Preparing For The Practical Exam

And so, I gave our team of three dead-last girls a name: Team Walpurgis.

When Claris heard the name, which I had chosen simply because it sounded cool, she waved her uninjured left hand now wrapped in bandages and said, “That sounds wonderful, Onee-sama…!” while Kate looked exasperated and said, “You really do love that kind of thing.”

I called the two of them to the clock tower where S-Class was and held a strategy meeting in front of our usual rooftop access.

“From this point on, we will begin Team Walpurgis’s conference for our plan to rule the academy.”

I said this while dramatically flicking a blanket like a cape.

“Understood, Evil Lady Mythia-sama.”

Wrapping a blanket around herself like a cape, Claris said that.

“What are you two even doing?”

Kate looked at us with cold eyes.

“We were placed in Block A for the preliminaries. Prince Felix’s team isn’t in it, but there are still many strong teams from S-Class.”

“It sounds like it’s going to be quite a difficult battle…”

“But that’s exactly why the rewards will be greater if we win. Right?”

“That’s so cool, Onee-sama!”

I returned a nod to Claris, whose eyes were sparkling.

“Oh, right. I thought this might be useful, so I got a copy of the unofficial power analysis directory the newspaper club made.”

What Kate pulled out looked like a student newspaper.

“There’s something like that?”

“Our newspaper club seems to love this kind of thing.”

It contained detailed listings of each team’s overall strength and ranking, calculated from each student’s rank and past results.

Our team was ranked dead last.

“Grrr… Unforgivable. We’ll have to show them what we’re made of…”

As I clenched the article in my hand,

“Yes, that is unforgivable.”

Claris nodded while swishing her cape.

“I’m not doing that.”

Kate was watching us with a cool gaze.

“I want us to come up with a plan for defeating opponents ranked above us and overturning expectations. What kind of strategy would let us survive?”

“For now, maybe we should just keep running away?”

“I know that would be effective, but it lacks villainess flair.”

The format of this exam was team survival.

A strategy of avoiding battle as much as possible and running away would undoubtedly be effective in preventing exhaustion, but from a villainess perspective, it lacked a certain coolness.

“But doesn’t it feel like your kind of thing too, in the sense that you wouldn’t choose your means as long as you win?”

“That’s true! If I think of it that way, then maybe it works!”

“You’re so easy…”

Kate looked exasperated, but I was too busy feeling pleased while imagining a cool, villainess-like way of fighting to care about that.

“First, let’s make sure the three of us have a shared understanding of what kind of magic each of us can use.”

We tested out magic in the academy’s back garden that seemed like it could be useful in battle.

When I covered the whole area in ice with “magic for making ice for drinks,” and set a campfire into a raging blaze with “magic for lighting cigarettes,” Kate looked at me in surprise.

“That from household magic…?”

“Hm? Is something strange?”

“No matter how you look at it, the output is abnormal. At worst, it’s reached a level beyond normal combat magic.”

“Well, I’ve been improving the magic formulas in various ways. And lately, for some reason, my output’s been increasing too. Maybe it’s because I’ve been studying properly at school.”

As I tilted my head, Kate suddenly looked startled and said,

“About how much output was that just now?”

“About ten percent.”

“…At that level, it might even surpass advanced magic.”

Kate continued with a serious expression.

“With your power, Mythia, I think you could hold your own even against the top students in S-Class. The problem might be the rest of us.”

The next person to show us her magic was Kate.

Her specialty was earth magic.

She said she was good at making walls and digging holes.

“Sorry. It’s not really suited for combat.”

“No, this is excellent soil. It holds moisture and nutrients well, while also having strong drainage and aeration. I think it could grow excellent vegetables.”

I said that while touching the soil.

I was certain of it. This was good soil.

“Thanks. As you can see, I’m not really built for fighting, so I’d like Claris to do her best.”

“Y-yes. I’ll do my best.”

Claris activated her magic formula.

Her specialty was light magic.

A beautiful magic formula I had never seen before radiated dazzling light.

Without thinking, I closed my eyes.

The backs of my eyelids turned white.

When the light stopped and I opened my eyes, the back garden looked exactly the same as before.

“Um, what kind of magic was that?”

Kate asked Claris.

“It gives off light.”

“I got that, but I was wondering if it did anything else too.”

“No, it just gives off light.”

“Is there anything else it can do?”

“Not at the moment, I guess.”

“…………”

Kate pressed a hand to her temple before speaking.

“What are we going to do, Mythia?”

“That was splendid light. With that, plants should be able to photosynthesize very comfortably. We’d be fine even during the rainy season when it keeps raining.”

I said,

“Kate has earth, Claris has light, and I can use household magic that is effective for plant growth. In other words—”

I nodded with a serious expression, then continued.

“I think we could become extremely good agricultural workers.”

“…………”

Kate looked at me like, what is this girl even talking about?

“I’m sorry. This is all I can do, so in F-Class they call me things like ‘firefly’ and ‘flashlight’…”

Claris spoke with a grave expression.

(Huh? That was the highest praise possible by my standards.)

I tilted my head at that unexpected reaction.

I thought magic that made food was far more valuable than magic used for fighting.

“It’s fine. Kate’s control over magic is reliable, and Claris is the protagonist, so sooner or later she’ll awaken somewhere and start using incredible magic. More than anything, what matters is ingenuity and creativity. If we use our abilities well, we have enough power to win.”

I tossed back my hair and said,

“Now then, it’s time to overturn this ridiculous academy hierarchy.”