That morning, I gathered at the academy entrance with a crowd of students to send off the third-year students on their expedition.
There was a huge crowd of students lined up on both sides of the entrance, waiting for the third-year students to come out of the academy.
I stood at the back of the crowd and waited for them to arrive.
This expedition was for the magic tournament that was coming up soon. The third-year students would be going to the city where the Magic Festival would be held.
All the third-year students and a few faculty members, including Annis, were going on the expedition.
"They're here!" "Whoa!"
Someone noticed the third-year students, and the students who were lined up cheered.
I could see the third-year students coming out of the academy.
Unlike us first and second-year students, the third-year students had a lot of real-world combat experience, and each one of them was very skilled, with the exception of some non-combat types.
I heard there was one student among them who was on a different level from the others and was called the strongest student in the academy. It seemed that student had just come out.
"Whoa!!!"
The cheers were louder than before.
I could tell how popular that student was just by hearing the cheers.
I looked at the student.
He had red... no, vermilion hair and a kind face. He was a young man.
The moment I saw him, a strange feeling welled up in my heart.
I had never felt this kind of emotion before.
For some reason, I felt that he was special and different from everyone else.
This feeling was probably admiration.
I don't think I've ever respected anyone before.
I was probably being affected by his special aura or something.
Calm down, I told myself.
But even after telling myself that, I felt my right hand trembling.
And then...
Clang!
The ring on my right finger glowed, and my Jinki, the greatsword, appeared and fell to the ground.
I was confused by what just happened.
Many students heard the loud noise and looked in my direction.
"What?" "He's summoning his Jinki?"
I felt the air around me become tense.
This is bad! I immediately said,
"S-sorry!"
I was about to pick up my Jinki when I heard someone call me.
"Can you come here for a second, Yuto?"
I heard someone call my name, so I looked in that direction.
The person was the highly respected upperclassman with vermilion hair.
He was looking at me and waving his hand.
"Can you come here for a second?"
He said.
The people around me moved away, and there was a clear path between me and him.
I did as he said and went to him, standing in front of him.
"I know who you are. You're from another world, right? Do you want to have a quick match?"
It was a sudden suggestion from the upperclassman.
A third-year girl who was nearby said,
"Hey, Varion!"
She tried to stop him, but he said,
"It's fine. It'll be over in a second. So, what do you say? Wanna fight?"
He replied to the other upperclassman and asked me if I wanted to fight.
To be honest, I didn't want to fight, but many students were watching.
"Hey, who do you think will win?"
"Varion-senpai, of course."
"Well, you never know."
They were talking, a lot of them were excited. For some reason, it felt like I had to fight.
"O-okay."
I reluctantly agreed to the match.
To make space for the match, the other students moved back and formed a large circle.
I was now standing in the center of a large circular field, facing the upperclassman.
"Alright, let's begin. First, state your name. It's not difficult. Just say your name and get into your stance."
The upperclassman told me.
"O-okay. My name is Yuto Shindo!"
I said my name and got into a stance with my Jinki, which was already out.
"Nice. Then I'll go next. My name is Varion Volkomen."
Varion smiled and summoned his Jinki from his Maseirin.
Varion's Jinki was a thin sword, a rapier.
He immediately got into a stance with his Jinki.
"Alright, here I come. Ready—"
Varion was about to start the match.
"Begin!"
Here it comes!
A thrust to my right shoulder!
I instinctively thought that and got into a defensive stance with my Jinki.
And just as I thought, Varion thrust his rapier toward my right shoulder.
Clang!
My Jinki and Varion's Jinki clashed.
Huh?
How did I know what attack Varion was going to use?
I don't have time to think about that! The next attack is coming!
Next, he'll thrust at my left leg to stop me.
I'll move my left leg back and throw off his timing, then sweep his rapier with my Jinki!
Varion's rapier came toward my left leg.
I did as I thought. I moved my left leg back, delaying the rapier from hitting me, and swept his rapier away from the side with my Jinki.
"Not bad."
Varion complimented me with a single word.
But I didn't have the time to reply.
What's going on?
I felt like I could tell what Varion's next attack would be.
Did I suddenly become able to use precognition magic?!
No, this isn't precognition.
It felt more like I just knew Varion's attack.
Next, a thrust to my right shoulder again!
Clang!
And again! A thrust to my chest!
Thud!
I was using the solutions that came to my mind to block Varion's attacks.
This was supposed to be the first time I was fighting Varion.
But the solutions in my head were as if I had fought him hundreds and thousands of times.
I didn't understand it myself, but thanks to it, I was able to hold my own against the strongest student in the academy.
But even though I was holding my own, I was only dodging the attacks.
If this continued, no matter how long we fought, we would never reach a conclusion.
Then, Varion's rapier thrust speed increased.
Slice!
My right shoulder, which couldn't keep up with his sudden increase in speed, was pierced by his rapier.
Red blood came out from the wound.
At the same time, I felt something strange in my body. It felt like my magical power had disappeared.
"Ugh!"
Losing my composure from being stabbed, I swung my Jinki at Varion.
For the first time in this match, I ignored the solution that came to my mind and attacked him.
After that, everything happened quickly.
Varion simply pulled the rapier out of my right shoulder, dodged my attack, kicked me in the stomach, and sent me flying.
I tried to get up, but Varion's rapier was inches from my neck.
I knew I was defeated, so I put my Jinki on the ground, raised both hands, and surrendered.
"Whoa!" "Yeah!"
The match ended, and cheers erupted.
"You still have a long way to go."
Varion said and offered me his hand.
"I'm no match for you. Thank you for the match."
I grabbed Varion's hand and stood up, expressing my respect and gratitude.
"No, thank you for accepting my selfish request. You'll be as strong as me one day."
Varion said to me.
He was probably just trying to comfort me.
"Is that so?"
I asked him with a little doubt.
"Yeah, someday."
Varion smiled and said that before leaving for the expedition with the other third-year students.
After the third-year students left, at the entrance...
"That was an amazing match!"
"Yeah, you did great against Varion-senpai."
I was surrounded by other students who were complimenting me on my match.
I was a little embarrassed by all the praise.
It was a little embarrassing, but this kind of academy life wasn't bad.
However, this peaceful academy life didn't last long.
This is a damage report from the day after the academy attack, a week after the Pazele Magic Academy's third-year students left for their expedition.
An opening connecting to the outside was found in a house that was built against the city wall where an elderly couple lived and died in this incident.
The barrier had disappeared from the opening, and it is believed that the robbers entered from here and headed to the academy.
The death of the elderly couple has been confirmed, and the report on human casualties is as follows:
Severely wounded:
21 academy students
1 faculty member
Unconscious:
1 academy student
Deceased:
2 academy students
12 civilians
Due to these casualties, the education board has decided to close the Pazele Magic Academy due to inadequate security.