Time Flies So Well, It Comes Around - 4
After I told Ryutis I would take part in the inter-class tournament in a way that wasn’t a four-person match, the whole thing blew up far beyond anything I’d expected.
Beatrix’s participation had already drawn the eyes of the entire continent to the Academy, past the borders of the Empire itself. Then the man who had already cleared the final content with a sword decided to join in as well? The fallout was, of course, spectacular. With that many eyes already fixed on the place, the rumors spread just as fast.
“There has been a proposal that this year’s inter-class tournament be run in the same manner as the Club Expo.”
“In the same manner as the Club Expo, you say?”
“Yes. As with the Expo, we wish to open the Academy to outsiders.”
And this was the result. A simple student event had adults clawing at the doors, desperate not to be left out.
This is insane.
Watching the headmaster sip his tea so calmly told me that opening the Academy to outsiders was, for all practical purposes, already decided. When the highest authority of the Academy casually floated the idea in front of an auditor, it meant the decision had already been made.
The fact that it was settled was probably the only reason the headmaster could stay so composed. Faced with the chaos and headaches a sudden opening would bring, any headmaster would have wanted to kill the proposal on the spot. That he had given up meant it was already beyond his power to reverse.
They’re serious about this.
I had a pretty good idea who the culprit was. This had the Crown Prince’s fingerprints all over it. If the Crown Prince had personally instructed the Minister of Education, even the headmaster would have no way out.
It was almost funny that someone of the Crown Prince’s stature would involve himself in a mere Academy event—except this was a chance for Beatrix and me to display our power in public at the same time. Since things had already come this far, he was clearly trying to pack the stands as full as possible for maximum effect.
That bastard.
I should have sensed it the moment he started going on about “destiny” and all the rest, but I never imagined he was this committed.
At least this whole circus was a one-time event that would end this year. Hold something like this too often and it starts to cheapen itself.
“…You’ve been put through a great deal of trouble, Headmaster.”
I forced down the bitterness and offered the man a quiet word of sympathy. In the end I only had to swing a sword and be done with it; the headmaster would have to manage the endless flood of outsiders. If anything went wrong at the Academy, he was the one who would take the fall.
“It’s quite all right. As headmaster, I am glad for the chance to raise the Academy’s prestige.”
Even so, the faint smile on his face made me lower my head without thinking.
Last year had been turbulent enough, but this year had been no less of a storm for him. Beatrix’s arrival had sent countless mages flooding in with applications, the Club Expo had drawn crowds, I had cut the sky open, and students had even come from Armein… Events that no one would believe could all explode in a single year.
The Imperial Academy’s standing would rise because of it—but it was also true that the aging headmaster had been run ragged like a dog. Any hope of a peaceful twilight had vanished in a blaze of glory.
“You will certainly be remembered as a headmaster the Academy will never see again.”
So I carefully offered those words of comfort, hoping they might ease the burden on this old civil servant even a little.
“Just hearing that makes my heart race. Thank you, Minister.”
I flinched for a second at the title, yet my feelings remained unchanged. The weight the headmaster carried was far too heavy for me to take offense over a mere form of address.
For Academy students, the inter-class tournament had traditionally been an event where you moved around a little and then relaxed to watch. No matter how hard you tried, the class of the third-year student with the noblest status always took the final victory—that was simply how the inter-class tournament worked.
Last year that custom had briefly cracked when overwhelmingly noble students had been packed into the first-year class, but the victims had been few. Outside of a handful of first-years, no one else had suffered. The ones who had to grind for the victory of a noble student were the members of that student’s own class, not the rest of the school.
This year, however, everyone became a victim. First-, second-, and third-years alike were forced to grind.
“When it was only an Academy event, following tradition was fine. But the outsiders coming from every corner of the continent won’t know that tradition. As nobles, we can hardly afford to look half-hearted in front of them.”
I nodded at Mar’s kind explanation.
Outsiders pouring in from across the continent—many of them high-ranking figures or renowned swordsmen and mages. Behaving sloppily in front of people like that would only damage one’s own reputation and insult the guests. Thanks to that, every student had thrown the old customs aside and turned into a berserker.
And of course the Student Council, which had to keep those berserkers under control, was suffering for it. No wonder Mar wore that awkward, troubled little smile.
“I hope I haven’t made extra work for you because of all this, Mar.”
“Not at all. It would be a lie to say it isn’t hard, but if the price is raising Karl’s renown, I’ll do as much as it takes.”
The bright smile that spread across Mar’s face soothed the fire that had been burning in my chest. The Crown Prince had put me through the wringer, and now Mar was wrapping me up in comfort—the temperature difference was almost cruel.
“Beatrix would feel a little left out if she heard that.”
I tossed the light joke her way, and—
“Sister’s renown has nowhere left to climb, does it? She’ll understand.”
—she answered with a joke of her own, and both of us laughed for a moment.
True enough. Beatrix had no higher renown left to gain. After nearly a century as the absolute authority in her field, it was only natural. In game terms, she was already locked at 99999.
“You’re right. Then I’ll just have to work hard enough for Beatrix’s share as well.”
A small vow to raise my own renown enough to cover the portion of the Magic Lord who had already maxed hers out. Mar’s smile deepened at the words.
I wasn’t a duke, so I would never be called Sword Lord as a matching set with the Magic Lord, but I still held out a faint hope that this affair might at least earn me a title like Sword Saint. As for Sword King or Sword Emperor—those I would refuse even if offered. They sounded far too much like something a traitor would claim.
While Mar and I continued chatting about the inter-class tournament, a familiar voice came from beyond the Student Council president’s door.
“Mar, it’s me. May I come in?”
Oh.
Speak of the devil—Beatrix herself had arrived.
“Yes, Sister. Please come in.”
Mar’s eyes went round for a second, as if she found it uncanny that Beatrix would appear the moment we were talking about her, before she answered.
When Mar’s permission was given, Beatrix stepped inside, saw me, and offered a soft smile.
“So the little one is here too.”
“Well, my options for places to go are pretty limited.”
I answered naturally enough, yet something felt off. Beatrix’s greeting hadn’t been simple small talk; it carried the nuance of “how convenient that I found you.”
Did she have some reason to look for me? We already spent every day talking quietly together; I couldn’t think of anything left unsaid.
“I meant to discuss it with Mar first, but since we’re all here, let’s talk now.”
Seeing me blink blankly, Beatrix sat down beside me and continued in her usual calm voice.
“Little one, you said you would cut the sky at the closing ceremony, didn’t you?”
“Ah, yeah. If I do it earlier, people won’t be able to focus on the matches.”
Even though the inter-class tournament had swollen past all control, its essence was still an event for the Academy students. If cutting the sky was going to steal the show no matter when I did it, then doing it after the students’ schedule was finished was the right call.
Beatrix seemed to agree; she gave a short nod.
“Then rather than doing it alone, why not do it together? After the four-person match I’ll have the free time.”
“Together?”
“Yes. Together.”
And then came the explanation of the joint performance she and I would put on at the closing ceremony—words that left my mouth hanging open before I could stop it.
“S-Sister, are you serious?”
Even Mar stammered as she double-checked. If the speaker had been anyone but Beatrix, she probably would have asked whether the woman had lost her mind.
That was how outrageous the proposal was—an idea no person with ordinary values could ever have dreamed up.
“There is no safety issue. And nothing could look more spectacular.”
But the being standing before Mar was the Magic Lord, a creature who had long since left the realm of the ordinary. A sky-high existence who turned the abnormal into the normal and the normal into the abnormal.
At Beatrix’s firm answer, Mar’s trembling gaze swung toward me, silently begging me to stop this if no one else would.
“….”
“Karl…?”
I quietly avoided that gaze.
That would actually work?
Beatrix’s proposal was simply too fascinating. If anyone else had suggested it I would have asked if they were crazy on the spot—but it was Beatrix herself who had officially certified that “there is no safety issue.” And as she had promised, no performance could possibly be more spectacular.
…My heart was pounding. I had no particular desire to become a clown, but if I was going to be rolled around on the board the Crown Prince had laid out, then I wanted to put on a truly insane performance. Only then would the Crown Prince be so horrified he would never force something like this on me again.
“You’re sure it’s really safe?”
“Karl?!”
I felt bad for Mar, but for this one moment I was going to let my heart and brain become those of a wild beast.
The one who had wanted a spectacular performance in the first place was the Crown Prince himself.
The inter-class tournament was over. It was only the second one I had experienced, yet even I could tell that this year’s scale had been overwhelmingly larger than the last.
“Olivia, the crowd control is finished!”
“Got it! Great work, everyone!”
The duties of the disciplinary committee had been far more exhausting than anything I had heard from the seniors who had already graduated. Since those seniors wouldn’t have lied, this must have been a scale even they had never experienced.
“Ugh, I’m so tired…”
I muttered while massaging my thighs. Even I, who was confident in my stamina, had been worn out by how frantically the disciplinary committee had to move.
At the same time a smile rose to my face. We had run ourselves ragged for the several days the tournament lasted, but the effort had been worth it. Despite the enormous crowds, not a single accident had occurred.
Hehe.
I felt proud. When I first joined the disciplinary committee everything had been unfamiliar—but now I was a proper veteran. My sister had even praised me!
“It’s a shame we couldn’t watch the four-person match. Where else are you going to see the Magic Lord fight?”
“They said they recorded it, so we can watch that at least.”
Hearing the other committee members talk snapped me back to reality.
The closing ceremony!
I had almost forgotten. Besides the Magic Lord’s participation in the four-person match, there was another important piece of news.
Sky Slash!
My feet automatically carried me toward the closing-ceremony grounds. Just as the Magic Lord had personally taken part in the four-person match, the Audit Department Chief had said he would show the technique that cuts the sky at the closing ceremony.
I used a sword myself, after all—I absolutely wanted to see it. Good thing I remembered in time!
The grounds were already packed shoulder to shoulder.
A pity. I would have preferred a closer view.
…But since it’s the sky that gets torn, does the distance even matter?
The thought settled my disappointment. Yeah, who cares if it’s far? As long as I get to see the sky tear open, that’s enough.
“I offer my gratitude to all of you who have taken the time to gather in this place.”
While I waited with a pounding heart, the Audit Department Chief’s voice rang out across the grounds.
So many people had crowded in that I could only dimly make out his figure standing on the platform, but that was fine. Knowing he was here was enough.
“During the inter-class tournament, the future talents who will lead the Empire—and indeed the continent—displayed their skills in friendly competition. As a senior walking the path ahead of them, I could not be more pleased.”
Senior?
I tilted my head without thinking. The Audit Department Chief wasn’t our senior, was he?
“Therefore, as a senior, I wish to offer a small gift to the juniors who have shown such excellence. The realm that exists at the end of the path they walk—the realm they may one day reach if they continue forward without stopping.”
Whatever! If he shows us something amazing, he’s a senior!
As his words moved closer to the main point, I could feel the anticipation rising in myself and everyone around me.
“The great Duke of the Empire, the Magic Lord, shares the same thought. She wishes to show here the pinnacle of magic that could not be fully displayed in the four-person match.”
The murmuring grew louder. Honestly I didn’t care much about magic, but just as I was looking forward to Sky Slash, the magic-department students must be looking forward to the Magic Lord’s magic. That made me happy for them!
“Ah—and I assure you that everything which is about to unfold has been proven safe. Please watch without agitation.”
?
Strange words. Safety? Agitation? The Sky Slash the Audit Department Chief had shown at the Academy before had never affected people, and no matter how powerful a spell was, firing it into empty air never caused any trouble. Why bother emphasizing safety?
Ah—there were plenty of ordinary guests who weren’t warriors, so he was being considerate. As expected, the Audit Department Chief was kind—
Uh…?
“Huh?”
I looked up at the sky and let out a dazed sound at the sight that met my eyes.
A rock?
No—could you even call that a rock?
An enormous boulder had appeared in the sky. A rock of ominous dark-crimson stone had suddenly materialized above us.
And that rock was falling toward us.
“───!!”
“──! ───!”
The surroundings erupted. I couldn’t make out the exact words, but it was loud.
Yet I could only stare, entranced, at the rock—no, the meteor. Now that I looked, there wasn’t just one. Two, three, four… maybe more.
“Once again, there is no problem with safety.”
The Audit Department Chief’s voice pulled my blank mind back.
“They will never reach any of you, after all.”
With those words the meteor split in half. The severed halves cracked further and further until they scattered like flower petals and vanished.
Beneath the torn sky they disappeared into powder.
Watching the meteors scatter into powder filled me with quiet satisfaction.
It somehow worked out.
The Magic Lord created the meteors; I sliced them with Sky Slash; then the Magic Lord canceled the magic and reduced them to dust. A highly technical collaboration.
Even I thought it was an utterly insane stunt, yet I had no regrets.
That was fucking cool.
Honestly, it looked amazing.
A mage who hurls meteors and a swordsman who shatters them. Where else are you going to see something like that?