Chapter 1: Battle Expo

Chapter 1: Battle Expo

The sun peeked over the horizon. There was still a brisk chill in the morning air, but Sain was already standing in a circular structure at the edge of the school grounds. Clean white walls surrounded him on all sides, and the ground underfoot was a layer of soil and grass. A dazzling garden of flowers radiated outwards from the middle of the room. A sturdy door served as a reminder that despite its scenic beauty, the area was normally off-limits to students. It was, he thought, a bit of a waste.

He walked to the center of the room, where an enormous staff protruded from the ground and reached all the way to the ceiling. He’d been here when he first came to this school to perform some maintenance on the barrier that surrounded its premises. Last time, on the day of the entrance ceremony, he’d come to repair the barrier. This time, he was here to give it an upgrade in strength and function. He closed his eyes, focused his mind, and reached toward the staff with his right hand. Five minutes passed, after which he opened his eyes again.

“All right, that should do it...” he said as he relaxed. “Hey, Goddess, how’s the barrier adjustment going?”

“I’m done! And it’s perfect! I made it so it can handle incoming guests too, just like you wanted!” the Goddess Vicitaelia said in a blithe tone.

Her form and voice could only be perceived by Sain. To anyone else, it would have looked like he was talking to himself in an empty room. From his perspective, however, the gently smiling figure of the Goddess was clear as day.

“Thanks. Oh, how strong did you—”

“I maxed it out, of course! ”

“I figured as much... No wonder it took so long. I told you the headmaster only needed it to be a little stronger than before, didn’t I? What do I have to do to get you to stop being so overprotective...?”

“It’s not overprotective if it’s you. It’d be a big problem if something happened to you, so I made it strong enough that no human can possibly break it. Even for Chaos, the only thing that can get through it now is probably a Founder.”

“All of whom are sealed away.”

He sighed and shook his head before turning to leave. The Goddess could be downright insufferable with her mother-hen attitude, but he’d be lying if he said it didn’t make him feel a little warm and fuzzy inside, sometimes. He really treasured the time he spent chatting with her.

“Master Sain, are you done?” Melia, who’d been waiting at the edge of the room, called to him.

“Yeah.”

The Goddess’s form vanished. She had never actually been there; her corporeal form existed up in the heavens. What he had seen was more like a projection of sorts. This projection allowed her to see what her holy knight was doing, and she could do so at will. This meant that, normally, she could peep on him whenever she wanted, and his privacy was at the mercy of her whims. He’d found this rather unacceptable and made the Goddess promise that she’d never pop in for a look without his permission. Currently, unless he consciously summoned her, she couldn’t send out a projection, and therefore had no idea what was happening around him. He was pretty sure that, had he not established this rule, she’d be even more overbearing right now. It wasn’t that he didn’t appreciate her care and concern, and he certainly enjoyed talking to her, but there was always a limit to these things. Too much, and it just became draining. He did allow for one exception to the rule, though — she could intervene without consent during emergencies involving the sudden appearance of Chaos.

“All right, Headmaster, I finished making the adjustments to the barrier that you requested.”

“Ah, much appreciated. You’ve been a great help.” The headmaster, who was standing beside Melia, nodded and stroked the silver strands of his prized beard before adding, “Sorry to make you do this on the day of the event.”

“I don’t mind. It’s something that had to be done.”

The battle expo was beginning today, and for three days hence, there would be a flood of outside guests into the school. In order to deal with this surge, the headmaster had asked Sain to modify the barrier in two ways. The first was to strengthen it against the unlikely scenario of forced entry. The second was to add a screening function to check if any visitors were in possession of anything suspicious. Thanks to the Goddess’s enthusiastic workmanship, it now excelled in both aspects. Soon, it would be put to good use. Vendor stalls were already going up in the school grounds, and most of their personnel would arrive in a few hours. Then, at ten in the morning, regular guests would be allowed in.

“I have to say, though, this staff is a piece of work. I remember being impressed when I saw it on the day of the entrance ceremony, but it’s still just as impressive. This thing soaks up the blessing of the goddess like a sponge. A normal staff would have shattered a long time ago.”

“My knowledge of it comes from the previous headmaster, who told me that it’s called the Titan’s Staff. Apparently, it’s a magical instrument created by people in ancient times to assist the gods.”

“Created by people... to assist the gods...”

Sain looked up at the towering staff in the middle of the room, his gaze pensive. There had been a time when people labored in support of the gods. They doubtlessly provided the gods with plenty: care, trust, even devotion... but never companionship. They could stand for the gods, but in the end, none could stand beside them.

“Speaking of which, Sir Knight, I believe you’re also participating in the tournament?”

“I sure am, and I’m so ready for this.”

“Is that so? Well, I’m looking forward to seeing you put on a good show, then.”

“You should, because I’m going to be the champion,” Sain declared with confidence.

Melia gave him a flat look before turning to the headmaster and whispering in her trademark not-very-quiet voice, “Don’t take him too seriously. He does this sometimes when it’s that time of the month.”

Sain scowled at her. Admittedly, the “going to be champion” part was a joke, but he certainly intended to try for it.

“Hohoho, very good. I’m glad to see that you’re enjoying yourselves, as well.” The headmaster chuckled as he regarded them. The twinkle in his eyes wasn’t just reverence for the holy knight, but also affection for two of his students. “And how go your dark magic studies?”

“Well, they’re... going, I guess, but the power of the holy knight in me definitely gets in the way. I mean, I knew it would, but it makes it so hard to control dark magic.”

“Even with the seals?”

“Yeah. These seals are only meant to nullify the portion of the power that leaks out of me. They can only handle so much.”

The headmaster pursed his lips. There was a limit to how much power the seals could cancel, and overusing them would be unwise. After all, they weren’t exactly cheap.

“Hm, you know, I’ve been thinking... This power of the holy knight in you... can you temporarily transfer it to someone else?”

“Transfer? What... do you mean?”

“I heard that when you induct an attendant into your service as the holy knight, you impart them with a portion of your power. In that case, can’t you use the same method to temporarily move all your power to an attendant—”

“No, I can’t.”

His answer was firm. In fact, Alicia had asked him about this before.

“The attendants are not as attuned to the blessing of the goddess as I am. If they take in too much power, it’ll overload their bodies.”

“I see... I apologize for my ignorance. The musings of an amateur like myself don’t hold much water, do they?”

“Don’t say that. What you suggested isn’t impossible, exactly.”

In his continual efforts to become the dark knight, Sain had explored a number of possibilities, one of which was the very method suggested by the headmaster. He’d already given the idea some thought.

“When it comes down to it, the holy knight is just a person who’s perfectly attuned to the blessing of the goddess. There have to be other people in the world who, even if they’re not quite my equal, possess an exceptional capacity to accept her power. If I ever run into someone like that, then it might be worth giving your idea a try.”

The headmaster nodded in comprehension.

“Don’t bet on it, though,” quipped Melia.

He lifted an eyebrow at her. She shrugged.

“Just saying. Hasn’t happened so far.”

She was right, of course. He let out a resigned sigh.

“Yeah... You’re right. I’ve never seen anyone like that.”

After all, Sain’s attunement to the goddess’s blessing was apparently the greatest ever recorded. It was why he was called the strongest holy knight in history. Even if there were people in the world who were more attuned than others, it was hard to imagine that they’d be a better fit than Sain. Melia and Alicia were both attendants of the holy knight, but neither of them was more attuned than the average person. That was why Sain had to control their power output when they tapped into the goddess’s power. Attendants, therefore, were definitely no silver bullet for his problems; they came with their own fair share of challenges. For example, if multiple attendants tried to use their blessing-infused abilities at the same time, he’d have to simultaneously control the flows of power into each of them.

“Ah, but I digress,” said the headmaster. “The battle expo will begin soon. Do try to get some rest before then, Sir Knight.”

“I think I will.”

He had matches lined up, and he wanted to be in optimal condition for them. Leaving the headmaster to lock up, he and Melia stepped outside.

At ten in the morning, the battle expo officially kicked off, and visitors swarmed into the school grounds. This event was arguably the origin of Jenifa’s fame, as it was what first put them on the map. From there, the academy continued to host the tournament annually and steadily gained prominence in the Kingdom of Loribania, eventually becoming the renowned institution they were now.

The battle expo consisted of a series of one-on-one duels between students. Competition was fierce, and the abilities on display frequently surpassed everyone’s expectations. Every aspect of the event trumpeted the academy’s philosophy of a thorough commitment to meritocracy. As a result, the spectators’ seats were filled not only by regular guests looking for a good show, but often military officers, knights, and garrison guards, as well.

At the same time, the battle expo was also a festival. This was evident from the tremendous number of roadside stalls that had already been erected in the school grounds.

“Wh-Whoa, this is...”

Sain gaped at the sea of vendors across the field.

“...Total chaos.”

“...It sure is.”

Overwhelmed by the avalanche of sensory stimuli, they walked for a while in incredulous silence. A great many stalls had set up metal plates, on which a dazzling variety of foods sizzled. The mouthwatering noise was frequently drowned out by the vendors’ employees, who tended to their goods at a leisurely pace while loudly bidding passersby to take a closer look. All sorts of sweet and fruity aromas vied for attention as they drifted through the air. It was almost a little too much to take in.

“...At least it’s chaos with a small c,” said Melia, the quip signaling that she’d recovered from the initial sensory shock.

“Yeah, the kind that doesn’t try to rip your throat out. I guess it’s sort of nice in comparison.”

Sain was no stranger to crowds. Back when holy knighting was still his day job, he’d walked through plenty of them. This, however, was different. It was more like... wading through. He was used to being surrounded by people and drawing attention, but they’d always kept a certain distance. These people didn’t care about him or his personal space. It was a little jarring at first to brush shoulders with so many people just getting from point A to point B.

“Oh, there they are. Hey, over here, you two!”

They heard Alicia’s voice over the din of the crowd. Soon, they were reunited with her and Marni, the latter having donned her gray hooded cloak to conceal her hair and features — likely out of concern about being seen by the outside guests.

“Where did you go? We were waiting for you outside your dorm,” said Alicia.

“Sorry, headmaster’s request. We had to go adjust the barrier around the school. There wasn’t enough time to go back to the dorm afterwards, so we just came directly to school to get some rest.”

The environment here, as it turned out, was not very conducive to resting. Vendors had started setting up an hour ago, getting ready to handle the impending flood of customers. Being such a large festival, there was no shortage of excitement, and there was a tangible buzz in the air. Tangible and audible , as particularly motivated vendors had their employees loudly reciting greeting phrases en masse to warm up their vocal cords for what would doubtlessly be a taxing day. For a long while his ears were assaulted by echoes of “look around, take your time” and “thank you, come again.”

“For a school event, some of these guys are taking things pretty seriously,” Sain said as he looked around.

Not all of the booths were standard roadside fare. Some looked like legitimate stores, with uniformed staff and windowed walls, beyond which lay shelves lined with items that looked to have very little mercy for the health of one’s wallet.

“Yeah, it looks like a couple of the more famous stores in the capital city have set up shop here, too,” said Alicia. “They’re probably targeting the guests more than the students.”

The festival was meant to entertain not only the students, but all visitors, which explained the dizzying variety of its vendors. The sheer incongruity of it all was fascinating and, in a way, gave it a unique sort of character. For the next three days, this place was going to be a hub of activity and generate a lot of business. The vendors clearly knew this and had every intention of squeezing as much profit from the event as possible. Despite its short duration, plenty of them had begun work many days in advance to put up very elaborate stalls.

“Whoa... Maid?”

Sain’s sudden remark earned him puzzled looks from his friends.

“Oh, I mean— Not Maid, but a maid. Over there.”

They remained confused until they looked in the direction he was pointing, where they spotted a girl in a maid uniform handing out flyers.

“That smile looks so fake. Also, her bows are too stiff,” said Melia.

“Oh, come on. Cut her some slack. Besides, I think there’s a certain amateur charm to her.”

He watched with a kind of pensive fondness as the girl went about her work. Beside him, Melia’s cheeks began to inflate like a pufferfish.

“...Oh, I see how it is. Master Sain likes those kinds of maids.”

“Huh? What? I didn’t say anything about liking—”

“Just so you know, she’s really just an amateur on the inside. All looks and no substance. Cooking, cleaning, washing, looking after her master... That’s what maids are about — perfecting their skills. But apparently, Master Sain would rather have a maid who just puts on a show and pretends to be loyal. Master Sain likes fake maids.”

“Th-That’s not what I mean. This isn’t about what I like...”

It occurred to him that he’d inadvertently wounded Melia’s pride as a maid. Granted, ever since moving into the dorm, he’d stopped asking Melia to perform her usual maidly duties. As a result, he’d lapsed a bit in the thoughtfulness department. Just then, the flyer-distributing girl in question approached him.

“Would you happen to be a Jenifa student?”

“U-Uh, yes?”

“Welcome to Honey Love, then! We’re a maid cafe, and we’d love it if you’d come in and spend some time with us, Master!”

The girl in the maid uniform gently placed her hands around his. Then, she looked up at him and smiled.

“U-Um, err...” he stammered, feeling a fluttering sensation in his stomach.

He stared at her in a daze as she casually slipped a flyer onto his outstretched palm, spun around, and walked away. He quietly watched her go, her frilly skirt shaking with each step she took.

“Hmph!”

A grunt entered his ears mere moments before a fist slammed into his side. The impact made him double over.

“Ooof!”

He groaned and looked up, only to flinch at Melia’s murderous glare.

“That was totally your fault.”

“...Agreed.”

Alicia and Marni were both on her side.

“Someone seems to be letting it go to their head, aren’t they, Master ?”

“I-I’m so sorry... I’ll reflect on my actions. I swear.”

It’d been a long time since he’d seen that look from Melia, but he recognized it immediately as the face she made when she was about to snap. Half-panicked, he put every bit of sincerity he could muster into his apology. In the process, however, he furtively slipped the flyer for the maid cafe into his coat pocket.

“You know, it’s sort of weird to be bringing this up now, but Maid can be a pretty confusing nickname,” said Alicia.

“That’s been bothering me for a while, actually,” said Melia. “Is it just me or am I the only one who got a really lazy nickname?”

“Th-That’s not true! It’s just that, uh, we met each other so long ago, and at the time, you were the only one I called Maid, so...”

Seeing that Melia was visibly displeased, Sain hastily offered an explanation. Back when he was still publicly operating as the holy knight in the Holy Kingdom of Lightridge, the plan had been to assign dozens of maids and butlers to serve him when he reached the age of ten. However, as he already had a personal attendant in Melia, and she happened to be exceedingly competent, there was never any need to expand his retinue. As a result, she continued to serve as his sole attendant. Thenceforth, whenever he called for a maid, she would appear, and the name simply stuck.

Sain had never been particularly comfortable with the idea of being looked after by a servant, but Melia had an impeccable grasp of his sensibilities and always kept just the right distance from him. For anything he wanted to do himself, she’d maintain a hands-off attitude and watch from the sidelines. Meanwhile, she helped handle matters that were beyond his reach, but always kept her assistance subtle. He, of course, wasn’t blind to her contributions, and he was deeply appreciative of the delicate discretion she displayed. Throughout the years, it wasn’t so much her competence as an attendant as it was simple affinity that kept them working so well together. The two of them had good chemistry. That was why even after resolving to leave his homeland behind, he still brought her along with him.

“So you see? To me, Maid means you. There was and still is only one.”

“I see. That would have meant a lot to me... if I hadn’t seen the way you were looking at that girl.”

“Gah! That was... a surprise attack! I wasn’t ready!”

Melia was extremely dismissive of the girl in the maid uniform, but all things considered, it should be fair to say that there was a market for her services. After all, when she’d held his hand, his heart had almost leapt out of his chest. That had to be some kind of skill. Maid or not, she was a professional in her own right.

“On that note, Sain, I’ve got a problem with my nickname too. Miss Gold? Like, seriously? What’s the deal?”

“It’s your hair color.”

“I know that! I’m saying it sounds cheesy as hell! How would you like to be called your hair color?” complained Alicia.

“In terms of nicknames, Miss Marni seems to have the most fitting one,” said Melia.

“...I’m not really a fan of it, but thanks.”

What had started out as O Cloaked Reaper of the Stacks was reduced to Grim Editor before being further truncated to Miss Grim. Evidently, Sain should never be allowed to shorten nicknames; he had a tendency to turn them all into characters from children’s picture books.

“By the way... it’s almost time for the first round,” said Marni.

Sain nodded.

“Good point. Let’s move.”

The junior, intermediate, and senior divisions each had their own sports field outside. The battle expo employed them as arenas, and matches would proceed simultaneously in all three. Sain’s first match was taking place in the intermediate division’s field, which he was more than familiar with. Spectator seats had been set up around the field, and many of them were already filled.

“Do all the seats tend to fill up?” he asked.

“Yeah, usually. Just so you know, this is nothing compared to the semifinals and finals on the third day. For those, everyone moves to the senior division field, which is the biggest arena, and they do one match at a time.”

“I see. So this is only a third of the total audience, and three times this many people will eventually all gather in one place...”

Even with the audience splitting themselves up among three locations, this arena already had at least five hundred people. Presumably, the other two were no different. That, however, only served to emphasize the sheer size of the school grounds, which already held over fifteen hundred people and didn’t seem cramped in the least.

“It looks like contestants are supposed to wait over there,” said Melia.

She pointed toward the lecture hall. Above its entrance hung a new sign that read “Contestant Waiting Room.” Inside, students dressed in light, loose clothing were waiting with tense expressions on their faces.

“Well, this is as far as we can go. From here on, you’re on your own...” said Alicia. “Go get ’em out there, you hear? We’re rooting for you.”

“R-Right,” he said with a grimace.

His expression made Melia lift an eyebrow.

“What’s with the long face?”

“I... have to admit, I’m starting to feel a little nervous.”

“Oh, relax,” she said, waving her hand dismissively. “What’s the worst that can happen?”

“I lose and make a fool of myself?”

“You already do that on a daily basis, anyway.”

“I... But—”

“It’s okay. You already hit rock bottom. There’s no way to go from here but up.”

“...That must be the most demotivating pep talk I’ve ever heard.”

It was the kind of verbal harassment that normally would have drawn forth one of his usual hyperbolic responses, but he failed to produce one. His nerves really were doing a number on him, and bravado was beyond him at the moment.

Uh oh, I’m definitely getting too nervous for my own good.

He hadn’t been this anxious during the field exercises. The reason probably lay in his friends and their comforting presence. So long as they lent him their strength, he’d felt confident that they could overcome any challenge. The battle expo, however, was single combat. He could rely on no one’s strength but his own.

What if I step out there for my first match and immediately lose?

His loud and almost daily professions of his intention to become the dark knight were really going to come back to bite him if he immediately bowed out of the tournament with a humiliating defeat. He had, of course, trained hard for this very day. Sure, he’d talked the talk, but he’d also walked the walk, twice over.

Which was the problem. It was because he’d put in so much work that the thought of it all being in vain became unbearable. He tried to calm himself, but he simply couldn’t stop himself from imagining that terrible moment when his tireless efforts slammed against the wall of reality and shattered into worthless pieces.

I’m scared.

He’d been the holy knight for almost as long as he could remember. For someone like him, who’d been able to call upon the borrowed strength of the goddess for his whole life, believing in himself was exceedingly difficult. He’d put in the work, but had he gotten better? He wasn’t sure, and the absence of confidence left a void that was quickly filled by doubt.

“You’ll be fine.”

He glanced up. It was Marni.

“I told you this last month,” she continued, “but I’ll say it again. You learned how to use Dark Ray . By human standards, that spell should be considered advanced-level magic. It should be more than enough to defeat most opponents.”

“B-But, I haven’t mastered that spell yet. I can’t use it like you do...”

“Sain.” She looked directly into his eyes. “None of us here thinks you’re weak. Not anymore.”

Her comment drew nods from the other two girls as well. He met each of their gazes in turn. Reflected in their eyes was his own image. He looked stronger than he’d remembered. Slowly, the doubt began to recede, pushed back by a growing wave of confidence.

“Okay... I’m trusting you.”

He smiled. Marni did the same. Her smile, however, carried a hint of amusement.

“Actually... You’ll probably be more than fine.”

“What?”

“Try this. As soon as the match starts, use Dark Ray .”

“U-Uh, okay. I’ll do that.”

Seeing as it was advice that came directly from his mentor, it was probably worth a try. He’d intended to make early use of Dark Ray anyway. The spell’s strengths lay in its speed and penetration power, which meant that, conversely, it had the inherent weakness of going only in a straight line. When the match first began, the contestants would be facing each other. Furthermore, there would be no barriers in between them. It presented the perfect opportunity to land a shot of Dark Ray .

He and Melia stepped into the lecture hall and waited for their matches to commence.

“It looks like we’re going to be in different arenas for our first matches,” she said as she scanned the tournament brackets.

“Looks like it, yeah.”

Sain was scheduled for the second match to take place in the intermediate division’s field while Melia’s first appearance would be the third match in the senior’s division’s field. Neither of them could afford to spectate the other’s match in full if they intended to show up for their own on time.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we thank you for your patience! I am pleased to announce that the magic battle exposition will now officially begin!”

An announcer’s voice, amplified by magic, filled the air. It was soon followed by a roar of excitement from the gathering crowds. After some brief introductions by the pairs of commentators for each arena, the tournament quickly got under way.

“Contestants participating in the second round of matches, please head to your arenas!” instructed one of the tour staff standing at the entrance to the lecture hall.

First-round contestants were already in the field staring each other down. Those up next were supposed to wait their turn nearby.

“Try your best then, Master Sain.”

“You too, Maid. Then again, I doubt you’ll have to try very hard to win your matches.”

“Hey, it’s not always a cakewalk for me, you know.”

At the very least, it didn’t seem like she was going to have any trouble with her first match. Neither of them knew their first opponent, but no Jenifa student was going to be a pushover. No one could afford to let their guard down. He waved goodbye to Melia and made his way to his designated arena.

“If I’m going to run into Maid in the brackets, it’ll be... the semifinals.”

Neither of them had explicitly discussed the possibility, but he’d checked Melia’s position in the tournament brackets as soon as he’d received his copy. Normally, she was his faithful attendant, who meticulously looked after his every private and public need. During the battle expo, however, she was also a potential opponent, and a very intimidating one, at that.

“Augh, come on. Focus on the task at hand. First, I need to win my match...” he muttered, reminding himself to be always mindful that he was the untested challenger. As the underdog, he’d have to earn every victory.

He exhaled, steeled himself, and stepped into the ring. A commentator — one of the academy’s female students — announced the competitors’ entrance, and the audience erupted in excitement.

“Our contestants for the second match today will be Sain Fostess and Noel Tidman!”

Sain looked across the arena at a boy with gray hair. The commentators continued speaking in the background.

“Sain is a first-year student, whereas his opponent, Noel, is a second-year student. Based on the stats alone, it would seem that Noel has an advantage, but Sain can be... a rather unpredictable fellow. Perhaps he’ll have some surprises for us.”

“Well, for a lot of our audience, that outfit must be the first one. Students in the intermediate division have gotten used to seeing him like that, so you don’t hear people talking about it anymore, but for any newcomers, that getup is going to leave an impression.”

The other commentator — a male student — kept the banter going as he provided more details. Both commentators appeared to be from the intermediate division, which might have been an intentional arrangement, seeing as the match involved two intermediate division contestants. Familiarity with the contestants would indeed allow for more interesting commentary.

Sain stood there in the ring, feeling the eyes of the spectators on him. His jet black coat was decorated with its usual slew of jangling accessories. Were this a serious duel that demanded silence and respect, they’d have disqualified him on his looks alone. Fortunately, the battle expo was a spectacle meant to entertain, and his bizarre appearance actually served to amuse the audience. Of course, for the two of them currently in the ring, the impending duel was nothing if not serious.

Close inspection of the audience seats revealed plenty of spectators who were not average citizens. There were clearly Loribanian knights present. For ambitious Jenifa students, this event was a perfect opportunity to make an impression. Judging by his sober attitude and the unwavering look of determination in his eyes, the boy named Noel had probably entered this tournament for such a purpose.

Of course, Sain was no less determined. He had no interest in making a name for himself in the eyes of outside guests, but he did intend to test himself. If he wanted to find out how good he really was, he had to treat his matches seriously. There would be no playing around.

As the crowds cheered, he put on the substitute pendant the receptionist had given him. It was the same kind he’d used during the field exercises, and its function was to absorb pain and damage in place of the wearer, shattering when the absorbed amount would otherwise be fatal. The contestant whose pendant shattered first would lose the match.

“Let’s start the countdown!”

The commentator’s enthusiastic declaration was followed by the appearance of a magically-projected screen in the middle of the arena. Displayed on it was a number that changed by the second — 10, 9, 8, and so on. With the match about to begin, Sain gave his opponent one last look-over. Whereas Sain was wearing a sword on the left side of his waist, Noel was unarmed. Presumably, his opponent employed a magic-focused fighting style, which was most effective at a medium range. Considering they’d start the battle standing at exactly that kind of distance from each other, Noel might be hoping to hit him hard and fast right off the bat.

He recalled the words of his mentor. Marni had instructed him to attack as soon as the match began. Assuming his analysis of his opponent was correct, if he wanted to strike first, he wouldn’t have time to carefully observe his opponent; he’d have to come out swinging. His initial attack probably wasn’t going to win him the match, but if it landed, he’d be in a great position to follow up. Even if it missed, it’d at least buy him a few seconds while his opponent dodged away.

As the countdown neared zero, he tightened his fists. His friends believed in him, and he was going to repay their trust by winning.

“Zero! Let the match begin!” yelled the commentators, signaling the start of the duel.

Noel had barely lifted a finger before Sain thrust out his hand and shouted, “Dark Ray! ”

A lance of darkness shot out of his palm. Like a comet, it drew a black trail through the air as it sped toward Noel. The boy’s eyes went wide at the sudden threat.

“Wha—?!”

One second. That was all it took. A mere second after the match began, the magic spear shot across the field and slammed into Noel’s chest with a thunderous crack, kicking up a massive cloud of dust in the process.

“What just— N-No way—”

A commentator’s incredulous voice could be heard as the spell kept going, leaving a trail like a black bolt of lightning across the entire length of the arena. It soon faded, and a gust of wind cleared away the dust plume, revealing a dazed Noel lying on his back all the way at the edge of the ring. His substitute pendant had shattered, causing a pale blue barrier to be deployed around him, protecting him from any further attacks.

At first, there was silence. Then, the commentators began shouting at the top of their lungs.

“That’s it! That’s it! It’s done! The second match is over, and the winner is Sain Fostess! It all happened in the blink of an eye! Unbelievable! Look! The crowd is roaring!”

“Absolutely! Let me tell you, that was definitely not what I expected!”

Everyone was astonished by the result. The commentators, the audience, even Sain himself.

“Mere seconds after the match began, Sain knocked Noel out with a lightning-fast spell! What a decisive victory that was!”

“I’d say this is an example of a sneak attack going brilliantly well. Noel didn’t even have a chance to show what he could do. It was certainly an effective tactic. Hit them hard, hit them fast, and seal the deal before they can react. Sain definitely deserves credit for the way he took such swift and decisive action in the opening seconds of the match.”

“He sure hit him hard and fast, but... what did he hit him with ? Was it... dark magic? Like, is it just me or have I never seen that spell before?”

“I don’t think it’s you. I’ve never seen anything like it either. It’s... possible he just used a very rare spell that’s not taught in school.”

“Wow! Maybe he’s going to be the dark horse of this tournament!”

Sain, meanwhile, made no attempt to celebrate his victory. He simply stood there in the ring, still as a statue. His classmates, who’d been watching him from the spectator seats, began talking nervously amongst themselves.

“Y-Yo, did you see that? What just happened?”

“That has to be a fluke, right? I mean, we’re talking about that loser...”

“B-But... could you have dodged that thing?”

The match’s outcome was received quite differently from person to person. Those unfamiliar with Sain found it surprising at best. To those who saw him on a daily basis, however, the result was absolutely mind-blowing. In fact, the mind that was most blown probably belonged to Sain himself, who stared with wide-eyed wonder at Noel, his hand pressed painfully to his head as he left the arena with the assistance of staff. Eventually, Sain collected himself and made his way toward the stands. Along the way, Marni approached him with small, even steps.

“See? I told you so.” She sounded pleased. “You might not realize it... but you’ve steadily gotten stronger in these past months. At this point, you’re not going to have much trouble against the average student.”

Sain’s victory was clear proof of his strength, but he’d won in such an unexpected manner that the audience hadn’t managed to process the implications yet. Sooner or later, though, they’d clue in.

“Huh... Haha... Hahaha...”

The numbness finally faded, and triumph welled up from inside him, bursting out in the form of a long bout of laughter.

“Mwahahahahaha! The omens finally ring true! I am indeed the one chosen by darkne— Ow!”

“Simmer down.”

He grimaced and nursed the spot on his shin that Marni kicked.

“That spell was always best suited for surprise attacks. It’s brutally effective against people who haven’t seen it before... so don’t expect it to be so effective next time.”

“G-Good point.”

He took a moment to appreciate her insight. It made him glad to have her as his mentor. Her sober tone also had the effect of cooling his head, which had been a tad feverish from the victory, and allowed him to do a bit of reflecting.

It all felt so surreal. He remembered how things had been when he first sealed away his holy knight powers. Back then, every enemy had felt like a massive hurdle to overcome. When he’d just arrived at the school, he wasn’t sure if he could even take down a goblin by himself. Now, he’d improved enough to defeat an upperclassman without breaking a sweat. His progress was so smooth that it was almost scary. He felt like the protagonist of a story.

“In any case, congratulations on winning your first match,” said Alicia as she walked up behind Marni. “To be honest... back when school just started, I really didn’t think you’d become this strong.”

“Yeah... neither did I. All that tutoring must have paid off. I’m lucky to have met such a good mentor.”

Sain’s compliment elicited a faint blush from Marni.

“Oh, wait a minute! I have to go watch Maid—”

“I’m back.”

He was just about to dash off to spectate Melia’s match when the person in question showed up behind him. He stared at her in confusion.

“Wait, what? What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be at your match?”

“I was.”

“...Huh? Didn’t it just start?”

“Mmhm.”

“...Oh. I see. No mercy, huh?”

“Nope.”

Unlike Sain’s instant victory, which was the result of a healthy dose of beginner’s luck, Melia’s came from pure skill. Judging by the pristine state of her clothes, she probably just went in, curb-stomped her opponent in the blink of an eye, and casually strolled out of the arena.

“Well, anyway, at least we both advanced to our second matches.”

“I’m looking forward to the two of us going head to head, Master Sain.”

“...Th-There are still plenty of matches before that. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Besides, there’s still a chance that you don’t make it all the way through the brackets, right?”

Even he didn’t believe that last part. In fact, he was already starting to dread the professional asskicking he was going to receive.

“If you two run into each other, it’ll be in the semifinals, I think?” asked Alicia.

“According to what it says here, yes.”

Melia unfolded a piece of paper and showed it to her. Drawn on it were the tournament brackets. She regarded the diagram with interest before frowning at a particular column.

“Wait... Doesn’t this mean your third match might be against Cain?”

Melia’s expression sobered.

“It certainly does... and chances are, it will be.”

“Yeah... Hm?” Alicia lifted an eyebrow. “But your second match is—”

“Yo, Sain!”

Before she could finish her sentence, someone shouted in their direction. They turned to see a familiar sight: two red-headed twins. Rayde, the older of the pair, let out a hearty laugh, while his sister Yuria, standing half a pace behind him, tipped her head in a polite nod.

“Hey, it’s the Eldises,” said Sain, greeting his foes-turned-friends. Ever since they’d met in mock mortal combat during the field studies, their relationship had taken a more amicable turn. Despite being in different classes, he’d meet the twins every so often and enjoy a quick chat.

“Ah, how could we forget,” said Melia. “Of course they’d be here, too.”

“You bet we are. And we’re both through our first match. Looks like you both won yours too, huh? Now, that makes me happy.” Rayde grinned with teeth. “It looks like there’ll be some people who’ll actually make me work for my wins.”

Alicia rolled her eyes at that.

“Says the ones who lost to us in the field exercises.”

“Hah, it’s one-on-one now, so don’t get too cocky. Sure, we lost to you last time, but that was because of your teamwork. I’m more of a solo type. Same goes for Yuria. This time, things’ll be different,” declared the older Eldis with the confidence of someone who absolutely believed what he was saying. Then, in a sudden reversal of his usual defiant attitude, he turned to Marni and spoke with a slight stammer. “By the way... D-Did you, uh, enter the tournament?”

Marni, who hadn’t been expecting anyone to talk to her, was caught by surprise. It took her a few seconds to respond.

“...That’s none of your business.”

“Oof... B-But, I guess you’re right...”

Rayde visibly wilted. For someone who had been making fun of Marni at every turn during her hermit days in the library tower, that was a rather unexpected reaction. It almost seemed like he wanted to establish some kind of rapport with Marni. Sain, who’d noticed a change in Rayde’s attitude toward Marni since the field exercises, simply figured he’d spent some time reflecting on how badly he’d treated Marni before, and that this was his way of showing repentance.

“Don’t take it personally. Miss Grim is simply reserved by nature. She is a lady of few words,” said Sain.

He was trying to make things a little less awkward between the two, but he only earned himself a glare from Marni.

“...I can speak for myself, thank you very much. And I meant what I said.”

The conversation came to an abrupt end, and the silence became increasingly awkward until it was broken by Yuria.

“Pardon me, um, Sir Sain?”

He almost jumped at the way she addressed him, thinking for a moment that his cover was blown, but it quickly occurred to him that she’d always had this slightly formal style of speech. It was a quirk of hers, he supposed. Still, it felt weird to be called Sir by someone other than the headmaster.

“U-Um, I, uh...”

She stammered nervously, as though trying to muster the courage to speak, before blurting out, “L-Long time no see!”

“Uh, yeah? It’s been a while, I guess,” he answered with a puzzled look.

“A-As you may already be aware, should we both proceed smoothly through our brackets, we will face each other in our third match.”

He was indeed aware, so he nodded and gestured for her to continue.

“So, um... I’d just like to say... I’m rooting for you! So you’d better keep winning until then!” she exclaimed with her finger pointed at him in what was probably meant to be a gesture of challenge, if not for her intensely reddened cheeks.

A few seconds later, she pressed her palms to her face as though trying to hide behind them. Then, finding them inadequate, she quickly shuffled back behind her brother. The whole sequence left Sain utterly flummoxed.

Everyone else, though, was more than aware of what was going on.

“Maaaaster Saaaain?”

“Ow! Ow!” He flinched at a sharp sensation of pain in his side.

“It looks like you reeled another one in, doesn’t it?” Melia said with her signature I’m-going-to-murder-you smile. She dug her fingers into the soft flesh below his armpit.

“Gah! Stop pinching me, Maid!”

Marni turned to Alicia and whispered in her ear.

“Hey, Alicia. Is Sain... actually sort of a girl magnet?”

“What?! U-Um, good question... Maybe?”

It was a tricky question to answer for Alicia, who happened to be feeling the attraction. Sain was undoubtedly an oddball, which should have made him an unlikely target of affection, but admitting that had some uncomfortable implications. After all, she’d fallen for him; what did that make her? At the same time, she wasn’t quite ready to concede that he was a ladies’ man. Thoroughly flustered by the question, she failed to produce a reply for Marni, who studied her and nodded.

“It’s okay. I don’t blame you,” Marni said with her usual unreadable expression. Then, she looked down at her feet and added in a slightly embarrassed tone, “I can definitely see why people fall for him.”

That got a response from Alicia.

“You what?! ”

Her eyes went wide, and she suddenly felt a sense of clear and imminent danger — of the romantic variety. Just then, there was an announcement telling contestants to get ready for the next round.

“Well, looks like I’d better get going,” said Rayde, his expression suddenly growing sober. “I want to... get myself focused for my next match.”

“Your next opponent is Cain, right?” asked Alicia.

He nodded.

“Yeah. Once a year, I get to have a crack at him. I’ve been waiting for this chance,” he said with a toothy grin.

For someone like Rayde, who was always looking for a challenge, there was no better opportunity than this. It allowed him to face the student council president, who was widely considered the strongest student in the school, in direct combat. His fixation on Cain was nothing new. Even during the field exercises, he’d been hoping to win first place and ask to be moved one grade up as his reward. That would have put him in the same year as Cain, allowing more opportunities for them to clash in battle.

This was news to Sain, who hadn’t realized that the two would be matched against each other. Another look at the tournament brackets confirmed that what Rayde said was true. His eyes followed the trail of lines back to the column of names, where he discovered the one that lately had been on his mind with increasing frequency.

Cain Theresia .

“Master Sain, would you mind spectating Rayde’s match for me?” asked Melia. “I have to go for my second match, so I can’t be there to watch.”

“Right... Assuming you win, your next opponent will be one of these two, huh... All right. Leave it to me. I’ll get you your intel.”

“Much obliged.”

He was personally interested in the match, too. It was a shame that he couldn’t go root for Melia in person, but a duel between Rayde and Cain was a must-watch. Besides, Melia probably didn’t need any encouragement from him to win, anyway. Her next opponent was someone he’d never heard of, and nameless students stood very little chance of beating her.

“Well, there you have it. I’ll be watching to see what you can do,” he said to the departing pair.

“Keep your eyes peeled then, because I am going to be putting on one hell of a show,” Rayde said, laughing confidently with his hands on his hips. His fingers, however, trembled slightly.

Ten minutes later, Rayde Eldis was on his way to the senior division’s field. He walked with measured strides, feeling the tension in his body build with each step as he neared the arena. Rested and ready, he knew he could be in no better condition to face his oncoming challenge.

“Rayde... I’ll be praying for your victory.”

“...Thanks.”

He regarded Yuria, and she returned his gaze. She looked even more nervous than him, but rather than laughing or cracking some sort of joke, he simply acknowledged her with a nod. His expression was solemn, and his usual bravado was nowhere to be seen. As they beheld each other, they shared a brief moment of vulnerability, feeling the weight of their circumstances bearing down on them — a weight unknown to almost every other student there. Resting on his shoulders was no small responsibility.

Their father, Viscount Eldis, though ostensibly a member of the nobility, wasn’t known for his influence or pedigree. The Eldis family had acquired its present status entirely through military prowess. Normally, when a noble title was newly conferred, the recipient would quickly throw themselves into the power struggles of high society. Whether they sought advancement or protection, they would have to find it within the swirling vortex of aristocratic politics. However, Viscount Eldis refused to play the game. After acquiring his title, he showed no interest in political power, and only pursued further military accomplishments.

During times of war, the Eldis family’s hunger for glory in battle was unmatched. During times of peace, they drew little attention, as they spent most of their time training and honing their skills. At first, this drew the ridicule of their peers, but their stubborn commitment to their ways slowly established a reputation of integrity and trustworthiness founded on their detachment from the complicated web of political interests.

Now, the Eldis family was favored by many nobles for their lack of political ambition and devotion to martial prowess. It was commonly accepted among nobility that the Eldises were the ones to call for a fight. So long as there were enemies — be it humans or monsters — they would handle them, regardless of circumstance. Early on, their skills were often employed as little more than a convenient tool, but as time passed, their repeated exploits on the battlefield earned the respect of their peers, who began coming to them with earnest pleas for help. The requests ranged from exterminating large monsters that had showed up in someone’s lands to lending out their soldiers for various reasons. Considering that nobles were creatures of excessive pride, who were often loath to ask each other for help, that they were willing to petition the Eldis family was a testament to their reputation.

Born as the eldest son of Viscount Eldis — often called the kingdom’s finest warrior — Rayde had been trained since a young age to conduct himself in a manner befitting his family’s reputation. Burdened with the many responsibilities of being the heir to a renowned military family, “defeat” was a word that often carried more weight than he could bear.

“Coming up is the second round of matches! For this one, we have Rayde Eldis versus Cain Theresia!”

The crowd cheered as the senior division arena’s commentators announced the contestants’ names. As he’d expected, this match had drawn a sizable number of spectators. Many of them had arrived far in advance to grab seats, and even the standing areas were packed. In addition to the students, many of the outside guests also seemed to be aware that Cain and Rayde were particularly skilled. Over half of the audience was composed of family members of students, so it wasn’t surprising that word of their talent had spread.

“Both Rayde and Cain have made names for themselves in this academy for being exceptionally skilled! I suspect there are plenty of people who think this match might as well be the grand finals!”

“Cain in particular is a crowd favorite, considering he won the battle expo last year. And if memory serves, he did it without getting a single scratch on him throughout. We’ll see if he can manage the same this year.”

“And if his track record is anything to go by, he might do just that! After all, he’s been here since the junior division, and nobody’s ever seen him lose! It feels like he’s on a different level compared to everyone else! He’s so dominant that there’s a certain appeal in just seeing him keep his streak going, but as a commentator, I’m hoping for a close match! Rayde, show him what you’ve got!”

“Hey, come on, what happened to neutral commentary? You can’t start taking sides.”

Both the play-by-play guy and the analyst were fired up for the match, and it showed in their commentary. Rayde tuned them out as he quickly scanned the spectator seats and found Sain watching him with an intent gaze. His attendant, Melia, was understandably absent — she had to be waiting at another arena for her own match — but Alicia and Marni seemed to have followed her there as well.

It sucks that Marni isn’t here... but maybe it’s better this way. Lets me focus better.

He revisited his memories of the field exercises last month. That day, he’d tasted something he hadn’t in a long time — defeat. And it had been at the hands of someone in the same year. Granted, he’d let his guard down a little, and he’d been utterly mesmerized by the magic that the dark elf Marni had unleashed. The latter factor in particular was a tad embarrassing for a fighter of his caliber, but it had undoubtedly contributed to his loss. His father was a central figure in his family, and his influence had resulted in Rayde favoring spells designed to be flashy and destructive. Ever since that day, he couldn’t get the image of Marni’s enchanting profile against the moonlit night out of his mind, and his head was filled with thoughts of one day sitting down with her and learning about the dark magic she’d used.

But right now, he needed to focus, because he was up against an opponent who clearly outclassed him. Like the commentators said, Cain Theresia had entered the magic battle expo in his junior year, and he’d gone through the competition like a hot knife through butter. Rayde had participated in that tournament as well, and he’d fought Cain, only to suffer a crushing defeat.

He looked across the arena at his opponent, whose eyes were cold and indifferent. Cain probably saw him as little more than small fry — a mere pebble on his path to victory — but Rayde was going to prove him wrong. He had to. As the eldest son of the Eldis family, losing twice to the same opponent was out of the question. It was a matter of pride and responsibility, both of which bore down on his shoulders with equal, crushing weight.

“Let’s start the countdown!”

A projected screen appeared in the center of the field, and numbers began counting down. Cain was motionless, his gaze sharp and still. Rayde, on the other hand, seemed like he was about to explode. His eyes were bloodshot, and he practically snarled as he fought against the flood of adrenaline pushing his body to act. He tightened his fists and noticed that his palms were coated with a layer of nervous sweat. He dismissed it. There was no shame in getting the jitters. No one would react differently — not when squaring off against Cain.

A palpable tension in the air quieted the crowd. Silence fell over the ring, and the two of them now commanded the unbroken attention of every person in the audience. Gone was the festive atmosphere, replaced by the cutthroat air of mortal combat. Someone gulped. It sounded as loud as a war drum.

“Let the match begin!”

Rayde burst into motion, sprinting at Cain before the commentator even finished his sentence.

“Grund Shot! ” he shouted as the earth underfoot flew into the air and hardened into bullets that shot toward Cain.

Rayde Eldis was strong. That much was clear to even an amateur’s eyes. What wasn’t as obvious, however, was that his greatest weapon was not brute strength but his battle sense. His crude appearance and abrasive manner hid an acute understanding of the dynamics of a fight. The Grund Shot he used right off the bat was meant to put Cain on the defensive. Earth magic like Grund Shot wasn’t as speedy as something like Sain’s Dark Ray , but it had a large area of effect, making it difficult to evade entirely.

Cain didn’t evade it. He simply held out his right hand and spoke one soft word.

“Lighto .”

Large spheres of light flew through the earthen missiles and erased them from existence.

“Wha—?!”

Rayde stopped in his tracks and stared at the empty air where his spell had been a moment before. Lighto was beginner-level light magic. It was supposed to be a weak, fragile spell, entirely unsuited to combat. Instead, it had swallowed his own magic whole. With a snarl, he produced a sword from the soil using Alchemia and attempted to bring the fight to Cain, only to be forced back when the cluster of light spheres — undamaged by having passed through his spell — kept coming and threatened to slam into his face.

“Ugh, damn it— these things— hit like— cannonballs!”

He swung his sword this way and that, parrying orb after orb. It didn’t feel at all like beginner-level magic. His arms strained against the impact of the blows, which struck his sword each time with immense force. They kept coming, too, and he had no choice but to continue defending himself against the barrage. Cold sweat dripped down his neck. Eventually, there was a loud crack.

“Wha— You gotta be kidding me!”

His sword of earth snapped before crumbling away into dust. With his weapon destroyed, he gave up on his plan to close the distance and retreated. While melee combat was his forte, he was no pushover at medium range, either. A glance at Cain revealed him to be perfectly motionless, his expression calm — almost bored. Rayde ground his teeth, feeling rage fill his chest.

“Great torrent of earth, surge forward as a sea of rubble — Velle Quake! ”

With thunderous noise, the ground cracked beneath his feet, forming a fissure that lengthened as if the earth itself was splitting apart. The cleft kept growing in Cain’s direction, and the displaced matter — soil and sand and rocks of all kinds — suddenly floated upward before speeding toward him in a torrent of sheer mass.

“Vright. ”

A gigantic globe of pure light materialized in front of Cain. The next instant, the deluge of debris was no more.

I... I can’t even...

Rayde simply gaped. Words failed him. He’d thrown his full power into the spell he just cast, and Cain had just shut it down without batting an eye.

This is too much. How can he be so strong?

Faced with the harsh reality of their gap in strength, his mind went blank. That was when a large lance of light appeared above Cain’s head.

“Ray Javelin. ”

With the sun at its back, its massive form glowed fiercely, almost as if sunlight itself had condensed into a spear. Then, it barreled toward Rayde. Blinding light filled the arena as it slammed into the ground with a deafening explosion and took a chunk of the field with it.

“Auuuugh!”

Rayde screamed as the shockwave slammed into him, carrying with it a burst of wind and dust. He strained against it, unable to open his eyes in the storm. Amidst the blast, he heard the unmistakable sound of a pendant cracking. When the force finally waned and the dust cleared, he found himself inside a pale blue barrier. He stared at it half-dazed, his mind refusing to process what had happened.

“Th-That’s it! The match is over! The winner is Cain Theresia!”

The audience broke out into cheers, but Rayde barely heard them. The ringing in his ears drowned out the sound — a ringing that might be an after-effect of the blast, but also might be the desperate wail of an ego that refused to acknowledge a cruel truth. Just like that, his match was over. There was no struggle, no climax. There was only a quick, crushing end. He opened his mouth, but no words came. His eyes shifted toward his victorious opponent, who was looking at him with the same calm — almost bored — expression he saw before.

“The two contestants got into it right off the bat, and after an intense back-and-forth, Cain has emerged the victor!”

“Just looking at the results alone, it’s hard to describe his victory as anything other than overwhelming. You’ll notice, for example, that he hasn’t moved an inch since the match began.”

“Wait, really? Huh... Wow, you’re right.”

“It looks like there’s a good chance he’ll sweep this year’s tournament as well.”

Rayde recovered from his shock just in time to catch the tail end of the commentators’ discussion, and he looked at Cain’s position. It was true. He stood in the exact same place he’d been at the start. In other words, throughout the course of the entire match, Rayde never posed enough of a threat to convince Cain to even take a step.

“Damn it...”

Faced with the overwhelming difference in power, a swirl of dark emotions welled up — frustration, regret, anger.

“Damn it all!”

He slammed his fist into the ground. The pain paled in comparison to his mental anguish.

The hunched form of Rayde was a bitter thing to behold. Even from his place in the stands, Sain could see the anger hidden beneath the agony. He understood that anger and knew it was directed at Rayde himself — at his own weakness. Slowly, he looked away.

“...He’s strong.”

As the next pair of contestants entered the arena and prepared themselves, Cain turned and left without a word. Sain watched him go, his steps steady and even. There wasn’t a trace of fatigue. What had been hyped up as the effective grand finals turned out to be almost comically one-sided. Every one of Rayde’s spells had been an impressive display of skill. They were flashy and destructive, and the crowd loved them. Velle Quake in particular elicited a round of excited gasps from the audience. Still, it failed to leave even a scratch on Cain. There was never any struggle or suspense. Like the commentators said, the result was an overwhelming victory for Cain. For such a brutal beatdown, however, most of the audience didn’t seem too surprised. In their minds, Cain’s victory was probably a foregone conclusion. They were simply here to enjoy the process of watching it happen. There was no doubt in their minds that Cain would sweep the tournament. For those who had to stand opposite him in the ring, that was a bitter pill to swallow.

“Master Sain.”

He turned to find Melia approaching him.

“Ah, Maid. It looks like you won your match?”

“I sure did.”

Like last time, Melia returned from her match completely unscathed. There wasn’t a single stain on her clothes. Even her hair was still neat.

“And as for this match...” she said, looking around at the audience. “Looks like it ended the way we all expected it would.”

Just observing the atmosphere in the arena was apparently enough for her to deduce the outcome of Rayde’s match.

“How was the president in battle?”

“Like a stone wall. It wasn’t even close... Honestly, he’s so strong that I don’t think observing his matches will even make any difference.”

In general, Jenifa students were stronger than those of other schools, but Cain put them all to shame. His strength already eclipsed many adults. This made the student council president an object of intense curiosity for Sain, though his interest lay not in the power he held but how he came to hold it. How had Cain become so strong?

Sain’s power as the holy knight had a clear source; it came from a supernatural entity. While being endowed with the goddess’s blessing was effectively a lottery — one for which he’d won the jackpot — the mechanism of the process was clear and simple. It wasn’t hard to understand why an infusion of power from a deity would grant immense strength. The source of Cain’s strength, however, was a mystery.

“I said it during the field exercises, and I’ll say it again. He’s way too strong to be a normal human,” remarked Melia.

“But he is. I guarantee he’s a normal human,” Sain said with certainty. “I mean, I can’t imagine he was given that power like I was... which means it truly is his.”

It was undoubtedly power he’d gained through hard work. As someone who hadn’t worked for his own, Sain knew the difference. He could tell that Cain’s strength was real; that wasn’t the mystery. What he couldn’t tell was how Cain had mustered the willpower to put in so much work. That kind of strength couldn’t have come easily. It would have required an intense, persistent effort to toil against the limits of one’s own body.

In trying to become the dark knight, Sain had been — and still was — pushing himself with desperate resolve to get stronger. The power Cain displayed must have required at least an equal amount of effort. Despite what was doubtlessly a great deal of natural talent, he probably never rested on his laurels and strove tirelessly to improve. It almost felt like there was some sort of deep-seated hunger for power, and Sain wanted to know why.

“I’ve got a ton of questions for him, but I doubt he’d answer even one. We’re not exactly on speaking terms right now.”

“More like you should be avoiding him at all costs, considering he’s almost onto you.”

In fact, there was a good chance Cain was already sure about Sain’s true identity. Ever since the incident during the field exercises, they couldn’t walk past each other without the president openly glaring at him. There was never any attempt to initiate conversation, but the constant I’ve-got-my-eyes-on-you vibe was starting to get to him. Remove the holy knight aspect from Sain, and he’d just be a simple weirdo. While his stunts might draw attention to himself from time to time, there was no reason for anyone to eye him with that kind of alert, scrutinizing gaze. Cain clearly didn’t see him in the same way as everyone else. Presumably, that was why the vice president, Emilia, had asked if he knew him. She’d probably noticed his odd behavior around Sain.

Out of the corner of his eye, Sain noticed a dejected Rayde walking out of the arena. A part of him felt glad that he didn’t have to greet him; he wasn’t sure what he would say.

“By the way, where are Miss Gold and Miss Grim?”

“They went to get seats for your match.”

Sain’s second match was coming up next. The knowledge that his friends would be cheering for him was comforting, but the fight between Cain and Rayde lingered uncomfortably in his mind. Maybe he shouldn’t have watched it, because now he couldn’t help but see himself there. Sure, Sain was desperate to win, but Rayde must have been desperate to win, as well, and look how much that had mattered. He shut his eyes, but it didn’t help. The image of Rayde hunched over on his knees, his fists bitterly punching at the ground, seemed to be burned into his retinas.

He could imagine Rayde’s anguish... During the field exercises, Rayde seemed to have thought of Cain as a rival... only to have the rivalry proven illusory before being shattered in merciless fashion through a crushing defeat. Sain tried to pull his mind away from the thought, but he kept imagining himself in Rayde’s position, faced with an insurmountable hurdle and the devastating realization that all his efforts had been in vain. How could he avoid that? He needed to do something. A rising panic filled his chest.

“Yoink.”

Suddenly, he felt Melia’s fingers on his cheeks. She pinched them.

“Hm? Wh-What’s this supposed to mean?”

“You’re thinking yourself into a corner, so I’m making you snap out of it,” she said, giving his cheeks a few tugs for good measure. “The only thing you’ll find out today is how far you’ve come. It’s just a report card, nothing more. If you win, you can be proud of what you’ve accomplished. If you lose, you’ll know it wasn’t enough. Rayde lost because he didn’t work hard enough. That’s all.”

“...That seems a bit extreme, but maybe you’re right.” He understood what she was trying to say. “I’ve already come this far. All that’s left is to go out there and do my thing.”

“That’s right.”

She gave him a firm nod. He regarded her. The sheer composure she exhibited made him feel a little silly. He shook his head.

“Geez... One would think you should be the one who’s nervous right now. You’re up against Cain next, you know? What do you make of it? Do you think you can win?”

“Can I win, you say...” She pondered the question for a few seconds. “If I tell you, I feel like you won’t be able to focus on your next match, so I’m going to keep quiet on that for now.”

“Hmph... Well, I guess you have a point.”

Sain’s victory was far from a done deal. He had no business worrying about Melia right now.

“After all, my maid has advanced to her third match. As her master, I can hardly afford to lose here.”

“That’s the attitude. Go show them what you’re made of.”

“I will!”

Feeling pretty good after his pep talk, Sain made his way to the lecture hall-cum-waiting room, where contestants whose matches were starting soon were readying themselves. Unsurprisingly, there were fewer people than when he came for his first match. Furthermore, whereas the atmosphere had been fairly friendly last time, there was now a silent tension in the air. From here on, the contestants would begin to see each other not as fellow participants, but as rivals. A few students were still chatting with each other, but most of them were meditating or doing warm up stretches.

A total of thirty-two students had entered the magic battle expo. For a school that prided itself on valuing raw skill, that might seem rather low, but that was because the magic battle expo was not limited to the intermediate division. Each division had its own tournament. Though Cain had mentioned during the school assembly that this was a valuable opportunity for students to prove their worth to external organizations, that statement only applied to those who had some worth to prove. Stepping into the ring underprepared and suffering a humiliating defeat would surely have the opposite effect. As a result, intermediate division students who weren’t confident in their abilities tended to err on the side of caution, choosing to wait until the senior division, when they might be better prepared. Due to this trend, the senior division magic battle expo saw nearly a hundred participants every year.

While it was possible to graduate from the academy after the intermediate division and immediately enter the workforce, most students intended to advance to the senior division. Since there was still plenty of schooling left to go, they were rarely in any rush to network or market themselves to potential employers. That kind of thing could wait until they were closer to graduation. Therefore, only a minority of students participated in the magic battle expos of the junior and intermediate divisions. Those who did could largely be split into two categories. They were either the type who was always itching for a fight, or they were exceedingly confident in their own abilities.

The current intermediate division tournament was no different, and its participants were uniform in their excellence. The sixteen who remained after the first set of matches were, therefore, those who already survived a halving of their numbers. From this point on, there would be no easy pickings.

“Hey, loser.”

Sain, who was still trying to get his nerves under control, looked up to find a familiar mop of dark brown hair. He didn’t know the student’s name, but he recognized his face. It was the same guy who’d mocked him when he was registering for the tournament a few days ago.

“Color me surprised. The last thing I expected was to see you in the second round,” he said with a vexing grin.

Unlike last time, his buddies were absent, suggesting that his behavior wasn’t the effect of peer pressure; his disagreeableness came naturally. Sain sighed.

“...What do you want?”

“Huuuh? What, you didn’t check the brackets? Look at who you’re up against next,” the brown-haired student said with a scowl.

Sain examined the tournament chart posted on the wall. His next opponent was someone called Roxas. Though he didn’t know who that was, he put two and two together and figured he was currently staring the fellow in the face.

“I see... So you’re my next opponent.”

“You got it.” Roxas’s grin widened. “You might have fluked your way through your first match, but that’s not gonna work again. I’m gonna beat you down so hard you’ll wish you never stepped into the ring. But hey, don’t blame me, because I warned you. You’re the one who ignored my advice and entered anyway.”

Then, he turned and strutted away, apparently satisfied by the pre-engagement gibe he just delivered. It was a rather aggravating exchange that had completely ruined Sain’s focus, but he had to keep his composure. Roxas might be obnoxious, but he had won his first match. He wasn’t the kind of opponent Sain could defeat by blindly leaning into his anger.

“Seventh match contestants, please get ready!” said a staff member at the entrance of the lecture hall.

“...In a way, I guess this is another trial to overcome,” Sain said to himself as he proceeded toward the arena.

He’d lost track of the number of times he’d been called a loser since coming to this school. Compared to when he’d just arrived, though, he was definitely stronger. The outcome of his first match was undeniable proof of his improvement. His peers, however, didn’t necessarily share the same view. Many of them still saw him as the same bumbling fool they’d known when school first started. He couldn’t just write them all off as a bunch of jerks, either. Not all of them did so out of malice. Many just didn’t know him well enough to think otherwise. Still, if he intended to become the dark knight he was going to have to change their opinion at some point.

That time was now. He needed to shake his loser image, and beating Roxas would surely accomplish that.

The intermediate division’s field was already surrounded by a large number of spectators. Among them were Melia, Alicia, and Marni, whom he quickly smiled at before turning toward Roxas and readying himself for combat.

“Our contestants for the seventh match of the second round will be Sain Fostess and Roxas Bray!”

The bright voice of a female student echoed across the arena.

“They’re in the same year, but they specialize in different kinds of magic! Sain is darkkind, while Roxas is fivekind!”

“Sain hasn’t shown his hand yet. Darkkind tend to employ a lot of unique magic, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he still has a few cards up his sleeve. That’s definitely a point in his favor.”

“Speaking of unique magic, Sain’s first match ended in the blink of an eye, didn’t it? That was a superbly effective surprise attack, but maybe it was also a tactic to avoid showing his hand?”

“Maybe it was. Either way, we’ll find out soon, because that kind of surprise attack isn’t going to work multiple times. Roxas will definitely be ready for it. If Sain wants to win this one, he’ll have to get his hands dirty. Chances are that this is going to be an honest brawl.”

As Sain listened to the analyst’s commentary, he noted that it was both objective and very likely true. If one of them legitimately outclassed the other in skill, this match was going to make that difference abundantly clear. That was why he couldn’t afford to lose.

“On a side note, Sain is known in the intermediate division as the Darkness Dork.”

“Who’re you calling Darkness Dork?!” he exclaimed and shook his fist in the direction of the female student providing commentary.

What merit was there in disclosing that piece of information right now? It did, however, elicit a round of laughter from the stands, with the junior division students finding it particularly hilarious. For a good while, he continued to hear giggles from some of the younger children.

“Meanwhile, Roxas has a balanced fighting style based on fire and water. While he can’t use compound magic, he’s very good at controlling each element individually and using them according to their strengths. He’s no pushover when it comes to hand-to-hand combat, either.”

The analyst, possibly deeming it a tad unfair for Sain to be the only one to suffer an unexpected disclosure of personal information, offered some details on his opponent as well. Taken as a whole, it suggested that while Roxas seemed like a pretty headstrong guy, he was a careful fighter in the ring. His affinity for fire and water magic made him similar to Melia. It would, Sain figured, be like fighting a downgraded version of Melia, just without her compound magic and judicious boldness and extensive battlefield experience and—

He reconsidered. Comparing a regular student to Melia was doing his maid a disservice.

Sain studied his opponent. Roxas also carried a sword at his waist, but judging by his build and musculature, he was going to employ a fighting style that primarily relied on magic.

“By the way,” the commentator continued, “Roxas’s grades are some of the best among the intermediate first years. He’s been participating in the battle expo since his junior days, and he’s gone as far as the semifinals in the past. As for Sain... Hmm, it looks like it’ll be an uphill battle. This is your time, Sain! Let’s see what you’re made of!”

Sain pressed his lips together and tightened his fists. This was indeed his time, and he had every intention of showing them what he was made of.

“Let’s start the countdown!”

As numbers started flashing on the large screen in front of him, Sain closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. People still called him names like “loser” or “Darkness Dork,” and he would still snap back at them, but nowadays, that was more performance than honest anger. Frankly, it didn’t really bother him that much, anymore. That was what scared him. If he got used to failure, then what did he have left?

No, he was not a failure. At least, he wouldn’t remain one. He was going to become the dark knight. With his conviction reaffirmed, he opened his eyes and fixed them on his opponent just as the countdown reached zero.

“Let the match begin!”

Sain and Roxas began to circle each other warily, keeping their gazes locked and the distance between them even. For a while, they traded feints, each probing the other’s reaction. Then, Sain struck the first blow.

“Darku! ”

A black bullet shot out of his palm. It sped toward Roxas, who dodged it with ease.

“Hah! Get your kiddie spells out of there! This is the big boys’ arena!”

Roxas swiveled on his feet and charged down the field, closing the gap between them at breakneck speed.

He wants a swordfight? Wait, no—

Sain glanced at Roxas’s waist as he bore down on him. Seeing that the sword remained untouched, he quickly hopped out of his opponent’s path.

“Flare Shot! ”

Flames erupted from Roxas’s palm in a scattershot pattern.

“Ugh!”

They spread out as they flew, widening the attack’s coverage. Thanks to his timely evasion, Sain took only a glancing hit. It wasn’t fatal, but it still hurt, and he winced as his left shoulder and back flared with pain. He stumbled a few steps and went down to his knees.

“Whoa, whoa, big guy, careful there. Don’t trip over yourself,” Roxas sneered as Sain got back onto his feet. “The match has barely started and you’re already close to tapping out? Come on, you gotta try harder than that. There are people watching this, and they wanna see a good show.”

Roxas shot a haughty glance at the spectators. Sain didn’t follow suit. Instead, he kept his eyes on Roxas.

“If you think...” Sain said, his voice raspy and strained.

“Eh?”

“If you think... that I’ll always be the same loser, then you are very wrong!”

He kicked the ground and lunged forward, moving into melee range. In the process, he looked hard at Roxas’s arms — specifically, the angle of his palms. Most spells start at the palms. So long as he kept track of where they were pointed, he could predict the trajectory of his spells.

“You dumbass! You think you can just tackle me?”

Roxas laughed as he opened his right palm.

Here it comes!

Sain’s hand shot to his waist, pulled up his sword — sheath and all — and placed it in the path of Roxas’s attack.

“Eat more fire! Flare Shot! ”

A second salvo flew at him. Dozens of pellets traced red hot trails through the air like flaming rubies. They grew bigger at alarming speed in his view as they came straight for his head, but he didn’t stop. His fingers tightened around the hilt of his sword.

“Hngh!”

He repelled the pellets with the scabbard of his sword.

“What?!”

This caught Roxas by surprise, who had expected his spell to stop Sain in his tracks. Flare Shot was fast and had a large area of effect, making it very difficult to dodge. Its downside, however, was that each individual pellet was fairly weak. When facing it head on, blocking worked better than dodging.

Unprepared for Sain’s determined approach, Roxas was a tad late to react.

“Darku! ”

With his sword knocked off course by a colliding pellet, Sain held up his empty hand and launched a bullet of darkness at his opponent.

“Y-Yowza!”

Roxas narrowly avoided getting hit by jerking his head away. He stumbled back a few steps before sneering again.

“Hah! Nice try, but your little darts can’t hurt me!”

Sain chose not to point out that they clearly could, considering that Roxas almost gave himself whiplash trying to avoid it. Beginner-level spells like Darku lacked both speed and power, but they weren’t the kind of thing one could take to the face and shrug off. A direct hit was still potent enough to stagger. That would have created an opening, allowing Sain to follow up with his sword, but he hadn’t quite hit the jackpot there.

Roxas backed away, putting some distance between them before unleashing a larger spell.

“Orb of fire, purge with raging flames — Flare! ”

The Alicia special. Like Flare Shot , it was also fire magic, but that was where the similarities ended. This time, a single, massive fireball flared into existence. It was hot and dense, and parrying it was not an option.

“Try blocking this!” shouted Roxas as he threw the fireball at Sain.

Seeing that his prior quantity-based attack had failed, Roxas immediately switched to quality. Like the commentators had mentioned before the match, he did indeed have a solid, balanced approach to fighting.

Sain kept his calm and held out his hands at the fiery threat. In the month since the field exercises, he and Marni had continued their training. Not a day went by where he didn’t practice his dark magic.

“Orb of gloom, devour with shadow and darkness... ” Black particles gathered in his palms. “Dardia! ”

A large black orb rivaling the fireball in size appeared before Sain.

“What?!”

Again, Roxas stared in disbelief as the two spheres collided. Flames thrashed against the darkness, their efforts ultimately futile as the black energy slowly wrapped around the fireball, swallowing it like a gaping maw. The orb of gloom shrank steadily as it digested its blazing opposite number. Bright flares continued to erupt like devoured prey fighting for survival, but even this eventually ceased, and both spheres vanished together. In the end, the two spells canceled each other out. This made Roxas roar with rage.

“You... loser! You’re a damn loser! You think you’re as good as me?!”

Angry veins bulged in his temples as he threw another round of Flare Shot at Sain. In his fury, he failed to take proper aim and his shots flew wide, allowing Sain to evade it with ease.

It’s not hard to push this guy’s buttons, is it?

Sain was pretty sure he knew exactly why Roxas was furious. The fact that their orbs canceled each other out suggested they were equal in power, which in turn implied that their casters were an equal match, as well. For Roxas, who’d been looking down on Sain all this time, that was not a pill he could swallow. So, he got mad.

I’ve got nothing to fear from him.

Confidence welled up within Sain. The hurdle represented by Roxas, which had seemed so high, now felt much smaller, and he knew with absolute certainty that he could clear it. They’d thrown themselves against each other, and in doing so, discovered how strong each of them truly were. Roxas did indeed employ a balanced fighting style, but that also meant he was, for all intents and purposes, a jack of all trades, master of none. He had no trump card, no big spell that could seal the deal in one go. Granted, most people didn’t have something like that; it was Sain who was out of the norm in that regard.

I guess I just happen to know a bunch of people who do. Not sure if that’s a good thing, but anyway...

“Orb of fire, purge with raging flames — Flare! ”

Roxas switched back to the fireball, but again it failed to find its mark. Flare’s enhanced power also required a longer casting time. Previously, Sain wasn’t able to get out of the way in time, forcing him to defend against it head on. This time, he was ready.

Alicia’s magic is so much stronger .

He sidestepped the oncoming fireball. Though they both used fire magic, hers was on another level. Fireballs from her were hot enough to burn someone half to death just by grazing them, and she could throw those out nonstop. Compared to Alicia’s, Roxas’s spell was like child’s play.

As the comparatively lukewarm fireball flew toward him, he rolled out of the way and counterattacked.

“Darku! ”

“Ugh?!”

The dark bullet slammed into Roxas’s shoulder, causing him to stagger. Sain immediately closed the distance and drew his sword. A series of diagonal slashes forced Roxas to keep moving, preventing him from casting another spell.

“Damn it! You little—”

Roxas drew his own sword and there was a sharp clank as their weapons met. Perhaps melee combat made for better entertainment, or maybe it was just rare in the magic battle expo. Either way, the clash drew a wave of excited commotion from the crowd. Neither contestant, however, was particularly adept at close-quarters combat.

Sain was no stranger to the sword; he used it often when fighting as the holy knight. Nevertheless, his actual skill was amateurish at best. With the blessing of the goddess supercharging him, it didn’t really matter how he swung the thing; it was going to cut through whatever it touched anyway. He had never trained properly in swordsmanship. Roxas showed no signs of any particular expertise either, suggesting he was in a similar boat. Even so, he demonstrated a basic grasp of the techniques required to keep an opponent at bay.

“Hyaah!”

Sain brought his sword down in an overhead swing. When it was blocked, he immediately crouched and pulled his sword around for a rightward sweep. Roxas reacted accordingly and pointed his sword downwards to parry it.

“Don’t get too cocky!”

Roxas lunged forward for a wide horizontal slash. When Sain leapt backwards to avoid it, he quickly followed up with a spell.

“Spirits of turbid water, grasp what you seek — Worta Halden!”

This time, it was water magic. The spell produced watery arms that rose from the ground and grabbed foes, restricting their movement. Melia had used it before, but again, Roxas lacked her finesse.

Melia’s magic is so much more accurate.

There was a refined efficiency to the way Melia used this spell. It pursued its target with deadly precision, lashing out at the exact moment when it was most difficult to escape. Even if the target avoided capture, there was always another arm coming. When she used magic, it was both skillful and calculated.

Countless arms slid across the ground at his legs. Sain waited for them to get close before leaping into the air and pointing his hand down.

“Darku Shot! ”

A cluster of dark pellets struck the swarm of watery arms. He landed just after the last arm was destroyed, breathing heavily but still unharmed. Roxas gnashed his teeth at him. The more they fought, the better they understood the extent of each other’s abilities. Roxas possessed neither Alicia’s fight-ending clinchers nor Melia’s tactical prowess. His balanced approach extended only to his magic, not his overall capability in battle.

Objectively, nothing had changed. Sain still couldn’t afford to lose, and the match still rested on a knife’s edge. The slightest lapse in concentration could spell disaster. The stakes were as high as ever, but somehow, Sain’s spirits were even higher. He’d never been in a battle where the odds had been so even.

So this is what a real fight feels like.

“You damn loser!”

Roxas roared again as water gathered in his hand and lashed out in a sharp crescent. It was a spell Sain hadn’t seen before, but he was pretty sure a direct hit was going to leave a nasty gash. He wasn’t worried though; he had this sword. Just as he’d done against Flare Shot , he blocked the spell with the body of the blade.

Marni’s magic is so much scarier.

He recalled his mentor, whose masterful control over dark magic put him to shame. Her spells always had an enigmatic quality to them, unbound by the frameworks they were taught in school. They were unconventional and therefore disorienting, which was why every time she used a new spell during their training, he’d been left hopelessly vulnerable, suffering strike after strike until he learned to evade it through sheer experience. In comparison, Roxas’s spells were lifted straight out of the textbook. For Sain, who spent almost all his days learning magic, they were laughably predictable.

“Let’s gooooo!”

He raised his sword and charged boldly toward Roxas. What moved him wasn’t arrogance, but a sense that he could now see to the bottom of his opponent’s well of potential, and it wasn’t that far down. So long as he remained focused and composed, he could deal with Roxas’s magic.

“Y-You little—”

Roxas hastily swung his sword up.

“Too late!”

Sain’s sword flashed first. There was a loud clang, and the opposing blade soared through the air in a wide arc.

“Orb of gloom, devour with shadow and darkness... ”

“Eep!”

He thrust his arm out at a defenseless Roxas and, ignoring his squeal of terror, pushed as much power as he could into his spell.

“Dardia! ”

“Gyaaaaah!”

The orb of darkness slammed into Roxas, sending him flying. He landed on his back, but the momentum flipped him over and kept him rolling. Eventually, he came to a stop face down as a pale blue barrier expanded around him. His substitute pendant had not survived the impact.

“That’s it! The match is over!” shouted the commentator. “Defying expectations, Sain Fostess has emerged the winner!”

The commentators had, of course, considered Roxas the favorite, meaning he’d just supplied them with an unexpected twist to the storyline.

“What a nail-biter that was! Listen to the crowd! They loved it!”

“It got me sweating, too. The two contestants were evenly matched and it was a very close fight. Thank you to both of them for putting on such a great show.”

A wave of fatigue rolled through Sain, and the commentators’ voices seemed to grow distant. He dropped to his knees and pressed his hands to the ground to support himself, his breath coming in labored gasps. Sweat pooled on the ground in front of his face. Sheer adrenaline had kept him going during the match, and he’d pushed himself to the very limit. Now, with the tension gone, he’d started feeling the consequences. He could feel the blood rushing through his temples, its rhythmic flow beating against his skull like war drums. The sound was so loud that he could barely hear the audience cheering. His vision swam, and it took an effort of will to avoid collapsing on the spot.

None of that could hold back the rush of triumph.

“What do you think was the deciding factor of that match?”

“I don’t think there was a single deciding factor. Both contestants gave it their all, and since they were evenly matched, it ended up being very close. If I had to pick something... it would probably be raw ability. One of them was just overall a stronger fighter than the other.”

“Raw ability, you say...”

The female commentator repeated the other’s words, her voice slightly tense. This time, Sain hadn’t gone for a surprise attack nor had he pulled some sort of eye-popping trump card out of his hat. He fought an honest match, and he won. The implications of that were massive .

The male student who served as the analyst looked directly at Sain as he voiced his thoughts.

“At this point, I think we have no choice but to accept the reality... that Sain truly is the dark horse of this tournament. I’d imagine that intermediate division students in the stands are now seeing him in a very different light. Sain had always stood out as a rather eccentric individual, what with the way he acts and dresses, but until now, he’d never been seen as particularly competent.”

“His antics sure did make him stick out like a sore thumb. But you think that image will start changing now?”

“Yes, I do think he’ll start standing out for a different reason, now. Frankly, I didn’t think he’d be this strong, either, but the match we just witnessed served as a resounding refutation of our prior expectations. Going forward into the third round, I think people will need to start considering him a threat. Take him on without a plan, and you might come to regret it.”

Slowly, the deafening beats of his own heart softened, and the sound of applause entered his ears. He was still breathing heavily, and every muscle in his body ached, but he forced it out of his mind to relish the moment. He’d won. It’d taken so much out of him that he thought he was going to pass out, but he’d won. Never more would he be a loser. He’d shed the name. A wave of heat struck the back of his nose, and his vision blurred. In the teary haze, he saw the figures of three girls who’d offered him their friendship.

Melia. Alicia. Marni.

He was overcome by gratitude. Meeting them was the best thing to have ever happened to him. Had they not lent him their time and energy to help him improve, he’d never have defeated Roxas. Marni’s words resurfaced in his mind.

“None of us here thinks you’re weak. Not anymore.”

He’d trusted her. And how glad he was to have done so.

“Damn it...”

Sain blinked away the tears to find Roxas, who was slowly climbing to his feet, glaring at him with furious hatred in his eyes.

“This isn’t over, you little shit...”

It had been a good match. Everyone, from the commentators to the audience, probably had a favorable opinion of the fight. Nevertheless, there was some bitterness from the way it concluded. Roxas, who came into the match feeling vastly superior to his opponent, had suffered what was undoubtedly a humiliating defeat at the hands of someone he considered a loser. That must have severely dented his pride. Sain would have preferred to shake hands and end the match on a positive note, but ultimately, no such opportunity presented itself and they left the arena without trading any words.

“Sain!”

As he approached the stands, he saw Alicia running eagerly toward him.

“You did it! Nobody’s going to call you a loser after seeing that!” she exclaimed, beaming at him as though it’d been her who won. Her exuberance proved infectious, and he grinned back.

“Yeah. I’m not going to lie. I’m feeling pretty good right now. It’s as if all my hard work finally paid off.”

“It did pay off,” Marni affirmed as she walked up beside Alicia. “The old Sain would have been completely outclassed by Roxas. But you put in the work, and you tipped the scales. Congratulations. I’m... happy for you, too.”

“Thank you, Miss Grim... No, Master!” he exclaimed, touched by the compliment. Coming from her, whose attitude usually defaulted to cold disinterest, that meant a lot.

He then looked to the third girl to appear.

“Maid, it appears that our showdown is drawing ever closer.”

“I guess it is, Master Sain. To be honest, I thought for sure you were going to lose that one.”

“Mwahaha! Too bad for you! I’m on a roll right now, and I’m going to roll right through you, too! Just watch me!”

“Hmmm? Is that... baseless confidence I hear?”

Melia showed him the kind of smile that was definitely meant to be interpreted as a threat. He whimpered a little and retracted his statement.

“U-Uh... Y-You know what? Maybe I’m not on such a roll after all! Haha!”

Alicia rolled her eyes and muttered, “Why talk so big if you’re going to immediately take it back?”

“Still, let’s not get ahead of ourselves here,” Melia said in a more sober tone. “We both have another match left to go, and I’m pretty sure it’s going to be a big one for both of us.”

Her warning pulled his head back down from the clouds. She was right; the tournament wasn’t over. The thought of their next opponents put the stopper on his exhilaration.

“Melia’s next opponent is the president, and Sain’s up against Yuria, huh...” said Alicia as she studied the brackets. “There sure are a lot of familiar faces now that we’re entering the third round.”

For those like Alicia, who’d been here since the junior division, the students who made it to the upper echelons of the tournament rankings were all more or less household names. It hardly needed to be said that the student council president, Cain, was a formidable opponent, but Yuria, the younger of the Eldis twins, was no slouch, either. This time, though, mixed in with the usual crowd were Sain and Melia, whose presence this late in the brackets must have been quite odd for regulars of the magic battle expo.

“The third round is tomorrow, right?” asked Sain.

“Yeah. They finish up to the first half of the second round on day one. Day two is the second half of the second round and all of the third round. The final day is only the semifinals and the grand finals,” explained Alicia.

“Which means Maid and I are both done for the day, huh... Well, this is sort of an awkward time to finish.”

It was one o’clock in the afternoon, right when the festival was really getting busy. The expo wasn’t just a nonstop marathon of matches from morning to night. In order to allow the contestants to enjoy the festival, the matches were concentrated in the middle of the day, from late morning to early afternoon. In fact, most of the matches on day one finished in the morning.

“Let’s go get some food first,” suggested Alicia. “The two of you haven’t eaten yet, right? Sain can probably use some rest, too.”

“Yeah, I would appreciate some cooldown time.”

Even lengthier matches tended to finish in under ten minutes, so Sain hadn’t actually been moving around for all that long. They demanded a lot of energy in a short time, but total stamina drain was limited, so recovery was quick as well. It was the mental fatigue that lingered, which was why Sain was hoping for a longer period of rest.

“We’ll let you rest up first, but once you feel better, let’s go look around the vendor booths. Marni and I found a couple of interesting ones,” said Alicia.

He nodded.

“Sure thing. We can spend the whole afternoon exploring the festival.”

The expo wasn’t all about fighting; there was plenty of entertainment. Like Alicia, Sain had also been looking forward to wandering through the mazes of booths and doing some window shopping. With their plans for the rest of the day decided, Melia raised her hand.

“I’ll have to be excused for a moment. There’s something I need to deal with.”

Alicia gave her a surprised look.

“Huh? Really?”

“It won’t take long, so I’ll meet up with you later. I’d appreciate it if we could decide on a meeting spot.”

“Hm, how’s the courtyard in the intermediate division school building, then? While you deal with your thing, we’ll go pick up some lunch at the stalls. Then, we’ll meet up with you and we can eat together.”

There were a few restaurants where they could sit down, but the roadside stalls also offered more than enough variety for a satisfying lunch. Alicia and Marni both nodded. Seeing that everyone was in agreement, Melia nodded as well and got up.

“All right, off I go, then,” she said before strolling off toward the main building that housed the staff office and cafeteria.

“I wonder what it is that she has to deal with...” Alicia mused as she watched Melia go. “Any idea, Sain?”

“Nope. No idea.”

“Huh. I thought you would, considering the whole master and attendant thing. I guess you’ve got some sort of respect-each-other’s-boundaries thing going?”

“Eh, not exactly...”

In fact, his boundaries were constantly being intruded upon. Back when they were in Lightridge, every aspect of his daily life was arguably under Melia’s control. He wore the clothes she prepared, ate the food she cooked, and lived under the same roof as her. Day after day, he spent almost every waking moment with her from the time he woke up to the time he fell asleep.

Now, things were different. It was probably because their circumstances had changed.

“It’s not like before. Now, Maid is a student of this academy. Yes, she’s my attendant, but she’s also a student, just like the rest of us... And as time goes on, it’s only normal for her to have her own private life that I don’t know about.”

In a way, it almost made him proud, and he couldn’t help but cross his arms and look with distant eyes at Melia’s shrinking form like a parent seeing his beloved daughter off. Alicia looked at the expression on his face and pressed her lips together.

“You... really aren’t very possessive, are you, Sain? And I mean that in both the good way and the bad way.”

“Hm? I know what the good way is supposed to mean, but what’s the bad way?”

“It means... you should probably try a little harder to figure out how girls think. Right, Marni?”

“...Agreed.”

Sain scratched his head. For all it was worth to him, they might as well have been speaking another language.

“Okay, come on. Let’s go pick up some lunch before Melia gets back,” said Alicia as she got up and led them toward the food stalls.

With most of the matches concluded, people flocked to the booths out in the school grounds. A mishmash of students and guests roamed in every direction, weaving past each other toward whatever food or activity caught their interest. Some guests wore costumes complete with replica swords and armor to fit the battle expo theme. Sain was wondering where they’d found all those elaborate props, only to walk past a booth that sold exactly those articles.

“...Is it just me, or do they sell literally everything under the sun here?” he murmured.

“It’s not the first time I’ve heard someone say that,” answered Alicia.

People were free to enjoy the festival however they wished, so long as they weren’t being a nuisance to other guests. Staff were on hand to deal with troublemakers who, high off the thrill of a particularly intense match, would end up brawling. Adults and children alike were guilty of such conduct, with everything from fisticuffs to replica weapons being employed. It was mostly senior division students who were in charge of breaking up such altercations, and things usually calmed down once they arrived on the scene. Presumably, the academy’s reputation had a big role to play in these cases, as even adults would think twice before defying a sternly worded warning from older Jenifa students.

“Speaking of which, Sain, what’s Melia’s favorite food?” asked Alicia as she browsed the rows of stalls around them.

“You know, you’d probably never guess from how she looks, but Maid’s actually into some pretty niche stuff.”

“Niche? Like what?”

“Like, say... Smoked seafood.”

“...That is pretty niche.”

Melia had an inclination to take the kind of stuff forty-year-olds would order with beer at a bar and quietly nibble on them with the daintiness of a princess. She’d never acknowledged it openly, but Sain suspected that it was something of a guilty pleasure of hers. Those times when she got to sit down and enjoy some fine smoked seafood by herself were probably paradise for her. Fortunately — or unfortunately, depending on how you looked at it — there just so happened to be a stall selling that very thing. Naturally, they picked up a few pieces for Melia. Just then, there was a voice from the crowd.

“Ahh!”

Sain turned in its direction to find a young child pointing excitedly at him.

“It’s Mister Darkness Dork!” exclaimed his pint-sized fan.

This caused five more tiny figures to pop out of the throng of people and join the first one in encircling him, their eyes sparkling with starstruck enthusiasm.

“Look, look! It really is him!”

“Wow!”

He gave them a nervous smile.

“U-Uh... The mister is a nice touch, I guess?”

Alicia gave him a good-natured smirk.

“Didn’t you notice all the fans you were gaining during your last match? The junior students were all rooting for you.”

He definitely hadn’t noticed. Granted, he did vaguely remember hearing a lot of what sounded like children’s laughter when the female commentator had called him Darkness Dork.

“Hmmm... So you understand the appeal of this ominous aura of mine. Well, well, it looks like we have ourselves a couple of prodigies here.”

Feeling rather pleased with himself, he looked down at the children with a benevolent smile. They giggled loudly amongst themselves before shouting things at him in turn.

“Ahaha! Mister Darkness Dork!”

“Eww, what’s that stuff you’re wearing?”

“Dork! Dork!”

“That sounds so dumb! You’re dumb!”

It didn’t take long for their comments to degenerate into straight up insults. Sain gave Alicia a flat look.

“So, rooting for me, huh?”

“Okay, well, they had a lot of fun watching you, at least.” She looked at the snickering children and grimaced a little. “But maybe some of it was at your expense.”

They seemed particularly fascinated with his black coat and, despite his admonitions, kept trying to get their grubby little hands on it. His coat was imbued with slightly dangerous materials to seal in the blessing of the goddess, and for the children, touching the inner lining could prove harmful. In the end, their undeterred enthusiasm forced him to compromise by yielding to their desire but also issuing a stern warning to poke only at the outside of his coat.

“Mister Darkness Dork, are these your girlfriends?!” asked a little girl who pointed at Alicia and Marni.

Sain, without any hint of hesitation, answered, “No, they certainly are not.”

“No way!”

“Boring!”

That elicited a mix of responses, some shocked and others disappointed. The not-girlfriends in question regarded the proceedings with slightly sullen expressions.

“...You know, the way he just denied that outright is, honestly, a little upsetting.”

“...Yeah, he didn’t even have to think about that one.”

Their grumbling reached Sain’s ears, and he grimaced.

What am I supposed to say then, damn it?

When the children’s initial burst of excitement began to wane, one of them walked up to him and said, “Um, can I ask you a question?”

Sain turned to find a boy with wide, innocent eyes.

“Sure, go for it.”

“How come they call you Darkness Dork?” the boy asked in a tone of genuine curiosity.

Sain grinned.

“Hoh. Good question. They call me that, you see, because I am a denizen of darkness.”

“Of... darkness?”

“Indeed. A deep darkness swirls within me, grimmer than the underworld and blacker than the abyss...”

The boy’s eyes widened and he audibly gulped.

“Grimmer than the underworld... and blacker than the abyss...”

“Stop pulling innocent kids into your nonsense!”

“Ow!”

Sain yelped as Alicia smacked him on the back of his head. She then knelt down and clutched the boy’s shoulders.

“Don’t listen to what strangers tell you, okay? Especially not weird strangers like him!”

“Yeah,” Marni added. “You’ll end up stupid like him.”

While the two girls were trying to undo the effects of Sain’s influence, he rubbed at the tender spot on his head and grumbled, “Geez, a few more of those and I will end up stupid...”

Alicia silenced him with a glare before letting out an exasperated sigh.

“Come on,” she said as she stood back up. “Let’s go get our lunch already so we don’t keep Melia waiting.”

Marni nodded before frowning.

“What about drinks, then?”

“Oh, I forgot about that. But I mean, we can probably just get something at the school store. We’re coming back here after lunch anyway, right?”

“...True.”

While the two girls conversed, Sain and the boy had locked eyes again.

“Um, Mister, do you think... there’s darkness in me too?”

“Yes, there is darkness in everyone. But few can learn to wield it, and fewer yet can truly master it. Those who do... are the chosen ones, destined to rule the great abyss beyond...”

“Rule... the great abyss beyond!”

“Should you one day find yourself being consumed by the darkness within, come to me. I shall release the power sealed within this right arm of mine, and show you my true form — that of the Lord of Darkness. It will take me little effort to subjugate a paltry darkness such as yours.”

“The power sealed in the right arm... of the Lord of Darkness!”

“I said quit it already!”

There was another resounding smack as Alicia slapped him across the head.

While Sain was touring the stalls with the two girls, Melia was making her way toward the main school building, which was open to the public during the battle expo. On the first floor of the building was an information center with associated consultation booths displaying a plethora of pamphlets from Jenifa.

She drew some odd gazes as she walked, presumably because her maid uniform was a rare sight, but the gazes disappeared once she circled around to the back of the building. Whereas its front entrance had been bustling, its rear was far more secluded. She approached what looked like a storage room.

“Piece of sh... That los...”

“Yo, calm... Rox...”

In the shadow of the structure, some students were whispering to each other. They were just out of earshot, so she held her breath and crept a little closer.

“Anyway, that loser needs to learn a lesson... so I’m gonna teach him one. And it’s gonna hurt.”

One of the speakers was Sain’s second opponent in the tournament, Roxas. Surrounding him were a number of his flunkies. After their match concluded, Melia had caught a whiff of trouble from Roxas. Something wasn’t right about the way he’d glared at Sain. Figuring his hatred might boil over into a misguided attempt at violence, she’d decided to check on him in secret.

The current holy knight, Sain, was a person with the purest of hearts. When he’d been acting as the holy knight, his magnanimous personality had earned him the trust and reverence of many. At times, however, his innocence had also endangered him when bad people tried to use it against him. It was Melia’s job to keep her master safe from such situations, and she’d suspected Roxas of being up to no good when she witnessed him circling behind the building, so she excused herself from the group to follow him. Turns out, he was indeed up to no good.

“But Roxas, what’re you gonna do , exactly?”

“Doesn’t matter, as long as it’s fast and painful... We gotta get this done fast. It’s gonna be a lot harder tomorrow.”

Rage bubbled in his voice as he spoke. At the same time, there was the sound of metallic objects grinding against each other.

“Lucky for us, we got plenty of weapons.”

“H-Holy— Roxas, where did you get these?”

“They’re weapons you can borrow for the tournament. I took a few from the storehouse.”

His flunkies proceeded to examine the weapons as they spoke.

“So, how about we pick a good place, get him to go there, and then pile on him and beat his face in?”

“Sounds good to me. As for the place... Here’ll do fine,” said Roxas, agreeing to the suggestion. “Don’t use magic. It draws too much attention. Stick to the weapons. And make it hurt.”

“Got it. Heh... This oughta teach that dumbass to act up.”

“Yeah, it’ll be good punishment. Arrogant losers need to be put in their place, after all.”

They might be a bunch of thugs, but they were a motivated bunch, and if she let them be, it wouldn’t be long before they started going after Sain. She was going to have to take care of this right here, right now. With her mind made up, she stepped out into the open.

“I’m terribly sorry to disturb you while you’re busy doing the scheming villain thing, but could you... I don’t know, maybe just knock it off?”

Her sudden appearance shocked the conniving crew. There were three of them — the exact same trio that had harassed Sain when he was registering for the tournament a week ago.

“You... You’re that loser’s maid, aren’t you?!” he screamed with fury.

“Oh shit, Roxas, what do we do?”

“This girl was pretty damn strong...”

The two flunkies started to panic, but Roxas remained calm and picked up his sword nearby.

“Keep it together! There’s three of us. We can take her!”

Reassured by his words, they composed themselves and each took a weapon.

“Ugh, nothing is ever simple, is it?” Melia said with a tsk.

She had hoped to resolve things peacefully, but the three armed thugs baring their teeth at her made that seem unlikely. Her eyes narrowed, and she simultaneously observed all three of them, waiting to see how they would move.

“Move around her! And keep her surrounded! But don’t get too hasty to fight!”

His two buddies obediently spread out toward her flanks.

“Wow, now that’s playing dirty,” she said as they surrounded her from three sides.

“Hmph! You won’t be talking for much longer. But don’t blame me, ’cause you’re the one who walked into this!” he roared as he came at her with his sword raised, choosing physical brutality over magic to avoid attracting attention.

After watching a whole match between him and Sain, Melia already knew some of his tendencies in melee combat, and she easily dodged his strike before sweeping his legs out from under him with a kick.

“Augh!”

He fell backwards and landed on his rear. In an effort to help their leader, his two buddies mounted a concerted attack, but her magic beat them to it.

“Sprites of crystalline veil, roam the endless mist — Londo Mysteria. ”

White mist filled the area.

“Wh-What the hell?!”

“Mist?!”

It was an example of compound magic using fire and water, which was Melia’s forte. Compound magic was usable only by fivekind, and even then, only a handful of them. It was very likely that none of the three thugs had ever witnessed this spell before. Trapped in its hazy shroud, they could do nothing but thrash about in confusion.

“Eugh!”

She swung her hand like a blade at the closest figure, hitting him in the back of the neck. He fell to the ground.

“Gyaah!”

She did the same to the figure opposite him, who went down as well.

“Shit! You freak—”

A gust of wind cleared the haze, revealing two unconscious forms and a flustered Roxas. He took in the scene. Then, he immediately spun on his heels and made a run for it. Melia rolled her eyes.

“Oh, come on. Do you really think I’ll let you get away?”

All things considered, he might just be desperate enough to make one last-ditch attempt to hurt Sain. As a self-respecting maid, she wasn’t going to risk any harm befalling her master. In his panic, Roxas tripped over a hump on the ground and fell, giving her a chance to easily catch up. She quickly dashed up to him to finish the job...

“Auuuugh!”

...Only to watch in surprise as a radiant orb slammed into Roxas. There was a short but brilliant burst of light. Then, he went flying into the wall of the nearby building, hitting it with a loud thump before falling back down to the ground, unconscious.

“Um...”

Bewildered by the sudden development, Melia frowned with uncertainty at the new figure who’d appeared before her.

“I guess I should say thank you?”

A pair of leonine eyes gazed back at her.

“That is unnecessary,” said Cain Theresia. “The student council received a report from the tournament staff about some weapons being taken without permission. I simply disciplined the perpetrator. That is all.”

Then, he studied her more closely.

“You... are Melia. My next opponent, correct?”

“Wow, I’m honored that you know my name.”

Despite her calm front, Melia was actually shocked that Cain knew who she was. He was the celebrity of the school — stronger and more imposing than everyone else. Compared to him, she should have been just another student. Even if she was his next opponent, she still hadn’t thought that he’d have been able to identify her with one look. Perhaps it was a side effect of his interest in her master.

“I’ve been watching you for some time, and I find it intriguing that your abilities seem to far outstrip those of a mere student.”

“...Seriously? When’s the last time you looked in a mirror?”

“Hmph. I am an exception. My strength is the result of... circumstances ,” he said, making it very clear through his tone that he would be providing no further explanation. “But you’re also strong... and that’s why your actions puzzle me. Why would someone of your caliber insist on devoting yourself to that Sain Fostess? Your loyalty runs far deeper than that of a mere attendant. What is it that draws you to him?”

“Good question. Let’s just say I have my circumstances as well.”

She responded in kind. He narrowed his eyes at her.

“Circumstances... such as being in service to the holy knight?”

He drew no reaction from her. She was stunned, of course, but after seeing his recent behavior around Sain, some part of her had expected this to happen at some point. That sliver of prescience allowed her to keep up her poker face in the moment.

“Holy knight? I’m not sure I understand what you’re talking about.”

“There’s no need to play dumb. I can put two and two together. Those outrageous trinkets he covers himself with... those are all light magic seals, aren’t they? Admittedly, their identity is well-masked by their rather eccentric forms, but they don’t stand up to close scrutiny. The functional aspects of their design are identical to regular seals you can find on the market. I assume he had them specially made to hide their true purpose... but he should have gone further. Instead, his efforts have been rendered futile by his own sloppiness.”

Melia pressed her lips together, holding back the urge to simultaneously laugh and grimace. Cain’s reasoning was sound. Too sound, in fact, because it made a lot more sense than why Sain actually wore them. He correctly surmised that Sain had his seals specially made to conceal their purpose, but they could have been made to look like anything. The reason they ended up looking so outrageous was nothing more than personal preference. Sain just had terrible taste. Why else would anyone willingly cover themselves in those things?

The look in Cain’s eyes suggested that he was absolutely confident in his deduction, and he had every right to be, since — aesthetics rationale notwithstanding — his theory was otherwise entirely correct. By carefully analyzing a variety of information — including the bit about the seals — he’d pieced together by himself the fact that Sain was the holy knight. Figuring that he was long past the point of being fooled, she sighed and dropped the act.

“...Wow, you sure did your research, didn’t you? Would you like a cookie?”

A smile crept across his lips.

“I’m the student council president. Investigating students who engage in suspicious activity is part of my job.”

Then, the smile faded, and he fixed her with a grim, scrutinizing glare again.

“I have one question for you. Those things he says... Does he mean them? Is he serious about becoming the dark knight?”

“Hmmm, I’m pretty sure he’s serious.”

“So he is... Hmph, how asinine.” He snorted disdainfully. “He bears the mantle of the holy knight, yet strives to become the dark knight? Such absurdity boggles the mind. It’s little more than foolish debauchery — the ludicrous quest of a depraved noble determined to squander his undeserved wealth. Unbridled fancies are but a farce, and this is the greatest of them all.”

His voice dripped with scorn. Melia listened but didn’t speak. Her only reactions were a slight crease across her brow and a tightening of her jaw. They did not escape his notice.

“I see you take issue with what I said.”

“...Am I supposed to be delighted that you’re insulting my master?”

“If you find my words distasteful, then I apologize. I mean no offense. I have simply stated the truth,” he said, his voice devoid of any hint of apology or regret.

A rare fury began to build within Melia. Sain didn’t go around telling everyone why he wanted to become the dark knight; he kept his motivations to himself. Cain might have deduced much of the truth, but even he couldn’t be privy to Sain’s innermost thoughts. Cain’s anger was, therefore, justifiable... but only to a degree. Anyone else, knowing only that Sain was eschewing his privilege as the holy knight to become the dark knight, would have the same reaction.

That didn’t make her any less angry, though. Ever since Sain had set out on his quest, she’d been with him every step of the way. She’d seen the effort he’d put in. He’d always been a hard worker — almost in spite of himself — who labored toward his goals with a doggedness that few others could muster. The blood and sweat he’d expended along the way were immeasurable. Even in Jenifa, she doubted that there was a single student who worked harder than him, and all that hard work was finally starting to pay off. Sain’s efforts were no unbridled fancy, much less a farce. Cain Theresia might be peerlessly skilled, but he’d insulted Sain. Regardless of how strong he was, she wasn’t going to take that laying down. Trying hard to keep her tone civil, she looked him in the eye.

“...Let me give you some friendly advice,” she said, her voice not at all friendly. “I intend on winning tomorrow, so if I were you, I’d tread carefully around me... because it’s going to affect how badly you lose.”

That drew a reaction from him. He regarded her, eyes wide like he was seeing her anew. Then, the moment passed and he huffed out a breath.

“Whatever.” His wintry countenance returned. “You’re strong. But you won’t win.”