Ian was still stuck in a state of ‘I have to participate too?’ confusion.
What did they mean by including him?
Did they have his consent?
Why didn’t he know about this?
He was just an instructor who wanted to push the plot forward!
Why did he have to personally go down and compete?
‘System, will there be overtime pay for this?’
[This activity will not affect the development of the plot and does not fall within the scope of additional work.]
Ian: “…”
Heh, haha. Dammit!
However, the joys and sorrows of people were not always shared.
It was just like how some things were both called ‘Unicorn.’
One would sweetly and softly call you ‘Big Brother,’ while the other would look through your Extra Deck and banish a member of your ‘family’ face-down.
Just as Amivy went to invite the two female leads with delight, their words caused the expectant smile on her face to freeze instantly.
Shirleyviel and Otillia stepped forward almost at the same time.
Shirleyviel looked at Otillia, a gentle and “friendly” smile appearing on her face.
“Lady Otillia, your ice magic control is exquisite. If it could be coordinated with my spatial support, I imagine it would produce unexpected results. I wonder… if you would be willing to form a team with me?”
Otillia’s ice-blue eyes flickered as she returned a similarly “polite” and “reserved” smile.
“Miss Shirleyviel, you flatter me. Your spatial magic is exactly the tactical supplement I lack. It would be my honor to team up with you.”
The two women looked at each other and smiled, the atmosphere appearing incomparably “harmonious.”
“Then, we shall form a team.”
The two spoke almost in unison, then looked at Ian and Amivy together.
Amivy: “???”
Wait!
This script wasn’t right!
Amivy had expected to team up with one of the beauties herself, while Ian teamed up with the other.
How had it turned into these two women forming their own team?!
Then what about her?
She had to be in a group with this masked man?!
Amivy suddenly felt that she was being isolated again, and in a way she had completely failed to anticipate.
Ian also snapped out of his daze.
He looked at Shirleyviel and Otillia standing hand-in-hand in “perfect harmony,” then looked at Amivy’s “who am I, where am I, what am I doing” expression, and his mouth twitched.
‘Fantastic. So you all knew about this Duo Tournament, and I’m the only one left in the dark?’
However, this… seemed fine too.
At least the two female leads had begun to interact, even if the interaction was a bit subtle…
“Uh… if the groups are split this way,” Ian began tentatively, “then I suppose I’ll be in a group with His Highness Arthur?”
Amivy looked at Ian’s masked face, then thought about the enviable, tacit cooperation he had shown with the two women earlier, and her heart felt like a complicated mess.
But things had already reached this point; there seemed to be no other choice.
She couldn’t let one of the women be left out, could she?
Although the one who should have been left out was supposed to be him…
“Hmph, I suppose it can only be this way.”
Amivy curled her lip, accepting the combination she wanted the least.
Ian breathed a sigh of relief.
Finally, the groupings were settled.
Although it was a bit different from what he had expected, it could at least be considered a form of “team building,” right?
“However, Your Highness, wouldn’t it be a bit unsportsmanlike for the two of us to sign up for the Newcomer Duo Tournament?”
Amivy gave Ian a depressed look.
“What are you thinking? The newcomer group? What’s the point of such a trivial, house-playing competition?”
“What I signed up for, of course, was the Graduation Duo Tournament.”
Ian: “?”
Wait, what?!
The graduation group?!
That was the competition with the highest prestige and the fiercest competition, participated in by the highest-grade students of the Imperial Royal Magic Academy, including elites staying for further study and powerful exchange students from other schools!
The participants were, at the very least, Rank 4 High Archmages!
And they were the kind of Rank 4 Archmages who had stayed at that level for a long time!
The two of them had the strength of Rank 4 at most, and she was jumping straight past the two or three middle grades to fight them!
Arthur Reinhardt! Are you sober?!
Is there something wrong with your head?
Ian: “Can we withdraw?”
Amivy: “No.” (She answered instantly.)
Ian: “Why?”
Amivy said disdainfully, “My father and your teacher requested it.”
Ian: “Your mother!”
Amivy: “?”
Ian: “Don’t mind it; it’s just a greeting from my hometown.”
Ian: “Then what about them?”
Amivy: “They are still in the newcomer group.”
Ian: “?”
Amivy: “I was told that as long as one of us is present, we must participate in the graduation group.”
Ian: “Did your father and my teacher say that too?”
Amivy: “Yes…”
Ian: “Shit!”
Amivy: “?”
Ian: “Don’t mind me; it’s still just a greeting from my hometown. It precisely expresses one’s mood.”
Since the participation and grouping for the Duo Tournament three days from now were set in stone, Ian couldn’t change anything.
In the evening, after another day of ending with no progress, Ian and the others returned to their respective residences.
After Amivy and Ian had left, only Otillia and Shirleyviel remained on the entire training ground.
“You haven’t forgotten the original reason we signed up, have you? Miss Shirleyviel Connalt…”
The kindness on Otillia’s face vanished, replaced by a layer of ice.
She slowly turned around, her ice-blue eyes looking straight at the silver-haired, red-eyed girl behind her.
Shirleyviel looked up.
Under the moonlight, the pure and harmless sense of fragility on her face also disappeared.
Her red pupils flickered with a strange and calm luster in the shadows, and the corners of her mouth curved into a playful yet dangerous arc.
“Of course I remember, Lady Otillia Filimon.”
Shirleyviel’s voice was still soft, but it lacked that intentionally crafted timidity, instead carrying a hint of etherealness.
The air went silent for a moment, with only the rustling of the night wind blowing through the trees at the edge of the training ground.
“Heh.”
Otillia gave a light laugh, her fingertips unconsciously stroking her red lips as if she were reminiscing about something.
She took half a step forward, the moonlight illuminating her exquisite, jade-like profile.
“You’ve seen our strength over these past few days. Neither of us can do anything to the other.”
“Yes. If we do anything too excessive, it will only end in mutual destruction and alert Mr. Cat.”
“Lady Otillia, after all these days, have you discovered what our ‘little cat’ wants to do?”
Otillia glanced indifferently at the silver-haired girl who had come to her side.
“Did you find anything?”
“Regrettably, Lady Otillia, I did not.”
“It seems Mr. Cat is truly just fulfilling the requirements of the Emperor and the Stargazer to guide Arthur Reinhardt…”
“Haha, if it were only for that, then why is he unwilling to recognize us?”
Otillia didn’t believe Ian would so simply follow the orders of the Emperor and the Stargazer.
After all, a certain someone had even wanted to seal her memories because of this matter.
“Therefore, that is why we chose to cooperate. Isn’t it?”
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