Anyway, the combination of a mage and a knight is excellent.
Moreover, Andrew is a battle mage, proficient not only in debuff magic but also in offensive & defensive magic.
‘Lastly...’
Seria's team.
Though overshadowed by the hero departnt, this team is a real dark horse.
Like Andrew's team, a combination of a mage and a knight.
Compared to Andrew, Seria excels a bit more in debuff magic and falls slightly short in offensive magic, but there's not much of a difference.
‘But the bracket is outrageous.’
If a anyone looked at it, they would pray for our team’s good fortune; that's just how our bracket is.
We will probably win the rounds of 128 and 64 easily, but in the round of 32, we will et Seria's team, Noctar's team in the 16, Andrew's team in the 8, and Aisha's team in the semi-finals.
Lastly, in the finals, we will face Neike's team.
How did we end up facing all four of the strongest teams?
Is this rigged?
‘But I didn't expect to not see Piel here.’
If Piel had participated, it would have been even crazier.
In the ga, Piel does participate in this tournant.
She makes it all the way to the finals but loses to Neike, earning second place.
‘Is there sothing going on?’
Co to think of it, she vanished right after the midterm exam on Tuesday.
I'm curious.
Just then.
"…Theo, as expected, you're participating too."
Andrew approached .
Beside him stood Sally, whose gentle smile is her trademark.
I slowly turned my head and looked at Andrew.
Then I quickly scanned the waiting room.
‘Good, Seria's not here.’
Seria currently knows my voice.
Being careful wouldn't hurt.
I spoke calmly.
"Yes. Andrew, I heard that you were participating as well. Can I ask why you decided to join?"
I was genuinely curious.
The reason Andrew suddenly joined this tournant as a team with Sally.
Though Andrew is different now, in the ga, he beca corrupted and joined Turning White's side, contributing to the destruction of the academy.
The future may have changed, but inherent nature doesn't change easily.
Given Andrew's poor social skills and lack of friends, there'd hardly be anyone he knows in the knight departnt.
Even if soone asked him, he would coldly refuse if it wasn't soone he knew well.
A flustered Andrew hastily opened his mouth.
"…! There's no need to know. We, we were on the sa team during the last dungeon exploration evaluation, and though I received a lot of help from you…! Ah, I can't tell you!"
"…I see."
I nodded.
But why is he suddenly getting flustered?
He could just say he doesn't want to answer.
Anyway, Andrew was quite talkative.
"Anyway, Theo! I will go ahead and wait! But, but don’t get eliminated before that! I will be the one to beat you!"
"Alright. I'm looking forward to it, Andrew. See you up there."
I nodded slowly at Andrew.
Sally, who had been looking at with a smiling face next to Andrew, spoke up.
"Hey, Andrew. It's our turn. Let's hurry."
"Mm, let's do that, Sally."
Andrew, who had quickly gotten his anger under control, smiled faintly at Sally.
······Wow, damn.
I never knew Andrew could make a face like that.
I'd never seen him smile like that, not in the ga or since my arrival here.
What is Sally to Andrew?
While I was still focused on Andrew, Sally looked at and said,
"Theo, right? I saw you during the practical evaluation. The way you elegantly defeated an opponent much stronger than yourself! I was truly impressed!"
Sally praised passionately, her hands clenched tight.
They say even praise can make a whale dance.
Moreover, her praise seed pure, without any ulterior motives.
So, I felt sowhat elated as well.
But I couldn't show such a trivial appearance.
Enhancing [Twisted Noble's Dignity], I responded to her calmly.
"I appreciate your kind words. Have a good match with Andrew."
"Yes, yes! Please watch, Theo! And Irene too!"
Sally flashed an innocent smile at Irene and .
"Mm."
Irene, standing beside , responded with a cold voice.
"······."
Andrew's eyes were trembling as he alternately looked at Sally and , saying nothing.
Sally then grabbed his hand and pulled him along.
"Let's go, Andrew~"
"······Alright, Sally. Let's go. ······That said, Theo."
Andrew glared at with shaky eyes.
"What is it?"
"If you lose to soone other than , I won't let it go."
"Fine."
With that response, I withdrew my gaze from Andrew.
I almost burst out laughing.
Telling not to lose to soone other than him.
‘What a line…’
As if he's the rival of a protagonist.
The rounds of 128 and 64 were over.
Soon, the round of 32 would begin.
From now on, the broadcasts would increase, and interest would also grow.
In the stands, which were mostly filled with guild mbers and governnt officials, students who had finished their exams started to join one by one.
As many of the top students from the hero departnt participated, attention naturally converged on them.
In the midst of this, Andrew and Sally were sitting side by side on chairs in the waiting room.
Sally looked at Andrew with a worried expression.
"Andrew, what's wrong? You look scary."
"Ah, it's nothing, Sally. I'm still thinking about our last match."
Andrew quickly flashed a bright smile.
But sothing was off.
Sally still looked at Andrew with worried eyes.
"Is that so? Your expression has been off since earlier... If there's anything bothering you, just say it. We can also just forfeit. Making it to the round of 32 is all thanks to you, Andrew."
"No, Sally. Since we entered, we must win. This tournant carries a lot of weight in the scoring, you know."
Andrew smiled awkwardly.
He wasn't feeling great, but he didn't want to show this image of him to Sally.
'...Theo.'
The reason for his unease.
His only rival.
...Sally seed interested in him.
No, she was.
She definitely was.
And he felt insecure.
It was the sa with Aisha before...
Why did every girl he liked seem to have an interest in Theo?
Of course, he's a great guy. Andrew knew that well.
But he was angry.
So he vented his frustration during the rounds of 128 and 64.
Even though a simple debuff magic would have sufficed against his opponents, he ruthlessly bombarded them with 'Fireball,' a long-range spell.
Such behavior was foolish in a tournant where mana needed to be saved for later rounds.
However, after using his magic so intensely, he felt a little better.
"Huuuuu..."
After a long sigh, Andrew began to sip a mana recovery potion, little by little.
It had a bitter taste, an unpleasant feel to it.
But it was from Sally.
And it was a 'rare' grade.
A potion that Sally had bought with a week's worth of part-ti job wages.
Struggling to keep a straight face, Andrew drank the mana recovery potion to the last drop, then looked at Sally with a smiling face.
"Thank you, Sally. You even prepared all of this for ."
"It's nothing. Andrew, you're among the top ranks in the hero departnt, right? There must have been many people who wanted to team up with you, but you chose to be with . I'm the one who should be thankful. Andrew, you're really a good person."
Sally smiled sweetly at Andrew.
Andrew felt his heart warm.
Where could anyone find an angelic girl like this?
Her words were as beautiful as her appearance.
"Hahaha, I might not be all that..."
Andrew barely swallowed the words that were about to follow.
128th round and 64th round opponents were teams without Hero Departnt students, so it was easy.
Irene finished it neatly before I even showed my skills.
I ca out of the stadium and said to Irene,
"You worked hard, Rin. I didn't even have a chance to do anything."
"Hehe, this is nothing. I am the top student in the Knight Departnt, you know?"
Irene looked at and smiled brightly.
But that smile disappeared as soon as she saw the tournant bracket.
"······Now it's a mage."
Her eyes were fixed on our next opponents, Seria's team.
‘Well, there’s no need to worry too much.’
Mages are prey after all.
What worries more is that Seria might recognize .
‘It would be troubleso if she recognizes already.’
I think I should hold back on using [Magic Cartridge] for now.
While thinking that,
“You are our opponents this ti, Irene, Theo... right?”
From a distance, Seria walked up to us and spoke.
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