国产午夜亚洲精品AⅤ

Chapter 307

Harriet was in Group C of the Open Tournament finals.

Olivia was also in Group C.

All 16 matches of the Round of 32 would happen consecutively, so I had to be there early if I wanted to watch Harriet’s match.

Harriet was the only first-year participant from the Royal Class, so I’d expected that most of Class B might not come to watch. Interestingly, though, everyone was heading to the stadium en masse.

Even if they weren’t particularly close to Harriet, the fact that a first-year student—and a magic major at that—was participating in the Open Tournament piqued their curiosity. Plus, there seemed to be a sense of camaraderie, of wanting to cheer for a fellow classmate.

It was fascinating to see this sense of unity among the first-year students of the Royal Class, and a lack of the supposed rivalry between Class A and Class B.

Everyone—including Ellen and Cliffman, who were participating in their own contests the next day—was heading to the stadium, with the exception of Vertus, who wasn’t staying in the dormitory.

“Hoo...”

“...”

“Haa...”

“...”

“Ah...”

Zap!

“Hey! Why do you keep sighing like that?” Riana snapped.

Riana, having grown increasingly irritated by my constant sighing, zapped me with a spark of electricity. Everyone turned to look at us, but I paid them no mind.

“Aren’t you worried?” I said “She’s about to take part in a fight with some terrifying seniors!”

‘Our girl is walking into a lion’s den! ‘It’s not as if it’s just first-years in the waiting room, like how it was during my first-year tournament. What if some random senior picks a fight with her? “Hey, cute little freshman, what are you doing here? This isn’t a place for kids to show off their tricks!” How would Harriet handle that?’

“Do you think Harriet is a kid?”

“Isn’t she a kid?”

“...”

“...”

‘She is in the same class as me, after all. But still. Our little Thick-Skull... I can’t help but worry. No matter how much she says she’ll manage...’

“Haa...”

I sighed again. Everyone was staring at me, bewildered. Riana frowned at me, annoyed by my constant sighing.

“You’re going to jinx it! Why don’t you just hold a memorial service?”

“...A memorial service?”

At the mention of a memorial service, Dettomorian, who had been following quietly, looked over at us.

“... It won’t be a full ritual, but I could perform a simple incantation to bring good fortune...” he said.

“Detto... wouldn’t it be considered cheating if it actually worked...?”

“Is that so...?”

“Yeah. Let’s not do that.”

“Okay...”

Dettomorian had seemed ready to do something, but Charlotte stopped him. Judging by her expression, it seemed she was more concerned about potential side effects rather than the issue of cheating.

“Don’t worry, Reinhart,” Ellen said quietly beside me, noticing that my anxiety had not subsided. “Harriet will do well.”

“Based on what?”

“Just a feeling.”

Ellen wasn’t smiling, nor was she frowning. She had her usual blank, neutral expression on.

“I believe she’ll do well,” she said again.

“I believe.”

That expression felt oddly familiar.

I had told the Duke of Saint-Ouen that his daughter possessed the greatest magical talent in all of human history, and that she was certainly capable of feats that would amaze the world.

I had said all that, yet here I was, sighing deeply because she was participating in a tournament with some seniors.

I should instead be believing that she would do something great, that she would demonstrate something amazing.

Was this how the Duke of Saint-Ouen had felt when he’d heard about the projects the Magic Research Club were undertaking?

It’s human nature to be unable to trust those who are closest to you to perform reliably. One often ends up worrying so much that one ends up discrediting them, even for the things they can obviously do.

I found myself doubting Harriet.

But was that because I considered her that important?

Was it because I didn’t want her to get hurt?

I wasn’t her parent. Even so, thinking that way about Harriet was ultimately disrespectful to her.

‘But still... our little Thick-Skull... What if she gets completely crushed in her first match...? What would I do then...?’

Even though I tried to change my mindset, it wasn’t easy.

It almost felt like a sickness.

“It’s okay, Reinhart. She’ll do well.”

This time, it wasn’t Ellen, but Louis Ankton who spoke.

Naturally, the members of the Magic Research Club were all there to watch Harriet’s match, and senior Rudina was with them as well.

They did not seem worried at all, which was very strange.

“Hey, Reinhart! Stop worrying about useless things and get ready to be amazed!” Rudina said, then laughed and covered her mouth.

‘Is she hiding some sort of secret weapon?’

It seemed like the Magic Research Club had all put their heads together and prepared something for Harriet for this tournament.

***

The least interesting of the grade-specific tournaments was undoubtedly the first-year tournament. After all, the skill level on display would be the lowest.

Therefore, the most interesting of the grade-specific tournaments was the sixth-year tournament.

However, once students rose higher in grade, it wasn’t uncommon for some juniors to grow stronger than their seniors. That was why the Open Tournament existed. Instead of just pitting the winners of the grade-specific tournaments against each other, anyone from any grade could participate in the Open Tournament. Since its inception, it had become the biggest highlight of the festival.

While it was true that the sixth-year tournament winners often went on to win the Open Tournament, there were plenty of exceptions. Therefore, this event was undeniably the festival’s main attraction.

Soon, the strongest student in the Temple would be determined.

Of course, this was limited to those who were participating.

Waaaaaaah!

The excitement and cheers from the crowd could hardly be compared to the first-year tournament. There were empty seats among those reserved for the Royal Class, but the stadium was packed, and even all the standing room was taken up.

“Ugh, it’s so noisy,” came Riana’s voice from behind me.

The Royal Class seats were quite full, and not just because of us first-years. There were other Royal Class participants in the tournament besides Olivia Lanche and Harriet. While the general noise made it hard for most to distinguish individual voices, I could enhance and focus my hearing to pick out individual conversations from the crowd.

—Who do you think will win?

—Probably senior Radia, right?

—No, I heard senior Olivia is participating too.

—Oh... really? But I’ve never seen her fight. Isn’t her talent in Divine Power?

—Yeah, but I heard she’s also incredibly good at close combat.

—Really? Who said that?

—Huh? I heard it somewhere... Who was it again?

Most of the conversations around us were about Olivia, even though people had come to see other participants.

Some fifth-year students had come to watch Olivia’s match, including the Student Council President Ceres van Owenne and members of the religious club Grace. Because of the crowd, we could only exchange nods.

“...”

Even Sabioleen Tana, who was sitting with us, had acknowledged Olivia as the next strongest contender, so I had a rough idea of her abilities without even seeing her fight.

To my right sat Charlotte, and next to her was Sabioleen Tana, the dormitory supervisor and Charlotte’s bodyguard.

Olivia had always spoken about her fighting skills, and she had also said she disliked violence.

I knew both statements to be true, and most of the Royal Class spectators were discussing Olivia’s abilities.

But one important fact remained.

It was clear that very few people had actually seen Olivia in action.

There were many rumors that she was incredible, but since she wasn’t one to show off her strength, no one seemed to have witnessed it firsthand.

There were plenty of people making comments like “She’s amazing” and “She’s incredible”, but no one had actually seen her and could say, “I saw her do this.”

“Is Olivia really that amazing, Dame Tana?” Charlotte whispered to Sabioleen Tana. The surrounding chattere seemed to have made her curious.

“You should address me as ‘teacher’ now, Your Highness.”

‘Why is she so sensitive about how she’s addressed?’

“... Well, if that’s the case, you should call me Charlotte and speak informally, since I’m a Temple student.”

“... That won’t do. I cannot be so disrespectful.”

“Oh, so you’re saying all my classmates who call me Charlotte and speak informally are being disrespectful?”

“... That’s not it. The Temple has its own rules, and I must follow them—”

‘Wait, if that’s the case, then as a dormitory supervisor, I should call you Charlotte according to the rules, right? Isn’t that contradictory? Did I just make a mistake? What should I do?’

Why did it feel like I could read Tana’s thoughts even without seeing her face? Was it just my imagination?

‘Let’s just... change the subject.’

“Hmm. Olivia Lanche is an outstanding student. Among the promising talents of the Temple’s Royal Class, she stands out as being particularly exceptional,” Sabioleen Tana said.

“Oh. How exceptional?”

“Hmm.”

Sabioleen Tana crossed her arms and looked down at the arena, where the matches would soon be held.

“I would be very surprised if there was even a student who was just below Olivia’s level.”

“Hmm, Dame Tana... I mean, teacher, how do you know so much about Olivia Lanche?”

“I’ve heard most of it from my junior, Effenhauser. As far as I know, Olivia Lanche hasn’t taken any close combat classes since her third year.”

I understood why most students talked about Olivia’s skills but had never actually seen them. She had no reason to show them, not even in class.

“Why?”

“She said she didn’t want to learn any more techniques meant to hurt people.”

“... That’s an interesting statement.”

“Effenhauser said that, when she made that statement, Olivia was already at the level where there was nothing more for her to learn.”

“Oh?!” Charlotte seemed incredulous. “So, by the time she said she didn’t want to learn any more, she had already learned everything there was to learn?”

“... You could put it that way.”

‘“I don’t want to learn any more techniques to hurt people! (Because I’ve already learned everything there is to learn).” What a funny person she is.’

“Anyway, since then, Olivia hasn’t taken any practical combat classes or participated in any tournaments. Of course, I haven’t seen her skills first hand either.”

So even Sabioleen Tana had only heard about Olivia from Effenhauser.

“So it’s all just rumors, then?”

Since no one had seen her in action recently, it was possible that her skills were actually subpar.

To that, Sabioleen Tana shook her head.

“There’s no chance these are just baseless rumors.”

“Why?”

“You do know that Olivia Lanche volunteered to provide support from the rear during the Great War, don’t you?”

“I heard she did. To treat the wounded and offer medical support...?”

Sabioleen Tana looked at Charlotte.

“Your Highness.”

Sabioleen Tana hadn’t participated in the Great War.

It wasn’t that she hadn’t wanted to, but that she couldn’t.

Despite that, she had to have known the details of how the war unfolded.

“It was a time where every pair of hands was precious. Do you think a powerful force of Divine Power like Olivia Lanche would only be used for medical support?”

“... Are you saying she was deployed in combat?”

“Of course, they wouldn’t have deployed her in combat against her will. However, all sorts of things happen in the rear lines. For example, surprise attacks by the Demon King’s army, targeting the rear.”

I, and everyone at the Temple, had been too naive.

Just because Olivia had gone to provide support from the rear, we had all assumed her duties simply consisted of treating people and caring for the wounded, since it was a war.

Just like the nickname “Saintess of Eredian” suggested, we all assumed she had been going about doing noble work, like an angel in white.

“I won’t go into the details, since it’s not pleasant to hear about,” Sabioleen Tana said, watching the arena where the first match was about to start. “Olivia Lanche faced numerous dangerous situations in unsafe places and returned safely each time.”

...”

Olivia wasn’t a sheltered flower.

She had experienced real war and survived it.

Perhaps that was why she had grown to despise violence even more.

For Olivia, her memories of those experiences were probably difficult. That was why she went around saying that she only provided medical support, to downplay the reality.

“They say Olivia Lanche was known as the Grim Reaper in those regions, and not a saint.”

On the battlefield where she had gone to save lives, Olivia had killed countless soldiers of the Demon King’s army.

Even her allies feared her, and called her the Grim Reaper.

I thought that Olivia didn’t particularly like her nickname, the Saintess of Eredian.

In reality, she had another nickname that she probably hated even more.