“Miss Liakade…?”
Alice looked at Liakade, who was lying face down on the desk with concern. It had been two classes already, and she hadn’t moved at all. No one knew if she had fallen asleep or what, but the whole person gave off a thick aura of grievance.
“Woohoo!”
Just then, Liakade suddenly sat up and flashed a ‘yeah’ sign at Alice with a smile.
“Resurrected at full HP!”
“Sure enough, using the first two classes in the morning to sleep is the best choice. That’s a great conclusion I drew back in my student days.”
“Pfft.” Seeing the gloom around Liakade vanish, Alice finally relaxed. “Miss Liakade is spouting strange things again.”
“By the way, Alice-chan, could you heal me again?”
Liakade’s leg had been hurting last night, causing her to sleep poorly, so she collapsed on the desk as soon as she came in this morning. Although her spirits had improved a lot, the leg still ached.
“Where is it this time?”
Alice asked gently.
“Can I take a look first?”
“Sure.” Today, Liakade was wearing black over-the-knee socks that conveniently covered the injured calf and knee, so no one had noticed.
She slowly rolled one sock down, revealing several red-purple bruises on her originally fair leg.
“Ahem… I misstepped on the stairs yesterday, rolled down, and hurt my leg,” Liakade explained preemptively before Alice could ask questions.
“I was too tired to check carefully when I left this morning. Luckily, it’s only skin wounds and no bone damage, but this situation is hard to explain.”
“I see. Liakade, you really are clumsy, always getting hurt.”
Innocent Alice believed her without suspicion and applied a ball of Light Magic onto Liakade’s leg. In no time, the bruises faded away.
“Thanks.”
Liakade expressed her gratitude to Alice. Facing someone like Alice, it was hard for Liakade to be harsh, but she was already tormented enough. She didn’t know if the punishment from Irina Zi-sama would escalate again. At this rate, she was sure she’d break down first.
“Hey, finally awake, Liakade.”
Field greeted her proactively as soon as she noticed Liakade was up. Since Liakade promised yesterday to be Field’s sparring partner until Field surpassed Sistem, Field’s attitude toward Liakade had warmed a lot. “I thought you were hiding, trying to avoid fighting. Come on, train with me.”
“Huff, I just woke up not long ago.”
Liakade stretched lazily and loosened up.
“But moving around feels good. Let’s go.”
“Princess Field and Miss Liakade have become close, huh,” Alice remarked from nearby.
“Hmph, who says I’m close to her?”
Field snorted, clearly unwilling to admit it.
“Oh, right!”
Liakade shivered and remembered what Irina Zi-sama said yesterday.
“If we’re going to fight, can we go somewhere no one’s around?”
“Hm? Why?”
Field asked curiously.
“Isn’t the Athletic Field or Arena more convenient? They’re close by.”
“Ahem, I just don’t want people to see me fight.”
Liakade didn’t want others to see her fight Field—and worse, to see her win. If that news reached Irina Zi-sama, she’d face severe punishment again.
To convince Field, Liakade added, “Honestly, I’m scared of being watched. My hair color and eye color are different from normal people. I’ve been mocked wherever I go since I was little.
If we go to the Athletic Field or Arena, I’d stand out even more. So can we go somewhere empty?”
“Sure.” Field didn’t question it and agreed.
“Then let’s go to the Back Mountain. But… it’s surprising that someone as strong as you worries about that kind of thing.”
“I’m only strong in magic. Magic isn’t everything in this world. Princess Field is just weaker than me in magic,” Liakade paused.
“Besides, Sistem-sama isn’t perfect either. She must have weaknesses, and Princess Field should have strengths that Sistem-sama doesn’t.”
“Tch, don’t mention that girl. Let’s fight already.”
After the two left, Alice sat at her seat, deep in thought.
If it happened once or twice, it might be acceptable, but three or four times was a bit ridiculous. From Alice’s impression, Liakade wasn’t the clumsy type—how could she be getting injured so often? And every time, the location and severity were odd…
While Alice was still pondering, the two returned quickly. From their expressions, it was clear Liakade had won again.
“You’re back, both of you.”
“Damn it, I gave it my all but still couldn’t win!”
“Just keep practicing.” Liakade shrugged helplessly. It was the power gap.
“Class is about to start. Let’s worry about this later, Princess Field.”
As the bell rang, the teacher began the lecture.
“Students, the midterm examination is in three days.” The teacher tapped the blackboard with the pointer to capture their attention.
“This is your first test since enrollment. The exam consists of three parts: a written test, a Magic Power Test, and Field Combat.”
“The written test will cover social skills, etiquette, finance, history, and magical theory.”
“The Magic Power Test evaluates the power and control of your magic in the Arena.”
“Field Combat involves leaving the City to hunt monsters—just some low-level ones. The Mage Teachers will lead the group. Everyone must remember to stay safe.”
“The midterm exam, huh.”
Alice’s expression darkened instantly.
“I have no confidence in any of this.”
“It’s okay, just do your best. You can’t give up before the fight. We’ll see how it goes after the test.”
Liakade comforted her, but the thought of having to make Alice do poorly brought a wave of gloom.
Thinking it over carefully, although Alice’s magic was Light Magic, before enrollment, she had no guidance or training. So for now, Alice’s magic could only serve a healing function.
Therefore, in the Magic Power Test and Field Combat parts, Alice definitely wouldn’t score high.
At that moment, Liakade suddenly understood—she only needed to focus on Alice’s written test.
Still, even for just the written part, deep down Liakade didn’t want to sabotage Alice.
No matter. For her own mental health, Liakade chose to go all out and prepare to show her true skills in the midterm exam.
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