How Can Someone Be Such a Fool...?

The aftermath of the match was immense, and just as troublesome.

The most persistent of the lot were the reporters, Sepia chief among them. I sent them all packing.

I did end up agreeing to grant a solo interview later as a condition... but I accepted that readily enough. I needed breathing room right now.

In front of the library. I checked the list of papers I had borrowed.

『 A Study on the Limitations and Factors of Healing Magic 』

『 A Study on Formulae for Manifesting Observation 』

.

.

.

Healing magic was something I'd held a steady interest in for a while now. The other papers I'd borrowed in order to manifest Inherent Abilities through magic.

Things that cannot be approached through magic.

To others, Inherent Abilities might feel like that, but to me, they feel like 'unexcavated, unknown magic.'

In other words, there were things to research, which I found both interesting and enjoyable.

But right then, there was a rustling presence beside me. I turned toward it.

"Ah!"

The moment our eyes met, a dramatic reaction flared up. The distinctive white hair and golden eyes were familiar by now.

Yushia opened her mouth.

"Lord Plan, I have been looking for you~"

"Why."

Yushia smiled brightly and held up her index finger.

"First, in order to congratulate Lord Plan on your victory. I watched the entire match with my fists clenched tight!"

"How many points are there, by any chance."

She immediately held up her middle finger too.

"The second is the last! While Lord Plan was competing, there was a sinister presence outside the arena."

Yushia confidently thumped her own chest.

"It is unmistakably the trace of an Evil One or a Blood Demon. I, myself, until the Midterm Evaluation next week, shall remain attached to Lord Plan's side and protect you."

Midterm Evaluation.

Come to think of it, the Midterm Evaluation that I'd wagered on with the Knight of Embers, Scarlett, was already right around the corner.

"...Yushia, you. With your fists clenched, what exactly were you watching."

"Pardon?"

"I have no need of anyone's protection."

"But that is my duty! Please simply think of me as the air, and act as you normally would."

I gathered up the papers and books and tucked them into my coat. If I wanted to shake her off, I'd have no choice but to head back to the dormitory.

But looking now, I noticed Yushia had a small bag dangling at her waist.

"And what's that."

"A glow-in-the-dark puzzle. But I will not be doing it."

Yushia smiled broadly.

"Because I too distinguish between public and private matters. Of course, it is a shame not to when three people have gathered, but even so...."

"Two people. What can you hope to accomplish when you can't even count the numbers right."

Yushia tilted her head.

"Pardon? There are indeed three of us."

I followed Yushia's gaze and registered another figure standing right beside us.

Hailey.

I hadn't even known she was there. Our eyes met in the empty space.

"... ."

At that, Hailey's expression turned somehow restless.

Usually, she was always glaring at me impudently, but now she couldn't even meet my eyes at all.

Hailey suddenly opened her mouth.

"Hey, Plan."

I simply turned my head and looked at her.

I'm busy to death, and I thoroughly dislike this hemming and hawing attitude.

So, without realizing it, my expression soured.

"... ."

After a brief awkward silence, Hailey shook her head from side to side.

"No, never mind.... Sorry. See you next time."

Hailey turned her back and practically fled the spot.

"Oh.... Miss Hailey?"

Yushia stared for a moment at Hailey's back rapidly growing distant.

"Lord Plan, is something the matter with Miss Hailey?"

"It's none of my business. You drop it too."

"Ah-ha. Understood."

Yushia doesn't ask for the reason. Because I told her to, she simply agreed at once.

Since the topic came up, I pulled out my Trivia and looked at it.

Trixie, Becky, Sepia.... All manner of contacts were flooding in. Seemed like I'd be quite busy for a while.

When I took one step, Yushia took one step. I had no need for a dedicated guard knight.

Left with no choice, I opened my mouth again.

"Yushia. Do you want to keep me safe."

"Lord Plan! What an obvious question!"

"In that case.... I'd like you to vanquish these fellows."

I handed Yushia three papers.

"Oh! What are these?"

"Extract the key points and summarize them. You may ask me about anything you don't understand along the way."

Yushia's eyes sparkled as she nodded.

"Yes!"

I looked her squarely in the eye and added.

"Vanquish them without fail, and seize victory."

"Yeeesss!"

On her face as she answered resoundingly, a serious fervor was visible.

She genuinely looked ready to vanquish those papers.

◈

"You lost, I hear?"

At that single sentence, Scarlett's hand, which had been receiving the documents, stopped dead.

The Knight of Embers, Scarlett, quietly stared across at the person opposite her. There stood the Mystic Gorge Squad Leader, Elysis.

"The mood outside is a total mess, you know. Here, there, everywhere — it's nothing but talk about how the Knight Department lost."

Scarlett irritably snatched the documents from Elysis's hand with a sharp snap.

At that, Elysis flicked her hands clean in the air.

"Did that upset you? What I just said."

"Think what you like. But bearing the consequences is on you."

"Looks like it did upset you."

Elysis stretched broadly.

"Those Evil One bastards are pissing me off to no end~ Suddenly showing up wherever they please. I even gave up watching the match live to chase after them, and of all matches, this one produces a massive upset?"

"You must have watched the match through the visual recording already."

Scarlett's red pupils turned toward Elysis. Those pupils still smoldered calmly.

"Oh, you caught that? The Knight of Embers really is different."

"I've received the documents properly. Now go. No, get lost."

"That's a no."

Elysis sidled up closer to Scarlett.

"Part of my job is handing over the list of knight cadets we've marked, but listening to the scuttlebutt on the side is also part of it."

"What scuttlebutt."

"Isn't it obvious? What were your thoughts on this match, Lady Knight of Embers?"

Scarlett rolled her eyes briefly. She seemed to be barely swallowing her anger.

After a moment, her lips parted.

"I'd like to hear your thoughts first. Elysis."

"My thoughts, you say.... Fine, I'll do that. On the condition that you also absolutely share your thoughts, Lady Scarlett."

Elysis nodded and continued.

"Shall I start by praising Ivan? Her swordsmanship was clean, not a single wasted movement. She even showed herself Awakening her Inherent Ability."

Ivan's name is still on the Mystic Gorge's list of recruitment targets.

Because the skill she displayed was by no means a trivial level. Only....

"...But well, she lost. To Plan."

Elysis scratched the back of her head.

The ability Plan had shown through the visual recording far exceeded Elysis's expectations.

When it actually came to putting it into words, she wasn't sure where to even begin.

"It puts me in a foul mood."

Scarlett scowled as she muttered.

"You ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠look it. Because Ivan lost, right? But that can't be all for your thoughts?"

"A loss is a loss. I have no intention of not accepting the result."

"Then what puts you in such a foul mood.... I can't read minds. Right. Is it okay if I smoke here?"

Elysis pulled out a cigarette from a pocket.

But the next moment, Scarlett snatched it and put it in her own mouth.

Just by holding it in her lips and breathing, the cigarette caught fire.

"...What's the occasion? You're smoking and all."

"Got a problem?"

"No. Forget it. Just tell me what exactly put you in a foul mood, and I think that'll do."

"First, a knight let go of their sword in their hand."

Scarlett revisited the end of the match. Perhaps because the shock was so great, Ivan ended up letting go of the sword she held.

If it were her, she would never have done that.

Cut them down, cut them down, and cut them down again.... And then, when she could no longer cut them down, she would have cut down her own weak self.

"But honestly, I can understand the feeling of letting it slip, you know."

At Elysis's words, Scarlett bit down and crushed the cigarette.

"Plan replicated Ivan's swordsmanship exactly as it was. From the person in question's perspective, how great must the shock have been."

"That point, to put it plainly, also puts me in a foul mood."

Seeming amazed even as she spoke, Elysis stuck out her tongue and continued.

"Mages have been studying a huge number of strategies for a long time to defeat knights in combat. Just off the top of my head, how many are there? Let's see...."

Elysis's eyes turned upward.

"First, mages are at an absolute disadvantage in close-quarters combat, right."

For a mage, magic to maintain distance is essential.

That attacks are carried out from long range hardly needs to be said.

"That's right."

As if finding it newly absurd, Elysis let out a hollow laugh.

"But during the fight, Plan didn't adopt a single one of those conventional methods, did he?"

"He didn't adopt conventional methods, you say...."

At Elysis's words, Scarlett nodded quietly.

The cigarette had already burned completely black from her excessively intense firepower.

Breaking up the ground entirely so they couldn't set foot on it, making them see illusions so they'd cut at empty air, using summoned creatures to buy time for incantation....

In this battle, Plan hadn't used any of those representative methods one thinks of when imagining a mage.

"To confront someone by copying their swordsmanship outright, such cases are extremely rare."

Cases had no choice but to be rare.

Even setting aside the problem of practicality, reproducing an opponent as they are was an endeavor that only highly-ranked mages could attempt in the first place.

As she listened, Scarlett's face grew considerably serious.

Scarlett asked casually.

"That would mean, since this was the first time he saw Ivan's swordsmanship, he replicated it on the spot."

"Huh? I know, right? This kid's a commoner-born mage."

A commoner-born mage.

That single phrase carried a great deal of implication.

Being a mage is fundamentally a profession constantly plagued by financial issues, and a commoner mage naturally gets to experience far less.

He would have had absolutely zero chances to observe another's swordsmanship.

"It means his comprehension and observational abilities are fundamentally superior."

"What if he's directly swung a sword himself before?"

"What are you suddenly talking about."

"I'm asking."

Scarlett's large, upward-slanted eyes were sharper than ever.

Elysis stared into them for about three seconds, then suddenly shrugged her shoulders.

"You said something so absurd that I couldn't help myself. Aren't we talking about Plan right now?"

"We are."

"It's preposterous. Just preposterous."

Elysis shook her head firmly.

"What if we assumed he summoned a puppet based on swordsmanship he'd personally polished?"

Elysis put her index finger to her temple and twirled it around.

"Then it'd mean he possesses swordsmanship skill on Ivan's level. Does that even make sense? A mage?"

"Right. Yes."

Scarlett nodded.

But on the other hand, neither possibility made any sense.

The idea that Plan possessed swordsmanship on Ivan's level was, as Elysis said, nonsense, yet his exceptional talent in magic was also something she couldn't comprehend.

Elysis clicked her tongue as if regretful.

"I should have scouted Plan back then.... Seriously, that was when he was at his cheapest."

Having muttered to herself for a while, Elysis suddenly looked at Scarlett and smirked.

"The Knight Department's going to be busy now too. What will you do? If word gets out that the Magic Department wants to participate in the subjugation event."

"Subjugation. Subjugation, you say."

Scarlett repeated the word.

Unlike combat, which is decided by one-on-one matches, subjugation operates in teams of four.

Mages tend to have strong individualistic tendencies and are ill-suited to forming teams in the first place, so the subjugation event has long been treated as the exclusive domain of knights.

"...Let them do it. I'll smash them utterly."

Scarlett clenched her fist tight.

Her clenched fist trembled. As if it would crush anything it caught.

"It was just a figure of speech. Would the Magic Department be crazy enough to pull a stunt like that? Surely not."

Elysis, who had been giggling for a while, suddenly narrowed her brow.

"No, wait. If it's that guy Plan.... He might actually say he'll do it."

"Then it would literally be him being crazy enough to pull a stunt like that."

"That guy's self-belief is beyond imagination. Don't you remember already? What he said about his thoughts on the victory."

How could she not remember.

Because a mage beating a knight is, exactly that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠level of thing.

Plan's voice as he said that was still vivid in her ears. Scarlett unconsciously clenched her fist tight again.

"...Originally, talking impudent shit is a mage's specialty."

"But there's no one who calls you impudent, Lady Scarlett?"

"Suddenly spouting what nonsense."

At that, wearing a meaningful smile, Elysis looked Scarlett over.

"Plan and you, Lady Scarlett, have oddly similar ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠corners to them. Whether he remains an impudent brat, or becomes a once-in-a-generation Archmage. I'd like to watch and see."

"Elysis."

Calling her name in a chilling tone, Scarlett brought her face closer to Elysis's.

A distance where their breath touched. Scarlett's face was graver than ever.

"...After your body has been chopped into ten pieces, will you still be able to spout such words."

"Why are you acting like ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠this? It wasn't even a statement that upsetting."

Sweat began to bead on Elysis's face.

Rather than sweat born of tension or fear, Scarlett was actually radiating heat.

Then, suddenly, Elysis, who had been checking her watch, narrowed her brow.

"Ah, they've appeared again...."

The two women only then put distance between them.

Scarlett let out a deep sigh and asked.

"Evil Ones again."

"Hard to say, we'll have to go to know if it's Evil Ones or Blood Demons. They've bloomed out of nowhere lately."

"Whether it's Evil Ones or Blood Demons, why the hell are they stirring up trouble."

"It's probably Blood Demons. There's a rumor going around these days."

Wearing a slightly mischievous smile, Elysis asked Scarlett casually.

"It's really high-grade intel. Want me to tell you, as a special favor?"

"If I listen and it turns out to be nothing special.... I think I might get angry."

"Ah~ seriously. You're so sensitive today."

Elysis clicked her tongue.

"Obviously, among the Blood Demons, there's a high-ranking one. They call her the Princess or something. Anyway, there's an artifact she's particularly got her eyes on."

"And."

"And~ the one who intercepted it seems to be around here somewhere. Actually, we don't really know that either. Whether they just touched it, intercepted it, are a student, a professor, or just some guy living nearby, or a Maine...."

Ha. Finding it utterly absurd, Scarlett gave a derisive snort.

"How can there be an idiot like that...? Must be the doing of a low-grade Evil One, without even needing to see it."

"Probably, right? Anyway, I've got to go. The conversation was enjoyable."

Once Scarlett nodded once, Elysis vanished.

Wordlessly, Scarlett pulled a single letter from her coat.

[ To Miss Scarlett,

The Head of the Yudit Family says he wishes to have lunch.

He requests that you visit together with the Young Master. ]

The date written was next week.

As it happened, the point when Plan's Midterm Evaluation would conclude.

"... ."

Normally, she would have torn it to shreds.

She would have done so without fail.

"I can just confirm it for myself."

This time, she didn't.