The practical exam is boring.

The written exam was, too, but the practical exam was even more so.

You might say, “But isn’t it okay since you’re moving your body?” That’s because you don’t know my case.

First, I had to wait in the waiting room or spectator seats until my turn.

It was already a chore to wait idly for time to pass, but there was nothing to do even when the duel started.

Most students forfeited when they faced me.

Challenging an opponent they couldn’t beat was a waste of mana.

Instead, many students gave up one duel and prepared for the next one.

It’s a rational decision.

Lucia was among those students who forfeited.

“…You know that group of monsters we met during the last practicum? You cleared them all out by yourself, right?”

“……”

“Then I’ll look forward to next time. I hate to admit it, but I don’t think I can win right now.”

Lucia, who was once full of pride, came to acknowledge me after that day.

I single-handedly subjugated several monsters she couldn’t defeat when she challenged them and came back unscathed.

She knew I was hiding tremendous skills despite my appearance, but she didn’t realize it was to that extent.

“I’m not giving up on being the top student. It’s just not this year.”

So Lucia also gave up on the duel.

Six more victories were added without me doing anything.

The practical exam, where I just stayed in place without doing anything, was boring.

I sat in the waiting room, holding an armful of mana potions.

Didn’t they say transferring to others was impossible?

I was wondering how to dispose of them.

I opened one and put it in my mouth.

Munch munch.

“Ptooey.”

I immediately spat it out because it tasted like garbage.

I didn’t understand why people drink this stuff.

So I threw them away.

I opened the lids and poured them on the floor.

It was cumbersome to hold seven of them in my arms.

And that scene was very unpleasant for other students to see.

“Why is she throwing away all those precious potions?”

“I guess she thinks she’s something special because she’s the top student.”

Potions were as valuable as life for other students taking the practical exam.

Each potion I poured on the ground was precious to them, directly linked to their grades.

Of course, the potions became useless to me because I won without fighting duels.

I understand that logically.

I understand why I’m doing this.

But seeing the potions being discarded right before their eyes made their anger rise.

That’s how the emotion of inferiority works.

Once you dislike someone, all their actions seem unpleasant.

In the academy, where the top student enjoys the most privileges, I was a good target for criticism.

Unlike Lucia, I had no backing or family name.

From the start, people didn’t like that a commoner was the top student.

“Hey, lower your voice. She’s passing by.”

But of course, there were no fools who would say this in front of me.

Until recently, the scariest person among the first-years was Lucia Aster, but I was more terrifying than her.

Since they couldn’t beat me with skill, they were badmouthing me behind my back.

But then,

“Is it fun to just criticize others behind their backs?”

There was a woman passing by coincidentally.

A woman with golden hair fluttering.

An annoying person came at an inconvenient time.

The one who was always sticking to Iria.

“It’s none of your business, Rena.”

“……Wendy.”

The name of the woman with blue hair and a sharp impression was Wendy.

Like Rena, she was a student evaluated as an elite in the Combat Magic department and ranked 4th in the grade.

There was a time when they were grouped together and competed.

Before entering the academy, the two were from the same school.

Rena specialized in fire magic, while Wendy specialized in ice magic, and they competed for superiority.

That’s how they became acquainted during the entrance exam.

However, Wendy was one step ahead in the entrance exam.

“In the end, you’re just a loser.”

She glared sharply and spoke.

Wendy disliked me, but she disliked Rena almost as much.

Their being rivals was a thing of the past; while Wendy grew, Rena remained stagnant like a mediocre person.

Despite being born with talent that could have surpassed her, is this all she could do?

It was embarrassing to think they were once on the same level.

“There’s no way you can understand how I feel.”

While Rena stood still, did she know how desperately Wendy had climbed up?

She didn’t hesitate to use any means necessary to climb, and she wasn’t afraid to do cowardly things to win in duels.

But it was impossible to overcome the limits of talent determined at birth.

It’s an unfair thing.

Some climb tenaciously with painful effort, while others stand at the top from the beginning just because they were born talented.

They were at the peak from birth.

And that look of looking down on others as if they were different from them was what Wendy hated the most.

She remembered my coldly frozen red eyes.

That wasn’t the face of a human who had climbed to the position of top student through effort.

It was a face that seemed to have been born strong from the beginning and, therefore, couldn’t understand the perspective of ordinary people.

Surpassing a lifetime of effort with just one step.

The unfairness felt by a mediocre person is this sorrowful.

For those trying to climb, I was an insurmountable wall.

It wasn’t a feeling that Rena, who had long since given up on rankings, could understand.

Come to think of it, wasn’t it Rena who taught magic to me, who couldn’t even use basic magic?

She gave wings to what was already a monster.

Wendy couldn’t understand what she was thinking.

She just showed hostility, with a face saying, “It was all ruined because of you.”

At some point, Wendy’s group had left their seats, and now only the two remained.

They still couldn’t understand each other.

They hadn’t gotten along in the past, but now it was even more complicated.

Rena opened her mouth.

“So all you can do is express your inferiority behind people’s backs? You don’t dare to request a ranking match, so you can’t say anything to her face.”

“What about you? Aren’t you embarrassed to just stick to the top student and get the leftovers? Fine, I admit I’m not proud of what I’m doing. But it feels strange to hear that from you. Do you have the right to say that?”

“……”

“Now that I look at it, Iria seems quite pitiful. She doesn’t seem to know what kind of person you were in the past. She must be having a hard time with a fox like you hanging around.”

Whoosh.

For a moment, unable to hide her emotions, flames came out of Rena’s hand.

Wendy sneered at this.

“You idiot, don’t pretend you’ve reformed. You were the same. No, weren’t you even worse?”

“I’m different from you, Wendy. Don’t lump me together with you.”

Rena’s brow twitched, and the temperature of the flames on her hand rose.

But,

“What, you want to fight? Do you have the confidence?”

Rena was the first to be wounded.

It happened in an instant.

A cold chill swept across Rena’s neck.

Wendy was pointing an ice sword at Rena’s neck, though it was unclear when she had created it.

“See, you’ve gotten slow.”

Wendy was faster than Rena.

If this had been real combat, Rena would already be dead.

Even if this was a duel, it would be judged as a defeat.

After accumulating one more victory like this, Wendy erased the ice sword with a smile.

There would be a chance to face her soon, even if not now.

“Just check the match table. Don’t waste mana unnecessarily.”

Wendy turned around and disappeared.

On the match table she left behind, the list of upcoming matches was written.

A space with Rena and Wendy’s names on it.

***

On the day of the practical exam, the academy was full of empty glass bottles.

These were the mana potions that had been distributed to the students.

I placed the bottles of the potions I had emptied next to them.

The practical exam was already nearing its end.

What had I even done?

In the end, I couldn’t duel until the very end.

The only one that started was the first duel, but even that wasn’t much of a battle.

I suppose it’s good news that nothing happened and it ended, but my position as the top student is certain at this rate.

The academy grades weighted the practical exam more heavily than the written exam.

When I, who had won all ten duels, went out of the waiting room, I saw a familiar face.

“Rena. What Are you done with your exams?”

“No, I still have one left.”

“……”

I was about to speak more to Rena but stopped.

Her expression didn’t look very good.

She was leaning on the railing, looking at the sky.

It wasn’t a particularly meaningful action.

It was to shake off the idle thoughts swirling in her head.

I wonder what she’s thinking.

Suddenly curious, I wanted to peek into her memories, but I couldn’t read them because Rena turned her head away.

“Did something happen?”

So I finally asked verbally.

Rena hesitated to answer with her back turned, then replied briefly.

“I have a duel that I must win.”