In any case, after finishing breakfast, I left the cafeteria without lingering, as we had a practical combat practice class today.
Walking along the main path toward the training ground, the sunlight had warmed the stone-paved ground until it was slightly hot to the touch.
Towering evergreen trees lined the campus path in spring, lush with green leaves. I quietly blended in with the students bustling back and forth beneath them; as long as I didn't put on airs, not many people paid attention to me.
For one, our lives didn't intersect; and second, rumors were just rumors.
I arrived at the classroom.
Today's schedule was posted on Class A's bulletin board, visible to all the passing students of our class.
Morning: Practical Magic Practice (South Training Ground)
Afternoon: Introduction to Magic Theory, Overview of World Humanities
I glanced at it, then withdrew my gaze and continued walking toward the training ground. Generally speaking, there were four classes a day. Just like in college, each class lasted ninety minutes with breaks in between. Since nothing else was written on the schedule, it meant the entire morning was dedicated to the practice class.
After a week of studying, the time to practice had finally arrived.
From memorizing magic spells to finding the feeling of using mana, and then to our first practice, this was roughly how our magic curriculum had progressed over the week.
If I remembered correctly, the moment for me to suppress Liliana for the first time had also arrived.
In the original timeline, I, with a mana capacity of only seven, grew jealous of Liliana. During the practice class a week later, which was supposed to be a friendly spar where we held back, I chose not to show mercy. Instead, I intentionally increased my mana output in an attempt to hurt Liliana.
Naturally, the incident ended in my defeat, while Liliana demonstrated her immense magical talent. This drew the attention of the student council, serving as the catalyst for her later joining them.
Well, that seems to be getting a bit ahead of ourselves—to explain the student council, I would first have to explain the clubs.
The clubs at the Royal Knight and Magic Academy were divided into two main categories: combat-focused and academic.
The combat-focused category included the Swordsmanship Club, Spearmanship Club, Equestrian Club, Practical Magic Club, Joint Mock Battle Club, and so on;
the academic category covered the Alchemy Research Association, Magic Circle Theory Club, Magical Beast Research Club, Ancient Text Interpretation Association, and so on.
The student council was responsible for coordinating these student clubs and operated independently of the faculty.
Alright, explanation complete. I'll mention more details later.
By this time, I had also arrived at the training ground.
The sun was shining brightly, the sky cloudless and a clear, brilliant blue.
Before I even stepped inside, several girls came forward to greet me warmly. They swirled around me like leaves fluttering around a flower. I was already used to this kind of treatment, though it still made me feel a bit dead inside.
“Lady Aldheim is exceptionally beautiful today as well!”
“Good morning!”
“Please come this way, we've secured a spot! There's no sun!”
“Would you like some water?!”
The most enthusiastic among them was a girl named Helena. When Misha and I were walking to lunch together last time, she had even asked me who Misha was. Her fawning behavior made me wonder just how ambitious she was to be so passionate!
“The two of you get along so well!”
Hey, hey, hey, that kind of comment sounds way too cheerful!
Although everyone who approached me certainly had ulterior motives, I had no idea what she was trying to achieve.
In any case, I dealt with them one by one, sat down in the spot they had prepared, and then scanned the class for a certain someone.
Liliana. I was looking for her.
My basic public stance toward her was this:
Antagonizing her on the surface and suppressing the heroine as a villainess, while silently drawing closer underneath in an awkward, subtle way—creating a sense of distance where we still constantly remained on each other's minds.
Quite the romance novel vibe, isn't it?
Although it might seem like I haven't mentioned it at all, I've actually been playing my role diligently this past week to secure my survival.
Monday to Tuesday: Deliberately cold, drawing a clear line.
We sat together during class.
When she politely bowed and greeted me, I merely gave a cold nod without saying a single word. As a result, Liliana became extremely cautious and timid, not daring to initiate a conversation with me the entire time.
Wednesday to Thursday: An awkward tug-of-war.
I began to actively look for opportunities to target her according to the plot.
However, I couldn't bring myself to actually bully her, so my provocations were very superficial.
For example, when we crossed paths in the hallway, I would intentionally stop and call out to her, deliberately showing off my A+ on yesterday's magic theory homework—well, aren't these the only things you can compare during school days? It kept things from going too far.
Or in the Overview of World Humanities class, seeing how she was completely clueless and bewildered by any geography outside of her hometown.
I would mock her for her ignorance while patiently explaining to her where the Magical Beast Forest was, where the Royal Capital was, and where the grand canyon you could visit was located.
Then there was the student cafeteria...
And the magic items...
In short, there were many instances.
Providence has surely witnessed my actions, so my attempts at suppression must have been highly successful. Now, let the next plot point arrive and let me lose to her!
And then we'll join the student council together.
I'll make all those male leads fall in love with her.
That way, I should be able to escape the dark whirlpool, right?
After all, if I thought about it carefully, the most crucial reason for my death was my jealousy of Liliana—jealous because she snatched the Crown Prince away, and harming Liliana in an attempt to salvage my image and favorability in the prince's eyes.
But now, I wasn't jealous at all; I was merely following the plot. If I could get the prince and her to fly off together early, then I wouldn't have to die, right?
After all, I've been working hard to play the villainess. If things didn't go as planned and they fell head over heels for each other, then it would only be natural for me to bow out.
Providence will surely let me off the hook... It absolutely has to let me off, I don't want to end up as some sacrificial pawn.
For now, I've named this strategy Plan B.
It was also something I came up with over the past week.
I rested my chin in my hand, my eyes unfocused as I enjoyed Helena fanning me from the side.
...
Shifting the gaze back to the current blue sky.
Liliana was currently in a frantic rush to reach the training ground.
The academy was far too massive, several times larger than all the wheat fields in her hometown combined. As a result, even after a week of school, she still hadn't figured out how to get to most of the buildings.
She had left the dormitory late again today. Fiona (her roommate) had to leave early for something, otherwise she would have definitely brought Liliana along.
Fortunately, her efforts paid off.
The South Training Ground was on the other side of the teaching area. After exiting the Magic Department's teaching building, she had to cross a stone path lined with holly bushes, then turn past an old oak tree rumored to be three hundred years old to reach it.
“Wow—” Liliana gasped.
The training ground was a standalone building.
Or rather, instead of a building, it was more like a circular arena covered by a massive dome.
The dome was constructed from some translucent material, allowing the sunlight to filter through from the outside and cast a soft, warm glow over the interior, like a veil draped over the entire arena.
The floor was paved with dark gray stone slabs, and silver magical lines were embedded in the gaps between them, spreading densely to every corner of the circular arena.
Were many of those magic circuits for a magical defense barrier?
Recalling the content she had studied this week—
According to what Ms. Elena had explained in theory class, the training ground's defense barrier had been personally carved by the court archmage of that era when the academy was founded. It could absorb stray mana impacts, preventing students from losing control and harming others.
Hovering around the edge of the dome were over a dozen fist-sized crystal balls, their surfaces swirling with a pale blue glow—these were monitoring crystals.
Once the power of a spell exceeded the limits set for the class, they would intervene to freeze the magic.
To put it simply, they were like lifeguards at a swimming pool.
Quite a few people were already standing inside the training ground.
The Class A students were gathered in groups of twos and threes. Some were whispering about magic incantations, some were warming up by rotating their wrists and ankles, and some—like Clara—
The young girl was leaning against the wall with her eyes closed. Cotton was curled up into a ball on top of her head, and both girl and pet were fast asleep.
Zzzz...
What a cute sleeping face.
Liliana thought with a smile. Back in her hometown, people rarely harbored hostility toward others, and everyone helped one another, so she was naturally friendly toward everyone in the class.
She had actually fallen asleep while standing.
Class A wasn't the only class in the training ground; there was also a class from the Swordsmanship Department, seemingly first-years as well.
Then, following her gaze, Liliana spotted a striking figure in the swordsmanship class, and her cheek twitched.
Waldenburg...
The name surfaced in her mind.
They had run into each other in the library about two or three days ago. She had been looking for a book on the introduction to magic circuits because her constitution seemed a bit unusual, and she wanted to see if she could find an explanation in a book... As for why she didn't ask a teacher, as a commoner, she was afraid of troubling them and also feared that people with ulterior motives might cause trouble.
Then, when reaching for the book, their fingertips had brushed against each other.
“Ah... I'm sorry, you go first.”
“...”
“Are you Liliana, the commoner freshman admitted this year who is rumored to have a mana capacity of ten?”
“Y-Yes, that's me.”
(An inexplicable silence and a soft chuckle.)
“What an interesting woman.”
Leaving behind that single line, he had walked away, though not before taking down the book Liliana wanted and placing it on top of her head. Every action of his had been incredibly doting.
So now, seeing him in the adjacent swordsmanship class, Liliana felt an indescribable emotion stirring in her heart.
(Voiceover: If this were from Loris's perspective, she would definitely complain about what a classic romance game opening it was.)
While she was lost in thought, Fiona and Sarah, the glasses girl, skipped over to Liliana's side.
“Hello, hello, Liliana!”
“What took you so long?”
“I got lost, ehehe...”
After a week of school, the three of them had already become very close friends, and they playfully complained about why she had only arrived just now.
They chatted and laughed.
A few minutes later, footsteps approached.
Ms. Elena arrived.
“Today is your first magic practice class.”
Soon, all the students of Class A gathered before her on their own accord, keeping quiet.
Then, her voice, though not loud, was steady and fell clearly into everyone's ears:
“Before we officially begin, I would like to congratulate you all.”
The results of the mana capacity test have already been finalized... she added in her mind.
Ms. Elena's gaze slowly swept across the room, lingering on Loris for a brief moment before pausing on Liliana.
“This year's first-year Magic Department has produced three students with a mana capacity of ten, and one with a nine.”
“This number is unprecedented in the past ten years.” Ms. Elena paused before continuing, “The last time the Royal Knight and Magic Academy welcomed three freshmen with a mana capacity of ten at the same time was thirty-one years ago.”
“Of those three, one later became the Chief Court Mage, one served as the magical advisor to the Northern Legion, and the other—whose name many of you here might have heard—is the current vice president of the Mage Association.”
The vast training ground fell silent for a brief moment, followed by a wave of whispers rising and falling.
Even though they had known this for a while, hearing it emphasized again still made them unable to help but marvel.
The rumors around the school had been spreading like wildfire this past week.
They were roughly along these lines:
“Class A of the Magic Department produced two tens—the eldest daughter of the Aldheim family, and a commoner!”
“Not two, but three! Waldenburg from the Swordsmanship Department is also a ten!”
“As expected. Though I'm not surprised by the eldest daughter of the Aldheim family and Waldenburg, but still...”
“What's the deal with that commoner?”
“Not sure. Apparently, she's from the south and got in through the selection exam...”
...
A mana capacity of ten was indeed rare in this country, but it wasn't to the point of being a once-in-a-century phenomenon. Ms. Elena was right; a few would usually crop up every decade or so.
Just like in her past life, when a student from a rural county occasionally got into a top university, the entire county would hang banners, set off firecrackers, beat gongs and drums, and parade the top scorer through the streets. Yet on a national scale, which province or city didn't have a few every year?
This kingdom had a total population of only a few million, so a freshman with a mana capacity of ten was like that top scorer from a small county getting into a top university.
With three appearing all at once this year, the academy's administration was likely already pondering how to write this year's annual report to make themselves look as prestigious as possible.
“However,” Ms. Elena's voice rang out again, instantly pulling everyone's attention back, “mana capacity is just talent. Talent determines your ceiling, but what truly determines how far you can go is down-to-earth practice.”
“And today is the first step.”
“Focus up.”
Ms. Elena turned and walked, the hem of her dark robe swaying gently with her steps, still holding that deep-blue-covered register in her hand.
She walked to the center of the arena and swept her gaze back over them.
“Everyone, gather round.”
The thirty students immediately gathered from around the training ground once more. Clara was nudged awake by someone beside her; rubbing her eyes, she sluggishly shuffled over while Cotton rolled over on her head and went back to sleep.
“It has already been a week since school started.”
Ms. Elena's gaze swept over every face. “In the classes over the past few days, you learned about the stability of magic circuits, the principles of mana transport, the structure of basic defense spells, and the construction of basic attack spells.”
“Today is the time to test your results.”
She paused.
“Practical combat drills.”
As soon as those three words left her mouth, a flurry of quiet chatter broke out among the ranks.
Some were excited, some were nervous, some looked unbothered, and some had already begun to repeatedly chant their spells in a whisper.
“The rules are simple.”
Ms. Elena opened the register:
“I will randomly draw two student numbers to form a sparring pair. The format of the battle will be turn-based—in the first round, one side attacks while the other defends; in the second round, the roles are reversed.”
“Each person will perform three rounds of offense and defense, and I will grade you based on my assessment.”
“The top ten scorers will receive a meal card for the second floor of the student cafeteria, with a total balance of one hundred credits.”
“The top three will be exempt from homework until next month.”
“And for the first-place scorer, there will be a mysterious surprise.”
Ms. Elena kept them in suspense with a mysterious smile, which instantly piqued the curiosity of the entire class.
Next, she pointed up at the pale blue crystal balls hovering around the edge of the dome.
“Attack spells are limited strictly to the basic Mana Bullet, which is what we've taught. I know some of you have deliberately learned other spells, but that won't do today; you are only allowed to use Mana Bullets to attack.”
“Similarly, defense spells are limited strictly to basic defense magic. No advanced spells are allowed.”
“Additionally, the attacking side is not allowed to deliberately aim at vital spots, nor are you allowed to continue attacking after the opponent has lost the ability to defend.”
Her tone was flat, but each “not allowed” carried an unquestionable authority.
“Do you all understand?”
“Understood!”
“Very well.” Ms. Elena looked down at the register. “First group.”
Everyone's breath caught slightly during her pause.
“Student number seven, Clara Wendell. Student number fifteen, Fiona Gray.”
Rate on N.U.
