Chapter 2: Yufia Queensroad
Magical education institutions, known as “magic academy,” taught sorcery over six years of elementary division followed by three years of middle division, with children enrolling at the age of six.
Yufia Queensroad attended one such school一the Terence Magic School.
Unlike Crawford Magic Academy, where she currently studied, Terence did not divide classes based on academic ranking. Instead, students were reassigned each year to ensure each class maintained a balanced overall performance.
Yufia struggled with putting her thoughts and feelings into words. Conversation itself was difficult for her.
Shy by nature, she rarely initiated discussions with others. Even when someone spoke to her, though she tried her best to respond, her replies often came off as cold and indifferent.
Moreover, her emotions rarely showed on her face, leaving her perpetually expressionless. Even in lively, cheerful situations, she alone remained unsmiling.
Because of this, people misunderstood her as cold and disinterested in others.
Though she never intended it, her usual avoidance of classmates and the overwhelming talent she displayed only worsened her reputation.
Her natural beauty and extraordinary abilities also invited envy. Malicious rumors, entirely baseless, spread about her, further alienating her from the other students.
Her school life continued like this, and even by her fourth year in elementary division, Yufia had no one she could call a friend.
At first, she felt lonely being unable to connect with her classmates and watching them drift further away. The false rumors spread out of malice had deeply hurt her.
But as years passed, she grew accustomed to the loneliness and sorrow, eventually accepting her circumstances. Before she knew it, all that remained inside her was emptiness.
Days filled with unfulfilling, joyless classes. Classmates whose names she barely knew, let alone interacted with. None of the students she met during her magic school years left much of an impression on her.
Except for one.
A male student she first shared a class with in her fourth year.
This boy stood out一not in a good way. His practical magic skills were by far the worst in their grade, if not the entire school.
Generally, within a month of entering magic school, nearly every student could successfully cast the beginner-level fire spell, Ignition.
At first, they used magic medium paper inscribed with spell formulas to channel their mana, but soon, they no longer needed it.
When mana circulating in the body is released externally, it becomes visible like smoke or mist. Once students learned to control that mist and form magic circles, they could cast spells without medium paper.
By age ten, even the lowest-performing students could cast Fireball without it.
Yet, this boy still couldn’t even manage Ignition with medium paper at ten years old.
Objectively speaking, his skill was inferior to that of a six-year-old fresh out of enrollment.
One might assume he was simply lazy, but his written exam scores were always perfect.
He was anything but an unserious student.
The stark contrast between his practical inability and his theoretical excellence made him stand out to Yufia.
But what left an even stronger impression was this:
“Hey, Shion, my Water Ball won’t form a proper sphere. I think the spell formula’s right, but…”
“Let me see your magic circle.”
“Here. What do you think?”
“Hmm… Oh, got it. Look here一the water volume adjustment formula’s slightly off. It’s supposed to be… like this. That’s why it won’t form a sphere. Fix this part and try again.”
“Ah! I see! You’re the best, Shion! Thanks!”
“Yeah.”
“Yo, Shion!”
“Hey, morning.”
“About that Wind Cutter you taught me yesterday一adjusting the mana flow like you said worked perfectly! You’re amazing, thanks!”
“Nah, I just repeated what the textbook said. It’s your own skill.”
“No way! It’s all thanks to you!”
“Speaking of, Shion, have you managed Ignition yet?”
“…Nah. Not yet.”
“I see…”
“But you’ll get it for sure! If we can do it, so can you!”
“Yeah. Keep at it, Shion.”
“Right. Thanks, both of you一”
Despite his glaring lack of practical ability, his classmates adored and respected him.
To Yufia, he was unlike anyone she had ever seen. Though she never spoke to him, he left a deep impression on her.
Yet, by then, Yufia had given up on making friends. In her mind, he was just another classmate she would never grow close to.
Until one day一
A trivial incident brought them together
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One afternoon after school, Yufia realized she had forgotten something and returned to the magic school to retrieve it.
Walking through the now-empty halls, she stepped into her silent classroom, expecting no one to be there.
But someone was.
“………!!”
At the sight, Yufia’s breath caught.
It wasn’t just surprise at finding someone in an empty classroom.
The lone student sat at his desk, hands resting on its surface一completely motionless.
Normally, even when consciously still, subtle movements like the rise and fall of one’s chest or the blink of an eye betray life. But he was frozen, as if time itself had stopped around him. The sheer unnaturalness of it was striking.
Mesmerized, Yufia watched in silence.
He seemed deep in concentration, so she quietly approached to see what he was doing. On his desk lay a sheet of magic medium paper inscribed with the spell circle for Ignition一he was attempting to cast it.
This was the boy一the only one in their grade who still couldn’t perform Ignition even with medium paper.
Unaware of Yufia’s presence, he focused intensely, pouring mana into the spell circle.
The magic circle was 80% alight with a red glow, just shy of activation.
Whether he succeeded or not shouldn’t have mattered to Yufia. Yet, for some reason, she found herself hoping he would一unable to look away.
But then一
Whoosh. Like a candle snuffed out, the red light vanished instantly.
“一……!! Haaaah……!”
The stillness shattered. He gasped as if surfacing from suffocation.
“Haaah… Still no good.”
Letting out a long exhale, he slumped his hands below the desk in frustration.
“………Whoa!?”
“……!”
Noticing Yufia beside him, he jolted in surprise.
His chair and desk rattled, startling her too.
“…S-Sorry…”
“Ah, no, my bad. I overreacted. Didn’t expect anyone here.”
Yufia shook her head quickly.
“I was… watching. Without saying anything…”
“Huh? You were watching the whole time?”
“…Sorry.”
“Nah, it’s fine! Not mad or anything. But it wasn’t exactly entertaining, was it?”
“…It was… amazing.”
“Huh?”
Tilting his head in confusion, he asked,
“My failed Ignition was amazing?”
“Your… concentration. It was like… time stopped. That was… incredible.”
“Haha, what’s that supposed to mean?”
He laughed softly, as if she’d told a joke he didn’t quite get.
“S-Sorry… That sounded weird…”
“Huh? Nah… Well, maybe I really was that focused.”
“…!”
Seeing her guilt, he softened his tone.
“I really thought today was the day. Felt like my focus and determination were way higher than usual. Guess the intensity must’ve been something, huh?”
“…! Yeah. It was…!”
“Still failed, though. Haha.”
“B-But it was close… Just a little more…”
“Yeah. Finally reached the brink. Took seven years, but now I know success is right there.”
Yufia nodded firmly in agreement.
“Next time… surely… ……Huh?”
Mid-sentence, a sharp sense of unease gripped Yufia.
“Seven… years……?”
For a moment, she thought she must have misheard. But he showed no sign of correcting himself, nodding as if it were the most natural answer to her question.
“Yeah. I first wrote out the Ignition spell formula on my own when I was three. Been practicing nonstop every day since then一only just got this far.”
“一一!!”
Yufia was left speechless.
She, too, had been drilled in magic by her parents from the moment she could form memories.
Yet the idea of practicing a spell for seven years without a single success was unimaginable to her.
一No one would keep going that long. They’d quit. They have to.
“H-how… how could you… keep at it… for so long……?”
“Why? Well…”
The boy tilted his head, as if puzzled by the question itself.
“Magic’s just cool, y’know?”
His grin was effortless, as though no other reason could possibly exist.
“C-cool……?”
Yufia blinked.
“Yeah! Fire or lightning shooting from your hands一how’s that not awesome?”
He held his right palm skyward, eyes sparkling.
“……I… don’t get it……”
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