Right? You want to fight?
“Now?”
“Yeah.”
I was so dumbfounded I just stood there motionless.
‘…Let’s think.’
First, he’s pissed off because he didn't think I'd actually get second place. Like, genuinely thinking, ‘A guy who learned for four months is chasing right behind ?’
‘Are you kidding ?’
What nonsense is this after he taught specifically to make that happen? This isn't even remotely possible.
Second, he saw many flaws while watching the broadcast and was disappointed. He probably intends to fix them imdiately.
But is there a reason to call out nacingly like he's starting a brawl?
Third, he’s just bored.
Fourth….
‘I have no idea.’
I can tell that the second option is the most likely, at least.
“I thought I did exactly as you taught . Did I make a wrong move? Even if I did, we can just do it later when we go to Bavaria.”
“……”
Leo didn’t answer. His face was a complex mix of various thoughts, making his expression unreadable.
After a long pause, he quietly opened his mouth.
“Did the training with Yulia go well?”
“It went well.”
“How was it? Tell exactly.”
“She’s definitely skilled. Her movents were worth learning.”
“Exactly.”
I smiled and looked at him.
What more exactly should I say? Leo probably already knows how Tsheringen moves.
Before being competitors, they were friends who spent a long ti together since the 3rd Academy; there's no way he wouldn't know.
“No matter how I moved, she compensated to ensure a good result. It was stress-free since I didn’t need to worry about anything else. Satisfied?”
“So, she adjusted well to you?”
“Pretty much. She’s kind too.”
It certainly is a pity. Missing the chance to train with Tsheringen, that is.
‘I should ask her to train together on weekend mornings.’
As I was lost in thought, Leo spoke quietly after a long pause.
“I’ll do that too.”
“What?”
“I said I’ll do that for you too.”
‘…Hmm?’
Wait.
Even though the words were blurted out without context, I suddenly recalled the most plausible hypothesis.
“I think there might be so misunderstanding.”
But there was no ti to ask further.
Because Elias imdiately warped in, landing with his hands on the ground.
“Bwahahahahaha!”
“What’s with him?”
Elias kept snickering and then punched Leo’s leg hard.
“Aigoo, our seventeen-year-old pulling stunts like this~ Ah, really, what did I just witness.”
“Are you going to keep bringing up age over a half-year difference?”
Elias ignored him and just kept laughing, then snapped his head up and said.
“Hey, the kids think you two are fighting right now. The Class 1 kids were going crazy too.”
“Then maybe you should have stopped them.”
At my words, Elias’s eyes flashed wide.
“Who would stop such an entertaining spectacle? Everyone’s dying to know who’ll win.”
“…Yeah… I guess that makes sense. Leo, why did you call out knowing this would happen, and what exactly is the reason you wanted to fight?”
I have a guess, but it’s better to hear it directly.
Guessing in situations like this only leads to bigger misunderstandings, and more importantly, Elias is making things chaotic.
“Did he really ask to fight? Let tell you from the beginning. That guy definitely cuts his words short.”
At Elias’s words, Leo flicked his finger, casting the soundproofing spell in reverse on Elias. Elias stared dumbfounded, slapping the air.
Leo spoke as if it were nothing.
“It’s fine. That part isn’t necessary.”
Kwaang—
Before I could finish speaking, Elias, who had been on the ground, grabbed Leo’s legs and tripped him.
Elias covered Leo's mouth with one hand and suppressed his arms with Magic Power.
“Ah, the soundproofing’s broken now. Anyway, Luca, you’ve been ignoring all our calls lately. Suddenly going to visit Hans and all!”
“It wasn’t sudden, I’m the one who put him in the hospital, shouldn’t I go visit….”
I said, watching Leo try to push Elias’s arm away.
Leo can’t break free imdiately.
I'd never sparred with Elias, so I hadn't grasped his skill level, but now it's hitting clearly.
Elias, seemingly finding it increasingly difficult to handle Leo’s attacks, spat out words rapidly like a rapper.
“So I asked if you weren't answering calls because of Leo.”
“I didn’t answer calls because of Leo?”
“Why, that day….”
Kwaang—!
Leo, instead of using his pinned arms, stomped his foot. Light blue Magic Power flew towards Elias. Simultaneously, tree stems shot out from sowhere, wrapped around Elias’s arms, and flung him far away.
‘Oh.’
Been a while since I saw that.
Leo's unique ability, allowing him to freely amplify or retract the life force of plants.
The last ti I saw it was when we caught the chira wolves, and I haven’t seen it since.
In the novel and here, Leo preferred honing his inherent strength rather than relying on his unique ability.
Kwang!
Elias used Magic Power to land just before crashing to the ground. Of course, he was still covering his mouth, apparently startled from being thrown.
Leo brushed off Elias’s residual Magic Power from his face and muttered, exasperated.
“How long has it been since we graduated the 3rd Academy, yet you still act like this? So much for being an intellectual.”
“Isn’t it better if I explain? You’ll just fail to say what you really an again and create more regrets. Even now, just asking to fight, what is this?”
“……”
Leo pressed his lips together, apparently having nothing to say about that part.
More importantly, did I just pinpoint the root cause of all this?
“Eli, what do you an I didn’t answer calls because of Leo?”
“What you did to Hans is what Leo usually does to you. In fact, what Hans suffered was mild in comparison. Until now, you let it slide because there was nothing to compare it to, but from now on, I thought you might feel unfairly treated?”
That’s true.
How does he know so precisely?
Elias looked at Leo, who had turned away with a troubled face, and said with an amused laugh.
“Seriously, I was always really bewildered watching you two train. But Luca, you must have thought that was the standard, right~”
“So.”
“So I joked that you, Luca, were pissed off because of Leo’s training thods, and it ended up like this.”
“……”
I smiled and looked at Elias.
Elias smiled back gently.
“What are you smiling about?! You’re the cause!”
“No, seriously, I didn't think Leo would bolt out like this so suddenly. Usually, he just ignores stuff like this!”
That’s true.
It's a joke they could make amongst themselves, and Leo lets whatever nonsense Elias spouts go in one ear and out the other.
This ti, Leo must have felt guilty about sothing too.
Elias cast a soundproofing spell and whispered.
“And Narce and I guessed this together, was I wrong? I brought it up to tell him to go easy on you during training.”
Even Elias must have thought it was too much.
Well, I know very well his intention wasn't just to beat up, and thanks to him, I caught up on 15 years in 4 months, so I don't really care now.
It seems the misunderstanding arose because I talked to Narce on the exact day my fist was ‘crying’ and I hung up the phone.
Just as Leo tried to break the soundproofing spell, Elias dispelled it first and teased.
“Just when Luca found a training partner as skilled as Leo but kinder, and having just found out the truth during the spar with Hans, what if he refuses to spar with from now on….”
“Cut it out. I didn’t think anything that childish.”
Leo threatened.
“…is what he must have thought. Anyway, weren’t you afraid he’d spar with Yulia from now on, so you just dragged him out? The timing was impeccable~”
“……”
“Isn’t it always better to resolve everything through conversation right away?”
A sharp edge could be felt beneath Elias’s playful voice.
He might not know that Leo gave up dical magic and switched to the combat track after seeing Luca’s Magic Power, but he knew very well that the usually calm Leo wasn't the type to rashly hate soone and show it.
aning, Elias had known for a while that Leo wanted sothing from Luca and that Leo was expressing his desires in the wrong way.
He clearly ca to prevent such a thing from happening again.
‘Well, this ti wasn't really a situation where emotional rifts would deepen.’
Besides, before Elias arrived, didn't Leo himself say, ‘I’ll do it like Yulia too’?
Unlike his childish ways in the first year, his expression this ti was quite clear.
Elias now looked at with serious eyes. Then he diligently rolled his eyes towards Leo, giving signals.
‘Hmm.’
He probably ans I should state my intentions clearly myself.
Now that I see it, Elias tackling Leo to spill the beans must have been for Leo's sake.
Because Leo skipped the really important part.
Instead of talking, Leo unilaterally jumped to conclusions about my thoughts and decided I would choose Tsheringen.
Then he just blurted out that he would spar in Tsheringen's style.
‘Thinking about it now…’
His saying 'Let's fight,' aning let's spar, might have been an attempt to imdiately prove 'I can do it like Tsheringen too.'
No, it doesn’t just ‘seem’ like it, that must be it.
‘…….’
Didn’t he just say he wasn’t thinking anything that childish…?
Of course, I’m glad we didn't fight. If he had really tried to fight , I would have already been dead during the spar.
I nodded and opened my mouth.
“Alright, I'll tell you the truth. It's true I was montarily dumbfounded after sparring with Hans.”
“…!”
Leo flinched visibly for a mont.
I didn't even ntion not answering calls because I thought I might want to punch him if I saw him, but his reaction to just this is amusing.
“But it was only for a mont. Whatever the case, the fact that I could achieve this result in just 4 months is entirely thanks to you.”
“……”
“You honestly think your thod wasn’t wrong either, right? Correct?”
“Yeah.”
Leo nodded.
His conviction was palpable in his unhesitating answer.
“The thod you chose was certainly effective. Because I desperately tried to land even one more hit on you. You said you’d do it Yulia’s way, right? No. You don’t need to do that.”
“What do you an, I don’t need to?”
Elias snickered while looking at Leo mid-sentence, but Leo ignored him and asked seriously.
Alright, since I'm saying it anyway, I should make it clearer.
I looked straight into his sky-blue eyes and said seriously.
“I have no intention of changing sparring partners, nor do I intend to ask you to change your teaching thods.”
“……”
“Are we clear now?”
Leo remained silent for a mont, then after a long pause, a faint smile touched his lips.
“That’s a relief.”
“……”
A chill flickered in that smile. He was definitely smiling, yet I felt a strange sense of crisis.
‘I feel like I’ve crossed a river of no return.’
Why?
I don't know why now of all tis, but I think it's because I palpably sensed Leo's fanatical preference for Magic Power in that response just now.
Truthfully, though not comparable to Leo, Tsheringen also examined my Magic Power with interest.
Not just Leo, but those serious about magic seem interested in unusually prominent Magic Power.
Maybe this is how guys like these end up researching only magic for decades and becoming professors.
‘How on earth did you not go to graduate school?’
“Hey, isn't that refreshing~ Huh? Stop digging yourself into a hole and just talk~”
Elias laughed heartily.
Leo looked at Elias with a smile filled with many emotions.
“But what’s with suddenly tackling ? And we were talking just fine before you ca.”
“Hmmmm~”
Elias shook his head, feigning ignorance.
Still, without Elias, the guy definitely would have chickened out and claid he couldn't say anything.
Since the situation seems mostly resolved, I should head back.
“Is it okay to go back now?”
“Why leave? It’s free ti after the exam, you don’t have to go.”
“I have to give Yulia an answer, don't I? I left without answering because of you.”
At those words, Leo replied with indifferent eyes.
“I’ll tell her tomorrow. Okay?”
“Hahahahaha!”
“……”
A hollow laugh escaped at Leo’s chilly question.
Tell her what? I plan to train with her on the weekend.
There's no rule saying you can only train with one person. I will train with Tsheringen too.
‘Absorbing both is beneficial.’
Since I've beco quite close with Tsheringen too, it might be good to beco even closer while sparring.
As I was thinking about calling Tsheringen later myself to give her an answer, Leo shook his head.
“Lucas. Actually, I called you because I had sothing to discuss as well.”
“As well~?”
Elias mocked openly.
I understand, but I asked anyway.
“What is it.”
“We need to go to Bavaria. I got the call last night, but for the first ti, Victims have appeared who cannot be treated.”
Cannot be treated?
My face hardened instantly.
It ans they die even if subdued and taken to the hospital. Until now, after attacking the Vitriol mass inside the body and providing treatnt, they returned to their original state.
Elias, quickly turning serious, said.
“It was under embargo, so you wouldn't have read it in today's newspaper. In other situations, maybe, but right now, publicizing this information won't help prevent contamination.”
“True.”
Reporting it would be right if emotions weren't involved, but that’s not possible in this situation.
It would surely amplify anxiety and increase the victim rate.
“But why wasn't a report sent up to ?”
“I cut it off, saying I would deliver it myself before evening. Knowing earlier wouldn't have helped anyway since you couldn't skip the exam to co.”
Leo answered.
“Hmm, okay. How many deaths?”
“Three so far.”
I nodded and warped.
Thanks to the ergency warp coordinates provided by the royal family, there was no longer a need to stop at the border checkpoint to warp.
I checked my watch and changed my hair and eye color with Divine Power.
‘There’s about a 2-hour gap.’
I promised to train with Adelbert, so I have to keep that promise.
“Who deputized until now?”
“The Head of the Disease Treatnt Departnt.”
Leo handed the file lying on my desk.
It contained the directives given by the deputy and the investigation status as of this morning.
‘It’s all good, but….’
It hasn't been determined yet at which stage the problem occurred.
We need to know if it’s an issue with the individual victim's constitution, or if Pleroma changed the substances they release into the water and land.
“We’ll need to assign people to the field, not just the hospital.”
“Right.”
If it’s the forr, maybe, but if it’s the latter….
‘They intend to kill off all the unfit ones.’
I stood up and said.
“I need to go directly to the areas where reports are coming in.”
Leo nodded, took off his school robe, and grabbed his wand.
* * *
‘Ah, damn it….’
One hour before the exam start ti, Adelbert, who was about to stand up, slumped back down, cursing inwardly.
His eyes kept closing.
It wasn't ti to sleep, and he had slept sufficiently because of the exam.
Actually, he hadn't been able to sleep, but after Sunbae-nim whacked the back of his neck, he fell asleep and woke up feeling refreshed.
Being Elias’s friend, his thods were indeed strange, but anyway, he had slept enough, so there was no reason to be tired.
‘But….’
Kwaang—!
Knocking over his chair and collapsing onto the floor, Adelbert blinked slowly.
He didn't understand.
Did soone drug him with sleeping pills?
But who would dare do such a thing? Especially at school, entering his locked room?
The thought didn't last long.
He felt all his Magic Power surge backward, just like a few days ago.
Adelbert's vision turned black.
* * *
I checked if there were any differences from previous Rampage sites and returned to the school again when it was ti for my appointnt with Adelbert.
It was still too early to draw conclusions, but for now, there were no differences in the cases involving non-mages.
‘He’s not in the training ground.’
It’s already 50 minutes before the exam starts.
I went out again and warped to the dormitory.
Standing before Adelbert's door, I knocked.
Knock knock—
“Junior.”
“……”
No sound ca from inside.
I knocked harder on the door.
Even concentrating my Magic Power, I only felt strange waves from inside; no proper presence could be sensed.
Could it be….
‘Is this bastard sleeping?’
One hour before the exam? Seriously?
I knocked on the door, channeling Magic Power, then abruptly turned the doorknob.
‘He’s not the type to do that.’
Anyway, I don’t know the warp coordinates into the room. If I ask the administration office, they might open it….
‘The waves are rather peculiar.’
Waves that definitely shouldn't exist in this school, protected by five layers of barriers alone.
“……”
It’s highly unlikely, but if what I suspect is true, involving the administration office is a bad move.
The administration office would likely send staff to check the situation instead of letting , considered sowhat of a dangerous elent, enter.
If that 'one in a million chance' is true, it would be the worst experience for both Adelbert and the staff.
However, at tis like these, a witness is necessary. If sothing happens, I shouldn't be frad as the culprit, right?
I tapped the artifact hanging by my ear and called the guy most likely to be suspected.
“Elias.”
Fortunately, the guy answered the call imdiately.
[Uh, yeah~?]
“Tell Narce your cousin’s room location. And you stick close to Leo.”
[Eh?!]
First, I need to pick the lock.
I slamd Magic Power into the doorknob.
User Comments
0 comments from readers