Kays Translations

Chapter 15 – Altia’s Magic Tool

The training hall Ren entered was the same one used for swordsmanship classes.

For the time being, it had been turned into a preparation area for students taking part in the martial-event selection trials, and its large doors stood open.

“You’re the one who started it!”

“Oh, and now you expect me to apologize?”

“Y-You were the one who laid hands on me first!”

When Ren reached the place where the commotion had broken out, he drew even more attention.

Part of that was because an organizing-committee member had arrived. The rest was because the visitor was Ren, the first-year student whose name had spread throughout the academy after several incidents.

“What happened?”

When Ren called out, the students involved began explaining in hoarse, angry voices.

“They started accusing us of things.”

“That’s right! They said we bumped into them on purpose!”

“I see. And you over there…?”

“They threw their protective gear, and it struck my bag. That bag contains the equipment I need for the selection trial. My friends saw it happen too.”

“There’s no doubt about it. They clearly threw it at us.”

“I understand. So that is what happened.”

The two groups only grew more agitated as they spoke. Before long, they were angry enough to seize one another by the collar.

Since they were all upperclassmen, their feelings about the Lion King Grand Festival were probably even stronger than those of the first-years.

“That guy was the one who hit me from behind first!”

The student who had thrown the protective gear raised his voice.

“I already apologized for that! Look around you—the training hall is packed with people and equipment! Someone shoved me, and I bumped into both of you!”

“How are we supposed to know you didn’t do it on purpose!?”

As Ren listened, he thought their behavior was hardly admirable, but he did not forget that his role was to stop the dispute.

Unfortunately, the two sides soon crossed a line.

“Don’t pick a fight with us just because you lost in the qualifying round.”

“What was that!? If you want to take this further—”

Students from both sides reached for training weapons with blunted, battered blades.

“Senpai.”

Ren’s voice was gentle.

He moved just as the two students began raising their swords, before either could complete a single swing.

The blades had barely risen above their waists when—

“…Huh?”

“What was that…?”

Both swords struck the floor with a metallic clang.

The students did not even understand when the weapons had been knocked from their hands. Ren had moved too quickly.

The spectators could tell only that he had done something. All that remained clear was that the rumored first-year had subdued two upperclassmen without revealing the extent of his ability.

“No one will enjoy the festival if you behave like this.”

Ren was already standing between them.

He returned the sword he had borrowed for that instant to the nearby student who had been carrying it at his waist. The weapon belonged to the academy, but the student was responsible for it.

“I understand how strongly all of you feel about the Lion King Grand Festival. The same is true of the ambition and enthusiasm that brought you to this academy.”

Once the quarreling students fell silent, Ren exhaled. The pressure he had been releasing vanished as though it had never existed.

He continued in a calmer voice.

“This seems to have been a series of unfortunate accidents. Please settle down and speak to one another properly.”

“Ah…”

“Yeah… I suppose so.”

Representatives of both groups answered quietly, then apologized to each other in subdued voices.

Ren wondered whether he had relied too much on force. Radius might have been able to stop them with words alone.

He looked toward the entrance, checking the situation while waiting for the teachers to arrive.

Almost at the same moment, a gentle bell rang through the training hall.

(That sound…)

Ren recognized it and realized that help had arrived.

The bell further eased the anger of the students he had stopped. Several teachers entered one after another, and after spotting Ren, they approached him.

“Ashton, I see you stopped the fight. There are swords at those students’ feet. How far did this go?”

“At most, it was an attempted fight. I stopped them before anything happened. Even if they had raised the swords, they might only have intended to threaten each other. For now, it was merely an argument.”

“Hee hee… Are you being considerate of your seniors because this festival comes only once every two years?”

Ren did not answer. He merely tilted his head and put on an innocent expression.

The teachers understood what he meant and did not question him further.

Whatever Ren personally thought, they would handle the rest.

“Then I will return to my work. Please call me if anything else happens.”

“Understood. Thank you for your work on the organizing committee.”

Ren turned to leave the training hall.

Before he could go far, one of the students who had lost his temper approached him. Looking embarrassed, the upperclassman thanked Ren for stopping him.

“I know everyone gets excited about a festival held only once every two years, but please be more careful from now on.”

Ren spoke with a wry smile, and the second-year student nodded.

Yet his words seemed to carry another message.

There will not be a next time.

The implied warning made the student apologize once more without thinking.

He said nothing else as he watched Ren depart. Ren was unarmed, yet the pressure he left behind felt sharp enough to cut through a person’s entire body.

A cool breeze washed over Ren after he stepped outside.

Evening was approaching, and the air had grown slightly chilly. It helped cool the heat that had built inside him during the confrontation.

“Nemu’s friends called her over, and what a surprise!”

As Ren stood cooling down, a girl beside the doorway called to him from behind.

“The rumored first-year was stopping upperclassmen—and that same classmate was not affected by Nemu’s magic tool at all.”

“Wasn’t that merely a coincidence…?”

“Hmm. Ashton, you doubt Nemu’s magic tool.”

“Not at all. I would never doubt the quality of a magic tool made by a daughter of House Altia. That bell calms everyone who hears it, correct?”

“You really are the valedictorian, Ashton-kun!”

Ren turned toward the girl who had praised him.

She was short, though her figure was surprisingly mature for her height. A large hooded coat covered her uniform, and a thick belt around her waist held test tubes and assorted tools.

Her face looked young, but there was no doubt that she was an eye-catching, adorable girl.

“This is the first time we’ve spoken, right?”

“Nemu thinks so! But Nemu already knew about you, Ashton. You’re the valedictorian, and you’re always talking with Licia, Sera, and Vayne!”

As she had already announced, her name was Nemu Altia.

An ancestor of House Altia, one of the Seven Hero Houses, had designed Elendil’s Grand Clock Tower and also helped create the system used to manage information on Adventurers’ Guild cards.

Nemu herself possessed considerable talent as a magic-tool craftswoman. In the game, she had been a dependable support member of the party centered on Vayne.

“How did you do it? Nemu cannot understand why her magic tool did not affect you in the slightest.”

“You already answered that yourself, didn’t you?”

“Yes. The bell calms anyone who hears it. Nemu first thought its failure might be a coincidence, but you were calm from the beginning.”

“So it had no effect because I did not need to calm down?”

“That is the only explanation Nemu can think of.”

Ren offered no further explanation and did not prolong the conversation.

He wanted to be considerate because she belonged to a Hero House, but the organizing committee still had work to finish, and he needed to return quickly.

After saying goodbye, Ren left Nemu behind.

She watched his retreating back.

“Strange. The tool had no effect, but that pressure lasted for quite a while.”

Still tilting her head in puzzlement, she went to rejoin her friends.

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

Ren continued attending classes as usual while carrying out his organizing-committee duties.

As the days passed, the preliminary rounds for several events—including the speech contest—came to an end.

Until recently, the committee members had even worked through lunch, but their workload was finally beginning to settle.

The representative selection trials for the martial events and several other competitions were still under way, however.

Nearly two weeks had passed since the after-school trials began.

One afternoon, Ren was exempt from swordsmanship class and entered the organizing committee’s small workroom to make good use of the time.

His bag was packed with assignments from teachers of various subjects.

“Hello, Ren-kun.”

Fiona was alone in the room, working on her own assignments.

Radius and Mirei were nowhere to be seen. When Ren had met them that morning, they had said they would be absent from the academy on official business, though they intended to return after school when the committee’s work began.

“May I study here too?”

“I could hardly tell you no.”

Fiona’s cheeks softened into a smile, and Ren took the seat opposite her.

Reference books and other materials were already spread out before Fiona. The documents the committee normally used also lay across the table.

“Ren-kun? Is Licia-sama not here today?”

“Licia-sama has Clausel business in Elendil, so she is absent from the academy. Radius is away on official business as well. He is making a day trip by magic ship.”

“Then Mirei-san accompanied him?”

“Yes.”

Fiona watched Ren begin his assignment as though nothing were unusual. Her cheeks slowly reddened, and before he could notice, she abruptly stood.

“I-I’ll open the window.”

She turned away to hide her face.

After opening it, she murmured too quietly for Ren to hear.

“Then it will be just Ren-kun and me until classes end…!”

The heart already pounding in her chest began to race even faster.

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