Chapter 54
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 54
Chapter Title: Bratty Loli + Tamer = M's Brat (3)
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'Condition is... so-so?'
On the day of the inter-grade tournament, Bianca Beatrice stretched as she checked her physical state.
It wasn't particularly good or bad, but like most of Class 1, she had no intention of losing.
Even though a few from Class 1 had beaten second-years back when they were first-years, now that they were second-years themselves, they wouldn't dream of losing to first-years. That was just human nature.
'Still, Lucia Ursula will be tough.'
She was confident she could handle any other first-year except the top student of the first-years, Lucia Ursula.
Rumors even circulated among the professors that Lucia was already close to the level of a senior graduation class.
'Family, looks, talent... tsk.'
Bianca clicked her tongue.
It infuriated her to no end, but every now and then, she had to admit that some people were just born with the world's blessings.
At that moment, the voice of yet another person blessed by the world rang out.
A small girl—or so she appeared—with a dainty stature and pink bobbed hair... It was Professor Amy.
Professor Amy led the first-year students into the arena, shouting,
"Come on, move it quick-like...!"
Her signature lisping voice echoed through the arena, drawing snickers from here and there.
"Train hard! And do it safely...!"
She planted her hands on her hips and tried her absolute best to look stern, but her youthful appearance made it feel like a child playing grown-up.
...Who could possibly look at her and imagine she possessed combat prowess second only to Professor Loreos?
The first-years were no exception, as one student called out,
"Professor Amy, why are you speaking so forcefully today? It doesn't suit you at all."
"It suits me just fine...! I've got work today! Professor Tristan from Class 2 is absent for some unknown reason... so the finest professor among us—me—has to check on Class 2 too...!"
Anyone could see the other professors had dumped the annoying job on the naive Professor Amy, but if she took pride in it, who cared?
Just then, Professor Amy gasped and clapped a hand over her mouth.
"Eek?! Professor Tristan's absence was supposed to be a secret, and I just blabbed it...!"
Her wide eyes and frantic foot-stomping made her look like such a fool that it was hard to believe she was actually a professor.
"Everyone, forget what I just said...!"
"So, should we forget that Professor Tristan is absent? Or that you're handling Class 2 too?"
Laughter erupted at the boy's cheeky question.
"Eek...!"
Professor Amy's face drained of color, then flushed red, cycling through shades as she stomped the ground and yelled,
"Hey! Quiet down! Everyone, be silent...!"
A power that manifests phenomena through words—one of the highest-tier unique abilities known.
—Snap.
In an instant, the chattering students fell silent.
It wasn't because Class 1 were especially obedient kids.
Professor Amy had forced it upon them.
Of course, it wasn't absolute.
Commands threatening the target's mind or life, like "forget" or "kill yourself," rarely worked, and even simple orders like "be quiet" could fail due to variables like mana, mental strength, stamina, and more.
But the ability to alter reality with mere words held value that outweighed all those flaws.
'...Me too...'
Bianca Beatrice glanced down at her palm, thick with calluses.
If she had been born with a power like that instead of physical enhancement, would things have been different? The thought crossed her mind.
'Useless thinking...'
Bianca snorted and shook her head.
...It was a meaningless hypothetical anyway.
Unique abilities couldn't change unless you were reborn.
Even knowing that, the thought lingered—perhaps because Professor Amy was one of the few at Carnea Academy who looked even younger than her.
"Phew... Now that you know what happens if you tease your professor, line up...!"
"...Professor Amy... I bit my tongue because of you..."
"Wah...! Not sorry...! You were noisy, that's wrong—just shut up and line up by number quick...!"
She blatantly ignored the students' words, yet instead of authoritative, she just looked adorable.
"Phew... This arena's too high...!"
Grunting as she climbed up, Professor Amy pulled a paper from her small bag and read aloud.
"...So, first-year Issentura Kurata and second-year Bianca Beatrice, come up...!"
Bianca's eyes widened slightly.
No way she'd be called first.
At that moment, a first-year boy leaped straight onto the arena without using the stairs.
"My opponent... Huh? Um... So, senpai...? You're too small... no, you look so young..."
The moment Kurata opened his mouth, a chill wind blew through second-year Class 1.
Big trouble...
Gonna have to clean up a body today...
...No one who had ever commented on Bianca's physique had walked away unscathed.
"..."
Bianca offered no reply, just a sweet smile.
—Crunch.
But her fist clenched even tighter.
Up to now, first-year Class 5's win rate was 0%.
All 16 duels had been losses.
Some put up a decent fight—a "good loss," if you will—but they were far from seizing the advantage.
In a way, it was a natural outcome.
As time passed, second-years simply had greater proficiency in combat and magic. Honest as the flow of time itself.
'Same now...'
Even the Stanton in front of me moved differently from the first-years.
His attacks pierced through breathing gaps with precision, and he shrugged off light magic with his body alone—a combat style rare among first-years.
Personally, I'd have preferred facing the mage Radnem over the warrior Stanton, but Stanton wasn't a bad matchup either.
'...I already know all the patterns and types of opponents in these grade tournaments anyway.'
Stanton pulled his left foot back, crouched low, and tucked his chin slightly.
Pattern 4: spinning slash stance.
The spinning slash involved gripping his greatsword with both hands and whirling it like a windmill.
Once the centrifugal force kicked in, it was hard to block...
'So just stop it from spinning in the first place.'
Wind Blade
Telekinesis stretched like strings around Stanton's ankle.
Boom-!
Instead of blocking the Wind Blade, Stanton endured it with his mana-reinforced body.
To shorten his defense time and transition straight to attack.
But the moment he stepped forward to spin, the telekinesis tripped him, and he lost balance.
"Whoa?!"
...This was Class 5's limit.
Class 3 would've recovered mid-fall.
Class 1 wouldn't have lost balance to begin with.
I charged at the fallen Stanton instead of casting more spells.
In this pattern, any magic would've just been blocked behind his greatsword.
"Ngh...!"
He hadn't expected me to close in, panic flashing as he scrambled into a defensive stance and tried to stand—but I was already in his face.
Unable to ready a sword swing, Stanton abandoned it for a punch.
Whoosh-!
The air tore with the sound.
His mana-infused fist was rock-hard.
To a frail mage, even a casual swing was a massive threat.
But I sparred punches with Loreos every day.
Mana or not, it was leagues below Loreos's strikes.
...No idea why I was comparing a magic specialist professor to fisticuffs, but there it was.
'Loreos... you sure you're a real mage?'
I tilted my head right to dodge the incoming fist, then extended two fingers to his throat.
"...Gonna continue?"
I took this pose deliberately—to clearly show the faculty I held his life in my hands and rack up extra points.
"Gh..."
Stanton bit his lip for a moment before dropping his head.
"...I lose."
The first victory for first-year Class 5.
"...To a first-year, no less..."
Stanton's face went blank, his soul seemingly fled from the humiliation of losing to an underclassman. What could he do?
His opponent was me.
Woooah!!
What? He really won?
We beat a second-year?!
I knew you could do it!!
...Watching from the monitor, I felt nothing, but the sudden barrage of high-fives was mortifying.
"Good work, Eugene."
Professor Loreos approached with a satisfied smile and patted my back.
"Thanks to you, Professor."
I bowed and deflected the credit appropriately.
Part social grace, part truth—his special training had helped.
"Next up, Vivian Beatrice..."
At her name, Vivian hunched over, gnawing her thumbnail as she climbed the stairs.
"Can't lose can't lose can't lose..."
...She seemed a bit off, but for victory, there was no choice.
Vivian, with her bottom-tier midterm scores, needed overwhelming growth this tournament to join Class 2 like me.
Her stats alone put her comfortably in the second-years' upper ranks, restrictions or not.
Yet her win rate scraped the floor purely due to her personality.
So I whispered the spell.
-'Win no matter what. If you lose...'
I stopped there, but Vivian would imagine the rest.
'Wonder how long it'll take.'
She'd win, but pre-awakening? Five minutes? Maybe longer.
"Begin...!"
Kaboooom-!
The instant the match started, Vivian blasted the second-year clean out of the arena...