Ehh─!
Ehh─!
"Fine."
Plan nodded toward Trixie.
The evaluation criteria were never about winning or losing in the first place. They centered on how well one concealed their presence, so having Plan as an opponent didn't change much.
And on top of that, he was also a little curious to test the power of the ancient rune language as quickly as possible.
「Unique Barrier」
The research Maeve had organized based on his theories.
A magic that borrowed the power of the Manipulation-type ancient rune language to manipulate space itself and forcibly manifest a domain unique to the caster.
An illusion world is ultimately nothing but fantasy, but a Unique Barrier manifests in reality. The gap between the two fields is as vast as the distance between heaven and earth.
...Plan was curious about its exact performance capabilities.
"You definitely just accepted that."
As if wanting a firm confirmation, Trixie murmured with an utterly serious face.
"Yes. I won't reverse my decision."
Only then did Trixie nod, looking relieved.
But that thought lasted only a moment. Without warning, her memory of their previous duel surfaced.
The uneasy memory of agonizing over whether Plan had purposely gone easy on her. The girl immediately parted her lips.
"Hey. I'm adding one more thing."
Trixie did not want Plan to adopt a 'half-hearted' approach. Her goal was to win a match where both sides gave it everything they had.
"Absolutely do not go easy on me. In this duel, I want you to be completely serious—"
Crack—!
Before she could even finish, her head snapped back.
With enough force to make one worry her neck might break outright. The eyes watching were instantly colored with shock and concern.
"...."
Trixie froze like that for a moment. She wondered if the expression about seeing stars was meant for this sort of thing.
Plan narrowed his eyes and asked,
"Were you chattering about something?"
A chilly tone. Trixie slowly turned her head back to its original position. She blinked a few times.
From her nose, something trickled down.
It was a nosebleed.
"...Nothing."
A roaring whoosh—!
Trixie immediately sculpted her blue flame like clay. What emerged was the shape of a blue wolf.
It was the 「Fire Wolf」, inspired by the demon beasts she had faced in the preliminary round. The 「Fire Wolf」 instantly swallowed Plan up like a wave.
Crrrack—crunch—!
Plan vanished from sight inside those massive jaws. Trixie immediately formed hand seals and began chanting.
To add 'Support' to the Fire Wolf's blue flames.
'The flame is the heart of hell.'
Trixie embedded the property of 'Explosion' into every single one of the Fire Wolf's teeth. To put it another way, the Fire Wolf now had dozens of bombs clenched in its mouth.
'Yet the ignition of a blessing.'
The moment she completed her internal chant, each of the Fire Wolf's teeth began to glow white-hot. The result—
KABOOOOOM—!
An elemental explosion. That was all.
Whoosh—fwoosh—!
The Fire Wolf rampaged madly, spewing flames and explosions like breath.
"...!"
The sight was so reminiscent of a dragon that the onlookers' eyes went round. Even setting magical principles aside, it was a spectacular scene just to the naked eye.
All of this was the fruit of Trixie's talent and the efforts she had honed meticulously up until now.
"Hoo...."
Trixie wiped the beads of sweat forming on her forehead. A brief dizziness washed over her, likely from expending so much mana all at once.
She felt a little proud.
The sight of the absurdly vast arena completely blanketed in blue flame. The old Trixie would only have cradled such a landscape in her imagination.
But that pride soon evaporated.
At some point, the entire arena had been dyed black.
The other representatives, the observers, the Fire Wolf, the blue flames—none of them were visible anymore.
In the center of it all, Plan simply stood there.
Trixie still couldn't grasp the principle behind this. Right now, only one thing was certain.
Her magic hadn't reached Plan.
Plan spoke calmly.
"Even a random passing dog would have sensed your magic. By now, a few knights would have already arrived."
With about three seconds of silence, Plan continued.
"And by now, you'd be dead. Obvious."
"...."
Trixie furrowed her brow. Come to think of it, she hadn't focused on concealing her magic power at all.
But what truly infuriated her was the fact that even when she went all out without any intention of hiding her power, it hadn't even reached Plan.
Trixie bit her lower lip.
"No, it's not obvious."
And she began to control the flames once more.
This time, concentrating on concealing her presence, she extended the flames in the shape of a snake—slithering like a shadow.
It was magic that could rightly be called 'assassination'.
Fssst—!
But like a dried, withered leaf crumbling to dust, that stealthy movement was immediately blocked entirely.
More precisely, it was stolen from her. The blue flame shaped like a snake was entirely drained away by Plan.
"Ugh...."
Frustration welled up inside her as Plan merely stood there watching her silently. Trixie gathered her mana once again.
"...?"
She tried to gather it, but failed. Once again, the energy of the mana flowed directly toward Plan.
Trixie soon realized what this truly was. It wasn't mere defense—it was 'absorption'.
A moment later, Plan spoke.
"It's still obvious. I told you to hide your presence, but you simply reduced the power to the point it doesn't even register as a presence."
Within the 「Unique Barrier」, he senses every magic that occurs far more vividly than before.
Its principle, presence, intensity... all of it.
"I never ordered you to become weaker. I must have told you repeatedly to maintain your strength and only erase your presence."
But that was something Plan was originally good at.
However, within the confines of his own Unique Barrier, and if the opponent possesses the power of mana....
Absorbing that mana becomes possible.
He could wield magic by utilizing the opponent's mana.
In other words, Plan was far freer from the constraints of mana right now. If his own total reserves ran low, he could simply borrow from the opposing mage.
"It's not difficult at all. I'll only explain this once."
That was why, a private tutoring session like this was possible.
Plan returned the captured blue flame in midair back to Trixie.
"Maintain the full firepower of this, and try to erase only your presence. This is clearly something you've been taught."
"...."
He said it wasn't difficult at all, which made Trixie feel even more frustrated at herself for struggling.
She began to inscribe the formula from scratch, stroke by stroke. Since there was plenty of time anyway, she intended to succeed this time just to show him.
A total of twenty-one strokes of lines, varying in thickness every three strokes, weaving them together one by one like threading a needle.
'Ah... That theory was meant to be applied here.'
Picking it apart slowly, the answer came into view.
It felt right. She was confident.
The speed of her fingers gradually increased, and just as she became certain that she would succeed this time—
"...!"
Trixie jolted in shock. Something had grabbed her arm.
"...?!"
And the next moment, she shuddered even more violently. Because that 'something' was none other than Plan's hand.
He held Trixie's arm and began to move her fingers as if using chalk. Correcting the formula piece by piece.
"That's not the right part. We need to fix this part here."
"Y-you, you, you... what...."
"The blue flame is the legacy of the Fritz family. It can't be helped. It has to be drawn with your fingers."
A body that had never even been touched by a maid.
The shock was immense.
The blue girl's face was colored with an uncharacteristic bewilderment. It was only natural that her body trembled.
"Who gave you the right to use someone else's hand like chalk...."
"Focus. In order for you to conceal your presence—."
Plan silently continued his explanation.
This was the first time she had heard his low voice from so close. The fact that he was this tall was also something she felt anew for the first time.
The girl suddenly lifted her head. Plan's indifferent eyes were still fixed on the formula.
"At this part, pay attention to your breathing as well. Those who have reached enlightenment can grasp your intent just from your breathing itself—"
She couldn't focus on Plan's continuing explanation.
She briefly agonized over how to define this strange atmosphere and situation, and how she should respond to it.
And then—
Plan's scent tickled the tip of Trixie's nose.
A familiar scent.
"Eek—!"
Trixie let out a foolish scream. All the mana she had concentrated scattered, and the formula exploded with a loud bang.
The energy burst outward in all directions, only to be quickly absorbed by Plan. Plan smiled faintly and murmured.
"...I'm satisfied."
He meant it sincerely.
Really, truly, Plan was satisfied with the Unique Barrier.
"Wh-what are you talking about? Move aside. Move! M-Move!"
Trixie shoved Plan away and scrambled out of the arena.
◈
"Becky."
Louis, who had arrived at the training hall late, called out to Becky. But Becky just stood there in a daze, offering no reply.
"Becky?"
"Ah, uh. Yeah."
Louis had no choice but to poke Becky's shoulder with his index finger. Only then did a lukewarm response come back.
"I just got here. What should I start with?"
"Uh...."
But even that was only a response in name only. Becky's mind was already sold off to another place entirely.
It was only natural to grow curious about why Becky was in shock. Louis followed the direction of Becky's gaze.
"...?"
First, Plan was standing there deep in thought. And in the spectator seats behind him, about eight professors were whispering among themselves with excited expressions.
"Did something happen?"
Something must have happened, obviously.
Louis recalled Trixie's face as he had passed her on his way into the training hall.
Her face flushed bright red, stumbling and unable to even walk straight. She hadn't been in a normal state.
"Becky, could you tell me what happened?"
"...."
Becky couldn't answer.
The girl's mind was in complete disarray. Right now, Louis's kindly offered words didn't reach her ears at all.
Plan's magic. That was the only thing in her head.
The black barrier she had just witnessed swirled inside her mind. An unfathomably deep, thick darkness. An energy she had never felt before. It was the first time she had seen anything like it.
"Becky?"
Louis called out to Becky again. Now there was no reply coming back whatsoever.
Even amid all this, the professors' voices and excitement continued to grow. Louis could sense their agitation clear as day even with the naked eye.
"Looks like Plan pulled something off again...."
The boy murmured quietly. If he had to voice his thoughts, he just regretted not having been able to see whatever 'something' Plan had done with his own eyes.
"Representative students."
At that moment, a woman with a neat impression, wearing glasses, approached Louis and Becky.
Louis had seen her face a few times before too. He remembered her as the Chancellor's secretary.
"The inspection is over. So... I believe you can spend the rest of the day freely."
She too must have received quite a shock, because she kept adjusting her glasses. After delivering her message, the secretary hurriedly approached Plan.
"Plan, student. The inspection is done, and we were hoping to have a word with you. We really must ask for your time."
Plan nodded in acceptance. Seeing the secretary practically escort the student away, Louis couldn't help but let out a hollow laugh.
"...Of all days to be late. I missed out big time."
He murmured under his breath.
◈
...At last, the morning of the Subjugation Festival dawned.
"The day has arrived, Your Highness."
Second Princess Aurora.
The golden eyes were identical to her younger sibling's, but the jet-black hair was its complete polar opposite.
Since the crack of dawn, she had been receiving reports from a eunuch in the Imperial Palace.
"There won't be any issues with the broadcast, will there? I detest dull things."
"As Your Highness will also be watching, the journalists will give their utmost effort."
The stage for the Subjugation Festival would be the region 'Berkel', teeming with demon beasts.
Vividly conveying the fierce martial prowess the representatives would display on site all the way to the Academy fell entirely on their shoulders. Therefore, the journalists' roles and sense of responsibility were understandably immense.
"Will one come out this year?"
"Pardon?"
"The one who will break the Knight of Embers' pauldron. The one to shatter that woman's shoulder guard."
"I am afraid that will be difficult after all. The common consensus is that merely seeing her swing a sword is a scoop in itself...."
The Knight of Embers, Scarlet, was also participating in the Subjugation Festival.
It had been set up so that inflicting even a scratch on Scarlet's pauldron would grant an absurdly high number of points to the team.
Naturally, she was not participating as an actual competitor. To meet the demands of the viewers who wanted to see the Knight of Embers, it had taken the form described above.
Thanks to that, the viewers would get to see the Knight of Embers in action during the Subjugation Festival, and the participating teams were, in effect, being granted a one-shot chance to pull a reversal.
...Of course, the glaring flaw—if one could call it that—was that the probability of seizing that chance approached the impossible.
"Hmm. Then who do you think will win this time?"
"Barring any unforeseen upsets, we expect the Celestial Axis Knight Order to take it."
"But this year seems to be overflowing with upsets, doesn't it?"
Aurora rose from her seat.
She stepped over to examine the campus map of Märchen Academy attached to the wall.
"And that is not the only thing that is amusing."
First, the largest building in the Knight Department. The knight temple, awe-inspiring just to look at. The very place where the 'Round Table' resides.
"The Knight of Embers."
This time, she turned to the opposite side of the map.
The highest spire-shaped building in the Magic Department. It was the Magic Tower.
"And Plan."
From what she had heard, Plan was a man brimming with self-assurance and vast ambitions. Packed full of all those things.
Currently in her hand was a secret oath of the Imperial Household. As soon as the finals of the Subjugation Festival concluded, this secret would cease to be a secret.
"How will things unfold, I wonder...."
She looked forward to that day.
Watching just how far, and to what heights, this mage would soar seemed as though it would also be quite enjoyable.
"Go on. Soar high into the sky."
When that time comes, you might just steal this body's gaze entirely.
Aurora wore a faint smirk.