[V16C11] Ah...!

Hugo popped a second candy into his mouth while silently observing Isaac. The man was seated across from him, leaving his rifle propped against the table.

That was no rule against bringing weapons into a magical battle. In fact, it wasn’t uncommon for participants to bring swords or magical tools. However, firearms were almost unheard of.

(Walker-kun must be a novice at magical battles. Bringing a hunting rifle is practically the same as admitting your lack of skill at launching mana.)

Debate over which was superior between magic and firearms was a hot topic, but Hugo’s personal opinion was simple.

If you’re a mage, then why would you bother using a gun?

That’s all there was to it.

Guns were a pain to carry around, difficult to maintain, limited in ammunition, and so on. They came with a load of demerits.

In terms of speed, spell incantations and reloading were dependent on the user’s skill and familiarity, so there was no clear victor.

However, under the conditions of a magical battle, guns were held back by a major disadvantage.

(Damage in magical battles is determined by the surface area of the hit, and mana bullets are too small to deal much damage. I guess Walker-kun hasn’t realized that, huh?)

Perhaps it was better to tell him? Or have him learn it the hard way during the fight? Hugo hesitated a bit.

Meanwhile, another knock sounded at the door. This meant the arrival of the fourth and final participant, the disciple of the Starseer Witch.

“Excuse me.”

The man entering the room had black hair and wore a purple robe. He appeared to be around forty.

“I apologize for my late arrival. I am Clarence Hall, the Astronomy Mage. I look forward to working with you all today.”

An earnest greeting befitting his serious appearance.

There were several leather pouches attached to the belt area of his robe, which probably contained sand or dirt. Earth mages often imbued mana into sand or similar materials for use in combat.

Hugo was not especially surprised to see Clarence’s pouches, but Glenn seemed incredibly distressed.

“Oh no… Is he gonna use those pouches as a blunt weapon to beat us down…?”

“Eh?” Clarence replied, confused.

Glenn quickly echoed with an “Eh?” of his own. Meanwhile, Isaac remained silent with his arms crossed.

Since no one said anything, the silence became painfully awkward.

“Glenn-kun,” Hugo said hesitantly. “That was a pretty violent thing to say out of nowhere. You gave me a bit of a shock there…”

“Ugh… I… I think I’ve been poisoned by my master’s influence…”

Glenn lowered his head and buried his face in his hands. He just seemed so pitiful today.

He was already sleep-deprived due to his master chasing him around last night, and just earlier, Isaac pointed a gun at him.

Feeling sorry, Hugo reached into his pocket to give him another piece of candy.

“Oh, Clarence-san, are you going to sit down? Do you want some candy too?”

“No thank you. More importantly, we should be heading out now. I just met with the Silent Witch in the hallway…”

At the mention of the Silent Witch, Isaac reacted quickly. He turned to Clarence with slightly widened eyes, and his intimidating face took on a hint of excitement.

“What did Lady Everett say?”

Even his voice sounded a bit restless.

“She said she wants to try something before the magical battle,” Clarence responded. “We are to wait in the forest.”

＊　＊　＊

A room of the Magic Corps was set up with a white screen for observing the magical battle. There, Silas Page waited for the Silent Witch’s arrival in an incredibly uncomfortable atmosphere.

Four three-person sofas were arranged in two rows, and Silas sat on the left sofa in the front row.

On the sofa directly behind Silas, Ray Albright was gently rubbing his own stomach and mumbling something under his breath.

“…How was your day?… Yeah, I’m doing okay too… The breakfast Frieda made was delicious… yeah… yeah… hehehe… It’s working… my abs are growing…”

The scene was simply terrifying. Was he hallucinating a conversation partner or something?

Raul was seated next to Ray, and at times like these, he would normally chime in and ask something like, “Who are you talking to?” However, Raul was acting unusually fidgety, constantly glancing at the door. He looked incredibly suspicious too.

Meanwhile, Louis Miller sat on the right sofa of the front row with his legs crossed, glaring at the white screen with dark circles under his eyes. Honestly, he looked so menacing that he could scare away a street thug. No one dared to even look in his direction.

Finally, on the back right sofa, the furthest from Silas, the Starseer Witch and Artillery Mage were enjoying a peaceful chat about how excited they were to watch the match. Silas wished he could join them.

Isaac was a childhood friend and practically a younger brother to Silas, so Silas picked front-row seats to cheer him on. To think that decision would backfire so hard.

(Please… Please get here soon, Silent-neesan…!)

“Excuse me!”

As if answering Silas’s silent plea, the door suddenly opened. There came a rumbling sound as something was wheeled into the room.

Silas turned to see the Silent Witch being pushed in on a cart.

Monica was seated and cradling a crystal ball—apparently a magical tool—while muttering to herself. She was clearly busy with something, so she looked just as unapproachable as the others.

The Abyss Shaman was talking to his stomach, the Thorn Witch kept glancing around suspiciously, the Barrier Mage was just plain scary, and the Silent Witch was off in her own world… Were the Seven Sages going to be okay like this?

“Look, we’ve arrived!” said the young man pushing the cart.

“…Mm… I’m done.”

Monica responded with a smile and tried to stand, only to roll off the cart and land on the floor. Apparently, her legs had fallen asleep because she had been sitting down too long.

“Honestly, what is wrong with you?!”

“Ugh… I’m sorry…”

The man helped Monica to her feet, then offered a bow to the other Sages.

“It is my honor to be in the presence of the Seven Sages. My name is Bernie Jones and I am the Count of Ambard. I came here to install a newly developed magical tool in the arena, at the request of the Mage Countess Everett.”

Count Ambard placed his hands on the cart’s handle and sighed before continuing. He did not seem too thrilled.

“And then… she came up with a proposed improvement during the setup. I was forced… er, I was glad to assist by transporting her here along with the equipment.”

Though her legs still looked wobbly, Monica got up and bowed while hugging the crystal ball to her chest.

“Um, thank you very much for your support, Count Ambard.”

“What I did was nothing compared to the possible impact on the future of the magical tool industry. Please send me the logs later, Mage Countess Everett.”

Count Ambard adjusted his glasses, then turned around and rolled the cart out of the room.

Just before the door shut, Monica whispered to his back.

“Thank you, Bernie.”

Count Ambard paused for a moment and scoffed.

“…You’re welcome.”

Once the door clicked shut, Monica walked over to the pedestal in front of the white screen and placed the crystal ball there. A magical circle lit up inside the ball.

Monica confirmed this and nodded in approval.

Seeing this, Louis set aside his grumpiness and spoke up.

“Oh? Could it be that you’ve completed it already?”

“Yes! Though it will be my first time actually testing it… Um, Silas-san. Sorry, but do you mind flying me to the forest where the battle will take place?”

Monica approached Silas with a request.

From what they just heard, Monica had already finished her work in the forest. Why did she need to go back now? It seemed odd to Silas, but he had no reason to refuse her.

“Sure, no problem.”

However, before Silas could stand up from the sofa, Louis interjected.

“In that case, allow me to fly you there instead. As the Barrier Mage, I am very interested in this new barrier of yours.”

Louis glared at Monica with an aggressive look in his eyes.

Monica met his gaze and returned a determined nod, saying, “Thank you.”

＊　＊　＊

While walking through the forest that was to be their arena, Isaac secretly observed Glenn.

Glenn stifled a yawn, looking very drowsy, and his steps seemed unsteady. He was clearly not in top form today.

(Sorry about this, Dudley-kun… But I’ll take advantage of any opportunity I can get.)

In this match, Isaac understood that Glenn was the most dangerous opponent. There was no way for him to defeat Glenn in a fair fight, and he knew it.

Glenn’s mana capacity ranked among the highest in the country, while Isaac was limited to only half of his mana.

To put it bluntly, even if Isaac expended all his mana to attack Glenn, and landed every single spell, he would still lose. He simply did not have enough mana to push Glenn to depletion.

Moreover, Glenn’s talent at flight magic only made him more dangerous.

He could fly outside of their range and bombard them with powerful spells from the air. A very simple strategy, but it was sufficient to defeat most foes.

That was why Isaac brandished his rifle and staged a dramatic declaration of war against Glenn.

This was essentially a threat. “I have a gun. If you try to fly, I’ll shoot you down.”

(…Perhaps I was a bit too mean.)

Once the match was over, he’d have to treat Glenn to some delicious meat.

“So, what do you think, Walker-kun?”

Hugo suddenly spoke to Isaac, snapping him out of his thoughts.

The man had been chattering away for some time, but it was just small talk. Isaac had been tuning it out.

“Sorry,” Isaac apologized. “What were we talking about again?”

“Which of the Seven Sages you admire the most!” Hugo replied, puffing out his chest with a grin. “For me, it’s gotta be my master. The Artillery Mage is seriously the coolest!”

Beside him, Clarence spoke with a gentle smile.

“I have pledged my loyalty to the Starseer Witch since the day she took me in.”

Of course, the disciples of the Seven Sages were bound to respect their masters the most. Naturally, Isaac did so as well.

“Did you expect me to say anyone but the Silent Witch?”

“Well, I think I’d go with the Artillery Mage,” Glenn followed, casually saying something outrageous.

Hugo put on a beaming smile and clapped Glenn heartily on the shoulder.

“Glenn-kun, you get me, dude!”

“Now that I’ve started studying multiple reinforcement formulas, his sixfold reinforcement seems pretty cool.”

“Right?! My master is the coolest!”

This was not something Isaac could ignore. How could Glenn say that when he had seen the greatness of the Silent Witch with his own two eyes?

Quietly fuming, Isaac stepped up to confront Glenn.

When acting as the Second Prince, he made an effort to hold back his admiration for the Silent Witch. But right now, he was Isaac Walker. There was no need to hold back.

“I am truly disappointed in you, Dudley-kun. I have explained the Silent Witch’s feats to you before, but it seems that was not enough. Let’s start with how her magical formula research from her Minerva days completely rewrote several conventions in modern magecraft—”

Interrupting Isaac’s rapid-fire talk, someone tugged at the hem of his robe. It was Hugo.

Isaac turned to Hugo with a hostile glare, as if to say, “If you’ve got a rebuttal, let’s hear it”.

“Walker-kun…” Hugo leaned in with a whisper. “Trust me, girls will like you better if you stay quiet.”

“…”

“Advice from the top lady-killer in Alpatra.”

Hugo gave him a wink. He seemed to have a talent for throwing people off balance. Isaac felt his anger dissipate.

With a bounce of his bangs, Hugo quickly turned back to Glenn.

“Glenn-kun, I’m super happy that you admire my master and all, but I think you should keep that a secret from the Barrier Mage.”

“Keep what a secret from me?” asked a voice from above them.

Everyone froze, looking up to see the Barrier Mage, Louis Miller, floating in the air with his short chestnut hair swaying in the wind.

He also seemed to be carrying someone. A girl with light brown hair… Monica.

Isaac held back the urge to call her name. He hadn’t seen her at all during the training, so it felt like it had been an eternity.

As Louis landed, Monica climbed down from his back and explained.

“Um, so… I prepared a magical tool for today’s match… First, we should head over to it. It’s right over there.”

In fact, the tool Monica mentioned was already in view.

There was a white pillar visible between the trees, far taller than an adult man, but thinner than a log. There was a crystal ball embedded at around Monica’s eye level.

Monica ran up to the pillar and touched the crystal ball with her fingers.

“I just need to record the coordinates of the crystal ball in the spectator room… and connect… Okay, it’s done. Silas-san, Silas-san, can you hear me?”

Silas shouldn’t be anywhere near them, so why was she calling his name? Thinking that he might be flying somewhere above them, Isaac looked up at the sky.

Suddenly, his loud voice rang out above their heads.

“Yeah, I hear you loud and clear, Nee-san!”

There was no sign of Silas in the sky, but his voice could be heard.

Monica turned to the group and explained.

“This is an application of voice amplification magic. The crystal ball in the spectator room picks up nearby voices and transmits it throughout the arena… However, the one in the arena can only pick up the sounds next to this pillar.”

Beside her, Louis observed the pillar and murmured in understanding.

“I see. If you set it up to gather all the sounds in the arena, then it would be unbearably noisy.”

“Right. I hope to eventually miniaturize the magical tool for gathering sound, but the transmission cuts off if used while moving… This is the best I can do for now.”

She acted humble, but this was an extraordinary new technology.

Moreover, Isaac recognized the spell used to transmit sound.

“Is this… the same spell you used during the festival at Rainfield?”

Isaac asked in a trembling voice, and Monica nodded.

“It’s an application of that one. With this… I can cheer for you even at a distance!”

A heat enveloped Isaac from the tips of his fingers to the tips of his toes. His whole body was overflowing with joy.

He wanted so badly to witness the great magic used to broadcast sound to the entire city during the Rainfield Festival, and secretly resented Elliott Howard for taking the chance from him. And now, a new spell based on that one was created by Monica, for him and him alone.

Monica had never been good at speaking in front of others, yet she made it just so she could cheer him on!

If they had been alone, surely he would have shouted in joy. He would have been overwhelmed by the emotion and screamed a meaningless “Ah…!”

He was happy. Too happy. What should he do? How can he return this feeling?

He wanted to embrace his petite master, the girl he loved so dearly, currently staring up at him with such a bright smile.

(Ah… I love you… I love you so much…)

Isaac almost reached a hand toward Monica, but he suppressed the urge and pulled it back, placing it above his chest.

“My esteemed master, you have made me the happiest disciple in the world.”

But on the inside, he was thinking, “If I win this match, please allow me to stand a little closer”.

＊　＊　＊

Isaac generally did not hide his feelings for Monica, but there was one exception. He was careful not to display too much affection in the presence of his rival, Cyril Ashley.

Because he couldn’t bear the idea of his rival noticing his feelings and stepping aside out of consideration.

However, at that moment, Cyril had entered the spectator room to perform his duties as recorder. He was watching the scene projected on the white screen.

The image of the young man savoring his happiness with flushed cheeks. His turquoise eyes full of emotion.

“My esteemed master, you have made me the happiest disciple in the world.”

His voice overflowed with love and longing.

The moment he heard those words, Cyril flinched.

The same thing had happened when Raul suggested lifting Monica during their cleaning of the Forbidden Archives.

And again when he saw Monica being friendly with Count Ambard.

Cyril felt an uneasiness in his chest, just like he did now. There was a voice crying out, “No! No!” from deep inside his heart.

(…Why? What is so wrong?)

This was an impulse. An extremely self-centered one.

“…”

Cyril pushed those gritty emotions back into his chest, and averted his eyes from the screen.

View the latest chapters at seeker142.github.io