Beatrice’s remark that I had the qualities of a Magic Swordsman.Hearing this, I spoke without showing any particular sign of surprise.“Oh? Are you inferring that from what you saw during the recent mana analysis?”“Yes. When I dug through the Mage Tower’s records, I found a detailed explanation of the analyzer. I also compared it with Senior Gawain’s test results. As it happens, I still had that data.”I slowly nodded in response.“Right, Martelgia already hinted at it too. That I might have the qualities of a Magic Swordsman.”“Well, if you think about it, it’s not all that strange. You are, after all, a child of House Dvralis. If anything, it’s stranger that you stepped into the field of alchemy.”‘That’s true enough.’House Dvralis on the western front had been famous since long ago for its ruthless swordsmanship and its hardy knights.There were many knights of renown in their line, but no one who had achieved great success through magic, so it was indeed odd that Loen had chosen the path of a mage.Beatrice continued her line of reasoning based on that information.“Did you perhaps also enroll in Ishtal’s swordsmanship class for that reason? To train your swordsmanship in earnest and walk the path of a Magic Swordsman…”I cut her off firmly.“That’s not it.”I had no particular intention of using a sword. Lugging around something that heavy and dangerous and swinging it?And then I was supposed to fight at arm’s length, splashing blood everywhere, cutting through flesh and bone?‘I can’t do that.’I shook my head as I imagined the horror.Even if I was currently housed in Loen’s body, my soul and values were still those of a modern person.I didn’t want to stand face-to-face with someone holding a sword, nor did I want to personally cut through flesh and sever bone to take a life.In truth, I didn’t particularly like combat itself either. What modern person would enjoy a fight where blood flies everywhere?I was only learning it because I had to in order to survive.The reason I signed up for the swordsmanship lecture was to restore this damned body a bit faster and get it back to a healthy state, and to increase my points of contact with Freya, that was all.When I explained it like that, Beatrice clicked her tongue a little with a regretful expression.“A shame, but if that’s how you feel, then there’s nothing I can do.”“Don’t tell me… you were planning to kick me off to Ishtal altogether just so I’d work hard at learning swordsmanship?”“You caught me.”Beatrice lifted her shoulders as if her true intentions had been exposed.Even though I was currently attached to the Student Council, my basic affiliation was still Eredor.Even after I finished my term and graduated, my paperwork would list me as an Eredor student.It seemed she’d been planning to use this opportunity to change my school registration entirely.Beatrice gave a small laugh and went on.“Well, it wasn’t solely for that reason. I personally am also interested in your talents and felt it would be a waste to let them rot like this. The qualities of a Magic Swordsman are by no means common.”“That much is true.”Most so-called Magic Swordsmen people talked about were either mages who could swing a sword a bit, or mercenaries who handled blades and used magic scrolls.Existences like Gawain, who could handle both a mana hole and a mana heart, were extremely rare, and even if you could handle both, many of those cases still couldn’t reach Gawain’s level.A “proper” Magic Swordsman who could freely wield sword aura and had learned 4th circle or higher specialized magic—right now, Gawain alone fit that description.Once I finished that thought, I spoke again.“I appreciate your interest in me, but I’m already busy just learning alchemy. And with my constitution, swordsmanship doesn’t suit me.”Loen’s trait, [Nine-Syllable Meridian].According to the setting, people with this kind of constitution usually died before they even reached ten years old.In fact, the current Loen being alive at all was a miracle.It might be that he was only holding out thanks to the strong vitality derived from his demonic blood.Things might change once I cured the Nine-Syllable Meridian later, though.“Your constitution… I suspected as much.”Beatrice looked at me for a moment, then nodded to herself as if something had just clicked.Kagang-!Pereong-!Even as I talked with Beatrice, Gawain and Leonhardt’s exchange continued on without pause.But that long battle was also finally nearing its end. The ten-minute time limit was almost up.The barrier on their student IDs that was being shaved away according to each one’s attack and defense stats.When the outcome of a Competition Battle wasn’t clear-cut, the winner was decided by the remaining amount of barrier.Judging by the numbers displayed on the Great Hall’s board, the one with more barrier left at the moment was Leonhardt.He’d covered his entire body with holy barriers, his shield, and his armor, so he had almost never taken a hit.“Haaap!”Before the time limit ran out, Leonhardt advanced like a tank, covering his entire body in a holy barrier to completely cement his advantage.Kugugu-.It was a skill that sealed the opponent’s movements using his vaunted shield techniques, while smashing everything around him with his greatsword at the front.Leonhardt-style charge skill, Cheonryeo Ilsseom.Holy power gathered at the greatsword held in front and began to whirl like a vortex.Kwarrr-.This vortex of holy power was a wide-area attack.Just being grazed by it would shave off a massive chunk of a student ID’s barrier, so you could say it was the perfect skill for locking in the win.Meanwhile, seeing Leonhardt charging toward him, Gawain let out a long breath.“Phew.”Then he planted his feet where he stood, took a stance, and sheathed his sword.Cheolkeok-.The sight of him putting the sword he’d been holding back into its scabbard made the students stir.At a time when it wouldn’t be enough to immediately dodge or prepare to defend, he was putting away his sword—no sane person would do that.“What is he….”Beatrice also shot to her feet, her gaze fixed on the arena.I, on the other hand, watched and murmured quietly.“Looks like the match has been decided.”And then—No sooner had the words left my mouth than black sword aura filled the entire arena.A wave of sword aura swept through the whole Great Hall in an instant.Kiiiiing-!At the same time, the two swords crossed, and a brief silence followed.The two of them stood in swapped positions, silent.Then—Pit-.Blood spurted from Leonhardt’s side, and he dropped to one knee.Kuuung-.Piiiiik-!A whistle blew at the same time.The announcer’s voice trembled as they announced the result.“Th-the winner is Eredor 3rd-year student, Gawain Ardion! Please give him a big round of applause!”Waaaaa-!The students’ cheers echoed through the Great Hall. With that, the first official match of the Competition Battle came to an end.***Even after Gawain and Leonhardt’s opening match, the scheduled matches continued one after another.However, perhaps because they didn’t draw as much interest and attention as before, the audience began to trickle out of the hall.My companions and I in the VIP section also left at an appropriate time after Jeremy’s match and headed for a restaurant.Our meeting spot, as always, was Eredor’s popular restaurant, Cheonhye’s Breath.I’d invited Trishy, who’d been part of our group, to come along as well, but she bolted, saying it was way too intimidating a gathering for her.Which, to be fair, it was.“I really don’t know if I’m supposed to be sitting here.”A platinum-blond male student scratched his head with an awkward smile.Leonhardt, who’d fought in today’s opening Competition Battle, had joined us.Of course, he hadn’t fully joined the group; it was more that he’d come over briefly to say hello before his fellow 3rd-years finished their matches and came to the restaurant.Elena had called him over, and since he didn’t really have any grounds to refuse, he’d decided to at least lightly exchange greetings.Besides, Leonhardt was one of the most important characters in Mirellin Saga, so I did need to establish a connection with him in advance.‘Leon will be a valuable piece of fighting strength in the future battle against the Twelve Apostles.’I glanced at Leon, who was sitting next to me.Without his heavy shield, greatsword, and armor, Leonhardt’s build wasn’t as big as I’d thought.His frame was broad and his muscles were well-developed, but fundamentally he wasn’t hulking—more like a well-chiseled sculpture.You could say he had a picture-perfect physique like that of a physique competition athlete.I’d seen him bleeding heavily from a sword wound earlier, but it seemed he’d finished getting treated at some point.“This is the first time we’ve really greeted each other properly, isn’t it? Nice to meet you, Loen.”Since Leonhardt extended his hand first for a handshake, I took it.“Pleasure to meet you.”“You don’t have to be so formal. We may be upper and underclassman, but we don’t even attend the same school.”Like how even in the army, if you belong to different units, you’re basically just some older guy, Leonhardt seemed to think along similar lines.If he was fine with dropping honorifics, that was only more comfortable for me.“……Sure.”“Anyway, I was really surprised. While I was in closed-door training, you became Student Council President. No, to be precise, the very fact that someone took the Student Council President position at all surprised me. It was a seat everyone avoided, not wanting to take it.”“Well, it’s understandable. It’s not exactly a great position.”When Elena agreed, the others also nodded.Indeed, if it weren’t for someone like me, who else would have taken the Student Council President seat?Leonhardt seized the opportunity to satisfy his curiosity and asked bluntly.“Loen, do you have some particular reason for becoming Student Council President? You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”Leon’s golden eyes looked straight at me. It felt like he was probing my true intentions, beyond simple curiosity.Since everyone was already gathered here, and I’d had something in mind, I gave the answer I’d prepared.“I decided I needed to change myself. So I wanted to sit in a position of responsibility at least once. And at the time, the only position of responsibility I could choose was the Student Council President, which had no real power.”“A position of responsibility, huh. That’s good. When you have something to be responsible for, people become stronger. It’s a good choice. To be honest, when I came out of closed-door training and heard the news of your inauguration, I wasn’t exactly thrilled. You know your own reputation well enough, don’t you?”I silently nodded.For Leon, who hadn’t heard about the shift in my reputation because of his closed-door training, the shock must have been even greater.He continued.“But if you read through the recent rumors and articles, it doesn’t seem like you’ve done any of the things I was worried about. It makes me happy to see that you’re fulfilling the role you’ve taken on. Not that I’m really in a position to evaluate anyone. If things keep going like this, I think your infamy will be erased someday.”“Thanks for saying that.”Leonhardt offered his kind words with a smile.The way he spoke was a little like a straight-laced gentleman, so he wasn’t exactly entertaining, but unlike Jeremy, who had something shady about him, Leonhardt was a purely good-aligned character.He possessed excellent abilities, and his personality was gentle, making him someone respected by all.Aside from the fact that he used holy power, which was my natural enemy, he was someone who wouldn’t be bad to keep close.Of course—‘He’s still an extremely dangerous existence to Loen, just like Elena.’I looked at Leon and recalled his past.Leonhardt Michael.A boy discovered in a village whose residents had all been slaughtered by a magical beast attack when he was young.He was later taken in and raised by the Papal Office, grew quickly fueled by his desire for revenge against the demons, and eventually was even granted the baptismal name “Michael” by the Pope.‘His hostility toward demons is greater than Elena’s.’The fact that he didn’t show extreme hostility toward the delinquent Loen was probably because Loen was of the bloodline of House Dvralis, humanity’s vanguard in the eradication of demons.All the more reason that if my true identity were to be exposed, I’d be in an extremely dangerous situation.Just like with Elena, it was necessary to keep a reasonable distance.“But hey, I heard you bet on Gawain’s victory instead of mine?”“……Mm.”Leon brought up the bet we’d made over the outcome of the Competition Battle.Seemed the details of the bet had already reached his ears at some point.As I was giving Elena a troubled look—Leonhardt thumped my back and burst into hearty laughter.“Haha, you’ve got a decent eye. How’d you know? Don’t tell me you just guessed and got lucky?”“……I did guess, to a point. Their skills are practically even, after all.”As I traded stories with Leonhardt about the Competition Battle and various things that had happened during his closed-door training, a few more people entered Cheonhye’s Breath.“Hey, Leon!”At the call from his classmates, Leonhardt rose from his seat.“Ah, my classmates are here. I’ve imposed on you long enough. This was fun—let’s meet again.”“Yes, see you next time.”After exchanging farewells with our group, Leon moved to another table, ending with a goodbye to Elena.And just then, the food we’d ordered began to come out one after another.Bread and salad as appetizers, and warm soups were set on the table.Elena smiled as she looked at them.“Kiriel and I are buying dinner tonight. We lost the bet, after all.”“Uuugh.”“Mm, we’ll gladly take you up on that.”Beatrice, Freya, and I, who’d predicted Gawain’s victory, were treated to a meal by the two °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° of them.We wetted our throats with sparkling water and tore off bits of the bread while we started the real discussion.“The agenda for today’s gathering was the summer training camp meeting, right?”“That’s right. Once the Competition Battle season is over, we’ll have to go to the summer training camp soon. We haven’t even decided on candidate locations yet, so let’s choose some today.”“How many do we need to pick?”In response to Kiriel’s question, Beatrice checked the documents and answered.“About ten candidates should be enough. After that, the final locations will be decided by a general student vote. In the end, about three places with the highest number of votes will be chosen.”There were roughly thirty thousand 2nd-year students in Union.Holding a training camp of that scale all in one place was extremely difficult.Even aside from anything else, it wasn’t easy just to find facilities that could accommodate that many people.So they’d put up a few candidate locations, and based on the votes, each academy would hold its own training camp at one of the spots that ranked high.That was why Hildegard had asked me to give her some leeway when it came to group assignments earlier.If they all scattered off to completely different locations, they wouldn’t even have the chance to see each other.But there was a good location that could satisfy all these conditions at once.I spoke calmly.“Let’s go to Manwol Island.”

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