The Children of the Garden
Bright arrived through the summoning ritual that had been launched into the sky, seized Rai who had fled, and related the situation with Mia.
Since Bright had always left the education of the academy students entirely in the hands of their instructors, he called the assigned instructor for Mia after hearing the story.
Rai was handling it himself, but Sierra had stepped in to substitute. The assigned instructors were required to report their progress to Bright every month-end, yet he had never heard a single thing about Mia’s issue.
Somehow they had ended up holding a hearing in the garden, and the instructor had simply claimed the delay was because she had been trying to find a solution for Mia. But such low-class excuses would never work on Bright.
It was impossible to transfer the famous freshman Mia to another class, so Bright reported the matter to the headmaster and had the assigned instructor relieved of her duties.
She had not been expelled from the academy, but the career setback of having to resign because she had failed in her role as assigned instructor was an enormous disadvantage for any instructor.
Moreover, because the vice principal had been forced to take special supervision over the new students due to the colleague who could not do the job, the assigned instructors suddenly had far more things to worry about, and the instructor who had handled Mia saw her position within the academy steadily shrink.
Yet Bright had done nothing to the student group that had been bullying Mia.
It was not because he was too lenient with the students. After seeing them ruthlessly swap the assigned instructor, the bold ones had to stay silent.
When Bright calmly explained to the group gathered together exactly what had happened to their assigned instructor, the new students who had been harassing Mia looked as though they were choking, unsure whether the water they were drinking had gone up their noses or down their throats.
It was not spoken outright, but the unspoken meaning was clear: see for yourselves what will happen if you ignore this warning and act recklessly.
Bright truly hoped they would reflect on their actions and head down the right path as academy students, but he had lived far too long to indulge in such fairy-tale fantasies. He had encountered countless humans.
Among them, perhaps fewer than half would truly mend their ways.
Those whose hearts were twisted would simply grow even more insidious without reflection.
Furthermore, since the vice principal himself had moved to improve one student’s treatment, it was only natural that students harboring complaints would appear.
But Bright was not worried.
The root cause of Mia’s bullying had been skill.
Last year it had been Violet, Sozeta, and Diana. This year it was Mia.
The previous three had been acknowledged and trapped by the academy students thanks to skills that matched their talent, yet Mia’s skill lagged far behind her talent.
Those who envied her talent, or who resented her inadequate skill, all believed the solution would come when her skill improved.
And Bright trusted Rai one hundred percent.
He had caused plenty of accidents, but when it came to teaching ability, he had infinite faith in it.
Because her talent overflowed, Mia had been unable to grow. So she had received private lessons from Rai just like Philia and Zeroa.
The immediate priority was mana manipulation, so Mia’s training had been simple.
She would go to Rai’s house, exhaust herself by slamming mana into the prescribed formulas until she could not take it anymore.
The ritual for gathering natural mana for safety had been skipped, but it did not matter. The goal was simply for Mia to use mana.
Once her proficiency rose, they would remove one wasteful spell at a time and gradually strengthen her mana control.
Even just imagining the plan made Mia want to work harder.
After a full session of mana use, combat training would come.
It was Rai’s order—her path had been forcibly changed to that of a knight.
She had learned the basics, but since she had not even filled two years of it, adaptation had been difficult. Plus, abandoning the familiar sword for the spear was too much. She had trusted him because he had solved her long-standing problem that no one else had touched; if it had been someone else, she would not have had the same faith.
Mia was still not learning the spear.
Instead, she had started from scratch, learning hand-to-hand combat.
Though brief, she had once trained as a knight and knew that combat techniques were essential for close combat. This was her first time learning it seriously.
When she had learned the sword, she had been small and had been told to avoid close combat as much as possible, then simply learned basic moves before switching to the sword.
But Rai was different.
“If you don’t know how to use your body, what kind of warrior are you? You’re just a mage.”
Rai’s theory was simple. If you want to use your body, learn hand-to-hand combat.
Excuses about being small and disadvantaged were useless. A warrior had to learn and master it no matter what.
From pure mage to knight, then back to pure mage, then to knight again—Mia had no idea what path she was on anymore.
Now that she was older, changing her path also worried her.
Fifteen years old—how old was that?
With some talent, most students exploded in skill around this age.
The power and knowledge she had accumulated synergized with her growing body, changing her ability at an astonishing rate.
That was why so many academy students entered around this age.
They had already thoroughly learned their family secrets and absorbed the academy’s varied and high-quality knowledge. Plus, there were countless rivals of the same age who challenged each other, giving them mental reinforcement.
Concerned that she might not properly absorb what she was taught, Mia worried, but Rai smiled as if reassuring her.
“It’s fine. When you practice, your body will naturally get used to it.”
Rai’s words were not a lie.
From the very first day he taught basic fundamentals, he started sparring. Not only him, but Zeroa, Aslan, and other students from the garden took turns.
The first sparring partner had been Rai, and the very first move had been a face kick.
In truth, Mia had not even realized it was a kick.
Only after the world spun around her did she belatedly realize her cheek was swelling and pain surged through her.
If anyone had seen it, they would have called it bullying.
She had been bullied, but most of it had been threat. Mia, who had never experienced real violence before, sat there in a daze, looking up at Rai with dull eyes.
“What are you doing? You’ll die if you just stand still.”
Not just words. Rai raised his fist.
In the past she would have squeezed her eyes shut and frozen, but fear was too great; her body reacted first and fled.
Even recalling that first day’s sparring still terrified her, but Mia could not complain about it.
Why not? Because far worse things happened to people even worse than her. Instead, she had been spared.
Mia watched her seniors suffer terribly at Rai’s hands.
Aslan flew through the air like he was in the sky, crashed onto the roof. Zeroa was kicked in the stomach while lying on the ground.
It did not matter that she was a girl.
After the sparring ended, Philia clutched her side and twisted in pain. Abigail charged at Rai until her face was battered and bleeding, then collapsed.
Feeling like a real battle, Mia asked the seniors why they were so rough.
“Get used to pain, and fear pain. That’s the way to survive the longest.”
Aslan shrugged as if it were nothing and spoke.
Mia had no idea what to say and simply mumbled, “Uh… yeah…”
“Instructor Rai said the longer you survive, the stronger you get. It’s important to fight fiercely, but you also need to know how to conserve your body.”
Zeroa, who even called his juniors “you” in polite speech, added further explanation.
Mia had worried that she might die before real combat, but after sparring he always treated them properly.
He even used divine power to heal them with miracles.
Rai had mentioned he could use healing magic too, but repeating magical or potion treatments would build resistance and make it worse later, so he healed with miracles.
“What are you looking at?”
“I-I’m sorry…”
Seeing Mia staring blankly after being hit and healed, Abigail scowled and glared at her.
With eyes that seemed about to devour her, Mia quickly apologized and lowered her gaze.
Even from Mia’s perspective, Abigail looked far from pious, yet she was using a miracle. It was amazing.
But she dared not speak of it, for fear of being scolded.
Looking at her, Mia wondered if she was not close to Philia either. She gave the treatment roughly.
Yet Philia was not just quietly enduring it either. She complained that this was all she could do and taunted her.
Determined not to get caught in the middle of their awkward pair, Mia looked at Rai.
Though the training was extremely violent and rough, not every training was like this.
The seniors’ training began with spell lectures.
Surprisingly, it did not feel like a lecture at all.
In the academy, instructors explained and taught, but Rai turned it into discussion.
Rai took the lead in teaching, but the seniors also voiced opinions, actively incorporated or challenged magic circles floating in the air, and created spells no one had ever heard of.
Aslan was half-mad, but the other three actively participated and exchanged ideas. Watching from the side, it looked like they were all gathered around a table to research spells together.
It required quite high insight. Mia could not join the discussion, but the way they exchanged opinions was somehow cool.
It was extremely elite-like. It had been exactly what she had dreamed of when she heard she had passed the academy.
Especially Philia, who knew so much and had a far-reaching vision, was the very academy student of Regandia Academy she had admired.
Mia had wanted to become close to the senior she admired, but unfortunately Philia had been far too busy.
Since Rai was not the only teacher, she had left in the middle of training, leaving Mia to soothe her regret.
But talking to her during busy training had been impossible—Mia was too shy.
There were many who taught, yet Zeroa was Mia’s closest companion.
Aslan was too intimidating in appearance and had raised her guard after a careless slip of the tongue about his chest, so she could not easily approach him.
Abigail had not even shown interest in Mia from the beginning. Aside from treatment, she never came near, so Mia could not become close to her even if she wanted to.
Zeroa was both the first person Mia had met and the one who had stepped up to save her when she was being bullied.
He was also the kindest.
When sparring, he even helped adjust her stance.
Mia, who had endured a merciless body blow from the admired Philia, was grateful to Zeroa for hitting her just the right amount.
Aslan could not control his strength, and Abigail simply ended it with one slap because he was annoying.
When sparring with the two of them, Mia closed her eyes and opened them when it ended, and Philia adjusted to keep her from fainting while training her hard.
Because of this, Mia was happiest when sparring with Zeroa.
“Here, the water is cold, so be careful.”
“Ah, thank you.”
Seeing Zeroa offer a water towel chilled by cold magic, Mia bowed her head.
Philia had offered one too, but since she left first during training, Zeroa looked after her the most.
When Rai joked from the side, “Look, he’s trying to court her again,” Zeroa blushed and shook his head frantically, denying it.
Seeing such pure behavior made it hard to suspect any ulterior motive.
Having a kind and caring senior like him, Mia thought she was truly fortunate. This was exactly the academy life she had dreamed of.
It was not just about her. Even while training, he looked around and took care of the people around him.
If she sat down exhausted for a moment, he would bring her a drink. If she was drenched in sweat, he would bring a towel.
Aslan would thank him every time with a bright “Thanks!”, but Abigail simply accepted in silence.
Despite the obvious difference in attitude, Zeroa cared for everyone equally.
Mia thought he was a person who took excellent care of others and had a warm heart.
And he was the most hardworking of all.
Rai’s training was far harder than anything the academy offered or lectures could provide.
When training ended, there was no one left standing properly. They would rest briefly, then each do personal training on their own.
Among them, Aslan left the fastest and Abigail left like a knife whenever the set time came, as if she had a schedule.
And the one who stayed the longest was Zeroa.
When they talked about direction or spells and stayed late, Mia could always see him alone in the garden swinging his sword.
Though ordinary in appearance, watching Zeroa swing his sword alone under the moonlight was somehow cool.
He came out earliest in the morning and left latest when returning.
“You’re going in now? You said you live in the dorm.”
Zeroa wiped the sweat from his forehead and smiled.
Since she was a junior, he said she did not need to use polite speech, but because it was his habit, he kept using it.
Mia suddenly felt a strange sensation she could not understand and tilted her head, then answered.
“Yes, it’s already evening, and you’re still training?”
“If you want to get strong, you have to keep training.”
Since the academy had a clear purpose for admission, many students were passionate about training.
But those students had felt burdened by their desire to get strong, whereas Zeroa seemed to simply be doing what he naturally had to do.
She did not know his circumstances, but at least from Mia’s eyes, it looked that way.
“Why do you want to get strong?”
She thought her own question sounded stupid even as she asked.
Among the students who had come to the academy, was there anyone who did not want to get strong?
Zeroa’s answer came faster than Mia, who had been about to repeat her question out of embarrassment.
“There is someone I want to stand next to. To stand next to that person, I need to get strong.”
Zeroa looked toward a distant place and spoke.
His eyes were distant yet happy.
The way he looked at someone far away while imagining himself standing beside them held dreams and goals, and it shone more brightly than anything.
“…”
“Ah, sorry for saying something strange… Hey, are you okay? You don’t have a fever, do you?”
“N-No, I’m not!”
Suddenly his face flushed red and Zeroa came over worriedly. Mia panicked, stepped back, turned around, and fled.
Looking at his back as it gradually grew distant, Zeroa thought he must have said something wrong and resolved to apologize later. Then he swung his sword again.