Chapter 8

After that, Therese and the teacher couldn’t bear watching how bad I was, and I ended up getting coached for a full hour by them.

Then I managed to raise my score to 6 points, and my first magic practice class was over.

Getting double scores was already quite an improvement. And I was going to be instructed by Julius today. Thinking positively that I had nothing but potential, I returned to the classroom with Therese.

Therese told me that she was the daughter of a Marquess family, and most of her family were famous wizards.

“We have another practical exercise the day after tomorrow, so, fufu, let’s do our best.”

“Yes, thank you.”

And contrary to her cool and beautiful appearance, Therese seemed to easily laugh at most things. Even now, only remembering my performance was enough to make her cover her mouth with her hand and laugh.

Throughout the class, she saw my odd magic and told me, “I’m sorry. It’s rude when you’re practicing seriously, isn’t it?” But she chortled several times. But hey, if my weak magic could make her smile prettily, then that’s enough.

We had a desk study class after that, and it was lunch break before I knew it. I planned to buy my lunch at the canteen and eat alone again today, but Therese invited me to eat together.

I, of course, was so happy that I almost jumped.

“But, if I’m not mistaken, A-rank and higher students have a separate canteen, right?”

“S-rank students can bring at least one person with them.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. No one will dare to complain if you’re with me. As an apology for laughing that much, please let me treat you to lunch.”

Although I was a little anxious and worried, I was happy that I was invited, so I decided to take her word for it.

There were two school meals, and those with an A-rank or higher could use a spacious and luxurious cafeteria. From what I heard, the menu was also completely different. They even had salons for students with an A-rank or higher.

The special treatment was to fuel the students’ competitive spirit, I guess.

When I entered the canteen dedicated to the upper ranks with Therese, all eyes turned to me at once. There were students lower than A-rank, but none had the same bright red brooch as me. I definitely stood out.

I sit in an empty seat with Therese, who didn’t seem to care about such things at all. Soon came the staff to take our order. It was different from the school meals I knew.

Since I didn’t know much, I ordered the same thing as her. Then, while we were chatting as we waited for the food to arrive…

“Oh? It’s Rene.”

The person who appeared and said that was, of course, my brother. I already predicted that he would come here, considering he was an S-rank. And so far, I hadn’t seen Jenny, who was an A-rank.

“Hello, Rene.”

“Sir Arnold! Hello.”

“You remembered my name. That’s nice.”

And Arnold was with him today too. The sight of the two beautiful people next to each other was so dazzling that it reminded me of an idol unit.

All the students around me also had their eyes glued on them.

“Ah, this is my brother.”

“I know. He’s famous.”

When I introduced him to Therese, she responded so. Turns out Julius was really, really famous.

“Of course I also know about the princess of the Riddle family. Please take care of my cute little sister.”

“Yes.”

“I feel bad bothering you today, so we’ll eat separately. But let’s eat together next time, okay? Rene.”

My brother patted my head and left. I expected him to persistently bother me as usual, so I was relieved, Was this also Theresa’s power?

After that, I had such a fun lunchtime that it made me want to cry when I remembered eating alone in the empty classroom yesterday.

“I’ve always had a hard time being compared to my bright older brother, and I was quite depressed before. At that time, someone gave me an opportunity to change into who I am now. That’s why I want to support you too.”

“So it’s like that… Thank you.”

“Besides, you’re interesting. Oh, I’m definitely not talking about your magic… well, but your magic was quite funny too, fufu.”

Seeing Therese start to laugh out of nowhere again also made me laugh. If I was a man, I’d definitely fall in love with her for so long.

By the way, her older brother was apparently a top-class national magician. The level of comparison was too different.

She also told me that she would help me get out of the F-rank from now on. Those words were very reassuring, and they made me happy.

We promised to call each other by name with no honorifics and talk casually from now on. For me, this was the first friend I made in this world.

◇◇◇

“Julius, you’re there?”

“Yeah.”

Moved by the fact that I had a friend, I changed into clothes that were each to move in after I got home from the academy and immediately visited Julius’ room.

He came out right away, and we both went straight to the garden.

“You’re preparing for the rank exam, right?”

“Yeah, please teach me.”

“The annual summer technical exam is hitting the targets in the class. It’s easy once you get the hang of it.”

I heard that he got 99 points when he was in the same year as me. This brother of mine was probably more amazing than I thought.

“I also borrowed a measuring tool.”

He took out the same magic tool for scoring that was attached to the target we used during class.

“Eh, can students borrow that?”

“It’s actually not allowed. The female teacher who is keeping the tools likes me, so she immediately lent them to me when I asked. It’s supposed to be a secret.”

“……”

I could only say, “Wow.” He proved that a handsome face and good communication skills were a privilege. I decided to gratefully borrow it.

When Julius activated the magic tool at the edge of the garden, a target instantly appeared underneath it. The technology was too advanced!

“I did this in class today.”

“Then I don’t need to explain it anymore. For now, just try a shot. Any magic is fine.”

Following his instructions, I immediately hit the target with my specialty fireball. The flame flew listlessly before barely hitting the target, and the tool displayed 5 points.

At the same time, I just knew that behind me, Julius was laughing.

“Ahahaha! As expected, it’s the underachieve-Rene(1).”

“Hey!”

Could he please not give me a nickname with that bad pun? He laughed a bit, and then finally looked serious.

“Let’s start by finding attributes you’re proficient with. People used to say that one could tell by the color of their eyes, but it’s a superstition.”

“I see.”

I had pink eyes, and Julius had blue eyes. We also had completely different hair colors, even though we were siblings. I didn’t know anything about my mother, but it probably didn’t matter since we were in a fantasy world.

“Now that I think of it, Julius and I don’t look similar at all. The color of our hair and the color of our eyes are completely different.”

“Ah?”

When I casually pointed out, his clear, sky-blue eyes widened in surprise. Then he started laughing, amused.

“Ahaha, right. I didn’t see that coming.”

“……?”

“We really don’t look alike, yeah?”

He said that, and he kept laughing. I didn’t get it, but I could sense that he was in a better mood than before.

After that, I tested various attribute spells such as water, wind, earth, lightning, light, and darkness with Julius. I was thrilled to find out that I could activate all attributes just by imagining them.

However, since all of them had little magic power, I could only use them somewhat. In the end, we found out that fire magic suits me the best so far.

He taught me how to use fire magic again, and I practiced getting used to the feeling without aiming for the target.

“Yes, like that. You don’t need to adjust your aim, just hit it straight.”

Julius was teaching me more seriously than I had imagined. Was this perhaps related to what he said this morning about needing me to do my best?

My image of my brother, which I had no good impression at all, began to rise little by little. I would never say that out loud, though.

“Now, let’s aim for the target once more and see the result.”

“Okay.”

I gulped once I hit the target with the fireball. Because it was completely different from my magic before.

I had this strange feeling of my body getting used to magic when I was practicing with my brother, unlike when I was taught by Theresa and the teacher. Did it have something to do with this?

“Look. It’s easy, right?”

“…You’re kidding me.”

And above the target was displayed 21 points.