Although he had met with the peculiar senior, in the end, he couldn't find out anything about the person besides her name.
Lydia Schmitt.
He was the type to undervalue others. It was clear she was different from Bertus or Charlotte, but he couldn't precisely explain what set them apart.
Harriet was in the main tournament's Group C.
Olivia was also in Group C.
Since they were proceeding with the top 32 matches anyway, it seemed necessary to arrive early to watch Harriet's matches.
Harriet was the only first-year in the Royal Class, so there might be some who wouldn't bother watching the B Class matches, but surprisingly, everyone flocked to the stadium.
Even if they weren't particularly close to Harriet, they seemed curious that a first-year, especially a magic major, was participating in the Unrestricted Tournament. And, after all, she was their classmate, so they seemed to want to cheer for her.
It was fascinating that they shared a sense of camaraderie as classmates, even though there was no hierarchy between Classes A and B.
Except for Ellen and Cliffman, who would be participating in the contest tomorrow, and Bertus, who wasn't in the dormitory, all the first-years were heading to the stadium.
"Huuu…"
"…"
"Haah…"
"…"
"Ah…"
Fizzle!
"Hey! Why do you keep sighing so ominously?"
As I kept letting out deep sighs while walking, Liana, with her temples throbbing, screamed at me. Everyone looked at us because of that, but I didn't care.
"Aren't you worried? Our girl is about to face off against formidable seniors!"
This is it! Our girl has entered the tiger's den!
The waiting room wouldn't even have other first-years. What if some big shot in there picks a fight with Harriet, saying, 'Hey, cute junior girl, what are you doing here? This isn't a place for kids to show off,' could she handle it?
Seriously, what if there's someone like me, who starts a fight out of the blue!
"Is Harriet a child?"
"Isn't she?"
"…"
"…"
Ah.
We were classmates, after all.
Still.
Our blockhead…
I couldn't help but worry. No matter how much she assured me she would be fine…
"Haah…"
I let out another sigh. Liana frowned at me, sighing again and again for no good reason.
"Are you going to keep cursing her with bad luck?"
"…Cursing?"
At the mention of "cursing," the absentminded Dettomorian, who had been following us, looked over.
"Well, not exactly a curse, but maybe a simple spell to attract good energy…"
"Detto. If that works… wouldn't that be considered cheating…?"
"Is that so…"
"Yeah, let's not do that."
"Okay…"
Charlotte stopped Dettomorian from doing whatever he was planning.
Judging by Charlotte's expression, the problem wasn't cheating, but rather the possibility of side effects if Dettomorian did something.
"Don't worry, Reinhardt."
Seeing my continued anxiety, Ellen quietly spoke from beside me.
"Harriet will do well."
"On what basis?"
"Just a feeling."
Ellen wasn't smiling, nor did she wear a frown.
She just wore her usual expression, a bit plain and pudgy.
"I believe she'll do well."
Believes.
For some reason, that expression felt familiar.
The Duke of Saint Owan had said that his daughter possessed the greatest magical talent in human history, and that she could easily accomplish things that would astonish the world. That's what he had said.
And yet, here I was, sighing heavily at the thought of her participating in the tournament among the seniors.
Even though I should have had no doubt that she would do something amazing, something worth showing off.
I wonder if this is how the Duke of Saint Owan felt when he heard about the magic research club's project.
When someone is important to you, everything they do feels inadequate, and you end up dismissing things they should be able to do as impossible because of your worries.
Harriet feels inadequate.
But is it because I value her so much?
Is it because I want her to avoid getting hurt?
I'm not her parent.
Yet, thinking of her in such a way would ultimately be disrespectful to Harriet.
Still... our blockhead.
What if she suffers a crushing defeat in her first match?
How can I not worry?
It's not easy to change my mindset.
At this point, it's a sickness.
"It's okay, Reinhardt. She'll do well."
This time, it wasn't Ellen but Louis Ancton who spoke those words.
Naturally, the members of the magic research club were also present to watch Harriet's match, and senior Redina was no exception.
None of them seemed overly worried, which was strange.
"Hey, Reinhardt! Stop worrying about useless things and get ready to be surprised!"
Redina covered her mouth and giggled.
Did they have some kind of secret weapon?
It did seem like the members of the magic research club had put their heads together to prepare something for Harriet's tournament.
In the grade-based tournaments, the least interesting one would naturally be the first-year tournament, since their skill level would be the lowest.
In contrast, the sixth-year tournament would be the most interesting. But as students advanced through the years, there were plenty of instances where juniors were stronger than their seniors.
That's why the Unrestricted tournament exists.
From matching grade-based tournament winners against each other to the Unrestricted tournament, where students from any grade could compete, this became the highlight of the festival.
Though many winners of the sixth-year tournament advanced to the Unrestricted tournament and won, there were also many who didn't.
That's why it was undeniably the biggest event of the festival.
Soon.
It would be the stage to determine the strongest in the Temple.
Of course, this was limited to the participants.
-Wowwwwwwww!
The expectations and cheers of the crowd were incomparable to those of the first-year tournament.
People swarmed in, filling every seat.
"Ugh, it's so noisy."
Liana's voice came from behind me.
A considerable number of royal class seats were occupied.
There would be other royal class participants besides Olivia Lanze and Harriet. Although the cheering was so loud that others couldn't distinguish the voices, I could differentiate the murmuring of people by enhancing and focusing my hearing.
Who will win?
Maybe Lydia will?
No, I heard Olivia is participating too.
Ah… Really? But, I've never seen her fight. Isn't her major in divine power?
Her major is that, but… I heard she's incredibly good at close combat too.
Really? Who said that?
Hmm? I heard it from someone too… Who was it?
Most of the murmuring from the people around us was about Olivia. There were also fifth-year students who came to watch Olivia's match, including the student council president Ceres Van Owen and members of the religious club Grace. Due to the crowd, we only exchanged glances.
“...”
Since Saviolin Turner acknowledged that Olivia was the strongest in the next generation, her skill level could be guessed without seeing it.
Charlotte was sitting on my right.
On her right was Saviolin Turner, the supervisor teacher and Charlotte's bodyguard.
Olivia kept saying she was good at fighting.
And she also said she hated violence.
I know both are true. That's why most of the royal class audience talked about Olivia's skills.
But the important fact is, there are hardly any people who have actually seen Olivia in action.
There are plenty of rumors about how amazing she is, but because she doesn't have a showy personality, it seemed no one had actually seen her in action.
There were many people who said she was great and amazing, but no one said they had seen it themselves.
"Is this person Olivia really that amazing, Lady Turner?"
Sitting next to me, Charlotte whispered to Saviolin Turner.
Charlotte seemed to be bothered by the murmurs she heard from the surroundings.
"You should call me teacher now, Your Highness."
Why is this person so sensitive about his title?
"…If that's the case, shouldn't you treat me as a fellow student of the temple in the first place?"
"…I can't do that. How could I commit such a disrespect?"
"Mother, so are you treating everyone who calls me Charlotte and treats me as an equal as disrespectful?"
"That's not it. The Temple has its own rules, so I should follow…"
'No, if I say it like this, since I'm the supervisor teacher, I should call you Charlotte according to the rules, right?'
'Self-contradictory, huh?'
'I made a mistake in my words.'
'What should I do?'
Why do I feel like I can read her thoughts without even looking at her face? Is it an illusion?
'Let's just… change the subject.'
"Um. Olivia Lanze is an excellent student. She's especially outstanding among the highly talented royal class of the temple who are expected to have a promising future."
"Ahh. To what extent?"
"Hmm."
Saviolin Turner crossed his arms and watched the arena, which had yet to begin the competition.
"If there are students even slightly below Olivia's level, I would be quite surprised."
"Hmm, Turner... I mean, Lady, how do you know about Olivia Lanze?"
"Mostly from my junior, Ephinhauser. As far as I know, Olivia Lanze hasn't taken any close combat courses since her third year."
I understood why most students talked about Olivia's incredible skills but had never actually seen them. There was no reason for her to demonstrate her abilities in class.
"Why not?"
"She said she didn't want to learn any more techniques to hurt people."
"…Interesting."
"Ephinhauser told me that Olivia was already at a level where she didn't need to learn more at that time."
"…Ah."
Charlotte seemed flabbergasted.
"So the moment she said she didn't want to learn more, she had already learned enough to have nothing more to learn?"
"…In a way, yes."
I don't want to learn any more techniques to hurt people! (Nothing left to learn)
She's quite a character.
Anyway, after that, Olivia hadn't taken any practical courses or participated in competitions.
"Of course, I haven't seen her abilities firsthand either."
Even Saviolin Turner had only heard everything from Ephinhauser.
"So, it's just rumors?"
At that, Saviolin Turner shook his head.
"Hmm, there's no possibility that it's just a baseless rumor."
"Why not?"
"Yes. Are you not aware that Olivia Lanze went to the rear support line during the Demon World War?"
"I heard she did. For treating wounded soldiers and medical support…"
"Your Highness."
Saviolin Turner looked at Charlotte.
She hadn't participated in the Demon World War. Rather, she couldn't.
But she must have known the details of the war.
"During that time, when every hand was precious, do you think a powerful divine force like Olivia Lanze would have only done that?"
"…No way, was she deployed to the front line?"
"Of course, according to her wishes, she was not deployed to the front line. However, all sorts of things happen in the rear support area. For instance, sudden raids by the Demon King's army."
It was the same for me and everyone at the temple.
We had been too naive.
It was a war, but everyone thought that Olivia, who had gone to the rear support, had simply treated people and looked after the wounded.
Just like her nickname, the Holy Maiden of Eredian.
Everyone assumed that she had returned after performing sacred tasks like an angel of healing.
"I won't go into the details, as it's not a pleasant thing to hear."
Saviolin Turner spoke while gazing at the arena, where the first match was just about to begin.
"Olivia Lanze faced numerous dangerous situations in unsafe places and returned alive."
"…"
Olivia was not a delicate flower nurtured in a greenhouse.
She had experienced a real war and survived it.
Perhaps that was why she came to hate violence even more.
It must not have been a pleasant memory for Olivia. That's why she said she had gone to provide service and nothing more.
"In that region, Olivia Lanze was not called a saint but a god of death."
On the battlefield where Olivia went to save people, she killed countless soldiers of the Demon King's army.
That's why, even her allies feared her and called her the god of death.
I had thought Olivia wouldn't particularly like the nickname Holy Maiden of Eredian.
In fact, she had another nickname she would undoubtedly dislike even more.
