Chapter 32: Battle Strategy for a Heroine and the Lunch

Carna: “It’s about to start.”

Folia stood in the middle of the stage nervously. Her opponent was a 1st Year student too. Everyone knew that Folia was not good with magic other than healing. Her friends wondered how she was going to fight this match.

“Folia, ganbare[1]!” Razé gave a cheer for her. Folia turned around and nodded her head.

The referee rang the bell and the match started. Folia immediately activated her magic.

Luca: “Isn’t that healing magic?”

Razé: “How do you know?”

Luca: “You’ll notice if you look closely.”

Everyone was wondering why she activated her healing magic when nobody was injured. Then they saw that when Folia used her healing magic on her opponent, he looked blissful. And then he fell asleep peacefully.

The opponent was knocked out. It was Folia’s victory.

Adis: “I didn’t know you could use healing magic like that. She’s really an interesting girl.”

In the game, Folia was able to use purification magic. Razé felt like she had saw a glimpse of it. Winning without a fight, this was the protagonist’s halo.

Adis: “Hey.”

Razé: “Yes?”

Adis: “The plot enforcement that you said earlier, do you really think it doesn’t exist?”

Razé was surprised when she saw his serious expression. “Yes, I think it doesn’t exist. Just look at that.” Razé turned and pointed at Folia.

Folia was looking around the audience seats, as if searching for someone. Then suddenly, her face turned so bright and she broke into a grin. She had found Zale Ile Moldir. It was easy for her to find him because he stood out prominently among the audiences.

As a ladies’ man, it was easy for Adis to interpret Folia’s expression.

Adis: “… Are you not scared? There’s no guarantee that you won’t die.”

“As I’ve said before, the only thing I’m scared of is being starved to death. Nobody knows when they’d die. There’s no use giving it too much thought,” Razé said while avoiding looking at him.

Adis had a doubtful look on his face. Instead of saying that she had a far-sighted view, he felt that she was being reckless about herself. As someone who was very sensitive about others’ behavior, he could notice it clearly. Talking about protecting others when she herself don’t have anyone to protect her.

At first, he was observing the scholarship student, Razé Granoli because he wanted to join the Knights. After monitoring her for a while, he could feel that she was perilous.

“Well done!” Razé waved her hand at Folia while Adis looked at her and sighed. He thought that Razé would easily win the preliminary rounds in Battle Fiesta. He had even trained hard with his mother, looking forward to another match with her. He had made a miscalculation.

I’m so pissed off… It’s been a while since he last felt like this.

* * *

After the forbidden magic incident, the tournament went smoothly without any trouble. The love interests had defeated their seniors and succeeded to advance to the next round. There were some high-ranking officials who came to the tournament to recruit new talents. From their expression, it looked like they couldn’t wait for these excellent 1st Year students to graduate.

Carna was quite strong too. When Razé and Folia looked at her with surprise, she said, “It’s only natural to be able to do this much to be by Prince Ruben’s side.”

She sounded more confident than before, probably because she had gotten rid of her worries.

Once Carna and Ruben had the talk, their PDA level had increased tremendously. Razé felt like she almost vomit sugar[2], but she was happy for the two of them.

She had paid close attention to Folia’s events during the tournament, but nothing had happened. Razé found it strange at first, but then realized that her injury might have been the substitute for the original event.

Although she had denied about the plot enforcement, it seemed that she couldn’t fully avoid the events as another person would be forced to substitute.

Worse come to worst, I can just be the substitute, right?

Razé started to seriously think of whether she should go and find substitutes for future events. She was eating while grunting alone by herself.

She was eating alone today because the other students were having lunch with their family. The parents and guardians were here today, so she was left by herself. Of course, her friends did invite her but she rejected them because she didn’t want to disturbed their family time.

When she was eating, she heard someone calling her name.

“Razé–!!”

“Huh?!”

“Kyaa! So cute! You’re wearing uniform!! What is this? An angel? My sweet angel!!”

Razé was desperately protecting her bento[3], so she was unable to avoid being hugged by the person who had appeared suddenly.

Razé: “Julia-san, wh- what are you doing here?”

Julia: “Obviously I came here to find my therapeutic healing. Seeing you in uniform, I’m so lucky.”

Julia: ԅ(//́Д/̀/ԅ)ﾊｧﾊｧ (panting with excitement)

Razé frowned her face when Julia drew closer to her.

Julius Harley, 28 years old male with a maiden heart. She[4] was a drag queen who worked at the Monster Hunting Department of Shian Imperial Army, same workplace as Razé.

Razé: “What’s the real reason?”

Julius: “Why do you say it like that? You’re so mean. Of course, the first reason is to meet you. While I’m at it, I’m here as a guard for His Majesty as well. Enough about that. Are you eating well? You’re always telling your subordinate to eat well but you yourself are too busy to eat. I’m so worried about you.”

She made it sounded like guarding His Majesty came second to me.

There were many knights protecting the emperor. Julius was good at detection magic, so most likely she was assigned to guard the arena.

Razé: “I’m eating well. When I’m here, I need to follow regular routine.”

Julius: “Really? That’s good then. Here, I’ve brought a treat for you.”

Looking at the treat, Razé felt that Julius was full of feminine qualities because she was so thoughtful.

Razé: “What’s inside?”

Julius: “Jelly. I’ve brought a lot, so share them with your friends.”

Razé: “Thank you.”

Razé took the paper bag and smiled at her. Even though they belong to the same department, they rarely got the chance to work together. It was Julius who spoke to her first and they became closer since then. Julius was very good at cooking and strict with her beauty regime. Every time they met; Julius would give her many things. She was like a sister to Razé.

Julius: “By the way, Professor Yor was going crazy because she wanted to meet you.”

Razé: “Agh, I knew she’d be like that.”

The new species in Zone 15 was very different from the other monsters that they had studied before. Razé knew that Professor Yor would be very interested in it. The new species had intelligent behavior that was quite similar to humans. When Razé was frowning while eating her bento, Julius suddenly took it away. Then she gave another bento to Razé.

Julius: “I made them myself. It’s for you, so you eat this one.”

Razé: “I want you as my wife!”[5]

Razé was so moved by her thoughtfulness. Razé felt that nobody could be a better wife than her. It was too bad that she like man.

“About Professor Yor, I think Frey-kun can handle her,” Razé replied while eating the bento given by Julius. Frey was Professor Yor’s assistant. He always took care of Professor Yor like a mother[6]. Razé felt that it would fine if she let Frey handle the professor.

Julius: “How was the new zone?”

Razé: “The monsters were pretty strong. Maybe they had evolved over the years. They are more intelligent than the others before.”

Julius: “Really? It’s worth to defeat them then.”

Razé: “Yeah. We might need to re-evaluate the level for stone magic. It’s worth much more than the current S level.”

Razé touched her pierced earring. Julius watched her while she ate the bento that she had taken from Razé.

Julius: “Is the school boring?”

Razé was surprised by Julius question. She replied, “Why would you ask that? The school is very fun, of course.”

Julius: “It’s good then. Drop by my office when you return during the holiday next time.”

Razé: “Okay. Sorry I couldn’t go to your place before. I was so busy.”

Julius: “I know. Bonalt was worried that you would overwork yourself. Make sure not to force yourself. It’s not good for your skin!”

Razé: “I know.”

Julius stayed with Razé until it was time for her to return to work.

Julius: “I’ll leave first. See you later, Razé.”

Razé: “Un. Thanks for the bento and jelly.”

Julius: “Don’t mention it. Don’t study too hard.”

Razé: “Hahaha. Alright.”

There were not many people who would give such advice. Razé laughed as she waved her hands at Julius.

Folia, who came from the opposite side of Julius, walked over to Razé.

Folia: “Razé-chan. Who’s that?”

Razé: “A friend. She always takes care of me. She found out that I’m studying in this academy so she came to bring me bento.”

Folia: “Really? That’s great!”

Razé: “Un.”

Folia was worried to leave Razé alone so she hurriedly returned after eating her lunch.

Folia: “This is from Zale-sama. He told me to share it with friends.”

Razé: “I also had received some jellies. Let’s eat together.”

Folia: “Un!”

When Razé saw the snacks that Folia had brought over, she was stunned. It was the famous traditional confectionery ‘Relev Stories’ from Western Shian.

There was a famous anecdote about this sweet. A love hampered by social constraint caused a guy to visit a witch. He received a poison in exchange for his voice. The poison would not cause harm to the person who loved him. He gave the poisoned sweet to the girl and they eventually got together and live happily ever after[7].

Of course, this famous confectionery didn’t really contain poison.

The story was more of an obsession instead of romantic … Lord Moldir really love Folia …

Razé prayed that she won’t get poisoned and ate the ‘Relev Stories’.

[1] ganbare/ganbatte: A very common phrase meaning ‘do your best’. ↩

[2] It came from the original Japanese slang of ‘it’s so sweet, I’m going to vomit sugar’. ↩

[3] bento: lunch box, home-packed meal. Wiki page here. ↩

[4] Is ‘drag queen’ offensive? In the raw, the author used カノジョ, to differentiate the pronoun. I’ll use italic her/she. ↩

[5] 嫁にほしい (lit. want her as bride) is a common phrase to compliment a woman who has the quality of a good wife. ↩

[6] おかんokan (okan is short form for okaasan). This word can be used for mother, and also a slang for someone who has the traits/qualities of a good mom regardless of their gender. ↩

[7] The story doesn’t make sense. I don’t know what the author was trying to say. ↩