Chapter 18: Practical lesson with cheers

Hugan: “Alright. Let’s take a break.”

Murton: “Girls, let’s take a break too.”

Class A’s students stopped their practice when they heard their teachers, Hugan and Aida Nan Murton telling them to take a break. They were wearing training attire and were having a practical lesson at the training ground.

They boys and girls were having lesson separately. The boys were learning swordsmanship, while the girls were learning magic for medium range attacks.

Carna: “Ruben-sama, this is for you.”

Ruben: “Thank you, Carna.”

Razé watched quietly as Carna handed a drink and a towel to Ruben. She had noticed that the way they called each other had changed since the events at the library. It seemed that she had been used as a tool to bring those lovers closer.

She could easily guess that Ruben was the one who told Carna to change the way they call each other. And she could imagine one day she would accidentally witness Carna calling him “Ruben” when they were alone. She felt she was going to have an upset stomach.

Folia: “Luca-sama, let me see your arm please?”

Luca: “W- What? A commoner shouldn’t touch me.”

Folia: “I’m not going to touch you. Show me your wound. I’ll heal it right away.”

On the other side, Folia was taking care of one of the love interests, the son of the Minister of Finance. Folia is such an angel, thought Razé.

Carna had passed her note with the details of what happened in Blue Orchid to Razé. Razé planned to verify the plot accordingly.

So far, all ‘events’ [1] mentioned in the game really did occur. However, some of the contents was changed. Some of the event that should involve Ruben and Folia was changed to Ruben and Carna. And some of the time, it was changed to Folia with another love interest.

“Was it a bug?” Razé thought this could be a possibility. First of all, the villainess Lady Carna in the original game was someone who was very proud and was not a reincarnator. Secondly, Razé’s existence itself had caused the game to change. Although this world was an otome game as Carna had said, Razé felt it would be better if they think of it as something that has evolved into a different world.

“Adis-sama, please use this if you don’t mind.”

“Would you like a drink?”

“I’ve made honey-lemon [2] for you!”

Could this be another bug?! Just because it was a double period class, why would someone make honey-lemon when it’s not even summer? It must be a bug.

Razé couldn’t help rolling her eyes at the fangirls’ attitude. Adis, who stood in the center of the crowd, was someone with good look and high status. Apparently, he was one of the love interests.

Furthermore, according to Carna, Adis hated conflict, so he hid his true ability and always gave way to Ruben. He acted flirtatious to distract Ruben, and he always treated his fangirls fairly to avoid hurting their feelings.

Carna also told her that Adis’ character in the game had many fans. And because there were high demands from the fans who wanted to see his character fall in love, being a clumsy yet devoted lover, the game creator had released a sequel with Adis as the main protagonist.

As someone who had never played an otome game before, Razé thought that the game sequel was ridiculous because Adis didn’t even fit to be a love interest for Folia. She was speechless when she was told that the sequel was also a big hit.

Or perhaps because Adis was meant to be the protagonist in the sequel, maybe that’s why there is not much event between him and Folia?

Most of his event was changed to someone else. He rarely had the chance to interact with Folia.

Hugan: “It’s time. Let’s continue the practice.”

The students went back to their practice when they heard the teacher’s instruction. Razé, who was leaning against the wall alone, walked towards the center of the training ground.

Hugan: “The boys will do practice match.”

Razé watched over the boys who were holding practice swords. As someone who was used to lead an army of hefty soldiers in battles, Razé thought her classmates looked like boys with toy swords.

Among them, Ruben, Claude, Ian, and Adis stood out in the crowd. Luca was also one of the love interests, but he was not good at swordsmanship.

Murton: “Girls, let’s do a test and see your progress. I’ve prepared a target. You’ll take turn and demonstrate your attack skill.”

Razé turned to face Murton-sensei. She recalled the magic they had practiced earlier. Her specialty is movement magic. Naturally, she was better at short-range combat, but it didn’t mean that she was bad at long-range attacks.

The student whose name was called would come to the front and demonstrate their attack skills.

Murton: “Mortens.”

Carna: “Yes.”

Carna’s specialty was ice. She poised herself, then suddenly an ice blade appeared and pierced the target.

“Wow”

As expected of Lady Carna, of course the destructive power was outstanding. And her activation movement was beautiful. Razé couldn’t help giving her an applause. Carna would normally laugh it off and said that this level of skill was a matter of course (for Prince Ruben’s fiancée), but Razé knew that she had been practicing diligently by herself. Razé thought that it was cute.

As for Folia, she was not good at attack skill in general, so she would have to take a personal lesson from Murton-sensei later.

“Kyaa～”

The girls who had finished their test were sending out cheers for the boys. Razé turned to look when she heard the commotion, and saw those ikemen [3] were sword fighting. It was Claude vs. Ian. They were having a good fight.

Murton: “Granoli.”

Razé: “Yes.”

While the girls were busy watching the boys’ practice, Razé’s turn for the test had come. She picked up a pebble from the ground, activated her physical strengthening magic and throw a sidearm pitch. She thought that it would be too simple and boring. So, she activated her specialty skill [4] too and applied high-speed movement magic to the pebble that she threw.

Immediately after, there was a loud pop sound when the pebble made a hole through the thick target.

Razé: “I’m done.”

Murton: “Huh? Wa- wait a minute.”

The pebble moved so fast that Murton couldn’t track it visually so she went to the target to confirm.

Murton: “It can’t be! How can that small pebble did this?”

There was a hole right at the center of the target. Actually, the pebble, which was thrown by Razé like a bullet, had pierced through the trees in the hill behind the training ground.

Of course, Razé was unaware that she did something amazing. For her, this was a beginner level.

Razé: “It didn’t hit the target?”

Murton walked over to Razé and asked her, “What did you do?”

Razé: “Hmm… I applied high speed movement to the pebble and throw it while in physical strengthening state.”

Murton was speechless. What Razé did was pretty simple but the level was too high. She said, “Oh… Just as expected from a scholarship student. That’s fine. Thank you.”

“Okay.” Razé nodded with a puzzled look on her face.

“Adis-sama～! Prince Ruben～! Ganbatte [5]～!”

The cheering sound was intensified. Adis and Ruben was facing each other while holding their swords.

“Go easy on me,” Adis said with a smile. He actually was not that weak as he always do suburi[6] every morning.

“Don’t hold back,” Ruben said and both of them swung their swords. The swords clashed with a great force as they both were using physical strengthening. The match between Claude and Ian earlier was spectacular, but these two also showed talents that match an adult.

So nice, thought Razé. She felt jealous because she couldn’t show her true capability inside the academy. If they aren’t aristocrats, I’d love them to join the military.

During a major war, both military and knights will be summoned. Basically, knights were full with aristocrats, so they would not do a high-risk job. Their job was to hunt beasts and to govern the people with justice. It was different with the military who had to face dangerous situation and solved problems.

Harlens: “Want to join them?”

Razé: “Principal Harlens!”

Harlens came out of nowhere and stood next to Razé. Razé looked at him with a puzzled look.

Harlens: “If you look closely, you will see it.”

Razé: “?”

Razé quietly observed the match between Adis and Ruben, then she realized what Harlens was trying to say. “Oh… You’re talking about Zars-sama.”

If someone looked carefully, they would easily notice that Adis was holding back his true capability. His father was Shian’s brain, and his mother was a princess from a neighbouring country that was famously called ’the invisible war maiden’. Since the magical activation ability was a hereditary, the difference in the innate potential was terrifying.

Harlens: “That’s right. It would be a waste if he couldn’t make any progress while studying here. So, I want you to give him a push.”

“What?” Razé look at Harlens with a grimacing face.

Harlens: “Hahaha. I know what you want to say. Don’t make that face. He actually wanted to join the knights, but Welrian forced him to enter this academy. He must’ve felt bored here. Don’t you feel sorry for him?”

Honestly, Razé couldn’t care less. She was keeping a distance from that guy, so she didn’t want to be put on the spot regarding this matter.

“I give up.” Adis fell on his backside and accepted his defeat.

Harlens gave a shrug and said, “See, he lost.” Then he turned to Hugan.

Harlens: “Hugan-sensei.”

Hugan: “Principal Harlens. What is it?”

Hugan looked at Harlens with a surprised look. It wasn’t strange for the principal to observe a class, but it was rare for him to meddle with the lesson.

Harlens said, “I want Zars-kun and Granoli-kun to have a match.” Then he turned to Adis and asked, “Would that be okay, Zars-kun?”

Adis: “Sure, no problem.”

Adis face looked like he was puzzled why Harlens chose him. Razé was hoping that he would reject the request, so she was disappointed.

Hugan: “Principal Harlens. Although Adis is not as good as Ruben, he is very strong. Then Granoli …”

Harlens: “Don’t worry. She is the scholarship student scouted by me.”

Just because I’m a scholarship student, you shouldn’t think that I can do anything, Razé complained in her heart.

“If you say so,” said Hugan. Razé had no choice but to pick up a practice sword.

Harlens: “Granoli-kun. You know what to do, right?”

Razé: “… Yes, sir.”

Razé was stressed being pressured by Harlens. What Harlens meant was that she must win the match. She wanted to sue him for power harassment, but unfortunately such concept didn’t exist in this world.

“Are you okay with this?” Adis asked Razé as they stood facing each other.

Razé: “It’s fine. You don’t have to mind me.”

Since she couldn’t avoid it, then she would just do as per instruction. She prepared herself and focus on the rival in front of her.

Adis noticed that her aura had changed, so his expression also turned into a serious look. She seemed like someone with a capability just as the principal had said. He grasps his sword tightly.

“Start!” Hugan gave a signal for the match to start.

－　－　－

The match ended with Razé’s victory.

“End of match.”

Razé pulled back her sword which was right by Adis’ neck. It was a crushing victory. At first, they were exchanging strikes lightly. Then she gradually increased her power with each strike. In the end, Adis had no choice but to defend and couldn’t attack at all. Everyone was paying attention to the match and the ground was quiet. Razé did set a handicap for herself and she did not use her specialty skill at all. She mainly used physical strengthening.

“Thank you.” Razé bowed her head towards Adis who was stunned with shock. The girls who were watching the match tried to cheer him up.

“He was already tired because he had a match with Prince Ruben earlier.”

“It was a pure fluke.”

“Adis-sama held back because he didn’t want to hit a woman, even if she was a commoner.”

Razé was not bothered by those comments and left the ground. Carna and Folia immediately ran towards her.

Carna: “Razé! You’re so great!”

Folia: “Razé-chan, sugoi! I was so surprised.”

Razé glanced at Harlens and saw him nodded his head once. It seemed that she had cleared her mission.

“Thank you!” Razé replied in a good mood. I get to see the Prime Minister’s surprised face. It feels good～! I might never be able to experience it again.

Razé was in a very good mood that day, and she was humming unconsciously.

[1] If you are unfamiliar with ‘event flag’, you can read more here. ↩

[2] Honey-lemon: The drink got popular in Japan in the late 80s – 90s. It was said to be effective in preventing summer fatigue. ↩

[3] ikemen: Japanese slang meaning good looking guy. ↩

[4] Her specialty ‘movement magic’ covers anything about movement including teleportation, telekinesis and superspeed. ↩

[5] Gambatte: A very common phrase meaning ‘do your best’ ↩

[6] suburi: practice swing. Refer wiki page here. ↩