“Haha! Your expression says ‘Why are you calling me when you already know?'”

Nigel abruptly lifted his head at Jayden’s piercing words.

Jayden smiled and opened his mouth, not minding Nigel’s sour face.

“It’s a shame. I quite like you, junior. You’re honest. Other people pretend to be nice to me even though they dislike me. I can see it all over their faces that they hate me.”

Nigel’s brows furrowed as he oddly saw Zeronin in Jayden’s face.

“Look, even now. Junior, it’s so obvious.”

… Especially the way he forcibly smiled was damn similar to Zeronin. The lifelessness in his eyes, the slight difference in the upward angle of the corners of his mouth.

“If you’re done, I’ll get going now.”

“Ah, just answer one thing before you go.”

“What is it?”

“Usually, people who dislike me fall into two categories. They either dislike ‘me’ or dislike my ‘family’. … Which one are you, junior?”

“Both.”

Nigel answered without hesitation.

Clack!

The door closed irritably.

As he exited the annex, Charlotte, who was far away, brightened upon seeing Nigel.

Nigel, whose stiff face naturally relaxed the moment he saw the honey-colored blonde hair, quickly approached Charlotte.

“Nigel! I wondered where you went, but you were inside the annex?”

“Yeah. Did you wait long?”

“No, I just arrived too.”

Smile.

Nigel barely regained his senses after seeing Charlotte’s unchangingly beautiful smile.

Noticing this, Charlotte chuckled.

“Ah, look at me. Do you know why I called you?”

“Because I betrayed you and played with Allen as soon as I made up with him?”

“Do you really think that, Nigel…?”

Charlotte, like a bouquet of roses, lowered her head with a pitiful, hurt face.

Startled, Nigel quickly opened his mouth to explain.

“It was a joke, Charlotte! Please don’t be hurt.”

Nigel awkwardly patted Charlotte’s slender shoulders with his hand.

… Rustle.

At that moment, something lightly entered Nigel’s empty hand that was patting Charlotte. Nigel reflexively grasped it tightly.

“Haha! Don’t worry, Nigel. I was joking too. You think I’d get upset over something like that? No matter who you hang out with, the fact that you’re my friend won’t change, right?”

Nigel immediately nodded.

“Besides, thanks to you, I got to see Allen Evans’ amusing, flustered face a lot despite his high and mighty attitude.”

Charlotte laughed playfully.

“So relax and open your hand.”

Phew, Nigel finally breathed a sigh of relief and carefully examined his hand.

“Chocolate?”

Two heart-shaped chocolates were wrapped with a cute pink ribbon.

“It’s a gift of encouragement from me to commemorate your participation in the Mage-Sword Tournament, Nigel! Eat this chocolate, cheer up, and make sure to win.”

“… Thank you.”

As Nigel looked down at the chocolate and smiled softly, Charlotte also smiled contentedly.

Putting the chocolate in his pocket, Nigel vowed to himself. He would definitely win and defeat Jayden Galloway.

Allen, who found himself alone as his two best friends ended up participating in the Mage-Sword Tournament, walked to the grand stadium by himself.

Numerous seats surrounding the huge circular stadium.

The grand stadium visible from the outside was empty as usual, still making him wonder if the Mage-Sword Tournament was really being held here.

Oliver, the student council president of the Magic Department, and the vice president were standing side by side in front of the stadium.

“Oh, Allen.”

Oliver, who spotted Allen, waved his hand back and forth.

“Allen Evans… 1st year, Magic Department.”

The vice president mechanically flipped through the list in his hand and checked off next to Allen’s name.

“Senior Oliver, is the Mage-Sword Tournament really being held here?”

“Yeah, you’ll see when you go in. Then, enjoy the spectating. Oh, right! About Nigel, he was furious that Viscount Beselion wouldn’t tell him why he’s participating. So you’d better apologize soon.”

“… Okay.”

Allen answered with his gaze lowered.

And the moment he stepped into the grand stadium with doubt−at the same time, a phantom was born from Allen’s shadow and headed somewhere−the surroundings completely changed.

“…!”

“So when does the match start?”

“6 o’clock sharp. So who did you bet on…?”

“… The Magic Department will definitely win.”

“Have you not properly looked at the past records? Obviously, it’s our department’s turn to win this time.”

Unlike the empty exterior, the grand stadium was packed with students.

On the left was a large blackboard from who knows where, with the names and odds of the participants listed side by side.

The student council of the Politics Department was busy near the blackboard, exchanging students’ chips and collecting them. But with the thought of including the betting commission in the student council budget, their faces were filled with smiles.

Turning his head to the right, two temporary tents that seemed to be waiting rooms for the participants were far away.

Amidst the crowd, Allen spotted Nigel at a glance.

No matter how strong Nigel was, Allen was worried that he might get seriously hurt.

But contrary to his worries, Nigel seemed unfazed as he yawned, pfftt.

“Nigel… Don’t get hurt.”

Now all he could do was cheer.

“… Huh? You’re betting all of this on one person? Really?”

The Politics Department student’s eyes widened at the amount of chips that filled both hands and still wasn’t enough.

Allen bet all the pouches full of gold coins on Nigel and wished him luck.

“Ha… Hmm.”

Nigel yawned sluggishly as the tension left him and wiped his tears.

Unlike usual, Nigel, who had tied his hair up high, held a tournament bracket in his hand.

‘By the way, who spouted the nonsense that the Holy Maiden is the child of the goddess?’

Whether he was born as the illegitimate child of the goddess Kirelia, who is also a symbol of luck, luck did not favor him even in the order of the Mage-Sword Tournament.

Nigel’s turn was second to last. If luck was going to be bad, it should have been thoroughly bad. It was an ambiguous order that seemed to give false hope.

‘At least the waiting room is decent.’

As Oliver said, the consideration for the participants was so well-prepared that it was hard to believe the students had prepared it, as if they had secretly held the Mage-Sword Tournament once or twice before.

The waiting rooms, divided by department and gender, were fully stocked with basic mana replenishment potions, wooden swords, various emergency medicines, and refreshments to relieve tension.

Moreover, there was even a constantly smiling priest, who had been recruited from who knows where and how, positioned between the two tents. It was the most suitable location for immediate healing of the injured.

Also, as a measure to protect the participants, the executive members of the Swordsmanship Department’s student council were walking around the tents with communication devices.

“They really went all out with this prank…”

Nigel muttered as he looked around the grand stadium bathed in the red light of the sunset.

The seats surrounding the stadium were divided into the Magic Department, Politics Department, and Swordsmanship Department.

The students of the two departments directly participating in the Mage-Sword Tournament were already cheering with excitement, while the students of the Politics Department were holding notebooks or papers, discussing who had a higher chance of winning.

Far away at the entrance of the stadium, there was a heap of mana charging stones that looked like they would explode with mana at any moment.

The 3rd year students of the Magic Department had voluntarily donated mana for the successful hosting of the Mage-Sword Tournament.

Thanks to the procurement of more than the required amount, bright mana lighting was installed throughout the stadium.

On the opposite side, people were crowded in front of the huge blackboard without a gap to spare.

The Politics Department students, who had passed through fierce competition, and among them, the excellent Politics Department’s student council, used the best brains in the country for chip exchange and odds calculation.

The students of the Swordsmanship Department, who would one day firmly protect the empire, voluntarily kept the secret of the Mage-Sword Tournament from the faculty of Sienia.

Inside the stadium, they used their sturdy leg muscles, earned through painful efforts, to maintain order, and outside, they used the stealth techniques learned from Roneh to hide their presence and meticulously observe the movements of the faculty.

“The future of the empire is so bright, so bright…”

Nigel said with a snicker.

It was a moment when the result of ‘cooperation’, the value most emphasized at Sienia, was properly demonstrated by the students who were educated at great expense and precious taxes.

For this unofficial event that violated school rules and merely awarded a few department points, not even an official event.

Buuuuu!

At that moment, the low sound of a horn announcing the start of the Mage-Sword Tournament filled the grand stadium.

Waaaaaaah!

Amidst the loud cheers, a mischievous-looking young man and woman walked out to the center of the stadium.

On their faces, there was a thick line running from their ears to their mouths. At the end of it was a round-shaped processed mana stone.

“Thank you for waiting!!”

The male student’s voice was amplified through the mana stone and spread evenly throughout the stadium.

“We, who pursue truth, aim to find the answer today to the problem we have not been able to solve for the past 200 years!”

The female student said in a low voice.

“Between magic and the sword, two powerful forces that are difficult to compete for superiority, what is truly superior will be revealed today!”

“Now, the 216th unofficial Mage-Sword Tournament begins!!”

With the female student’s resonant voice, the curtain rose on the Mage-Sword Tournament.