Volume 1: Enrollment at Magias Academy of Magical Arts

Chapter 24: I’ll Wait Patiently

The week after our victory parade…

When I was discharged from the hospital and returned to the academy as usual, the Central Tower had genuinely been replaced with a brand-new one.

“What…?”

According to Amae, “An insanely huge person brought it here.”

That stopped making sense from the very beginning, but apparently, as unbelievable as it sounded, the Central Tower had been designed so that everything above its foundations could be replaced. The work had taken only half a day.

Afterward, the faculty, contractors, and students—led by Professor Yuriha’s duplicates—worked together to move everything from the old tower to the new one. By now, even the layout had reportedly been restored to almost exactly the way it had been.

Parts of the northern and western areas where the transfer gates appeared, as well as the central training grounds that hosted the Freshman Tournament, remained sealed off. For a while, students from every faculty and year would gather in a single classroom building for their lessons.

Repairs to the grounds themselves seemed to be progressing at a furious pace. Everything might return to normal surprisingly soon.

Classes would resume tomorrow.

I could have rested a little longer, but I had gone out of my way to visit the academy because I wanted to see the state of my research room with my own eyes.

Once I entered the research building, I spotted quite a few students taking out rubbish and tidying their rooms in the hall. Apparently, many people had come for the same reason. Several windows had shattered, and from the look of things, the tremors had caused a fair amount of damage.

“A-Ngyaaaah! Mine is the only room that collapsed!”

“N-Nico! Pull yourself together!”

“Eek… Higyaaaaaaaaaah! M-My altar! The sacred domain of my Lord Gooooood!”

“Calm down, Nico!”

“………”

“Whoa! Don’t calm down that suddenly!”

Were those two female students upper-course students?

I only hoped none of the important equipment in my room had broken…

Bracing myself, I opened the research room door.

Some dust had accumulated, but my research room hadn’t suffered any major changes. Perhaps the materials and equipment were so heavy that the shaking affected them less. The anvil and magical furnace were safe, and I had my hammer with me. That was a relief, at least.

“Hm?”

I noticed something lying on the break table.

They were the three magic swords I had carried during the attack.

Beside them lay a broken longsword.

My equipment had been missing ever since I was hospitalized, so I was grateful.

Someone appeared to have brought it to my research room.

But there must have been a mix-up, because Mercedes’s weapon had somehow been included.

I picked up the broken sword and examined it.

Its beautifully maintained blade made it immediately apparent how Mercedes ordinarily treated it.

Was it made of Eight-Pillar Ore?

It wasn’t a magic sword, but it was a luxury weapon capable of enduring any magical battle.

Her fight must have been exceedingly fierce, because the entire base metal had snapped cleanly in two. Even if the pieces were forced together, the sword’s continuity had been severed at the break. Restoring its previous quality would ordinarily be difficult.

Of course, for a magic-sword smith like me, repairing it would be easy.

“………All right.”

By the time I finished forge-welding the blade, evening out its hardness and toughness, and giving it a final polish, dusk had fallen.

I’d done it again.

I hadn’t even started cleaning the room.

“………Phew…”

I exhaled my fatigue with a deep breath and inspected the sword.

It had given me some trouble, as one would expect of such a masterpiece, but it should now be sharper and sturdier than before.

…And that was when I finally came to my senses.

Thinking about it normally, repairing someone else’s belongings without permission was wrong.

It had been broken so magnificently that I’d fixed it on impulse.

Would she be angry?

Perhaps because I had only just recovered, I was tiring more quickly than usual.

For now, I would go wash my face.

I opened the research room door.

And there, I ran straight into Mercedes.

“………”

We both froze.

Mercedes had stopped in a position that made it obvious she had been just about to knock.

“H-Hey.”

“…Yes. Good evening.”

“W-What brings you here?”

What was I saying?

I was the one who needed to speak to her.

I hadn’t expected to see her the moment I opened the door, so my mind was scrambling to decide what to deal with first.

“…I heard the usual sounds coming from your room, so I thought you were here. May I have a moment? If you’re busy, I can return another time.”

“…No. Actually, I was looking for you too.”

When I answered awkwardly, Mercedes merely said, “I see.”

Was I imagining it, or did she lack her usual vigor?

“…Why don’t we talk inside?”

“…Yes. Pardon the intrusion.”

◇

In the corner of my research room was a space one might, with some generosity, call a guest area. I showed Mercedes there and prepared tea for two.

There was a great deal I wanted to discuss, but I decided to begin with her weapon.

“This belongs to you, doesn’t it?”

When I placed the longsword I’d just repaired on the table, Mercedes’s eyes widened slightly.

“…I’ve been looking for it. Where did you find it?”

“Apparently, a staff member confused it with my magic swords and brought it here.”

“…I see. More importantly, were you the one who repaired it?”

Mercedes gently picked up the sword and gazed at the blade. Her large eyes fixed on the place where it had broken.

“…Sorry. I repaired it without asking.”

“…? Why are you apologizing? You noticed what had happened and kindly repaired it for me, didn’t you?”

“Well, yes.”

“Then there’s no problem.”

She didn’t swing it around dramatically, but she examined the weapon from various angles before gently returning it to its place after some time.

“…You’re very skilled. I can’t even tell where it broke. And you sharpened it so beautifully… I thought I would have no choice but to reforge it into a dagger, but it seems I can continue using it.”

Mercedes traced the temper line with one slender finger and continued.

“This was extremely precious to me, so I’m honestly delighted. Thank you. I’m very grateful.”

“I-I see.”

I didn’t have much experience repairing other people’s weapons, but she appeared genuinely satisfied rather than merely flattering me. That was a relief.

“…I’m sorry about the other day.”

“What?”

“You know, the magic sword.”

“…Yes.”

“There were actually several complicated circumstances behind it. You might not believe me, but…”

“That’s all right now. Addison told me everything, and I understand.”

“…I see.”

That would make the explanation considerably easier.

Filiestra never seemed to stop looking after me.

“…I also…”

Mercedes returned the sword to its sheath, then remained silent for a while.

The sunset caught in a thin line along the edge of its polished guard.

At last, she looked straight at me.

“…I also said too much. Even apart from not knowing that Lord Walker had died, I made an unreasonable demand of you and then insulted you because of a foolish misunderstanding.”

Mercedes pressed her lips together once and lowered her gaze.

Then, as though refusing to let herself escape, she looked directly at me again.

“I sincerely apologize for my rash conduct. I’m sorry.”

She bowed her head with respect yet without losing her composure or dignity. It was an apology from Mercedes—something I might never see again, perhaps for as long as I lived.

“I realize it may be selfish of me, but I would be happy if you could forgive me for what happened.”

“Yeah. Let’s both put it behind us.”

“…Yes. Thank you.”

Once we actually spoke face-to-face, it proved surprisingly simple. Apparently, Mercedes was a more reasonable person than I’d thought.

“As for the magic sword, if I genuinely manage to create one that someone else can use, I’ll give you priority when I report it.”

“…Are you sure? Before, you said you wouldn’t accept commissions.”

“Unlike then, I know now that it might be possible.”

Speaking with Mercedes and making a magic sword for Filiestra had changed the way I thought. Forging magic swords for people I trusted might not be a bad thing. That was even more true if they specifically asked for me.

“I still don’t know when it’ll happen.”

“I see…”

Mercedes nodded softly and turned toward the sunset beyond the window.

“If that is what you say, then I’ll wait patiently.”

When Mercedes answered, I realized for the first time that this was a promise. I felt as though it was the first promise of this kind I’d ever made with someone outside my family.

◇

When she stepped out of Brendan’s research room and into the corridor, Mercedes found a pale-blond girl named Filiestra Addison waiting there.

“Oh, Addison.”

“…H-Hello, Meltzeria.”

The awkward look on Filiestra’s face told Mercedes everything at once.

“Were you listening?”

“…I’m sorry. I just happened to be here…”

“I see.”

Mercedes folded her arms where she stood and hesitated for only a moment.

To Filiestra, that brief moment was a painfully long silence.

“Let’s speak while we walk. We’ll attract attention if we remain here.”

“Ah, yes. You’re right…”

They both glanced at the research room door, then slowly set off in an arbitrary direction. Before long, Mercedes spoke first.

“Thank you.”

“What?”

“If you hadn’t helped me then, Addison, I probably would have been defeated.”

She was surely referring to the moment Filiestra arrived during Mercedes’s battle with Wilhelm.

But more than that, Mercedes’s unusually candid attitude filled Filiestra with a powerful sense of incongruity. Even so, she shook her head.

Perhaps Mercedes had always been like this and they simply hadn’t spent enough time together.

“No, it’s all right. I think anyone would do the same if a friend were in danger.”

“A friend…”

Mercedes murmured the word and continued looking straight ahead.

“I caused you quite a bit of trouble in other ways as well.”

“You didn’t…”

You don’t need to worry about it.

Filiestra brushed the matter aside in her usual manner, but to Mercedes—and, by extension, House Meltzeria—that left matters feeling decidedly unsettled.

“If possible, I would like to do something to make amends.”

At Mercedes’s offer, Filiestra gently clasped her hands and smiled.

“Then would you like to have tea with me? There’s a place nearby that Amae and I visit often.”

“I see. Then please allow me to treat you.”

From that moment, both girls’ steps seemed lighter, as though something haunting them had fallen away.

They walked side by side through the corridor at dusk.

Only days earlier, the school buildings had been filled with screams and rubble. Scars remained here and there, but tomorrow, this academy would begin moving again.

Just then, the sound of hammer striking iron rang out behind them.

Clang. Clang. Clang.

Beyond the closed door, the light of the furnace was surely flickering.

“…Even though he only just recovered.”

Filiestra gave a small, exasperated laugh, and Mercedes smiled beside her.

The ringing of iron continued for a long time, as though seeing the two of them off.

End of Volume 1: Enrollment at Magias Academy of Magical Arts