The New Member Is a Tiny Priest! (3)
The New Member Is a Tiny Priest! (3)
Feigning an attempt to mediate, Ian subtly steered the two toward a nearby training arena.
"Oh? A sparring arena, right here? How remarkably convenient."
Both Danya and Elena shot him pointed looks at his transparent maneuvering.
Their gazes shifted to each other a moment later, and the fight was on.
I wanted to see Elena's skills in action anyway. This works out perfectly.
The two entered the arena—a setup resembling a large fighting ring—their auras already clashing.
"Ian, you be the judge, meow!"
"Please officiate fairly, Brother!"
"Got it."
Ian answered casually and took stock of the arena.
All training facilities at Lichten combined magitech with cutting-edge engineering. The sparring arenas were no exception. Layered with illusion magic and various magitech systems, the arena provided a virtual combat environment indistinguishable from reality—physics, magical techniques, even the pain of taking a hit. Naturally, no actual injuries occurred. It just hurt exactly as much as it should.
Which was why fighters could go all-out inside a magitech arena without reservation.
First time messing with the referee interface, though.
Ian stepped onto the judge's platform positioned beside the ring. He touched the mana stone protruding from the console, and a translucent panel flickered into view. A surprisingly extensive array of options populated the windows.
He worked the controls and brought up several displays. The most prominent: health bars floating above both combatants.
So they deplete when you take damage?
Baseline health values were adjustable via a slider below. At this point, it practically felt like spectating a fighting game.
"Can we fight now, meow?" Danya asked, her magic bow already materialized.
Ian blinked, mildly surprised. She had looked ready to lunge straight into combat, yet here she was waiting patiently. Had Danya been just as curious to gauge the new team member's abilities?
Danya, you little...
A small wave of pride washed over him. Here was someone who had once debated dropping out of the academy, now stepping up to welcome newcomers into the fold.
Feels worthwhile, dragging her around everywhere.
If he was honest, Ian had dragged her around because he needed her, but a good outcome was a good outcome regardless. This, he mused, was the entire point of raising characters.
"Ready!"
Tension blanketed the ring at Ian's shout.
"Fight!"
The two circled, widening the gap as they sized each other up.
Hmm.
He had expected an immediate messy brawl. Academy-trained cadets were academy-trained cadets, after all.
Danya retreated swiftly to the edge of the ring, maximizing distance. Her magic bow had appeared in her grip before he had even noticed.
Its form is definitely more solid than when she started.
Proof that Danya's mana sensitivity and mana control had grown. Ian felt an unearned sense of accomplishment—like he had rescued a sprout that had never seen sunlight and was now watching it properly bloom. If he were being honest, the support Danya offered by sticking with him so loyally rivaled that of the original heroines.
Raising Danya is satisfying. So satisfying.
Smug contentment on his face, Ian turned his head.
Elena stood there, white shield raised, watching Danya's movements with sharp vigilance.
Truthfully, Ian's willingness to stand back and let them fight stemmed largely from wanting to observe Elena's combat style and abilities firsthand.
What the team needed right now was a sub-tank and healer. Elena had already confirmed through conversation that she could fill that role, but hearing about it and seeing it were two very different things.
Starting with her stance.
Her stance alone is optimized for team play.
Ian nodded in quiet satisfaction.
Elena stood diagonally, one foot drawn back. Main tanks responsible for absorbing frontline pressure typically faced forward squarely, ready to advance—enemies were in front, not behind. A sub-tank's role was different. They positioned themselves ahead of the team's core damage dealers, shielding them from attacks the main tank could not catch in time.
The fact that Elena naturally assumed such a starting stance spoke volumes about her familiarity with the sub-tank position.
Meanwhile.
Oh servant of Deus, Elena! I shall subdue this cat named Danya and reclaim every tomato—no, every heaven-sent blessing!
With a sacred resolve burning in her chest, Elena narrowed her eyes and studied her opponent.
What abilities this feline Danya possessed remained unknown to Elena as well. She had guessed only that Danya was likely some sort of mage. But being comrades with someone as exceptional as Brother Ian surely meant she possessed equally formidable talent.
"Where did all that bravado go? Running away already? Have you lost your nerve?"
Elena peeked out from behind her shield and taunted.
Danya answered with a scoff and drew her bow.
Fweeee—
The arrow tore through the air with a sharp whistle. Elena hastily ducked back behind her shield. The impact sent a vibration through it, but the shot wasn't overwhelmingly powerful.
If this is all!
Confidence swelling, Elena immediately produced the secondary weapon she had kept hidden behind the shield.
"A chain mace?"
"Since ancient times, nothing has been better for dealing with heretics."
"I'm not a heretic, meow!"
Elena charged at the flustered Danya.
"Prepare yourself!"
Danya's agility ranked among the top in the academy, but the ring was an enclosed space. Elena closed the gap and swung the mace.
Whoom—
The heavy flanged head plummeted downward—and Danya sprang clear with a nimble bound. Feline grace in motion.
"Tch, you really are fast!"
As Elena wrenched her mace from the floor, Danya twisted acrobatically in midair and loosed an arrow in the same fluid motion.
"Oh."
Even Ian, watching from the sidelines, was impressed by the display of skill. It was a pinpoint hit. Elena's health bar instantly dropped by about ten percent. That would definitely sting.
Elena merely furrowed her brow for an instant before charging straight at Danya's landing zone. No matter how agile the opponent, midair offered no way to dodge.
"Hyaaaaat!"
Shield-first, Elena's body slam connected with devastating precision.
Danya bounced and tumbled across the floor several times before wiping her mouth. Virtual blood smeared her lips, signaling roughly half her health remained.
"Not bad."
"Miss Danya is quite agile herself."
Instead of replying, Danya created more distance and nocked another arrow.
"There's nowhere left to run inside this ring!"
Clang—!
Snow Blossom Fruit... no, Brother Ian's trust shall be mine!
Elena swatted the arrow aside and pressed forward. But it had been a feint.
The floor suddenly bulged upward.
Ian, watching, murmured under his breath.
"...Dirt bump?"
A technique Ian himself had demonstrated a few times in the past: forcing the earth to protrude from the ground. Danya had improvised on it, generating vines from the floor instead.
"Ah!"
No time to react. Elena's legs tangled in the vines and she went sprawling. But that wasn't the end.
—Bzzzzz!
An ominous hum swelled from overhead.
Suspended in the air: hundreds of arrows.
"Ngh!"
No window to respond. A pressure change swept through the air, followed by a vibration like the wingbeats of ten thousand bees—
Fwabatatatat—!
Arrows rained down in a relentless torrent, each one laced with emerald-green mana. A full performance of arrowfall.
"...!"
Caught in the deluge, Elena's health plummeted to zero in an instant.
"Danya wins."
The arena's illusion magic dissolved at Ian's declaration.
"Hoo."
Danya exhaled and approached Elena, who lay sprawled on the floor.
"You okay?"
"Y-you're good. I'm a close-range fighter, so I was sure I'd win..."
"Your strike wasn't bad, meow. Honestly, I didn't expect you to charge straight through my arrows like that. You've got some grit, you know."
"I learned something today, Sister—no. Big Sis Danya."
"H-hmph!"
Danya's tail gave a subtle, pleased flicker at Elena's praise.
"Well. For that level of performance, I'll let you have one bite for every two of mine. Since I'm the older one!"
And with that, the pecking order was established.
...Unless Elena just figured out how to handle Danya.
Which of the two was the truth, Ian couldn't tell.
◆
While Elena and Danya sprawled out to recover, Ian headed straight for Sylvia's office.
—Oh, right! Rina's available for the promotion battle team, but Sylvia said she still wasn't sure, meow. Whether she'll join or not.
Danya had relayed that earlier, and that was why he was going.
Sylvia's office was five tram stops away.
"Oh? What's this? Ian dropping by to see me? That's a first."
"Anyone listening would think you're always the one coming to find me."
"I always thought I was the one doing the clinging. In 'our' case."
...Pretty sure I've always been the one initiating.
Ian shook his head at the teasing curve in Sylvia's eyes. Engaging was a losing game.
"More importantly—what's this about not knowing if you'll participate in the promotion battle?"
Sylvia chuckled softly.
"Hmm. You're genuinely concerned? Oh my, thank you. Picking you as a business partner was a good choice."
The way she twisted her words made it obvious she had something in mind. Ian pressed with silence, and Sylvia's lips parted as if she had no other choice.
"Then I'll be frank. I'm planning to give up on the promotion battle."
"Why?"
"The period while Emilia is absent is the only chance I have to close the gap with the Raymond Trading Company."
"......"
Now that he thought about it, in the original timeline the Raymond Trading Company had seized control of the academy's commercial sphere right around the promotion battle.
"Even if it means giving up the Aether Class benefits?"
"Of course there are plenty of merits, but in the grand scheme, entering Aether a semester late doesn't matter much. But dominance over the market—once you lose that, it's over."
Moreover—
Sylvia continued.
"Both of us promoting at the same time has little practical value. If one person promotes first, they can pull the other up during the next promotion round."
Ian nodded. Her reasoning was undeniably sound. But at the same time, the pronoun she had used couldn't go unremarked.
"Us?"
Sylvia blinked a few times at his echo of the word, then swept her hair back behind her ear.
"W-well, we're business partners. Isn't it natural to say 'us'?"
Fair point.
◆
When he returned to the original spot, Elena was waiting, recovered and bright-eyed. Perched on the crown of her head was a pristine white snow-blossom flower.
"Sister Danya speaks sharply, but she has an exceptionally warm heart."
Danya bristled immediately at Elena's words.
"N-no, I don't! Hmph!"
Danya was proving Elena's point all by herself.
"You're both exhausted, so head back and rest for today. We'll discuss team matters later."
"Ah—"
Elena made a small sound, then spoke up.
"There's something I need to tell you about. It concerns the club."
"Hm?"
"The Dessert Research Society's club room. You're entitled to choose one."
Ah, right. That had completely slipped his mind.
He and Elena spent some time browsing vacant classrooms.
"...What the hell? Why is this here?"
In one long-abandoned classroom in the old Magic Building, he discovered an unexpected item.
An aged wooden crate fitted with a lock.
It was one of the Numbers.