Round One: Greig vs. Herbena
Yulia, Cindy, Herbena, Rebecca...
What was Greig Campbell doing in a lineup dizzying enough on the strength of those names alone?
It was entirely because his older sister, Rachel, had strong-armed him into it.
"Even if you go out there and get your hide taken off, at least show them you can accept a loss cleanly. Greig Campbell."
"Why should I have to?"
"Because of that duel with Blow, your reputation is in the gutter."
"Th-that's..."
"Weren't you saying you'd run for student council president next year? Given up on all of it now?"
"What's the point of starting now..."
"Then do as you like, you pathetic idiot."
"Why are you cursing at me? I'll tell the head of the house—"
"Go on, then. Tattle."
Greig did exactly as she said, and tattled at once.
Hearing it, the head of the house—his father, Alexei Campbell—looked at him and let out a long, deep sigh.
"Your sister isn't wrong about this, Greig."
"Father, if I go out there I'll only humiliate myself."
At words from his son that held not a scrap of spirit, Alexei's brow tightened. His wife, Sepia Campbell, seated beside him, did not appear to share the sentiment.
"My lord! You are far too hard on Greig, and nothing else."
"No—this is what Rachel said—"
"And is that girl right every single time? She doesn't even attend a magic school. She goes to a knight academy. What does she know that she gets to curse at him?"
"Hah. I'm tired. I'll send Rachel a message."
Greig rejoiced as if he had secured exactly what he needed to secure, but the victory did not last a week.
"Are you coming to the Black Bridge Gathering, Greig?"
"Why would I go? I hear Blow Deblique is coming too."
"Hah—then come and do something! Talk to Blow, at least. Pretend it doesn't bother you."
He would rather have died, so Greig gave no answer at all. From the other end of the line came a deep sigh.
"And I'm telling His Highness the Prince that you're entering the matches, so handle it yourself."
"Wh-why do you get to decide that, sis?! Father told you not to!"
"Because I want you—who doesn't even know what shame is—to learn something. You stupid little brother."
"Fine, I'll enter! I'll enter! I said I'll enter! And as for Father—"
"Yes. I'll be sure to tell him that after long and painful deliberation, you volunteered of your own free will."
And so Greig was half-dragged into the preliminaries.
Contrary to what he had expected, the fingers pointed his way were already fading, and in some corners people were even calling him impressive. To stand in the Academia preliminaries against one of Yulia, Cindy, Rebecca, or Herbena, with every eye in the place fixed on the match, was plainly an act worthy of respect.
But the goddess of misfortune smiled on him once again.
Of the four, the most awkward opponent of all had been drawn: Herbena. The gap in skill went without saying—and she was the trusted confidant of Blow, who had become his enemy.
"Hah. Of all people, Herbena. Should I just forfeit?"
On the day of the draw, once the event was over, Rachel endured his whining for some thirty minutes. Then her patience ran out. She glared at him as if she meant to kill him and snapped,
"If you forfeit, don't expect me to ever look at your face again!"
"Even so—"
"Shut your mouth before I shove a sword into it! And just try forfeiting, or surrendering!"
"You're not even the one fighting, so why on earth—"
"House Campbell is a knightly house with a long history. Greig Campbell."
For these reasons, Greig Campbell had no choice but to haul his wobbling body up onto the arena without forfeiting. And of all places, it was Björn Arena—the very floor where he had beaten Blow, and lost anyway.
Up on the arena now, Aurora, serving as both referee and host, was explaining the match to the whole of the crowd.
"The rules are simple! Potions and scrolls are forbidden, and at the referee's discretion the match can be ended and a judgment rendered!"
What followed were the safety rules the spectators were expected to observe. In the midst of it, Herbena looked at Greig and whispered, low.
"Hah—really, my luck is excellent."
"......"
"And you are quite lucky as well, Lord Greig."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You'll know soon enough, my lord."
"Wh-what in the..."
"If you think back on what you did to Lord Blow... really... haha..."
Her voice was quiet, and yet it cut cleanly into his ear. Herbena's eyes caught the lights and flashed, vicious. Rachel, watching from above with her chin propped on one hand, muttered to Blow.
"Herbena looks a little dangerous."
"No. I warned her firmly."
"About what?"
"To keep it moderate."
"......"
"When I told her that, she said Greig was lucky."
"Well. It's a disaster that idiot sowed himself. He can reap it."
Rachel clicked her tongue and watched her little brother from a distance. Herbena stood like a child who had just been handed a toy, waiting with her neck craned for nothing but the word that the match had begun.
She had received an apology the last time. To her, it was useless for anything at all.
Words can be tossed out a hundred times, a thousand times, easily enough. Nothing in the world is lighter.
That was why, in front of the inn, she had only felt worse. Set beside that, the magic she meant to show Greig would be very, very heavy. Her heart was beating with a bright, eager thrill when Aurora's right hand rose.
"Take your positions. I'll declare the start in a moment—once I do, begin at once!"
Aurora flicked a glance toward Mnevoir and Hanes on either side of her, dropped her hand, and shouted.
"Begin!"
Contrary to every expectation that Herbena's magic would come pouring down on Greig, she simply stared at him for a long while. Under that ominous air, the crowd swallowed dry. The murmur she let out after a long breath was clear enough to carry all the way to the very back.
"I have a good memory, Lord Greig."
One circle to each side of her, and one more beneath her feet—four magic circles in all took shape. At the unbelievable sight, every mouth fell open.
⟨ Wave 1 ⟩
⟨ Flame Orb ⟩
⟨ Pulse 1 ⟩
⟨ Wave 2 ⟩
Light broke from them in sequence, beginning with the circle on the far left.
"Wh-what is this?!"
In the instant before the magic landed, Greig barely managed to raise a shield of mana. It deflected only the first spell, Wave 1. Flame Orb, Pulse 1, and Wave 2 struck his body dead on. A magic-nullification effect was active and did protect him—but receiving spells through nullification was miserably inefficient, and eighty percent of his mana burned away in a single instant.
"Huk—huk—"
Terror flooded Greig's face at the tremendous force. Up in the stands, Blow narrowed his eyes before he knew it.
"That..."
"Looks like she's paying you back with exactly the magic you took from Greig last time. Blow Deblique."
"Hah. Herbena, honestly. I told her to keep it moderate."
Herbena, who showed no intention of doing any such thing, walked toward him with heavy steps and asked,
"Lord Greig, this isn't already the end, is it?"
"Huk—huk—"
"Hah, shit—no, no, that won't do. I haven't even used half of half of half of half of half yet...!"
As he kept retreating, she closed the distance in quick strides and thrust her right palm toward the sky. Greig summoned circle after circle, desperate to spray magic at her.
With the left hand that had been idle until now, Herbena cast a single spell and snuffed out every one of his.
"Whoa..."
"How many spells is she using at once...?!"
Someone in the stands clutched their head and cried out as if they could not believe it. In that same moment Herbena's right hand, now a single step from Greig, flashed violet. His nerve broke. He missed his footing and, on reflex, threw both arms up over his head.
"No—!"
Herbena's magically reinforced fist grazed just above the crown of his head. A boom tore through the air. Violet mana swept the arena like a surging wave in the direction her fist had traveled, and in its wake a huge semicircular scar was gouged into the floor.
"What was that?"
"Did Herbena miss because she isn't good with her body?"
"If that had landed, his head would've burst."
In the stands, where people had been holding their breath, laughter broke out, and a few attempted their own analysis of the spell. Blow, catching the faint smile on Herbena's face, let out an empty laugh and shook his head.
"She missed on purpose."
And the reason was obvious.
"Lord Greig! How could a mere commoner like me ever lay a hand on your body?"
She looked down at him with a chilling smile. He spat the words back as if he were sick to death of her.
"Wh-why are you doing this to me?"
"Why? Whatever do you mean?"
"I-if this is because of Blow, that was months ago, wasn't it? I apologized in person!"
"Lord Greig?"
Herbena scattered the circles she had been casting, dropped to one knee, and met his eyes. Under a gaze like a snake in the instant before it takes a mouse, Greig's whole body locked.
"I told you I have a good memory. That scene still comes to me in my dreams every single night. What am I supposed to do about it?"
"No, no..."
"In that dream I can't do a thing. I just sit in the stands, biting my nails. Do you understand?"
"So I said I was sorry—"
"Every time, you have no idea how hard it is. How the strength just drains out of me."
The smile vanished without a trace. Herbena ground her teeth.
"...You'll never know."
Then she began to unfold one enormously large magic circle directly overhead.
"Uh—uh..."
Of all the spells Greig had once turned on Blow, this was the supreme-tier magic with the greatest power. The moment the circle appeared, Greig's spirit took fright and fled back to its own world. Before that black light, a light that swallowed every other light, his legs gave out. He collapsed in a heap and screamed.
"Save me!"
In the same instant his cry left him, a massive magic circle woven of three colors bloomed across the arena floor beneath their feet, and Herbena's spell came apart where it stood. Having her magic canceled was a rare experience. Puzzled, she looked toward Aurora.
Aurora was already there. She had flown in, and she lifted Herbena's hand high.
"Woooah!"
Aurora's ruling that the match was over, and cheers bursting from the stands. Some were even on their feet, applauding. Herbena, unable to hide her disappointment, clicked her tongue. Aurora, who had come over in the meantime, patted her on the shoulder.
"Any more than this looked dangerous."
"......"
"We do have to keep people alive, don't we?"
As she said, Greig was utterly gone. His hands trembled without cease.
"People are awfully fragile, Instructor Aurora."
"Okay, the way you talk is actually terrifying??"
Even so, the cheers and applause for Herbena poured on without end.
"Herbena! Herbena!"
"Senior Herbena!!"
"Senior's definitely, definitely going to win the whole thing! No point even watching the other matches!!"
At those shouts, the worry deepened on Rebecca's face. She was the one most likely to meet Herbena next. Danvers ground her teeth loud enough to hear and whispered in her mistress's ear.
"My lady, this will not be easy."
"No. The mana density... hmm."
"How does she fire that many upper-tier spells without even resting? That wretched woman..."
Cindy, seated nearby because they belonged to the same student division, agreed with Danvers's muttering in full.
"Good thing I don't meet that in the quarterfinals."
"Right, Chief! Even the bracket luck is solid, isn't it! You avoided her in the semifinals too."
"Stop teasing me..."
"No! The rest of the Finance Department and I are about to draft a surefire plan for defeating Senior Herbena, just for you!"
"You little—! I told you to stop teasing!"
"But Chief! We're being serious!"
Around Indoor, the rest of her finance staff nodded with solemn faces. They were the ones who, whenever a spare moment appeared, staged hypothetical matches in the Finance Department among Yulia, Rebecca, and Herbena, and their eyes were sparkling more brightly than ever. Cindy, watching them through narrowed eyes, let out a deep sigh and shifted her gaze to Indoor, their representative.
"Then what was Herbena's weakness in the match just now?"
"We'll discuss it among ourselves first, and then we'll report to you!"
"You mean there isn't one!"
"Chief, how could we produce that on the spot...!"
With that from Indoor, Cindy—whose thoughts had only grown more tangled—stuffed the donuts she had brought into her mouth one after another and thought of nothing but her own match tomorrow.
"Young Master."
After the match, Herbena came up to Blow wearing an easy smile. Because of the tremendous performance she had just given, every gaze in the stands was, of course, fixed on her. A few came forward to press candy into her hands. Others asked her to sign their books. Underclass girls looked on with open admiration, while the upperclassmen, feeling the wall between them, wore hollow faces. And all of it seemed, for a moment, to turn into envy of her master, Blow.
Blow, for his part, found those looks nothing but a burden.
"Yeah, Herbena. You really were outstanding."
"I wanted to show you properly this time. There hasn't really been a chance, has there?"
"Winning's the goal, right?"
"The goal? Hmm. Well, yes..."
"You say it like it's obvious."
"I meant that I'll be faithful to the process."
She lifted one corner of her mouth. Then she hesitated a moment and spoke to Blow.
"You'll have to praise me properly later."
"Hm? I just did."
"When the semifinals are over, I'll come to Hills."
"It's not as if that's difficult."
Pleased with the answer, Herbena beamed. In the meantime Aurora came down to the arena.
"Round two begins now!"
With those words, Herbena offered a polite bow to him and to Rachel.
"Going to watch from the waiting room?"
"No. I think I'll head in. I have a lot to do."
"Still, wouldn't it be better to at least watch Senior Yulia's match?"
Herbena glanced at Yulia coming up onto the arena and shrugged.
"I think it'll be fine. I'll be going in, Young Master. And Lady Rachel."
"All right."
She bowed to him and walked outside. Rachel, watching her back, tilted her head.
"If Yulia finds out about this, her pride is going to take a real hit."
"Which is why I wasn't planning to mention it."
"Hmm. I wonder. Telling her might be better. Knowing Yulia, she'd only prepare more seriously."
"You think so?"
"You don't know how fierce Yulia is, do you?"
"Hearing you say that, it strikes me anew that I don't actually know Senior Yulia all that well."
"That's because you hardly ever come to the noble gatherings."
"Does it work out that way?"
Rachel let out a short laugh at his words. Just then Yulia and her opponent, the fourth-year Sen, appeared on the arena. The seats, though, were far emptier than they had been for Herbena. Her performance a moment ago had simply been too shocking. Seeing it, Yulia's eyes hardened.
"I don't know her all that well, but I can tell she's angry right now."
"Yeah. I feel a little sorry for her opponent."
"Begin!"
The instant Aurora declared it, an indigo magic circle formed beneath Sen's feet at tremendous speed. Sen saw it, panicked, and scrambled to raise a defensive circle of his own. For a moment the moonlight overhead seemed to lose its light. Then a thunderous rumble rolled through the whole of the arena.