༺ Fury (1) ༻
“Shera, throw the trash in the trash can properly.”
“Sob.”
“Right now.”
“Ugh, you blockhead…”
During the day, the Spade Paladin, who was walking through the grounds of Märchen Academy, scolded the Heart Paladin, Shera Hectolica, who was beside him.
To him, who adhered to the rules, Shera’s act of littering on the street was unacceptable.
“This place will disappear anyways, what does it matter if one or two pieces of trash are thrown on the street.”
“Shera. We are students…”
“Okay, okay~. Seriously, you will never date a woman in your life.”
“Hey, what do you mean by that?”
Shera, with a look of disgust, picked up the paper trash she had thrown away and put it in the trash can.
Then she took out a mana pudding bar from her pocket, tore open the wrapper, and took a bite. She still had a displeased expression on her face.
“Model citizen leader. Do you think ‘that guy’ will pop out during the duel evaluation? As Her Majesty mentioned.”
“…You mean the ‘Shadow Demon’?”
“Yeah, that.”
According to the information shared by Alice, that demon was lying low, waiting for the right time to appear.
After the joint practical evaluation, it had been a series of boring day-to-day life, so Shera wished for the Shadow Demon to appear soon and provide some excitement.
However, the Spade Paladin’s response immediately deflated Shera.
“It won’t happen.”
The Spade Paladin lifted his glasses with his gloved hand. In his own way, it was a movement that exuded intelligence.
“It doesn’t seem like the Priestess will go berserk anytime soon.”
“So booooring…”
Shera pouted her lips and grumbled.
***
─‘My goal is Luce, after all.’
Isaac’s words lingered in her mind.
In the Magic Department, Orphin Hall.
Only the darkness of the evening sky hung over the first-year Class D classroom.
Sitting still in the middle of the empty classroom, Snow White, the pure white princess, had been staring intently at the duel request ticket for some time.
Snow White recalled Isaac’s words. He had received a duel request from Miya, the first-year top seat and Priestess, yet showed no sign of fear.
Instead, he showed determination, stating that his goal was Luce Eltania, who was even stronger than Miya.
‘Senior Isaac is so cool.’
If she had to duel with Priestess Miya, she would certainly feel a strong fear first.
‘Could I also become like Senior Isaac…’
To become someone who stood shoulder to shoulder with Priestess Miya and Saintess Bianca Anturaze, To become friends with them, and ultimately contribute to the peace of the Zelver Empire.
That was White’s purpose in Märchen Academy.
Then, how should she use this remaining request ticket in the upcoming duel evaluation…
“…”
It was time to end her deliberations.
White stood up from her seat.
***
“Hooooo, haaaa…”
“Princess White, are you alright?”
“Yes, I’m already full of determination…!”
The next day. The day before the duel evaluation.
Snow White, pouring out cold sweat, steadied her breath.
Her appearance was so tense that even just looking at her would make one sweat.
In front of the academic building, White and Merlin Astrea were hiding behind a row of trees.
The first-year top seat of the Magic Department, Priestess Miya, with her black jade-colored hair flowing down, was walking towards them. White, placing her hand on her chest, took a deep breath and nodded at Merlin.
Her face set with determination.
White moved resolutely and stopped in front of Priestess Miya, who was walking along the path.
“…?”
Miya stopped in her tracks when White suddenly appeared.
The warm sunshine shone down on the two beautiful female students.
White’s face was full of tension, and Miya’s face was clouded with questions. The two students seemed to be divided as black and white.
Like a teenager who was about to confess, White trembled. Miya waited for her to speak.
“H… h-h-he… Hey…!”
White managed to part her lips, but her voice quivered as if broken.
Merlin, who was hidden behind the tree, was silently cheering ‘You can do it!’.
Gathering her courage, White pulled something out from within her clothing to show Miya.
Her hands trembled as if there had been an earthquake.
White’s serious-looking face and cold sweat, along with the duel request ticket in her hand, came into Miya’s view.
Miya tilted her head, seemingly not understanding the situation.
“Miya, I challenge you to a duel…!”
Passing students were shocked to see the princess pulling out a duel request ticket towards the Priestess.
Even putting aside the fact it was a princess versus a Priestess, the situation of the last in the grade challenging the top seat was shocking enough.
“…Pfft.”
Miya let out a scoff.
“What’s the scheme?”
“S-scheme? No, it’s not like that. Just…!”
White looked straight into Miya’s eyes and exclaimed,
“You are my goal…!”
Only one day was left before the duel evaluation.
Isaac had achieved dramatic growth yesterday by fully mastering two 6-star magic spells.
He always pushed himself relentlessly and achieved exponential growth in the end.
Then, as his mentee, she couldn’t just stand here doing nothing.
She couldn’t become like her senior if she continued to show cowardly behavior.
Snow White’s goal was to become close to Saintess Bianca Anturaze and Priestess Miya, to stand shoulder to shoulder with them.
Therefore, she decided to challenge herself by dueling with Miya, the strongest student in the first year, and her goal.
To become stronger…! She mustn’t hesitate to fight strong opponents like Isaac does.
And if she was lucky, this could be an opportunity to become closer to Miya. White gathered her courage with this thought.
White and Miya looked into each other’s eyes silently.
After a moment of contemplation, Miya let out a slight smile.
“Okay, I accept.”
“…!”
A glimmer shone in White’s eyes.
Despite the situation of the last in class challenging the first, White couldn’t hide her surprise that Miya had accepted the challenge.
Miya approached White and whispered, “I look forward to it, Snow White,” in her ear, and then left the spot.
With her face flushed and a bright smile, White clenched her fist and quietly cheered.
White was very happy just with the fact that Miya had accepted her request for a duel.
* * *
❰Magic Knight of Märchen❱ sub-event, “Blazing Petals.”
Ian Fairytale had definitely received the duel request from Priestess Miya, so the player couldn’t avoid that sub-event. Strictly speaking, it wasn’t much different from the main scenario.
Naturally, our protagonist Ian couldn’t beat Miya. The difference in their abilities and the power of their familiars was too great.
However, Ian won in the sub-event. The reason was simple.
‘Because Miya let her guard down.’
Miya, trying to gauge Ian’s skills, held back and was suddenly overcome.
It was Ian’s incredible physical ability and bursting strike that ultimately caused her to be defeated.
It was the common cliché for a strong opponent to underestimate the protagonist and then be defeated.
However, the cost of such a victory was severe burns and two days in the hospital, but a win was a win. He was easily healed with magic as soon as the duel ended.
Moreover, Ian, having the constitution to hold the light element, also had monstrous regenerative powers.
Of course, I am not Ian.
Meaning, it was uncertain whether Miya would underestimate me and hold back as she did in the sub-event “Blazing Petals.”
‘She’ll… probably hold back?’
Considering Miya’s behavior and speech on the day of the entrance exam, when she underestimated me.
As I was thinking about the upcoming duel with Miya, something unexpected happened.
“She accepted the duel?”
“Yes.”
In the evening, in a corner of the Hydrangea Garden.
White, who had been repeatedly practicing wind magic, said with an excited voice.
Since it was the day before the duel evaluation, I didn’t ask her to do anything strenuous. She was just lightly reviewing what she had been taught so far.
Meanwhile, I clicked my tongue at White’s story. It was about how she had challenged Miya to a duel earlier that day, and Miya had accepted.
Was there originally a duel between Miya and White in ❰Magic Knight of Märchen❱…?
‘No.’
Absolutely not. There never was a duel between the two.
From the beginning, the difference in their skills was too great. It was like me, in Semester 1 Year 1 facing off against Luce Eltania, who could fully use the power of the Thunderbird.
“Why did you challenge her to a duel?”
“It’s nothing special, really…”
White stopped using her magic and seemed to hesitate for a moment.
She appeared to be contemplating whether or not to share her thoughts.
Finally, White looked straight at me, as if she had decided to tell her story.
“You said you would beat Senior Luce. Like you, I wanted to challenge the Priestess.”
“…”
“That’s why I’ve been deliberating until today. Wondering if someone like me could even do that.”
White smiled awkwardly.
“You are… like a mentor to me. Being around you, I want to become like you. Maybe it’s something inevitable? When you see something amazing, you can’t help but want to imitate it, to aspire to it…”
I was about to say it was still a reckless act, but I held back.
It was clear that White had her own determination to challenge Miya. As for my thoughts on her decision…
I didn’t want to be overly critical.
And…
“…Is that so?”
“Ehehe.”
Feeling somewhat embarrassed by White’s words, I lifted my glasses and shyly looked away. White giggled playfully at my reaction.
Unlike other Imperials, this princess showed not even a hint of authoritarian tendencies.
She was pure, kind, and a bit of a klutz. That made her even more comfortable to be around, and it was impossible not to grow fond of her.
Knowing that all her words were sincere inevitably made me feel good.
But what concerned me was…
‘The Priestess is the problem.’
I composed my face and thought.
The current Priestess was a sociopath.
A bad kind of sociopath, different from Luce who only focuses on me and ignores others.
She committed misdeeds without feeling even a pang of guilt.
She treated people like trash, trampled on them, and discriminated based on class and inherent mana, among other things.
She was definitely a scoundrel, focused on displaying the superiority of herself and her country, Horan.
Since she was the top seat, there was nothing to gain from dueling White, who was at the bottom.
In other words, there might be a reason other than the pure purpose of the duel evaluation for accepting White’s challenge.
‘Like what ‘that kid’ had experienced…’
A sense of foreboding creeps in.
“Whi-“
“Senior Isaac.”
White extended her palm towards me.
“Let’s do our best tomorrow! I’ll give it my all too!”
White was resolute. Seeing her unwavering, pure smile, I closed my mouth again.
“…It’s not my place to question or intervene.”
The decision to duel Miya was entirely White’s choice.
It’s her own story that White is cultivating.
All I need to do is to observe.
“Make sure you put to use what you’ve learned.”
“Of course!”
I smiled and high-fived White.
The sound echoed crisply through the air.
***
The next day.
The duel evaluation began.
