TL/ED – Miso
I had no ill feelings toward the Princess.
No, rather, I had nothing but a good impression of her.
Wasn’t it the Princess who funded the expansion of the Orphanage? I wasn’t sure how she got involved in national affairs at such a young age…
But the reason I wasn’t raised getting beaten and used for begging was all thanks to the Princess.
As I stood at attention, trying to be as respectful as possible, Lumia, who had persuaded the examiner, looked this way.
Our eyes t. Then, the knights standing behind her took a step forward and issued a warning.
“Show so respect.”
“–Stand down. You should expect what’s reasonable.”
“…?”
It seed I wasn’t supposed to make eye contact. I quickly lowered my head, and imdiately the opposite command followed.
“Look up. I haven’t co here to receive your greetings.”
“Yes.”
Due to the difference in height, I had to look up slightly.
Lumia looked up and down and asked,
“Dersia’s student, your na?”
“I am called Jern.”
“‘Am called’? Hahaha…”
She let out a soft laugh and wiped the corner of her eye as she offered advice.
“Drop the pointless formal speech. If you want to properly address with correct etiquette, you’d need to study for at least three more months.”
“Ah, yes.”
“As I said, I didn’t co here for that kind of thing.”
She walked up boldly and poked in the chest with the baton she was holding.
“Do you know about ?”
“Yes. Princess Lumia.”
“Right. Even a commoner should know of . But what I’m asking is, what do you know about ?”
“I received a great kindness from you. I hold deep gratitude.”
“…What?”
To Lumia, who made a slightly puzzled expression, I conveyed my thanks.
“To my knowledge, it was Your Highness who ordered major support for the Orphanage. As I was raised an orphan, I received a great deal of help. Therefore…”
“Ah, no…”
“Ahem…”
Mid-sentence, I noticed the knights’ reactions were unusual and realized I’d made so kind of mistake.
The knights stood with their mouths agape, looking at like I was so crazy bastard. The Princess had a face like, “What’s with this guy?”
It was Lumia who broke the awkward silence.
“…That was sothing my sister did.”
“…Ah.”
“You’ve got so guts. Praising my sister’s achievents in front of .”
“I apologize. I didn’t know.”
“No, no. This is amusing…”
Chuckling, Lumia turned and walked to the center of the arena.
Then she gave an order to the staff mber who was practically kneeling.
“Prepare.”
“Yes, ma’am!!”
“You said your na was Jern.”
“…Yes, that’s right.”
I was marked.
It seed I’d stepped on a landmine. Lumia’s voice was slightly lower now. Though she kept smiling at , I could see her lip was slightly twitching.
“Your teacher, Dersia, was originally supposed to be my teacher.”
“…I see. I didn’t know.”
“But she refused , saying she must walk the Path of Magic.”
As the staff mber dashed out of the arena, Lumia suddenly raised and opened her right hand.
A fla ignited in her palm. I knew it almost instinctively.
This wasn’t just a fla. It writhed in agony, almost as if alive, then looked at and started laughing.
How could a fla laugh? But that’s really how it looked.
“I understand. If she’s that level of wizard, she’d have no reason to take on an apprentice. Being an Elf, she’ll live a long ti too…”
Mumbling to herself, Lumia looked at .
“But the one she chose after abandoning was you?”
This ti, she wasn’t speaking as royalty, but as a person.
I chose my words as carefully as I could.
“No, of course, in terms of talent, soone like , a lowborn commoner, could never be compared to Your Highness, but my master…”
“Do not place on the sa level as others. I acknowledge your talent.”
“…Pardon?”
“Surpassing elental magic at your age proves it. Even if we searched the Empire’s history, there would be few with such an achievent.”
“Ah, thank you.”
It was a much more generous evaluation than I’d expected.
Though she was likely speaking without knowing the true nature of Growth, Form, Remove.
“However, your teacher made a mistake.”
“…A mistake, Your Highness?”
“Yes.”
Lumia responded with a snort.
“No matter how exceptional you are, if she abandoned , then she should never have beco anyone’s teacher. It was a foolish decision. I will make your teacher realize that.”
“Hmm…”
She wasn’t wrong.
However, after a brief silence, I bowed my head.
“Forgive , but may I make one request?”
“Hmm, speak.”
“Please retract that statent.”
“…Oh?”
At those words, the Princess looked at with a slightly surprised expression.
“Why?”
“As for … well, I’m nothing special, so you may insult and criticize all you want. I also believe that, if we’re being honest, my master’s judgnt was flawed.”
“Then there’s no issue, is there?”
“However, I believe it’s wrong to insult my master in front of the one she chose.”
“…I see.”
I t the Princess’s eyes.
For quite a long while.
The staff mber, trembling, raised his hand.
“Then, try to make retract it.”
Lumia, with a deep smile, didn’t seem to have the slightest intention of backing down.
I raised my hand and asked a question.
“Excuse , wait a mont.”
“Do you have more to ask? You won’t be able to run…”
“It’s not to Your Highness. I have a question for the staff mber.”
“?”
I cautiously asked the staff mber, who looked bewildered as if caught in the crossfire.
“Um… casting magic before the match starts, isn’t that grounds for disqualification?”
The staff mber responded without a second’s hesitation.
“No. Begin!”
What backing.
At that mont, two stars sparkled in Lumia’s eyes.
Two in number.
2-Star. I didn’t know much, but I knew that was a level one should not reach at her age.
It wasn’t ordinary fire. Blue flas flared up.
That was a small relief. Fire was the weakest type of magic.
Because it rely existed as a phenonon. It could be put out with water, with wind, and with anything around here.
“Don’t even think about going easy. If I see you doing so-”
“Excuse !”
I kicked the ground with all my strength.
Sand flew toward the Princess’s hand. She had been channeling fla magic with her right hand the entire ti, so I assud it was so kind of controlling magic.
“…I see, I was worried for nothing.”
Whoosh!
The sand was caught before it even got close.
By a hand made of fla.
“…”
Crackle… The sand instantly burned or lted as it fell away.
The heat was no joke. But more than that, the frightening thing was that the fla had form.
Several massive hands extended naturally from the Princess’s back, moving with eerie fluidity.
Lumia proudly looked up at those hands.
“Fla Spirit Manifestation, originally, manifesting it against a 1-Star wizard like you would be considered attempted murder.”
“Um, wouldn’t that be a bit dangerous for you, then?”
“And who would punish ?”
She’s out of her mind.
The Princess let out a dry chuckle as the Fla Spirit Manifestation clenched its fist.
“Don’t pretend to be weak. You can handle it.”
“I can’t-”
Boom!
It struck the ground right in front of .
“Gah.”
I bounced a few tis and crashed into the ground.
The impact itself wasn’t too severe. Getting hit by Dersia hurt far, far worse, so I quickly regained my senses.
The problem was the heat. My skin was stinging.
I imdiately threw all of my mana into fla resistance. I could actually be roasted alive at this rate.
As I stood up with a hardened expression, I asked,
“Do you really have to do this?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t particularly want to fight you, Princess. Whether I win or lose, there’s nothing to gain.”
“You’re assuming victory in a duel with ? You’re getting more interesting by the second.”
“…You’re the one who chose this.”
From that mont, I started keeping track of ti.
I readied my stance.
It would’ve been best if things ended with words, but I knew that wasn’t going to happen.
Lumia began approaching with a crooked smile.
…So that’s how it is. The range of her magic is short. She traded it off for destructive power.
If I keep running around.
Fwush-!
“…No.”
Before I could even finish the thought, the Fla Spirit Manifestation scooped up the surrounding sand.
She had already predicted what I was planning to do. I sighed.
This is cheating.
“Take this.”
Fwoooosh! The lting sand completely filled my front view.
“Tch…”
I couldn’t dodge. I wrapped wind around my hands to reduce contact as much as possible and deflected the attack.
So of them inevitably hit . Even though I had activated Remove:, it still felt like drops of lted wax falling on , it was unpleasant.
The assault didn’t end there. At so point, the flaming fists had closed the distance and began hamring down on the ground without pause.
I could maybe handle the lted sand, but taking a direct hit from those would an I was out.
I gritted my teeth and kept running. In the end, Remove: only works against opponents using blockable magic.
While I was doing nothing but running away, the Princess mocked with a smile.
“After talking big, all you do is run?”
Running away still served a purpose.
I was keeping my breathing steady. That ant I wasn’t shaken even in a real battle. I was achieving my goal.
“That won’t do.”
“What-”
Thud.
I ca to a sudden stop as I felt the edge of the arena under my foot.
“…You an this.”
Damn.
I’d thought she was just swinging wildly, but she wasn’t.
She had been steadily herding into a corner.
The Princess smiled and curled her right hand.
“Not once has anyone of equal skill to ever defeated in the arena.”
“With that power, I suppose you’re close to invincible in a confined space like this.”
“There is the option of surrendering. Though, it would be unfortunate for you to leave without showing anything.”
“Hmph.”
I shrugged.
If she leaves this feeling unsatisfied, she’ll try sothing like this again.
It’d be better to leave a solid impression now.
“Then well… co at .”
“…”
The Princess’s eyes widened slightly at my attitude.
Then she smiled with satisfaction.
“That’s more like it.”
Boom-!
*
“Oh dear, should we not stop this?”
“No.”
Dersia replied lightly to Rohimdal’s amused question.
Unlike her, the others in the waiting room were watching the execution-like match with slightly sympathetic eyes.
“There’s no point. Why would Her Highness do sothing like this…”
“The difference between 1-Star and 2-Star, and the opponent is none other than Princess Lumia, this is just bullying.”
“Shh, she might hear…”
So expressed concern for the child, who had only recently experienced Awakening Fever, now facing off against the Princess.
“Wow, Princess Lumia’s Fla Spirit Manifestation has improved even more!”
“She’s confird her Unique Magic at 2-Star, hasn’t she? That’s incredible!”
“Too bad for that kid, though. Ahem.”
The rest were simply celebrating the Princess’s rapid growth.
No matter how execution-like the duel seed, one side was an orphan commoner, and the other was a Princess. There was no reason to stir up unnecessary trouble.
Of course, the title of being Dersia’s student did carry so weight.
“…”
But the one who should have reacted the most, Dersia, had only glanced at the arena at the beginning and then sat reading a book ever since.
She seed to have no interest in her student. Even when Rohimdal occasionally updated her, she responded with what was close to indifference.
Naturally, people didn’t look at her kindly.
“…Even if she only chose him for his talent, he’s still her student.”
“To let him suffer for her mistake, tsk…”
“Elves really are…”
They didn’t say it to her face.
If they were foolish enough to pick a fight with a wizard who possessed nine Astral Wheels, they wouldn’t have made it this far in the first place.
“…Hmm.”
It was Rohimdal who felt awkward.
He had known she wasn’t particularly interested in her student, but he hadn’t expected her to ignore him to this extent.
‘I was going to put her in her place…’
No matter how talented he was, soone who had only recently gone through Awakening Fever couldn’t beat the Princess.
That’s why, he had intended to say, “The Princess you discarded shines far brighter than the commoner you chose. You made the wrong decision.”
But if the person in question was like this, the entire point fell apart.
While Rohimdal sighed, Dersia spoke to him.
“Sir Rohimdal.”
“…What is it?”
“Is Princess’s training progressing well?”
“Ah, of course it is!”
So now she finally shows jealousy.
But I had no intention of backing down, not even a little. Before Rohimdal could say anything in response to that thought.
“Then, it would be unacceptable for Princess to lose to my disciple, who only experienced Awakening Fever a few months ago.”
“…?”
Dersia cut him off.
Rohimdal blinked a few tis, then nodded.
“Of course, that goes without saying.”
“You seem confident. Shall we place a bet?”
“Huh? A bet…? What do you an?”
“Yes. If Princess fails to defeat my disciple, then retire from the position of Imperial Court Wizard.”
“W-What?!”
“In return, if Princess wins, I’ll take responsibility and tell you how to reach 8-star.”
“What are you talking about, do you even know what 8-Star is?!”
“I reached it. If you don’t want to, then there’s nothing more to say.”
Dersia shifted her gaze back to the desk and resud reading, as if she wasn’t the least bit concerned.
“…”
Rohimdal stood frozen, his fingers twitching, then hurriedly turned back to watch the match.
–Boom!
“…!”
The commoner was still doing nothing, taking repeated hits from the flaming fists, getting pumled down.
It was so one-sided that it was hard to even follow what was happening.
A turnaround at this point was impossible.
Even if there were a thousand commoner-class wizards like him, none of them could break through Fla Spirit Manifestation and reach the Princess.
“…”
Rohimdal quickly began calculating.
Of course, the idea of quitting as a Imperial Court Wizard was absurd.
He had gone through countless hardships to reach this position.
But at the sa ti, if he could learn how to reach 8-Star, it would be a position worth giving up.
As he hesitated for a mont, what pushed Rohimdal into action was a sound nearly like an explosion.
–KWAANG!!
The commoner, who had been grazed up until now, took a direct hit this ti. One of the gems in his necklace shattered, it was visible even from here.
At this rate, the match would be over. Rohimdal rushed back to Dersia and grabbed her desk, answering.
“F-Fine, I’ll do it!”
“Are you sure? Everyone is watching. You should take your ti and decide carefully…”
“No! I won’t go back on my word after it’s over!”
Dersia, looking into Rohimdal’s eyes burning with desperation,
“…Hmm. Is that so.”
She smiled slightly.
*
“…Ptooey, kuh…”
I spat out blood-stained saliva.
It landed right next to my face. Because I was lying down.
Looking up at the clear blue sky, I let out a sigh, and then a voice filled with disdain ca.
“That’s enough.”
Hearing Lumia’s voice, I got up from the ground.
The heat was intense. The fists were hovering right beside .
Only one gem remained, and it had a crack in it.
It didn’t seem to be absorbing the impact properly either. Most likely, it was designed under the assumption of beginner-level magic battles, so it probably didn’t reduce damage from 2-Star magic well.
And on top of that, heat was seeping through even my Remove:.
I didn’t even want to imagine how I looked right now.
The Princess frowned and sighed.
“Well, I guess this is your limit…”
“…”
“If all your magic is about endurance, I don’t understand why she chose you… but anything more would just be bullying.”
“…”
“Your loyalty to your master was evident. I don’t wish to tornt you, so I’ll end this now.”
The flaming fist clenched.
It ca down to destroy the last gem,
“…?”
And then.
Mid-swing, the fist suddenly vanished.
The Princess wore a “confused expression” and brought down another fist on , still lying flat on the ground.
That one disappeared too.
Without any sign or trace, as if it had been erased.
“What is this… urk!”
The fla floating in Lumia’s right hand wavered violently.
She stepped back in a flash, preparing a defensive stance with the fla fists.
I saw every part of that clearly from where I lay.
“Haah, now I can finally breathe…”
“What-”
I exhaled the breath I had been holding and lifted my upper body, which felt like it might shatter. I pulled one knee in and rested my elbow on it.
I looked almost like a corpse. I could see that.
I could see myself.
But that wasn’t all. The confused knights, the sword sheathed at their waists, the twitching legs, the audience seats, a fallen scrap of paper, the grains of sand in the arena, the broom placed far away, the dustless marble floor…
Everything.
All of it had entered the range of my current sense.
Thump-
Of course.
Thump- thump- thump-
Even the Princess’s heartbeat, slightly quickened from tension.
“You…”
The Princess furrowed her brows.
It seed she had realized who was responsible for the current situation.
“What did you just do?”
“Hmm.”
A completely different stance from just monts ago, where she hadn’t even considered an opponent, now shifted to full defense.
Feeling a refreshing clarity, I twisted my lips into a smile while still seated.
Now that I’m back, I understand.
I really do belong in this world.
“5 minutes. I tid it precisely.”
“??”
Even though I gave her a clear answer.
The Princess didn’t understand a single bit.
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