Volume 1 - CH 10

In the Courtyard

“All hail Big Boobs!”

*crackle*

The magic power of the lightning attribute assaulted Arum. With no defensive magic up and being unable to dodge the attack thanks to his locked position, he couldn’t help but be subjected to the tyranny of the sparks that seemed to have passed by his own Lightning Cannon and threatened to paralyze him.

But Arum gritted his teeth as he bore onto the pain.

‘All for the glory of master and her assets!’

The pain felt from the lightning seemed to be meaningless to Arum. Because no matter what the giant does, it won’t change his resolve. As long as Arum defeats the giant in front of him, all the pain in his body would be paid for with good returns as he exacts revenge for the disrespect shown for his teacher. He would be able to prove that his teacher was the best!

Such was the bond that he shared with his teacher who had been with him in times of despair and always only propelled him to move forward despite his crippled state. It wasn’t just a matter of ‘emotions’. Arum had to do this and any upright person would have. The favors that his master had done for him weren’t easy to repay.

“Go Go Go!”

The lightning reinforced body of the giant got crushed under Arum’s continued assault. A heavy beam of light pierced through his torso and reached out to heaven as it rose further and further up at a slanted angle. The knight that had bought victory to its many a master of the same house now knelt on both of his knees.

“Unbelievable…”

Finally, the giant collapsed on the floor with a thud.

The streaks of light that went up to heaven built a tower of light in the sky for everyone to mesmerize.

“Go…. Oh….”

The last voice that the giant raised was not a winning battle cry, unlike its usual endeavors. Arum walked up to the giant to deal the death blow to it. The giant was killed by a mere man who was not even a noble… who was never supposed to be a wizard.

The magical power of the lightning attribute burst out with shimmers as the giant finally dissipated living its last breath.

“I Won!” A declaration filed with self-satisfaction resounded in the hall room. There was no response, it was just apt silence. Everyone was too shocked to respond.

It was then…

Arum’s eyes turned dim. The adrenaline rushing through the body that pushed him so far to subside the attacks of thunder was no more as concentrated as before.

*Thud*

He fell to the ground as his body gave out paralyzed. The only thing that hadn’t given out yet were his drooping eyes that gazed into the sky. The rising light had its source cut off and nothing of it remained. Now the only thing that was in front of Arum was a beautiful blue sky clear as ever.

It had totally slipped out of his mind the victory condition of the duel. The wizard who won’t be able to continue anymore would definitely be the one losing.

But…

“I’m glad I opened the ceiling before…”

Someone’s muttering already told who the winner was.

***

What happened after that?

The duel that had rung out everything from both sides ended in vain with no clear result or official announcement. Everyone was left at their own assumptions to make an estimation. Alas, it was the teachers who had caused such a fate to a well-fought duel. As soon as they heard of the turmoil, they came running into the practical skill-building.

Arum also soon remembered, what the victory condition was. So he had no choice to get up putting every ounce of strength he had to resist his stiff paralyzed muscles to continue till the very end.

But alas, the duel was canceled by the teacher who saw the rundown state of the practical skill-building. The parties involved, Lux and Arum, were heavily scolded by the stableman for not respecting and preserving school property.

“… I didn’t think I would get so angry at the duel,” Arum whispered to himself as he walked into the courtyard.

The torn uniform on his body was already replaced with a new one.

On the first day of school, for Arum to get his uniform damaged and get a new one was a big deal or so was what he was told by the tailer who rushed to the site. Had the tailer known that Arum was a commoner he might have made a different statement.

There were also a few freshers who came to chat with Arum after the duel. They were the ones with sparkling eyes of interest whose curiosity overwrote their disgust.

Unlike Arum however who no one wants to approach. The other freshers had already deepened their friendship or so was what Arum though judging from their frequent conversations. Some were even friends with the seniors as they were already acquainted with each other.

Soon enough the entrance ceremony also commenced. And now that everything was over Arum had a lot of free time in his hands causing him to stroll around the school in solitude. After all, it was like a tourist spot for him. No matter how much he looks around he cannot help but be amazed.

‘But it’s indeed strange. I lost my cool in the duel and caused some major destruction. But aside from the little scolding, there was no blame put on me.’

Arum was able to act without any particular punishment. Arum who was naturally avoiding using the [Mana Cannon] from the very beginning so as to not cause any destruction, was prepared for any sort of punishment when he actually used it in anger.

He was overwhelmed with the result at first. Why wasn’t he punished? Thus thought bugged his mind. But everything finally became clear at the entrance ceremony.

It itself did not have any major physical trouble but it had many psychological ones, especially for Arum was new to all of this.

It began with Mr. Stubble, who Arum had met around in the school ground and also the one from whom he had received scoldings for the damage caused to the school, walked up to the stage in a drowsy manner and spelled out his little speech.

And after that, it was the words of the director of the school, which were the cause of major concern for Arum.

The director of the school was a young and handsome man, with an impressive facial mole adorning his face. Everyone claimed his name to be quite famous. But Arum had no recollection of him.

But after his little speech, he had become unforgettable for Arum. The dangers receptors in Arum’s brain were ringing loud as a horn as they warned him to stay as far away as possible from that man.

Just by remembering that man again, shivers ran down Arum’s fragile spine. Indeed his heart was too fragile to bear that madness.

The director walked up to his podium as he went through his notes to make a speech.

“Guu… He was a really weird man,” Arum wrapped his hands around his arms as he felt his body shaking.

The series of memories flashed across Arum’s mind as he couldn’t help his shivering self.

“Well, I was prepared to talk about this content in advance. Since it is an integral part of your school. But I decided to toss that aside since a much more interesting event occurred compared to this boring monologue. It was the event where two freshmen had a duel in one of the practical skill-building before the entrance ceremony. I too had just recently heard of it. Were any of you there during the event?”

At that point, Arum was prepared for punishment as he knew that the story referred to him as the one in limelight.

It was then that the director continued:

“Excellent! I am amazed indeed…!”

The director hugged his own body as he trembled in joy with his face portraying an ecstatic expression that resembled a beast that had achieved extreme pleasure with his mate.

Everyone who was present there was horrified to see such a sight. Never before had they seen a man act in such a manner even when they had peeked on their parents.

Arum was no exception.

“When I received the news I was trembling with joy. I didn’t know that we would have such brilliant students this year who would understand our academy’s policy so quickly…! Indeed we have a great batch this time who can pave their own paths.”

“Private fights are always welcome here. We allow any forms of magic as long as it does not make the opponent unrecoverable or severely injured that might pose a threat to life.”

It was then that Arum had understood why he had received no punishment for his actions. It was because they had such a director.

“We will allow as many magical duels as you want to have as long as you don’t spells that might make your opponent unrecoverable or severely injured.”

It was then that Arum understood why he wasn’t being punished even after destroying such a facility. It was because they had such a director governing them. He was a weird one indeed.

“But the loss or victory of such a match is your own responsibility of course. If you lose and fall unconscious at such a duel and because of that lose any of the lectures in the academy then you would have only yourself to blame. That is why you should never lose! Always reflect on why you had lost.”

“And lastly, welcome to the Beralt Academy. We sincerely welcome you and hope that you would cause our heads to continue rising hide in pride.”

No matter how abnormal the first half of the director’s speech was. At least the second half wasn’t as revolting. In fact, it was quite a passionate one from Arum’s perspective. But to the nobles who were used to such sweet coated tongues, it was just boring. Most of them wouldn’t remember a thing about the entrance ceremony after a day or two.

But Arum shriveled up every time he thought of the director. Even though he was walking the calm courtyard the thought never seemed to stop bothering him.

“It was so creepy… what will we learn from a hentai like him sitting at the topmost place of the academy?”

Arum sighed. For Arum, the person seemed more like a hentai than a director of such a prestigious academy. The thought that he was a great wizard never crossed Arum’s mind. And how could it? His actions were too perverted for a dignified wizard or a noble.

Every time Arum thought about it he felt a certain sense of weakness assaulting his body as he felt nauseatic.

It was then…

“Oh, I finally found you! Aren’t you Arum?”

A voice called out to him. After the duel, Arum had got more well known than he had expected in more than one way. Not to mention that even his reputation as a commoner was quite the eye-catcher in the circle of nobles. He was the odd one amongst them, a lowly commoner that couldn’t hope to befriend them.

“Hmm?” Arum turned around at the sudden voice.

It was a cheerful girl whose life had arched into a half-moon all the while showcasing her white teeth.

“…Who?”

Arum tilted his head at the unknown presence.

“Oww!”

But the girl frowned with a disheartened expression.

“You are so terrible. You don’t remember me, even though I supported you.”

The girl was amongst the rare few who were actually supporting Arum in the duel. Arum had even talked to her asking her to move away but he was too focused on Lux during the duel and also on a certain aspect of his master that he didn’t remember much about such an encounter with an unknown noble. That was why Arum was unable to recognize the girl at once.

Arum squinted his eyes.

“Support…?”

All Arum remembered was mockery from every direction that his eyes went. It wasn’t a pleasant experience for most at the least but Arum didn’t care. Let bygones be bygones.

But then a sudden realization dawned upon him.

“Wow looks like you don’t even remember.”

Arum shook his head as he realized how rude his responses might have been in case the girl was genuine with her claims. Arum didn’t remember much but that wasn’t the girl’s fault, was it?

Arum shook his head.

“… No, I remember… I think…”

But his honest and slightly arrogant self couldn’t lie so easily. Even though he tried.

The girl was quick to catch onto this as she made a slight unnoticeable pout.

“Then, what’s my name?”

“What’s your name…”

Arum pondered for a moment as he glanced into the distance looking for an answer but nothing substantial came to his mind. Arum was completely confused at his own lack of memory.

‘Was I consumed by anger to such a degree that I can’t remember a thing?’

If the girl had given her name, then it would indeed be very bad for a commoner like him to forget it. Not only was it socially dangerous for Arun if a word were to get out but also Arum felt a pang of guilt in his chest.

Arum was quick to formulate an apology but soon realized that he was deceived.

“Oh yeah, I didn’t tell you my name. Oops,” the girl said so without any fear.

Arum was stupified. He was getting worried for almost nothing.

“…”

“Pfft”

“Don’t worry. I just thought I would just tease you a little since you started thinking so seriously about it. You are an unexpectedly serious person for a commoner.”

“… Okay, you sure are among the bad guys. Left me worried for nothing.”

“ I’m sorry. It’s just that you have such a face that it makes me want to tease you.”

At that moment, Arum decided to look into the mirror later wondering what kind of face he actually had for people to want to tease him. Indeed, being a commoner things like mirrors were a luxury he could never have but the academy seemed to have many of them.

The woman continued not knowing that Arum had made a strange decision of assessing his face later on.

“Again, I’m Elmira Roadpis,” she claimed, “Nice to meet you.”

“I’m Arum from Carrera. Nice to meet you too.”

The girl nodded.

“Oh you are more polite than I had expected I’m also a noble like the others, but unlike Lux and your friend Misty who supported you during the duel, I’m a poor noble with no territory, so don’t be afraid of me okay?”

Arum’s brows twitched. Since when was he afraid of the nobles. He felt a bit repulsed at such a claim. He was not sure what sort of even gave the others an impression that he was ever afraid when he fought so gallantly against them for a great cause.

But Arum chose to dodge that topic. Their opinion was not something Arum could be bothered by for too long.

“How can you be a noble if you are poor?”

Arum had no clue. To him, nobles seemed to be the extravagant spoon-fed child who had no worries. Indeed, they might have a lot of things to worry about maybe, but money should definitely not be one of them or so was what Arum thought. He was suddenly exposed to a totally new aspect of the nobles. He who had lived his life in the countryside couldn’t help but be curious.

“There are many kinds…” the girl spoke softly, but she didn’t explain further.

Elmira looked far away into the distance at Arum’s pure-hearted question. Such a question seemed to have done some damage to her. Arum who was just a commoner could never understand her circumstances. But her melancholic expression was enough of a giveaway.

Arum nodded.

“Looks like nobles also have it hard.”

Elmira’s glance turned back to Arum.

“Aren’t you being a little too blunt?”

Arum pretended to be calm but he was a bit upset with that remark. What was wrong with being vocal about one’s beliefs and claims? One should always speak their hearts out with no fears troubling their minds. Arum wasn’t the type to cower in fear despite being a commoner.

‘Is she teasing me again?’

Arum sighed.

Arum learned it for the first time in his life of such a cruel reality about himself.

‘It seems like my face makes others want to make fun of me. I wish I could find out what she is even thinking.’

“Hey, then that. How did you do that?”

Arum raised his brows.

“What is this ‘that’?”

“It the spell that was the deciding factor in the duel. It’s the one you had used to defeat the thunder giant. Wasn’t that just so cool?”

Elmira peaked into Arum’s eyes with her pupils shaking in curiosity.

Arum felt complicated in his heart. Her eyes were bright, but it seemed like that behind those bright eyes there was something to sympathize with. But it was just a wild hunch.

“Oh… no, I’m not really doing that much in it, as it looks like.”

“That’s not true! Oh, I understand, you can’t tell others about it because it is your secret card?”

Arum shook his head in reluctance. What could he say? It was an easy magical theory that was only good in writing but had no practical implications.

“No, really it’s not a big deal. I have no trouble in revealing anything.”