Time rewound, just moments earlier.
"..."
Artel stood tall on the sparring grounds, her face as impassive as ever.
"Cadets, ready yourselves."
Her duel was about to begin.
Her opponent was Taylor Linde, a top contender from the entrance exam rankings.
"Hoo, hoo..."
He faced her, visibly tense.
"Whoa... her aura is insane."
"What could she be thinking...?"
The countless cadets in the stands watched her with eyes full of admiration.
But her attention wasn't directed anywhere.
Artel's mind was entirely consumed by the duel between Jeron and Kaiser that had just ended.
If it had simply been that Jeron beat Kaiser... sure, that would have been surprising enough, but not this level of shock.
The issue was the method he used.
Seizing control of a massive mana output with the tiniest sliver of mana and turning it against its caster.
Easy to say.
In reality, it was like redirecting a river's flow with a single pebble, or a mantis overturning a cart.
The very idea was absurd to begin with, and actually pulling it off was even more insane.
And on top of that.
'That reaction speed and casting time... what the hell?'
Kaiser Fireheart.
Arrogant and foolish, but no unskilled mage.
A straightforward strategy: overwhelm from the start with a powerful spell to seize the initiative.
But his overwhelming caliber turned that simplicity into an effective killing blow.
Like a massive bull charging right from the outset.
'Kaiser... wasn't slow at all.'
And what if that bull was ridiculously fast?
Kaiser's casting speed was unnaturally quick for such a powerful spell, and the projectile's velocity was excellent too.
A glimpse of the skill honed through brutal training in a prestigious household.
If Artel herself had been in that position, could she have reacted?
...She couldn't say for sure.
But Jeron. He reacted to it so effortlessly.
Like a master bullfighter toying with a charging bull.
And in that split second, he even completed a signature spell that mimicked a grand mage's magic.
'I couldn't see it at all.'
Kaiser's spell was the kind of fast that you could still see.
But Jeron's... it just wasn't visible.
Casting a spell inevitably requires mana condensation and formula construction. Yet Jeron unleashed it at impossible speed, as if skipping those steps entirely.
It was akin to performing dozens of digits of complex mental arithmetic in the blink of an eye.
And he did it while a blazing arrow hurtled right toward his face?
Then, right after pulling off that madness, he stood there casually as if nothing happened...
'What...? Boring enough that I want to sleep?'
Grit.
Artel clenched her teeth without realizing it. Where the hell did this monster come from...!
I need to get stronger too.
I need to become a mage superior to anyone else.
So,
So... I must—
"Counting to three, then begin!"
At that moment, the instructor's voice snapped Artel from her deep reverie.
'Ah...'
She had completely lost focus right before her duel.
'Pathetic.'
She took a deep breath, trying to forcibly calm her mind, but it wasn't easy.
"Duel, begin!"
And so the duel started amid her tangled emotions.
But after just a few exchanges, Artel could tell.
'Weak.'
The difference in their entrance exam rankings wasn't that great.
Objectively speaking, though, it was a vast gap in skill.
She cornered him far too easily.
"Urk, grr!"
Her opponent prepared something, but it was predictable.
The moment she thought she just needed to dodge his final desperate attack and end it.
Suddenly, the image of Jeron from earlier flashed through her mind.
'I want to... try it too.'
And prove it.
That she was his equal.
It was reckless.
Something she didn't need to do in this situation—no, shouldn't do.
But her body moved on its own.
"Tidal Beam!"
Her opponent's last-ditch effort poured forth.
Artel didn't dodge. She met it head-on.
"Hah!"
Mimicking Jeron, she slammed her mana into his spell.
The result... looked like a success on the surface.
Crack—!
The water stream froze solid, turning her opponent into an ice statue. Victory was hers.
But.
'...Ah.'
The process was a total mess. The worst.
If Jeron had redirected the river with a single pebble, what she did was like dumping logs and boulders to forcibly block the flow.
If he had felled a giant with a judo throw, she had just brute-forced a kindergartner's wrist like some overgrown adult.
"Haa, haa..."
Ragged breaths burst from her.
It would have been better to fail.
She knew her attempt had failed.
But she poured in even more mana to freeze the stream anyway.
Ugly and sloppy.
Better to lose than win like this.
That would have been the more proper path for a mage.
That's how you grow.
She knew it in her head, but couldn't do it.
Because she was afraid. Of losing. Of failing....
"Woooah...!"
The stands erupted in massive cheers and applause, but Artel wanted to crawl into a hole.
Then, her eyes met Jeron's amid the cheering cadets.
He stood there with his usual listless expression and posture.
'Ah...'
He saw everything.
Artel felt utterly exposed.
A genius like him would see through every magical process that just happened, crystal clear.
How pathetic must her fumbling look to him.
He'd laugh.
Yeah, he'd probably laugh.
"Give up."
"You're not someone who can beat me."
"Haa... you're really weird, you know that?"
Her rude words and actions toward him flashed by.
She had dismissed him so thoroughly, then in a moment of admiration, clumsily imitated him... and botched it completely.
Look at her now.
The magic failed, she crushed him with raw mana, pointlessly exhausted herself, and now she's panting.
Artel... what a disappointment.
It felt like someone's cold voice was whispering it.
The absolute worst, me.
She deserved the ridicule.
But then.
Jeron raised his hand.
-Clap, clap, clap.
The sound was drowned out by the cheers and applause, but it was unmistakably applause.
Jeron was clapping for her.
'Why...? Why isn't he mocking me...?'
Her shaking eyes took in his expression.
Surprisingly, there was no sarcasm—just genuine pride.
Like the warm, pure encouragement in the eyes of someone watching a child take its first unsteady steps.
A gaze no one had ever given her.
"...Ugh!"
For some reason, her face flushed red, and her heart started pounding.
Artel whipped her head away without thinking.
'W-What? Why is this happening all of a sudden...'
***
Hmm.
Hmmm...
Something like that?
Artel's sudden flustered head-turn.
That was my second thought upon seeing her reaction.
My first?
Of course it was that she's adorable.
A cool beauty like her suddenly turning shy with red ears was more viscerally striking than expected.
No wonder gaming communities spawned the utterly depraved Artel fan squad, the "Ice Knight Brigade."
Anyway.
As I said, that's a reaction she only gives to people she's 100% acknowledged.
Honestly, it was a bit baffling that Artel rated me that highly.
Sure, I had just obliterated Kaiser, who ranked slightly above her on the entrance exam.
And right after, I dropped that all-time chuuni line: "Boring enough that I want to sleep."
So, regular cadets mistaking me for some insane genius? Okay, that was within expectations. I even intended it to some degree.
But to anyone in the know, the reaction might be, "Impressive, but is that all?"
Because fights with standing mages are decided by a hair's breadth, and the results look way more overwhelming than the actual skill gap.
Glass cannons with insane firepower but paper-thin defense—gain even a slight edge, and it looks like you demolished them.
So, I figured it wouldn't faze the top A-Rank folks, say top 20.
Maybe they'd peg me as upper A-Rank.
Plus... Artel, I thought she'd be even less likely to overhype me.
With her haughty, sky-high pride like the "Ice Princess" nickname, and after seeing my frivolous side this morning, even more so.
Her favorability system in the game was pretty tough too. Approach with mediocre skill, and you'd just get contempt.
So normally, I shouldn't elicit that kind of reaction.
'What the hell did she see in it...'
I snuck a glance at Artel, but she was still facing away, descending from the sparring grounds.
Hmm...
Looks like she's even more deluded than I thought. No idea why.
Ah. Could it be?
What if Artel rated Kaiser way higher than I assumed?
That would explain it somewhat.
Damn... Kaiser, you bastard.
It was you?
'GOAT status revoked. You're JOAT now.'
You outed your own crime!!!
Next duel, I'll smash you flat.
Gotta hit S-Rank.
I thought lightly.
Well, Artel acting outside my expectations wasn't a bad outcome.
In the world of [Stella Academia] without a protagonist.
I have to handle the relationship-building and growth with side characters that the protagonist would normally manage.
That means inevitably tangling with the main cast.
As long as it's not excessive misunderstanding, this is fine.