Three students rolling on the floor.
Sherva, glasses shattered by the impact of his fall. Marka, who could only roll like a caterpillar. Boden, for some reason wearing a look of ecstasy with her rear stuck up.
The referees, confirming all three, raised the white flag.
“What — what an extraordinary result! When you opened it, a complete win……! Overwhelming ability! Last year’s bitterly defeated Royal Lichberg Magic Academy, with new forces, has pulverized Mythosona Magic Academy without leaving a scratch!”
The announcement of the decision from the emcee.
After a beat, the venue swelled with voices carrying every emotion.
Voices praising us. Voices stunned by the unexpected result. Voices lamenting the loss of their favored athletes.
Right now, every voice that reaches my ears makes me happy.
In so many different voices, they’re conveying our victory.
“Mashiro. Reina.”
“Ouga~, yay!”
“Good work.”
I traded high-fives with the two, savoring the same joy.
It’s still just round one, but the impact of this match is huge.
The other schools will surely abandon the hopes they’d held — yes, Royal Lichberg Magic Academy really is strong.
Even a touch of resignation shadowing their will makes their victory odds plummet.
But more than that, right now.
“Hey, Reina. Glad you trusted me, right?”
”…… Yes. Picking you as a teammate was the right call.”
“From now on, if anything comes up, rely on me. For your sake I’ll do anything.”
”…… Understood. I’ll lean on you without hesitation.”
Saying it, her expression seemed to have come unstuck from something.
Whew…… some peace of mind, at least.
When she’s pressed by a choice, she’ll consult me.
That’ll make handling things much easier.
“Ouga~! That was cool~!”
“You were all amazing~!!”
“President! Look this way~!”
”…… The winner’s privilege. Let’s answer the cheers.”
“Yes. The mood is excellent.”
“Thank you~ so much!”
We waved and bowed at the praise being thrown our way, and left the venue.
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
“To celebrate clearing round one — cheers~!!”
“Cheers.”
“Fufu, cheers.”
Matching Mashiro’s call, we clinked glasses.
After the match with Mythosona, after enjoying dinner, we’d gathered in my room.
I’d actually wanted to invite Karen and celebrate as the full Council, but the lodgings are off-limits to non-participants.
So I’d tried to hold it externally, but Karen herself stopped me.
“I believe Ouga and the others will win the championship. I’ll reserve a private restaurant. Let’s save the fun for the end?” — her words.
I can’t disappoint the fiancée who sent us off like that.
Another reason we have to win.
“Mn~. Cold tea is delicious too.”
“Yeah, when Reina brews it, the taste really does change.”
I had Reina brew iced tea from the Lamdarb-produced leaves I’d bought, giving them another shot.
The aroma that the shop couldn’t fully erase had softened, and now it had a properly enjoyable scent.
“There’s a trick. If you gently rub the leaves with hot water-warmed hands, they become mellower.”
“Did you take notes, Alice?”
“Yes, thoroughly.”
“Fufu. Though the downside is that the smell stays on the hands……”
“It does. ……But on this side, I don’t dislike it. Why?”
I took her offered hand and sniffed.
The tea-leaf scent had soaked in, but underneath it I could detect a faintly sweet smell.
A history-of-Reina smell, you might say…… mm, a pleasant smell, my type.
”…… U-um, Ouga-kun?”
“Mm? What is it?”
“Even I find this a little embarrassing……”
When I looked up, Reina was, unusually, working her mouth.
Hearing her words, I objectively reviewed my own situation.
A boy holding a senior girl’s hand and sniffing it……
That’s out!!
“Ou. ga. ku~n……?”
”…… My apologies.”
Accepting Mashiro’s furious pinch as my due, I endured the pain and apologized to Reina.
“N-no, it just startled me a bit. ……And, even with the smell on, the tea is delicious, so I keep drinking it.”
So saying, Reina, too, looked happy and gulped down her tea.
“It really is your favorite.”
“Yes…… because it tastes like memory.”
A specialty of her homeland. A familiar taste for her.
Speaking of which, Floné — who’d driven off the monster army — has deep ties to Lamdarb Kingdom.
That would mean Reina and Floné’s meeting was here in Lamdarb…… probably.
In my mind, dot connected to dot.
…… Wait. A worst-case scenario emerged in me.
What if she’d been pushed into this brutal labor not just since becoming Council President but from far earlier — from unthinkable childhood?
The accumulated negative emotions in her heart would far exceed my imagination.
”…… Hey, Reina, since when did you become Headmistress Floné’s apprentice?”
”…… Hmm, when was it?”
“Answer.”
”…… No helping it, hmm. A maiden’s secret. ……Five years ago.”
I instinctively knew it was a lie.
Because her eyes wavered between hope (House Veret) and despair (Floné).
She was trying to tell me. That the information she’d just spoken was wrong.
I see…… so this is your way of relying on someone, Reina.
Testing whether I notice.
“Geez, what’s wrong, Ouga-kun. Your face is stiff.”
She poked my cheek like before.
“It really is, Ouga. We won — making that face is wasted, you know?”
”…… You’re right. Sorry for pouring water on it.”
“No, no. I don’t mind. It’s a question I’m often asked.”
”…… Heh. Then it’s hardly a maiden’s secret.”
“You aren’t supposed to say things like that.”
”…… My apolosheez.”
“Pfft, ahaha!! O-Ouga-kun…… amazing…… amazing face……!!”
This time she pinched and pushed my lips together strongly, turning my face into a goofy shape.
Seeing it, Mashiro burst into laughter, and the mood lifted. So good enough.
“Right then, Ouga, see you tomorrow!”
“Rest properly today.”
“Yeah. You two, good work. Good night.”
After that, nothing in particular happened — we chatted enjoyably for some time, and the gathering broke up naturally.
…… Right.
“Alice. Paper and pen.”
“Yes, prepared.”
“As expected. With talent like you, I’m fortunate.”
“Your kind words.”
So saying, Alice, like routine work, was photographing my profile with a magic photography implement (camera).
Losing if I mind it. She wouldn’t use it for anything weird.
More importantly, right now, it’s about Reina.
Thinking Father might know something, I wrote out the details.
“By the way, Alice. There’s one thing I want to ask.”
“If I can answer, anything.”
“What was that cheering squad I saw during the match?”
“They called themselves your Fan Club, Lord Ouga.”
…… So it really was a Fan Club.
Eccentric people exist. In my past life, too, there were people who pushed villains rather than heroes — perhaps they’re that type.
But — Fan Club…… heh heh heh, a fine ring to it.
“However, I judged that they were not befitting of you, Lord Ouga, and took it upon myself to provide guidance.”
”…… I see.”
So that’s why the cheers were so embarrassing……
“They apparently come to watch every match, so I’ll continue guidance from here on.”
”…… In moderation, please.”
“Understood.”
…… While exchanging this, I’d finished writing.
“Alice. Sorry, but deliver this to the courier. Cost doesn’t matter. The faster the better.”
“Understood. I’ll go now.”
Alice took the letter and immediately left the room.
Now all I can do is wait for Father’s reply.
The faster the better, but he’s busy. On this I can’t be unreasonable.
I’ll keep doing everything I can, as before.
”…… I hope nothing else happens.”
So resolved, I entered the shower room to wash off the day’s sweat and unease.
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
A night where the curtain of darkness — pitch-black, in fact — had fallen.
Despite the post-curfew hour at Mythosona’s lodgings, a student was out walking.
“Damn it…… Reina Milfonti……!”
Sherva, wearing different-rimmed glasses than before the tournament, spoke the name of his rival school’s Council President with hatred.
“This can’t be right…… I lost……? To a team with a first-year pair, no less.”
Set as words alone, there was no element pointing to loss.
But the residual fact was his defeat.
Sherva couldn’t accept it, and had been raging since waking.
If they’d at least put up a fight, his fury might have settled. What he’d suffered was a flawless shutout.
Not a moment to shine. No achievements to show as a third-year.
“If only that guy, that [Reject], hadn’t been there……!”
Next target of rage: Ouga Veret. The son of Ducal House Veret who had defeated him.
He’d imagined a rematch with Reina Milfonti. If he beat her there, he’d thought, he might be taken on as Floné Milfonti’s apprentice — a bright future.
Opening the lid, Reina Milfonti hadn’t even been interested in him, and to top it off, he lost to a man who couldn’t use magic.
With that, the reputation of Sherva Anthem the mage had crashed to the floor. Last year’s championship would be dismissed as a fluke, and his post-graduation path snapped shut all at once.
“Kill…… I’ll kill him……”
As a mage, an unprecedented humiliation gnawed at his heart.
—— Misfortune comes in waves.
If the stage hadn’t been Lamdarb Kingdom, he might not have fallen further into the abyss.
But mercilessly, the die was cast, and the devil smiled.
“Do you want power?”
“Huh……?”
Standing in front of Sherva was a figure in a black robe and an odd mask — unclear whether man or woman.
Marked by the mask, Sherva for some reason couldn’t move his feet from the spot.
“Do you want the power to kill Ouga Veret?”
”……Heh…… kuhaha……! Can you, really……?”
“If you wish it.”
“I want it! The power to kill him! If I prove I’m stronger than him, I — I can still——!”
Sherva could no longer tell if the words coming out were his own will or not.
What controlled his head was a thirst for power and an intense killing intent toward Ouga Veret.
“Very well. Then go on a rampage as you please.”
“Gh!?”
A syringe of green liquid plunged into Sherva’s neck.
The black robe injected the fluid into his body.
The transformation came swiftly to his body once it had taken in the fluid.
“Ah…… what is this…… gh……!”
With heaves, his muscles bulged, sank, crumpled like paper.
Sherva felt his own body ceasing to be his.
“Ah…… guoh…… aaaaaaaa……!”
Into the night, a new monster’s roar echoed.
The black robe watched it with cold eyes.