Chapter 13: Year-end Tournament Reopening

The day of the end-of-year tournament (for fourth-year students) had finally reached.

I was waiting for Jill-Sensei at the entrance to the practice field. She seemed to have various things she wanted to confirm and wanted to tell me.

Naturally, there were many fourth-year students participating today. They will become knights next month and they all looked like adults.

Then, I noticed that I was being watched very closely.

‘Why? There are other children here, including lower-year students here to watch. Oh, Jill-Sensei is here now. I’ll ask her.’

“You are becoming a subject of rumors, you know. You were allowed to participate under special circumstances as a second-year student. It’s natural that you would be noticed.”

“Please stop saying it like I begged you to let me participate.”

“Well, it’s the same once the match starts. Don’t worry about it. You wouldn’t worry about it even if I didn’t say anything, would you? Now, let’s start with a health check… Hm, there are no abnormalities in your mana. Is your physical condition also normal?”

“Yes, it’s the same as always.”

“Alright then… What do you want, Miss Eleora?”

A brown-haired woman was standing there, looking at us intently.

She was about 170 cm tall. She had slightly slanted eyes and her hair was in a ponytail. She gave off the aura of a thug hanging out in back alleys.

‘Why is a thug in a place like this?’

But in reality, it was not like that. This person was actually quite skilled.

“Jill-Sensei, who is this?”

“This is Eleora-san, the winner of the third-year division of the tournament held yesterday.”

She took another step forward, as if trying to press us.

“Jill-Sensei! I can’t accept this! Why is a child like this participating in the upper tournament! It’s strange, right?!”

“It’s not strange. Tremina-san was allowed to participate.”

“I can’t believe it! For a child like this?! I can’t accept it! Can you please tell me the reason?!”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t reveal the details. It’s a special situation.”

“Special situation! What kind of special situation! I won’t accept it unless I know the reason!”

“Hmm… You are quite troublesome too…”

Jill-Sensei had said “too”. She understood that Cepharis was more troublesome.

After thinking for a while, Jill-Sensei looked at me and Eleora alternately and said, “Then let’s do it this way. You two, fight here, right now. The winner will participate in the tournament.”

Eleora protested, saying; “To fight against such a small child?! That’s impossible.” Despite her tough appearance, Eleora had good sense.

“She is the winner of the second-year division. Don’t worry. Alright, Tremina-san, you also prepare. Use ‘Fight’.”

“‘Fight’, right?”

“‘Fight’. Eleora-san will understand soon enough.” I understood this was normal.

–“Fight”

The whole entrance became quiet. Suddenly, it became loud, as if a dam had burst.

Everyone should have heard about it through rumors, but this reaction was unexpected. As for Eleora, she froze with her mouth open.

“Sorry I made you wait. Well, shall we fight?”

Eleora grudgingly said, “Hey! Okay! Stop! … Tremina, right? Good luck in the match.” It was good that had good intuition or rather, was this now a normal reaction?

I wondered, ‘Is Cepharis really…’ 

And then I heard a loud voice, “Hey, thug! Stay away from my little sister!”

Suddenly, there was a loud “Bam!” as Cepharis, who had come running at full speed, hit Eleora’s side with all her momentum.

“Leave this thug to me! Tremina-san has a match coming up!”

I was relieved that Cepharis was back to normal but I had to ask, “What are you doing?”