Chapter 9

* * *

Fiona stood at the classroom door, took a deep breath, and firmly held the letter containing the secret given to her by her mother.

* * *

In the midst of cherry blossoms dancing in the wind, Misaki opened the old diary and read the words of the promise written there.

* * *

Knock knock.

"Can I come in?"

Fiona didn't respond to the knock on her door, so Matthias leaned against the side of it, pondering what to do. After a few minutes of hesitation, Leila passed by. Her room was also on the fifth floor.

"What's wrong?"

"I came to invite her for dinner, but she's not responding."

"Oh, I see."

Leila opened the door without hesitation.

"What is she doing, not even locking the door... Oh, hahaha."

Leila covered her mouth and laughed, and Matthias peeked in from behind, then froze. Fiona was sleeping on the bed, hugging a cushion, wearing a knee-length dress. Her legs were bent, exposing her thighs.

He quickly pulled Leila into the room and closed the door before anyone else could pass by.

"Oh my. Is this possessiveness?"

"Shut up."

He could say whatever he wanted; everyone already knew he was infatuated with her, so he didn't care anymore. He gently covered Fiona with a towel blanket.

"She must be tired from running today."

They talked while she slept soundly.

"Will she fit in with the First?"

"Well, Graham grumbled a lot but took care of her, and she got along with Nina right away. The only problem might be Muriel..."

Leila chuckled, placing her hand on her cheek.

"Muriel? She's quick to anger, but she's not the type to bully new members."

"I hope so..."

"Tell me more about Graham taking care of her."

Matthias's eyes were intense. Leila rolled her eyes and glared at him. After training today, she had heard a story from Graham.

Graham had already doused Fiona with water, and as a result, Matthias had given him a terrible beating.

"If you keep this up, you'll be hated. Don't make her feel uncomfortable."

"..."

He was silent, knowing she was right.

"...Hmm"

Fiona stirred, hearing voices. She rubbed her eyes and looked at the two of them groggily.

"...Matthias?...Leila?"

"Fiona, it's dinner time."

"...Dinner?...Okay."

She was still drowsy. She got out of bed and headed for the door, but Matthias stopped her.

"Wait, don't go like that."

"Like what?"

He sat her on a chair next to the bed, fetched a comb from the bathroom, and carefully brushed her messy ponytail, tying it up neatly. By the time he was done, Fiona was fully awake.

"Alright, that's better."

"Thank you, Matthias."

"Put on a cardigan."

"Okay."

Fiona took a cardigan from the closet and put it on. Leila, who had been watching, muttered under her breath.

"You're like a mother."

"..."

Matthias felt a heavy blow to his chest. Fiona thought, "Yeah, that's right," but didn't say it out loud.

Since Leila hadn't eaten yet, the three of them went to the dining hall together. It was a bit late, so there weren't many people around. They ordered at the counter, carried their trays, and sat down. Matthias and Fiona sat across from each other, and Leila sat next to Fiona.

"You ran today, didn't you? How are your legs?"

"My legs? Why?"

"Didn't I cut off your right leg below the knee before?"

"Oh... That's right."

The battle with Matthias felt like a distant memory, but she remembered it clearly. On the battlefield, her magic barrier wasn't strong enough, and she took a direct hit. She quickly froze the wound to stop the bleeding and retreated after casting several large spells. She was so anxious that she overdid it, thinking, "He might be dead..." but was relieved when she saw Matthias a few days later.

"The imperial healers healed me, so I can move without any discomfort."

"That's good. I'm sorry about that."

"Don't apologize. I also blew off your arm once, so we're even."

"Yeah, I did that on purpose."

Matthias said it casually, and Fiona was taken aback.

"Why?"

"I wanted to see your reaction."

"Ugh... Why would you do that..."

Fiona had been helping them without them knowing. After realizing this, Matthias had tested her multiple times. She didn't attack when he showed an opening and eased up when he looked tired.

Amused, Matthias decided to take a direct hit from her wind blade. He intended to lose just his wrist, but misjudged the trajectory and lost his entire left hand. He didn't regret it, though.

"Do you have any discomfort in your left hand, Matthias?"

"No, it feels better than ever."

"Same here. I thought maybe it's better to cut it off cleanly when you're badly injured."

"Maybe so."

Leila watched them chat about cutting off limbs with a deadpan expression, munching on spare ribs.

"Can you not talk about that now?"

In a low voice, she pleaded, and they both said, "Okay..." and focused on their food.

* * *

One afternoon after lunch, Fiona was sitting on a bench, gazing at the sky. She was lost in thought when Graham appeared behind her.

"What are you doing?"

Graham frowned, seeing her covered in muddy water.

"I was thinking about what to do. Hey, can you pour water on my head?"

"You're such a hassle."

Despite his words, he washed the mud off her and dried her thoroughly.

"Thanks. I couldn't go back to my room because I'd dirty the hallway. I was waiting for it to dry naturally, but I was worried about leaving mud on the floor."

"Muriel did this, didn't she? The one with chestnut hair tied up in two pigtails above her ears."

"Oh... Yeah, that's right."

She hadn't intended to say who did it, but he guessed correctly.

"She really did it... I should have warned her that she'd get in trouble if she did something unnecessary..."

Graham leaned back on the bench, looking into the distance with a wistful expression.

"What kind of trouble?"

"Matthias will beat her up. That guy is a real sadist."

He sat down next to Fiona.

"Beat her up? Why? What did she do?"

"Why... Don't you have an idea?"

"??"

Fiona tilted her head, not understanding. She didn't know Graham well yet, only that he had doused her with water in the hallway and given her water during training.

"Water..."

"Exactly. It's because I doused you with water."

"Whaaat..."

Fiona was shocked. A beating for revenge over a water dousing was too much. She hadn't asked for it and hadn't even reported it. She guessed Luke must have told Matthias.

"He had a healer on standby to heal him repeatedly while he beat me up."

"Wow..."

As they talked, Luke ran over.

"I saw Fiona through the window, covered in mud. Did Graham clean you up?"

"Yeah, I washed her off with water."

"Was it Muriel?"

"..."

Luke also guessed correctly. He seemed to know why she disliked Fiona.

"But we need to prevent a disaster. Don't tell Matthias. He'll do something terrible. Graham, you told Luke about the water, right? Please don't tell him again. If he does something terrible to a girl, she'll hate him."

"Actually, I reported it because I was worried about getting in trouble later. Fiona, it would be better if you talked to him directly."

"Sure. Just change 'girl' to 'comrade.'"

Fiona agreed to their request and told Matthias at dinner that night. He grunted in response.

* * *

Two weeks had passed since Fiona joined the First Magic Corps. She had become close with the members, except for Muriel, who remained cold and distant, refusing to be friendly.

Fiona felt sad but understood that Muriel must hate her for the things she did as an enemy. When she asked Graham and Luke for the reason, they didn't tell her, but she couldn't think of any other reason.

One evening after dinner, Fiona returned to her room with Luke and Matthias. They said they had something to tell her. Leila joined them a bit later. Fiona was asked to sit on the sofa, with Luke and Leila standing in front of her and Matthias watching from a chair.

"Fiona, we've been given permission to restore a small portion of your magic. Please extend your right hand."

Fiona raised her right hand to head level, and Luke touched the cuff. A symbol disappeared, and she felt a slight return of her magic.

"This should restore one-twentieth of your magic. Please check if you can use it."

Fiona held her palms up and quickly cast small fireballs, water orbs, ice, and mini-tornadoes, testing her abilities.

"Yes, it works fine."

Luke and Leila were stunned.

"What was that? How did you do it?"

"Your spellcasting speed is incredible."

For mages, improving spellcasting speed was standard, but Fiona's was exceptional.

"Your fluid magic manipulation isn't due to the artifact, is it?"

"The golden bracelet only amplifies my magic."

"I see. How did you achieve this?"

Leila leaned in, excited.

"Well, I trained for about thirteen hours a day for a few years."

"I don't think anyone has the magic to train that long."

Leila chuckled.

"Is that so... Then it must be the bracelet's power."

As she accepted this, Matthias, who had been watching, stood up and squatted in front of Fiona.

"No, it's the result of your hard work. It must have been tough, but you did a great job."

His kind blue eyes made her feel warm inside.

When she struggled with magic, her instructors always scolded her. She cried alone in her room, never showing her weakness to anyone, especially her parents, to avoid worrying them.

"...Yeah, I worked really hard."

Being praised by Matthias made her feel that all the hard times were worth it. She smiled, tears welling up in her eyes.

* * *

With a small portion of her magic restored, Fiona could use it in the next day's training.

"Today, we'll have one-on-one combat training. Fiona, you can only use a little magic, so surrender before you run out."

"Understood."

The team leader, Leila, assigned pairs, and the chosen members faced each other in the training ground. The others watched from a distance.

They used large-scale spells, holding nothing back. Both sides got injured, but a healer was on standby to heal them immediately after each match.

"Next, Muriel and Fiona!"

"Huh!?"

Muriel stood up, protesting.

"Team leader! Why me and her? Training with someone who can only use a little magic is pointless."

Muriel, with her chestnut hair tied in two pigtails above her ears, shook her head in protest.

"Quiet. If you have complaints, say them after the match."

Leila turned to Fiona.

"Fiona, don't hold back. Knock her out with all your strength. It's an order."

Fiona, knowing the healer's skills, agreed without hesitation. Muriel, still frowning, walked to the center of the training ground. Fiona followed, and they faced each other.

Muriel glared at Fiona, her blue eyes filled with hatred. She gathered magic in her right hand to cast a large fire vortex, thinking there was no need for a magic barrier since her opponent could only use a little magic. She intended to end it with one attack.

But before the vortex appeared, sharp pains shot through her body.

"Ouch...!?"

Her arms, legs, and shoulders were pierced by thin, sharp ice arrows.

—How? When?

But there was no time to think. Her spell was interrupted, so she quickly cast fire arrows from both hands. They were immediately absorbed and extinguished by water orbs from a small magic circle that appeared in front of her.

"!"

Panicked, Muriel tried to cast a tornado, but two lightning bolts struck her from above, interrupting her spell.

"!"

She fell to the ground, looking up to see two new small magic circles, from which fire arrows hit her hands.

"!"

Burned on the back of her hands, she crouched, then was cut by wind blades from three directions. More small magic circles had appeared, and she was hit in the arms and back.

Fiona continued her relentless attacks, giving Muriel no chance to counter.

"Fiona, that's enough!"

Leila called from a distance, ending the match. The healer rushed to Muriel, healing her multiple small injuries.

Muriel stood up, still glaring at Fiona, tears in her eyes.