Chapter 19: Battle Preparation

“Morning— Wait, Halt, whatcha doing!?”

Luke entered the classroom around 30 minutes after my one-sided contract-signing with Youko. Can’t blame him for being so shocked because Youko was sitting on my lap, and I was stroking her head.

Youko squinted her eyes in satisfaction. Because of the contract’s conditions, I felt the urge to protect her, and I can’t help but pet her head.

“Oh, it’s Luke, good morning.”

“Hey, are you guys in that kind of relationship?”

“Hmm, well, you can say that. Youko, it’s high time you return to your seat. Everyone’s gonna be here in a while.”

“Hmph, it‘s fine even if we stay like this. But since the Master says so, let’s just go back.”

Youko then moved to the seat behind me.

“Master… Oy, what kind of relationship is that? Huh, by the way, did we see Youko’s magic yesterday?”

Luke suddenly remembered that Youko did not do her magic demo yesterday.

“Apparently, her ability is to erase her existence. That’s why we forgot all about her yesterday.”

“Woah, that’s a rare type of ability! Oh, speaking of rarity, Halt, isn’t your magic too strong? What was that? Ah, but it’s not in the same standing as mine, seeing that I’m the grandson of a Sage.”

Though Luke said that, there was no trace of dislike in his face. On the contrary, he seemed to be having fun because of who knows why.

“Nope, Luke’s ultimate magic was really amazingly dangerous. Not only that, but you’re also the grandson of this academy’s head? I didn’t hear anything about that earlier.”

“Hahaha, I purposely didn’t tell ya.”

Though Luke possessed such great influence, he didn’t like flaunting it around. His likability—for me—is getting higher and higher.

After a while, Leaffa arrived. Luna, Merdie, Ryuushin, and Ryuka followed afterward. Then Mai and Mei entered next.

Each of them wanted to confirm whether Youko was there at the training center, and I clarified the situation every time. Maybe, it’s because of the contract, but I found myself naturally explaining it all to them.

Finally, Tina entered the classroom.

“Good morning, everyone.”

“Good morning!”

“I apologize for the unfinished lesson yesterday. The training hall has been repaired, so we will resume our regular classes today.”

Tina did not mention Youko.

Tina is excellent in detecting magical abilities, so perhaps she already noticed that Youko erased her presence before.

Today we started with a lecture.

While reading the textbook, Tina supplemented the lesson with information that is not found in the book, and she also gave us several problems to solve.

The questions were quite difficult.

On top of being a Sage, I was also personally taught by Tina, so I knew all the answers, but they are not problems that can be solved by ordinary students of a magic school.

In fact, Ryuushin and Merdie were having a hard time answering. Luna, Luke, and Leaffa, on the other hand, solved everything in a breeze.

I started to notice the queerness of this class.

First, we have a legend as our professor—Tina Harivell.

Then there’s Luke, who has a Sage for a grandfather and possessing the Ultimate Magic himself to boot.

Luna, who is an expert in all kinds of auxiliary magic, can smoothly solve problems that even upperclassmen might find difficult.

There’s Leaffa, who, with her high-speed wind magic, pierced half of an extraordinarily magic-resistant target made from the hide of a Maho Gnome.

Merdie, a girl belonging to the Beastmen Tribe, incorporates magic into martial arts with her unusual techniques.

Dragonoids, a very rare race, are also present. Ryuushin has unbelievably powerful offensive magic, while Ryuka can use recovery magic on anything that is infused with magical power.

A Demon, currently disguised as a human but when fully-grown will possess a power akin to a calamity—that is Youko.

Mai and Mei, who possess the ability to fuse contradictory magic and sublimate it to a high-level power attack.

No matter how you think about it, the elites in this academy are all gathered in this class. I don’t believe this is a coincidence.

Did Tina tailor this class?

When I glanced at Tina, she smiled back at me.

Let’s stop thinking about this and focus on Tina’s lessons now.

Afterward, only Luna and I were able to answer the questions perfectly. Leaffa was feeling mortified. It’s not a big deal for me because I’m a Sage, but Luna is really incredible.

Luna truly has an amazing amount of knowledge about magic, and let us take into account her ability to gauge the strength of those stone statues guarding the entrance to this classroom.

───＊＊＊───

After the lecture ended, everyone had lunch together, and then we transferred to the training hall.

We’ll be conducting practical training in the afternoon.

“I have an announcement for everyone. A battle with the Year 7 Class will be held three days from now.”

“Eh!?”

“Th, three days!?”

“Isn’t it too early for us?”

“Hey, seventh grade’s the highest grade-level, right!?”

Everyone raised their voices in alarm.

Almost all of the seventh graders in this academy wield intermediate-level magic, and a few of them can also use the advanced-level. They are automatically given a D-rank, and some of them even have the ability to get a C-rank when they register in guilds after graduation. We’ll be fighting those guys in three days’ time.

Really anxiety-inducing.

“It will be fine even if they are in Year 7. Their classroom is located at the outer portion of the Second Wall.

In this academy, the central is surrounded by 5 circular walls. These walls are numbered from within. So the closest to the center is called the First Wall, followed by the Second Wall, Third Wall, Fourth Wall, and finally, Fifth Wall.

Our classroom is positioned at the external side of the First Wall.

Since our opponents are situated at the outer Second Wall, it seems that they are not that strong even among the seventh graders.

“Not only that, everyone had a feel of your comrades’ strength yesterday. Every single one of you uses high-level magic. It’s quite unlikely for you to lose in such a simple individual match.”

After hearing Tina’s words, everyone seemed to breathe more easily, and their apprehension disappeared.

“As for the battle scheme, it will be a one-on-one match with five members.”

Not everyone has the ability to manipulate offensive magic that is suitable on the battlefield. There are a lot of people like Luna, who excel in operating auxiliary magic.

Therefore, it is rare for all class members to fight in a battle simultaneously. This time, five people will represent the class.

“As for the members, they will be Leaffa, Ryuushin, Merdie, Luke, and Halt-sama. The order will be as I mentioned.”

Wait, Tina seems to have decided which members will fight already. Won’t we have a say in this?

“Understood, Professor.”

“Hyah!! I’ll beat them up to dust!”

“Hey, I’ll also give my all!”

“I guess with this line-up, the match will end even before it’s your turn, Halt.”

The members, aside from me, were all fired up.

Nobody delved deeper into why I suddenly became titled with ‘-sama’ honorifics.

“Alright, let’s start the interpersonal training in preparation for the upcoming battle.”

Tina tapped the floor with her staff, and statues that looked very similar to the ones guarding the classroom gates suddenly appeared from a distance.

“These stone statues are specifically-crafted synthetic demons that I made with the concept of Speed, Hardness, and Strength. They mimic humans' movements, so if you’ll be able to defeat them, there’s no reason for you to lose in the actual battle.”

“Professor, can we start with the same order as the battle, with me being the first?”

“Yes, please, Leaffa.”

“Then, I’ll be next.”

“I’ll go right after Ryuushin!”

After that, we continually engaged in combat with Tina's special stone statues for three days.