After the seat assignments were done, Jaelin followed Stefan straight to the department administrative office. The moment Stefan opened the door, he bellowed out.
“Hello! I’m here to register for the community!”
A staff member with a worn, weary face poked her head out from behind the desk partition.
“Only now? It’s already been several days since the semester started.”
“She’s a transfer student, and I forgot I was supposed to tell her!”
“So, a new registration?”
“Yep!”
The staff member rose from her seat and held out a single sheet of paper. It was the community registration form.
Stefan, standing beside Jaelin, held out a pen.
“Just fill in the blanks. If there’s something you don’t know, ask me.”
The form was simple. Jaelin easily filled in her name, department, and year, then hit a small obstacle.
“Wh-what’s this?”
Holding out the paper to Stefan, Jaelin pointed at a field labeled “Nickname.”
“Just write anything. You can write something you like, or else…….”
Stefan, resting his chin between his thumb and index finger and humming, beckoned to Jaelin with his hand.
“Give me the pen. I’ll fill in that field for you.”
Stefan took the paper and pen from Jaelin, filled in the field, and immediately submitted it to the staff member.
He did not even show Jaelin what he had written in that field.
“What type do you want? Which is more comfortable for you? Bracelet? Ring? Necklace?”
“Anything is fine.”
“Yeah? Then let’s go with a bracelet. Bracelets are more convenient.”
Stefan called out to the staff member.
“A bracelet, please!”
“Wait a moment.”
After a while, the staff member held out a bracelet set with a small magic stone.
Stefan, receiving the bracelet on her behalf, dangled it before Jaelin.
“This is the magical tool that lets you access the community. This is exactly why Pelodian could become the most historic academy in the empire. Here, put it on.”
Jaelin slipped the bracelet Stefan held out onto her wrist. Come to think of it, one of the several bracelets on Stefan’s wrist was identical to the one now on Jaelin’s wrist.
The magic stone on Jaelin’s wrist pulsed with a soft light.
“If you bring the magic stone into contact with a part of your body, it’ll activate right away.”
It was just as Stefan said. The moment Jaelin rubbed the magic stone with her finger, a translucent window appeared in the corner of her vision.
“How is it?”
“I see something translucent.”
“The community is a kind of messenger. You can exchange messages with people registered in the community. How you use it is…….”
Stefan’s voice, explaining the community’s functions one by one, did not stop until the staff member shooed them out, saying they were too noisy.
***
“Jaelin! We’re eating lunch together, right?”
The moment the major class ended, Stefan shoved his books into his bag and spoke to Jaelin. His dazzling silver hair shone brightly in the midday sun.
“……Should we?”
Jaelin quickly calculated in her head the living expenses she could spend. It was still early in the semester, so she had some leeway.
Fortunately, the campus cafeteria was not very expensive, so she could eat there without much burden. Of course, it would be best to save whatever money she could.
“Let’s eat! Let’s eat! Let’s eat together!”
While Jaelin was briefly lost in thought, Stefan was already shaking his body wildly as if throwing a tantrum.
“All right. Sure. L-let’s eat together.”
“Oh yeah! Then let’s go! Adrian said he’d eat with us too. Let’s stop by the swordsmanship department building and pick up Adrian as well.”
“Yeah.”
Jaelin recalled Adrian as she had seen him in the mock class. Jaelin was a little—no, very—afraid of Adrian. His personality was sharp as an awl, and he did not hesitate to use words rough as sandpaper.
Whenever Jaelin showed even the slightest hesitation or wavering, he would relentlessly press her—it happened more often than not.
Still, since he was Stefan’s friend, she should try to get close to him.
Even while moving toward the swordsmanship department building, Stefan poured out words without pause.
“What should we eat for lunch? What do you like, Jaelin?”
“Um, I-I eat pretty much anything.”
“Oh, yeah? Then where should we go? I’m kind of in the mood for seafood today.”
Just then, the surroundings suddenly began to grow restless.
Students strolling across the campus started murmuring and running in one direction. Some students even shoved past Jaelin and Stefan, who were standing still.
“What? What is it? Why is everyone suddenly like this?”
Stefan, looking around, grabbed one of the running students.
The grabbed student looked annoyed, but Stefan paid no mind and was busy satisfying his own curiosity.
“Why? Why? What’s going on?”
“I heard Lionel and Adrian are going at it!”
The student grabbed by Stefan left only those words and immediately ran off.
“Whoa! Jaelin, let’s go watch too. Watching those two spar is totally honey-fun! We absolutely have to see this. This is a must!”
Without even waiting for an answer, Stefan grabbed Jaelin and ran toward the training grounds.
Jaelin, caught in Stefan’s grip, had no choice but to be dragged along helplessly.
Even before they arrived at the training grounds, the cheers of students chanting Lionel’s name could be heard.
Still holding Jaelin, Stefan pushed through the crowd of gathered students.
“Ah, what the—don’t push!”
“Who is that? Are you crazy?”
Curses leaked out from among the students, but Stefan paid no mind and kept pushing through.
“Oops. Excuse me, coming through. My best friend is over there.”
“S-sorry. I’m so sorry…….”
Jaelin, being dragged along by Stefan, apologized on his behalf, sweating profusely.
Stefan and Jaelin finally managed to reach the very front row, where the training grounds were visible at a glance.
The moment they reached the front, a gust of sand-laden wind swept over the spectator area where Jaelin stood.
Jaelin quickly raised her hand to cover her eyes. A few grains of sand must have gotten in, for her eyes stung.
Blinking rapidly and lowering her hand, she saw two figures standing in the center of the training grounds.
It was Lionel and Adrian.
The fiercely whipping wind tugged at the shirts Lionel and Adrian wore from all sides. The lines of their well-sculpted upper bodies were revealed as vividly as if reflected under the dazzling sunlight.
Lionel, his black blade hanging low, was staring intently at Adrian.
Thick veins bulged along his long, sleek forearms revealed beneath his rolled-up sleeves.
At a glance, he seemed to be standing at ease, but in truth, he was holding his body taut, every nerve focused on Adrian’s movements.
The moment Adrian took one step forward, he charged at Lionel at explosive speed.
Adrian’s white blade reflected the midday sunlight and flashed dazzlingly.
The thoroughly excited Stefan asked Jaelin.
“Jaelin, Jaelin! You’ve never seen a magic swordsman before, right?”
“N-no. I-I haven’t.”
Jaelin shook her head. In her childhood, she had seen knights practicing with swords at the training grounds of the Eduard mansion a few times, but none of them had been magic swordsmen.
“Magic swordsmen are really, really rare, and there are actually two of them among the current students, you know? And who might they be? Dun, dun, dun, dun, dun.”
A student with a fierce, rugged look standing next to Jaelin and Stefan suddenly cut in.
“Lionel and Adrian.”
“Ah, what the—! I was going to say that!”
Stefan, having had his thunder stolen, pouted and glared up at the student standing beside him.
“Just hurry up and get the obvious stuff over with so we can watch the spar. Huh? I can’t concentrate with all this noise.”
The rugged student twitched his eyebrows and glared at Jaelin and Stefan.
“Tsk. Anyway, Jaelin, watch the match closely. A spar between magic swordsmen isn’t something you get to see easily!”
Stefan whispered to Jaelin.
“Yeah.”
Nodding, Jaelin turned her eyes back to the training grounds.
While they had been talking, Lionel and Adrian had already exchanged quite a number of blows.
The students surrounding the training grounds held their breath and fixed their eyes on the tips of Lionel’s and Adrian’s blades.
In the dead silence, only the sharp sound of clashing swords filled the training grounds.
Just then, Adrian spotted an opening and thrust his sword swiftly toward Lionel’s shoulder.
Lionel’s sword, thicker and longer than Adrian’s, narrowly deflected Adrian’s attack to the side.
Adrian’s attacks continued without pause, swift and relentless. Lionel retreated, parrying Adrian’s strikes by a hair’s breadth.
For Lionel, it was all defense, defense, defense. Busy parrying Adrian’s attacks, Lionel seemed to have not a single moment to spare for offense.
Lionel was being overwhelmingly pushed back by Adrian’s momentum. At least, that was how it looked to Jaelin’s eyes.
Jaelin’s palms, tense with nerves, were soaked with sweat. Jaelin frantically tugged at Stefan’s sleeve.
“Stefan, what do we do? I-if Lionel Senior gets hurt…….”
“Pfft. Lionel getting hurt? What kind of nonsense is that? That’ll never happen.”
The student who had cut into Stefan’s conversation earlier interrupted Jaelin’s words and sneered as if it were absurd.
“But…….”
Jaelin tried to argue, but he snorted and cut her off.
“Lionel has never once lost to Adrian, so put your worries away.”
Each exchange passed in a flash.
Their movements were so fast that Jaelin’s eyes could not follow them.
Half a beat faster than his previous assault, Adrian’s sword thrust toward Lionel’s chest.
At that moment, a golden light burst and faded around Lionel.
“Huh? Stefan, what’s that light? That golden light that appeared in front of L-Lionel Senior.”
“Ah, that. That’s magic. Lionel isn’t slow either, but Adrian’s attacks are so fast that he sometimes misses them. In that case, Lionel predicts where Adrian’s attack will come and puts up a magic barrier only over that spot.”
“Is that possible?”
“No. It’s impossible. But that’s Lionel’s specialty. His magical control is completely insane. He’s a total monster. That’s why we should cheer for Adrian, who’s facing a monster.”
“Okay.”
“Adrian!! Fighting! Go, go! You can do it!”
The moment Jaelin’s answer ended, Stefan’s booming shout filled the silent training grounds.
