Kaya garnered her second Fell Card by eliminating a Class-B male student and as a result of this, she discovered something new about the end-of-semester evaluation.
It was that if she had a Fell Card, it would be listed as in her possession, even if she put it somewhere else.
She was able to discover this when her Fell Card telekinetically flew away in the wrong direction after she had eliminated the male student. In other words, as long as she made physical contact with the card, it didn't matter even if she hid elsewhere.
Of course, it didn't mean anything. If you could just defeat them, the card would come to you anyway.
'In any case…'
Kaya looked up at the scoreboard floating in the sky.
…A female student was raising her score at an alarming rate.
Fell
[1st Place (Purple) Ciel Carnedas Fell Card +4]
[2nd Place (Green) Kaya Astrean Fell Card +2]
[3rd Place (Red) Mateo Jordana Fell Card +1]
[4th Place (Yellow) Tristan Humphrey Fell Card +1]
[5th Place (Blue) Luce Eltania Fell Card +1]
Eliminations
[1st Place (Blue) Luce Eltania Eliminations +53]
[2nd Place (Yellow) Tristan Humphrey Eliminations +4]
[3rd Place (Green) Kaya Astrean Eliminations +4]
[4th Place (Purple) Ciel Carnedas Eliminations +3]
Ciel Carnedas. After she found her first Fell Card, she found 3 more cards in a mere 30 minutes.
Her speed was unbelievable.
"...."
However, upon careful consideration, it made sense. During the class placement evaluation, Ciel took a leisurely nap and had a late start, yet she still managed to secure third place. She was faster than Luce and Kaya in terms of scoring speed alone.
Even though she was always sleepy eyed and slept whenever she had a chance, Ciel firmly held on to the 3rd place rank in Class A. She didn't even realize that she was a dark horse in this semester's end-of-term evaluation.
'I have to do better.'
She vowed to beat Luce Eltania, but what if she fell down to third place?
Kaya continued to move her feet without rest in search of Fell Cards.
✦✧✦✧
The sunset colors were slowly spreading across the sky. It had been two hours since the end-of-semester evaluation began.
Kaya blankly stared at the scoreboard floating in the sky, her mouth hanging open.
No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn't understand Ciel's performance.
Fell
[1st Place (Purple) Ciel Carnedas Fell Card +7]
[2nd Place (Green) Kaya Astrean Fell Card +2]
[3rd Place (Blue) Luce Eltania Fell Card +2]
[4th Place (Black) Keridna Whiteclark Fell Card +2]
[5th Place (Red) Mateo Jordana Fell Card +1]
Eliminations
[1st Place (Blue) Luce Eltania Eliminations +62]
[2nd place (Purple) Ciel Carnedas Eliminations +12]
[3rd Place (Green) Kaya Astrean Eliminations +8]
[4th Place (Black) Keridna Whiteclark Eliminations +6]
[5th place (Yellow) Tristan Humphrey Eliminations +5]
'Why 7 Fell Cards…?'
Perhaps other students were perplexed by this as well.
The end-of-semester evaluation would be over once you had collected 5 Fell Cards. Even if you collected more than 5 Fell Cards, there were no bonus points, so Professor Fernando advised against doing anything unnecessary.
Once you had collected 5 Fell Cards, the designated location for submission would automatically appear, so Ciel must have already figured out her submission location.
In other words, it was meaningless for her to scrape up that many Fell cards.
[1st Place (Purple) Ciel Carnedas Fell Card +8]
[1st Place (Purple) Ciel Carnedas Fell Card +9]
But it didn't stop. Ciel's Fell Card ranking was increasing at a terrifying rate.
Ciel Carnedas, was she actually a genius beyond Luce? What a ridiculous mana perception ability…!
It was as if she were showing the students who were taking the end-of-semester evaluations, "This is who I am," with those high numbers.
"What are you thinking, Ciel Carnedas…?"
Kaya took care of her complex thoughts and selected 'Fell' on her bracelet, looking at the map of the old Märchen Academy grounds. The purple mana grain, which represented Ciel Carnedas, was in a place that could be reached within 20 minutes by running from where Kaya currently was.
…I have no choice but to go and see myself.
Kaya conjured wind magic at her feet and started moving towards the place where Ciel was.
Whatever Ciel's intentions were, she wanted to get five Fell Cards as soon as possible, so she could turn the tables on her. Kaya's goal was to rank first in the end-of-semester evaluation.
Realistically, it was difficult for her to choose the option of 'simply looking for Fell Cards'. In that case, it would be best for her to eliminate Ciel and take her Fell Cards. Perhaps other Class A students were thinking the same thing.
That's right. It was going to be a battle of the Class A students with Ciel at the center of it all.
"...!"
Gooooooooo───
As Kaya walked past the blue rose garden, a murderous mana enveloped her entire body, triggering her survival instincts.
She swallowed a breath and came to a halt in the middle of the rose garden.
A woman with rose gold hair was slowly trudging towards Kaya.
She was a sophisticated-looking schoolgirl with a morpho butterfly-colored hair tie. The floral path embroidered with blue roses blended well with her atmosphere, as if it existed solely for her.
Above her head, water mana swirled with a clear blue light. Five blue magic circles with a diameter of about 2m were engraved in the air around it and followed her, ready to use water magic at any time to eliminate her opponent.
Ciel Carnedas had been so noticeable that she had overlooked the top student in the 'Eliminations' category.
She should've been paying attention to the slaughterer, the most important person in this end-of-semester evaluation…!
Tension washed over her like a tidal wave. The strongest student in the first year of the Magic Department was coming this way.
「Wind Generation (Wind Element, ★1)」
Kaya drew her wand and prepared for battle.
Luce Eltania, the rose-gold-haired top seat, cast a glance at Kaya with her emotionless eyes. When her eyes met Kaya's, Kaya felt a chill run through her body for a moment.
First seat and second seat. Only one rank separated them.
But that one wall that stood between them was more solid than she could have imagined.
Luce also stopped in her tracks. The top seat and second seat stared at each other from a distance in a flower garden full of blue roses.
The tension was high.
Kaya materialized a light green magic circle around her, ready to fire a spell at any moment.
"Luce Eltania… Are you trying to take me down too?"
Luce didn't answer.
Kaya knew that reaction. It was the same expression that Isaac had shown her during the class placement evaluation – a look that said 'you are boring'.
Sir Isaac is an amazing person, so even if he did that, you shouldn't…!
Kaya frowned and pointed the wand in her right hand towards Luce. A light green magic circle materialized in front of the wand.
It was a magic circle for [Gale Fang], a 5-star wind magic.
"Let me ask you one thing. It looks like you are deliberately getting rid of students. What is the reason?"
Kaya asked in a tense voice.
Then Luce closed her eyes tightly and opened them again, revealing her blue eyes, reminiscent of the sea.
"…Huh."
Her face suddenly blushed. She seemed embarrassed to answer.
Kaya hadn't expected such an innocent reaction from her.
"Because of my friend. Just in case, I wanted to clean up anyone who might be dangerous…"
The expression 'friend' had the power to make Luce appear vulnerable. Whenever that small ripple of emotion passed through her lips, she felt her whole body shudder and her face flush.
'A friend…?'
Class A only had 5 people. Kaya knew this because she was in the same class as Luce.
'Aren't you friendless…?'
It was a very rude thought, but it was true. Luce was an outsider who treated everyone coldly and was always alone. It was natural for her to not have any friends.
Kaya suddenly remembered a rumor that had been going around among the students up until the end-of-semester's written exam.
Isaac and the top seat seemed to have an unusual relationship, the top seat seemed to be interested in a commoner from Class D. The top seat, who always treated others coldly, would only smile brightly at Isaac. The top seat seemed to be constantly trying to stay by Isaac's side.
And so on and so forth.
Rumors were just rumors. Kaya had dismissed them as 'probably some kind of misunderstanding.'
Isaac was always a person with a deep meaning behind his actions. In the first place, judging people based on rumors was against Kaya's beliefs.
Moreover, the other person involved in the rumor was Luce, who had a cold attitude towards everyone. Surely, it must be nothing more than a misunderstanding, Kaya thought.
'Could it be… that friend…?'
Isaac… Is she talking about him?
Luce, who was aloof with everyone, harbored special feelings for Isaac…? Could it be that the rumors were true?
Today, she was reminded once again of how beautiful Luce was.
As she pictured Luce smiling brightly only at Isaac, Kaya felt a tingle in her chest for some reason.
Somehow, this fight…. she felt as if she couldn't afford to lose here, in more ways than one.
"...?"
Luce had second thoughts when she saw Kaya, who appeared to be burning with a fierce determination. Kaya's strong will could be felt in the air and on her skin.
'She could be a danger to Isaac, too… I have to take care of her.'
It didn't matter. Luce would just have to get rid of her.
The blue magic circle that had materialized around Luce started glowing even brighter.
It was a showdown. The moment anyone made even the slightest movement, they would both unleash their magic on each other.
─It was then.
Charakcharak─
The mana grains engraved in the sky began to move in a frenzy. Luce and Kaya maintained their combat stances while facing one another, then glanced up to check the scoreboard.
Fell
[1st Place (Purple) Ciel Carnedas Fell Card +9]
[2nd Place (Green) Kaya Astrean Fell Card +2]
[3rd Place (Blue) Luce Eltania Fell Card +2]
[4th Place (Black) Keridna Whiteclark Fell Card +2]
[5th Place (Red) Mateo Jordana Fell Card +1]
.
.
.
Fell
[1st Place (White) Isaac Fell Card +5]
[2nd place (Purple) Ciel Carnedas Fell Card +4]
[3rd Place (Green) Kaya Astrean Fell Card +2]
[4th Place (Blue) Luce Eltania Fell Card +2]
[5th Place (Black) Keridna Whiteclark Fell Card +2]
"Uh, uh…?"
Luce and Kaya stopped dead in their tracks. They weren't the only ones.
Within the grounds of the old Märchen Academy, every student who was taking the end-of-semester evaluation stopped.
The students who were fighting ceased combat.
All of the students who had been looking for their Fell Cards came to a halt, their mouths wide open.
They looked as if they couldn't believe what they were seeing.
They stared in disbelief at the Fell Card holder, who was ranked 1st.
Isaac.
He'd beaten all the top students and rose to first place in an instant.
✦✧✦✧
Shortly after the start of the end-of-semester evaluation.
My plan was simple.
I was going to find a strong person and stick to that person.
I remembered most, if not all, of the locations of the Fell Cards. It was game knowledge I had gained from countless hours of playing ❰Magic Knight of Märchen❱. I had even written my own game strategy walkthroughs and posted them in internet cafés.
Therefore, all I had to do was find a suitable trading partner, tell them where the Fell Cards were, and in exchange receive a promise of protection and my share of Fell cards. Of course, the trading partner should be someone who follows the principle of good faith and the duty of a righteous administrator.
Kaya, who followed me without question, would be the best candidate. The problem was that time was running out, and I had no idea where she could be.
However, because the carriage carrying me arrived in front of the Seiran Hall, I was able to visit one of the candidates I had in mind ahead of time. She was a sleepyhead who would be holed up in a small forest until halfway through the end-of-semester evaluation. She wasn't far from Seiran Hall.
When I arrived at a forest lake with clean water and fresh air, a pretty girl with wavy blue short hair caught my eye.
She was sound asleep, her back against a tree. Her profile reflected in my eyes was absolutely gorgeous.
The scenery around the lake was beautiful, with pure white sunlight filtering through the cracks in the leaves. She completely integrated into nature's landscape, as if she were in a painting, to the point where the title "Sleeping Beauty" 1T/N: In Korean, 잠자는 숲속의 공주 means Princess Sleeping in a Forest, which is what is widely known as Sleeping Beauty. This small line used to describe Ciel was '숲속의 공주', which is just 'Princess in a Forest', but that probably wouldn't make sense to most people. Just a reminder that this story will have a lot of references to fairy tales. came to mind.
"Kreureung…"
Her distinctive snores were the only thing that disturbed her elegant atmosphere.
She was Ciel Carnedas, a freshman of the Magic Department.
[Ciel Carnedas] Lv: 92
Race: Human
Elements: Fire, Water
Danger: X
Psychology: [Kreureung…]
In ❰Magic Knight of Märchen❱, you could find Ciel Carnedas sleeping in this forest until midway through the end-of-semester evaluation.
She awakened in the second half and joined the end-of-semester evaluation. From then on, the difficulty of the test drastically spiked.
'If it's Ciel, she fits my plan.'
She was the type of person who strictly kept her promises. After all, she was the one who was trying to keep the promise that had been passed down through the Carnedas family, 'If you find the Child of Light, bring them to the Divine Realm.'
She's trustworthy… right?
All right, let's go.
"Ciel Carnedas, I've come to make a deal!"
I strode up to Ciel with confidence.
At that moment.
「Fireball (Fire Element, ★3)」
Suddenly, a spherical flame the size of a yoga ball formed in the air, and flew towards me at the speed of a pitcher throwing a baseball.
…Please save me.
Footnotes:
1T/N: In Korean, 잠자는 숲속의 공주 means Princess Sleeping in a Forest, which is what is widely known as Sleeping Beauty. This small line used to describe Ciel was '숲속의 공주', which is just 'Princess in a Forest', but that probably wouldn't make sense to most people. Just a reminder that this story will have a lot of references to fairy tales.