The Bite of Victory

"The match begins!"

The instant the match started, Egir opened a subspace and pulled out three skeletons.

Camibarez curled her right hand into the shape of a pistol and took aim at him. It was the stance for Blood Bullet.

"I'm sorry!"

Even as she attacked, she apologized to her opponent.

A magic circle the red of fresh blood unfurled at the tip of her index finger, and with a recoil, the Blood Bullet shot forth.

"Right. Egir has one other important trait."

Dick said.

Just before Camibarez's exploding Blood Bullet struck Egir, his skeletons moved to block it.

BOOOOM!

A scarlet explosion erupted and blanketed the area. Camibarez hunched her shoulders and stared hard into the smoke.

No damage at all.

Before long the smoke cleared, revealing three skeletons each hoisting a massive golden shield.

"Egir is a filthy rich guy."

Dick said, sweeping his bangs back.

"He's got skeletons carrying shields that cost hundreds of gold apiece. And his summons aren't just any skeletons, either — they're Vanilla Brand 'Snowfield' models."

"Hey! That's a hugely important trait, you know!"

"Obviously I passed that info along to Cami too."

After guarding against the ranged attacks with his expensive skeletons and shields, this time it was Egir who launched Jet-Black Arrows into the air and sent them flying.

"Waaah! Aaah!"

Camibarez scampered this way and that, dodging the attacks.

In that moment, everyone watching the match — young and old, men and women alike — thought exactly the same thing.

...She's adorable.

Why is that so cute?

She didn't get hit, but dodging the last Jet-Black Arrow, Camibarez fell over on the spot with a face on the verge of tears.

Her opponent, Egir, changed his approach.

Her movement is better than it looks. I won't catch her with Jet-Black Arrows.

Egir withdrew the arrows and drew a new magic circle on his palm.

Seeing it, Dick's eyes went wide.

"He's prepping a curse! Cami! Do something, anything!"

Camibarez clenched her teeth and fired off a Blood Bullet from a kneeling stance.

But no matter how explosive the Blood Bullet was, it was still a simple straight-line attack, and the golden-shielded skeletons blocked it flat.

At this rate, the curse would finish casting.

In the end, she too halted her assault and began spreading a new magic circle of her own.

With a suffocating tension hanging over the arena, Camibarez and Egir both readied their circles, the match sliding into a spell-casting duel.

The first to complete her dark magic was Camibarez. From her fingertips, a carpet woven of blood billowed upward.

"Ugh, that's a blunder! What's she planning with an attack spell that has no offensive power?"

As Dick muttered, scratching his head furiously, Meilin gave an indignant snort.

"If you can't read the match, then just sit back and trust her, you idiot."

Camibarez pulled three potions from her subspace — ones she had brewed herself. Blood Silk wrapped around the potion bottles and darted toward Egir.

Something's coming.

Egir immediately sent his skeletons charging, swords swinging.

Whish!

Whooong!

But apparently he wasn't an aspiring Summoning student for nothing — his control was clumsy.

With those flailing body movements, there was no way he could pin down Camibarez's spell, which slipped past like a loach.

Just a little more!

The instant Blood Silk drew within arm's reach, Egir barely managed to complete his own curse.

From his magic circle, a curse shaped like a black lightning bolt shot out.

Camibarez, mid-control of her Blood Silk, couldn't dodge it, and the curse struck her dead-on.

But she kept controlling the Blood Silk right to the end.

The carpet of blood spread wide open — and shattered the potions against Egir's body.

Crash!

The two things happened almost simultaneously.

"...!"

Egir, drenched head to toe in the potion, tried to move his arm, but the sensation in his body had plunged to almost nothing.

You've got to be kidding — the thing Camibarez prepared was a Paralysis Potion too?!

Egir frowned, clearly put in a bind, while Camibarez, panting for breath, had her legs shaking like leaves.

Both of them were paralyzed.

Curse and potion. Naturally, the potion will wear off first. And more than anything...

Sensing victory, Egir extended his right arm.

My side still has skeletons left!

Egir connected to his skeletons' consciousness and issued the attack command. At the same time, his left hand began prepping his next Remake Paralyze.

And Camibarez's judgment, in response, was—

...One stack of paralysis is still fine. I can move.

A charge.

She started running, dragging her paralyzed body along.

Egir's skeletons swung their swords to stop her, but Camibarez either ducked low to slip past them or simply tanked the unavoidable hits with her own body, running on without pause.

A melee rush? Seriously?

Egir hastily aborted his curse and lofted Jet-Black Arrows into the air.

Camibarez shielded her head with both arms and charged with dogged ferocity. The arrows raked across her body as they passed.

She took all of that with her own body just to close the distance?

Feeling the gravity of the situation, Egir hurriedly gathered Jet-Black into his fist.

He'd studied Magic Combat at least at an average level, and he was confident he wouldn't lose to that tiny girl in a straight fight.

Besides, they were both paralyzed.

"AAAAH!"

But the moment Camibarez closed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in right in front of him, Egir realized something had gone very wrong.

Her two pupils were slit vertically, like the eyes of a wild beast.

Chomp!

Leaping with both arms spread wide, Camibarez clamped herself flush against Egir's body. He staggered and toppled to the ground.

"Wh-what are you doing?!"

The flustered Egir flushed red, and Camibarez opened her mouth wide. Her canines glinted, radiating a sharp killing intent.

Chomp!

And then she bit down on the nape of his neck. Of course, the protective suit's barrier applied there too, so it didn't hurt.

She tried everything and it comes down to... biting?

Egir, utterly baffled, tried to push her head away. But she clung to him like a leech and wouldn't come off.

"Ugh, hey! What do you think you're doing in a sacred Duel Evaluation— huh?"

The gauge was dropping just from her biting and gnawing!

Only then grasping the situation, Egir wreathed his fist in Jet-Black and hammered away at her head. But a bluish barrier covered her side as well — all his blows did was shave his own gauge, dealing no damage.

...This is insane!

The gauges were draining at a mad, accelerating pace. The force of her bite was no joke.

Panicking, Egir tried desperately to strike her off of him, but she absolutely refused to let go.

"What the hell is this?! Get off me!"

Compounded by the paralysis and his collapsed posture, no strength would flow into his punches.

The losses on the gauge kept accelerating, and at last—

"Match over!"

The referee shouted. The final results were in.

Everyone's mouths hung open at the totally unforeseen turn.

...I l-lost.

Egir's face was blank with shock.

He'd been certain of victory the moment they were both paralyzed. Never had he imagined a single charge would punch through him this easily.

In the end, it was my own carelessness. I underestimated her.

Just as Egir was sighing inwardly, Camibarez, who'd been latched onto his neck, gingerly peeled herself away.

Come to think of it, I just got bitten by a vampire, didn't I?

A chill crawled up his spine as he looked at her. At some point, she ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had gone red to the tips of her ears and was on the verge of blubbering.

"I'm sorry!"

She shouted, bowing her head deep.

"I'm really sorry! I just got so swept up in wanting to win that I...! Are you hurt anywhere?"

"Uh, no, not really."

"Waaah! I'm so sorry!"

"No, it was a perfectly legitimate Duel Evaluation — what's there to apologize for? That was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a genuinely great call."

Suddenly it became the loser, Egir, consoling the winner, Camibarez. Scattered chuckles popped up around the stands at the sight.

Watching her sniffle as she fussed over checking him for injuries, Egir suddenly felt his heart lift off the ground.

...Whoa. So Kizen had a girl this cute all along?

Some time later, Camibarez had calmed down, and the two of them rose to their feet. The groundskeepers were mopping the floor, preparing the next match.

M-maybe I could strike up a little conversation?

Egir, wanting to get to know her, sidled casually closer to Camibarez.

"Cami! You okay?"

Just then, a male student's voice rang out from the stands. The girl, who'd been burying her face in her palms from embarrassment, whipped her head toward the sound and quickly waved her hand.

"Yes! Simon! I wooooon~!"

She hopped up and down, smiling like sunshine. Then, belatedly turning back to Egir, she froze and bowed her head with an apologetic look.

"Oh! I'm sorry! I didn't even notice you were standing there! I'm so sorry!"

Egir nodded readily, saying it was nothing. Inside, however, he was shedding tears.

...Sniff. It was brief, but I loved you.

Meanwhile, the stands were buzzing with talk of Camibarez.

"BWAAAHAHA! Incredible! The only person in Kizen who could win like that is Cami!"

Dick roared with laughter.

Simon added his own take.

"When she got paralyzed, that decision to charge in while tanking every attack with her body was remarkable."

"Mm, I'll grant you that! Come to think of it, the paralysis was a setup move for that all along, huh."

"Our Cami delivers when it counts!"

Just then, Camibarez herself climbed up into the stands, her face practically glowing with relief.

"Everyoneee~!"

At the sight of her bounding up toward them, everyone rose from their seats to welcome her.

"Great job, Cami!"

Meilin threw her arms around Camibarez and squeezed.

"Mmm, so small and precious~!"

"M-Meilin! I can't breathe!"

Simon and Dick crowded in too, laughing and chattering, patting Camibarez's head and offering their congratulations.

And just like that, every single member of Group 7 had claimed a crucial first victory in the Duel Evaluations.

All four of them would now begin their Duel Evaluations in the intermediate squads.

Tomorrow, a happy weekend awaited.

They'd been running flat-out with hardly a moment to rest, so Simon was planning to take it easy this weekend for once — maybe amble over to the necromancer shops in Rochest for some leisurely window-shopping...

"Nope. No rest for you."

Meilin said flatly.

"Midterms are at the end of next week. You do remember that?"

"Wh... what?"

When he snapped back to his senses, only about a week was left before midterms.

Simon, who'd been preoccupied solely with the Duel Evaluations, felt like he'd been smacked across the head. What was more, this midterm came with the mission he'd so confidently declared to Meilin — beating her Summoning grade.

This is no time to relax.

Simon realized his feet were on fire. The moment he returned to the dormitory, he clamped a textbook under his arm and headed straight for the study room.

...Whoa.

Apparently everyone else had reached the same conclusion.

Even though tomorrow was the weekend and it was the night the Duel Evaluations had ended, the spacious dormitory study room was packed full of students. They were all studying without so much as breathing, the silence around him cold enough to sting.

Feeling the same brush of crisis, Simon quickly grabbed the one remaining open seat and sat down.

I'm reasonably confident in Summoning. Today, let's shore up my weak subjects.

He spread open his Jet-Black Mechanics textbook and began to study.

And about ten minutes later—

...W-we definitely learned this in class? Then why don't I understand a single word?

It was nothing like the summoning magic training he'd been doing all along. Studying alone, the limits were painfully clear.

He needed some kind of plan.

The next morning.

"Haaahm."

Meilin, still in her pajamas with a toothbrush hanging out of her mouth, shuffled groggily down the corridor.

...These roommates of mine. An hour to take a shower? Really.

It was obvious. Midterms or not, she was off to Rochest again to meet some guy.

Meilin was grumbling under her breath on her way to the communal bathhouse when—

"Student Meilin!"

A dormitory keeper she knew well came running up to her. Meilin stopped and turned around.

"There's a male student waiting for you at the front entrance of the dormitory!"

"Y-yes? At this hour of the morning, who?"

"I didn't catch his name, but he was a cute-looking boy. He says he'll wait by the entrance until you come out."

The dormitory keeper winked as she passed by. Meilin made a face like she'd just gagged.

...Come on. I only know two boys well enough to come find me like this.

The communal bathhouse suddenly felt impossibly far away.

Meilin sprinted back the way she'd come and returned to her room. The bathroom door was still firmly shut. She kicked it with all her might and yelled through it.

"Enough already, come OUT, you brat! I need to poop!"

"KYAAAA!"

Having forcibly evicted her roommate, Meilin threw together a look that was equal parts effort and non-effort in the bathroom, then threw on just the outer jacket of her Kizen uniform over her shoulder and bolted outside.

A short while later.

...Meilin wore a smile of pure disbelief.

"That 'cute-looking boy'... is you?"

Simon scratched the side of his head.

"Who said that?"