Alright. Let's Give It a Try.
Alright. Let's Give It a Try.
"...You want to be the representative?"
Violet asked, her expression openly bewildered. Plan met her violet eyes without the slightest hesitation and answered flatly.
"Yes."
Staring into those utterly unwavering red eyes, Violet found herself sinking into thought.
Plan.
His skill level was roughly on par with the average A-grade student.
...No, in truth, she didn't know.
Violet remembered Plan's answers from the written test with perfect clarity.
[ Question 1. ]
Assuming you forge using the materials provided in the example, describe the supreme choice as you see it.
[ Example ]
Select two pure elements, one support type, one harmonization type.
[ Answer ]
Do not forge.
At a glance, combining different pure elements is all too easily mistaken for standard forging. In truth, it borders on a trap.
A single pure element, used with one wand, is the only correct path. If you push one element to the level of 'ultimate principle' by dedicating support to it, no combination can possibly surpass it in the first place....
Plan was the sole student who submitted the answer "Do not forge." And the content itself was beyond reproach—that went without saying.
—Doesn't that mean he endured for three minutes?
Sepia's remark suddenly swirled back through her mind. At the time, Violet had dismissed it as a misperception, but now, recalling it, her impression changed.
'Come to think of it, he's always been self-assured.'
During the test that assigned him an A-grade, during the mock combat with scrolls, when he announced during the exploration assessment that he wouldn't use scrolls, and now, this very moment...
He had never once lost his confidence. Violet realized it only then.
Conviction, innovation, challenge.
Everything she pursued as the ideal disposition of a mage—this student possessed it all.
She should not view Plan's attitude unfavorably. If his actions were grounded, then they deserved active encouragement.
'A spell manifestation faster than Flash, is it?'
But believing there was such ground was exceedingly difficult.
Ivan was known as a supernova even among first-years in the Knight Department. Her Inherent Ability was Flash.
A spell manifestation that outpaced a sword streaking toward its target like a ray of light—and moreover, he claimed he'd subdue her with that single strike.
Violet unwittingly murmured to herself.
"...That would be near impossible."
And then—
"I think it's a sound idea."
The voice belonged to Louis.
Every head turned toward him. His expression was equally dead serious.
Violet asked again.
"A sound idea?"
"Yes. If we can't demonstrate magic that surpasses an Inherent Ability, then the entire match will end up underlining nothing but magic's inferiority."
Louis continued with the same composed look.
"Even if it fails, I think raising our own bar is the better choice—just as Plan said. I want to take a bigger shot at it."
Right after hearing those words, Violet asked herself:
Had she, perhaps, been the one who failed to trust the students from the very start?
Deciding by herself that this was their limit, setting the ceiling, crafting a strategy around that ceiling, moving according to that strategy....
In the end, had all these struggles been because she hadn't trusted the students? She couldn't answer her own question easily.
At last, Violet carefully parted her lips.
"And what do the rest of you think?"
Trixie and Violet's eyes met across the space. Trixie averted her gaze slightly and opened her mouth.
"Not bad."
A brief silence settled. Trixie added one more word.
"Plan's opinion, I mean."
The students simply watched Violet in silence, lips sealed. The professor let out a sigh and spoke.
As that wall poster once declared, age means nothing to a mage.
If a mage wishes to change something, cheering him on is a hundred times the right choice. Joining him is a thousand times the right choice.
And achieving it—that would be ten thousand times the right choice.
So.
"Very well. Let's give it a try."
Violet had, in the end, boarded the boat.
Whether it would become a pirate ship or a shipwreck, she didn't yet know.
◈
The Magic Tower's eleventh floor.
We were waiting our turn in a lounge inside the tower. The exam took place on the twelfth floor, and only three people could ascend at a time.
"Whoa.... Even the Magic Tower's waiting room has facilities this nice."
"Come stand over here. You can see the whole academy view."
The students touring the lounge were all sparkling-eyed. Never having laid eyes on facilities like these, they couldn't stop exclaiming in admiration.
"They say the Magic Tower is a building ahead of its time—and that's exactly right."
A girl student murmured that.
Ahead of its time?
If I showed this building to anyone from my old world, a hundred out of a hundred wouldn't even guess it was a magic tower. It's that shabby.
Rest is medicine for those who need it, but poison when forced. To me, this time spent waiting our turn was just mind-numbingly tedious.
"Aish.... Fucking hard."
Right then, Martin came down from above, scratching his head in irritation. Hailey asked him,
"How was it, Martin?"
"Hey. This is absolutely impossible."
Martin shook his head back and forth, his expression like someone who'd just been force-fed a ladleful of shock.
"Why? How bad could it be for you to say that?"
"I was waiting for it to start, and then it was already over. I didn't even get to try anything."
The students listening to their exchange had worry clouding their faces. Hailey turned her head slightly toward Louis.
"Louis, what do we do? It sounds awfully hard...."
"If it's hard, we still do it. I braced myself for at least that much."
"I knew you'd say that, Louis. Ah, I'm nervous. It's my turn this time. I'll be back!"
After finishing her exchange with Louis, Hailey went up to the twelfth floor with two other girls.
Speaking of which, who was I going up with?
I checked the order. If my prediction was right, I would go up together with Trixie and Louis.
I don't do things like nervousness. Nor do I entertain the imagined scenario of yielding the representative spot to someone else.
I was simply thinking about this thing called 'Inherent Ability' that didn't exist in my old world. How fast could Flash truly be?
I felt intrigue rather than fear.
But then—
"You."
The scent of jasmine tickled my nose. Jasmine meant... the probability was high it was Trixie von Fritz.
"I'm complimenting you."
It was, in fact, Trixie. She was addressing me directly.
The fact that she was, first of all, complimenting me grated immensely.
I was on the verge of demanding how the likes of her dared to compliment anything, but first I decided I might as well hear what she was thinking.
"On what."
"What you said earlier. You learned it at the Teaching Auction, didn't you?"
Trixie stared at me fixedly with her deep-blue eyes.
So that was it. I had figured out my customer's identity, but she still had no clue about mine.
She pulled out her Trivia and continued.
"I learned the exact same content as you."
"Is that so."
"I studied it really hard."
"Noted."
"I studied it twice as hard as you did."
"And what do you want me to do about it."
Even facing my flabbergasted stare, Trixie nodded calmly.
"Keep it in mind."
"I'm already aware of everything."
"I will study even harder at the Teaching Auction."
"And I'm well aware I have no need to know something so trivial."
With those words, I closed my eyes. The meaning was: if your business is done, leave.
"You."
Yet Trixie called me again. She even poked my arm with the tip of her index finger—jab.
I let out a heated sigh.
From the pit of my chest, an unidentifiable something began to simmer quietly upward. A kind of impulse to fling this clinging underling far into the distance.
I barely held it down and opened my mouth.
"Trixie, have you ever been hung upside-down in midair?"
"This."
Trixie thrust her Trivia toward me, the page covered by her palm.
[ ▷
[ ▷
[ ▷
Because she covered it with her hand, that was all I could see.
What was she getting at. My eyes gave a silent response. I glared at Trixie with killing intent.
But Trixie opened her mouth, expressionless.
"I'm serious."
"In what respect."
"I don't get replies."
"Hah...."
I turned around and started walking. Trixie pattered after me right on my heels.
"I want to get lots of replies."
"Cultivate some charm."
Look up academic papers through the night, set your magical zeal ablaze like nothing else... do things like that, and replies would naturally follow.
"Charm."
But then abruptly, Trixie nodded as though struck by revelation.
"...That's what it was. Feminine charm."
What on earth was she saying.
If she was this fixated even toward an anonymous person, how exponentially more bothersome would it become if I revealed my identity? I could hardly guesstimate.
But right then, a clamor began to rise from one side of the waiting room.
Soon, someone's shout echoed through the lounge.
"Elysis?"
"What? Elysis?"
"Why would Elysis come here?"
The name Elysis repeated like a round song. My gaze naturally turned in that direction, too.
A woman with purple hair was entering the lounge, bathed in admiring stares.
She was tall. No, she was just large all around. Chest and thighs included.
Jab.
Trixie once again poked my arm with the tip of her index finger.
"You."
I didn't answer.
"She's your colleague."
"Who is."
Trixie's index finger pointed at Elysis.
"The Mystic Gorge guild master."
I didn't answer. So that Elysis was the guild master of Mystic Gorge.
"And what kind of play-pretend outfit is Mystic Gorge."
"What's with you."
Trixie shook her head back and forth.
"Don't play dumb. You know perfectly well Mystic Gorge is the number-one guild."
The number-one guild, was it. The aura I sensed from the guild master did have a certain presence to it.
Mana taking on a distinct color was a phenomenon that only appeared after surpassing a certain threshold. At present, her body carried a vivid violet-tinted mana.
It seemed Elysis knew Louis; they exchanged brief greetings.
"That's Louis? You've grown so much I barely recognized you."
"Me, grown? What brings you here today?"
"Came to observe, kid. Heard you guys are going all-out prepping for Chejeon this time. Was told to watch it with someone. Thought I'd scope out whether there are any usable ones while I'm at it."
Apparently, guild masters personally running around to recruit talented personnel was the same in this world, too. Familiar.
Louis pointed to Elysis's wristwatch and asked,
"Looks like you picked up a new watch."
"Ah, this?"
Elysis let out a short laugh—pfft.
"This isn't some ordinary watch. It reads the magic power of anyone nearby. Had a hell of a time getting my hands on it, thinking it'd help scout talent."
Then, in a sudden moment, her eyes and mine met across the room.
"...?"
Elysis checked her watch, narrowed her eyes, and tilted her head to the side. She looked back and forth between me and the watch face.
"Oh no. Louis! I'm completely screwed!"
Right on cue, Hailey and the two girls came back down the stairs. It was finally my turn.
Since I was standing closer to the stairs, Louis approached me. He gave an easy, likable smile.
"Plan, what you said earlier was impressive. I liked it."
Trixie, walking along, added a remark.
"Make sure you tell the guild master about me."
I ignored it and climbed the stairs.
Something about the scene behind me nagged at me, so I glanced back. Elysis was still staring at me intently.
Wearing a face filled with every possible question.