6

Meanwhile, what remained in the classroom were the students still unable to calm their excitement, Kirishiya, and Instructor Hanna, still sitting blankly on the floor in a daze. Watching them from the side while holding her head and sighing, as though thinking that of course it had ended up like this, was Laika.

Even they regained their composure as time passed.

Hanna also came back to her senses and, though faltering and stumbling over her words, began the lecture.

The students listening to it were not fools, either.

Even though, from the exchange with Ains just now, they had understood that Hanna’s ability was inferior to that of Ains, who was a servant of Laika Brandy, she was still someone who served as an instructor at the Sorcery Academy. Her skill was still more than sufficient compared to theirs.

Keeping Ains’s words in mind, they quietly listened to Hanna’s lecture.

Hanna, for her part, could read what the students were thinking.

Up until now, the students had listened to Hanna’s lectures without missing a word and taken notes, but now the atmosphere was different.

Although the students were quietly listening to the lecture, she could sense that they were in some way treating this lecture as an example of what not to do.

Hanna wanted to flee the classroom right then and there, but her pride as an instructor held her back at the very last moment.

It was like a long stretch of suffering. Even so, Hanna was able to carry out the lecture to the very end of the allotted time.

The bell for lunch break rang.

Hanna left the classroom more quickly than usual.

“Kirishiya, shall we go have lunch?”

After finishing putting away her textbook, Laika spoke to Kirishiya.

“Oh? You are not going to wait for Ains-san? He seems like he would get angry if you went to lunch without him.”

Kirishiya replied with her head tilted.

“It’s fine, it’s fine. It’s his fault for being late. He can do whatever he wants.”

He causes trouble, and then leaves without settling it, so when he gets back he will need to be punished, Laika thought, making a fist.

“What about you, Kirishiya? Are you going to wait for Seidel?”

Kirishiya made a slightly troubled face and said,

“Hmm, I had left lunch to Seidel, and I told him I would go to where he is later, so… I’m going to go over there for a bit.”

With that, she stood up from her seat.

“When you say you’re going over there, do you know where Seidel is right now?”

“Mm-hm. Seidel is my servant, after all. I can tell where he is with a transmitter.”

Kirishiya showed Laika a glowing red marker around the library.

Seeing that, Laika regretted that she should have made Ains carry one as well. But would he really accept it so easily? Laika decided that she would slip one into his clothing pocket without him noticing.

“In that case, you need to hurry or break time will end. Be careful, Kirishiya.”

“Mm, then I’m off, so Laika, go ahead and eat lunch first!”

Kirishiya left the classroom and headed for the library where Seidel was.

“…I never thought I would suddenly end up eating lunch alone so sadly.”

Laika felt that the lunchbox handmade by Riste had become colder than ever.

Holding the transmitter in hand, Kirishiya headed for the library.

Kirishiya still was not very familiar with the academy’s layout, and without a map she would get lost on these vast grounds.

“…Even so, Ains-san was amazing.”

Muttering to herself as she walked, Kirishiya was recalling Ains standing at the podium.

It was a side of him he had not shown when they had simply chatted together about trivial things. It was the face shown by a sorcerer with convictions, a sorcerer proud of magic.

It was the sort of face Lizelotte showed—though Kirishiya herself had only seen a very little of it.

Just recalling it made Kirishiya’s face grow hot.

Ains speaking about magic with clear logic and order. Right before their eyes, what they had thought of as normal had naturally been overturned.

Ordinarily, he spoke in much the same way as Kirishiya and Laika and had an approachable personality, but when it came to magic, he was completely different. It was so dignified that one could forget he was close to their age.

The first time she met him had been in the throne room.

A few steps above stood the royal family and the chancellor, along with her father, His Majesty King Wenceslav, while knights surrounded the walls, and before them stood the imposing Captain Darte of the Royal Guard glaring with authority.

In such a situation, where any normal person would be overawed and unable to gather their thoughts, Ains’s conduct had been dignified.

Though he had shown the minimum required courtesy, he had spoken boldly to His Majesty the King.

Despite being within reach of a sword, he had the daring not to give a single step before Captain Darte of the Royal Guard.

Even before Lizelotte’s vast overflowing mana, enough to make one tremble at the mere sight of it, he had shone with excitement and tried to stand against it with fearless courage.

Kirishiya had only had the vague impression that he possessed an incredible spirit, but after becoming directly involved with Ains, she had come to know an unexpectedly human side of him—someone with surprisingly refined tastes. She had felt in him a humanity no different from her own.

The contrast between Ains’s gentle air and, on the other hand, his fierce presence drew Kirishiya’s interest all at once.

And on top of that, there was the intelligence he had shown during the lecture.

Naturally, Kirishiya’s eyes kept turning toward Ains.

“Laika is unfair…”

Because outside academy hours as well, she could still talk with Ains.

They ate and lived together, joked around, honed their magical skills through mutual effort, and deepened their bond.

Even Kirishiya, who did not usually harbor very negative thoughts or feelings, felt a little jealous of Laika.

Even so, if she went to the library, then Seidel would be there, of course, and Ains, who had gone along as well, would surely also be there. Kirishiya found herself wanting to talk with Ains more, even if only during lunch.

Her steps naturally quickened.

It was then.

With a fierce rumbling, the ground shook.

“What!? An earthquake?”

Kirishiya instinctively protected her head with both hands while looking outside through the window.

“…What in the world is that?”

There, she saw enormous trunks that had grown from the ground moving like giant serpents and covering the Sorcery Academy.

It was a severance from the outside world.

Faced with the utterly unexpected situation, Kirishiya’s legs froze. Her body stiffened like a frog stared down by a snake.

Nor did the giant serpents stop there, and even more continued to appear from the ground in great numbers.

They surrounded the school building and came invading inside.

Kirishiya slapped her smooth, unblemished thigh hard,

“Move, me!”

She urged herself, and dodged the giant serpents.

“Abridged incantation, ‘Fireball’!”

Running down the corridor, Kirishiya hurled a fireball at the wooden giant serpents closing in from behind.

However, the enormous trunks unexpectedly contained a great deal of moisture.

With such a small flame as a fireball, it did not spread at all and was like pouring water on a hot stone.

“It doesn’t work with lower-tier magic!?”

Kirishiya ran, out of breath.

But the giant serpents were not only behind her; they also kept breaking through the windows and invading from the sides one after another.

Although swordsmanship was merely one of the entrance exam subjects, thanks to having moved her body regularly because of it, her body kept up with her ability to make quick, flexible judgments.

If she concentrated and took her time, even Kirishiya could manifest the intermediate spell Fire Spear. However, that required formula chanting.

If she had fully absorbed Ains’s way of thinking that he had spoken of during the lecture, then even in a situation like this, perhaps she would have been able to respond on the spot by using not only the three intermediate types but other spells as well.

A mage reduced to a slave of magic.

Kirishiya keenly felt that this was exactly true.

But fortunately, the library was right in front of her. She had already understood that, with her current level of magical skill, she was utterly meaningless against the wooden giant serpents.

In that case, all she could do was run.