CH 322.1

The Royal Magic Academy located on the east side of the royal castle. And the pilot school is located further to the east of the Royal Magic Academy.

(This time for sure… I will surpass that guy.)

Apart from the smirk plastered on the young boy’s face, impatience is burning inside his heart.

The gate to pilot school is narrow, but the real torrent is the regular practical exam. Only if you can overcome the torrent, the carp that sucks mud from the bottom of the water can become a dragon.

「You don’t look like yourself today. What are you so nervous for?」

A brown-haired female student with narrow eyes approached him as he passed by in the hallway.

The Smirk Boy’s expression is hard to read, in a different sense from a poker face. Still, she’s able to tell, probably due to the length of time they have known each other as those who have stayed at the school waiting for that 『One more step』.

「You’re just too lax.」

The brown-haired, female student with narrow eyes triumphantly tells the Smirk Boy, who frowns back at her.

「For me, the real thing starts tomorrow. The instructor also told us, didn’t he? That luck is also an important factor on the battlefield.」

The smirking older brother clicked his tongue in annoyance as he waved his hands behind his back and walked away. A part of him was probably embarrassed that the conversation had made him feel lighter.

She then followed him to the main auditorium.

「Please head to your respective magic circle according to the pre-arranged groupings.」

Under the instructor’s direction, the students of the advanced class were divided into eight groups.

Four magic circles, ten meters in diameter each, are drawn on the floor of the main auditorium, and two simulation cockpit seats are set up facing each other on the outer edges of the magic circles. Two groups of students gather there, one by one.

「Those whose name got called, get ready.」

The instructor, who was waiting there as a referee, looked down at the paper in his hand and mentioned the names of the contestants in the first match.

After replying, the brown-haired, female student with narrow eyes walked to the simulation cockpit.

(My opponent is the weakest of them. This will be a breeze.)

The back of a gloomy female student shrinks into the simulation cockpit on the opposite side. The brown-haired female student watched with a smile on the corner of her mouth.

Incidentally, the reason for using four magic circles in eight groups is to avoid consecutive matches in consideration of student fatigue.

(Heave-ho)

The brown-haired girl deliberately sits exaggeratedly and exposes the inside of her tight skirt. A black underwear can be seen for a brief moment as she sits. Several of the boys turned to look.

(Fufu)

Having reaffirmed her attractiveness and lightly satisfied her self-esteem, she turned her attention to her opponent.

There, her brow wrinkles up.

(What’s up with her? Is she playing around?)

『What is she even coming here for?』The low-spirited female student wonders, because the more she presses in, the more her opponent falls back. The girl Tauro refers to as Plain-chan is wearing a red butterfly mask on her face, for some reason.

(What is that, a lucky charm? A prayer for victory or something?)

She doesn’t seem to be a girl that likes to joke or play around. If it has any meaningful purpose, it was probably given to her by a family member.

(Only the strong are allowed to stand out. Being in misery is just fitting for a small fry like you!)

Her laugh only lasts a moment. She immediately felt something was wrong and lifted her chin.

(You talentless wrench. I’ll have you out of here as soon as possible.)

After sending a disdainful glance at the pathetic-looking clown in the butterfly mask, the brown-haired girl walked the miniature Knight to the center of the magic circle.

After confirming that both Knights had reached their starting positions, the referee took a deep breath and raised one hand high.

「Begin!」

The moment the referee swung down his hand, the brown-haired female student made a mad dash toward her opponent. She tried to decide the game with 『Out of the field』 by charging toward her opponent and knocking her out of the magic circle.

Once outside, the Knight was no longer supplied with magic power and became a mere figure. It was easier and faster because she did not have to go through the trouble of reducing its durability.

(Eh?)

Immediately afterward, she heard an ear-splitting burst of sound. At the same time, the vision that was in sync with the Knight blacked out, and the alarm of 『Unfit for battle』 echoed in her injured ears.

The brown-haired female student does not know what just happened or what the situation is. Most of the students around her couldn’t tell either.

But as expected, the middle-aged instructor acting as the referee could see.

(Just one blow… with a whip!?)

The brown-haired, female student with narrow eyes charged straight at her at full speed. And Plain-chan countered her dash with a whip to the face.

(What great skill! To think she could release it without swinging the whip itself, but with only the twist of her whole body….)

Surprisingly, the instructor wasn’t surprised that she used a whip as her weapon.

Although there was no whip user in the knight order, there were a few in the outside world.

『Swords for short range and magic for long range.』

This is the standard in this world, and it is the same in the Kingdom knight order.

But the instructor is an active member of the knight order. And he knows this because he is an expert in battle. He knows that the whip is not just a mere inferior version of the sword.

(Although it does not have the long range of magic, it has a range more than ten times greater than that of a sword. And yet, the amount of magic power consumed is the same as swinging a sword.)

If you unleash a number of them, you can control them in the middle range. And depending on how you fight, you may be able to take out your opponents before their attacks reach you.

(And that’s exactly what happened just now.)

Incidentally, the whip remained in the pilots’ school as a remnant of the fact that there used to be whip masters in the Kingdom. It was very difficult to use, so there are hardly any people who use it.

「We have a winner!」

After regaining his composure, he announces.

In the midst of the uproar in the surroundings, the brown-haired female student opens her legs stiffly in the simulation cockpit and shows off her black underwear.

The middle-aged instructor, who had only moved his eyes in that direction for a moment, quickly returned to reality.

(…..The ability you’re hiding until now. Let me figure out how good it is.)

Plain-chan miniature Knight spun the whip in spirals directly above it. It bundled itself as it fell and settled neatly into its hand.

The instructor gazes at the breathtaking whip work with a steely gaze.

And then, a few moments pass.

(There’s no doubt about this. This girl… she’s the real deal.)

Plain-chan, wearing a butterfly mask, fought two more fights, with other students’ fights in between. The middle-aged instructor nodded, convinced by how the fight went.

All were defeated with a single blow. She had defeated her opponent with a single, well-aimed swing from a position beyond the reach of her opponent’s sword.

(But the level of her opponent was too low. There’s not much we can tell with this.)

Perhaps at the whim of the lottery spirit, this group was made up of students whose grades were surprisingly low, even to the instructor’s surprise.

It would be a poor measure of her ability.

(That girl is the only one, unfortunately. And she was instantly defeated.)

Only the narrow-eyed female student in black underwear was more skilled than the average student.

And she has no chance of winning, given the obvious difference in ability.

But even so, he wanted to see how far she could go knowing her opponent is a whip user.

(It can’t be helped. I guess I have something to look forward to for tomorrow.)

The instructor shook his head and switched gears to concentrate on judging the remaining matches.