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　This is the main school building, the second floor corridor. Many of the rooms connected to it are assigned to staff members, and naturally include a place called the staff room. Basically, that corner of the building, which tends to be avoided, shows the comings and goings of the students in this second magical academy, as if to illustrate the diligence of the students.
　From the staff room and the staff's labs, students came out of the staff room and repeatedly bowed politely to the room.

　The corridors were filled with students coming and going incessantly as they went directly to the teachers for preparation and review.

　The students were a natural part of this daily scene. The men and women in the lead walked not to run down the corridor, but their impatient strides overtook the other students in an impatient tone.

　The female student who caused the impatience, and the male student who seems to be going along with it, is a little bit dumbfounded and throws a small talk to the neighbor.

It's not necessary to ask the teacher directly at this time. You don't have time, you could ask tomorrow, but Fiona is like that,
'I understand now. That's not why I'm rushing around like this. You can't afford to miss it, because today, without Noir-san's presence, is a good opportunity to clear up some of the doubts that have been pent up. As expected, I didn't expect to be explained to you for so long, either.
You don't need to seize the training grounds today to...
That can't be helped. It's going to take days to make a reservation. Just walk, walk, walk.

　Maine glanced grudgingly at Fiona beside her, wondering whose fault it was that this was happening. It would be fine if one of them went ahead of her, but if they found out that she was using a whole section of the training grounds by herself, she might get some attention.
　So he waited until Fiona was done with her business, something he hadn't expected to be doing for so long.

　He hoped there were no senior students in the training grounds, but he was dimly aware that the wholesalers probably wouldn't wholesale that. Basically, the training ground was a priority for senior students. On top of that, these days, it's becoming a problem when first-year students who booked the training grounds forget or cancel at the last minute.

　The main thing is that the main person feels even indignant when he thinks that there are people in the same grade who would do such a thing. So, the fact that I didn't expect to do the same thing made Main feel like he had a terrible headache. The only thing I could do first was to apologize in earnest.
　I made up my mind to do so, and turned an apologetic face to my classmate, who was at the back of the line and seemed in no hurry to let out a sigh.

''I'm sorry, Schulte-kun. I had to put you through all this.

　He too had business in the staff room. However, as a matter of course, he was forced to join up with the usual members of the team, and Fiona forced him to meet at the training grounds afterwards.
　There was a frown from Schulte, who seemed to be getting a headache behind him too. The hair, neatly trimmed over his shoulders, swayed in time with his gait, but the ends of his hair were never in disarray.

　Despite such a classy appearance, Shults shot a sharp look at Main.

'Don't do it, you know, such an affectionate smile. It can't be helped but be on your nose. If I have to apologize a hundred times, it's this woman!''
Sorry. It's just your presence of mind, Schultz, is so graceful.

　Scratching his cheek, Maine looked at Schulte with a slightly unusual look, as he himself had grown up in a very normal family, far from the system of status.

'You don't fight!　Even Schulte is pretentious enough to be pretentious when he says this, and in the end, he's always alone. It was a good idea to book the three of us together.

　Over her shoulder, Fiona turned a chuckle to Shults.
　So the three of them were given a white feather as Noir's caretakers, and it's not unusual for them to get together like this on the occasion.
　It's not that Shult had any intention of being with them, but the next thing you know, all three of them are together.

　It's a very good idea to have a good time with them. It's a good thing that you're a nobleman.
　The other is Fiona, who has a strong sense of responsibility and is always trying her best to be right. She doesn't hide behind a single person's efforts like Schulte does, but rather involves others in learning as much as she can. She is without a doubt the most diligent person on campus.
　I'm tired of seeing her studying and visiting the upperclassmen to ask them to teach her. Her name was already known among the upperclassmen.

　In terms of rankings and origins, there is a difference in status to the extent that Schulte is originally distant from the two of them. Even so, the reason why they follow along with the current flow like this is because Main and Fiona have a point of contact with the senior students who have a deep relationship with the current first place.

　So Schulte told himself a good reason and followed today.

'I can do everything on my own. I don't know how you can ask someone else for help without thinking for yourself. Don't you feel embarrassed, don't you feel embarrassed that you're going to enjoy getting answers without thinking about it?
"Good point. Even Schulte came out of the staff room. Besides, everyone wants to be recognized for their achievements as soon as possible.
I did what I was asked to do - wait a minute, when did you stop dressing you?
I think it's hard to call you out on that since we're the same age and we're in the same class, and I don't think it's something to be complained about by people who call me you. Besides, it's like we're friends, so I took care of it for you.
'Don't talk to me like I don't have any friends!
Hmm, well, AWR doesn't have any friends or anything. Schultz, he's going away for lunch.
"Well I'm not going with you. I don't want to be put together with you guys. Besides, it's almost like I'm going to get pissed off.

　Shult, who suddenly stands there as if bent at the navel, turns away and insists that he doesn't want to get involved.
　But that's not the point, and Fiona takes his hand and pushes him back, while Maine goes behind him.

'What are you talking about, you've come this far? I know you know me. I'm always glancing in outside the training grounds, peeking inside.
No, stop!　I'm just trying to see if it's worth watching...
I know it's a bit past time and you'll be pissed off, but we still have plenty of time before closing time to train.

　The main tells him that he has left enough time to train and encourages him to participate as much as possible.
　In fact, since he came to this academy, Schult has not been able to train properly using magic outside of the classroom. Of course, as for himself, he couldn't even watch the games, probably because he lacked a positive attitude due to the prying eyes of magic and his strange pride.
　Naturally, there was no way he could do it alone due to the reservation system.

　That's why I was always studying only for papers and such knowledge. Even the unfinished [Phoenix] that he used in the competency test hadn't even been able to practice to his satisfaction. Still, I had reviewed it hundreds of times in knowledge.

''I want to practice with someone who is worthy of my abilities. There's no way I can practice on an equal footing with guys who are ranked in the 70,000s or 80,000s like you guys.

　The establishment of the association has certainly increased the denominator of the standings itself significantly. Schulte was a safe four figures when he entered the school, but he's getting closer to five figures every day. So even if the two of them are close to six figures, that doesn't directly translate into them being inexperienced as it is. People are happy to see the number of wizards increase.

''Oh, top of the grade, Lord Chief-sama has different things to say. But both Alice-senior and Tesfia-senior said it's not good to get too caught up in rankings.
''Yeah, maybe senior Tesfia is humble, but that's certainly what you said. That's what someone with such a high ranking would say. Besides, we're freshmen, and I think we're just getting started.

　Fiona's firing up Fiona's words pointed out that Schulte's wording was in direct opposition to her senior at the top of the academy. And the following main also lays out his words as if he were joining in. It's a good thing that you can't get away from the fact that you can't get away from the fact that you can't get away from the fact that you can't get away from the fact that you can't get away from the fact that you can't get away from the fact that you can't get away from the fact that you can't get away from the fact that you can't get away from the fact that you can't get away from the fact that you can't get away from the fact that you can't get away from the fact that you can't get away from the fact that you can't get away from the fact that you can't get away from the fact that you can't get away with it.

　But as a result, Schulte was at a loss for words.

''Ugh that's it. I'm not going to deny it.''
'You're having a bad day. If that's the case, why didn't you just tell me honestly that you were going from the start?

　There's an emotional backlash, but Shults feels that way because he's actually worked with the two of them in a couple of practice classes in the past. So even if they were to practice on the training ground, it would feel like a waste of time.

''Shut up. Maine is just too persistent to lose anyway, and Fiona takes too much time with her magic, so it's not going to be training after all.
So don't practice.

　Forced to be pulled, Shults raised his eyebrows at the slightly self-serving correctness of the argument. If they tried to do a mock battle, it would really be a waste of time.
　So if you're going to train anyway, you're going to be the only one on the edge of training to spend time practicing repetition of your magic, and you grudgingly move your heavy feet.

　If Noir was here, Schulte would have complained, but he would have been inwardly willing to join in. Noir has skills he needs to learn. He intuitively realized that pride would be an experience that would be too good to sell cheaply.

　It wasn't simply because he was an aristocrat that Schulte was in the current rankings - in the 9,000s but in the four digits - but also because he was an aristocrat. Of course, it was only because it was accompanied by his own qualities. The talent that stands out in comparison to others among them, is an eye for judging whether the other person has what is necessary for you. It's about finding a teacher who can ensure that you get what you lack.
　So Schulte has been able to acquire only what he needs in the most efficient way.

　From his point of view, there is nothing to learn from Maine or Fiona. However, Noir is exceptional. Like when I saw Ars at the [7 Nations Magical Friendship Tournament], it can be called an encounter that numbed my whole body.

　Everything that should be aimed at, everything that is required of a magician, and so on, was packed in there. It could be called overwhelming combat skills and sense from Noir, but there is surely much to steal from him.
　The teachers here and others are just books that only share their knowledge, he thinks. But other than that - skills and abilities other than knowledge, you need to learn from someone else. You need to steal.

　The most efficient way to learn is to have a role model.
　So Shults moved his feet, hoping that there would be irregularities in this barren and foreboding training.

''As expected, I don't want to waste time changing into training clothes, so why don't we keep our uniforms on today?
I don't mind.
That's fine with me, and I don't think I'd be sweating it anyway.
Don't say that again.

　Fiona's suggestion was inherently undesirable. Nevertheless, some senior students train in uniforms these days, so it won't be too nagging. There's not much difference between them in terms of performance.
　Of course, Maine has no objection to this. And Shults expected that he wouldn't even be able to exercise properly, so he saved himself the trouble of changing his clothes.


　But the signs that betrayed Schult's expectations made the three of us feel a sense of tense tension. Normally, there would be a mixture of sounds that could not even be distinguished, and then the exclamations falling from the bleachers would enter the mix. However, inside the training grounds, yes, it was filled with a stunned and bizarre silence. The three of them looked at each other, wondering what was going on in the training grounds for the first time.

''What the hell is this?''

　Maine and Fiona responded to Schult, who uttered that from a sense of discomfort.
　It's a good idea to have the same questioning hand gestures as Main, who tilts his head slightly, and Fiona, who indicates the same question with her hand gestures, "What is it?", moved first of all to a place where they could be seen.

　Since I left a compartment for over an hour, I expected someone to blame me as soon as I entered, so this is something I didn't expect to see happen.
　If they weren't offended, that was fine, but the three of them were interested in the cause of it.
　Without asking anyone, the three of them headed their gazes towards the only compartment in the training grounds where the training was in progress.

''Oh shit!　Lady Ars!

　Fiona's voice sounded a bit backwards, but in contrast to her bouncing voice, Fiona's eyes widened wide and her gaze was glued to her gaze as if she was instantly elated.
　Of course, she was only able to catch Ars in her vision for a few moments, though.

''Sir?''

　To Main's quizzical question, Shults immediately continued, "No, you're like.
　Everyone below the same rank should be respectful to the magician who is the current number one. That's something that Main was still unaware of and couldn't really feel.
　No, maybe Main's doubts were in response to Fiona's sudden change.

　However, the current training ground looked very different from Fiona's reaction, which was supposed to be correct.
　The three of them immediately understood why.
　This is not training, they said. This is just bullying. That's exactly what could go wrong at any time. What the three of them saw and thought was, of course, in agreement with everyone here - they could only cower as if their voices had disappeared.

　Most of the faint voices that could be heard were urging them to report to the faculty. And contrary to the three who came in, there were many students who left. It was not something that could be overlooked, no matter how much of a training ground it was.

　The one who started to move as soon as he understood was Maine, who was no less petite than Fiona. Just before he started to move, Shults glanced over and read the emotion on his face and dared to be silent.
　Then he spotted the person in question in the corner of the bleachers and moved away from the circle, as if he was excited by the developments ahead. Maine is usually quiet, but he only has a stronger sense of justice than others.

　That's why Shults didn't call out to Main as an abandoned stone.

　Fiona didn't realize until the last minute that Main was walking up to the compartment where Ars and the others were. It wasn't so much that she was preoccupied as that her legs were cowering from the one-sided violence, and her brain was processing at high speed, trying to make sense of the scene she had seen normally. As such, he couldn't notice it when the main was in his vision.

　In the compartment, Tesfia was being held up, but her body was slightly blotched with wounds that did not seem to be training. Drops from pain were flowing from the eyes of the senior student, who was one of the highest ranking in the academy. At least that's how those who were watching felt about the scene.


　So, naturally, it was expected that Main would not be able to stomach it, but the restraint that Fiona shook out and issued was, oddly enough, not in time.

'Wait, Maine!
Hey!