Chapter 84

A few days have passed since then.

The school festival is just around the corner, and the atmosphere of the entire school is gradually shifting to a festive mood. Amidst this, I, as usual, was at the training ground.

"Here I go, Safina!"

"Okay!"

With my call, I extend my hand toward the prepared target.

"Son-ic Bla-de!"

"Accelerate"

As I say the magic words with pauses, clumps of magic form from each of my fingertips. Safina's bracelet glows, and a magic circle forms in front of her. I managed to successfully cast five simultaneous spells. However, to be honest, my concentration is so poor that I fail one out of three times. Using them consecutively is out of the question. Moreover, if I were to panic, I'm confident I would fail 100% of the time, so I can't say it's at a level where it's complete.

"Nine Blade!"

At my words, a vacuum blade flies from my fingertips, passing over the crouched Safina and spreading out in four directions. At the same time, as Safina passes through the magic circle, she leaps forward at an incredible speed. She further adds the acceleration spell.

My cast magic and Safina's leap synchronize, and the vacuum blades fly toward the target in a curve.

"Cross!"

Safina draws her sword with the word.

A tremendous shock wave and the sound of slicing air reverberate through the room, leaving behind only the remnants of the target, which has been torn to pieces.

"Done, Lady Mary!"

"Uh-huh, that's right."

As I watch the adorable Safina, who returns with joy like a chestnut puppy, I am genuinely amazed by her prowess.

(She's incredible, Safina. Even though she can't predict when my magic will impact, she can still synchronize with it in such a short time. She's truly a frightening child.)

I am in awe of this genius girl while looking at the target, which is now in a miserable state, with a cold sweat.

(Now that I think about it, what should I do? This might be too much.)

I had underestimated the combination of the low-lethality Sonic Blade and Safina's sword, thinking that even together they wouldn't be very powerful. However, I realize now that the more I combine, the more powerful it becomes, and the simultaneous use multiplies the effect exponentially.

(Probably it's fine. Zaha is tough, and he said he would come armed.)

I reassure myself in my mind, placing full trust in my friend's toughness.

"Lady Mary?"

Safina, who looks at me curiously as I debate in my mind, brings me back to reality.

"Hmm, ah, it's nothing. But, Safina, let's use this only on Zaha. Using it on Magilka would be too much."

"Yes, that's true. But at Solos, starting from the second year, we use real swords in mock battles, and a magic item called 'Blessing of the Battle Angel' is used. It's likely that it will be set up for our match as well?"

"Blessing of the Battle Angel?"

"Yes. When a match is held in the area where this magic item is effective, the participants' bodies are protected by the item, so they will only suffer minor injuries. The item absorbs the person's magic power to substitute for the damage, so in the worst case, they will only faint... I think. However, I don't know how much magic power is required to convert the damage... In the worst case, it might not be able to convert it completely, leading to fatal injuries..."

Safina, looking at the target with concern, expresses her worry. She is probably worried about whether Zaha can withstand this power. Additionally, she seems unsure if the convenient item will provide protection until the end.

"If it's such a convenient item, it should be fine. If necessary, there will be recovery magic as well... It will be fine, right?"

"..."

We both become worried, creating a subtle atmosphere.

"Miss, it's time."

Tytte's voice breaks the tension.

"Oh, right. It's time for Lord Claus to arrive. Let's go, Safina."

"Yes, Lady Mary."

I change my mindset, or rather, postpone my worries, and head to the executive headquarters with Safina and Tytte.

---

One hour later.

I am in a room of the old school building, which will serve as the security headquarters on the day of the festival.

Sitting in a chair, I rest my elbows on the table and bring my crossed hands to my mouth, adopting the classic commander's pose. I am immersed in the thrill of it. Meanwhile, I have Safina stand in front of me as a commander, near the students who are responsible for communication, and Tytte stands diagonally behind me.

(Ah, a perfect setup. If I could just say, "We won," and "Ah," it would be perfect♪)

"Area D-2, Pattern Yellow, Type A, Number 4"

As I am lost in my own world, one of the Solos students sitting in front of me announces a report.

We are currently conducting a live security drill with the help of other students who are creating disturbances.

"Yellow means a minor argument, I suppose. With four students, I can mediate. Lady Mary."

Hearing the report, Safina looks at me.

"Alright, go mediate, not eliminate."

Seeing Safina tilt her head at my first words, I quickly correct myself.

"Yes."

Safina instructs the student to mediate, and the student relays the message succinctly.

"Area B-4, Pattern Red, Type B, Number 7"

"A fight between students and visitors? And Red means it's already a disturbance... The number is too high. Should we send the rapid response team?"

Hearing the report, Safina asks me.

"Yes, contact Senior Karlis's team."

"Understood. Relay to the rapid response team to head to Area B-4."

Another communication student responds to Safina's words and activates the magic. The rapid response team, led by Senior Karlis, is a special unit I created, composed of graduates. They typically do not participate in security but are called in for various difficult situations.

"Truly remarkable. I had no idea what was going on with the concise report. I didn't know the transmission magic could be used like this. As expected of you, Miss. Hmm, perhaps we should adopt this at the royal castle as well, of course, crediting you as the inventor."

Behind me, on the opposite side of Tytte, the stern-faced man, Zaha's father and knight, Lord Claus, approaches with an impressed look.

"No, no, it's not just my effort. It's something we all created together. If you must, please credit it to all the students."

I smile at Lord Claus, subtly emphasizing the "all" part. If I don't, it might seem like I did it all by myself and draw too much attention.

(I'm learning, hehe.)

"Still, it's an incredible system that no one would expect students to come up with. It seems we have no role to play."

"Please leave the school's security to us and focus on protecting the queen."

"Ha-ha, I'll do that."

"Area A-3, Pattern Green, Type Lost, Number 1"

As I am talking with Lord Claus, I hear this.

(Pattern Green and Type Lost. It means they found a suspicious person but lost them? Hmm, did I request such a role?)

I return to the classic pose with a puzzled look and glance at Tytte out of the corner of my eye. She looks at me, understanding my thoughts, and shakes her head.

"I don't recall requesting such a role for that area."

Tytte leans in and whispers to me. I had entrusted the placement of the roles to Tytte. If Safina and I were to request them, we would know where and what would happen, which would not be a good training exercise. Incidentally, Tytte whispers to me not because she doesn't want everyone to hear but because I asked her to do so to maintain the commander and deputy commander atmosphere.

(Well, if they lost the person, there's no point in thinking about it.)

I exhale and look at the map on the table between me and the communication students. This is a map of the entire school created using levitation magic, with rough scales and area divisions to roughly track everyone's positions.

(Area A-3... That's one of the routes the queen will take.)

I think to myself and quickly shake my head to clear my thoughts.

(No, no, thinking about strange things won't do. Focus on the training.)

After that, everything proceeded smoothly, and our security drill ended with Lord Claus watching.

(Alright, everything is ready! Please, let nothing happen, Huh! Why am I setting up a flag myself!)

With a mix of anticipation and anxiety, the school's first-ever festival was about to begin.

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