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Chapter 113

The day finally came for us to board the flying ship prepared by Galois Magic Academy and head to the Magic Academy in the Royal City.

Ever since the first Magic Tournament up to the one this year, the venue for it was always the Royal City’s Magic Academy. Even though Galois was one of the leading cities in the kingdom’s northern region, things were undoubtedly different in the heart of the kingdom and its symbol of prosperity—Aleklaftia.

The outer rims of the Royal City seemed to appear increasingly scattered and disorganized. However, Grand Fort stood at the center of the Royal City on a small hill, while the winding streets radiated from this central point. From Grand Fort, one would be able to admire a spectacular view of traditional white stone houses, as well as relatively new red brick residences and mansions.

Goods, delicacies, food supplies, information, and people gathered from all over the kingdom in the Royal City. Though, there certainly were no dragons living there. Hence, Galois was a far more unique place in comparison, with Ryoukichi, Liu Yuu, and Vaje swaggering on the streets, albeit in dragonian form. Moreover, Galois recently had Ancient-Celestial Dragons and Ancient-Dragon Gods roaming around. It was not a stretch to say that Galois was probably the most unusual city in the world. Even if the evil gods were to descend and attack with full force, Galois and Bern village would be the only places in the world that would escape unscathed.

Let us now return to the ongoings of the Royal City.

The Royal Palace, inhabited by the royal family and royal dignitaries, stood tall in the middle of the Royal City. On the other hand, the Royal Magic Academy was built in a suburb slightly north, and it was almost four times the size of Galois Magic Academy.

Our selected contestants and their familiars, as well as the headmaster in the lead and the other teachers from Galois resided in the accommodation provided by the Royal Magic Academy for the duration of the Magic Tournament.

With the tournament contestants from the four academies across the kingdom, as well as the teachers, student supporters, and participants of the research presentation conference gathered together, there was quite a packed crowd in the Royal Magic Academy. There were already close to two hundred people from Galois alone.

In order to prevent tournament contestants from meeting before the tournament, each academy’s accommodation was a distance apart, and traveling to and fro from these locations was prohibited. Familiars were allocated to special rooms, but I was packed into a room with two others.

Thankfully, Selina and Dramina did not need to reside in separate rooms. This very fact alone made all three of us heave a sigh of relief.

Since I would rarely visit the Royal City, I was keen on going sightseeing. It was just a pity that we were forbidden from roaming until the tournament was over. Rather, this event was considered an extension of regular classes, and it was also a major event for the royal family to spectate.

The Magic Tournament of the Magic Academies was a chance to showcase promising magic users in the kingdom. At the same time, this event was as strictly guarded as military secrets. The tournament, and even the research presentation conference, only permitted attendants with specific qualifications and backgrounds.

While my success at the Magic Tournament was a chance for me to work in the Royal Palace, I started to wonder if I would truly be able to survive in such a place filled with schemes and plotting. As time passed, it was finally time for the Magic Tournament to start.

Headmaster Olivier left before us to meet with the other headmasters and dignitaries of the kingdom. The rest of us were led by Mr. Denzel and the teachers to the outdoor arena where the Magic Tournament would be held.

This arena was a prehistoric relic that existed even before the kingdom was founded. Moreover, it was equipped with a barrier that separated the spectator seats from the tournament stage. It would probably be easy to grasp the history of this place by delving into the material and spatial memories of the arena, and historians would certainly be pleased by this fact. Though, I was not particularly interested.

The bitter memories of my past life surged, reminding me that such an infrastructure was likely to be an experiment spot for biological weapons or a battleground where slaves or ferocious animals fought to their deaths.

The Royal Arena was enormous, with spectator stands rising so high that the audience would probably need to crane their necks for a clear view. The entire surface of the walls had been engraved with sculptures that was rather discomforting to behold. Endless depictions of angels, demons, fantastical beasts, demonic beasts, humans, and demi-humans battling with weapons raised spread out on the walls.

Fully armed soldiers stood guard, permitting only the entrance of qualified attendees. Such heavy security was no different from the sanctions before an encroaching war.

A ten-horse carriage transported us from our accommodation to the arena. As I entered the arena, the silence within was so heavy that I could hear the faint reverberations of human breathing and muttering. Clearly, the spectators were already waiting eagerly.

After getting off the carriage, the contestants from all the Magic Academies stood lined up on the stage. We were waiting for the royal family to initiate the opening ceremony. After that, the Magic Tournament would officially begin.

The Magic Academy which had won in the previous tournament had the privilege of proceeding straight to the finals. The other four academies would have to battle it out. The winning academy of the four would then compete against the students of the strongest Magic Academy in the kingdom. This was a format that was rather advantageous for the previous champion. However, this competition allocation was adopted due to the odd number of five participating academies.

As the students of Galois Magic Academy got off the carriage, I swept my gaze across them. As expected of a bunch of individualistic, or perhaps eccentric, bunch. Not a single person seemed nervous. Ultimately, I, too, was included in this eccentric bunch.

Fumun, my schoolmates sure are reliable. 

The five of us who had stepped off the carriage included me, Phenia, Christina, Lenia, and Nell. Selina, Dramina, Fatima, and Irina had headed to the spectator seats, so we had parted with them.

I looked around and noticed that students from the other academies were present, and most of the tournament participants had already gathered. At that moment, two groups called out to us as they approached us.

One group seemed to be led by a young man with silver hair and rather mystical gold and silver eyes. With him were another male and three females. His demeanor was friendly as he regarded us, clearly feeling relaxed with his lack of nervousness.

「Yo, it has been a whole year, Nelneshia and Phenia. As for the three of you, nice to meet you. I’m Haruto Akikawa from Ziel Magic Academy.」

I recognized his face and voice from last year’s tournament and the recorded footage Phenia brought with her.

Fumu. Now that I’m meeting him in person, this young man’s soul seems to have been fiddled with…

Nell and Phenia did not seem to bear any dislike for Haruto. Nell regarded him expressionlessly, while Phenia flicked her fan open and greeted him back with a smile.

「It’s great that you’re so energetic.」

「Fwahahaha! You sure are lively, Haruto. Our participants have changed quite a bit since last year, so our combat power has compounded by so, so, so much. It has quadrupled. Victory will be ours this year!」

Phenia let out a dignified snort, one that befitted a child of nobility, and answered proudly with a slight puff of her chest.

Haruto seemed rather abashed as he noticed Phenia’s bobbing chest, his cheeks slowly tinging red.

Even though this was natural for a healthy teenage boy, the other three female students grew displeased at the sight of Haruto’s reaction.

Fumu, fumu. Well, I suppose Haruto is a man who has stolen some hearts. Though, their reactions are probably due to how close they are in age as well.

The second group approached us with a greeting after we spoke briefly to Haruto and his potential lovers from Ziel Magic Academy.

To be precise, only one young man from the group had called out to us. I had never met him in person before, but he was the one who had defeated Nell last year—the genius of the West, Eksu.

Christina, along with the rest of us, seemed invisible to Eksu as he trained his gaze on Haruto with a calm expression.

「It’s been a long time, Haruto. It’s good to see you looking so robust.」

With a cold smile and icy gaze, the jade-green young man had his eyes fixed on Haruto. On the other hand, a troubled expression had colored Haruto’s face.

From Eksu’s manner of speaking, I could tell that he was the type to regard any defeat of an opponent in a less-than-perfect condition to be meaningless.

Fumun, he sure fits the impression of him from those recorded footage. A petty young man. 

「Ah, did you grow taller? I was wondering if I’ll fight you again this year, though I’m not looking forward to that.」

Haruto had probably gotten an overly clear grasp of Eksu’s personality from last year’s tournament that he failed to answer Eksu’s greeting confidently.

「Haha, that’s true. I have not forgotten the humiliation when I lost to you last year. This year, I will definitely win.」

「That ardor is great, but Nelneshia’s boldness is equally impressive. The groupings will be announced after the opening ceremony. If you fight Nelneshia before me, you may not have any energy left.」

A drop of cold sweat rolled down Haruto’s temple as he replied to Eksu.

Ever since Eksu had come over, a burgeoning fighting spirit had started radiating from Nell’s entire body. Clearly, she was feeling rather anxious. Even Haruto’s schoolmates were looking at Nell in fright.

As for us few from Galois, we were not the slightest bit bothered since we already knew about Nell’s short temper. After all, it was natural that she would end up like this.