Editor : Amethyst00



"Comrades! The morning of blood has dawned!"

The first morning class for the students of the Department of Magic.

Professor Len entered the lecture hall and spoke in a firm voice.

"Shortly! Our Department of Magic will go head-to-head with the vile Professor Ain's group from the Department of Knight Studies!"

Clenching his fist, Professor Len gave an impassioned speech like a general leading an army into battle.

"If anyone is trembling, raise your hand!"

Several students raised their hands.

Even in their third year, it was natural for some students to feel pressure before a mock battle.

Especially since their opponents were none other than their third-year counterparts from the knight department.

For those weak in real combat, it wasn't strange at all to feel nervous.

Looking at the students who raised their hands, Len's eyes widened.

"Excellent!"

The sudden praise made the students look puzzled.

Was it praise for honestly recognizing and revealing their own condition?

"Trembling with excitement before battle! That means you're always ready to go out and destroy the enemy! Excellent! Very excellent!"

"…Um… Professor Len, this isn't actually a war. We're just nervous…"

"Not a war! Hmph! Excellent! Right! It's not a war when it's against the likes of the knight department! This will simply be an utter trouncing!"

"But we're just nervous…"

"A bit of tension is a good thing!"

"…"

The students who had raised their hands quietly lowered them, realizing there was no reasoning with Professor Len.

"Brother, doesn't Professor Len seem to be turning more and more like Professor Sedgen?"

"Yeah."

Chelsea and Abad whispered quietly.

Sitting in the front row as usual, Carl rested his chin on his hand and shook his head, then glanced sideways.

Chloe was sitting with her usual upright posture, looking at Len.

The only difference was that her hair was neatly brushed down, and she wasn't carrying the usual difficult book she always had.

'What was that earlier?'

She still looked like the usual Chloe, but she gave off a more mature aura.

Of course, Chloe was the most mature among their peers, but this felt fundamentally different.

'She felt… like an older woman?'

Carl folded his arms and pondered seriously.

"Now, comrades! Let's go! To the battlefield!"

At Len's words, the magic students began rising from their seats one by one.

Chloe stood up as well.

Then her eyes met Carl's.

"What are you looking at?"

"Nothing."

Carl shrugged his shoulders, clasped his hands behind his head as usual, and stood beside Chloe.

Chelsea and Abad joined them as well.

Naturally, the four of them led the third-year magic students and followed Professor Len.

A little later—

The third-year students arrived at the training ground used for their combat classes.

Outside the training ground, students from the summoning department were seated.

This wasn't the only mock battle scheduled between departments.

After today's mock battle between the knight and magic departments, there would be one against the summoning department as well.

And all third-year students were equally given a chance to watch these mock battles.

'So those are the summoning department's hero candidates.'

Lysinas watched the summoning department students with interest.

She herself was a powerful mage.

But her specialty lay in combining powerful verbal incantation magic with elementals and phantom beasts — in elemental art and beast magic.

For Lysinas, magic was a supportive means to maximize the power of summoning.

So it was only natural that she had a bit more interest in summoning students than magic students.

'That one must be Walden Thaiden… Wow! He's already contracted with an elemental lord at that age?'

Lysinas marveled at Walden's enormous physique.

She could tell at a glance that Walden had formed a contract with an elemental lord.

Not only that.

The spiritual power around Walden made it clear just how remarkable a summoner he was — and how immense his latent potential was.

For a moment, their eyes met.

Lysinas smiled softly.

From Walden, she felt an unshakable resolve, like solid rock.

She also sensed an intense desire for strength.

'Kids like him always grow far beyond their limits.'

Long ago.

The Hero of Beginnings and the Poet of the Star.

Lysinas brought together the Brave, the Divine Blacksmith…

Back then, there were other heroes more famous than those four.

Now, her choices are seen as the right answer that led to the world's salvation, but it wasn't so clear at the time.

What led those four down the path of salvation was purely Lysinas's eye for people.

Her belief that they could do it came from her own insight.

And now, through those same eyes, Lysinas saw Walden's potential to grow into a tremendous hero.

'And… that one is Eliza…'

Lysinas tilted her head in confusion.

"Carl."

"Hm? What's up?"

"Eliza's been glaring at you scarily for a while now."

"Huh?"

Carl looked over at Eliza with a puzzled face.

"Whoa, intense."

He quickly hid behind Lysinas, who was now in Chloe's body, as usual.

"Did you do something wrong?"

"Not really… I didn't do anything in particular."

As Carl shook his head, Lysinas squinted his eyes.

"Hmmm."

"What?"

"Did you flirt with some cute girl? Maybe she's jealous?"

"Where would I find a cute girl to flirt with? And why would she be jealous of that?"

Lysinas giggled while watching Carl shrug.

"Why are you laughing?"

"Well, for someone who acts all casual, you're quite the gentleman."

"Huh? What kind of nonsense is that?"

"You're pretending to be clueless to avoid spreading weird rumors that could hurt Eliza, right?"

"Huh?"

Carl looked surprised.

"You're so fresh — youth is beautiful."

"Why do you sound like an old lady…?"

"Hmm? What was that?"

"Ahh— I was wrong! Please forgive me! Forgive me!"

Seeing Lysinas twist his wrist with a smile, Carl panicked and begged for mercy.

After letting him go, Lysinas poked Carl's side and said, "Think carefully. Are you sure you didn't do anything to upset her?"

"You're unusually sly today, you know? But really, I can't think of anything."

"Really?"

Carl folded his arms and tilted his head.

Meanwhile—

Eliza, watching from her seat,

Crack!

"Eeek!"

"W-What's wrong?!"

She had gripped the wooden armrest of her chair so hard it snapped, grinding her teeth.

'What's so funny, you idiot?!'

Eliza knew Carl was close to many girls.

Especially that he'd been best friends with Chloe since first year.

But today, their atmosphere felt different.

More precisely, Carl seemed conscious of Chloe.

To Eliza, it was clearly different from their usual friendship.

As a result, she felt a tremendous sense of crisis.

As Eliza's mood plummeted in real time—

The magic and knight department students stood face to face.

At the front were Ain and Len.

"Hmph, Senior Ain. Did you prepare a handkerchief? Because your students will be sobbing after losing to my star pupils."

Ain curled his lips into a smile at Len's remark.

"If you're so confident, how about a bet?"

"Sounds great! How about a month's salary?"

"Not bad."

The two exchanged wicked smiles and returned to their camps, leading their students.

"As I said before, this is not a mock battle — think of it as war. Get in close and beat them down."

Ain spoke in a low voice.

"Comrades. This is real. Use whatever means necessary to win."

Len, with utmost seriousness, offered the most underhanded advice.

bl

This semester's inter-departmental mock battles were conducted differently than usual.

First, it was a group match, not a one-on-one.

But even this group match was different from previous ones.

Earlier group matches had been determined by random draw or mixed stronger and weaker students to balance the teams.

But this time, teams were made purely based on similar skill levels.

And their opponents were also at the same level.

If past mock battles were about testing adaptability and handling crisis, this one was a pure clash of skill.

As a result, the first batch of students were those with relatively lower rankings.

"Hehehe."

Len crossed his arms and smiled meaningfully.

Anna sighed beside him.

"What's with that smug look? We already have the disadvantage in matchups, and none of our lower-ranked students are aiming to be battle mages — which makes this even more one-sided."

For a magician, fighting a knight one-on-one is very disadvantageous.

Especially for weaker ones who struggle to overcome that gap.

And without any battle mages to counter them, the magic department was at a clear disadvantage in the first round.

"Think, Assistant Professor Anna! We have none other than Carl!"

"Ah…"

"With the hero Carl among us! Our victory is—"

"Um… Professor Len. I'm not participating in the mock battle."

"What nonsense is this!"

"Before class, a professor told me I'd be disrupting fairness just by being there and told me not to participate."

"Which professor dares challenge my authority as the department head?!"

"Professor Harrid."

"Well, if it's Professor Harrid, I suppose that makes sense."

Len quickly changed his tune.

Meanwhile, as Professor Yura prepared to judge, the mock battle began.

Lysinas, watching from his seat, was impressed.

'They're all doing great.'

From what she'd heard, these weren't the top-tier students.

But still, this was Lumene, a place that gathered talented individuals.

To Lysinas, the struggling hero candidates were dazzling to behold.

'These… are our successors.'

In the students' actions, she saw traces of many people.

'…Those who fought alongside Kyle.'

It wasn't hard to tell whose influence each had received.

He had shown them his back and led the way.

Even if he didn't teach them directly, each of them must have received a message in their own way.

As the mock battles continued, victories and losses were determined.

A little later—

The ten top students stood from their seats.

Nine from the magic department looked at Lysinas in confusion.

"What are you doing, Chloe? Aren't you going?"

"Of course."

At Chelsea's question, Chloe stood up.

These were the students who had followed Kyle.

And…

'The ones Kyle chose.'

Lysinas's eyes moved to Abad, Chelsea, and several others from the knight department.

Just as she had chosen Dweno, Aaron, Luna… and Kyle—

Leo had chosen these students.

Still standing in place, Lysinas smiled faintly.

As the Wise Queen—

She was now curious how capable those chosen by the Hero of Beginning truly were.

'Shall I… test them a little?'