Chapter 30: Tsundere

Chapter 30: Tsundere

Charlotte was a relatively short girl, but still taller than Nathan. Her hair was blond and bunched up into two pigtails on either side of her head. She looked the part and was also a tsundere. Jess was also kind of a tsundere, but not in the sense of how most people see them as. Charlotte fit that model more, though there were a few kinks about her here and there.

She walked over to Nathan, with her fingers interlocked together. She innocently puckered her lips, almost like she was about to kiss someone.

"Could you teach me Natan? I'm not really getting it."

I saw Nathan's eyelid twitch. He slowly turned around and looked back at her with a blank expression.

"Did you not hear what the teacher said? The only thing I've got going for me is my magic power. As for my control, it's nonexistent."

Harold furrowed his brow when he heard that.

"Your control is actually above average as of now. My intended meaning is that it is still not sufficient for your current level of power."

The corner of Nathan's lip twitched. It looked like Harold wasn't too good at reading the mood. As for Charlotte, her briefly despondent expression lit up.

"Ah, I really need help with my control so you should help me out!"

Nathan massaged his temple with the palm of his hand.

"And not the teacher that is supposed to be teaching you those things?"

Charlotte puffed up her cheeks and pointed at him.

"I'm a noble ordering you to do this!" nOvE-lb.In

Harold let out a sigh when he saw this.

"You know you are not allowed to exercise your status like this while in school. Besides, if you have questions about controlling your mana, then it would be best if you consulted me, as Natan said."

It was Nathan's turn to smile confidently, now that the teacher was backing him up. As for Charlotte, she looked quite upset. She looked at the teacher, then at Nathan.

"But... I..."

She pointed at Harold with a frown.

"This doesn't involve you!"

A wry smile formed on Harold's face.

"Unfortunately, I am directly involved since the two of you are my students and I am the one responsible for teaching."

Charlotte puffed up her cheeks before exaggeratedly waving her hands.

"Whatever! I'll just practice on my own."

As she said, Charlotte did go off on her own to practice, though her gaze seemed to unconsciously drift over to Nathan from time to time.

While all that was happening, I was instead thinking of other things. Since it was possible to create a barrier of mana while casting the fire spell, then that probably also meant if I could stretch my focus even further, I could cast two fire spells at once, right?

I attempted to do just that, holding both my hands in front of me.

After forming the mana barrier, I attempted to command my mind to do two of the fire spells at the same time.

Yet, despite being the exact same spell, both requiring the same steps, it was incredibly difficult. My control over the mana had become rather sloppy, causing many mistakes along the way.

In the end, I wasn't able to properly form the spell on either end.

I clicked my tongue.

Harold seemed to notice what I was trying to do and called out to me.

"It is best to focus on one spell at a time. Simply maintaining the barrier as you cast the fire spell is already draining enough of your focus. It is better to just learn how to do one spell at a time."

I tapped my chin a few times.

"No mages have learned to cast two spells at the same time?"

A bitter smile formed on Harold's face.

"It is far easier to just cast one spell at a time. Even if a mage with good focus tried to cast two spells at the same time, they would be able to do it faster if they just cast them one after another. That endeavor is pointless."

A smirk gradually formed on my face.

If practically no mage attempted to cast two spells at the same time, that meant practically nobody would expect someone to.

As a person with a lower magical aptitude than the strongest, I wasn't going to win a head-to-head battle against someone fighting conventionally. That was just obvious from the get-go.

However, if I could be a little more tricky and catch them off guard, that might be the opening that I need to win. In other words, I was going to practice casting two spells until I could reliably do it.

Naturally, I wasn't going to do it after Harold had told me not to. In fact, I planned on practicing in areas where no stranger would see me doing such. After all, the entire point of a trick was that it was a secret that the opponent didn't know about.

From there, we just continued practicing casting the fire spell.

By the end, most people were spent on mana. As for me, while I was surprised by how much I could cast, I ran out of mana by the end.

Everyone was a little tired for math class. Given that it was also boring, I was having a lot of trouble not falling asleep. On the other hand, Nathan didn't really have that problem, mostly because Charlotte was discreetly bothering him with either whispers or just poking him.

I couldn't help but feel a little sorry for him, but at the very least I wouldn't have to deal with her.

Soon enough, lunchtime came.

Like before, Raisa, Nathan, and I all sat down at a table together. The first person to come up to us wasn't actually the waiter, but Arianne. Her steps were unsteady, while her head was lowered.

By the time she had gotten next to the table, her cheeks were flushed bright red.

However, it looks like she was still able to muster up the courage to speak. Arianne bowed down so deeply like she was trying to greet the king.

"H-Hi! Could I please sit with you guys? I-I mean you don't have to accept it but-"

Raisa looked at her curiously, though a small frown was on her face.

"Why do you want to sit here?"

For reference, Raisa was sitting next to me, while Nathan was sitting across. The spot that Arianne wanted to take was the one next to me. All things considered, that was pretty natural as the one she was most familiar with was me.

Though, Arianne didn't seem to be prepared for that question, flinching before going into a panic.

"A-Ah, it's not really important, but I maybe just... wanted people to talk to."

Raisa seemed to calm down somewhat from her answer.

"If that's the case then... you can sit if you get the permission of these two."

Arianne looked over to Nathan with puppy eyes, prompting him to feel too awkward to say no.

"It's fine by me."

She then turned to me with sparkling eyes, showing how excited she was. In the end, looking at how happy she seemed to be, I couldn't help myself...

"No."

Both Raisa and Nathan looked surprised by my response. As for Raisa, her expression fell and it appeared like she truly fell into the pits of despair. Though I was tempted to just let her wallow in sadness, I knew it would be too cruel for someone as emotional as her.

Arianne shivered before turning away.

"I-I'm sorry for asking!"

Though, before she left, I grabbed onto her wrist and flashed a smile at her.

"You didn't ask for permission when you sat next to me last time. Why would you need permission now?"

Arianne stared back at me in a daze. It looks like she had to repeat the words I had said in her head multiple times in order to comprehend the meaning. After a while, she began blushing even harder in embarrassment.

"A-Ah, then..."

I couldn't help but start laughing right then and there. It was only at this point that Arianne finally realized that I was just teasing her. Her hands retreated from the cuff of her shirt before she began slapping me with the sleeve, letting out an embarrassed hum.

I guarded myself as an uncontrollable smirk was plastered across my face.

"Sorry, sorry."

Eventually, it seemed Arianne had become embarrassed about the fact that she was hitting me with her sleeve and just sat down without a word. On the other hand, Raisa was staring at me like a hawk.

She had been doing so ever since I said that Arianne had sat next to me.

Raisa cleared her throat and looked at me with a smile, though it didn't feel like a very happy smile.

"Um, Bryson, why did you just let some random stranger sit next to you? And where did this happen exactly?"

I blinked a few times. It seemed that she was getting jealous over something stupid.

"It's nothing special. I was just sitting at a place in the slums and she just so happened to be there."

Raisa's smile twitched, but she kept it on her face. Her gaze then shifted towards Arianne.

"Why did you sit next to him? It couldn't be that you're trying to gain his favor to turn your life around or something, right?"

Arianne seemed genuinely shocked.

"Eh? Nothing of the sort! I would never make someone fix my problems when they aren't a part of it."

Hm. And that's part of why you find it so hard to make friends.

Raisa still seemed a little dissatisfied but decided to drop it for now.

"If you aren't lying... then fine."

Finally, it seemed as though the drama was beginning to settle down. Though that was not actually the case, given that Charlotte had walked over to our table.

I must say, things were getting rather lively here pretty quickly.

When Charlotte first arrived at our table, she just stood there silently with a frown on her face. Her arms were crossed intently.

Though she had come here with far more vigor than Arianne, from the flush on her cheeks it looked as though she was just as embarrassed. Nathan noticed that she was standing behind him, so he turned to her and gave her a slight bow.

"Sorry, you aren't allowed to sit here."

Charlotte completely lost her composure, her face flushing as she stumbled back, nearly falling over right then and there. Her mouth was open wide as she spoke.

"Wa, wa, wa!"

It was clear to even Arianne that the words Nathan said were taken deeply by Charlotte. Seemingly pitying her, Arianne spoke up.

"Um, I don't mind her sitting here. I-If she doesn't do anything bad, then there shouldn't be a problem, right?"

Hearing those words, Charlotte composed herself.

"Ah, right! Of course I can sit here!"

Arianne's face twitched.

"That's not what I-"

Before she finished, Charlotte had plopped down right next to Nathan, much to his displeasure. He frowned as he told her off.

"I said you couldn't sit here."

Charlotte flinched once more. She looked like she was on the verge of breaking down but quickly spoke up self-righteously.

"I-I'm here because I wish to socialize with other nobles to broaden my connections and power! No other reason! That is the only reason I'm here and what a commoner says has nothing to do about it!"

She was definitely lying.