Chapter 5: When You’re Troubled, Have Some Sugar
The day after the first day of the Ranking battle.
Looking back, it was just a waste of time, drawing unnecessary attention and getting noticed by a suspicious underclassman. I might have done something unnecessary.
“Hah…”
I sigh involuntarily while sitting on a bench in the academy courtyard.
At the same time, the reactions of the underclassmen and the gazes of those around me after I returned to my seat following the recent scuffle with Akari flashed through my mind.
[W-When did you move!? What did you do!? Was it spirit arts!?]
[A-Amazing! I-I can’t really put it into words, but you were like a hero!!]
The underclassmen welcomed me, who was exhausted from being dragged around by Akari, with unabated excitement. The students sitting around also gave me looks that seemed to say “Awesome!” while offering generous applause.
If anything, I wanted them to recognize how dangerous Akari was rather than focus on me, but given their reaction, that seemed unlikely.
For now, I just asked the two underclassmen to tell Akari to refrain from such actions in the future before making a hasty retreat, but I wonder if they conveyed the message properly.
“No, this isn’t the time to be worrying about that…”
The more pressing issue at hand is not the battle-junkie underclassman, but coming up with a strategy for the Ranking battle against Ophelia the day after tomorrow.
Ophelia Ringlad. Her contracted spirit is an earth-attribute spirit called “Dreadnought,” which takes the form of a large battleship-like spirit that demonstrates tremendous power in long to mid-range combat. Additionally, Ophelia herself is well-versed in spirit arts and powerful in close combat, making her an excellent spirit user with no weaknesses in long, mid, or close-range battles.
In contrast, my main style is close-quarters combat with swordsmanship, which, to be honest, puts me at a disadvantage.
Well, strictly speaking, I could probably cover up to mid-range with spirit arts, but it would be difficult to go toe-to-toe with Dreadnought’s firepower.
Most likely, I’ll end up being blown to smithereens by concentrated fire before I can even get close.
“This is really troublesome…”
At this rate, I’ll suffer a humiliating defeat without being able to do anything. As the second-ranked student in our year, that’s something I want to avoid at all costs.
However, I couldn’t think of any effective countermeasures. While the students around me were eating bread they had bought from the school store or chatting happily in the courtyard, I sat alone on the bench, exuding a gloomy atmosphere.
“You look tired. Are you not feeling well?”
“…Who?”
My drifting thoughts were awakened by a voice coming from above.
As I looked up, there stood Misha, the princess of our country, her long blonde hair shimmering in the sunlight as she looked down at me sitting on the bench.
“Oh, Misha. I was just thinking about something. You seem as busy as ever with student council work. Are you alright?”
“It’s not a problem. At least for now…”
Although Misha says there’s no problem, her expression betrays a hint of fatigue that she can’t quite hide. Well, with the new student welcome party and the degree battles starting, she must be struggling with various things.
This academy uses nice-sounding words like “valuing student autonomy” to push event management and other responsibilities onto the students, so the burden on some students, like those in the student council and disciplinary committee, is quite heavy.
As a result, students belonging to the student council are juggling their studies with daily trouble-shooting and event management, to the point where you might wonder when they ever get to rest.
As a relief measure, students belonging to committees like the student council and disciplinary committee are guaranteed a certain number of credits and given some leeway in lecture grade evaluations, but that just goes to show how difficult it is to even earn credits properly without such measures.
“Really, you’re always working hard.”
“If you’re going to praise me like that, why don’t you join the student council yourself? We’d be more than happy to have you.”
“Please spare me. I can’t handle student council duties.”
For starters, I’ve already been forcibly assigned to another committee. There’s no way I could handle student council duties on top of that.
“That’s a shame. We’ll always be waiting for you, you know?”
“Please wait without expecting anything.”
She probably wasn’t entirely serious. As Misha says this with a teasing smile, I answer with a frown and stand up from the bench. I noticed that the gazes of the students in the courtyard had gathered on us.
I can understand why they’d be curious about the top two students in our year talking, but I don’t feel like continuing to sit on the bench while being stared at like this.
“Student Council President, it’s about time…”
“Yes, I understand. Please excuse me.”
“Ah, see you later.”
One of the student council officers standing behind her, a girl with long blue hair and glasses giving off an intellectual impression, checks her watch and informs Misha. Nodding, she bids me farewell and turns on her heel to head towards the school building—
“Oh, by the way, I’m planning to watch your Ranking battle the day after tomorrow from the arena, so I’m looking forward to it.”
“……………”
As if she had forgotten to mention it, Misha turns back and tells me this before finally disappearing into the school building.
“Aah~ What am I going to do…”
I wonder if everything would be solved if I just went to sleep and woke up tomorrow.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.PAGES.DEV
Realizing that simply pondering in the courtyard wouldn’t lead to any good ideas, Rourke moved from the courtyard to the library, hoping to gain some inspiration from the wisdom of his predecessors.
The library located on the academy grounds houses many books, primarily related to spirits. It’s said that when it comes to spirit-related literature alone, it’s even more extensive than the national library.
Thinking that with so many books, there must be something useful to reference, Rourke was walking through the spacious library when he spotted a familiar girl.
“…Hm?”
“…Ugh!…Ugh!”
It seems she’s trying to reach a book on the upper shelf. The girl is desperately stretching, reaching out her hand, but due to her relatively small stature, she can’t quite reach it.
“Here, is this the book?”
“…Ah! Rourke!?”
Unable to stand by and watch, Rourke reaches over and grabs the book that the girl, Lily, was apparently trying to get, then hands it to her as she looks at him in surprise.
“You seemed pretty desperate. What kind of book is this?”
“I-It’s nothing!”
As I was curious about the book she was so desperately trying to get, I tried to read the title, but Lily quickly stowed it away in her bag.
It was too quick for me to confirm properly, but I think I saw a title that seemed like it was about secrets to improving one’s style.
No, that can’t be right for Lily…
Out of curiosity, I tried asking what kind of book it was, but she stubbornly refused to tell me. Is it something she really doesn’t want others to know about? Looking at the section, it’s in the human body book area, so it must be about something related to the human body, but it’s an unusual genre compared to the books she usually reads.
“Ah!”
Could it be that after seeing how I fight, or Gareth, or even Akari the other day, she’s thinking about training her body? Personally, I wouldn’t really recommend it…
“Lily, to be honest, physical combat isn’t really suited for you–“
“N-Never mind about me! W-What kind of book are you looking for, Rourke?”
Although I was a bit interested in Lily’s unusual agitation, it seemed she didn’t want to discuss it further, so I decided to explain my own purpose.
“I came to look for some books that might help me come up with a strategy for the Ranking battle the day after tomorrow.”
That said, given who my opponent is, it’s questionable whether any clever techniques would make a difference, but it’s better than doing nothing.
“Are you planning not to summon a spirit again?”
“Well, um… yeah…”
“………”
In reality, I just don’t have a contract, but since I haven’t told Lily the truth either, all I can do is answer vaguely.
“Your opponent is Ophelia, right? I don’t think the matchup is good for you as you are now.”
“Yeah, it’s the worst.”
“But you’re still not going to summon one?”
“That’s right.”
Because I don’t have one, you know.
Rourke nodded, suppressing the honest thoughts that were about to escape his mouth. In response, Lily gave him a look of exasperation.
“If that’s the case, you’d better prepare thoroughly. Otherwise, you’ll be turned into a beehive before you can even get close.”
“…By the way, if you were in my position, Lily, how would you fight?”
Rourke casually asked for Lily’s opinion. During their recent ruin exploration, her overflowing curiosity had caused numerous problematic actions, but her academic abilities were among the top in this academy. She might have some good ideas.
Lily remained silent for a moment, then prefaced her opinion with, “First of all, I would never not summon my contracted spirit, but…” before continuing:
“If it were me, I’d somehow separate Ophelia from her spirit… Dreadnought. Then I’d have to defeat Ophelia once she’s alone.”
“Separating the spirit master from the contracted spirit… huh?”
Lily nodded at Rourke’s words and continued.
“A spirit master’s strength lies in their coordination with their contracted spirit. Conversely, if you separate them from their spirit, they can’t even exert half of their original power.”
“I see.”
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