Reconciliation (3)
“Specifically, we’re going to have a mock duel. But since this is only a lighthearted game to ease us into the first class, it’ll be played under special rules.”
Professor Telemann picked up a feather pen.
“Each duelist will hold one feather pen in their hand. The only magic words you may use are Bore and Gade. Nothing else—no adding grammatical elements, either.”
They were the common magical words for “take” and “guard.”
“If you succeed in protecting your own and stealing your opponent’s, you win. If you’re stolen from at the same time, or if both are defended, it’s a draw. If one side was faster… well, I’ll judge it appropriately. As I said, this is only a light game.”
The professor swept his gaze across the twenty-odd students.
“Single matches are a little dull, so let’s do best of three. Any questions or objections?”
No one raised a hand. The professor nodded.
“Then could the pair at the far-left table in the front row come up first? Let’s go around in that order.”
Ellie and Philia were last.
Which meant that if they did nothing, they’d be stuck in this awkward silence all the way through.
Ugh…
Philia thought furiously, What? What is this? I didn’t do anything wrong, so why do I feel so uncomfortable? There’s no reason for me to feel guilty. What, why, I mean—so what is it?
At the front of the classroom, two students exchanged greetings.
“All right, if you’re both ready… begin!”
“Bore!”
“Bo—Bore… ah.”
“Yes, one win for Jacqueline. Once a round ends like this, I’ll give you ten seconds. The one who lost should think about how to win next time, and the one who won should think about how to keep winning. All right, when I signal again… begin!”
“Gade!”
“Bo—Gade!”
“Bore!”
After a brief exchange, both students’ feather pens were snatched away from their owners’ hands.
“Even if it’s a draw, I’ll only let you duel up to three times. All right, you have ten seconds.”
Ellie quietly admired him.
He’s actually good at teaching.
He’d immediately brushed away the stiffness that came with a first lesson, encouraged the students to mingle, and somehow managed to teach them at the same time.
The exchange itself was extremely simple. And yet that very simplicity made it easier to absorb the idea of reading your opponent and managing resources, while naturally internalizing the concept of protecting what you had.
“Yes, thank you for your hard work. Next pair, please.”
As one pair after another came up to duel, Ellie gathered several observations.
First, most of the students seemed to be trying actual duels with people and magic for the first time.
“—Bore.”
“G-… ah….”
But there were also children who, whether through talent or nature, quickly stood out—and Professor Telemann was sharp enough to catch them immediately.
And lastly, Philia in the neighboring seat was growing more and more uneasy as time went by.
Her fingers, which had been fidgeting the whole time, were tightening with each passing minute.
Her gaze kept drifting to the middle of the desk, then back to her side, then back again, with the intervals between those motions getting shorter and shorter.
Even her breathing had started to quicken. If she kept at it, Ellie felt like she’d soon be able to hear Philia’s heartbeat, too.
That girl, honestly.
Her thoughts were written all over her face.
She’d told Ellie not to talk to her again, but now that it had really come to this, she probably regretted it. She was probably thinking she’d been too harsh, but apologizing would be embarrassing, and it was true Ellie had gotten on her nerves by crowding her space, and yet at the same time it was also a little disappointing that Ellie wasn’t coming over at all. It was probably something like that—a messy tangle of feelings.
Seeing it that way, Philia was still just an immature kid.
…Though Ellie, who’d found it entertaining and had rushed in a little too quickly herself just to tease her, couldn’t exactly claim to be very mature either.
Well, can’t be helped. I’ll make the first move.
She opened her notebook, wrote a message, and slid it across the desk.
Philia flinched, then lowered her eyes to the page. Ellie’s message was short.
—Sorry.
Philia blinked, then looked at Ellie.
The red and black eyes met for the first time that day.
Ellie smiled faintly and signaled with her eyes. Your turn to write.
Philia’s soft lips parted, then closed again.
Instead, she took out her own pen and wrote in Ellie’s notebook.
—Really?
—I won’t be such a nuisance from now on.
—…That’s for me to decide.
—Yeah. Sorry for being a nuisance.
—Then I’ll forgive you.
The two girls’ handwriting filled the notebook page by page. Ellie’s was loose and easygoing; Philia’s was neat and precise.
—So I can talk to you again now?
—I don’t know.
—!! (tear drawing)
—That’s not what I meant….
—I know. You’re just pouting, right?
—Don’t put it like that.
—Sorry. Want to eat dinner together later?
—…Don’t be too annoying.
—OK, then let’s go!
—(OK with an arrow) What’s that? A symbol?
—Ignore it. I just drew a random line.
—…?
“Now then, would the final pair please come up?”
Only then did Ellie and Philia realize everyone else had already finished.
Philia coughed awkwardly and stood. She’d gotten so absorbed in communicating by scribbling in a notebook that she was embarrassed.
Still.
She didn’t think this sort of thing would be bad at all—if it wasn’t too clingy, or if they only talked like this sometimes, maybe at a set time each day.
Maybe.
Maybe, maybe, maybe she didn’t need to go out of her way to avoid making friends after all.
And separate from that, whether they were friends or not, if they were going to duel, she meant to take it seriously.
Philia raised her wand, tense.
She hadn’t seen it herself, but she’d heard that Dane Edwick had been utterly crushed by Ellie. Honestly, she regretted it a little. She should’ve just watched.
“Then Ellie, Philia.”
Even as the professor spoke, whispers spread across the classroom, students pointing at Ellie and murmuring, Is she the one from that day? and Shh, quiet—let me see how she does it.
What do I do?
She started planning.
Even if she successfully cast Gade, the defensive effect would only last about ten seconds. If Ellie used Bore at the same time, would she lose? Then what should she use first—
“Please begin.”
“G, Gade!”
Philia reflexively blasted out her defensive spell, but it worked perfectly.
The conversion of ether into mana? Clean, with no excess or clutter.
The imprinting of the magical word onto mana? Smooth, with no residue or surplus mana left behind.
And all of it was made even firmer by the ash wand her father had spent a fortune on for her.
But then—
“Bore.”
Ellie spoke the word casually.
Registering it as a magic word for the first time, and with nothing but a flick of her hand, no wand at all.
Then, for an instant, the air shivered.
“!!”
“!?”
Students all over the room were aghast. A few nearly screamed before slapping their hands over their mouths.
Ether was the base element that formed all things in the world.
Magic was the act of a person with the gift of magic taking ether into themselves and changing a part of the world to suit their will.
Then could one person’s magic change another’s, too?
It was possible.
If there was a massive difference in output.
The instant ripple that spread through the room was because Philia’s magic had nearly been shattered.
It hadn’t broken. But it had barely held.
Even that much had only been possible because the Cryford Count family was an ancient, prestigious house, and because Philia herself was gifted; for many of the other students, the guard would have broken outright.
W-what…?
Philia, who’d taken the force of it head-on, was trembling. The hand holding the wand, and the hand holding the feather pen, both shook.
Across from her, Ellie absentmindedly touched her own hair and thought,
So this is the limit.
The limit of how far she could draw out mana while keeping the black of her hair and eyes intact. Now she knew exactly where that line was.
Then…
Ellie pointed her hand at Philia again.
Flinch. The delicate girl’s body trembled. Even though she knew it was useless, she still clutched the feather pen tightly.
But instead of casting a spell, Ellie crooked her finger, as though beckoning her closer.
“…!”
Philia’s face turned red. Am I being provoked right now? Philia gritted her teeth. Even if she lost, she’d fight while losing!
“Bore!”
Then Ellie’s feather pen slipped lightly out of her hand and flew toward Philia.
Huh?
There was no way. If Ellie had really wanted to, she should have been able to block that easily.
Why?
No way.
“Ah—timing’s not easy, huh.”
That day, Philia learned one of Ellie’s weaknesses—or perhaps one of her flaws.
This girl was absolutely terrible at acting. If she ever had to perform in a play, she would have to be barred from the stage, no question.
Philia’s shoulders began to shake.
“…Hey. Ellie.”
Even as she spoke like that, a growling rasp rose in her throat.
“Huh? W-what is it?”
Ellie also learned that not only was she awful at acting, but if her bluff was seen through, she’d start stuttering too.
But that wasn’t the important thing right now.
“Don’t hold back and do it properly!!”
It was the first time in her life Philia had ever gotten angry at a friend.
“Okay!? ”
“I, I’m… I mean….”
“Did you hear me or not!?”
“I-I heard you! Sorry!”
Between the fuming Philia and the flustered Ellie, Professor Telemann’s lazy voice rang out.
“The ten seconds are already up. You may begin at any time.”
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
That evening, a rather unusual table appeared in the student cafeteria.
In order of family rank, there sat Princess Stella Blaze, Princess Isabel Sucre, Baroness Clea Lacustrine, and Countess Philia Cryford.
And finally Ellie, the orphan.
Strangely enough, the very orphan at the end of the table was the axis that bound them all together.
It was the evening that completed the gathering of friends who would spend four years together at the Academy.
It was a time of laughter and chatter, of girls who were still a little awkward with one another slowly closing the distance between their hearts.
“Oh, right.”
Ellie said this as she scraped the last of her soup clean from the bowl.
“Anyone want to go to the Imperial Capital with me this weekend?”
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