143. The Whiner of the Edfolk Family (6)
“Even so, Yulia wouldn’t be able to beat Yelich, right...?”
“No way, the difference in years she’s been casting magic is huge, and Yelich has way more duel experience.”
“Even if she lasts ten minutes, I don’t think Yulia would win.”
“How much mana difference is there...? I bet she’ll keep clinging to me for the rest of the second semester this time, just like when Rachel Campbell beat Yulia.”
“How many times was it again? With Rachel Campbell.”
“The real question is how Yelich wins.”
“If only she could make Yelich unable to breathe.”
‘...Because they’re doing it from behind, it’s just gossip, but are these guys not learning? They keep sticking Yulia behind them.’
Rachel Campbell, tired of the light chatter, let out a soft sigh and shifted her gaze toward the dueling arena. At that moment, Lukan beside her quietly asked her a question.
“Rachel, who do you think will win?”
Rachel looked up at the two on the arena. Unlike Yelich, who glared with eyes ready to pounce at any moment, Yulia appeared calm.
That expression was exactly the same as the one she wore when she beat her, so Rachel answered in a dry tone.
“Yulia.”
“R-really?”
“When have I ever said something like that lightly? Don’t repeat it.”
“But still, Yelich has been the top student for years, so I think she’ll win.”
“Think whatever you want.”
“Ah... no, I accept what Rachel said.”
Some of the surrounding students looked at Rachel with puzzled eyes after hearing their conversation.
One of them met Rachel’s gaze, narrowed her brows, and shot back, “What are you staring at?”
“Sorry.”
The moment Rachel issued a warning, the supervising teacher between Yelich and Yulia raised one hand.
“Duel begins!”
At the same time, Yelich’s brown magic circle formed.
“Yelich-senpai!!”
“Blow her away!!”
Soon, a brown light swirled from the magic circle, and a new bird-shaped flame shot straight toward Yulia.
“「Firebird」”
The enormous heat that reached the stands left everyone’s mouths agape. But Yulia simply stared at it without moving.
Her reaction seemed too slow, so Rachel clicked her tongue, and the audience in the stands laughed, saying “Of course.”
“「Fountain 1」”
Just before the bird of fire could strike her, a massive water column erupted like a geyser.
The Firebird instantly vanished.
“Eh... eh?”
The unexpected result left the mouths of everyone watching in the arena shut tight. Yelich’s pupils shrank, and she unconsciously took a step back.
After a while.
Smoke cleared, revealing a clear smile on Yulia’s lips.
◆
Twenty minutes had passed since the duel between Yulia and Yelich began.
And the duel had taken an unexpected turn that no one, except Yulia, had anticipated.
“Why are you only counterattacking!!”
“Is that a problem?”
Yulia answered in a relaxed tone to Yelich, who narrowed her brows and shouted.
As Yelich had muttered, from the very first spell until now, Yulia had only countered Yelich’s magic.
When Yelich used her advanced fire magic 「Salamander’s Breath」, Yulia used intermediate water magic 「Wave 2」. When Yelich cast advanced water magic 「Wave 3」, Yulia used the basic ice magic 「Freezing」...
By chaining one counter after another, Yulia’s strategy was like a turtle curling up, steadily gnawing away at Yelich’s mana by exploiting the superiority of attributes.
One attacking, one defending—that sight was like a teacher letting their student run wild at will.
Yelich, feeling something was off, briefly stopped her spellcasting. Only then did the surrounding chatter reach her ears.
“Even if Yelich has more mana than Yulia, she’s being overpowered right now?”
“Yulia’s stamina is good too. She doesn’t even pant.”
“But how does she respond? If she just watches the magic and counters, she’d be too late, right? Yelich’s casting speed isn’t slow either.”
Yelich was quite surprised as well.
She couldn’t understand how Yulia neutralized her magic.
Even setting that aside, Yulia had only learned proper magic for three years. Meanwhile, she had learned magic seven years ago.
And it was from her father, who was comparable to one of the Six Great Mages.
Originally, there should have been a sky-and-earth difference.
‘To someone as insignificant as this weed on the roadside...?’
Overwhelmed by the wave of skeptical gazes directed at her in the unexpected situation, Yelich’s hands trembled, and her vision blurred.
‘Just crush her with the strongest magic, “Spirit’s Blade”...!’
At the moment Yelich reached out to cast again, Yulia, who had been watching her intently, covered her mouth and let out a light chuckle.
“You’re about to use 「Spirit’s Blade」 now?”
“What?”
“That’s the strongest magic you can use, right, Yelich?”
Yulia tilted her head slightly to the left and spoke.
A brief silence fell between them.
Yulia looked at her awkwardly and chuckled.
“You’re too predictable, Yelich.”
Though she wished it weren’t true, Yelich’s blood boiled.
From Yelich’s perspective, who had been reading the moves and was in a difficult situation, using 「Spirit’s Blade」 as Yulia suggested would only make her friends laugh at her.
Or perhaps she was already being laughed at.
Thinking that far, Yelich clenched her fists and muttered, “...Damn it.”
“Oh my, cursing? How vulgar. If it bothers you, I’m sorry.”
With that, Yulia clasped her hands in apology.
Yelich frowned for a moment, wondering what she was up to.
Before Yulia’s clasped hands, a brighter indigo magic circle than usual appeared.
“Y-you coward! Such a cheap trick!”
Yelich tried to activate the magic circle, but Yulia only smiled while looking at it.
“You’re late, Yelich.”
Rumble—
The sound shook the heavens and earth.
“「Perun’s Strike」”
Lightning struck Yelich’s body before she could even finish casting.
The shock exceeded her limit, and due to her mana exploding, her mana color—crimson—began to appear on her skin.
“Ugh...”
Yelich staggered, unable to stand properly. The supervising teacher rushed over.
Yulia looked down at her and smiled faintly.
“Oh my, when you overflow, you turn brown like that, Yelich? Everyone must have seen it for the first time, right?”
“Haah... haah...”
“But you know, because of your mana color, you look like you’ve been doused in sewage?”
Yulia spoke while looking down on her pitifully.
Yelich trembled with rage, her hands shaking.
“To this whiner...!”
With those words, Yelich’s eyes nearly burst, and she fell backward. The supervising teacher helped Yulia up.
“Y-Yulia wins!”
Despite the victory declaration, there was no applause. Yulia bowed to everyone watching and descended from the stage.
Rachel Campbell stared at her blankly as she turned back to her book without expression.
...She won, but so easily?
Rachel shifted her gaze to Yelich, who trembled with a shameful expression beside her.
Lukan beside her shouted in excitement.
“As expected! As expected, it’s Rachel!!!!”
“......”
“If I had bet money here, it would have been ten times...”
“Quiet down before I hit you.”
Lukan immediately shut his mouth when Rachel shoulder-checked him.
Rachel let out a soft sigh and rested her chin on her hand, glancing slightly toward Yulia.
Then she met Yulia’s deep gaze, which had been staring at her for a long time.
Rachel nodded silently.
Even after seeing that, Yulia stared at her for a while before shifting her eyes to the book.
“Yeah, amazing, amazing.”
Rachel muttered that and, for no reason, twisted her hair and gulped down a glass of water beside her.
◆
Inside the carriage returning Yulia to the mansion.
Marchen stared at her mistress with a bewildered expression.
It was because Yulia, her mistress, had been smiling happily for the first time in three years.
“Miss.”
“Yes, Marchen, what is it?”
“No, it’s just that your expression is good.”
“There was something good?”
“Good... thing?”
“Yes, I finally beat Yelich today.”
“Ah... I see. Then what about these magic circle cards?”
“Throw them away, or keep them somewhere?”
Marchen took out the cards from her pocket and unfolded them.
The cards had the names of the spells on the back—‘Wave 1’, ‘Spirit’s Blade’—and the magic circles drawn on the front.
They all looked the same, but upon closer inspection, there were many subtle differences in the magic circles.
They were copies of Yelich’s magic circles that Yulia had drawn exactly the same every time Yelich performed a duel or demonstrated magic.
- What are you staring at so intently? Just copying magic circles doesn’t make magic better?
- I just wanted to learn from it...
- You really need to put in the effort. Yulia, you can’t even do basic magic, but you’re doing this?
Yulia had no idea that she had been copying with perfect accuracy and necessary effort from the very beginning.
Since the year she decided to duel Yelich, the hundreds or thousands of cards she had seen had corners frayed and torn, no matter how carefully she looked.
She had memorized Yelich’s habits when using each spell, the characteristics of each magic circle, and the counter-magic Yulia could use against them.
She had really worked hard.
Looking at that, Yulia felt a pang of sympathy for herself and fiddled with the cards for a long time.
Then she shifted her gaze to Marchen, who had been staring at her with lips tightly pressed together, and forced a smile.
“No, Marchen, since Yelich and I will attend the same school in the future, it’s better to keep them until we graduate from the academy...”
Plop.
Unconsciously, tears fell from Yulia’s eyes again.
“Waaah... why am I like this now...?”
Yulia pressed her eyelids tightly with trembling hands. Marchen hugged her tightly and said,
“You worked hard, Miss.”
“I know. I don’t think I’ll be able to do it this way even if I go back.”
“Others may not know, but I do.”
“Now, it’s the beginning. Please take care of me in the future too...”
“Yes, Miss.”
Inside the swaying carriage, the red light of the setting sun painted the road to the mansion in orange.
Yulia realized that the tears she shed from joy and happiness also made her head hurt if she cried.
◆
Yulia, who had been talking without stopping while heavily drunk on soju, drank the alcohol while smiling.
The others were carefully watching each other’s expressions.
“It was fun, wasn’t it? Prince, sorry!”
Yulia smiled faintly, patted Blow’s shoulder, and spoke while looking at everyone.
“Everyone, sorry. Sorry. Today I was a bit like this, haha... I shouldn’t have ruined the mood.”
Blow, who had been quietly listening, looked at Yulia and opened his mouth in a low voice.
“It’s fine.”
“What?”
“You can ruin the mood. What’s the big deal with that?”
Yulia’s eyes softened as she stared blankly at Blow, then opened her mouth slightly.
“No, I can’t do that to the prince. I want to show only good sides to Skadi and Jane here.”
“You’re doing just fine.”
“Because I was already too late with Rachel Campbell, right, Lady Campbell?”
Rachel, who had been thinking a lot after hearing Yulia’s words, simply drank her drink without replying.
Then Yulia’s voice took on a teasing tone, and she leaned toward her with a bright smile.
“But thank you, Lady Campbell. Everyone... even if everyone hates me, Lady Campbell still...”
“No, I didn’t know you would be so shocked then. I thought it was strange...”
“No! It’s not like the Lady is out of the blue, right? What did the Lady say to Yelich back then?”
“......”
“That was really, really grateful. Really?”
“It was just something I had to say at the time.”
“You know it’s hard to say things like that, right? More than anything.”
Yulia gulped down her drink with a smile and added,
“Haha, so there was. When I teamed up with you, Prince. The Lady said something. It seemed like she didn’t like it.”
“No, it was just regret rather than dislike.”
“Anyway, you did say that, right? At that time? I felt like I was recognized by the Lady.”
“......”
“That whiner Yulia did it. Haha, I wish I could tell my past self. Maybe...”
Yulia pressed her eyes tightly and added,
“Maybe you wouldn’t believe it. Back then, I probably told you not to say foolish things—”
Her eyes filled with tears as she spoke, so she stopped and filled her cup.
Blow brought her cup in front of him and spoke.
“Lady, you have to go to school tomorrow. You seem to have drunk too much.”
“Um? I can’t get drunk? What? Prince? I can’t?”
“Lady, we have tomorrow, don’t we?”
“......”
“I’m really worried.”
After hearing those warm words, a faint smile spread across Yulia’s lips as she looked at him for a long time.
“Yeah, you have to listen to the prince. Good things happen when you listen to the prince.”
“I’ll say that from now on too.”
“Wow, you really know how to talk! Instead, drink this cup. Please, it’s a request from Yulia Edfolk.”
Then Blow drank the cup in one go, as if he had intended to, and Yulia clapped, delighted.
“Thank you. For always listening to me.”
“No, it’s fine. I’ll only listen to words you can say. Should we go soon?”
“Yes! I wonder if Marchen is doing well. She must have suffered a lot because she met the wrong master.”
With that, Yulia reached out to her coat. Rachel, staring at Yulia, let out a soft sigh.
“Yulia.”
“Yes, Lady?”
“Just take care of yourself from now on.”
“Yeah. That’s better.”
“......”
“You’re cool, Lady Rachel. You’re like a big sister.”
With those words, Yulia stood up from her seat, staggered from the alcohol, and hugged Blow’s right arm, which had stood up with her.
When Blow looked down at her in surprise, a soft citrus scent emanated from her neck.
“Senior?”
“Prince! Please walk me to the carriage.”
“Yes, I was thinking of doing that.”
While Blow answered, a silence fell as if cold water had been poured on them.
Jane, startled, didn’t know what to do and soon curtsied to Yulia. Skadi, who had been biting her teeth unconsciously, swallowed a sigh and waved her hand awkwardly.
“Prince, go quickly! See you all tomorrow!!”
Leaving those words, Yulia stepped outside and took a deep breath of the cold November air, then turned to Blow who followed her.
“Prince.”
“Yes, Lady.”
A long moment passed.
Yulia spread her arms with a coquettish voice.
“Can’t you just hug me once?”
“Lady, that...”
“Really? It’s hard? Haha...”
Yulia’s head drooped, looking regretful but understanding.
Blow swallowed dryly, wondering what to do. Meanwhile, Yulia looked up at him.
“Then, sometimes pat my head too, Prince. Now would be good.”
“......”
“Sometimes when we’re alone! Right? I’ll keep it a secret... secret...!”
Blow was a little surprised because this was the first time he had seen Yulia show such a side, who had always been elegant and graceful.
But it was also true that he felt pity for her lonely face.
“Herbena and Jane often pat your head, don’t they?”
“That’s true, but...”
“I want to be praised by the prince too. How hard I’ve worked!”
Yulia laughed mischievously.
The lights from Hills illuminated her white face and navy-blue hair. Her eyes looked incredibly sad.
At that moment, silence fell between them again.
Yulia hugged Blow without hesitation.
“Sorry. Just for a moment, just today. Just today...”
Yulia’s shoulders shook for a long time. Blow patted her back, sighed, and stroked her hair.
“Why are you making it so hard on yourself, Lady.”
“......”
“You don’t have to live so hard.”
“......”
“After all, when you die, only bones will remain.”
After hearing those words, Yulia chuckled and wiped her tears from Blow’s chest, then lifted her head.
“You always say good things, but when it comes to this, you can’t speak?”
“I can’t always say that.”
“Blow, Prince...”
“Yes, Lady.”
“This is a story for later.”
With those words, Yulia looked up at Blow for a long time, then buried her face in his chest and murmured in a voice that sounded like she was about to cry.
“If I don’t have someone to marry later, will you marry me?”