4 – 4. First Steps (1)
In a room that looks dozens of times her size, a girl is sitting on a chair in front of a mirror and tidying up her grey-white hair. .
And without knocking, two maids come in.
“Miss Sylvia. The letter has arrived. Please read it.”
“…”
The House of Count Kutelli.
Among the nobles of the Principality of Ardelion, it was a fairly wealthy and prestigious family.
As for the status of the count, with the exception of a few families, the ranking is also quite high, so this situation deserves to be tilted.
A single maid barges into the countess’s daughter’s room without knocking, and the maid dares to hold out her letter with one hand.
‘I’m bored.’
The grey-haired girl, who seemed to have no expression on her face, took her letter and let out a long, endless sigh.
How long do I have to do this?
Even Sylvia herself knows that it is not right for her to be treated like this because she is an illegitimate child, even though she is an aristocrat from a prestigious family.
But what can I do?
My mother is from a humble background, so at the point of being born as an illegitimate child, the eyes around me are cold.
She leaves Sylvia in her mansion, saying that she will still be useful, but when and where she will be thrown out is entirely in the Count’s hands.
“…Why two?”
“It’s because Lady Sylvia didn’t handle it right, right?”
“The problem arises because she doesn’t properly show her role as a nobleman. Other successor candidates have already ──.”
It’s a start again.
Pressing her spirit like this ─
“My lady, aren’t you paying attention?”
“You’ve been lax today. You need some corporal punishment.”
Whether she refutes it or not, she is very intent on stabbing her hand, so she makes all sorts of excuses.
After all, she’s complaining that she’s taking care of a filthy, lowly commoner’s child.
She took a cane and rolled up her skirt to hit her calf, but she didn’t feel any pain at all.
Her memory is fuzzy.
When was the last time she got angry at me for hitting me even though she didn’t do anything wrong, and when did she just give up on being comfortable with being hit?
She said that since then, she has never laughed or cried.
She’s just like a doll that always has the same expression.
As soon as the calf area became red, the forced corporal punishment by the maids ended.
When there was no reaction this time, her maids left her room, leaving Sylvia her medicine and a request, and Sylvia was finally able to hold her letter knife.
“…Vesta and Pallas were defeated.”
Vesta, Pallas.
Children of aristocratic families who have a similar disposition to the Count Kutelli family.
From noble mtl dot com
They weren’t very friendly, but they had a common goal because they were nobles, so they weren’t without knowledge.
The contents of the letter were as follows.
It was about the fact that Vesta was attacked and defeated by Class E’s Junon, who is said to be the weakest vanguard, and Sylvia hopes that she will come forward and recover.
A letter with a roughly similar content came from the Pallas family, and even if you didn’t read more, it was decided what to do.
It’s just to maintain discipline and maintain a lofty position by asserting power.
Even knowing that this was boring and useless, Sylvia had no choice but to act.
After losing her mother, that’s all she has left. Because she wanted to avoid being left alone.
“It’s Junon… It’s them again.”
A doll-like girl with only the emotion of fear has stopped her several times, and this time she threw away the letter, calling out the name of the person she needed to fix.
***
Now is exactly the first day after returning.
Yesterday was the day when Archduke Ardelion announced that he would investigate the corruption committed directly against professors allied with noble families.
Academy members are likely to ask various questions such as what does this mean, who is involved, and what is happening? So, the professors responded as follows through today’s invited lecture.
They say they are innocent because they spend a lot of money and even call expensive people.
As a result, the professors had an intention to calm the controversy that would cause students’ agitation and confusion, and this trick worked well.
“Ahhh…”
The problem is that it is a lecture that only a certain layer can understand.
Those who are left behind in a society tightly bound by academic ties, regional ties, and blood ties cannot understand even 10% of that lecture, let alone half of it.
So, even though it seems to answer the students’ eagerness for learning, it is their own class, excluding classes D and E.
The lecture is of no use or meaning to me, but there is a reason I came here.
“Hmm… It’s a very clean blue magic. I think you can see the hot flames in it. Ms. Michelle, you mainly deal with fire, right?”
“Be precise.”
─Oh…
The instructor, who correctly pointed out Michelle’s mana he had seen for the first time, received the students’ exclamation and then the corners of his mouth went up as if he was surprised by something like this.
What I am paying attention to is the question I asked the instructor.
A girl from Class 2 A with a reddish-brown ponytail that I don’t know at all.
This is Michelle, who was a colleague of mine as a member of Thembris in the distant past, and whom I will soon run into as usual.
‘Well, it will grow well.’
I’m not someone I should worry about.
A few more words are exchanged between the lecturer and the students, but there is no useful conversation.
And she sees a girl complaining about her displeasure, pulling her hair from her brown short toe back to her back, as if she didn’t like it.
“Ha… Why am I listening to this?”
Senia in Class 2 D muttering inaudibly after she realized that the lecture was of no use.
If it goes as it should, it will be the one that will experience the bitter defeat of one person along with me.
For now, I intend to stop it myself, but I have no intention of running into it.
What was the conclusion of the paper written in large letters on the desk in the dormitory?
[ Levant Academy must not collapse. ]
This is the conclusion I came to after reviewing the past for three hours, but I added one additional condition below it.
[ Avoid contact with people involved in Thembris party. ]
The condition most deeply related to my death.
Certainly, it’s not because I’m afraid of seeing my comrades die.
The dagger that pierced my heart… It was the blade of my colleagues who were filled with resentment. In other words, I was killed by a trusted colleague.
It’s unfair, but what are you going to do with revenge?
Besides, they’re going to fight the monsters instead of me, but if I mess with them, I’m the only one who loses.
But I don’t want to think about the feelings they had for me… Any more.
Anyway, even in this life given another chance, there’s no way you’d want to be killed by your comrades. Therefore, for me now, it was clear that Michelle and Senia were people I should avoid.
She’s not very close with Senia yet, and she hasn’t been acquainted with Michelle, so all she has to do is avoid encountering them as much as possible. Nothing difficult.
‘Oh, just finished.’
The instructor gave Michelle last advice and decided to have a Q&A time after the lecture.
“Now, since the lecture is over, anyone can go.”
Professors from the side speak openly while looking at the students sitting in the back row.
I assure you, people in the back row will never be able to step forward and ask questions.
Look at the people who dare to stare in front of you as if asking where you are coming from.
Look at the professors right next to you who give notice as if to just leave.
Under common sense, no one will be able to cross that invisible, transparent wall.
Those who encourage class promotion but block it more than anyone else.
This was the biggest contradiction of Lebrand Academy.
Through the uncomfortable truth, all the students from Class D and E sitting in the back row get up and leave through the back door.
I also plan to get out, so there is no disagreement. However… It’s a problem that there are people following me trying to get away quietly.
‘As expected, I’ve been following you since then.’
Someone with long grayish white hair was following out the back door, having given up the lectures of the nobles.
Thanks to that, Professor Jake’s lecture today seems to have been punctuated. How many will fit in the attendance sheet later?
***
Michelle also had to pay close attention to the Q&A time after the lecture.
Students who attend Levant Academy usually have an excellent zeal for learning, but she especially wanted to produce extraordinary results.
‘I have to graduate soon…’
A nobleman, the only daughter of a count family, a family at the beginning of the founding of the principality, a genius who is not indolent, and a person with a natural talent for magic.
There are numerous adjectives attached to a girl who is only 18 years old, but she has no interest in them.
-‘For me, there’s a chance they’ll notice. Michelle, this is something you should dive into as an individual after you graduate from the academy.’
Now the children who became war orphans cannot be officially announced, nor can the cremation of the person mentioned by the grand duke in the ordinance be performed.
All Michelle needed right now was money.
But out of all the modifiers, there is only one modifier that is really useful to Michelle.
The best sophomore prospect with overwhelming mana-related indicators.
In other words, there was nothing but innate magic.
The essential meaning of magic itself lies in hunting monsters, so you can make enough money by selling useful remains and spoils after hunting demons or receiving bounties.
But what kind of place is a battlefield?
It is a situation in which people may die when and where, and it is not a place that a single student who has not completed the course can dare to approach.
The family was notified that they could not lend their strength, and their qualifications as an academy student have not yet been proven.
The only way Michelle could earn money alone was to have enough conditions to complete her bachelor’s life or graduate early by showing that level of performance and progress.
I run towards the goal of graduation, but the conditions for graduation are too tight.
Usually, graduation is only possible after completing the first semester of the 5th year, but now is the time to finish the 2nd year. I have to graduate early somehow, which is another headache.
There are only two conditions for completing the academy by graduating early.
Be in the top 10% of at least Class B, or Class A, and compete after the team mock battle. It’s okay if you look at it so far, but there are additional items.
The actual experience is generally conducted in the second semester of the third year among the semesters that come three times a year accompanied by a professor, and even if you skip a class, it is the beginning of the third year.
She is sweeping the top grades in her top class, class A, but she is a few months too early.
As expected, even with this method, it will take time to graduate early, and even with the elimination method, there is only one left.
The only remaining condition is blooming unique magic.
To directly prove that you are a person who can mature on the battlefield by manifesting unique magic like a person’s creation created by embracing an individual’s inclination, personality, and personality.
This was the reason why Michelle was devoting herself to lectures and guest lectures and investing all her time in her studies.
However, it has already been over a year since the time passed just like now, and even though he is superior to others, he has no choice but to be more impatient.
And the same result was repeated this time.
“Haa…Why? I’m not sure.”
Those who bloomed only through training to increase the amount of mana, those who bloomed only through the tenacity to emphasize efficiency, and those who bloomed through endless will to explore.
I tried to follow the direction they pursued, but I didn’t feel a unique ‘sensation’.
Michelle was at a loss as to how to overcome the wall of unique magic.
In the middle of that, I felt hungry.
Sometimes, as professors who are only immersed in research say, they focus only on one thing without knowing that their stomach is empty.
I’ve heard that it’s good to take a break while eating something delicious at times like this.
“…I’m going to eat at a restaurant today.”
It’s a bit late for lunch, and it’s too early for dinner.
The ambiguous time of 4:00 p.M., Not suitable for students to go to the cafeteria, led Michelle to the vicinity of the Megrez House. And.
Twoong-!
“Hmm…? Why is this sound here…?”
I heard a strange sound that would have gone unnoticed by even one passer-by near the restaurant where there were no footsteps.
A unique wave heart that is created when magic and magic collide.
“One side seems to use magic… The other side… A shield?”
The sound of something duller deflecting something lighter draws Michelle’s attention.
Inevitably, it is assumed that at least two people are fighting using magic.
Students secretly requesting duels in this way have become more frequent.
If you want to compete in strength, why do you choose this method even though you have the option of sparring?
“I have to go dry.”
The only thing left after fighting like that is until the damage on one side accumulates and a retirement is declared.
Either way, not only is it a waste of mana, but if you get caught by the professors, you could get suspended, so it’s best to stop it.
They head to the place of battle between a girl who has lost all other emotions except fear and a boy who has passed away in the distant past, but when Michelle arrives, one person is already gone.
However, at the place where the battle took place, a completely different person was watching the process from afar.
‘…Oh my god.’
It was a brown, medium-haired schoolgirl holding her hand out of her eyes at a suspicious sight.