Chapter 11: Hostility

14 Years Old: The No-Staff of Magic Academy

Hostility

"Bubbles circulating in the air! Become a forest of swords and pierce through injustice!"

A student in a magic school robe chanted, pointing a staff about my height, and several icicles sprouted from the ground, impaling a rectangular wooden board set up 10 meters away.

A practical exam was being held in the schoolyard of the Bellandenburg Academy of Magic.

"You passed. Well done."

"Thank you!"

An elderly teacher praised the female student in a hoarse voice.

She, who had been up before me, ran to the circle of those who had finished the exam and began chatting.

"Next, Celica Ahrenheim."

"....."

I could only stand there, frozen, before the newly set up wooden board in front of me.

After about ten seconds, the teacher, completely innocent and as if he had forgotten, said:

"Ah, umm, Ahrenheim could only use healing magic.... Just go to where the finished students are and wait there."

"...Yes."

I replied weakly and headed a little distance away from the group of finished students.

"Can't do anything even with a staff."

"So useless."

Some whispered voices accompanied a ripple of laughter.

The magic staff I held, adorned with a green magic crystal as tall as I was, a gift from the Bernstein family, was of no use.

I couldn't use stealth magic, so I was easily found during the group practice exercise, Hide and Seek.

I couldn't use detection or attack magic, so the group I was in couldn't score points because of me.

I was a hindrance to any group, someone who would be frown upon. I was actually a burden that would be better left out. I was being carried on Max's back and in his arms, as we were assigned to the same unit.

The Useless Celica.

That was my legitimate nickname, given that I was only able to survive thanks to Max's kindness and the Bernstein family's mercy.

"Sorry! I'm late because of student council work!"

Max came running across the schoolyard. Seeing me walking with my shoulders slumped, he must have sensed what had happened, and he looked at me with slightly lowered eyebrows.

"Professor Weppelmann, this is sudden, but would you let me take the test right now?"

"Sure. But it's so sudden, are you sure you can concentrate?"

"Yes, no problem."

Max stopped about 20 meters from the target, pointed his staff at the target, and concentrated. 

"Bubbles circulating in the air! Become a forest of swords and pierce through injustice!"

Many large icicles, far more numerous than those from the previous magic, shattered the wooden planks that had been replaced by the upperclassmen from the ground.

"Impressive! Perhaps it was fate that a great magician was born into the Bernstein family."

"I am honored by your praise."

Max barely acknowledged the compliment and ran towards me.

"Celica, don't worry about it too much."

"..... Yeah"

He rubbed my shoulder as if to comfort me.

★

"I'm sorry, Celica. I made you feel bad."

"Huh? Why are you apologizing, Max? It's my fault for not being able to use magic."

During the break between morning classes.

I walked side-by-side with Max down the wide corridor.

"But I promised to protect you."

"You're being persistent, Max. That's a closed topic. But that ice magic just now was amazing. You've really improved, haven't you? As expected of Young Master Maximilian?"

"I told you to stop that when we're alo—... Hey, you're just making fun of me, aren't you!?"

I tried to lighten the heavy atmosphere by joking and teasing Max.

Then I quickened my pace, as if trying to escape from an angry Max.

That was a mistake.

Thud!

"Oh, I'm sorry!"

"Ahhh!"

At a corner where my view was obstructed, the person bumped into me, causing the documents they were holding in both hands to scatter.

The person I bumped into was Emil Schendel, a classmate of mine, a slender boy with thick-rimmed glasses, a rare long-eared tribe member in the Naraka world. I hurriedly gathered the scattered documents on the floor.

"I'm sorry, Schendel-kun."

"I'm sorry too, Ahrenheim-san. I was lost in thought while walking, so I bumped into you."

"I appreciate you saying that—"

Before I could finish my thanks, a deliberately loud sigh echoed from above.

Looking up, I saw Burkhardt Gotengram, the leader of the Gotengram faction, looking down at me with a contemptuous gaze.

"Valuable documents have been soiled... How are you going to make amends for this, Celica Ahrenheim?"

"..... I'm so sorry, Senior Gotengram."

I placed the collected papers beside Schendel-kun, stood up, and bowed to Senior Gotengram in apology.

"For such a filthy beast would inhabit this prestigious Bellandenburg Academy of Magic... How deplorable! Truly deplorable!"

"...I'm truly sorry."

I was the one who bumped into him. The fault lies with me. Getting angry in return is out of the question. All I can do is keep apologizing.

A crowd had gathered in the hallway, watching us from a distance.

"Even so, to employ an inferior race as a servant... The Bernstein family's status has certainly fallen. Is Lord Rüdiger, the head of the family, an idiot?"

"What?!"

'Mr. Rüdiger and Bernstein family have nothing to do with this!'

I was about to retort when someone grabbed my shoulder.

I turned around and it was Max.

"I apologize for my attendant's rude behavior, Senior Gotengram. By the way, the secretary of the Gotengram family was arrested for embezzlement. What are your thoughts on that?"

"What does that have to do with anything?! Besides, that was something the secretary did on her own. The Gotengram family is not at fault at all!"

"If a master has no say in the mistakes of his subordinates, then that applies to this situation as well, doesn't it? Celica bumped into Schendel, and he has forgiven her. There's no reason for the master to interfere."

"..... The Bernstein family has certainly become quite articulate. You should just stick to being a killing machine....

Emil! How long are you going to take to pick up those documents?! Hurry up!"

Senior Gotengram replied with an expression that seemed to be suppressing his fury, and then he started walking.

"Tch!!"

As he left, he let out a loud click of his tongue towards my animal ears.

"Wait, Senior Gotengram! Apologize for the insults you hurled at Celica!"

"Don't get cocky, you brat!! Once the integration plan is complete, I'll personally kick you out of this academy!!"

Senior Gotengram turned around and roared, his voice echoing throughout the corridor.

The crowd parted, avoiding the irritated Senior Gotengram, and he stomped away with a loud thud.

Schendel-kun bowed deeply towards me, then hurriedly chased after Senior Gotengram.

"I'm sorry, I'm really sorry, Max. It's my fault..."

"Celica isn't to blame. Don't worry about it."

But this made the animosity between the Bernstein faction and the Gotengram faction irrevocable.

★

The courtyard in the afternoon.

I was lying in the courtyard, holding Max's hand as he sat next to me.

I wasn't in the mood to enjoy the usual blissful feeling I get during naps, but overcome by sleepiness, I uttered the forbidden words I'd kept sealed away for so long.

"Hey, Max..... Would it be better for you if I were gone?"

.....

..... I said it.

Max looked genuinely sad.

"..... Don't say that. Just having you here helps me."

It was a lie.

Clearly, those were words he'd made up to comfort me.

I felt tears welling up in my eyes, miserable at having forced my best friend to say something that made him feel sorry for me.

The plan to merge Bellandenburg Academy of Magic and the National School of Magic was scheduled for tomorrow.

The Gotengram family is a newly established financial conglomerate that has risen to prominence by refining its magical technology.

Their magical technology was used to create aerial mages, which was a factor in Mittelland's victory in the last war.

If the two schools merge, the students of the our Magic Academy will be under the Gotengram family's control, and their faction will gain power.

Now that they are at odds with the Gotengram faction, Max, the leader of the Bernstein faction, will be in a difficult position.

He might really be kicked out of school, just like Senior Gotengram said.

"I'm sorry, Max. It's because of me."

However, such a bleak vision of the future dissipates in the face of sleepiness.

'Am I prioritizing my own need for sleep over my best friend's danger? What a jerk I am.'

The self-deprecating thoughts that crossed my mind vanished like mist in the face of the reassuring feeling of his clasped hand, and I lost consciousness.

★★★

Maximilian watched with a heavy heart as the girl, holding his hand, fell asleep with tears welling in her eyes.

"Would it be better for you if I were gone?"

It was heartbreaking to hear the person he loved asked such a thing.

He felt miserable for having made her said such a thing.

But strangely enough, watching her sleep peacefully, his aching heart began to calm down a little.

"I'll protect you."

Recalling the vow he had made four years ago, Maximilian gently wiped away the tears from his beloved girl's eyelids with the back of his cupped fingers.