Chapter 86 - Seniors and Juniors

“Why didn’t you choose Healing Magic?”

After the entrance ceremony, Yuto and Flokiro met up with Levian and passed through a gate into the commercial district. Levian had eagerly offered to show them around the academy grounds.

“Each course gives you chances to mingle with the older students... and sometimes we even take classes together. Besides, I was top of my first-year Healing Magic class, so I could share my lecture notes with you, Lord Yuto.”

“I can’t use healing magic at all.”

“That’s all the more reason to learn! Knowing healing magic can never hurt.”

“I understand its importance, but it doesn’t suit my temperament.”

It wasn’t just his temperament. He lacked the aptitude, too. Magical potential varied enormously depending on both innate talent and which constellation one contracted with.

No matter how skilled Yuto was with a sword or how adept he was at manipulating aether, starting to learn healing magic now would be a waste of time and effort.

“You said you chose Swordsmanship, Evomon Studies, and Dungeon Studies, right? I wish you’d drop one of those and take Healing Magic instead...”

“We see each other often enough without taking the same course.”

“Well... that’s true, but...”

Levian heaved a sigh and pouted.

“Why did you choose those three, anyway?”

“Because I’m certain I can come top in all three.”

“So you chose them to get the highest marks, not because you wanted to learn more.”

That was where their criteria for choosing courses differed. Levian chose subjects because she wanted to learn things she didn’t know. Yuto was different. He had already graduated from Maria Academy in his previous life and amassed a wealth of experience no academy could offer.

However prestigious Maria Academy might be as the finest academy on the continent of Callisto, there was little in its curriculum from which he stood to learn much.

“What wish could you possibly want to make in Maria’s Labyrinth that makes you so desperate to get in?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t... know? Do you mean it’s a secret?”

“Both.”

Yuto answered as they walked down a street in the commercial district. At noon on Sunday, the district was bustling with island residents and students.

“I don’t know how much Maria’s Labyrinth can grant. So I haven’t thought about a specific wish yet.”

He had a few vague wishes in mind, but none he could tell Levian about as things stood.

She gave him a dejected sidelong look. His answer felt like he was still keeping her at arm’s length.

“I thought I’d learned a lot of your secrets. Do you still have more?”

“Everyone has secrets. But you know a great many of mine. To be honest, I never imagined I’d open up to you this much.”

Yuto answered with a wry smile. He meant it. His original plan had been to obtain a letter of recommendation for Maria Academy in exchange for curing Rufus Marigold’s poisoning, then maintain a reasonable distance from House Marigold.

Instead, he had grown far too close to Levian. Even as he remained wary, thinking this relationship might be dangerous, he found comfort in their conversation. She was becoming someone who understood him from a different perspective than Flokiro or Elun.

“Ahem...”

Levian blinked for a moment, then averted her gaze and fanned her face with her hand.

“Well... we’ve been through a lot together, Yuto. We’ve seen each other at our weakest and saved each other from danger... Ahem. Well, it can’t be helped. I’ll enter Maria Academy too.”

“You? Why?”

“What do you mean, why? You can’t use healing magic, and you don’t intend to learn. If you get injured in Maria’s Labyrinth, you might not win the right to a wish.”

“You’re saying you’ll enter Maria’s Labyrinth with me, for my sake?”

“Yes.”

She answered without a trace of hesitation. Yuto stared blankly at her face for a moment, then slowly shook his head.

“You don’t have to go that far. You can only enter Maria’s Labyrinth once in your life. Save it for yourself.”

“The wishes I wanted to make in the labyrinth have already come true,” Levian said with a gentle smile.

“I wanted my father to recover, and to become the next head of House Marigold.”

The Black Death Venom that had brought Rufus to the brink of death had been neutralized, and Cayenne, who had ordered the poisoning, had been executed by Marketer. As a result, Levian had become House Marigold’s sole heir.

“It’s all thanks to you, Yuto. That’s why I want to help make your wish come true, too.”

“You might find something else to wish for later.”

“At least for now, there’s nothing else I want to wish for.”

Her expression and voice were so firm that Yuto felt nothing he said would change her mind. In the end, all he could do was give her a faint smile.

“If... that’s really what you want.”

“Hehe.”

“But are you confident you can place in the top five of your year?”

Levian’s smile faltered. Clenching her fists, she shot him a look and stammered out her answer.

“I-I only failed to make the top five in my first year because...! There were circumstances beyond my control.”

“What circumstances?”

“I... made a mistake when I chose my electives.”

Her explanation went as follows. When she first entered Maria Academy, Levian had chosen Healing Magic, Business Administration, and Evomon Studies as her electives.

“Why did you choose Evomon Studies when you didn’t even have an Evomon contract?”

“Mer...chant City is a place where people live alongside Evomon. They’re deeply involved in commerce throughout the city, so...”

“Even so, surely you knew what they taught in Evomon Studies before you signed up?”

“That’s why I chose it. First-years without an Evomon contract can form one with an Evomon raised by the academy.”

Levian let out a heavy sigh.

“It’s simple, really. I didn’t like any of the Evomon the course introduced me to. I didn’t want to force myself to form a contract when my heart wasn’t in it... and I couldn’t change a course I’d already chosen. So...”

“Huh.”

“B-but I still finished my first year ranked eighth overall, you know! In Evomon Studies, too, I got high marks on every exam except the practicals. I’m choosing a different course this year, so I’m sure I can make the top five.”

“What are you planning to take?”

“Healing Magic and Offensive Magic. And Support Magic.”

“Not Business Administration?”

“Not this year.”

All three were popular choices among students who primarily used magic, but few took all three. Their class days often overlapped, and the coursework was extremely difficult.

“Can you manage all three?”

“I’ve kept studying since taking leave from the academy last year, and I’ve gained a lot of experience with you. I should be fine.”

Levian sounded confident. She had continued practicing healing magic at the Marigold estate to cure her father’s poisoning, and even after their trip to Belkain, she had frequently accompanied Yuto into dungeons, gaining considerable practical experience.

Barring any major problems, she could probably aim for high marks in all three subjects.

“Support Magic will be difficult.”

“If it’s difficult, it’s all the more worth learning. ... You said the junior student you partnered with in the entrance exam was a highly skilled support mage, didn’t you?”

“Well, we only worked together briefly, but I had no complaints.”

Yuto answered with a smile. At his sly expression, Levian pouted briefly before composing herself.

“The information you asked me to look into arrived this morning. Calipha Rudrock. Her family are minor nobles from a provincial town in the eastern Kingdom of Ristal.”

Yuto’s eyes gleamed at what she said next. On the evening the entrance exam ended, he had asked Levian for a favor.

He had asked her to investigate Calipha and her family. Marigold’s intelligence network should have little trouble investigating a minor noble family in another country.

“They aren’t landed lords, nor do they operate any particular business. They’re ordinary nobles of the sort you’d find in any provincial town. Their reputation there is... not bad. Quite the opposite, in fact.”

Levian paused and shrugged.

“They’ve actually gained support among the poor recently. Apparently, they spent a fair amount on relief work in the slums, saying their only daughter was going to attend Maria Academy.”

“Relief work, hm?”

“They aren’t wealthy enough to have money to spare, so it seems they stretched their resources to fund it. Ostensibly to celebrate their daughter’s admission and ask people to bless her.”

Strictly speaking, she hadn’t been admitted then. She had merely qualified to sit the entrance exam.

“Hmm...”

Yuto folded his arms in thought. Calipha’s background was spotless. If she had grown up as the only daughter of such a family, it was easy enough to understand why she lacked the arrogance typical of nobles and was instead rather unpretentious.

‘The very fact there’s nothing suspicious is suspicious. It’s too clean.’

The only daughter of a minor noble family without a single blemish. A kindhearted family that helped the poor. Calipha had come from that background, partnered with Yuto, and made up for his shortcomings during the exam in virtual space.

Calipha was too spotless. That made her all the more suspicious. No connection to Shiro had been found, but that didn’t mean Yuto intended to let go of his suspicions.

“You seem quite interested in that junior of mine.”

“She helped me quite a bit.”

To explain why he suspected Calipha, he would also have to reveal that he was wary of Shiro. Yuto had no intention of telling Levian that much. This secret could endanger both her and her family.

“Hmm...”

Levian pursed her lips and studied his expression. Deep down, she disliked his interest in the younger student named Calipha Rudrock. But by now, she understood a little of what sort of person Yuto was.

‘He isn’t interested in her because he likes her.’

That puzzled her, but she didn’t pry. If Yuto wasn’t telling her something, he must have a good reason. He was a man with many secrets, after all.

And Levian knew quite a few of those secrets. That meant they were close. She smiled to herself at the thought, then felt embarrassed for no particular reason and composed her expression.

“Ahem. There’s... a café I like near here. The coffee is good, but the desserts are even better.”

“Desserts!”

Flokiro’s ears perked up and his tail swished. Yuto chuckled at the sight and stroked his head.

“Elun will feel left out.”

Elun was with Shirin at the moment. It couldn’t be helped, since she had entered the academy as Shirin’s personal attendant.

[“I do not feel left out.”]

The instant he said that, Elun’s voice rang inside his head. Although she was some distance away with Shirin, she and Yuto were linked through the Void. She was currently observing them through his senses.

‘Stop worrying about us and see to the princess. Unless you want to get thrown out of the academy.’

[“You dare tell me to wait upon a human...!”]

‘You can talk that way to me, but don’t do it to the princess.’

[“You take me for a complete idiot. There is no need for concern. I understand that Shiro Ristal is using this woman to observe you and me.”]

Elun must be doing her best to avoid arousing needless suspicion, too. Imagining her in an attendant’s uniform pouring tea for Shirin, Yuto laughed despite himself.

[“You dare entertain such irreverent fantasies about me and mock me...!”]

Her indignant voice only made him want to laugh harder. Composing his expression, Yuto followed Levian and humored the grumbling in his head.

At last, they reached the café.

“Well, who do we have here?”

A mocking voice greeted them the moment they opened the door and stepped inside.

“Why, it’s our junior, Levian Marigold!”

Inside the elegantly appointed café, which looked as though it ought to be quiet, a group of students who seemed neither elegant nor quiet snickered at Levian.

“...”

Levian’s face twisted into a scowl.

“Who’s that?”

Yuto asked, tilting his head. Levian heaved a sigh.

“Aaron Obald,” she spat.

‘So that’s where I’ve heard the name.’

The carriage whose occupants had picked a fight with him on the day of the entrance exam had belonged to House Obald.