༺ Bet (1) ༻
Black and red.
A mysterious space decorated in a checkered pattern. Red furniture was scattered throughout the room with tilted clocks filling the walls.
This was Alice’s Labyrinth.
Within the dreary atmosphere, three students in their uniforms were seated on pieces of furniture, quietly waiting for the Spade Paladin.
“…How does it feel to be suspended.”
The red-haired female student with a heart-shaped accessory, Shera Hectorica, broke the silence.
The question was directed at the brown-haired female student leaning against the wall, Alexa.
Alexa narrowed her eyes and glared at Shera.
“Phwah! What’s that look supposed to mean? I was just trying to lighten the mood.”
“Shut up.”
Alexa shot back coldly.
But Shera continued to smile cheerfully.
The four Paladins had failed to stop the Nameless Hero during the first-year students’ joint practical evaluation.
Moreover, they hadn’t been able to find even a slight hint of who they could be, making it their complete defeat.
The only information they gained was the Nameless Hero’s strength, which the Spade Paladin witnessed with his own eyes.
The Hero had been far stronger than what any of them had imagined. It was to the point where they questioned whether they would actually be able to defeat them.
Alice did not criticize the Paladins, but that instead made the Paladins feel even guiltier.
They will not fail next time.
They must find clues to discern the identity of the Black Monster.
After the Abyssal Sea Monster incident, each of the Paladins vowed as such.
Just then, footsteps rang out through the room.
A male student appeared from the darkness that replaced one side of the wall.
Black hair with a faint blue hue. It was the Spade Paladin.
“Captain!”
“You’re here.”
“…”
Shera addressed him cheerfully, the Clover Paladin greeted him kindly, and Alexa remained silent.
The Spade Paladin sat down on a fancy chair with his legs crossed.
His posture reflected his desire to seem intelligent, with his back straight and body positioned with elegance.
“Why did you say to gather, Captain?”
Shera asked the Spade Paladin, dashing up to the chair he was sitting on and plopping down on the armrest.
He fixed his glasses before speaking.
“The duel evaluation will begin soon. They say that we will be able to select second-year students as opponents as well. In other words, that means we will be able to watch the duels of both first and second years.”
The Spade Paladin continued with a serious expression.
“Diamond’s suspension should end by the time the duel evaluation begins. Four locations will be used for the duel arenas. Students will be divided into four groups and assigned to an arena. The Queen has said she will assign each of us to a different group, so…”
“Keep watch of every ice element user?”
Shera continued the sentence with a grin.
The Spade Paladin responded with silence.
“With your skills, you should be able to recognize any suspicious behavior. Keep a careful watch on anyone with the ice element. They work under disguise using a high-quality camouflage disguise, so it is unclear whether they are a male or female. It seems that the demon who had been cooperating with the Queen last year had been watching the duel evaluation in secret and foolishly planned to cause a massacre that failed.”
Because of the demon who had been working with Alice last year, Leafa the Illusive, the fact that the demons had an informant within the academy had been revealed.
That caused the academy to add extra caution when revealing information to the administrative students.
This meant that the information provided to Alice had also become limited.
“However, since we are students, there shouldn’t be any problems. Of course… As long as we refrain from doing something foolish to attract attention.”
The Spade Paladin glared at Alexa. She was the biggest problem out of the Paladins, after all.
Alexa shook her head.
“…I’ll keep quiet.”
Feeling pressured, Alexa answered as such.
“And I will remind you. Suspect and keep watch of not only the students but also the staff and the others.”
Their main goal was discovering the identity of the Black Monster, after all.
Shera responded with an enthusiastic, “Yeah!” the Clover Paladin nodded his head, and Alexa showed no reaction.
“Ah, right. Captain. Can I ask you one thing?”
“What is it, Shera?”
“The person that the Queen is suspicious of, Isaac, was it? Can I challenge him to a duel?”
A second-year student of the Magic Department, Isaac.
Alice suspected him to be the one disrupting her plans, and she said that she would be personally investigating whether he was the disrupter or not.
However, because it was a mere suspicion, they could not concentrate their resources on just Isaac, so the four Paladins acted while leaving Isaac in their line of suspects.
“It doesn’t matter if you have a valid reason, but I would not recommend it.”
“Why?”
“The Priestess has already challenged him to a duel. Why she has done that is a question for later. Do not forget that we are also often mentioned among the students because of our mana grade. The more Isaac becomes known, the bigger the nuisance it would become for the Queen.”
“Hmm…”
Shera was disappointed.
She liked to attract attention to herself, but she wanted to refrain from doing something that would anger Alice.
“Shera, remember that our task for the duel evaluation is to ‘observe’. Don’t go around having the foolish idea of getting revenge on Luce Eltania, either. Our plans will go awry if you do so.”
“Ergh! Fine, I won’t, I won’t! I hate you, Captain!”
“What…? Why so suddenly?”
Shera complained, expressing discontent, and walked away from the Spade Paladin.
He had hurt her pride by mentioning her defeat against Luce Eltania.
“Captain, you can’t talk about losing and whatnot in front of Shera.”
The Clover Paladin addressed the problem with a small smile.
“Yeah, that’s really mean!”
And Shera hid behind the Clover Paladin’s back, sticking out her tongue.
“…”
The Spade Paladin let out a deep sigh as if he was utterly fed up.
* * *
“S-s-s-senior Isaac…? You’re dueling whom…?”
“Miya.”
The Magic Department classroom building, Orphin Hall. Inside of an empty research room.
I had all sorts of books and parchments laid out as I calculated the magic formulas within them, which helped me use the 6-star ice magic [Frost Glitter] with greater efficiency.
Thanks to my [Learning Efficiency] being maxed, it was easy to think. It felt like I could calculate any algorithm or formula in my head no matter what someone threw my way.
I already had all of the forms of magic circles I needed to use for each magic memorized. But it still took some time because using the magic circles with swift accuracy was a different story.
Still, I judged it wouldn’t be long until Isaac, with [Hunter] deactivated, could use 6-star magic in battle.
At the latest, I should be able to learn it before my duel with Miya.
I felt that I had arrived at a new level of magical talent.
The sun had begun to set at some point.
Snow White had come to visit me while I had been taking a short break, so I was chatting with her.
Today was one of the days I asked White to take a break from mentoring.
However, it wasn’t a mystery why she had come to see me regardless. We always had our schedules shared.
White stood before the window, and I sat in a chair, leaning on the backrest.
White’s pure white hair became dyed with the colors of the sunset. Following her nickname as the Snow White Princess, her outer appearance often absorbed the colors of her surroundings.
I was shocked by her beauty, even though she was only in her academy uniform. Her shocked expression also reflected her wide variety of expressions.
“I know Senior Isaac is strong, but the Priestess is too strong…!”
“I couldn’t really help it. She used both of her duel requests on me.”
“Why is she going so far to have a duel with you? I haven’t seen the Priestess together with Senior Isaac once… Has anything happened between the two of you that I don’t know? Like you’ve run into her in the hallways or…”
“I’m not sure either.”
It was probably because of Luce, but telling White that wouldn’t change anything, so I kept the reason to myself.
“Well, it’s not like it’s anything new for the Priestess to try fighting someone random for a weird reason. She is quite the oddball, after all.”
“She does seem a little strange.”
“…”
“What is it, White?”
“Oh, no. It’s nothing…”
With a listless smile, White turned her head and avoided my gaze. Tears seemed to be forming in her eyes.
It looked like she thought about how she had to become friends with the Priestess and was reminded of her personality.
“A-anyway!”
White stole away her tears and turned back to me with clenched fists.
“Was that why you were practicing this magic? So you can fight against the Priestess?”
“It isn’t necessarily because of the duel, but the timings do happen to overlap. It’s merely a lucky coincidence.”
I extended my finger and channeled a frigid chill through them. Cold air and ice crystals floated above my finger.
I then spread my other fingers and repeated that process. It was a habitual magic mastery training I did.
“S-senior Isaac… Aren’t you scared? If it were me, I would be scared…”
“Not really, no.”
Then, curling my fingers back in, I withdrew the ice.
“My goal is Luce, after all.”
“What…?”
“Well, the Priestess is weaker than Luce. I don’t have much to be scared about, right?”
“W-wait. Senior Luce…?!”
White’s jaw dropped once more in shock.
“Your goal is to surpass Senior Luce?!”
“Why are you so surprised…?”
“Of course I am…! Senior Luce is one of the most talented students in this academy! She’s really strong and elegant…”
“I’ll definitely beat her during the duel evaluation next semester.”
Grades. It was an impartial indicator of how much stronger I’ve gotten.
I at least wanted to be the top student in my grade before facing the Evil God during my third year.
“But why Senior Luce…?”
“I want to win, it’s as simple as that.”
Of course, there was some personal ambition included in that goal.
One could call it a primal instinct of wanting to be rewarded for their efforts.
For some reason, White was gazing at me with an awestruck expression. It even looked like her eyes were sparkling.
I read her psychology. She seemed inspired by what I said since she hadn’t even considered fighting against the Priestess, much less beating her.
‘It was the same for me too.’
I had set the goal to take the title of top seat from the beginning, but I couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed once I saw Luce in person.
It was impossible to imagine a future where I could win against her.
Repeating countless duels and defeats against her, I even felt a wall standing between us.
But now, I had entered the realm of geniuses and, even now, was improving at a frightening speed.
So, saying that I would defeat Luce wasn’t completely unrealistic.
Not to mention, small goals like these will help motivate me.
Yeah.
By Semester 2 Year 2, I should become strong enough to fight against Luce, with her wearing the Ring of the Abyssal Queen. That was my goal.
…Of course, surviving until then will come first.
“Anyhow, that’s my plan. My break time’s over, so see you next time, White.”
“Ah. A-alright…!”
White scanned her surroundings awkwardly.
“Anyway, 6-star magic really seems to be on a different level. The magic I’ve been practicing until now seems like child’s play… Saying you’ll beat Senior Luce and such, you’re amazing, Senior Isaac. Eheheh.”
“Really?”
That’s sweet of her.
White and I looked at one another and grinned.
“See you tomorrow, Senior!”
“Be safe. And don’t forget to train.”
“Yessir!”
White left the research room.
After using [Clairvoyance] to check that she met with Merlin, who was waiting in front of Orphin Hall, I resumed my training.
***
The next day, daytime.
After class, I was about to leave the second-year B Class classroom within Orphin Hall. Since the next class was canceled, I planned to use that time to practice my 6-star magic.
Just then. A commotion suddenly arose in the hallway for second years, and a female student began walking my way with everyone’s gazes concentrated on her.
That orderly appearance. She was a member of the Student Council, Head Hall Monitor Erin.
“You’re Isaac, right?”
Why’s she here?
I stood straight, facing her.
“The Student Council President is calling for you. Follow me.”
“…?”
…Huh?
