slowly pulled her hand away. It was a hand she never could have withdrawn had she thought he would be disappointed.
A self-mocking sneer rose in Amy’s heart.
‘What? You steeled your resolve? Liar.’
In truth, she knew.
She knew Shirone would wait for her.
She couldn't help it, even if he called her selfish. She couldn't give up on the graduation exam, nor could she give up on Shirone.
“Thank you, Shirone. I’m glad you’re here.”
After saying the words, Amy wanted to hide somewhere.
To think that after so much deliberation, such a half-hearted answer was all she could muster.
But Shirone, just as she had hoped, gave her a gentle smile.
“The same goes for me. Let’s work hard.”
Shirone gave her shoulder a firm squeeze, then returned to his spot and laid his sleeping bag on the floor.
Amy felt a sense of relief. It was as if she had returned to a past where the events of a moment ago had never happened.
But the look in Shirone’s Red Eyes from before was a stark reminder that it was, in fact, reality.
How long would he wait for her?
Contempt for herself and a sense of apology toward Shirone tangled together within her eyes.
* * *
It was past midnight.
Jocre and his friends were good and drunk.
Still not satisfied, they bought a large bottle of liquor and some snacks from a shop and settled in an open area near the castle walls.
Jocre uncorked a bottle of strong whiskey and poured it into the glasses set before Rudvance and Vivian.
Finally, he filled his own glass to the brim and, without so much as a toast, gulped down the liquor.
“Kuh, this is strong stuff. What are you doing? Not drinking?”
Rudvance asked worriedly.
“Aren’t you drinking too much? What about tomorrow?”
“Tch, if I have a hangover, I’ll just hole up in my room.”
Vivian, who had wet her lips with her drink, looked up at the night sky.
“Hah, graduating isn’t all that great after all. I thought I’d have a ton of fun after we were done. But no guys are hitting on me.”
Jocre pointed at himself with his thumb.
“We’re guys, aren't we?”
“Oh, please. You gonna hit on me with that face?”
“Haha! Vivian, you’re not exactly a beauty yourself.”
Rudvance agreed.
“Yeah, to be called pretty, you’d have to be at least on that Amy’s level.”
Jocre’s face crumpled into a scowl.
“Damn it! I remembered again! How dare they ignore us? When they haven’t even graduated yet!”
“But hey, did something happen between you and Amy? You didn’t have to chase them all the way to the skating rink. It’s that kind of petty stuff that makes them look down on us.”
At that, Vivian also waited for an answer, looking curious.
Jocre had certainly been more agitated than usual at the skating rink.
He had planned to take the story of what happened when he was thirteen to his grave. But with alcohol in his system, his lips were itching to talk.
In truth, it was nothing to others, but for him, it was an unbearable humiliation.
“Right before I transferred to Ains, I confessed to Amy.”
At the unexpected words, Vivian made a fuss.
“Oh my, really? So? What happened?”
“She said no.”
“N-No?”
“Yeah! She said she didn't like me! Not ‘thanks for your feelings, but,’ not ‘you’re a nice guy, but.’ It wasn’t even a lie like ‘I like someone else’! She just said she didn’t like me!”
“Wow, that’s so mean!”
“How arrogant.”
Vivian and Rudvance each threw in a comment.
Jocre recalled that time, his fists trembling.
“You know what’s the most infuriating part? That I actually replied, ‘Okay, I’m sorry.’ I’ll never forget the humiliation of that moment.”
Vivian clicked her tongue.
“Anyway, those pretty-faced types are all self-centered. Hey, hey! It’s for the better. Who cares about a girl like that? We became mages. Jocre! You won! Here, here! Drink up.”
Jocre downed the drink Vivian poured for him in one go. His throat felt like it was on fire, and a blaze erupted in his stomach.
But he felt okay. It seemed his friends were the only ones he could rely on after all.
Who cared if their school wasn’t prestigious?
He had met people he could connect with, so he had no regrets.
Using Jocre’s miserable past as a side dish, the group passed the glasses around again and again.
Soon, the world began to spin.
The winter wind howled as it swept across the snowy fields.
Before long, no one was speaking.
They all knew that no matter what words of comfort were offered, the truth would not change.
Jocre could not win against Amy.
Vivian leaned back, propping herself up with her hands. Her eyes, gazing at the sky, were already glazed over.
A hot breath escaped her lips.
“Well, that’s just how it is. Alpheas Magic Academy is one of the kingdom’s top five, so just by graduating, you can get a job at an official institution, at the very least.”
Jocre and Rudvance silently agreed.
Just because you became a mage didn’t mean everyone found a job under the same conditions. While aristocratic rank and connections couldn’t be ignored, it was a merit-based society, so treatment varied drastically depending on one’s background.
Anyone working in the magical society knew there was a difference in competitiveness between prestigious and regular schools.
So, it was only natural that the treatment was different.
Rudvance said.
“Anyway, we graduated from a magic academy and became mages. That’s amazing in itself. The world is full of so-called mages who just run around after learning a single spell without even graduating from a school.”
Whether one graduated from a school or joined a guild, the license issued was unofficial, so there wasn’t much of a difference.
The reason students were so obsessed with schools was to get a single line—the name of the school—engraved in the background section of their license.
In fact, mages with a guild’s name on their license were of such a low level that Jocre’s group could easily make a mockery of them.
But that fact was no comfort.
Above the school graduates were the prestigious school graduates. And their ultimate goal was the official mage license.
Guild mages were treated as professionals since they earned money with magic, but the line the kingdom drew for recognizing someone as a mage was whether or not they had acquired an official license.
But an official mage license wasn't something anyone could get.
Not only was the competition for one of the kingdom’s five great exams fierce, but all the skilled mages from across the country gathered for it.
Enroll in a prestigious magic academy, get promoted every year, pass the graduation exam, take the official mage exam, and pass. One had to follow this course to be treated as an elite in the magical society.
So, Jocre’s group, who were on a different starting line, couldn’t just laugh and say they were better than mere guild mages.
Jocre lifted the bottle to his lips and chugged, shouting.
“Damn it! Who cares if others get their licenses from a guild or whatever. We’re all mages once we get a job. And our boss will probably be a prestigious school graduate. Look at Dante. He was crushing professional mages even when he was at the Royal Magic Academy.”
“But isn’t that just a gossip piece from an academic journal?”
Jocre’s words started to slur.
“Who cares. It’s all the same anyway. We have to compete on our résumés with the kids from the kingdom’s top five schools. Do you think any major association will hire us? Plus, we’re not top-tier nobles. We’ll end up as some other guy’s lackey, become a Grade 9, work like dogs to become a Grade 8, and after about ten years of that? The prestigious school graduates will all be Grade 6, sitting in management positions.”
Though it was drunken rambling, it wasn’t a lie. Vivian, finally accepting reality, nodded.
“True. And it doesn’t even end with a prestigious school. The ones who graduate at the top of their class there reach Grade 6 in two or three years. What are we supposed to do?”
Jocre repeatedly jabbed his finger as he spoke.
“You know what’s even more annoying? Those geniuses end up becoming teachers and getting assigned to prestigious schools. It’s a succession of talent. Genius teachers teach, so geniuses come to learn. In short, we can’t even dream of breaking into that circle.”
Jocre’s words were becoming slightly exaggerated, but they weren't entirely wrong.
Of course, there were those from regular schools who had risen to the highest positions in the magical society.
But such outliers lost their meaning in the face of the magic of averages.
Graduates from regular schools were less skilled than those from prestigious schools.
This was the only established theory the world recognized.
The pessimistic stories spilling from the mouths of Jocre and his friends lingered around the drinking spot, refusing to be carried away by the wind.
During their school days, they thought that as long as they became mages, nothing else mattered. But now that they were mages, that desperate feeling vanished like a mirage, replaced by new worries.
Vivian, who had been staring at the stars, voiced a sudden thought.
“Have you guys ever had a thought like this? That maybe this world is like a play. We’re living our lives, and someone is watching us.”
Jocre and Rudvance turned to look at Vivian.
“If that’s the case, I’m definitely not the main character. The audience would never wish for my success. They probably wouldn’t even care. They might be thinking, ‘Just get off the stage already,’ or maybe even, ‘I wish you’d just die.’”
Jocre looked at Vivian with pity.
She had always been a sensitive friend. But what was truly heartbreaking was the fact that her current words weren't just born from drunkenness.
Perhaps what she was saying was the truth.
“Why are you worrying about something like that? Life isn’t a play. Nobody knows. And no one thinks of you so carelessly.”
“But it’s true, isn’t it? Shirone, Dante, Amy. Do you think kids like them know how much we wanted to be like them? They probably don’t. They just hang out with each other. Maybe there was never a place for us to begin with. Like extras in a play.”
The atmosphere of the gathering became extremely gloomy.
Jocre, in particular, couldn’t stand how pathetic he was for not being able to refute Vivian’s words.
“Damn it! What is this! This is a graduation trip! We passed! We became mages! We’re the ones who won! We just had the bad luck of running into those annoying bastards!”
Jocre stuck the mouth of the bottle in his lips and chugged. The strong liquor flowed down his throat without leaving a drop.