Chapter 120: Connected (5)

Anyway, the combination of a mage and a knight is excellent.

Moreover, Andrew is a battle mage, proficient not only in debuff magic but also in offensive & defensive magic.

‘Lastly...’

Seria's team.

Though overshadowed by the hero department, this team is a real dark horse.

Like Andrew's team, a combination of a mage and a knight.

Compared to Andrew, Seria excels a bit more in debuff magic and falls slightly short in offensive magic, but there's not much of a difference.

‘But the bracket is outrageous.’

If a anyone looked at it, they would pray for our team’s good fortune; that's just how our bracket is.

We will probably win the rounds of 128 and 64 easily, but in the round of 32, we will meet Seria's team, Noctar's team in the 16, Andrew's team in the 8, and Aisha's team in the semi-finals.

Lastly, in the finals, we will face Neike's team.

How did we end up facing all four of the strongest teams?

Is this rigged?

‘But I didn't expect to not see Piel here.’

If Piel had participated, it would have been even crazier.

In the game, Piel does participate in this tournament.

She makes it all the way to the finals but loses to Neike, earning second place.

‘Is there something going on?’

Come to think of it, she vanished right after the midterm exam on Tuesday.

I'm curious.

Just then.

"...Theo, as expected, you're participating too."

Andrew approached me.

Beside him stood Sally, whose gentle smile is her trademark.

I slowly turned my head and looked at Andrew.

Then I quickly scanned the waiting room.

‘Good, Seria's not here.’

Seria currently knows my voice.

Being careful wouldn't hurt.

I spoke calmly.

"Yes. Andrew, I heard that you were participating as well. Can I ask why you decided to join?"

I was genuinely curious.

The reason Andrew suddenly joined this tournament as a team with Sally.

Though Andrew is different now, in the game, he became corrupted and joined Turning White's side, contributing to the destruction of the academy.

The future may have changed, but inherent nature doesn't change easily.

Given Andrew's poor social skills and lack of friends, there'd hardly be anyone he knows in the knight department.

Even if someone asked him, he would coldly refuse if it wasn't someone he knew well.

A flustered Andrew hastily opened his mouth.

"...! There's no need to know. We, we were on the same team during the last dungeon exploration evaluation, and though I received a lot of help from you...! Ah, I can't tell you!"

"...I see."

I nodded.

But why is he suddenly getting flustered?

He could just say he doesn't want to answer.

Anyway, Andrew was quite talkative.

"Anyway, Theo! I will go ahead and wait! But, but don’t get eliminated before that! I will be the one to beat you!"

"Alright. I'm looking forward to it, Andrew. See you up there."

I nodded slowly at Andrew.

Sally, who had been looking at me with a smiling face next to Andrew, spoke up.

"Hey, Andrew. It's our turn. Let's hurry."

The reason for his unease.

His only rival.

...Sally seemed interested in him.

No, she was.

She definitely was.

And he felt insecure.

It was the same with Aisha before...

Why did every girl he liked seem to have an interest in Theo?

Of course, he's a great guy. Andrew knew that well.

But he was angry.

So he vented his frustration during the rounds of 128 and 64.

Even though a simple debuff magic would have sufficed against his opponents, he ruthlessly bombarded them with 'Fireball,' a long-range spell.

Such behavior was foolish in a tournament where mana needed to be saved for later rounds.

However, after using his magic so intensely, he felt a little better.

"Huuuuu..."

After a long sigh, Andrew began to sip a mana recovery potion, little by little.

It had a bitter taste, an unpleasant feel to it.

But it was from Sally.

And it was a 'rare' grade.

A potion that Sally had bought with a week's worth of part-time job wages.

Struggling to keep a straight face, Andrew drank the mana recovery potion to the last drop, then looked at Sally with a smiling face.

"Thank you, Sally. You even prepared all of this for me."

"It's nothing. Andrew, you're among the top ranks in the hero department, right? There must have been many people who wanted to team up with you, but you chose to be with me. I'm the one who should be thankful. Andrew, you're really a good person."

Sally smiled sweetly at Andrew.

Andrew felt his heart warm.

Where could anyone find an angelic girl like this?

Her words were as beautiful as her appearance.

"Hahaha, I might not be all that..."

Andrew barely swallowed the words that were about to follow.

128th round and 64th round opponents were teams without Hero Department students, so it was easy.

Irene finished it neatly before I even showed my skills.

I came out of the stadium and said to Irene,

"You worked hard, Rin. I didn't even have a chance to do anything."

"Hehe, this is nothing. I am the top student in the Knight Department, you know?"

Irene looked at me and smiled brightly.

But that smile disappeared as soon as she saw the tournament bracket.

"······Now it's a mage."

Her eyes were fixed on our next opponents, Seria's team.

‘Well, there’s no need to worry too much.’

Mages are prey after all.

What worries me more is that Seria might recognize me.

‘It would be troublesome if she recognizes me already.’

I think I should hold back on using [Magic Cartridge] for now.

While thinking that,

“You are our opponents this time, Irene, Theo... right?”

From a distance, Seria walked up to us and spoke.

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