Forty-Third Chapter
Awkward Good News
An announcement was made that stunned the militaries of all the nations, the shock spreading through them in ripples. It was a report on the elimination of a Devourer that appeared some dozens of kilometers out from Balmes’ border.
It was, of course, kept from the average citizens, being revealed only to the upper echelons of each nation’s military; but the details were surprising to say the least.
Just the name Devourer was enough to make people remember the horrible past. Not to mention that it had been designated as an SS-class Fiend. Because of that, there were some who doubted the truth of it. They would have to go back half a century just to find a comparable example.
In reality, despite being called the official report, the report had seen some alteration by Berwick, who’d had overall command of the operation. Details on Alus, and any mentions of his special ability, had been completely erased from the report. Aside from that, the credit wasn’t given to Alus alone but to him and Lettie and the squad under their command.
The incident was finally settled, and only a handful of people knew the truth. Fortunately, the incident was enough to get the top brass of the militaries to adopt a more serious attitude. The battle against the Fiends had been long, and lately the tables had begun to turn in their favor, which made for a lax atmosphere—but this brought them right back to reality.
No matter how competent they might be, familiarity with the Fiends could make a person complacent. The military wouldn’t get off their backside until a fatal mistake had been made. It wasn’t until a while after they stepped off the right path before they would turn around, having finally realized their mistake.
The bigger the organization was, the more its leaders neglected to confirm where they were going. And after experiencing the threat of extinction, they became arrogant in their belief that humanity could still make a comeback. But the state of affairs had improved somewhat for now.
The people of the world were still in a slumber. They had no way of knowing that the temporary peace they experienced now was all thanks to the efforts of a single boy with extraordinary powers.
***
The elimination of the Devourer Demi Azur had left Alus unconscious, but two days after he woke up, he and Loki returned to Alpha.
Upon his return, he was forced into helping to make a report of this unprecedented incident, which took another week. Not to mention that it took several weeks for Alus to fully recover and to treat Loki’s legs. So, by the time Alus and Loki returned to their everyday lives, it was already the middle of November.
It had been a while since he’d lived an ordinary life, and even he felt some joy upon his return to it. However, at the same time, he felt a strange unease now that he possessed an overwhelming abundance of mana.
“Welcome back. Finally, huh,” Tesfia said.
“It’s been a while, Loki dear,” Alice said.
It was early in the morning, and Alus and Loki had just come out of the research building when Tesfia and Alice called out to them. Both girls looked like they’d been waiting for this.
They hadn’t set up a meeting or told them anything ahead of time. Maybe they’d seen the light on inside. They had their student bags and AWRs with them as usual, as opposed to when they’d been at the Friendship Magical Tournament.
But there was nothing that could welcome Alus back to his regular routine more than this sight, as if the balance of his everyday life had returned to normal. Now, the fact that he’d come back finally sank in.
“We’re back. It’s been a while,” Loki returned the greeting, while Alus took a moment to process the strange sensation.
It didn’t feel like it had been a while to him. He felt uncomfortable with himself, though, for accepting this sight as ordinary. He looked forward to the time when his regular days as a student would feel natural again.
Leaving Alus’ feelings aside, Tesfia rushed up to him and peered at his face. “You’ve been away for a whole month now. Don’t you think you’re in danger of repeating a year?” She immediately hit a sore spot.
Alus decided not to ask how much they’d heard about the mission.
“It should be fine,” Loki said, listening in from Alus’ other side. “The principal should know the circumstances, so he should get a special exemption for the credits at least.” She didn’t seem worried in the slightest and had a happy expression on her face as she got closer to Alus.
“What, so it was all for nothing, then,” Alice told Tesfia, with an amused and mischievous look on her face.
Meanwhile, Tesfia put her finger in front of her lips as if to silence her. Perhaps she was a little embarrassed as well, since her cheeks were red.
“Did something happen?” Loki asked.
“Actually, after you were absent for a few days, Fia and I started to worry about you advancing to the next year. We wanted to do something about your attendance at least, so we cheated a little... It was the first time I did something bad,” Alice said in an inappropriately cheery voice.
“Oh.” Alus caught on to what she meant.
Attendance checks differed from class to class. And there were plenty of teachers who relied on the good old method of reading names from a register and listening for the response. Some requested reports be submitted, or that licenses be shown, but the method was ultimately left up to each teacher. So it wasn’t impossible to ask a friend to reply when one’s name was called.
The Institute was well aware that this could happen, but as the Second Magical Institute was so prestigious, they didn’t expect there to be any students who were that underhanded.
“I’m surprised such a proud noble would do such a thing,” Alus commented.
“But that’s all I could do! Normally, you’re out if you don’t have enough attendance, you know!” Her methods were clumsy, but considering her personality, no one would have expected such behavior from Tesfia.
“You’ve worked hard for Sir Alus’ sake.” Loki looked like she’d revised her opinion of them and decided to give them praise.
“I wouldn’t call it hard...” Tesfia said.
“And we got caught in the end, anyways,” Alice added with a sly smile.
“Hm, I figured as much. Even if you got someone to imitate me, the principal would be keeping tabs on me anyway. You’ll need to put a little more effort into it. Since you’re a noble, you could at least bribe the faculty.”
“—!! That’s not cheating, that’s straight-up illegal!”
“It’s a joke... well, you know... it seems like I made you worry.” Alus turned his eyes away from Tesfia, scratching his cheek. He’d said it almost reluctantly and hoped the words would be forgotten quickly.
But Tesfia’s expression melted into a smile. “That’s okay. I caused you a lot of trouble before the tournament and with my mother. I’d like to repay you in whatever way I can.”
Seeing her refreshing smile, Alus realized her problems had subsided for now. “I thank you for your underhanded work,” he retorted sarcastically, and Tesfia grimaced.
“I was a little worried when it took you two so long to return. But I’m glad we can go to class together again.” Alice sounded relieved.
Alus couldn’t help but feel a little guilty when it came to her, but military matters took priority. That was the unspoken promise he’d made to Berwick. “Well, there were some complicated things going on.”
“Hmm. I see...” Tesfia said with a frown, but the light in her eyes betrayed her curiosity.
“What, you’re not going to ask for once?”
“If I asked, would you answer?”
“Not a chance. It’s too much of a bother,” Alus replied dismissively.
Tesfia pouted for a moment, but soon gave him a mischievous smile as if she’d seen that reply coming all along. Alice wore a similar expression and also didn’t ask any further.
However, both understood that Alus’ retirement was only a partial one, due to Berwick’s orders. And they knew there was a lot of secrecy involved. Alus and Loki couldn’t say a lot publicly, which was why they didn’t even try to get any hints out of them, showing consideration towards Alus.
He noticed this as well, but didn’t touch further on it, changing the topic for now. “But that aside, you two haven’t been skipping out on training, have you?”
If they’d shown any alarming reactions, he might have had to appeal to the principal to get them a babysitter... but these two were no slackers. They both puffed out their chests in pride and answered at the same time.
“Not at all!” Tesfia cried.
“Of course not,” Alice said.
That said, if they had, all of their training so far would have been a waste. Someone with Alus’ overwhelming talent was one thing, but all these two had was more motivation than most. As he looked at their expressions, it seemed that wasn’t all.
“Hehe, there’s one more thing we have in store for you,” Tesfia said. “It’s going to knock your socks off!”
“Yeah!” Alice added enthusiastically.
At those meaningful words, Alus asked, “Don’t tell me you two cleared it?”
The training stick that repelled mana made of the outer shell of the Salqueroit was a very plain training method. But the essence of mana control wasn’t something that could be picked up in a day. So the two completing the training stick method in such a short period of time showed how good they’d become.
But being able to completely clear it would mean they had talent that far exceeded that of a normal person.
“Ah... well... I wouldn’t go that far.” Alice picked up on Alus’ astonishment and smiled wryly.
“Can you not raise the bar any more, please? We’ve become able to enchant it for a lot longer now!” Tesfia said in triumph.
Hearing that, it was Alus’ turn to shrug after realizing he’d expected too much. No, it was probably still impressive in its own right. He hadn’t seen their results for himself yet. If Tesfia was to be believed, their growth was still exceptional.
“Well, you can show me after class.”
“Yeah, look forward to it! But don’t expect too much, okay?”
“Which is it?”
“Well, just have the right amount of expectations...”
“Fia, you’re being so roundabout. You just want to get Al’s praise, don’t you?”
“N-No!” Tesfia moved to block Alice’s mouth, her cheeks a little red.
“... I just hope my expectations will be betrayed in a good sense.”
The two sighed in response to Alus’ curt words.
Incidentally, the mention of seeking Alus’ praise had earned Tesfia and Alice a sharp glare from Loki, but fortunately nobody noticed.
Either way, they’d all safely returned to their calm, everyday lives. Though Alus wasn’t fully satisfied as they headed for the main building...
As the way to the main building passed by the girls’ dorm, he saw an overwhelming number of female students on the path. The boys’ dorm was in a completely different location, so the presence of some boys on the path could only be explained by the fact that they were in puberty.
Walking along the path, Alus and Loki put on puzzled expressions as they noticed the strange atmosphere. It wasn’t a big deal or anything, but because of their line of work, they were sensitive to changes in atmosphere.
Seeing good friends walking together was the same as usual. But what was different was the tone of their discussions, which sounded livelier than before. It seemed to be mostly gossiping, but today they all appeared to be talking about the same topic.
It was a mixture of emotions from expectation to envy, curiosity to doubt, but despite everything, it was clearly a topic all the female students were enjoying.
Amused by Alus’ and Loki’s reactions, Tesfia shrugged and smiled. “You’ll find out soon enough.”
“Right. It’s been all the talk these days,” Alice added, as she glanced at the female students out of the corner of her eye.
***
The strange atmosphere that Alus and Loki were sensing had even invaded the main building. An abnormal number of students were enthusiastically engaging in conversation. It was the same topic everywhere, with some even going from circle to circle to gather information.
In the classroom, it was the same. Alus didn’t even have to strain his ears to pick up what they were saying, and he furrowed his brows. He felt an inexplicable bad feeling, akin to a chill.
“... From what I heard from an upperclassman, there’s apparently no doubt about it.”
“So it’s been officially announced not just in Alpha, but in all seven nations?”
“No, only a handful of people in the military know about it. That upperclassman’s parents have a lot of connections in the military, so it should be reliable information. It’s been shared quite a bit among the second and third years.”
“So, what about the name? What’s his name?”
“That’s the part that’s wrapped in mystery!”
“Right... but still...”
“Yeah. I’m sure he’s just fantastic. He’s at the pinnacle of all Magicmasters, after all!”
“I wonder if we’ll ever get a chance to see him.”
“Keep talking! Supposedly, almost nobody’s ever seen him, even in the military. He’s achieved so much alongside Lady Lettie, and seeing as how there’s almost no information on him, it must be being kept secret for a different reason...”
As he looked at some of the male students gossiping, Alus felt a headache coming on.
The Devourer that had been eliminated had a threat level that was previously unheard of. While the details could be kept hidden, the event itself was impossible to conceal because it was a great feat that would go down in history. It may have taken place in the Outer World, but the scale was too large to hide.
Not to mention, rumors of the ranked No. 1 Magicmaster’s involvement were circulating as if it were accepted truth. Alpha had dispatched the elite squad under direct command of the Single Digit Magicmaster Lettie, and the other six nations had sent in their strongest forces as well. Trying to hide all of that was simply impossible.
As a result, the fact that Alpha’s two Singles had eliminated the threat leaked out, which gave way to all kinds of speculation. Of course, specific details had been squashed so as not to worry the general population.
Meanwhile, the female students were getting ahead of themselves with their wild delusions.
“There’s no doubt about it. It’s finally time for Alpha’s ranked No. 1 to make his debut in the world! I don’t know why the military is so secretive though...” one girl passionately exclaimed, as the others nodded their heads.
Alus’ achievements weren’t being covered up, but they hadn’t been officially announced either. The top brass wanted to keep the fact that Alpha’s ranked No. 1 was still just a boy quiet for the time being. In a few years, his age would better match his fame anyway.
This was the first time Alus and Loki heard what the students were talking about, but based on Tesfia’s and Alice’s expressions, it was indeed a daily occurrence. Thinking about these kinds of rumors being spread on a daily basis, Alus felt he did the right thing in not returning to the Institute for so long.
“As Balmes was in danger, he swept down to save them along with Lady Lettie and her elites... how dreamy. Also, this is just between us, but...” Suddenly, the female student leaned in closer to the circle of girls. She purposefully held her palm over her mouth to whisper secrets. But, perhaps due to her excitement, she wasn’t able to keep her voice as low as she’d intended, so it reached all the way to Alus. “The ranked No. 1 has already managed to reclaim the continents of Zentley and Covent.”
The next moment, disappointed voices rang out.
“I knew that ages ago. News needs to be fresh!”
“Everyone knows that already.”
The girl who was interrupted didn’t look upset. If anything, she smiled, as if to say she got them. She let out an exaggerated sigh, before checking her surroundings.
“... Do you have anything else?”
“I-If you do, please do share.”
The voices around her got excited again.
“Oh! I guess I have to... Actually, this is very recent information, and almost no one knows it... But it hasn’t been officially announced, so you have to keep it a secret.”
The female student’s act made the girls around her swallow in anticipation.
It was there that Alus lost interest, figuring it would only be baseless rumors, but still, he couldn’t keep the sound of it from reaching him at his desk. This was a standard lecture, so there were no assigned seats. As a result, Alus sat down by the window at the back, with Loki, Tesfia, and Alice taking seats on the same row. At some point, the four had begun acting together as if they were their own faction.
Alus realized he had some time left before first period, so he pulled some documents he’d brought with him out of his bag. Actually, this was pretty much the first time he’d brought his bag with him to class. Just as he stared at the first document and tried to shut out the outside world...
“That’s not all. He’s also been involved in solving all kinds of incidents within the nation, performing great deeds in places we can’t discuss!”
“That’s amazing... but don’t you think he’s achieving too much? I’m sure he gets a constant stream of requests from the military, but is he all right?”
Alus unconsciously nodded at those words. If that’s how they felt, he hoped they’d make a direct appeal to the Governor-General.
“That’s true. Just because he’s at the top of all Magicmasters, they can’t just run him ragged. Anyways, I’m sure any mission he gets involved in is resolved in the blink of an eye.”
One girl sighed. “I wonder what he’s like.”
The gossiping continued, and Alus’ focus was forcibly brought back to reality. The female students were entertaining their delusions with ecstatic expressions. Their fantasy version of the ranked No. 1 was probably a perfect person without any semblance of flaws. The peculiar atmosphere that exuded from the teenage girls could only be described as detached from reality and dreamlike.
With a bitter expression, Alus kept his cheek from twitching, as he thought that unfortunately there was no such perfect man.
That said, considering the two major incidents with Godma Barhong and the Devourer, some information leaking out was probably inevitable. It was fine for now, but if someone with connections to the military’s upper echelons took a real interest, then Alus’ identity would come out in a matter of moments, shattering his peaceful student life.
He understood there wasn’t even a faint hope of trying to impersonate someone else. After glancing at Loki, who had a satisfied smile on her face, Alus looked over to Tesfia. And what he got in response was a wry smile, as if to say, “See?”
If this had been going on for days like Alice said, then it would be an unbearable situation for Alus. You can never really trust rumors, but it seems there’s some degree of truth to them, like they’re gradually approaching the truth. Letting out a grand sigh, as if to ask them to spare him, Alus squeezed the bridge of his nose.
However, the circle continued...
“I’m sure he’s a wonderful man! If he stood side by side with Sir Jean, it would make for such a wonderful picture!”
“Of course, he’s one of the most powerful Magicmasters in history. I’m sure he’s got the looks to match, just looking at him would probably take your breath away.”
Hearing all this, anyone would feel pain at their selfish expectations. And Alus could feel his headache getting worse. He once again realized what a drag it was to keep his identity a secret. If the time came when he’d have to reveal his identity, he shuddered at the thought of how different he was from the image people had.
Noticing how Alus felt, Tesfia gave him a complacent smile and whispered, “Being a lady-killer must be rough...”
It was meant to be sarcastic, but Alus didn’t have the composure to realize that, as he groaned.
Loki simply nodded her head, while Alice smiled wryly, neither confirming nor denying it.
That was when the female student in the center of the circle noticed Alus and the others and gave them a graceful curtsy. But the flaming passion of the girls around her made her turn her eyes back to them, as her blonde hair swayed.
She opened her shapely mouth as if to feed the chicks awaiting their food around her. Her graceful facial features and the way she conducted herself made it easy to guess she was a lady from a prestigious family.
The Institute had a large number of students from the nobility and the upper class. So that in itself wasn’t particularly unusual, but Alus tried to recall if he had such a glamorous classmate. He didn’t pay any real attention to his classmates, not wanting to waste any precious memory on them. So if he couldn’t remember them, it couldn’t be helped.
Even as he looked around the classroom, he didn’t really remember the faces or names of anyone aside from the three girls with him. But after hearing the female student’s next words, she left a deep impression on Alus.
“About Ulhava, the Magicmaster who represented Alpha in the magical martial arts demonstration... a Magicmaster by that name doesn’t exist. Not in Alpha, at least.”
The circle buzzed with commotion over this, and the girl continued with a satisfied expression, “See, now you get it? I believe that he’s the one. Actually, I had my older brother investigate it, and I’m all but convinced.”
Well, if you thoroughly investigate it, it’s something you could find out. But still... Alus casually looked over at the blonde student. If she was just a normal Magicmaster or half-baked noble, she wouldn’t be able to get any leads on Alus. After all, it was Berwick who was in charge of controlling the information.
As if she’d seen through his confusion, Tesfia whispered to him, “Lilisha Ron de Rimfuge Frusevan. She transferred in during the Friendship Magical Tournament. The Rimfuges are a well-known family of Magicmasters in Alpha.”
The head of the Rimfuge family was a lord who ruled a territory, a rarity in Alpha. While Alpha had a number of noble families, very few actually had territory of their own to rule. The administration of Alpha’s land was under the control of the ruler, and there weren’t many who wanted to rule a territory like that. An overwhelming majority leased territory instead, to keep up appearances.
This was a result of the aristocracy’s power decreasing as their lands shrunk and their fiefdoms faded away. While they maintained the name of nobility, their authority was a mere shadow of the past. So there were only a few who lorded over territory in the present day.
“Anyways, it’s a prestigious family known for producing excellent Magicmasters. But... it’s unusual and strange for the youngest daughter to transfer in this late in the year.”
As Alus listened to Tesfia, the name rang a bell even to someone as uninterested in nobility as him. It was a name he’d heard every now and then in the military.
Meanwhile, the girl in question continued, “It’s actually Lady Cicelnia who recommended this Ulhava.” The blonde girl, Lilisha, sounded amused as her words gathered the attention of those around her. Despite having transferred in at such an odd time, she appeared to be mixing in well with the class, thanks to the information she had on hand.
At the same time, Alus added her name to the list of people that might threaten his peaceful life at the Institute.
“Should we rake her over the coals, Sir Alus?” Loki casually said with an expressionless face.
But there was no room for doubt that she’d actually do it. If Alus ordered it, she’d surely call that Lilisha to the back of the building... and he didn’t want to imagine what would happen then. “Leave it be. There’s no real harm done yet. Besides, since she’s nobility, she’ll eventually learn that messing with me will only end up hurting her more.”
“Okay...”
Alus was a bit worried over how easily his partner backed down, but considering the current atmosphere of the Institute, he realized it would be a waste of time to warn her every time.
That’s when Alice changed the topic with feigned innocence. “That aside, the whole Institute is like this, so even we’ve been making guesses at your and Loki dear’s mission. Though there are some parts that only we know.”
“Even if I’m being kept a secret, I have a personal life as well. So the secret will reach its limit at some point. I’ll just have to hope that the commotion doesn’t get any bigger than this. I don’t want any of you letting anything out either. It’ll only be a pain for me.”
“Of course not!” Alice replied immediately.
... But Tesfia paused for a moment, and said thoughtfully, “Well... the principal told us that too, and it’s not like I’m going to go spread the word, but do you think it’s something you’ll be able to hide forever?”
Alus himself had his doubts about that. Well, he didn’t actually care about his status being leaked out. The problem was that his troubles would only increase. Most of all, he wanted to avoid getting pushed further and further away from his research.
However, the nuance in Tesfia’s words seemed to have a different meaning from what he understood. Alus had only recently begun to understand how ignorant of the ways of the world he’d been.
Tesfia had her shortcomings, but maybe because of her noble background, she had a different point of view that she could bring to the table. Or maybe it was her lack of maturity.
As the teacher came in and the discussion came to a stop, Alus swapped places with Loki and urged Tesfia to continue. “What do you think, Fia...?”
Alice and Loki leaned in towards Alus to listen in, though Loki seemed to have a different objective in mind as she got closer than necessary.
“I just want to live a quiet life where nothing happens,” Alus said. “Well, aside from you guys.”
Tesfia, still being serious, split her focus from the lecture and spoke without looking his way. “I’m sure it’s something Alice also knows,” she sighed. “The talk may be focused on the great and mighty ranked No. 1 right now, but when we came back from the tournament, there was a festive mood here at the Institute.”
Just the thought of it depressed him, but Alpha’s victory was an unmistakable accomplishment. He was just happy that he hadn’t been here for it.
Tesfia continued, as Alice nodded along, “At first, everyone was celebrating the win itself, but after they settled down, people started talking about the individuals involved. I mean, you did retire in the middle of it.”
“Ah, yeah.”
“Retiring like that without a reason is seriously frowned on. In fact, there’s probably never been anyone who retired for any reason other than injuries. Though Feli did try to help smooth things over, so there’s not as much frustration over it anymore.”
She rested her cheek on her desk as she said, “Eventually, everyone focused on your matches up to the finals.”
“Was there a problem?” Alus asked.
“Of course there was! You know the average student’s abilities, right? If you achieve a record-breaking five-second match, you’ll naturally be the talk of the town. You only stood out a little before, but it’s worse now.”
“This is my first time hearing it...”
Tesfia had actually been busy with her own matches but had heard it from someone else. And she’d wanted to let Alus know about it. “Sheesh...”
Her expression seemed to say that he didn’t understand how she felt at all. However, she didn’t look too bothered by it.
Alus didn’t feel much regret over what he’d done. If anything, he’d held back quite a bit. The magic he’d used was very basic; it was just that the match had been short. So he’d figured there wouldn’t be any problems, but apparently that wasn’t the case.
“They thoroughly grilled Alice and me, too,” Tesfia went on. There wasn’t any anger in her voice, but her exhaustion came through in her expression and gestures.
“Well, we’re always with Al, after all. They asked us a lot of things, but the most common one was your rank,” Alice whispered.
The principal had told them to keep quiet about it before, so it must’ve been quite the pain to deal with. “There’s not much I can do about that. Even the Governor-General told me to let the opponent use a little magic, though.” Alus had felt inconvenienced, and while he wasn’t aware of it, he even felt a bit upset.
Loki was probably in the same position, but in her case, her rank had been revealed by the time she transferred in. Alus was just too far from the norm.
“Looks like I caused you two some trouble,” Alus noted.
His completely unexpected words took Tesfia and Alice some time to process. Tesfia was the first to return to her senses and open her mouth. “Ahh, no, it wasn’t that bad... Ranking aside, I don’t think it’s possible for you to hide your full power.”
“You did nothing wrong, Al.”
The somewhat loud voice startled Alus for a moment. He turned around and saw Loki tightly pursing her lips. “There’s no way around it with such a big difference in ability. And you were still considerate on top of that! What more can they ask of you!!”
“Don’t get off the main point,” Alus told her, placing his hand on her head.
Loki didn’t look willing to back down on that point. She got even closer to Alus.
“Well, if the top brass does something, I won’t have to make any moves, though I doubt that’ll be the case the way Alpha is right now.”
“Is it that bad?” Tesfia asked him anxiously.
Thinking about it, Alus recalled that he’d revealed that Babel’s barrier was growing weaker. “Well, it’s mostly the same everywhere, but they’re all better off than Balmes. But it’s not like the rank of No. 1 is something you achieve by choice. It’s important to keep everything in moderation.”
“Don’t give us such hopeless talk.” Tesfia looked dumbfounded as Alus spoke these gloomy words. She used to believe that rank was the most important thing, so it was hard for her to process this. But unfortunately, there was no hope to be found in Alus’ opinion.
But Alus was only allowed to entertain these thoughts for a moment, as Tesfia took advantage of their talk to drop a bombshell. “Also, Mother, uhm... took a little... or rather, a lot of interest in you...” she squeezed out in a small voice, and Alus nearly blurted out his surprise.
But it was better than not being told about it. It was something he’d more or less caught on to when Frose Fable, Tesfia’s mother, made her way into the Institute and forced that promise out of him.
Seeing Tesfia so cornered was strange, but it was something that Alus had said himself. So it might be his just deserts. “I bet. Knowing her, I doubt you could do anything about her.”
“Well, yeah, but...”
“Then whatever will happen, will happen.” Alus took this opportunity to confirm something. “And, so what did your mother decide? Though I guess the answer is obvious since you’re here.”
He was asking about the promise Tesfia made with her mother about determining her potential as a Magicmaster. Even though there hadn’t been much time, both Tesfia and Alice had worked hard to prepare for the tournament.
The redhead puffed out her chest and secretly flashed Alus a V sign with a massive smile on her face. “I won, so of course it went perfect! Also, during my match with Alice... I managed to use Zepel!!”
“Seriously... I gave you hints, but I wasn’t sure you’d be able to handle it. Talk about missing the mark. I was sure one of you would finally drop out.”
“Hey!” Tesfia protested.
“Fine. I guess you’re going to have to tag along for a while longer.”
“That’s right. I look forward to it, Al!” Tesfia said with a bright expression.
Alice went along with the atmosphere and whispered, “Me too.”
However, it appeared Tesfia’s voice had been too loud, not to mention the way Loki was leaning in too close to Alus was suspicious, so the four of them became the subjects of a harsh scolding.
Finally, their classes were over for the day. And both Tesfia and Alice looked happy about it. That was because the training they’d been doing for over a month had become stagnant. But it wasn’t the training itself that was the problem, it was Alus’ absence.
Like Tesfia said that morning, the two had been keeping up their training even though he wasn’t there. Alus was vaguely happy about that, perhaps because he’d realized this meant that he’d actually been teaching and guiding them. He’d simply thought he was playing the teacher role that Sisty asked him to, but as they spent time together, his feelings had begun to change.
But today, he was feeling a little tired. All that gossip was still on his mind. His image was taking on a life of its own, as he was being spun into a hero of the ages... it just diverged far too much from who he really was. Talk about depressing. Not to mention, most of the students seemed to look up to the ranked No. 1 as if he were a god.
Though Alus wasn’t completely free from blame. His overwhelming power and great achievements created a mindset where people ended up relying on him, instead of steeling their own resolve.
In other words, their resolve to support Alpha themselves had weakened. As a result, no one made any attempt to reach the same heights that Alus had, feeling no responsibility, and basically they tried to get a free ride off of the glory he brought.
In a sense, the overly hasty changes Berwick pushed through using Alus’ accomplishments had backfired. The military was currently functioning smoothly with Berwick at the top, but the idea of creating the image of an absolute, invincible hero to prop up novice Magicmasters who would then support the military in the future, now had the opposite effect.
Though in the Institute, it was Sisty’s role to coordinate such matters... maybe the extracurricular lesson in the Outer World was a sign that the top brass was aware of the problem and hoped to alleviate it. That said, it was pretty rushed, so their plan was full of holes.
Anyways, Alus wasn’t as much angry with the students’ shallow thinking as he was exasperated. He’d taught Tesfia and Alice, however briefly, and gotten something of a grasp of what teaching was all about.
The people who at least claimed they were aiming to become Singles could still be salvaged. He wanted to lament the apathy of the youth who would make up the future, when he suddenly realized he was one of them and decided to stop thinking. That said, it would be quite the spectacle if he were to tell them a thing or two.
He could entertain the thought of spending the rest of his life in leisure while they handled the rest, but he probably wouldn’t get the chance to say that out loud for a long time.
Alus sighed for the umpteenth time, as he gave up thinking.
Finally, he returned to the laboratory with Tesfia and Alice in tow. The next thing on the menu was confirming the results of their training. It might be just what he needed to turn around the depressed mood he had today.
Alus felt some degree of hope as he watched the two handle their training sticks. He narrowed his eyes and gazed at the flow of mana. Is this because I’m a good teacher? Or do they have more hidden potential than I realized? They shouldn’t be able to get these kinds of results this fast just through normal training.
Even if he gave them the benefit of the doubt, their growth was still remarkable. Geniuses or not, it had only been six months since they’d started the training. Even if he overestimated their potential, it still should’ve taken over a year.
The training sticks were exceedingly effective for training mana control, but even then, their results were taking shape too quickly. Judging from their expressions, he could hardly say they were doing it with ease, but they were still overcoming the repulsion and were able to control the mana flow fairly well. That had been one of the final goals Alus had set.
Of course, even if they’d picked up the knack for mana control, it was something they’d have to keep up all the time. But having come this far, all they needed to do was to make a habit out of it.
As a practical example... if they were to fight third-year students purely with their AWRs, they’d use up half as much mana as a regular student. If anything, in that example, they’d be able to completely overpower an upperclassman. They’d likely be able to handle D-class Fiends without difficulty, as long as they could use their AWRs. Though there were, of course, exceptions to everything.
According to Alus’ own norm, being able to enchant their AWRs in the Outer World for a few hours would be ideal, but that was hoping for too much. Nothing good would come from rushing the process. Regardless, he concluded that he’d be able to leave the rest up to the two themselves.
Meanwhile, though Loki appeared calm on the surface, she was secretly surprised by their rapid growth. One of the cups of tea she’d been preparing had accidentally been filled up to the brim. She’d taken her eye off of her task for a moment to watch the two girls train.
When it came to live combat experience there was no comparison, but while Tesfia and Alice still weren’t on Loki’s level, when it came to mana control she was now within their reach.
Loki had plenty of experience in the Outer World and had trained from a young age, so she was very skilled at mana control. But she couldn’t exactly brag about how long she could keep up precise control. As a result, she resolved to increase her mana control training starting today.
As Alus watched the two, he determined that they’d be able to carry on like that for another twenty minutes. “All right, that’s enough.”
“What?” Tesfia said. “I can still go on...”
The two were surprised, and looked at Alus with doubtful expressions, but he went on, “You can still go on for another twenty minutes, right? I don’t have the time to watch all of that, but I’ve more or less got it.”
The two girls smiled, giving his assumption more credibility.
Tesfia grinned proudly. “You could say that. We wanted to surprise you when you came back, so we did our best to try to find the trick to it.”
The essentials varied from person to person, so it wasn’t that easy, which was why Alus had made an upward adjustment of his evaluation of them. “It’s certainly a surprise. I once had a Triple Digit acquaintance try it, but even they only lasted for around thirty minutes.”
That was a problem in and of itself, but one couldn’t just lump together all kinds of things to compare an active-duty Triple with students. Everyone had their own characteristics, strengths, and weaknesses.
“Having come this far, I suppose I should think about calling that enough for the mana control training.”
When Alus said that, the two girls looked at him with aghast expressions and immediately began protesting.
“What?! Does that mean that the training is over? We’re still not on the level of being able to fight in the Outer World!” Tesfia exclaimed.
“Yeah. There’s so much we still want to learn... besides...” Alice said with a sorrowful expression, fearing their time training under Alus had come to an end.
Alus hadn’t expected this reaction but quickly corrected their misunderstanding. “Mana control is the foundation of all magic. And you’ve improved this much despite still being students. So you should be able to put up a good fight in the Outer World.”
“No, but...”
Tesfia was at a loss for words, so Alice took over. “Al... Is that all it takes for a Magicmaster to fight in the Outer World to you?” she painfully squeezed out with a desperate expression.
But that hadn’t been Alus’ intention. The edges of his lips curled up into a smile, but before he could say anything, Loki, carrying tea, intervened with an exasperated expression. “Sir Alus, if you’re too mean, they won’t answer another roll call for you.”
“Huh?!” Both Tesfia and Alice reacted.
“Right, sorry, that won’t do.”
In the past, Alus had put a training program together for the two girls and shown the documents to Loki. As they had different affinities, there were two sets of those documents. Incidentally, one of them was over 300 pages long.
Considering the volume, there was no way they’d be able to finish it all in the limited amount of time that they had. Knowing that, Loki felt that Alus was being a little mean taking this farce as far as he was.
Having been admonished, Alus honestly admitted to his fault. “You two are misunderstanding this. You’re still only just getting started on your training. In fact, the training I have in store for you has only just begun. But since we’ve come to a good stopping point for the mana control training, we’ll put a stop to that for now, and you’ll have to keep practicing it on your own.”
“Come on, then just say so from the start!” Tesfia said, huffing, before turning away to hide her relief.
Next to her, Alice let it show through gestures, as she put her hand over her chest and exhaled. But then she realized something, and asked, “So what are we going to do next?”
She had a light expression as she began, but by the time she finished her sentence, her expression had turned serious. She knew that the training to come would probably be even harsher than what they’d gone through so far. At the same time, she couldn’t help but get her hopes up. Having gotten this strong just from mana control training, she had high expectations for the results of continued training.
And even Tesfia looked intrigued, as she eagerly awaited Alus’ next words.
Alus saw their expressions, and took a sip of tea before answering with a mischievous smile, “What I’ll have you do now... is study.”
“What!!” Tesfia’s jaw dropped. She wasn’t good at being chained to a desk and stuffing her head with knowledge. She’d rather move her body. “W-Wait a minute! We already study enough in our classes; how is this related to training to fight in the Outer World?!”
“Fia...” Alice said in a pitying tone, looking at Tesfia sympathetically. She understood Tesfia’s personality better than anyone. “You get that what Al will be teaching us will be far different from normal classes, right? I know you don’t like sitting down at a desk, though. But Al, why studying? And what will it be about?”
“Fia, I get that you don’t like studying, but that kind of Magicmaster doesn’t live long in the Outer World,” Alus said.
“Grr... but...” Tesfia looked like she had a headache already.
“First, I’ll have you study up on Fiends. The Institute covers the basics, and you’ll get some opportunities to learn in the military too, but once you join the military you won’t have much time to learn. A newbie’s not going to last for long.”
“You mean what the Institute teaches isn’t enough? There’s even lectures on Fiends for all three years.”
Even after hearing what Alice said, Alus didn’t change his opinion. Institute knowledge and practical knowledge came from two different viewpoints. The lessons contained a lot of miscellaneous knowledge about Fiends because it was necessary to understand them from various perspectives, but that was different from living knowledge that was useful in practice.
“It’s true there’s a lot of lectures on Fiends. But they’re not on point. The historical facts on Fiends, their types and classes, as well as lectures using past examples, are certainly useful in their own right. Their data is backed up by research, and they use examples from history, so the lectures are indeed on a high level.”
“Then why?” Tesfia’s question still contained traces of hope that she’d be able to get out of studying.
“The lectures on Fiends are too diversified. I will only be teaching you one thing.”
The two looked at him with perplexed expressions.
Alus answered them with a smile. “Purely what you need to fight Fiends. Their weaknesses, characteristics, habits, and the like. It’s not knowledge to understand Fiends, but how to hunt them.”
Loki was sitting next to Alus, quietly listening with a cup of tea in hand. As someone with experience in the Outer World, it made a lot of sense to her.
“Is it really that important?” Tesfia asked.
Hearing such a superficial statement from Tesfia made Alus feel how deeply horrifying ignorance really was.
Meanwhile, Alice was refraining from making any statements. She was rarely frank or overly inquisitive. That was one of her virtues, but it could also be a weakness at times.
In other words, unlike the stupidly honest Tesfia, she didn’t try to address any doubts she felt on the spot, and instead was likely to try and push forward while having only a vague understanding.
While they lived within the safety of the Institute, that was one thing, but in the Outer World, even trivial things could be fatal. Of course, Alus was going to correct those things about them, while he beat the tactics for defeating Fiends into them.
But even then... “No... there’s no point in calling you ignorant every time. I guess I was expecting too much from you,” he said to Tesfia, partly to alleviate his fed-up mood. Not to mention payback for making fun of him earlier about being a lady-killer. He really was being petty.
“Oh fine! You don’t have to be so mean.” Perhaps because she’d gotten to know Alus better, or maybe because she understood her own inexperience, Tesfia didn’t seem too upset as she accepted his terms.
“I never get bored of this kind of exchange.” Alus didn’t have much interest in others, but his fruitless back and forth with Tesfia was as refreshing as always.
“Come on, you two...” As always, Alice took on the role of mediator and put a stop to the nonsensical conversation.
“Before we get started, let me just say that studying isn’t all we’ll do. The main idea is for you to load up on knowledge, but you’ll be doing practical magic training too. Alice’s new spell is only halfway done, as well.”
“That’s true. That’s important, too. Yeah. Knowledge is nothing without the techniques to use it.”
“Oh Fia...” Seeing Tesfia become so obviously happy upon hearing there would be practical training, Alice smiled. However, there was a bit of envy in her. She couldn’t help but feel envious that her best friend could so openly show her feelings.
To give them a more detailed explanation, Alus sat down at the table alongside Tesfia and Alice. Loki was already seated, and as expected, she was interested to hear Alus’ lecture too.
“Ahem! Let me get straight to the point.” Seeing that the two girls were braced for what was to come, Alus cleared his throat and began. “My theory is that the reason the death rate is so high for Magicmasters who encounter lower-classed Fiends, is because they simply lack the required knowledge. Of course, they get training when they enter the military, but there are gaps. There’s an assumption that they learn the rest in the Institute, but that’s the pitfall, not to mention that their training is insufficient.”
Tesfia and Alice were seriously listening to his lecture.
“Not to mention that they join the military to eliminate Fiends, so they’re put into live combat in the early stages. There’s also the mindset that to become a first-rate Magicmaster, you start off with eliminating Fiends, so the knowledge side is left lacking. They tend to not even get the time to remember what they’d learned. It’s especially common for new graduates to focus on accomplishments and flashy spells rather than a solid foundation of knowledge. By the time they realize that they’re in an encounter with a tough Fiend, it’s already too late.”
Now even Loki listened in on what Alus had to say.
“I did approach the Governor-General about it, but there are simply too many missions that need to get done. There’s a lot of things that need to be done during training, and a limit to how much time they have. So the best would be for it to be taught to them while they’re students, but that would put too big of a load on them. Moreover, there’s been studies on the fundamental reason for the high death rate, with various measures being taken into consideration.”
Alus paused, then walked over to a massive bookshelf in a corner of the laboratory. He pulled out a thick book and flipped through it.
It was like an encyclopedia containing detailed information on Fiends. It was a rare book, not something one could easily get their hands on. Yet Alus casually spread it out on the table. “In other words, if you don’t understand the essence of the individual species, you won’t be able to take the appropriate actions. Even if victory is impossible and you’re forced to retreat, a detailed report must be made to the military. And if you don’t have the necessary knowledge, you can’t even make an informed decision on whether or not retreat is possible. Then there’s the fact that only the Magicmasters who encounter the Fiend have the specific information on it, especially when you’re dealing with a new species. With no information to go on, there tends to be a lot of casualties,” Alus concluded, as memories of a massive invasion a few years ago flashed through his mind.
There were plenty of tragic deaths back then, and the lack of reports on the A-class Fiend that appeared at that time had been a primary cause of those deaths. “If information on a type of Fiend is well known, you’re able to tell what class it is just by looking at it. But Fiends have the ability to eat and evolve, and there’s also the Variant class, so this book doesn’t have all of the Fiends in it.”
“So there’s not much of a point, then,” Tesfia observed.
“Let me finish. While Fiends can grow from eating, their abilities rarely get much stronger than their base form. So if you have the knowledge of the base form, you’ll be able to predict what its abilities are. For example, the Ledge Monkey is common around Alpha. You’ve heard about them in class too, haven’t you?”
As the Ledge Monkey could be found just about everywhere in the vicinity near Alpha, they were often brought up as examples in lectures. They were practically the first example that popped up in the textbook. They had, as their name would suggest, the appearance of a monkey.
Incidentally, as with regular monkeys, humanity had no way of telling if they were going extinct or just lived in an extremely limited region.
Digressions aside, this Fiend was similar to a human child; small in stature, with long arms. Moreover, its skin was as tough as rocks. Despite that, it had many joints in its arms and legs, and was able to swing its arms like whips.
“Ledge Monkeys have an E-class classification. But that’s only true for before they’ve gotten the chance to eat. Once they evolve, Variants aside, they’re closer to middle and high-classed Fiends. That’s why they’re a major Fiend for new Magicmasters to deal with. But without that knowledge, they can lack sufficient caution, to say the least.”
Alus flipped to the page on Ledge Monkeys as he spoke. “If you have to be on guard for this guy, what do you think you need to pay attention to first?”
“...” “...”
Taking the girls’ moment of silence as a sign that they didn’t have any answer, Alus continued, “Above it. Above where it is. There are always other Fiends in the Outer World. Say you were sent out to deal with a flock of Ledge Monkeys. You should keep an eye out above you, at the tops of tall trees, and the like. This guy also weighs more than he looks, so he’ll be seated on larger branches. Not to mention, these guys prefer to stay in groups, and make a single large tree their home. They’re also more cowardly than they look. Though I guess you could also call them cautious.”
That’s when Tesfia raised her hand to ask a question. “But considering its low class, shouldn’t you be able to handle them immediately instead of dealing with all that?” She must have understood them to some degree and wasn’t planning on denying what Alus was saying outright. But perhaps she was trying to dispel her doubts.
Or maybe she was still reluctant to study. So Alus replied using reason and logic. “So what if you couldn’t kill them?”
Unable to deny this truth, Tesfia nodded in understanding.
“I have no complaints if you can take them down. But in the Outer World you’ll be working as a squad. You need to make sure you don’t make the wrong decision. There’s no guarantee you’ll only ever come across enemies you can beat. And that’s not just on the frontlines, either. The unexpected can happen anywhere in the Outer World.”
Both Tesfia and Alice straightened their postures as they listened to a veteran speak.
“That’s why nothing bad comes from having practical knowledge about Fiends, as well as being prepared for the unexpected. If anything, you’re more likely to die without it. And while there’s no problem if you can defeat them, there’s a lot of factors you need to consider in the Outer World. A past infestation was caused by a B-class Fiend moving in near the tree they were using as their home. So since they couldn’t stay in their dwelling, they mass migrated. Magicmasters on the ground need to keep their eyes open for this kind of situation.”
Reaching a stopping point in his explanation, Alus took a sip of his now lukewarm tea. If anything, he preferred it at that temperature.
Tesfia, Alice, and Loki all clapped. It couldn’t quite be called a crowd applauding with only three of them, but his explanation had been quite convincing.
That said, this was knowledge Loki should have already known, so it shouldn’t have been anything for her to praise again.
“I see,” Tesfia said. “But if it’s so important, then why doesn’t the military put more focus on it?”
“Like I said...” Alus rubbed his temple, as he had to repeat himself. “The problem isn’t the military, it’s the Magicmaster’s frame of mind.”
“By which you mean...?” That may have been news to Loki, too.
“That’s the disadvantage of a rank system. By ranking Magicmasters and having them compete for glory and fame, it was the best thing they could do for the predicament humanity was in then. Morale rose, and the number of candidates rose. But as the times changed, the rank system has become more of a shackle. Nowadays, they think they’ve finished their academic work as soon as they join the military, and stop any further studying. Beginners in particular tend to end up focusing on training their abilities. The more inexperienced they are, the more they focus on their rank, but that’s the result of how Magicmaster society is constructed. The more skilled they are, the less focused on the rankings they become.”
As Alus added, “Well, nothing will come from saying that,” Loki cast her eyes down and her expression darkened a little.
The majority still wanted the military to focus on enhancing Magicmasters’ abilities. Berwick understood the situation as well, but he had a hard time overturning the ingrained thinking.
Even just learning practical information on Fiends required a vast amount of time. In the past, there’d been attempts to rotate out defensive squads and give them additional training, but there were protests over the loss of precious personal training time, forcing them to give up on the idea.
In the end, it was a difficult choice to make. Even more so as ranking affected salaries, so even if they wanted to make changes, nothing was going to happen overnight.
“Anyways, if you’re going to ask me for lessons, then you should realize that training on spells alone won’t be enough. I take it there are no objections?” Alus knew these two would understand after he’d so thoroughly explained himself. Besides, his training of them was on the condition that they give up on improving their ranking, and they’d agreed to that.
However... “...!!” Alus reacted as Tesfia obediently nodded, but Alice quickly raised her hand. He found this unusual since Tesfia was normally the one to do this. “You object, Alice?” He looked at her questioningly.
Alice quickly realized the misunderstanding and shook her hands in front of her face. “No! Not at all! I’m all for picking up practical knowledge. Yeah, all for it!”
Then what? Alus furrowed his brows as he looked at her, but soon found himself aghast at her next words... and for several seconds at that.
“But you haven’t forgotten about the campus festival taking place at the end of the year... have you?”
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