Chapter 10

The oak wand engraved with runes and the sacred sword made of holy steel adorned with white crystal shone in the morning sunlight.

“The power granted by God gathers in this hand now! The bitter cold that freezes even the wind surges here, and the torrent that washes away good and evil rushes forth! Most blue and beautiful power, descend here!”

As the mage with sharp blue eyes declared, the invisible flow of power swirling through the world responded. The ominous current of power, which only the specially designed academy auditorium could withstand, slowly shook the ground as it surged from afar.

Soon, the flow of power soared into the air and took on a fierce, sharp form. Extreme cold that could freeze anything it touched, and a horrifying torrent made of something unlike any substance in this world, rushed toward a single spot.

It was enough power to sweep away two or three hundred people. The mage, with cold, calm eyes, stared unflinchingly at her ‘opponent.’ If even touched by that force, one would die instantly, but that would never happen. Anyone who would die here wouldn’t have deserved to stand before her in the first place.

The young man with the holy sword observed everything in his sight with a deep, sinking gaze. From the volume of his opponent’s incantation, the angle at which she held her wand and spread her arms, the intensity of the ominous power, the scale of the fierce attack—all of it.

Then, at the last moment, he raised his sword.

“Oh God. Protect me.”

For an instant, a blinding red light filled his vision. From the sword he swung through the air, fierce flames erupted, claiming the space in an instant. It looked as if it would mercilessly burn all traces of life.

But the swordsman did not waver. His green eyes showed relief. He had kept everything in view until the last moment, but his gaze was confident—there had been no mistakes.

The terrifying cold and ominous power clashed in the air with the fierce, hot, wild power. The sound of flesh searing echoed through the auditorium. It was enough to send chills down an ordinary person’s spine.

Ice swallowed fire, and fire covered ice. The clash of powers was so strange and marvelous it seemed to last a long time, but in reality, it was just a moment.

Soon, everything vanished in an instant. All that remained in the auditorium were the academy’s proud, strongest mage and swordsman. The overwhelming, terrifying power had disappeared.

No, the two of them were the power itself.

The rehearsal was a great success.

The two didn’t forget to practice the closing greetings for the next day’s ceremony, just as scheduled. Once toward the northern VIP seats, once toward the western students’ seats, once toward the eastern guests’ seats.

Their eyes met for a brief moment, and Reshu smiled at Milian. It was perfect.

Then, Reshu turned to leave along the planned route, finishing the exit practice flawlessly. Or at least, it would have been flawless—except Milian’s presence didn’t follow in the same direction.

“…What are you doing?!”

Reshu, realizing Milian was confidently walking the opposite way, rushed after him and grabbed her partner by the nape. Thankfully it was just practice—if it had been the real thing, it would have been a disaster. The thought of him leaving in the wrong direction was enough to make her break out in a cold sweat.

“Ah… Right.”

Now, having realized his mistake, Milian turned his body in the exact opposite direction and walked off confidently. Reshu, dumbfounded, grabbed the back of her head. Although Milian had sometimes seemed a bit listless or his movements weren’t always precise, he had never made such a blunder during practice before. Of all times, to show this side of himself the day before the most important event.

“What on earth are you thinking?! You did the important parts without a single mistake, didn’t you? You cancelled each other out perfectly, not a trace left! You managed something that difficult, and then at the very end! At the very end—!”

“Um….”

Milian hesitated for a moment before speaking.

“Sorry. Can you help me with just one thing, Reshu?”

“Anything. What is it?”

“Don’t laugh.”

“What?”

“A moment ago, when our eyes met, you smiled at me. I think that’s really not good. It’s bad for my heart.”

Milian’s gaze was extremely serious. It was as if he were talking about preparing for the most fatal attack in the world. With his arms folded, his manner made Reshu laugh in disbelief.

“At least during the important event, I’d like you to refrain from such dangerous behavior. Like you said, it’s an event where even one mistake isn’t allowed.”

“So you’re saying, because I smiled, you got distracted and lost focus during that important exit rehearsal….”

Reshu trailed off, grabbing the back of her head again and sighing deeply. Even searching the whole academy, there was no swordsman who could perfectly cancel out Reshu’s power and be her partner. No matter how absent-minded he was, or how unreasonable his requests, she had no choice but to accept.

“Fine, I won’t smile at all! Let’s do it again!”

It seemed today’s rehearsal would go on for a while.

***

The world is dull.

…This was the law of life discovered by Reshurka Celestien on her eighth birthday. At birth, everything was given to Reshu. The prestigious name of the Celestien Duchy, the attention and love showered on the only daughter, her beautiful looks, and so on.

As she grew up, Reshu gained even more. Every child her age wanted to be friends with her. All Reshu had to do was get along with those who approached, and ignore anyone who disliked her.

Academics were a given. Since the age of five, Reshu had been taught by a private tutor, who turned pale on average once every six days. Reshu’s learning ability far exceeded the scope of any lesson prepared.

Magic was just a little less boring. But unfortunately, Reshu was talented even at magic. The flame spell, which others might barely master after ten years of training, she learned as soon as she turned eight.

Everything was so easy that nothing could interest her. It was no wonder that eight-year-old Reshu considered the world ‘dull.’ Making friends was easy, studying was easy, magic was easier, and everything else was just as easy.

When her place as top entrant to the academy was confirmed, she maintained humility but was not surprised. Even when she heard rumors that there was an equally outstanding top student in the Swordsmanship Division, she wasn’t interested.

Kids rumored to be smart or special always seemed ordinary to Reshu. Having been disappointed so many times, it would be odd to expect anything different.

Even when she was selected as the student representative to appear at the entrance ceremony alongside the top swordsman, and told they would perform a demonstration of magic and swordsmanship together, and that they would need to meet several days beforehand to prepare—Reshu felt nothing in particular.

When she first met the slightly dazed-looking boy with brown hair, Reshu didn’t pay much attention to Milian. Even after getting acquainted and practicing together, it was the same.

Then, on the day before the entrance ceremony, in a dazzlingly sunny afternoon, the two were practicing side by side, not interfering with each other. Suddenly, Milian, who had been quietly watching Reshu, asked,

“Reshurka. Can I cut that?”

“This illusion? Cut it with your sword? It has no form, so you can’t.”

“With sword energy, can I cut it?”

“With sword energy? The illusion?”

Illusions were different from ordinary substances, and sword energy was different too. It was known that magic and sword energy could collide, but illusions were a special kind of magic.

For a brief moment, hundreds of definitions, formulas, discoveries, and calculations flashed through Reshu’s mind. Then, as if grasping an invisible sphere, she moved her hands in the air and spoke.

“Try it.”

The special ‘illusion’ that Reshu conjured glowed pale. It wasn’t a difficult technique for her—just a slight modification of basic illusion summoning, making it a bit more tangible than usual.

Milian stared at it, then raised his sword. In an instant, a chilling sensation ran down Reshu’s spine. She felt a sharp energy she’d never experienced before.

The next moment, the pale special illusion Reshu had created crumbled into particles. Wondering what she’d just seen, Reshu realized that Milian had unleashed a compressed burst of sword energy and shattered it.

“Amazing. How did you do that? I thought you’d just strike or cut it normally.”

Reshu praised him honestly. Milian stared at her.

“You did something impressive… I thought you wanted me to respond with something impressive too. So I did.”

For some reason, Reshu felt excited. She summoned a larger illusion. Milian destroyed that too without hesitation. Reshu’s illusions grew larger, and Milian responded without faltering.

Reshu became determined. She took out her wand. At the tip, an illusion shaped enough to clash with a big sword energy began to form—a giant ghostly lion with empty eyes.

Reshu took a deep breath and poured in her last strength.

“Ugh.”

Milian flinched and stepped back. The lion, given movement, leapt through the air at Milian. He swung his sword too late, and only split the lion halfway. The bloodless lion attacked him again.

Milian, face pale, swung his sword wildly. It was no longer about the illusion—the sight of the tattered lion charging at him was terrifying.

“Ahaha.”

Reshu laughed without meaning to. But feeling a bit sorry for teasing him so much, she waved her wand and made the lion vanish. Then she offered her hand to Milian, who had collapsed on the ground.

“Sorry, are you okay?”

The sunlight was so bright, and Reshu wore the happiest smile she’d ever made. It was the first time she had truly clashed with someone. Sunlight sparkled in Reshu’s golden hair.

But Reshu didn’t realize these things herself. She just thought it was odd that Milian was staring at her. Looking up at Reshu in the sunlight, Milian said,

“You’re pretty.”

“…What?”

“And cool.”

“What?!”

It was the strangest thing Reshu had heard in her thirteen years of life. If he was going to say something nice, he should at least pretend to flatter her. Milian’s words were so offhand, as if stating the wind was blowing or rain was falling.

Plenty of boys had liked Reshu and tried to get close to her, but this was the first time for something like this. As Reshu floundered, not knowing how to respond, Milian spoke.

“Practice is fun.”

For the first time, a faint smile flickered across Milian’s lips, who never smiled.

At that moment, for some reason, Reshu’s attention focused on his lips, and about seventy percent of her brain’s capacity was spent analyzing whether Milian was truly smiling.

This was the moment Reshurka Celestien faced the greatest riddle of her life: Milian Enokten.