Admissions Exam (2)
Meanwhile, at the very moment Ellie was talking with Melitt, Dane Edwick was having tea with his father, the duke, and Professor Resanti.
“...So, in light of that, I’d like you to take the field yourself, Young Master.”
At Resanti’s explanation of the situation, the duke stroked his sandy beard.
“Not a bad idea.”
“Exactly, Your Grace. Is this not a chance to burnish the reputation of the House of Edwick, and beyond that, the standing of the young master who will one day become duke? Even if the opponent is so terribly inadequate that one could scarcely even call her an opponent.”
“Yes, yes, it’s not bad at all. Dane, what do you think?”
“I... ”
Dane himself hesitated instead of answering right away.
Because he could still see it before him: the face that girl Ellie had made when she said she would accept the duel.
Don’t believe me? Then take it.
It had been the tone of someone issuing a warning.
As if she were saying she could kill him if she felt like it, and asking whether he truly thought he’d be fine with that. As if she were telling him she wouldn’t murder him since he hadn’t committed a crime deserving death, but that if humiliation or a miserable little beating was what he wanted, then she could give him plenty of that, so he ought to think carefully before making his decision.
“What is it, Dane?”
“Nothing.”
Still, this was no situation in which he could back down.
“I’ll do it. For the sake of spreading the name of our house far and wide.”
“That’s the spirit.”
“I’m sure the young master will do splendidly! Of course, winning itself is not the point—what matters is raising the dignity of the house.”
“By the way... what exactly is a triple comparison?”
“At your age, young master, it’s only natural not to know.”
Professor Resanti smiled as he explained.
“Simply put, it compares three abilities: distance, power, and precision. The one who wins two out of the three is the victor.”
Of course.
Only using magic.
The news that the orphan Ellie and Dane Edwick, the duke’s son, would publicly duel spread through the entire Academy before long.
In a world without phones or text messages, people passed messages directly from mouth to mouth. Very enthusiastically, too.
Because...
“Did you hear? The orphan freshman and Dane Edwick are going to fight!”
If someone had said something similar in a modern classroom, the reaction would probably have been something like this:
“Oh, really?”
“Yeah, I saw it in the group chat yesterday.”
“Wanna join the betting room?”
In a modern setting, getting even a lukewarm “yeah, I know” reaction would have been lucky, but in this world, it could spark a far more explosive response.
“What!? Seriously?”
“A duel? How are they even going to do it?”
“Wow, I’ve got to go see this! It’s today!?”
Just like that.
For the same reason.
“The duel method is some old-fashioned thing, and the date isn’t today—it’s tomorrow!”
Simply delivering information that would barely be worth shouting in modern times...
“Wow, really!?”
“I have to go!”
...was enough to earn that kind of reaction, and the amount of dopamine flying around was on a completely different level. The children who weren’t afraid to talk to people eagerly volunteered to become messengers, almost competitively.
As a result, by lunchtime the very next day after Dane accepted, Ellie was already at the center of attention.
“That’s her, right? The one dueling Edwick tomorrow.”
“She really has no color to her, huh...”
“An orphan...”
“But why are they even dueling?”
“Well, from what I heard...”
Murmur, murmur. Whisper, whisper. Murmur-whisper. Whisper-murmur.
“Hmmm...”
Ellie herself, meanwhile, was carrying a tray with her food on it and scanning the dining hall, absorbed in a completely different problem.
There are fewer people I can actually talk to than I expected.
The Academy was a standard four-year institution, and there was no such thing as a homeroom class.
However, unlike a Korean high school or university, a large number of the students already knew one another before they ever enrolled.
That was because they were all the sons and daughters of high-ranking noble houses, and their social circles had overlapped in one way or another.
So even freshmen usually had at least one friend or acquaintance among their peers, which made it easy to form little groups right away.
The exception—those who didn’t yet have a friend group—made up only about ten percent.
Come to think of it, what happened to that one?
As Ellie’s gaze roamed the student cafeteria in search of a certain red head, it finally caught its target.
Oh. Good, she’s alone.
The girl eating quietly at a corner table was Philia Cryford, the daughter of a count.
She had been the one to show Ellie magic for the first time, the benefactor who had handed her the key—and the weapon—that could be used to escape the orphanage.
Though it doesn’t seem like she sees it that way herself.
Still, that didn’t change the fact that Ellie had been helped.
She carried her food over and sat down beside her.
“Hello?”
“...?”
Philia looked at Ellie with a slight frown.
“You’re... from then...”
She shook her head a little, as if finding it hard to believe.
“I guess your father was right after all.”
A sigh.
“Try to get along, then.”
And just like that, she went back to her meal.
“Um...?”
When Ellie asked, Philia looked over at her again.
“...?”
She only looked. Still chewing on a piece of bread.
Ah.
Ellie understood at once.
She’s a loner.
That was the right answer.
It wasn’t that Philia wanted to be rude. She didn’t want to make enemies either.
It was just that, truthfully, she didn’t really understand the value of socializing with people—or the value of friends.
History showed that whenever there was enough to gain, betrayal without hesitation was practically a daily occurrence, so why bother making something so uncertain in the first place?
Guess I don’t have a choice.
Ellie made up her mind.
Then I’ll be her friend. She did save me, after all.
If Philia had heard that, she probably would have had a question mark pop up over her head. Not just because of the conclusion, but because of the cause, too.
Whether she liked it or not, Ellie kept eating beside Philia while she struck up conversation.
“What’s your favorite color?”
“...”
“Red, right? Or should I say, maybe obviously red?”
“...”
“Ah, wait, is it pink?”
“...Blue.”
“Oh, so you like blue. I like blue too. If we’re talking about the blue of the sky, which season’s blue do you like best? The deep blue of autumn, or the pale blue of spring?”
“...”
“Hmm, okay. Want to go for a walk in the garden together after we eat? It looked pretty yesterday.”
“No.”
“You don’t like gardens?”
“...”
“Your face says that’s not really it. Let’s go together sometime anyway. Spring and summer should be especially beautiful. We can find a good spot in advance.”
“...?”
What did she mean, find a spot in advance?
Philia was an only child, and even the chatty maids in her territory kept their mouths shut around her.
In other words, she had no immunity to someone chattering at her side.
How exhausting.
Ellie’s voice was actually pleasant to listen to, which only made Philia more irritated. If it had been the sound of plates shattering, she could have simply snapped and driven her off. But this...
“Let’s have dinner together later too. Oh, do you want to come visit my room? There’s nothing in it yet, but if you’d help me think about how to arrange the furniture, I’d really appreciate it.”
And even while rambling like that, she was eating just fine. Half the food that had once been piled high on her tray had already disappeared. When had she even eaten it?
“...No. I mean, I’m eating right now, so I’d really rather you let me be alone.”
At last, a new record emerged: the longest sentence Philia had spoken since arriving at the Academy.
“Ah, sorry.”
Ellie said that and stood up.
“I’ll come back later!”
Then she took her food and wandered off to another table.
“...???”
Philia felt as though she’d been caught in a storm while walking down the road—except this storm had arrived without warning and then suddenly set her free.
But then...
She said she’d come back later?
In truth, Ellie didn’t exactly trail after Philia all day like a shadow... no, not quite.
Instead, she came by now and then, leaving space in between so Philia could breathe.
For example, when Philia went to the library...
“So this is the library? Can I read beside you?”
“...Do whatever you want.”
At dinner...
“Can I eat next to you? I won’t talk to you.”
“...Do what you want.”
And on the way from the cafeteria back to the dormitory, she would chatter away beside her in that pleasant voice of hers, bright and lively.
“Do you have a favorite food, Philia? Me? Um, maybe warm bread with honey. I haven’t really gotten to eat many delicious things.”
“I see.”
“Come to think of it, when was the entrance ceremony? Do you remember the date?”
“Hey.”
At last, Philia’s curiosity outweighed her annoyance.
“Don’t you have anything better to do than follow me around like this?”
“...Something better to do?”
“You’ve got that thing tomorrow. Against Dane Edwick.”
It was the first time since arriving at the Academy that Philia had spoken first.
“Ah, that.”
“Not just ‘that.’ Do you not have any sense at all?”
“Huh? Why would you say that?”
“If you want to win, you need to prepare. Dane Edwick...”
She looked around.
“His personality and reputation may be awful, but his skill is the real thing.”
“Philia.”
At the soft tone that seemed to brush against her ears, the young red-haired mage found herself going blank for a moment, as if spellbound.
“Thank you. For worrying about me.”
Because the voice that slipped from Ellie’s lips was no longer the playful, teasing lilt she had used all day. It carried a mature, almost adult warmth instead.
“But I’m fine.”
With the moon and stars and the night sky behind her, Ellie smiled.
“He’s not nearly as impressive as all that, and I’m not weak enough that you need to worry about me.”