CH 119

[Match List]

The day before the school festival.

For today’s morning training, Tayte accompanied me.

I did physical training with Priim, so today I’d be using the Holy Sword to practice magic.

“Haa…”

Concentrating my mind, I enveloped the Holy Sword with mana.

From there, I converted the element to fire, water, earth, and lightning alternately.

There would be no classes today, and we’d be spending the whole day preparing for the school festival.

In addition, there would be a banquet for the eve of the school festival tonight.

“I’m looking forward to the banquet♪.”

“Me too.”

Tayte was in a good mood from the morning.

The reason was that we’d be participating in the banquet together.

Of course, I was looking forward to attending the banquet together with Tayte, too. If I wasn’t mistaken, it’d be a standing buffet party of sorts.

I was looking forward to it so much that I couldn’t help but be enthusiastic about my training.

“Hm!” When I put mana into the Holy Sword, Tayte reacted with a twitch. “Huh…? Barrett.”

“Mm? What is it?”

Maybe she had sensed something wrong? Tayte, sitting on the lawn, stood up and called out to me.

“Your mana quality seems to have changed from before.”

“Mana quality?”

I’d never heard of that term.

“There’s something different about your mana now… at least, that’s how it feels to me, but I’m not sure how to describe it…”

This was also Tayte’s ability.

That said, the change seemed to be subtle and didn’t have significant impact.

…Still, this was interesting.

The changing of mana quality—it was never mentioned in the original story.

Could it be… a flag for a future plot?

“U-um, Barrett?” Tayte looked at me worriedly, seemingly concerned with my serious expression. “I’m sorry… I said something unnecessary…”

It seemed she thought that what she had just said was the cause.

…Well, it was, but it wasn’t that big of a deal. The more pressing matter here was the look of worry on Tayte’s face.

“Never mind, Tayte. I was just lost in thought for a moment there, my usual bad habit.” I gently patted Tayte’s shoulder, telling her not to worry.

Then, to change the subject, I talked about the martial arts tournament. “Come to think of it, the match list will be announced later this morning, right?”

“No matter who your opponent is, I’m sure you can win, Barrett!” said Tayte with a proud look.

She’d be there to support me, but… I couldn’t afford to lose, and I wasn’t going to lose if Tayte was with me in the first place.

“Alright! Then, let’s go see the match list after we have breakfast!”

“Yes!”

I wondered who my opponent would be.

I hoped it’d be anyone but Jarvis and Raul.

Well, even if I got matched up with them, it would be fun in its own way.

◇◇◇

After breakfast.

Tayte and I headed to see the match list posted on the bulletin board in front of the dormitory.

A large number of students were already packed there.

A huge dedicated bulletin board was set up next to the usual bulletin board, and the match list was posted on it.

It said that my opponent was—

《Barret Albers VS Jarvis Lekrust》

“B-Barrett…”

“Yeah. To think my opponent would be Jarvis…”

“Right.” Jarvis suddenly appeared beside me as Tayte and I was looking at the bulletin board. “Don’t you pull your punch, okay, Barrett?”

“Of course. Let’s give it our all.” I became hyped up.

Oh, right.

“Speaking of which, who is Raul’s opponent?”

Wondering who Raul, a fellow member of the hero party, would fight, I turned my eyes back to the list.

“Oh, there it—?!”

Seeing the match-up, I fell into a daze.

《Raul Lorenz VS Madeline Halman》

“Ah, Raul will be fighting with Madeline,” Tayte said.

“The young lady of the Halman House, eh. Didn’t she just enroll this year?” Jarvis tilted her head.

“Yes. Isn’t it rare for a first-year to participate in this martial arts tournament?”

“Last year none did, so I think it isa pretty rare case.”

“And she’s a girl, too.”

Tayte and Jarvis were having a pleasant conversation.

Besides them, a storm was brewing in my mind.

The reason being, this girl named Madeline Halman was one of the heroines in the original storyline.