Chapter 12: Loving the Moon

14 Years Old Arc: The No-Staff of Magic Academy

Loving the Moon

"YOU IDIOT! BECAUSE OF YOUR MISTAKE, THAT BERNSTEIN BRAT GOT THE BETTER OF US!!"

Thud!!

I was punched.

But the person who punched me wasn't satisfied with that. He stomped closer and repeatedly stomped on my head as I lay there.

"WHEN YOU WERE BEING BULLIED, WHO DO YOU THINK SAVED YOU?! YOU UNGRATEFUL WRETCH! DAMN LONG-EARED TRIBE!"

It hurt.

However, I just endured it, thinking that the emotional wound my beloved girl suffered from being insulted by the man in front of me was far worse than this.

Although, walking along thinking about the woman I loved and then putting her in such a predicament was so pathetic I didn't even deserve a laugh.

Eventually, perhaps tired of leaving footprints on my defenseless face, he spat in my face, turned his back, and Burkhardt Gotengram, the ugly, aged man who had been trampling me, entered the room specially assigned to him by the academy.

"FINISH THAT DATA ANALYSIS BY TOMORROW! BE GRATEFUL I'M EVEN GIVING A JOB TO A SLACKER LIKE YOU!"

He spat that out and slammed the door shut.

All that remained was me, lying on the floor.

"..... How pathetic."

In the empty room, lined with bookshelves and scattered with papers, I wiped the spit from my mouth with a handkerchief and muttered this to myself as I cast a healing spell.

But perhaps this is a fitting fate for me, with a heart uglier than anyone else's.

I, Emil Schendel, reflected on my life.

★

The Long-Eared Tribe.

Tall and with abundant golden hair. A high probability of developing magical aptitude. Long, slender ears with pointed tips.

We, scattered across the continent of Europa, collectively worship a single god believed to reside in the heavens.

Because of our height, magical aptitude, and faith, our ancestors considered themselves wise men chosen by God, and despised the human race as defective.

The most cunning and cruel race in this Naraka world.

Hating the contempt they received, the humans sometimes poisoned wells used by the Long-Eared Tribe, massacring entire settlements.

Other times, they burned down forests inhabited by the Long-Eared Tribe, making their own comrades who escaped the flames prey to their deadly blades.

My ancestors were gradually driven out by the human race, and throughout history, their numbers were reduced to the brink of extinction.

★

I was born in Lambert City, the capital city of Lambert District (or Livia District, as the Lamberts call it), one of the new federal states incorporated into Mittelland after the Great War, as a half-breed of the Long-Eared Tribe and the Slyag people.

Because I could use magic, I was admired and became ecstatic, looking down on children of other human races, just like my ancestors.

As a child, I enjoyed this, believing it to be a right given to me by God.

I thought this would work when I entered the Bellandenburg Academy of Magic.

I was quickly isolated after entering the academy, as I was seen as an arrogant person who looked down on those with worse grades than me.

My textbooks were torn up, and I was called out after school by upperclassmen and subjected to direct violence.

A newcomer to the Mittelland Federal Republic, having come from a new federal state.

A half-breed of an enemy race.

The irritating long-eared race, who despised the human race.

Now it was my turn to be looked down upon.

But there was someone who extended a helping hand to me. It was Senior Burkhardt Gotengram.

He was kind. He denounced the students who were attacking me and protected me.

As soon as I joined the Gotengram faction, the bullying and harassment stopped.

I mistakenly thought I had become important and started acting arrogantly again.

Senior Gotengram began hitting me, saying it was rude of me to abuse my power and bully others.

Seeing this, the members of the faction started pushing all the menial tasks that nobody wanted to do onto me.

It was an inevitable outcome.

★

While I was being exploited every day as the lowest-ranking subordinate of the faction, that girl suddenly appeared as a transfer student in the middle of the semester.

Celica Ahrenheim.

A girl with animal ears and tail. She is the attendant of Maximilian, the descendant of a hero.

A failure who can't even properly speak Alban, only allowed to live under the protection of the Bernstein family.

A girl of an inferior race, whose only redeeming quality is her looks.

Seeing her, I felt relieved.

"Ah, there's someone even lower than me."

I thought.

I waited until Maximilian wasn't around, hid my contempt, and approached her with a kind expression.

In the library, I helped Celica, who was struggling with a magic textbook, explaining things she could understand just by reading it, even though she didn't ask.

I gently pointed to the passage the teacher was reading from the back of the classroom for her, since she was falling behind.

She admired me as a knowledgeable boy, and that greatly satisfied my twisted ego.

At that moment, I think I was the ugliest creature in this world of Naraka.

But Celica was a girl who didn't harshly reveal my ugliness like sunlight casting a shadow, but rather gently embraced it like moonlight.

Around the time Maximilian started being called to student council meetings more often, Celica was bewildered by the crowded cafeteria as students came to eat lunch, unfamiliar with its layout.

She bumped into students walking through the cafeteria, was scolded, and apologized even though she wasn't at fault.

As usual, I inwardly mocked her stupidity, but pretending to be a considerate person, I explained that she had to buy meal tickets from the vending machine and that there were different lines for each menu item. I then guided her to an empty table in the cafeteria after she finally managed to get her lunch.

At the meal, Celica listened attentively to my boasts, nodding at key points. Pleased with her, I impulsively told a lie to further steal her respect.

"I want to use magical technology to create prosthetic arms and legs so that people who have lost limbs can move at will. That's my dream."

Hearing this, Celica gently placed her hand on mine, a hand that felt completely free of any guilt, and with a smile that further deepened her beautiful face, her golden eyes shining, she responded to my delusion.

"Wow! That's the most wonderful and beautiful dream I've ever heard since being born into this Naraka world! I'm sure Schendel-kun's heart is the most beautiful in Naraka too!"

I fell in love.

It was the moment my lie turned into truth.

★

Standing up, I took out my handkerchief and wiped away the blood, making a resolution.

'I'll do what I can for Celica, who's in danger because of me.'

Even if I can't be her number one, I'll do anything for her, the beast-girl who called my ugly heart beautiful.

However, all I could do after that was analyze the data on the new prosthetic wings, just as Senior Burkhardt Gotengram had instructed.

Unlike Maximilian, I was powerless.

TL Note:

Lambert City: refer to Lüneburg City, the capital city of the State of Saxony, Germany.