Boy, Sword Maniac, And Magic Maniac

The interclass tournament was the biggest event of the basic curriculum at the academy. With the event approaching, the number of students joining morning practice had increased. Even at the boys’ dormitory, two to three times the usual number of students were up early practicing swings or training their magic.

“There are a lot of people again today.”

After finishing his practice swings, Rudel looked around and found himself impressed by how many more students there were than usual. Bargas, however, said,

“Give it two or three days and half of them’ll be gone. You can’t suddenly start working hard just because there’s a tournament coming up. More importantly, Basil-neesan isn’t here today?”

Basil had been teaching Rudel practical applications of magic. But she was terrible with mornings! It was rare for her to arrive on time. Even when she did show up, her hair was messy and she wore drab, tracksuit-like clothes completely unlike her usual alluring outfits… Even so, she was extremely popular with the boys who trained in the mornings.

“She doesn’t seem to be going out at night much lately, but I guess mornings are still tough for her.”

“Aww, what a shame… Watching her chest bounce under those clothes is the best part!”

Rudel could only stare at him in exasperation, but when he looked around, several other boys were nodding in agreement. At that point, all he could do was laugh.

“More importantly! You’d better do your best in the tournament too. Depending on how well you perform, someone connected to one of the knight orders might take notice of you.”

Indeed, the purpose of the tournament was not only to assess the quality of the students, but also to identify promising talent for the future. In truth, the various organizations wanted to secure capable recruits as early as possible.

“Y-Yeah!”

Naturally, Rudel became even more motivated than usual if doing well could bring him closer to his dream. Unfortunately for him… whether it was fate or something else, his opponent was Aleist, the strongest student in their year.

When the first day of the year-level tournament finally arrived, the class representatives gathered in the arena for the opening ceremony before returning to the waiting room. The room was filled with an unusual tension.

“Oh, the class with lots of commoners won. …Guess the noble classes really are weak.”

The person making such provocative remarks was not a representative from a commoner-heavy class. He was someone whom no one could easily reprimand… “Unias Diade,” a member of one of the Three Dukes just like Rudel. The large-framed Unias carried an enormous wooden sword of his own across his back.

His short golden hair swept backward, and his blue eyes brought to mind a ferocious beast more than a nobleman. …His performance in magic class was disastrous, but when it came to swordsmanship, he had achieved the highest marks in the basic curriculum, even surpassing Rudel. However, since Unias had never faced Rudel directly, he seemed dissatisfied with those results as well.

“You’re noisy… If you love commoners that much, you can become one whenever you like. Trash who cannot fulfill the duties of nobility is unnecessary.”

The one who objected to Unias was another member of one of the Three Dukes, “Luecke Halbades.” His translucent pale skin and red eyes could be seen through his straight blond hair.

He ranked first in magic class… though because he had never been directly compared against Rudel either, Luecke himself was dissatisfied with that distinction.

No one dared interrupt the conversation between those two. …Or at least, no one was supposed to…

“Why don’t you two calm down? You’re going to fight soon enough anyway.”

The one person who completely ignored the atmosphere and stepped in was Aleist Hardy. If Rudel had spoken up, no one would have objected. Rudel was also from one of the Three Dukes, and it was obvious that both of them were conscious of him.

But Aleist was also known as the strongest student in their year… and that made the other two interested in him as well. So the conversation continued.

“You’re the heir of House Hardy, aren’t you… What exactly are you trying to say by intruding on our conversation?”

Luecke glared at Aleist with a cold gaze. Neither Luecke nor Unias thought highly of him. They had their reservations about House Hardy, an upstart family that had somehow expanded its influence before anyone realized it, but more than anything, they disliked Aleist’s almost abnormal level of ability.

Aleist did not actually have the highest grades. That was because points were deducted for his attitude in class. Even so, his scores still placed him among the top students… There was no way they would not find that suspicious.

Both of them were people who never neglected their training in swordsmanship and magic. They were talented as well. That was exactly why they thought… this guy was suspicious… In contrast, the person they instinctively feared was Rudel. He produced results that were steadily catching up to them in both fields, yet never became arrogant and simply continued working relentlessly.

Both of them believed Rudel was the one they always needed to watch.

“If you’re curious about someone’s ability, you’ll find out by fighting them, won’t you? It’s more useful than arguing pointlessly here.”

“Now that’s something I like hearing! That’s my kind of answer… Hey, Arses! What do you think?”

Unias suddenly threw the question at Rudel. Rudel looked at Unias, then Luecke, and finally Aleist. All three felt strong to him, and Rudel had the sense that fighting them could take him to even greater heights.

But when asked what he thought, Rudel found himself at a loss. To him, mind games before a match were simply a distraction. He wanted to focus on the upcoming fight. He had also noticed that the two had been watching him. He assumed the remarks they had made were probably meant as sarcasm directed at him…

“Nothing in particular… I just want to become stronger. Strong enough to become a Dragoon.”

“I see. Then you’re a failure as a noble too. You aren’t fulfilling the obligations that come with your position.”

Hearing that from Luecke, who was also from one of the Three Dukes, made Rudel keenly aware of his own selfishness. Yes, in truth, Rudel had no luxury to be chasing a dream of becoming a Dragoon. Doing so was almost the same as abandoning the suffering people of the Arses domain.

“If living however you want is what makes someone a noble, then Arses has it right. After all, that’s practically his family motto!”

Unias provoked him further. Rudel silently closed his eyes. Unable to keep watching, Izumi tried to speak up, but

“Now beginning the next match! Class representatives, please prepare yourselves!”

At the announcement echoing from the sound system, Rudel stood. …Aleist’s class representatives also rose, and they all left the waiting room and headed toward the arena.

After Rudel and the others left, Luecke and Unias remained behind in the waiting room and continued talking. House Halbades and House Diade were by no means friendly. Each stood at the head of one of the kingdom’s two major factions. Even so, at that moment, they found themselves engrossed in discussing Rudel.

“What do you think?”

In response to Unias’s vague question, Luecke said,

“To be frank, Aleist is abnormal. But Rudel is probably a monster too.”

“Yeah… He’s got swordsmanship almost as good as mine, and magical ability better than yours… Think you could beat him if he became an enemy?”

“He has swordsmanship better than yours and magical ability second only to mine. If he were easy to defeat, we would not be having this conversation… Still, whether he can beat Aleist is doubtful.”

Their perceptions differed slightly, but they agreed on the central point. It would be difficult for Rudel to defeat Aleist. Or rather, Aleist was simply that abnormal.

“Rune Knight, Rune Blade… There are several names for it, but the defining feature of a magic knight is the fighting style known as the ‘magic sword,’ where magic is imbued into the blade. He probably can’t maintain it on a wooden sword for very long… but Rudel is at far too much of a disadvantage.”

“Is it really that impressive? Magic just wraps around the sword, right?”

Unias listened skeptically to Luecke’s explanation.

“Are you an idiot? If a wooden sword were wrapped in flames, merely blocking it would burn you. If the output were high enough, you would be roasted alive…”

“…That sounds awful, but there’s an obvious countermeasure.”

“There is?”

“Just cut him down before the blades clash… Are you stupid?”

Perhaps the two of them actually got along surprisingly well.