Volume 1: Enrollment at Magias Academy of Magical Arts

Chapter 7: My, Good Day to You

I’m bored.

That was Mercedes Meltzeria’s assessment.

She’d tried provoking her classmates, yet not one had overtaken her or even shown any sign of catching up.

The obviously planted magical beasts, doubtlessly supplied by Magias, were all weak. They offered neither thrill nor pleasure. Any creature that vanished when she brushed it aside couldn’t be called an enemy.

Dull.

Tedious.

Uninteresting.

The fact that swinging a sword in her family’s dojo would be more worthwhile drew yet another sigh from Mercedes.

No one could catch her when she exerted even a little effort.

That fact was being proven now.

Or were most of them spineless cowards who wouldn’t compete even after being provoked? At least three people should’ve been following her…

Mercedes had hoped that a place gathering the finest people of her generation would provide a decent rival, but perhaps she’d expected too much.

Had they all revealed their full ability during the exam? If they’d shown their entire hand that early, what a disappointment.

If days like this continued, she would have to declare her classmates failures as rivals in practical magic.

Striving alongside them to become Grand Mages offered Mercedes no benefit.

If she obeyed the teacher and socialized, their relationship would resemble a mother bird feeding her chicks—Mercedes giving while the others only received. She had no desire to call that friendship.

If even this place was inadequate, perhaps she should establish a guild and move her competition into society. But she still wanted the preferential treatment granted when qualifying for the Grand Mage examination.

Then, within the silent forest, she distinctly sensed pulses of mana.

One person was immediately behind her. Two more were nearby. Three were in the air.

Perhaps the path Mercedes carved by cutting down magical beasts had accelerated the others’ progress. In any case, their earnest effort to cling to her trail improved her mood slightly.

Back home, the weaklings hadn’t even managed that.

At this rate, training a few of them might produce adequate playmates.

“Hee-hee…”

There was still room for amusement.

Her emotions had only just emerged as a fearless smile when a gigantic shadow stirred within Mercedes’s field of view.

“My?”

She rested one hand on the long sword at her hip.

At last, prey that promised some satisfaction.

Judging by its size, it was probably a large target intended for the entire class to handle together.

The finish line was also close.

She would carry its head there, arrive first on her own, and tell Professor Blanchard:

Make me the faculty representative.

◇

The stench of dead magical beasts had reached the highway, so I could more or less imagine what was happening in the forest.

Gary drew a spear without saying anything as he ran.

Apparently, that was his weapon.

I pulled the only dagger I’d brought from its sheath.

It was one of the finest magic swords I’d forged.

It wasn’t flashy, but it was compact and easy to use. Even Grandpa had called it “slightly less terrible.”

The two people ahead had apparently rampaged through the woodland road. It looked as though a typhoon had passed, with large numbers of magical beasts suffering counterattacks.

Perhaps they’d lost the will to fight, because only a few still attacked us.

They were ferocious creatures, but their species displayed its true strength in a pack.

With their numbers reduced, they weren’t serious opponents.

“…You’re pretty fast.”

Without looking away from the road, Gary swept aside a quadrupedal beast attacking from the flank. The bodies of the far-from-small creatures burst like balloons.

“What’s your magical coefficient?”

“I haven’t received an exact measurement yet.”

“Liar.”

“No, it’s true.”

This was difficult to explain.

If I told him the circumstances, he’d probably treat me like a country bumpkin.

Was this really the sort of information people asked as casually as someone’s time in a hundred-meter sprint?

“Like I said at the beginning, I grew up in an isolated region, so—”

A simian magical beast leaped down from a branch. I pointed my dagger at it, and the blade smoothly extended, batting the airborne creature to the ground with its flat.

“—I don’t know much about how things work here.”

“Fair point. People have only used those instruments for around five years.”

Apparently, the concept of a magical coefficient had existed for a long time, but the old measurement process was far more complicated. Magias research had made it both more accurate and simpler, resulting in the test we’d taken.

“Wait. Is that a magic sword?”

I quietly nodded at Gary’s question.

Whether my blades truly qualified as magic swords was debatable, but calling it an imitation would only complicate the explanation.

At the very least, this Extending Sword: Iron Vine (Allongé) barely qualified based on performance.

All it could do was extend, but it was durable and cut well.

“Is that what you meant by your family business?”

“Yes.”

“Wait a minute. You can actually make magic swords?”

“That’s right.”

“Th-That’s incredible…”

Having my family’s secret art praised didn’t feel bad, but certain circumstances made me reluctant to tell others about it casually.

Still, I’d apparently grown enough for someone else to call my work incredible.

Compared with Grandpa’s magic swords, though… Well.

“What are you good at, Gary?”

“Uh, I…”

Gary hesitated briefly, then extended a palm toward a beast that happened to attack.

A blue flash pierced its body in the next instant.

I had no idea how much energy he produced, but the fallen beast was charred black.

That’s what happens when lightning hits something? Terrifying.

“This.”

“Electricity?”

“I fire lightning, or stimulate my nerves to increase my reflexes and physical ability. Don’t go telling people.”

“Understood.”

“So when I get serious, I’m a hundred times faster than this. I’m only matching your pace right now.”

He was that much faster at full power?

Maybe he’d been holding back to avoid affecting nearby residents. If he moved too fast, his clothes might burn off and leave him naked.

As I entertained that foolish thought, an especially powerful vibration enveloped the forest.

Branches bounced wildly, and beasts that had presumably remained hidden all fled at once.

Something enormous was approaching. I understood that immediately.

Gary sharply prepared himself against a presence completely unlike the weak creatures so far. I also held my dagger in a forward grip.

“Screeeeeeeeeech!”

A gigantic black bird larger than a house appeared, tearing through the woodland road.

Magical beasts of this size were rarely seen outside unexplored regions.

The giant bird seemed to have been fighting someone. Cuts covered its body, and it breathed heavily.

A single small figure facing it soon appeared.

Her agile movements, brown hair, and above all the long sword exceeding her height made her recognizable even from a distance.

“My, good day to you.”

And that manner of speaking. It was Mercedes.

After everything that happened, we’d finally caught her.

Our steady running had paid off.

Wait. If so, where was Gerald?

“Let me see. You were Mr. Rock and Mr. Walker, were you not? This is my prey, so kindly stand there and watch.”

“What’s with her…?”

Gary frowned in disbelief when Mercedes called the enormous beast her prey. She clearly had no intention of cooperating, so perhaps we should help without asking.

Honestly, defeating it wouldn’t earn us anything, and running away would be faster. But if it headed toward the other classmates, we’d have a problem.

More importantly, no one except me had the slightest intention of fleeing.

“Brendan, can you do this?”

Even the comparatively cooperative Gary had completely entered a battle stance.

We had no choice.

I adjusted Iron Vine (Allongé) to roughly two meters long.

First, we’d reduce its mobility.

The instant Gary leaped, I aimed for the giant bird’s wing while it focused on Mercedes.

No matter its size, it was still a living creature.

Destroying the ligaments would prevent it from moving freely.

The extending point accelerated and grazed the root of the wing.

It shaved through the bone as well.

The moment I felt the successful strike, the giant bird’s pitch-black eyes fixed on me.

Mercedes and Gary didn’t miss the instant its attention shifted.

Mercedes had been as calm as a still sea, but she accelerated unnaturally the moment an opening appeared and slashed horizontally through the giant bird’s belly and wing.

A heartbeat later, thunder roared.

Gary had leaped so high that he left my field of view. Descending like a bolt of lightning, he impaled the bird’s back from directly above with an electrified spear.

The atmosphere briefly relaxed.

The two had attacked almost simultaneously and accurately struck vital points. It was understandable that they believed they’d succeeded.

But the giant bird answered those potentially fatal blows with a roar that tore through the sky.

“The hell?”

By the time Gary retreated with a frown, the bird’s wounds had already begun slowly healing.

Apparently, it possessed mana-based regeneration.

“What a pain. Should we keep cutting it until it runs out of mana?”

“No. We’d miss the deadline.”

This was only speculation, but Professor Blanchard probably expected us to deal with this creature and still arrive on time.

Claiming that a powerful enemy appeared and made us late wouldn’t mean we’d achieved the objective.

Of course, the teachers hadn’t announced that enemies like this would attack. Perhaps they were also testing our judgment—including whether we chose to fight.

At that moment, the giant bird suddenly prepared to take flight.

Was it trying to escape?

My guess was that Mercedes alone had already pushed it to its limit when we joined her.

Wild instinct wasn’t foolish enough to reject retreat from a losing battle.

Amae and the others were probably close.

I didn’t know where Gerald was either.

Now that we knew it regenerated, driving it away wasn’t enough.

It couldn’t be helped.

We’d kill it.

“Brendan! Match me!”

I abruptly stopped.

Looking over, I saw Gary coat his spear in lightning and prepare to throw.

An extraordinary torrent of mana surrounded him.

He was serious.

Immediately afterward, the giant bird hurled its enormous body into the sky.

Trees screamed under wind pressure like a jet blast.

Its regeneration was faster than I expected.

I should’ve cut the wing off at its root.

My magic sword’s extension limit was thirty meters.

It was still within reach.

I’d use a thrust to guide it into Gary’s attack, and this time we’d finish it.

“I told you it was my prey.”

At that moment, I felt Mercedes’s bloodlust more than double.

At some point, she’d sheathed her long sword. Mercedes herself crouched like a tiger preparing to spring.

A dead zone clearly wider than the sword’s reach spread around her.

The sword aura seemed to promise she’d cut down anyone who interfered, and Gary and I immediately stopped.

But the giant bird had already cleared the forest and taken to the sky.

Even then, Mercedes showed no sign of giving up. Did she intend to leap after it, or—

As I hesitated over whether to support her, the day’s loudest explosion sounded overhead.

“!?”

Several trees snapped, unable to withstand yet another blast of wind pressure. Even Mercedes, who’d assumed the stance for a killing blow, reflexively protected herself from the thunderous noise.

A moment later, the giant bird slammed into the ground like a meteor.

I instantly understood that it hadn’t fallen. Something had struck it down.

There was something in the sky.

The answer descended almost immediately.

“Ohohohoho! We’ve finally caught you!”

Three girls rode down on a broom amid cheerful laughter.

Luluk, Amae, and Filiestra.

Apparently, all three were safe.

“It attacked us, so I knocked it down!”

“Your straight punch is insane, Lulu. That was like a cannon.”

“More, Lady Amae! Praise me more!”

Apparently, Luluk had brought down the giant bird.

The other two showed no distress at the enormous magical beast either, proving they belonged in the Emperor Faculty.

“Hey, it’s still alive!”

The first to respond to Gary’s warning was the female student who’d seemed the quietest: Filiestra.

“I’ll stop its movement.”

After saying only that, Filiestra pointed a fingertip toward the giant bird struggling on the ground.

Her short, pale-blond bob swayed softly.

“Anesthetic Depth II (Delirium).”

A needle-thin ray shot from Filiestra’s graceful finger and pierced the giant bird.

She must have injected some kind of poison.

The creature’s movements slowed, along with its regeneration.

An opening.

“Incendiary Incense (Cinnamon).”

Amae moved next.

Something like a trail of scales extended straight from her small body and enveloped the bird.

Snap.

Her fingers clicked quietly.

That signaled the attack.

“And boom.”

Heat and impact erupted with a force that could only be called explosive combustion.

The giant bird instantly became a blazing mass. Its final action resembled a violent convulsion.

Even after taking Filiestra’s and Amae’s spells, it thrashed wildly and scattered sparks.

Everyone prepared to retreat—except Mercedes, who alone entered an attacking stance.

She intended to meet it head-on.

But at the rate it was rampaging, someone might be injured before she killed it.

I immediately extended Iron Vine (Allongé) at maximum speed and wrapped the blade around the bird’s leg, where its weight pressed most heavily.

No matter how enormous, it was still built like a bird.

It wasn’t too heavy to unbalance.

Clenching my teeth, I contracted the blade while pulling the hilt.

The giant bird’s entire body lurched sharply to one side.

“Seven Heavens—Draw.”

Light raced.

Seven sword flashes released in an instant brushed across the bird.

In the next moment, the enormous body fell into pieces.

It wasn’t a brute-force slash.

Every individual stroke accurately targeted a joint or vital point—more a masterful butchering than a wild attack.

I watched the corpse of the giant bird, truly dead this time, scatter across the ground.

From the corner of my eye, Mercedes stared intently at me.