The Greatest Magicmaster's Retirement Plan: Volume 8 - ebook

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FORTY-THIRD CHAPTER

Awkward Good News

An announcement was made that stunned the militaries of all the nations, the shock spreading through them in ripples. It was a report on the elimination of a Devourer that appeared some dozens of kilometers out from Balmes’ border.

It was, of course, kept from the average citizens, being revealed only to the upper echelons of each nation’s military; but the details were surprising to say the least.

Just the name _Devourer_ was enough to make people remember the horrible past. Not to mention that it had been designated as an SS-class. Because of that, there were some who doubted the truth of it. They would have to go back half a century just to find a comparable example.

In reality, despite being called the official report, the report had seen some alteration by Berwick who’d had overall command of the operation. Details on Alus, and any mentions of his special ability, had been completely erased from the report. Aside from that, the credit wasn’t given to Alus alone, but to him and Lettie and the squad under their command.

The incident was finally settled, and only a handful of people knew the truth. Fortunately, the incident was enough to get the top brass of the militaries to adopt a more serious attitude. The battle against the Fiends had been long, and lately the tables had begun to turn in their favor, which made for a lax atmosphere—but this brought them right back to reality.

No matter how competent they might be, familiarity with the Fiends could make a person complacent. The military wouldn’t get off their backside until a fatal mistake had been made. It wasn’t until a while after they stepped off the right path before they would turn around, having finally realized their mistake.

The bigger the organization was, the more its leaders neglected to confirm where they were going. And after experiencing the threat of extinction, they became arrogant in their belief that humanity could still make a comeback. But the state of affairs had improved somewhat for now.

The people of the world were still in a slumber. They had no way of knowing that the temporary peace they experienced now was all thanks to the efforts of a single boy with extraordinary powers.

***

The elimination of the Devourer Demi Azur had left Alus unconscious, but two days after he woke up, he and Loki returned to Alpha.

Upon his return, he was forced into helping to make a report of this unprecedented incident, which took another week. Not to mention that it took several weeks for Alus to fully recover and to treat Loki’s legs. So, by the time Alus and Loki returned to their everyday lives, it was already the middle of November.

It had been a while since he’d lived an ordinary life, and even he felt some joy upon his return to it. However, at the same time, he felt a strange unease now that he possessed an overwhelming abundance of mana.

“Welcome back. Finally, huh,” Tesfia said.

“It’s been a while, Loki dear,” Alice said.

It was early in the morning, and Alus and Loki had just come out of the research building when Tesfia and Alice called out to them. Both girls looked like they’d been waiting for this.

They hadn’t set up a meeting or told them anything ahead of time. Maybe they’d seen the light on inside. They had their student bags and AWRs with them as usual, as opposed to when they’d been at the Friendship Magical Tournament.

But there was nothing that could welcome Alus back to his regular routine more than this sight, as if the balance of his everyday life had returned to normal. Now, the fact that he’d come back finally sank in.

“We’re back. It’s been a while,” Loki returned the greeting, while Alus took a moment to process the strange sensation.

It didn’t feel like it had been a while to him. He felt uncomfortable with himself though, for accepting this sight as ordinary. He looked forward to the time when his regular days as a student would feel natural again.

Leaving Alus’ feelings aside, Tesfia rushed up to him and peered at his face. “You’ve been away for a whole month now. Don’t you think you’re in danger of repeating a year?” She immediately hit a sore spot.

Alus decided not to ask how much they’d heard about the mission.

“It should be fine,” Loki said, listening in from Alus’ other side. “The principal should know the circumstances, so he should get a special exemption for the credits at least.” She didn’t seem worried in the slightest, and had a happy expression on her face as she got closer to Alus.

“What, so it was all for nothing, then,” Alice told Tesfia, with an amused and mischievous look on her face.

Meanwhile, Tesfia put her finger in front of her lips as if to silence her. Perhaps she was a little embarrassed as well, since her cheeks were red.

“Did something happen?” Loki asked.

“Actually, after you were absent for a few days, Fia and I started to worry about you advancing to the next year. We wanted to do something about your attendance at least, so we cheated a little... It was the first time I did something bad,” Alice said in an inappropriately cheery voice.

“Oh.” Alus caught on to what she meant.

Attendance checks differed from class to class. And there were plenty of teachers who relied on the good old method of reading names from a register and listening for the response. Some requested reports be submitted, or that licenses be shown, but the method was ultimately left up to each teacher. So it wasn’t impossible to ask a friend to reply when one’s name was called.

The Institute was well aware that this could happen, but as the Second Magical Institute was so prestigious, they didn’t expect there to be any students who were that underhanded.

“I’m surprised such a proud noble would do such a thing,” Alus commented.

“But that’s all I could do! Normally, you’re out if you don’t have enough attendance, you know!” Her methods were clumsy, but considering her personality, no one would have expected such behavior from Tesfia.

“You’ve worked hard for Sir Alus’ sake.” Loki looked like she’d revised her opinion of them, and decided to give them praise.

“I wouldn’t call it hard...” Tesfia said.

“And we got caught in the end, anyways,” Alice added with a sly smile.

“Hm, I figured as much. Even if you got someone to imitate me, the principal would be keeping tabs on me anyway. You’ll need to put a little more effort into it. Since you’re a noble, you could at least bribe the faculty.”

“—!! That’s not cheating, that’s straight up illegal!”

“It’s a joke... well, you know... it seems like I made you worry.” Alus turned his eyes away from Tesfia, scratching his cheek. He’d almost reluctantly said it, and hoped the words would be forgotten quickly.

But Tesfia’s expression melted into a smile. “That’s okay. I caused you a lot of trouble before the tournament and with my mother. I’d like to repay you in whatever way I can.”

Seeing her refreshing smile, Alus realized her problems had subsided for now. “I thank you for your underhanded work,” he retorted sarcastically, and Tesfia grimaced.

“I was a little worried when it took you two so long to return. But I’m glad we can go to class together again.” Alice sounded relieved.

Alus couldn’t help but feel a little guilty when it came to her, but military matters took priority. That was the unspoken promise he’d made to Berwick. “Well, there were some complicated things going on.”

“Hmm. I see...” Tesfia said with a frown, but the light in her eyes betrayed her curiosity.

“What, you’re not going to ask for once?”

“If I asked, would you answer?”

“Not a chance. It’s too much of a bother,” Alus replied dismissively.

Tesfia pouted for a moment, but soon gave him a mischievous smile as if she’d seen that reply coming all along. Alice wore a similar expression, and also didn’t ask any further.

However, both understood that Alus’ retirement was only a partial one, due to Berwick’s orders. And they knew there was a lot of secrecy involved. Alus and Loki couldn’t say a lot publically, which was why they didn’t even try to get any hints out of them, showing consideration toward Alus.

He noticed this as well, but didn’t touch further on it, changing the topic for now. “But that aside, you two haven’t been skipping out on training, have you?”

If they’d shown any alarming reactions, he might have had to appeal to the principal to get them a babysitter... but these two were no slackers. They both puffed out their chests in pride, and answered at the same time.

“Not at all!” Tesfia cried.

“Of course not,” Alice said.

That said, if they had, all of their training so far would have been a waste. Someone with Alus’ overwhelming talent was one thing, but all these two had was more motivation than most. As he looked at their expressions, it seemed that wasn’t all.

“Hehe, there’s one more thing we have in store for you,” Tesfia said. “It’s going to knock your socks off!”

“Yeah!” Alice added enthusiastically.

At those meaningful words, Alus asked, “Don’t tell me you two cleared it?”

The training stick that repelled mana made of the outer shell of the Salqueroit was a very plain training method. But the essence of mana control wasn’t something that could be picked up in a day. So the two completing the training stick method in such a short period of time showed how good they’d become.

But being able to completely clear it would mean they had talent that far exceeded that of a normal person.

“Ah... well... I wouldn’t go that far.” Alice picked up on Alus’ astonishment, and smiled wryly.

“Can you not raise the bar, please? We’ve become able to enchant it for a lot longer now!” Tesfia said in triumph.

Hearing that, it was Alus’ turn to shrug after realizing he’d expected too much. No, it was probably still impressive in its own right. He hadn’t seen their results for himself yet. If Tesfia was to be believed, their growth was still exceptional.

“Well, you can show me after class.”

“Yeah, look forward to it! But don’t expect too much, okay?”

“Which is it?”

“Well, just have the right amount of expectations...”

“Fia, you’re being so roundabout. You just want to get Al’s praise, don’t you?”

“N-No!” Tesfia moved to block Alice’s mouth, her cheeks a little red.

“... I just hope my expectations will be betrayed in a good sense.”

The two sighed in response to Alus’ curt words.

Incidentally, the mention of seeking Alus’ praise had earned Tesfia and Alice a sharp glare from Loki, but fortunately nobody noticed.

Either way, they’d all safely returned to their calm, everyday lives. Though Alus wasn’t fully satisfied as they headed for the main building...

As the way to the main building passed by the girls’ dorm, he saw an overwhelming number of female students on the path. The boys’ dorm was in a completely different location, so the presence of some boys on the path could only be explained by the fact that they were in puberty.

Walking along the path, Alus and Loki put on puzzled expressions as they noticed the strange atmosphere. It wasn’t a big deal or anything, but because of their line of work, they were sensitive to changes in atmosphere.

Seeing good friends walking together was the same as usual. But what was different was the tone of their discussions, which sounded livelier than before. It seemed to be mostly gossiping, but today they all appeared to be talking about the same topic.

It was a mixture of emotions from expectation to envy, curiosity to doubt, but despite everything, it was clearly a topic all the female students were enjoying.

Amused by Alus’ and Loki’s reactions, Tesfia shrugged and smiled. “You’ll find out soon enough.”

“Right. It’s been all the talk these days,” Alice added, as she glanced at the female students out of the corner of her eye.

***

The strange atmosphere that Alus and Loki were sensing had even invaded the main building. An abnormal number of students were enthusiastically engaging in conversation. It was the same topic everywhere, with some even going from circle to circle to gather information.

In the classroom, it was the same. Alus didn’t even have to strain his ears to pick up what they were saying, and he furrowed his brows. He felt an inexplicable bad feeling, akin to a chill.

“... From what I heard from an upperclassman, there’s apparently no doubt about it.”

“So it’s been officially announced not just in Alpha, but in all seven nations?”

“No, only a handful of people in the military know about it. That upperclassman’s parents have a lot of connections in the military, so it should be reliable information. It’s been shared quite a bit among the second and third years.”

“So, what about the name? What’s his name?”

“That’s the part that’s wrapped in mystery!”

“Right... but still...”

“Yeah. I’m sure he’s just fantastic. He’s at the pinnacle of all Magicmasters, after all!”

“I wonder if we’ll ever get a chance to see him.”

“Keep talking! Supposedly, almost nobody’s ever seen him, even in the military. He’s achieved so much alongside Lady Lettie, and seeing as how there’s almost no information on him, it must be being kept secret for a different reason...”

As he looked at some of the male students gossiping, Alus felt a headache coming on.

The Devourer that had been eliminated had a threat level that was previously unheard of. Because it was a great feat that would go down in history, while the details could be kept hidden, the event itself was impossible to conceal. It may have taken place in the Outer World, but the scale was too large to hide.

Not to mention, rumors of the ranked No. 1 Magicmaster’s involvement were circulating as if it were accepted truth. Alpha had dispatched the elite squad under direct command of the Single Digit Magicmaster Lettie, and the other six nations had sent in their strongest forces as well, and trying to hide all of that was simply impossible.

As a result, the fact that Alpha’s two Singles had eliminated the threat leaked out, which gave way to all kinds of speculation. Of course, specific details had been squelched so as not to worry the general population.

Meanwhile, the female students were getting ahead of themselves with their wild delusions.

“There’s no doubt about it, it’s finally time for Alpha’s ranked No. 1 to make his debut in the world! I don’t know why the military is so secretive though...” one girl passionately exclaimed, as the others nodded their heads.

Alus’ achievements weren’t being covered up, but they hadn’t been officially announced either. The top brass wanted to keep the fact that Alpha’s ranked No. 1 was still just a boy quiet for the time being. In a few years, his age would better match his fame anyway.

This was the first time Alus and Loki heard what the students were talking about, but based on Tesfia’s and Alice’s expressions, it was indeed a daily occurrence. Thinking about these kinds of rumors being spread on a daily basis, Alus felt he did the right thing in not returning to the Institute for so long.

“As Balmes was in danger, he swept down to save them along with Lady Lettie and her elites... how dreamy. Also, this is just between us, but...” Suddenly, the female student leaned in closer to the circle of girls. She purposefully held her palm over her mouth to whisper secrets. But, perhaps due to her excitement, she wasn’t able to keep her voice as low as she’d intended, so it reached all the way to Alus. “The ranked No. 1 has already managed to reclaim the continents of Zentley and Covent.”

The next moment, disappointed voices rang out.

“I knew that ages ago. News needs to be fresh!”

“Everyone knows that already.”

The girl who was interrupted didn’t look upset. If anything, she smiled, as if to say she got them. She let out an exaggerated sigh, before checking her surroundings.

“... Do you have anything else?”

“I-If you do, please do share.”

The voices around her got excited again.

“Oh! I guess I have to... Actually, this is very recent information, and almost no one knows it... But it hasn’t been officially announced, so you have to keep it a secret.”

The female student’s act made the girls around her swallow in anticipation.

It was there that Alus lost interest, figuring it would only be baseless rumors, but still, he couldn’t keep the sound of it from reaching him at his desk. This was a standard lecture, so there were no assigned seats. As a result, Alus sat down by the window at the back, with Loki, Tesfia, and Alice taking seats on the same row. At some point, the four had begun acting together as if they were their own faction.

Alus realized he had some time left before first period, so he pulled some documents he’d brought with him out of his bag. Actually, this was pretty much the first time he’d brought his bag with him to class. Just as he stared at the first document and tried to shut out the outside world...

“That’s not all. He’s also been involved in solving all kinds of incidents within the nation, performing great deeds in places we can’t discuss!”

“That’s amazing... but don’t you think he’s achieving too much? I’m sure he gets a constant stream of requests from the military, but is he all right?”

Alus unconsciously nodded at those words. If that’s how they felt, he hoped they’d make a direct appeal to the Governor-General.

“That’s true. Just because he’s at the top of all Magicmasters, they can’t just run him ragged. Anyways, I’m sure any mission he gets involved in is resolved in the blink of an eye.”

One girl sighed. “I wonder what he’s like.”

The gossiping continued, and Alus’ focus was forcibly brought back to reality. The female students were entertaining their delusions with ecstatic expressions. Their fantasy version of the ranked No. 1 was probably a perfect person without any semblance of flaws. The peculiar atmosphere that exuded from the teenage girls could only be described as detached from reality and dreamy.

With a bitter expression, Alus kept his cheek from twitching, as he thought that unfortunately there was no such perfect man.

That said, considering the two major incidents with Godma Barhong and the Devourer, some information leaking out was probably inevitable. It was fine for now, but if someone with connections to the military’s upper echelons took a real interest, then Alus’ identity would come out in a matter of moments, shattering his peaceful student life.

He understood there wasn’t even a faint hope of trying to impersonate someone else. After glancing at Loki, who had a satisfied smile on her face, Alus looked over to Tesfia. And what he got in response was a wry smile, as if to say, “See?”

If this had been going on for days like Alice said, then it would be an unbearable situation for Alus. _You can never really trust rumors, but it seems there’s some degree of truth to them, like they’re gradually approaching the truth._ Letting out a grand sigh, as if to ask them to spare him, Alus squeezed the bridge of his nose.

However, the circle continued...

“I’m sure he’s a wonderful man! If he stood side by side with Sir Jean, it would make for such a wonderful picture!”

“Of course, he’s one of the most powerful Magicmasters in history. I’m sure he’s got the looks to match, just looking at him would probably take your breath away.”

Hearing all this, anyone would feel pain at their selfish expectations. And Alus could feel his headache getting worse. He once again realized what a drag it was to keep his identity a secret. If the time came when he’d have to reveal his identity, he shuddered at the thought of how different he was from the image people had.

Noticing how Alus felt, Tesfia gave him a complacent smile and whispered, “Being a ladykiller must be rough...”

It was meant to be sarcastic, but Alus didn’t have the composure to realize that, as he groaned.

Loki simply nodded her head, while Alice smiled wryly, neither confirming nor denying it.

That was when the female student in the center of the circle noticed Alus and the others, and gave them a graceful curtsy. But the flaming passion of the girls around her made her turn her eyes back to them, as her blonde hair swayed.

She opened her shapely mouth as if to feed the chicks awaiting their food around her. Her graceful facial features and the way she conducted herself made it easy to guess she was a lady from a prestigious family.

The Institute had a large number of students from the nobility and the upper class. So that in itself wasn’t particularly unusual, but Alus tried to recall if he had such a glamorous classmate. He didn’t pay any real attention to his classmates, not wanting to waste any precious memory on them. So if he couldn’t remember them, it couldn’t be helped.

Even as he looked around the classroom, he didn’t really remember the faces or names of anyone aside from the three girls with him. But after hearing the female student’s next words, she left a deep impression on Alus.

“About Ulhava, the Magicmaster who represented Alpha in the magical martial arts demonstration... a Magicmaster by that name doesn’t exist. Not in Alpha, at least.”

The circle buzzed with commotion over this, and the girl continued with a satisfied expression, “See, now you get it? I believe that he’s the one. Actually, I had my older brother investigate it, and I’m all but convinced.”

_Well, if you thoroughly investigate it, it’s something you could find out. But still..._ Alus casually looked over at the blonde student. If she was just a normal Magicmaster or half-baked noble, she wouldn’t be able to get any leads on Alus. After all, it was Berwick who was in charge of controlling the information.

As if she’d seen through his confusion, Tesfia whispered to him, “Lilisha Ron de Rimfuge Frusevan. She transferred in during the Friendship Magical Tournament. The Rimfuges are a well-known family of Magicmasters in Alpha.”

The head of the Rimfuge family was a lord who ruled a territory, a rarity in Alpha. While Alpha had a number of noble families, very few actually had territory of their own to rule. The administration of Alpha’s land was under the control of the ruler, and there weren’t many who wanted to rule a territory like that. An overwhelming majority leased territory instead, to keep up appearances.

This was a result of the aristocracy’s power decreasing as their lands shrunk, and their fiefdoms faded away. While they maintained the name of nobility, their authority was a mere shadow of the past. So there were only a few who lorded over territory in the present day.

“Anyways, it’s a prestigious family known for producing excellent Magicmasters. But... it’s unusual and strange for the youngest daughter to transfer in this late in the year.”

As Alus listened to Tesfia, it rang a bell even to someone as uninterested in nobility as him. It was a name he’d heard every now and then in the military.

Meanwhile, the girl in question continued, “It’s actually Lady Cicelnia who recommended this Ulhava.” The blonde girl, Lilisha, sounded amused as her words gathered the attention of those around her. Despite having transferred in at such an odd time, she appeared to be mixing in well with the class, thanks to the information she had on hand.

At the same time, Alus added her name to the list of people that might threaten his peaceful life at the Institute.

“Should we rake her over the coals, Sir Alus?” Loki casually said with an expressionless face.

But there was no room for doubt that she’d actually do it. If Alus ordered it, she’d surely call that Lilisha to the back of the building... and he didn’t want to imagine what would happen then. “Leave it be. There’s no real harm done yet. Besides, since she’s nobility, she’ll eventually learn that messing with me will only end up hurting her more.”

“Okay...”

Alus was a bit worried over how easily his partner backed down, but considering the current atmosphere of the Institute, he realized it would be a waste of time to warn her every time.

That’s when Alice changed the topic with feigned innocence. “That aside, the whole Institute is like this, so even we’ve been making guesses at your and Loki dear’s mission. Though there are some parts that only we know.”

“Even if I’m being kept a secret, I have a personal life as well. So the secret will reach its limit at some point. I’ll just have to hope that the commotion doesn’t get any bigger than this. I don’t want any of you letting anything out either, it’ll only be a pain for me.”

“Of course not!” Alice replied immediately.

... But Tesfia paused for a moment, and said thoughtfully, “Well... the principal told us that too, and it’s not like I’m going to go spread the word, but do you think it’s something you’ll be able to hide forever?”

Alus himself had his doubts about that. Well, he didn’t actually care about his status being leaked out. The problem was that his troubles would only increase. Most of all, he wanted to avoid getting pushed further and further away from his research.

However, the nuance in Tesfia’s words seemed to have a different meaning from what he understood. Alus had only recently begun to understand how ignorant of the ways of the world he’d been.

Tesfia had her shortcomings, but maybe because of her noble background, she had a different point of view that she could bring to the table. Or maybe it was her lack of maturity.

As the teacher came in and the discussion came to a stop, Alus swapped places with Loki and urged Tesfia to continue. “What do you think, Fia...?”

Alice and Loki leaned in towards Alus to listen in, though Loki seemed to have a different objective in mind as she got closer than necessary.

“I just want to live a quiet life where nothing happens,” Alus said. “Well, aside from you guys.”

Tesfia, still being serious, split her focus from the lecture and spoke without looking his way. “I’m sure it’s something Alice also knows,” she sighed. “The talk may be focused on the great and mighty ranked No. 1 right now, but when we came back from the tournament, there was a festive mood here at the Institute.”

Just the thought of it depressed him, but Alpha’s victory was an unmistakable accomplishment. He was just happy that he hadn’t been here for it.

Tesfia continued, as Alice nodded along, “At first, everyone was celebrating the win itself, but after they settled down, people started talking about the individuals involved. I mean, you did retire in the middle of it.”

“Ah, yeah.”

“Retiring like that without a reason is seriously frowned on. In fact, there’s probably never been anyone who retired for any reason other than injuries. Though Feli did try to help smooth things over, so there’s not as much frustration over it anymore.”

She rested her cheek on her desk as she said, “Eventually, everyone focused on your matches up to the finals.”

“Was there a problem?” Alus asked.

“Of course there was! You know the average student’s abilities, right? If you achieve a record-breaking five-second match, you’ll naturally be the talk of the town. You only stood out a little before, but it’s worse now.”

“This is my first time hearing it...”

Tesfia had actually been busy with her own matches, but had heard it from someone else. And she’d wanted to let Alus know about it. “Sheesh...” Her expression seemed to say that he didn’t understand how she felt at all. However, she didn’t look too bothered by it.

Alus didn’t feel much regret over what he’d done. If anything, he’d held back quite a bit. The magic he’d used was very basic; it was just that the match had been short. So he’d figured there wouldn’t be any problems, but apparently that wasn’t the case.

“They thoroughly grilled me and Alice, too,” Tesfia went on. There wasn’t any anger in her voice, but her exhaustion came through in her expression and gestures.

“Well, we’re always with Al, after all. They asked us a lot of things, but the most common one was your rank,” Alice whispered.

The principal had told them to keep quiet about it before, so it must’ve been quite the pain to deal with. “There’s not much I can do about that. Even the Governor-General told me to let the opponent use a little magic, though.” Alus had felt inconvenienced, and while he wasn’t aware of it, he even felt a bit upset.

Loki was probably in the same position, but in her case, her rank had been revealed by the time she transferred in. Alus was just too far from the norm.

“Looks like I caused you two some trouble,” Alus noted.

His completely unexpected words took Tesfia and Alice some time to process. Tesfia was the first to return to her senses and open her mouth. “Ahh, no, it wasn’t that bad... ranking aside, I don’t think it’s possible for you to hide your full power.”

“You did nothing wrong, Al.”

The somewhat loud voice startled Alus for a moment. He turned around and saw Loki tightly pursing her lips. “There’s no way around it with such a big difference in ability. And you were still considerate on top of that! What more can they ask of you!!”

“Don’t get off the main point,” Alus told her, placing his hand on her head.

Loki didn’t look willing to back down on that point. She got even closer to Alus.

“Well, if the top brass does something, I won’t have to make any moves, though I doubt that’ll be the case the way Alpha is right now.”

“Is it that bad?” Tesfia asked him anxiously.

Thinking about it, Alus recalled that he’d revealed that Babel’s barrier was growing weaker. “Well, it’s mostly the same everywhere, but they’re all better off than Balmes. But it’s not like the rank of No. 1 is something you achieve by choice. It’s important to keep everything in moderation.”

“Don’t give us such hopeless talk.” Tesfia looked dumbfounded as Alus gave out these gloomy words. She used to believe that rank was the most important thing, so it was hard for her to process this. But unfortunately, there was no hope to be found in Alus’ opinion.

But Alus was only allowed to entertain these thoughts for a moment, as Tesfia took advantage of their talk to drop a bombshell. “Also, Mother, uhm... took a little... or rather, a lot of interest in you...” she squeezed out in a small voice, and Alus nearly blurted out his surprise.

But it was better than not being told about it. It was something he’d more or less caught on to when Frose Fable, Tesfia’s mother, made her way into the Institute and forced that promise out of him.

Seeing Tesfia so cornered was strange, but it was something that Alus had said himself. So it might be his just deserts. “I bet. Knowing her, I doubt you could do anything about her.”

“Well, yeah, but...”

“Then whatever will happen, will happen.” Alus took this opportunity to confirm something. “And, so what did your mother decide? Though I guess the answer is obvious since you’re here.”

He was asking about the promise Tesfia made with her mother about determining her potential as a Magicmaster. Even though there hadn’t been much time, both Tesfia and Alice had worked hard to prepare for the tournament.

The redhead puffed out her chest, and secretly flashed Alus a V sign with a massive smile on her face. “I won, so of course it went perfect! Also, during my match with Alice... I managed to use Zepel!!”

“Seriously... I gave you hints, but I wasn’t sure you’d be able to handle it. Talk about missing the mark. I was sure one of you would finally drop out.”

“Hey!” Tesfia protested.

“Fine. I guess you’re going to have tag along for a while longer.”

“That’s right. I look forward to it, Al!” Tesfia said with a bright expression.

Alice went along with the atmosphere and whispered, “Me too.”

However, it appeared Tesfia’s voice had been too loud, not to mention the way Loki was leaning in too close to Alus was suspicious, so the four of them became the subjects of a harsh scolding.