Then came the day of the students’ extracurricular training at the academy.
I put on my waterproof boots and made my way through the nearby forest. The ground was muddy from the previous day’s rain, but the sky was clear and blue.
There was a high, sturdy fence around the door, which prevented the magical beast inside from coming out. Hence, you could go in and out by unlocking the door…That only meant a violent magical beast was inside.
Sure enough, the teacher looked at me with a nasty expression.
“Madam, it’s not safe to go in. You can still turn back now…”
“Shall we go?”
There was no worry. I could fight against a magical beast in no time.
Shar, who accompanied me, didn’t say anything because he knew my attack power.
The three children who would be participating this time were from the older group that we met last time.
The first one was Kanon. He was our adopted son. He was proficient at water magic. Recently, he’d been gaining tremendous improvements at the magic I taught him.
Next was Meen. She was the first girl who said she wanted to see my magic, and like me, she was a Light Magic user. However, she was poor at combat training and seemed depressed.
Finally, Bomb. He was a Fire Magic user, who had a rivalry with Kanon, and was the reckless type. He was also hyper motivated about this training.
Incidentally, their teacher’s name was Gordon, a classmate of Shar and Hue. He was the so-called stubborn, headstrong type…as Hue described.
“This time, the three of us will work together to exterminate an A-ranked magical beast that was released deep into the forest. As usual, those who drop out will be abandoned. Challenge with that in mind.”
If the standards hadn’t changed from 500 years ago, an A-rank magical beast would be at the level of an adult senior wizard’s job.
Incidentally, there were ranks from G to SSS.
At first, ranks were from G to A, but as stronger magical beasts appeared one after another, S, SS, and SSS were created.
(Isn’t that too much for a child? I think I’d better sneak along.)
After a short walk, the teacher, Gordon, said, “I’ll let the kids go on their own from here.” Gordon himself was going to wait in place.
“What if one of the kids gets hurt?”
When I asked, he said calmly, “Until then, there’s no withdrawal.”
“What? Until then, what? What are you going to do if a magical beast attacks and kills them?”
“That’s why I’m telling you, until then. The weak will be cut down, so they will be attacked by magical beasts and left as they are. The House of Mercure has no need for weak people. This is what we’ve always done. The three of them are survivors who have survived the harshest of circumstances.”
When I heard that, my mind went blank. I couldn’t believe my ears…
I couldn’t believe that such an abnormal practice was going on in the Mercure family.
“Huhーーーー？ What abuse are you smugly declaring?”
I confronted Gordon.
The children were at a distance, cringing and looking about.
“Shut it, Countess. This is the policy of the Mercure family academy!”
“You’d better change that custom at once! I won’t allow you to snuff out children’s lives in vain.”
“What can you do?”
“I’m going with the children today, to protect them in case of an emergency!”
“What nonsense! Your Ladyship is slowing us down. I would appreciate it if you would stay out of my way.”
As Gordon spoke, he grabbed me by the arm as if to scare me.
(Ouch…)
Shar, who was behind him, stopped him with a call, but he brushed it off.
From the way Shar has been acting so far, he seemed to have decided that it was fine for him to treat me lightly.
No one knew about the sermon that day except me and Shar. That was why Gordon was so bullheaded.
“Even if Your Ladyship can use some unusual magic, it’s useless if you can’t use it in battle. You remain useless and a burden! Don’t get carried away, or you’ll get hurt like this.”
He smirked, his face confident of victory.
But I put all my strength into my tightly gripped arm and swung it around.
“…Get off me.”
Instantly, Gordon was lifted off his feet on the ground.
“Gu, w-what?! Nuh-uh, noooooooh!”
“You’re the useless one. You’re the one who’s useless. How dare you slaughter the Count’s family treasure, our child! If you say anything more foolish, I’ll have you fired!”
I couldn’t imagine how anxious the children must have been, being forced to confront a vicious magical beast with no adult to protect them. Really, it was unforgivable.
I lowered my stance and waved my arm in front of me, and Gordon, who was reluctantly grabbing my arms, also flew through the air and crashed into the ground with a bang.
Then came the day of the students’ extracurricular training at the academy.
I put on my waterproof boots and made my way through the nearby forest. The ground was muddy from the previous day’s rain, but the sky was clear and blue.
There was a high, sturdy fence around the door, which prevented the magical beast inside from coming out. Hence, you could go in and out by unlocking the door…That only meant a violent magical beast was inside.
Sure enough, the teacher looked at me with a nasty expression.
“Madam, it’s not safe to go in. You can still turn back now…”
“Shall we go?”
There was no worry. I could fight against a magical beast in no time.
Shar, who accompanied me, didn’t say anything because he knew my attack power.
The three children who would be participating this time were from the older group that we met last time.
The first one was Kanon. He was our adopted son. He was proficient at water magic. Recently, he’d been gaining tremendous improvements at the magic I taught him.
Next was Meen. She was the first girl who said she wanted to see my magic, and like me, she was a Light Magic user. However, she was poor at combat training and seemed depressed.
Finally, Bomb. He was a Fire Magic user, who had a rivalry with Kanon, and was the reckless type. He was also hyper motivated about this training.
Incidentally, their teacher’s name was Gordon, a classmate of Shar and Hue. He was the so-called stubborn, headstrong type…as Hue described.
“This time, the three of us will work together to exterminate an A-ranked magical beast that was released deep into the forest. As usual, those who drop out will be abandoned. Challenge with that in mind.”
If the standards hadn’t changed from 500 years ago, an A-rank magical beast would be at the level of an adult senior wizard’s job.
Incidentally, there were ranks from G to SSS.
At first, ranks were from G to A, but as stronger magical beasts appeared one after another, S, SS, and SSS were created.
(Isn’t that too much for a child? I think I’d better sneak along.)
After a short walk, the teacher, Gordon, said, “I’ll let the kids go on their own from here.” Gordon himself was going to wait in place.
“What if one of the kids gets hurt?”
When I asked, he said calmly, “Until then, there’s no withdrawal.”
“What? Until then, what? What are you going to do if a magical beast attacks and kills them?”
“That’s why I’m telling you, until then. The weak will be cut down, so they will be attacked by magical beasts and left as they are. The House of Mercure has no need for weak people. This is what we’ve always done. The three of them are survivors who have survived the harshest of circumstances.”
When I heard that, my mind went blank. I couldn’t believe my ears…
I couldn’t believe that such an abnormal practice was going on in the Mercure family.
“Huhーーーー？ What abuse are you smugly declaring?”
I confronted Gordon.
The children were at a distance, cringing and looking about.
“Shut it, Countess. This is the policy of the Mercure family academy!”
“You’d better change that custom at once! I won’t allow you to snuff out children’s lives in vain.”
“What can you do?”
“I’m going with the children today, to protect them in case of an emergency!”
“What nonsense! Your Ladyship is slowing us down. I would appreciate it if you would stay out of my way.”
As Gordon spoke, he grabbed me by the arm as if to scare me.
(Ouch…)
Shar, who was behind him, stopped him with a call, but he brushed it off.
From the way Shar has been acting so far, he seemed to have decided that it was fine for him to treat me lightly.
No one knew about the sermon that day except me and Shar. That was why Gordon was so bullheaded.
“Even if Your Ladyship can use some unusual magic, it’s useless if you can’t use it in battle. You remain useless and a burden! Don’t get carried away, or you’ll get hurt like this.”
He smirked, his face confident of victory.
But I put all my strength into my tightly gripped arm and swung it around.
“…Get off me.”
Instantly, Gordon was lifted off his feet on the ground.
“Gu, w-what?! Nuh-uh, noooooooh!”
“You’re the useless one. You’re the one who’s useless. How dare you slaughter the Count’s family treasure, our child! If you say anything more foolish, I’ll have you fired!”
I couldn’t imagine how anxious the children must have been, being forced to confront a vicious magical beast with no adult to protect them. Really, it was unforgivable.
I lowered my stance and waved my arm in front of me, and Gordon, who was reluctantly grabbing my arms, also flew through the air and crashed into the ground with a bang.
