CH 17

“………”

Let’s think positively.

I got to know the woman better.

I was able to find my weaknesses again.

This shouldn’t be a bad thing.

Yes, I’m getting closer.

To true heights that no one else can reach.

……….

… Hah.

“Why don’t you join in?”

“… shut up.”

Alice and I took turns in the bath.

I washed away all sorts of things, including this fuzziness that was covering my thoughts.

Let’s get back on track.

Suddenly, yesterday’s scene passed through my mind.

───It’s about Abel.

Frankly, he’s pretty insignificant.

His physical attack power is unique.

But that’s it.

No matter how many times we fight, my victory is always guaranteed.

Not in a pure physical battle, but as long as magic is allowed, he isn’t even worthy of being called my enemy

… Kuku.

But

I like his eyes.

Such a huge gap in strength and still an unyielding heart.

Craving for strength to the end.

The eyes of the protagonist was far better than what I imagined it would be like.

“This is going to be fun.”

The words leaked out naturally.

Then I noticed a change in my own mind.

Up until now I have been somewhat afraid.

A thought that one day I will be defeated.

This has not gone away even now.

But now,

I just enjoy it.

All of this situation.

And Abel.

No matter how much you grow and become stronger from now on, I will be ahead of you.

＋＋＋＋＋＋＋＋＋＋

After the bath we headed to the cafeteria.

Seems like we already have a guest.

I saw him yesterday in the classroom, a very glaring red-haired guy.

He continued to eat in silence, not saying a word.

“You’ve got a bad look in your eyes. You’re making me uncomfortable. Just go away?”

“… ah?”

I didn’t care.

To be clear, I don’t care what the people do.

And even though this guy has a bit of a bad eye, he was just eating in silence.

But Alice next to me seems to be different.

There was a glimpse of it from the day I first stepped into the classroom.

If she feels even a little uncomfortable, she will speak out her feelings without hesitation.

She is very aggressive towards people other than me after all.

In a way… she gives off the vibe of a villainess heroine.

In the original work, wasn’t she supposed to be the heroine for Luke?

“… Damn it.”

The man with red hair raised his veins and exuded a dangerous aura as if he was about to strike at any moment.

However, to everyone’s surprise, he stood up with his plate and moved towards the edge of the wide table, following Alice’s words obediently.

“It’s good that he knows his place. Luke, let’s eat.”

“───Wait.”

I was only slightly intrigued.

“What’s your name?”

“… Lloyd.”

Lloyd, I see.

He is the fourth in the sequence after Mia who can use 3 attributes.

Despite his delinquent appearance, he’s very competent.

But this only raises more questions.

“Why do you follow Alice’s words?”

“………”

Lloyd’s expression distorted with anger and he was gritting his teeth.

He himself doesn’t follow Alice’s words willingly. Yet, there must be some sort of intention behind why he follows it.

A will that cannot be bent.

“Luke, I don’t care about that guy. Let’s just eat───”

“You keep your mouth shut.”

“I-I’m sorry… hah..hah.”

I want to know Lloyd’s answer.

“… I was in the same venue as that silver-hair during the practicals for the entrance exam.”

“Silver hair? Who are you talking───”

“─── shut up and don’t make me say it again. And then what?”

“……….”

Lloyd paused.

And with a look of humiliation and anger.

I heard rough breathing coming from next to me, but ignored it.

“… She’s stronger. F**k… more than me.”

His words seemed to contain everything about him, Lloyd.

“We didn’t fight directly. But… I understood it. I can’t win right now…”

“Kuku, I see.”

“You too, Blondie. I can’t even beat you now… You’re even worse than the silver-hair. I can’t even tell how far off I was… S**t.”

There are a lot of really interesting guys here.

“But I’m not giving up. Watch me now, you b*****d… I’ll surpass you all!”

“Hahaha. You’re funny. I like you.”

Interesting.

He is a stoic man to no end.

He is so obedient to those he recognizes as stronger than himself, no matter how humiliating.

“Hey, good morning. You’re all early. Can I join you for breakfast───?”

“No, just disappear.”

“………”

Leonardo appeared with a fresh smile.

Within two seconds, that smile vanished like smoke.

By Alice’s merciless blade of words.

“Can I sit here…?”

“Do what you want…”

“Ha, haha… thank you. I’ve never felt someone’s kindness soak into my heart like this before…”

“……….”

Lloyd accepted Leonardo.

Contrary to his appearance, he seems kind.

A man full of surprises.

“Good morning.”

“Here comes the noisy one.”

“I just said good morning! I’m not being noisy!”

“Look, noisy.”

“Agh, you…”

Mia appeared.

She complained and sat down near Alice and started eating.

They seem to be fighting all the time, but they may be surprisingly close.

“Prepare yourself, Alice! Within a month I will challenge you to the battle of ranks!”

“Anytime, I’m not going to lose to you who is ‘half-hearted’ in everything.”

“Wha, what did you just───”

“Enough with it, kid.”

[TLN- he said, “Chibi”, you guys know what this means right?]

So I heard a voice.

I immediately understood who this “kid” represented.

“Who the h**l said ‘kid’ just now?”

It’s for Mia.

And it seems that she herself was aware of this.

It was Lloyd who addressed her as a “kid”.

“Fight me first. If you lose the ranks, you won’t be able to fight for a month. So fight me first. ─── You can’t beat silver-hair anyway.”

“… You, I believe you are ‘Lloyd Elys Arbanot,’ the second son of the Arbanot family. I know who you are. I heard you are very good at magic. Have you gotten arrogant because of that? Alright, I’ll do it. I’ll teach you… the difference in our skill.”

“Ha, interesting. Teach me, kid.”

It’s been intense since this morning.

Really, I came to an interesting academy.

＋＋＋＋＋＋＋＋＋＋

I took some classes in the morning.

Most of today’s classes were classroom lectures for each attribute.

There were no real-world magic battle exercises or anything like that, and of course there were no classes on my dark attribute.

But I thought it was worth taking, whether it was the other attributes.

My “dark attribute” can also absorb magic and exercise magic using its power.

This means that I can use magic of other attributes, albeit conditionally.

So it is worthwhile to take classes of other attributes.

I thought so, but… as it turned out, it sucked.

It was a really inefficient class, taking 90 minutes to explain at length what I could have done in five minutes.

Then I don’t have to take it.

Use teachers only when necessary.

And now I was in the great library that Aslan Magic Academy boasts.

This place is rightfully a treasure trove.

The knowledge of knowledge is concentrated here.

Just having access to this library is worth the price of joining this academy.

I won’t be able to challenge the upperclassmen to a rank battle for a month, so I’ll spend some time here exploring magic for a while.

Well, in the meantime, if there’s a class that will interest me, I’ll try to attend it at least once. Otherwise, let’s just stay here.

But for now, I have to leave.

As I’m a little interested in the afternoon’s “Magic Pharmacy” class.

“… Ou.”

As soon as I left the library, I heard a voice.

I looked over and there he was─── Abel.

“H-hey, it’s been a while since yesterday…”

People who are less than commoners generally don’t use honorifics.

But there was no discomfort.

So I myself recognize Abel at least to that extent.

“Abel, right?”

“Y-yeah… um, you’re okay with that, right, Luke?”

“Call it whatever you want.”

He was looking very awkward and timid as he looked at my face.

Yesterday’s wounds were nowhere to be found.

I thought he was supposed to have a face cave-in.

The healing magic sure is a wonder.

“You can’t use attribute magic, can you?”

“… Yeah, you know it well.”

“What did you do in the morning?”

“Well, it seems that a teacher named Brad was watching our fight yesterday…”

“… Hou.”

“He forced me to come and train with him… haha…”

Abel laughed tiredly.

Brad and he must have had a lot of hard training.

I see… He’s blessed after all.

This guy has the ability to attract people around him.

Kuku.

You really can’t be underestimated.

“What did you come to this school for?”

“… Eh.”

“Answer me quickly.”

“Ah, Uhh─── to get stronger, I guess.”

“Why do you need to be strong?”

“It’s…”

Abel’s mood suddenly changed.

“───I hope nobody can take it away from me again.”

Ha-hahaha!

What the h**l are those eyes!

Is that what a protagonist does!

Just now.

I saw a glimpse of Abel’s darkness for just a moment.

Regrettably, I have no knowledge of the original story.

I wonder what happened to make him look like this.

“─── What if…”

Yes, a little bit.

A little bit of me wanted to be mean.

“What would you do if I came to steal your precious things?”

“……….”

“You can’t win. You found that out yesterday, right? What will you do? Now, tell me. Tell me your answer…”

“───I will.”

There was no need for me to ask this.

But I couldn’t help but want ask.

I wanted to know Abel’s answer.

“I will─── do whatever it takes…”

“………….”

It was very simple.

But I sensed it.

The true meaning behind those words.

“Ahahaha. Good answer.”

I will not underestimate you.

This unfathomable eeriness is the essence of this guy.

Is good.

Being able to feel this eeriness up close will surely feed me.

“Ahaha… I’m sorry for saying something weird.”

Abel laughed off as if mending.

The bizarre atmosphere that existed earlier was nowhere to be found.

I just never get bored in this kind of school.

By the way, what kind of classes is this guy taking?

Is he going to take the same magical pharmacy class as me?

Well, whatever.

I’ll do what I have to do.

＋＋＋＋＋＋＋＋＋＋

─── Late at night in the Royal Capital.

A back alley with the smell of blood.

Two figures emerge from it.

The two immediately jumped and moved to the roof.

In the moonlight, the figure had almost no exposed skin at all.

“Missed again.”

“I’m already fed up. I should take more direct action.”

“Really, direct?”

“Yeah.”

One was male and the other was a neutral voice.

“But, you sure are scary. You’ve got to be steady, you know. I like living here better than I thought I would.”

“Did you forget our mission?”

“No, I haven’t.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it.”

“You’ll take care of it, you say…”

“Attribute magic users. Their wide-range destruction ability is a threat. But they’re not invincible. People of this country. Overconfident in magic. Easy victory.”

“Huh… if you start talking like that, that child won’t listen… but protect him at least. Don’t be in a hurry. Let’s do it slowly and surely.”

“… got it.”

With these words, the two shadows disappeared into the night.