Chapter 19
Chapter 19
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: The Magic You Chose (6)
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Having witnessed the magic run wild, I tossed the popcorn aside and leaped straight into the arena.
I'd been with Darling just moments ago, so I was on the second-year side, and the wave was surging in from the opposite direction.
The moment I entered the arena, I spotted Liv, her legs giving out beneath her.
Hafen and the other teammates were up ahead, flying about amid the waves.
"Baroness. You okay?"
"L-L-Louis, sir!? How did you...! Get away, quick!!"
She didn't look okay at all. For a brief instant, I debated whether to rush over and stop that flood right now.
Dispel isn't that convenient a spell.
To cancel magic, you have to get right up close to the ritual formula.
Fortunately, Lehel—who'd had her vacation cut short by me—wasn't just spectating from above, so I scooped Liv up into my arms.
Aside from the bread she bought from my canteen, she apparently didn't eat much else; her body felt as light as a tuft of cotton.
"Let's get out of here first. I'm gonna run, so hold on tight."
"Y-Yes? Kyaa!!!"
I didn't need any magic to climb back up the arena's inner wall that I'd jumped down from moments ago.
The moment we passed the roughly six-meter height, the wave crashing down behind us bounced off the defensive magic.
The arena and spectator seats had turned into a sea, but it was a spell without much lethality in itself.
As the water slowly drained away, most of the mages quickly regained their composure.
No casualties was a miracle.
I stared vacantly for a moment at my soggy popcorn, then headed toward the arena passages where the water was receding bit by bit.
The reason was obvious: to chew out the culprit behind this mess.
Splash! Splash!
Priests and professors were also scurrying about, searching for students swept away by the waves.
I, too, waded through water up to my knees, scanning the areas around the passages.
It didn't take long to spot Adella in the corner, her blue hair disheveled as she lay sprawled on the ground.
I strode right up to her and nudged her with my foot.
"Hey."
"......"
"Didn't I tell you not to use magic recklessly?"
"......"
No response. Even shoving her a bit harder yielded the same.
"Stop playing dead and get up. Before I ban you from the canteen for good."
"......"
"Hey."
"......"
"Adella?"
"......"
I flipped her limp body over, laying her on her back with her chest facing the sky.
She lay there with her eyes quietly closed, as if merely asleep.
Her face was pale. No breath sounds.
"......"
Could she actually be dead? What do I do if she's dead?
What am I even thinking? If dead, one of three options.
Bury. Burn. Dump. I'd always gone with whichever was feasible first.
If there was time to mourn, bury.
If being chased by enemies, burn.
If I was about to die too, dump.
There'd only been one time I hadn't tried any of those three.
Revive.
—There's no magic that can revive the dead, Louis.
Terra had said that.
What had I replied back then—
"Fuck. Not the time."
I rewound my thoughts further back. Far back, to my time on Earth.
My mind cleared. I could see a priest approaching from the far end, having spotted us.
Right, first aid comes first.
For someone drowned, chest compressions and artificial respiration.
I placed my hands on Adella's chest.
Then carefully pressed down near her heart with two fingers.
Crack!
Shit. I'd eased up a lot, but it still made an ugly sound.
Too tense? I almost never messed up my strength control.
No, even regular rescuers break a few ribs pressing on the chest. Let's try a bit more.
Crunch!
As I pressed again, a gurgling cough escaped her lips.
Finally, some color returned to her face.
"Oh, she's alive."
"Kyaa!! Over here! Over here!! There's a patient vomiting blood!!"
"Guh... guh..."
Oh no. Not the kind of color I meant?
Fortunately, my worries proved unfounded; Adella seemed to be regaining consciousness.
Her faintly opened eyes fixed on me like an imprinted duckling.
"Te... teach... er."
"Yeah. You idiot."
"My chest hurts so much... It tickles... hurts..."
"You used too much mana."
"I was fine until just now, but suddenly..."
"You got hit by a rock swept in by the water."
"Doesn't feel like... uhp..."
Before Adella—still not fully lucid—could spout more nonsense, I quietly covered her mouth and closed her eyes.
The priest following chanted a healing spell, and she drifted back to sleep.
"She made it?"
"Yeah. Came right to the brink of death, but barely."
"Floods are terrifying. To think it could do this to someone."
"No? What I treated was a blood clot inside her body. A slightly stronger impact, and her heart would've burst."
Hmm. Never doing that again.
I pulled a cigarette from my pants pocket.
Soaked through; no way it'd light.
No choice but to chomp on it raw. Swallowing it wouldn't kill me anyway.
As the non-food slid down my throat, those memories resurfaced again.
I recalled what I'd said to Terra.
—I don't think so.
Pharenchia Academy's time-honored tradition—the inter-year magic duel pitting new students against their upperclassmen at the start of the semester—ended in an unusual victory for the first-years.
The reason wasn't Adella's magic putting on a spectacular show...
While everyone else was swept away by the waves out of the arena, one student had the quick wits to plant his sword in the ground and hold out until the end.
"Congratulations on your win, Kal."
"Thank you, Princess."
Erzebet watched Kal perform the knight's salute with a pleased smile.
Aside from the chairman, who wore a sour expression at the thought of repairing the half-destroyed arena, the other professors seemed generally satisfied.
After Kal, who'd shone brightest, received his commendation and the award ceremony concluded, Erzebet personally invited him to the tea party.
Since the student council had been dismissed after the canteen incident,
she asked him, as the proxy exerciser of shares in the Royal Magic University Pharenchia Academy, if there was anything he desired.
"You achieved the greatest feat in this duel, so a commensurate reward is in order. What would you like?"
"Ah, I..."
"This is a land registry for sites where ownership can be transferred. This list is the magical archives in the library. A title might be tricky, but if you want to join a royal knight order, I can grant you bonus points."
"That's fine!"
Kal hesitated a moment, then stared straight at Erzebet.
An ambiguous air flowed between them.
The mountain carrying lazily drifting clouds told of time's passage.
"Princess, I... I...!"
"Sorry, Kal. I'm not the prize, and I already have a fiancé..."
Erzebet figured a gentle rejection was best and gave the first excuse that came to mind.
She'd called it her ex-fiancé, it wasn't confirmed info, and she hadn't acknowledged it anyway—perfect as an alibi.
But Kal scratched his cheek awkwardly at her response and said,
"That's not it. I was going to ask if I could get some swordsmanship instruction from one of the guards by your side..."
"Ah..."
Silence fell once more.
How embarrassing.
Erzebet couldn't contain her burning cheeks after her foolish misunderstanding.
"Y-Yeah, well. That should be... easy enough..."
"Haha, thank you. By the way, you have a fiancé? If you don't mind me asking, who..."
"Pretend you didn't hear that! It's nothing! Right, Piy?"
"Piy—."
"Don't say ridiculous things. Did a few popcorn crumbs buy you off?? What exactly do you know about that man..."
What did it know?
At that question, Erzebet thought of one good ploy.
A way to learn about Louis without touching the canteen.
"Hey, Kal."
She'd been bickering with her familiar moments ago, but now wore a benevolent smile as she asked Kal,
"I'll speak to Sir Averett about the swordsmanship instruction you requested. He's from the Hooksclo Knights, so it'll be a big help."
"Thank you, Princess."
"Truth be told, this is more like me personally granting your request. There's no way a princess's guard would be conscripted as a duel reward."
She handed a treat from the tray to Piy to keep watch around them, then lowered her voice.
"So, about that reward... could you use it for me?"
Meg, originally from the Alios Magic Tower and now Pharenchia Academy's librarian, was spending a peaceful night in the library duty room.
Not yet exam season, the 24-hour study hall was empty, with no loan requests either.
Yawning as he read the newspaper article on the just-concluded magic duel, he heard a knock from outside and wearily hauled himself up.
"Who's knocking this late at night? Yaw~n."
Grabbing his portable lantern and shuffling in slippers, he opened the door to a vaguely familiar face.
"Who might you be?"
"I'm Kal, a first-year."
"Ah~. A freshman? Sorry, but the night study hall is for second-years and up. Come back tomorrow."
"No. I'm not here to study."
"Then?"
"I'm here to claim my reward from the magic duel."
Ah. He remembered now.
This was the kid from the newspaper article earlier.
He hadn't realized the kid carried such a weird bird on his shoulder. Meg nodded and let him in.
"Coming to the library means you're after a magic book?"
There'd been no academy when he was young, so Meg had started at the magic tower.
But he was a mage himself. No way he'd dislike a studious student.
Rushing for the reward right after the match showed real zeal, so Meg kindly added his advice.
"The magic books rewarded for this duel go up to security level A. Black magic tomes are restricted. Personally, I recommend Duke Baltera's 'Aesthetics Theory.' It's well-organized with spells of various hierarchies, including passages you can't see without entering a tower."
"Sorry, but I'm not here for magic books either."
"Pardon? Then what?"
Thud.
Kal halted, nodding to the bird on his shoulder as if for final confirmation, then slowly spoke.
"I..."
In his hand was a history textbook all first-years had to study: The End of the Great War and Prelude to the Small Wars.
"...wish to view the original copy of this book."