Editor : Amethyst00



"Aaaaargh!"

Eliana was running at an incredible speed.

Hot on her heels was none other than Chelsea.

"Stop right there!"

"Would you stop if it were you?!"

While running, Eliana glanced back and stuck out her tongue tauntingly.

Chelsea's eyes sharpened as she pulled out her wand.

She aimed its tip at Eliana.

But even for Chelsea, hitting a fast-moving Eliana wasn't easy.

Whoosh! Boom!

Chelsea's spell narrowly grazed over Eliana's head.

Compressed air exploded, sending debris flying, but Eliana didn't care and sped up even more.

"Ugh! How long is that leech going to keep chasing me?!"

Eliana wore an exasperated expression.

In truth, if it were a one-on-one fight, Eliana wouldn't be running away like this.

Although Chelsea was more skilled, Eliana too was among the top of the third-year knights' class—behind only Chen Xia, Celia, and Duran.

Even Chelsea, nicknamed "Knight Killer" as a battle mage, couldn't easily subdue Eliana.

But right now, Eliana had no choice but to flee.

Because Chelsea wasn't the only one chasing her.

'I should have shaken off Abad by now, right?'

Tonight, Chelsea had teamed up with her older brother Abad.

As soon as Eliana encountered the Lewellin siblings, she had no choice but to run.

Whoosh!

Just as she accelerated further, Eliana flinched.

Fwoooom!

A gust of wind swirled ahead—and Abad appeared in front of her.

"Wha?! How'd he get ahead?!"

Startled, Eliana stopped in place and looked baffled. Abad smiled gently.

"Eliana, you're too honest."

"Ehehehe. Flattering me won't get you anything, y'know."

"Idiot. You think that was a compliment? I'm saying your movements are predictable."

Thud—!

Chelsea, who had blocked Eliana's retreat, sighed.

"I led you here on purpose."

"Ah! That's cheating!"

"What's cheating in a fight? It's strategy! And falling for such a simple tactic—that's your fault, isn't it?"

Chelsea scoffed at Eliana's complaint.

Frustrated, Eliana drew her sword.

Shing!

As the sharp blade glinted, Abad raised his wand.

And then—

Fwoooosh!

"Brother!"

Chelsea shouted, startled.

Abad flinched and swung his wand.

Boom!

A wind barrier deflected the flaming aura, scattering fire everywhere.

"You left your back open! Gutsy, aren't you, Abad?!"

"Don't even think about it!"

As Eliana lunged at Abad's back, Chelsea quickly intervened, swinging her wand.

Clang!

Eliana's sharp sword clashed with Chelsea's wand, armed with blades of wind.

Eliana pressed forward against Chelsea.

Whoosh!

Overpowered, Chelsea used Eliana's force to launch herself backward and create distance.

But Eliana immediately closed the gap, not giving her any room.

'What?! She's faster?!'

Eliana's speed exceeded expectations, and Chelsea was shaken.

Clang!

Her muscles tightened, nerves focused on Eliana's sword tip.

Clang! Cling! Clang-clang-clang-clang-clang! Ka-ka-ka-kang—!

Blow after blow.

Each clash of sword and wand sent sparks flying.

And as the fight continued, Eliana's sword grew even faster.

"What?!"

Chelsea gasped in disbelief.

In terms of attack speed, she wasn't inferior to anyone.

Her specialty was high-speed chanting—combining it with swift martial skills to overwhelm opponents.

Her close-combat style was like an intricate acrobatic dance.

And she executed it effortlessly.

What her spells lacked in destructive power, she made up for by aiming at vital points with speed.

And what she lacked in raw physical ability compared to knight-class students, she compensated with magic.

By overcoming her weaknesses with greater strengths, Chelsea had grown stronger.

'If only I could do that… But trying to mimic Chelsea just messes me up.'

Eliana pouted at Chelsea's astonished face.

Unlike Chelsea, Eliana didn't dwell much on her flaws.

More accurately, she avoided thinking about them.

Her attacks were fast and threatening—but that was it.

'Speed is all I've got. I don't have Celia or Duran's destructive power. I'm not versatile like Xia.'

She only had raw speed and recklessness.

That trait, in a way, held back her growth.

Except for Celia, Duran, and Chen Xia, Eliana had no equal in the third-year knight class.

But those three—who stood at the top—saw her as an easy opponent.

So much so that Eliana was sometimes the butt of jokes, accused of "massacring civilians" when fighting them.

Not just them.

'Even the top students from other departments made me feel helpless.'

Clang!

Eliana widened the distance from Chelsea and caught her breath.

'Back in first year, it didn't bother me.'

She'd grown quickly then.

But in second year—

Eliana had often whined to Chen Xia and Chloe.

Saying the gap between her and the top students felt like it was widening.

'Xia and Chloe told me to be more serious about everything.'

They were right.

Eliana was far too carefree.

Not just in daily life, but in battle, too.

Her greatest weakness was her simplicity.

'If you think long and move slowly, you won't charge blindly.'

'If you take your opponent seriously, you'll come up with more diverse attacks.'

If she followed their advice, she could surely overcome her weaknesses.

But she couldn't.

When she thought too much, her sword slowed down.

And she hated that.

During second year, while wrestling with this, Eliana eventually asked Leo for advice.

And his response was unexpected.

"Just keep doing what you're doing."

"Aha! So you think I'm doing well now?"

"No."

"What the—! You just said to keep doing what I'm doing!"

"It'd be great if you could add complexity to your speed. But I don't think that suits your personality."

"Ugh!"

"So just stick to what works."

"But the others are pulling ahead."

"So? If you become a hero, great. If not, oh well."

"True."

"Then why are you trying to keep up with them?"

"Because I really like our class. I want to stay with them."

Eliana said it like it was nothing.

"So I need to at least keep up from behind."

"There's gonna be danger ahead, you know?"

"Eh? That's not good… Hmm… hmm…"

With a troubled expression, she folded her arms and shouted,

"Fine! Then I'll just achieve a great feat, become a hero, and be adored forever!"

Leo burst into laughter at her words.

"Then keep doing what you're doing."

"Huh?"

"Complex movements mean you're taking a detour to your goal."

He smiled.

"Simplicity may be your weakness—but it means you'll reach your goal faster."

"Oho. Oho!"

"When you become faster than anyone else, your weakness will become your strength."

"Awesome! Then I'll just do what I've always done!"

'After listening to Leo's advice, I went back to my old ways. But the path still wasn't clear.'

So she decided to just do her best reasonably.

She would never catch up to the top students anyway.

Still, she could be helpful like this.

And then—

Eliana saw Dweno and Enniha.

A great hero who nearly turned his back on the world to achieve his goal.

And Enniha, who pushed that hero forward.

That sight was a huge inspiration.

Her reckless, lighthearted nature remained.

She was still a silly girl who loved to goof around.

But—

The image of a hero who once sacrificed everything lingered in her mind.

Couldn't she be a hero too?

The girl who once vaguely dreamed of becoming a hero now understood what it truly meant.

Through Enniha, the hero of 5000 years ago.

'Maybe I can take things more seriously now?'

Eliana, who once only wanted to be faster with no real purpose—

Now had a clear goal.

She realized even great heroes can lose their way.

So maybe her friends might, too, someday.

And if that happened—

'Maybe I could push them forward like Enniha did.'

Eliana, who could only charge forward—

Found her direction and sprinted toward it.

Flash!

Her sword gleamed like lightning.

Chelsea was stunned by Eliana rapidly closing the distance and began casting magic.

Her movement was predictable.

But her speed broke those predictions.

Simple, yet too fast to react to.

She was no longer the same Eliana.

'Stay calm.'

Wind wasn't just fast—it was ever-changing.

No one could predict where the wind would blow.

Even if Eliana was unimaginably faster now—

Chelsea had no intention of losing.

'If I lose, I'll have to see that smug look on her face until graduation! Not happening!'

She swore it repeatedly.

Eliana, seeing Chelsea like that, gripped her sword tightly.

Down the long hallway, several doors appeared.

Facing each other with the door between them, Eliana and Chelsea both moved at once.

Just as they charged—

BOOM! Fwooooshhh—!

An explosion erupted from inside the room, and flames burst out.

Startled, both girls backed away in a panic.

"W-What?! Celia and Abad were fighting down the other hallway!"

"That's not Zerdringer's flame. It's magically conjured fire."

Startled, Chelsea and Eliana cautiously approached the door.

Peering inside, they saw a scorched room.

Leo was there, covering his face.

Beside him, Lyl kept bowing repeatedly.

Then Elena appeared from above.

"Huh? Why's this connected to Leo's room? And…"

She glanced around the room.

The explosion had blown off all the doors inside.

Through the now-open doorways, they could see other parts of the school.

Students were peeking in from the other side, just like Chelsea and Eliana, curious about the chaos.

"…What is going on?"

Elena tilted her head.

Then—

"Ah!"

Eliana screamed.

"A stamp!"

She pointed to a stamp rolling on the floor.

While everyone was frozen—

Whoosh!

Eliana dashed forward and snatched it up.

That started a frenzy as students all over the school rushed into Leo's room.

"Hohoho! The praise stamp is mine!"

"Catch her! Get Eliana!"

"Stop right there!"

"Waaah! Celia! Catch!"

Eliana tossed the stamp out to Celia.

Celia caught it and started running.

"This looks fun."

"I'm joining too!"

As Elena and Lyl moved to chase after the stamp—

Grab—

"Where do you think you're going?"

Leo's deadly voice stopped them cold.

"Clean it up."

"Y-Yes!"

"Y-Yes, sir…"

Even Elena, of all people, shrank back and went quiet.

Left alone with the two in the room, Leo sat down on what used to be a sofa, deep in thought.

'Eliana barging in yesterday… And now rooms all over the dorm suddenly connecting to mine…'

Something was clearly wrong with the Clocktower Dormitory.

It felt like someone had deliberately opened access to his room.

'This isn't just high-level magic. It's someone with deep understanding of spatial theory.'

As Leo narrowed his eyes, he considered who could possibly pull this off at Lumene.

Even Leo was baffled by the complex enchantments in the Clocktower Dormitory.

'Even genius professors here wouldn't have this much control over magic. And on top of that…'

Leo glanced at the open doorway.

'There's malice in this.'

It reeked of a deliberate attempt to mess with him.

Leo suddenly froze.

A thought flashed in his mind, and he scowled.

'No way… That damn lizard?!'