Selaine Magic High School is a small educational institution that gathers students from commoner backgrounds.

It’s a place that teaches the most basic things to those who haven’t even received fundamental education.

Literally teaching only the basics, the students’ level isn’t high.

Their career prospects are also insignificant.

Students graduating from Selaine find jobs somewhere using the basic and practical magic they learned there.

A knight? Or a professor at the academy? It’s not a place where you can even dream of such grand things.

Rather than a place that cultivates students’ talents, it’s closer to a stepping stone for people to play their part somewhere adequate.

Only a few students with excellent grades are given the qualification to enter the Imperial Academy.

Of course, since that process is very difficult, most have long since given up.

It wasn’t a position that could be obtained through effort alone.

To enter the renowned Imperial Academy, talent was needed.

Do you think it’s easy to graduate from an obscure high school and enter the continent’s best educational institution?

That was rare, even if you had searched Selaine’s history.

But this batch was different.

There were two students with sufficient talent.

“Another excellent performance, Rena. You’ll more than qualify for the Imperial Academy at this rate.”

Rena extinguished the flames on her hand after burning the wooden doll.

It’s a doll made for measurement with high magic resistance.

Such a doll turned into a handful of ashes.

This was an exceptional achievement.

It was already beyond the level that could be taught at Selaine’s educational institution.

Similarly, another student has already surpassed this school’s level.

Although she couldn’t turn dolls to ashes, Wendy showed great prominence in personal combat and was in the same year.

She overwhelmed opponents with her vast mana pool without allowing a single attack to land on her.

Wendy pointed an ice sword at her fallen opponent.

As she wasn’t merciful, it was a silent signal to surrender before blood was shed.

“I… I lost.”

Having received the surrender, Wendy withdrew her sword.

There are teachers comprehensively evaluating her.

Wendy was also excellent enough to aim for admission to the Imperial Academy.

She excelled in all aspects.

Although her firepower was slightly lacking compared to Rena’s, her overall evaluation was marginally higher than Rena’s.

There are already two people who have surpassed the school’s level.

That’s why there was an ongoing topic of debate at Selaine High School.

If the two fought, who would win?

This wasn’t just a topic of discussion among students laughing and chatting.

It was an important issue that even teachers paid attention to.

There was a limit to how many from Selaine High School could enter the Imperial Academy.

Only one person per grade could go.

One of the two had to fail.

“You should fail, Wendy. I have a reason why I need to advance.”

Rena has younger siblings to support.

With the career paths available after graduating from Selaine, she can’t have a high-income job.

She needed to secure a large sum of money as soon as possible, and there was no time to stagnate in a place like this.

“You think you’re the only one with reasons?”

But Wendy wasn’t without her own circumstances.

Although she didn’t have a poor family situation like Rena, she, too, desired to advance.

In the end, someone had to wait for a year.

That’s how the two stepped onto the dueling arena.

The winner advances, while the loser stagnates.

It was that kind of duel.

“……”

“……”

Of course, that day, too, the duel didn’t reach a conclusion.

The arena was covered in flames and ice.

***

There was good news.

Feeling sorry for the two talented students fighting over one spot, the principal used his influence to increase the admission spots to two.

In the end, both could enter the Imperial Academy.

There was no reason for them to fight anymore.

Only then did the two open their hearts to each other.

Despite fighting so much until now, they had grown fond of each other after countless duels.

Moreover, with no reason to fight, they treated each other without pretense.

They had many similarities in various aspects.

Both were of commoner origin, and both had awakened their talents in a school so small it was hard to even hear its name.

Perhaps because they grew up receiving similar treatment within the school, their personalities matched well.

They already knew how each other felt, being in the same position.

“I’m glad we can enter together.”

“Yeah, me too.”

For now, they felt at ease not having to engage in cutthroat competition.

It was a case where both reigned as kings, unable to determine superiority.

Thanks to this, the two became fearsome existences within the school.

These two, who were scary enough individually, now went around together.

It would be correct to say that no one dared to confront them.

“Hey, don’t block the way and scram. You nobodies.”

Wendy’s personality was violent.

That’s what Rena felt while going around with her.

“Wendy. Even so, this is……”

“Huh? Why?”

“Never mind. Forget what I just said.”

But she didn’t particularly stop her.

The more Wendy acted up, the higher Rena’s position rose within the school.

Honestly, she was half addicted to the thrill of everyone bowing their heads just by walking down the hall.

Rena was influenced by the environment and atmosphere.

Not just students of the same age, but even teachers couldn’t treat her carelessly.

Knowing it wasn’t right, yet addicted to that sense of transgression.

At some point, Rena started resembling Wendy.

This worsened as time passed.

“If you have complaints, prove it with your skills. Don’t talk big if you don’t have the guts.”

Later, it reached a point where her reflection in the mirror overlapped with Wendy’s image.

And,

The omen of tragedy came faster than expected.

Perhaps it was punishment for the two’s usual poor conduct.

Selaine is an educational institution that teaches poor commoners for free.

Perhaps because of this, it wasn’t uncommon to see them take in minors of unclear origins or abandoned individuals.

Today was such a day.

The principal of Selaine brought in a girl.

A shabby-looking girl, as if picked up from the slums.

From the introduction by the teacher who brought her, it seemed she had no family or home.

Her name was Celine.

Originally, she didn’t even have a name, but they named her after the school name Selaine that took her in.

Her unwashed green hair looked dry, and her black eyes were cloudy.

If there was an emotionless doll, it would probably look like her.

“Sit in an empty seat, Celine.”

“……”

In a classroom packed with students, the empty seat was one that other students avoided.

It was next to Rena.

As Celine sat beside her in dirt-covered clothes, Rena frowned.

Dust fell from her hair, and an unpleasant smell emanated from her unwashed body.

Their first meeting was not pleasant.

***

Celine adapted to school life faster than expected.

More precisely, she didn’t show dislike for anything she did.

Like someone who had lost everything, like a doll with nothing inside, she just moved as others told her to.

No one knew what her story was.

And no one probably will know in the future either.

Celine rarely opened her mouth unless it was a really special case.

Of course, Celine’s extraordinary characteristics weren’t just limited to that from her first impression.

She, who had survived in an abandoned village, was like a living weapon.

“Ugh?!”

After learning magic for over two weeks, she won in a duel against Wendy, who was considered the strongest in Selaine High School.

Generally, those with outstanding talent are called gifted, and those even more exceptional are called geniuses.

Then what should we call Celine, who crushed Wendy, a genius?

It was a question that suddenly came to mind.

“……”

She looked down coldly at the fallen Wendy once, then left the place.

Rena, who had been watching the scene, couldn’t open her mouth for a while.

If it had been her facing Celine, she would have met the same fate as Wendy.

Celine was above the two in every aspect.

They couldn’t bridge the overwhelming gap in talent.

It wasn’t a gap that could be overcome with effort.

That’s how the two learned the emotion of inferiority for the first time in their lives.

They tasted the bitterness of defeat for the first time and physically felt the vastness of the world.

But the problem arising from Celine’s existence didn’t stop there.

That’s why it’s a seed of misfortune and tragedy.

Two people from Selaine High School can enter the Imperial Academy.

Three cannot enter.

Wasn’t it already quite difficult to increase the one spot to two?

The principal, obsessed with results, will surely try to send the capable Celine to the academy, so the remaining spot has narrowed down to one again.

In the end, the two had to determine superiority again.

It was a moment when relationships became complexly entangled.