I Became The Academy’s Narrow-Eyes

A Magic Department professor, who had been passing by the thoroughfare where the Representative Battle was taking place, ended up being “kidnapped” by the freshmen to serve as the official witness to the battle.

He proclaimed loudly.

“The winner, Magnus Flare!”

That’s right.

Agion Morci had lost.

“…”

“…”

Thanks to the defensive magic cast by the professor, Agion suffered no harm from Magnus’s flame magic.

However.

His school uniform, which he had modishly personalized even though he had only just enrolled, and his proudly flowing hair did not entirely escape the flames unscathed.

Parts of his body were singed.

Especially the tips of his once-fluttering golden hair, now slightly burnt and frizzled.

Ceylon looked at him.

Agion Morci avoided eye contact.

“No, Agion…!”

In such a situation, a particularly stunned Ceylon let out a lament.

“I’m, I’m disgraced…”

In such a situation, a particularly disparaged Agion spoke dejectedly.

“After you raised our morale with such a glorious display, to then lose like this… What does that make us…! We’re in big trouble now!!! How can we show our faces at the academy after this!!! I might as well withdraw now!!!”

“Argh, my apologies… it was so close…! I should have finished gracefully…!”

At that moment, Ceylon, lost in deep thought, spoke seriously.

“Even if you had won by a hair’s breadth, wouldn’t that have been problematic?”

“Ah, is that so?”

Agion also returned to a serious demeanor.

“Because of the grand start you gave us, Agion, it probably would have been…”

Ceylon continued with his characteristic cluelessness after his serious comment.

“The picture would have only been complete with an overwhelming victory, wouldn’t it…?”

“Argh… my apologies… carried away by my desire to be the hero of the Representative Battle, I got too caught up in the atmosphere…!”

“The hero…? But surely you meant to direct the glory of victory to me…”

“Ack…! Suddenly my whole body feels hot…! Could it be a burn…!? To the infirmary!!! I need to visit the infirmary!”

Agion awkwardly looked away and hastened off his spot.

Ceylon watched his retreating figure with a face filled with a sense of betrayal.

“These guys…”

“Our representative?”

And watching them were the Swordsmanship Department students, their expressions colder than before.

Of course.

Their cold gazes had a touch of jest mixed in.

“Huff… Huff… Huff…”

Magnus, too, was in tatters, almost as much as Agion had been.

The defensive magic from the professor meant he was unharmed, but his new uniform was almost reduced to rags.

It had been a close call, as Agion had said.

Had Agion not revealed his Wind Spear technique prematurely before the start of the match?

Magnus would have had a very tough time securing a victory over Agion.

Had Magnus’s mana sensitivity been anything less than significantly better than Agion’s?

Magnus might have lost to Agion.

Indeed, the Wind Spear’s focus on speed was potent against mages.

Yes.

In that sense, Magnus had conquered an opponent who was inherently disadvantaged against him.

A narrow victory, but a victory nonetheless.

“Is that the third seat…?”

“With Lebringer and Miss Hanahan as co-second rankers, he’s essentially fourth…”

“My goodness…”

However, the atmosphere in the Magic Department was uneasy.

Magnus, a skillful mage, had competed against Phibian, the top student, for the first seat.

He was the second most capable among the new Magic Department students.

Yet, this Magnus had struggled so much against Agion, who was fourth in the Swordsmanship Department.

Therein lay a point of contention.

“He subdued that Agion Morci so easily…?”

It was a story that had spread across the entire academy, primarily among the social circle of aristocrats.

Agion Morci.

Every time there was a social gathering, the man from the Morci family who charmed countless ladies had challenged the top student to a duel and suffered a miserable defeat.

The story that gave the men turned “squids” at the social gatherings something to gloat about.

The Magic Department freshmen had also caught wind of the story without fail.

So when they first saw Ceylon, they thought:

Defeated by that clueless guy?

Agion Morci’s skill must be nothing special, they were sure.

But now, after the recent battle.

Agion Morci’s skill was far from negligible.

He was exceptional. Significantly so.

As Agion Morci himself said.

Had he taken the entrance exam at another time, he might well have obtained the first seat.

Even Magnus, who had contended with Phibian, found him a challenging adversary.

That Agion.

According to the rumor, had been utterly defeated in a duel with the Swordsmanship Department’s representative without even managing to draw a weapon, having apparently dropped it and then petulantly surrendered to the referee.

Their gaze turned to Ceylon.

‘Does it make sense?’

That clueless guy and the Agion Morci from before just didn’t fit the rumors they had heard.

“That was great! Let’s keep up this momentum!”

It was then that Phibian shouted energetically.

It was as if a gentle breeze had come in and swept away the musty air.

“Are you all worried about those rumors?”

Phibian chuckled haughtily.

“Does that make sense? Surely, it’s just an exaggerated story spread by the Swordsmanship Department to glorify their top student.”

Definitely.

Phibian’s words seemed more credible than the rumor of that clueless man playing around with Agion Morci.

The Magic Department freshmen nodded at Phibian’s words.

Then, with satisfaction, Phibian shouted out.

“There’s a saying: Well begun is half done. We’ve already secured half the victory! Let’s continue this momentum!”

Waaaaah!!!

The Magic Department erupted in another round of vigorous cheers.

Phibian rode the wave of morale and turned to Ceylon.

“Now, it’s your turn! Previously, we were the first to nominate, so this time you go first!”

“Um, if I remember correctly?”

“Just shut it! Lakion!”

Phibian cut off Ceylon sharply, announcing her choice even as he opened his mouth to speak.

There stood a man with glasses and a buzz cut.

“Me…!”

Suddenly, from the Swordsmanship Department ranks, a large man boldly stepped forward.

It was Melhen.

He eyed Lakion while speaking to Ceylon.

“Ceylon, may I go out?”

“Uh? You seem very eager? Were you stimulated by Agion’s match?”

“Well, there’s that, but—”

Melhen grinned with a fighting spirit.

“That guy, he was sitting near me during the entrance ceremony. Then, he got all excited and picked a fight with me.”

“Ah! So there’s history!”

“When he spoke out of turn about you, I shut that guy’s mouth for good.”

Melhen patted his chest, proud of the story.

That seemed to tickle the mischievous side of Ceylon.

“Uh?”

Feigning deep thought, Ceylon spoke out.

“Huh, but now that I think about it, Melhen was also—”

“…”

Melhen once again shut the mouth of someone who had spoken out of turn about Ceylon.

It was himself.

His gaze swiftly avoided Ceylon.

“…”

“…”

The other freshmen did the same.

The Swordsmanship Department freshmen who had also openly remarked about Ceylon during the entrance exams now awkwardly averted their eyes.

“Ha-ha-ha! Just joking! It’s just us Swordsmanship Department comrades teasing each other, right?”

With Ceylon’s charming bluster, they were finally able to look back at him.

Of course, his attitude had become much more guarded than before.

*Ahem*… I’ll formally apologize for that matter later.”

Melhen said, genuinely abashed, looking down.

“Ha-ha, don’t worry about it. By the way, wow, Melhen. So all this enthusiasm you’re showing is really for me?”

Thump, thump.

Ceylon energetically spread his arms wide and patted the forearms of Melhen, whose breadth seemed almost twice that of an ordinary person.

“So sturdy! Whew, by the way, your forearms, they’re as big as my whole torso. How does one even build arms like this?”

Melhen’s face beamed with pride at Ceylon’s words.

He leaned in and whispered into Ceylon’s ear.

“There’s a secret method passed down in my family for generations. Interested maybe?”

“Ooh…!”

Ceylon’s eyes sparkled in excitement.

Melhen could tell they were sparkling, even though it was a bit hard to see his narrow eyes.

What man wouldn’t yearn for a robust body filled with muscles!

“Haha. That’s right. That’s the natural reaction. Ceylon, once this matter is over, I’ll share it with you.”

“What? Share? What exactly—?”

Ceylon was flustered by Melhen’s words, thinking of the free personal training he anticipated.

‘Could it be…!?’

“Our family has passed down a secret elixir. Oh, don’t worry. Technically it’s not the potion itself, but the recipe. While the ingredients aren’t easy to come by, for a man like you, Ceylon, I would be willing to share. What do you think? Interested?”

“R-Roider…!”

“Hm? Roider? What’s that?”

“Ahem. Ah, nothing at all. Anyway, let’s continue this conversation later. Melhen, I’m counting on you.”

Ceylon heartily patted his back, ostensibly as encouragement.

It certainly wasn’t out of fear Melhen might try to feed him some suspicious concoction.

“Aha! Just rely on me! Such a weakling can’t stand up to me!”

Melhen strapped the shield, which felt rather small compared to his physique, onto his right arm and stepped forward.

“You sure take a while to talk. What, did you ask him to tell you a fairy tale to muster some courage?”

Lakion sneered at him with disdain.

Melhen returned an intimidating smile, unphased.

“So we meet like this, you weakling.”

“Hm? Ah! Now I remember. You were that orc.”

“Not remembering a man of my stature. Perhaps all your blustering about intellect is compensation for a lack thereof.”

Kekeke. “Isn’t it overrated, that unwieldy, oversized body of yours?”

“…!”

Melhen’s eyes widened at the word ‘unwieldy, oversized body.’

He slicked back his hair, cut almost to baldness, and spoke to the officiating professor.

“Professor, please start.”

Melhen’s eyes were red with the veins popping, nearly ready to spring into action at any moment, so quickly, Lakion was coated with a protective spell.

The professor, having cast protective magic on Melhen too, started the countdown.

The moment the duel began.

“Aaaaargh!!!”

Melhen let go of his reason that he had barely been holding onto.

Shield first, he charged at Lakion like a madman.

“You’re even less than an orc!”

Lakion adjusted his glasses and flung his arm.

A multitude of mana-made arrows zipped past Melhen’s shield and struck him directly.

Top of the head.

Nape of the neck.

Knees.

Each one hit a critical point.

“Aaaaargh!!!”

But Melhen didn’t flinch at all.

“What…!”

Lakion wondered if the professor had mistakenly cast the wrong defensive spell on Melhen and himself.

Not the duel-appropriate magic that perfectly absorbs damage while delivering the pain but regular defensive magic that absorbs both damage and pain.

What’s more, being hit in vital spots by mana arrows, Melhen was expected to feel pain as if being pierced by actual arrows.

Even if he didn’t collapse in a scream, he should have at least staggered from the pain.

Yet, there was no hint of hesitance in his charge.

“Urgh…!”

The impact of Melhen’s heavy assault shattered the mana barrier, striking Lakion’s body directly.

Lakion was flung against the wall of a building, and though he sustained no injury thanks to the defensive spell, he couldn’t withstand the pain as Melhen could.

Lakion toppled over backwards, eyes rolling back as he fainted.

“Aaaaargh!”

Bang bang bang bang!

Melhen pounded on his shield and roared, filled with fury.

Inside, Ceylon was privately aghast at the display Melhen had just presented.

‘Is that mad? How is that considered a tank?’

To his recollection, in the game that Melhen was unmistakably supposed to be a tank.

At any rate, he resolved firmly to himself.

He must never off-handedly comment on Melhen’s hellish physique.

‘Anyway—’

Ceylon looked toward Phibian.

“Urgh…!”

She was shaking with frustration, having lost her hard-earned points all for nothing.

But he was not the one to miss this opportunity.

“We’re all tied up now, aren’t we, Phibian? Your turn.”

“Contact your side first this time!”

Content with her quick reaction, Ceylon pondered before selecting the name of someone.

“Then, I’ll choose Adryn.”

“Waaaaah!!! Awesome—… Eh?”

Adryn, ranked thirteenth in the final entrance examination results, never expected to be among the top ten and had approached the event merely as a spectator. She let out an incredulous noise at the unexpected nomination.

“Me????? Me!?!?!?”

With wide-open eyes, Adryn pointed at herself in disbelief.

Ceylon grinned and playfully gestured toward her.

“Yes, you, Miss Adryn.”

“…”

Adryn’s spirit couldn’t accept the situation and seemed to flee her body.

Next to her, Mizu looked up at her and said,

“Wow~ Full confidence from the top student.”

Adryn!

Adryn!

Adryn!

The Swordsmanship Department students, riding the momentum, chanted her name.

“Ha, haha…”

Adryn wanted to faint.