The festival passes by. It goes on.
From Chloe’s perspective, the festival was quite an anticipated event. There wasn’t much of a festival in the Magic Tower, plus it included meetings with the kingdom’s high nobility and elite offspring.
But Chloe disregarded all of that.
Bang!!!
“Cough…!!”
‘So slow.’
She was stuck in the training ground set up in the basement of her private dormitory.
Outside, how many days had passed? There was no clock inside the training ground. Her philosophy was that if she set a time for practice, she would rely on that time.
Yet she had been practicing so much that she could roughly estimate how much time had passed with her biological clock.
Chloe hadn’t stepped out of the training ground for a week.
[Chains of Binding]
‘It’s so slow that I’m yawning. If you did that in a real fight, your neck would have already been flown off.’
[Chains of Binding]
‘You know it too, right? Chloe Pisty lacks talent. So don’t try to use magic just as it’s structured. If you stick to that, you’ll never defeat a genius.’
[Chains of Binding]
‘Are you tired just from doing it consecutively 30 times? Mages unconsciously flow their magic power into their bodies beyond their hearts. If you gather all of that, you might have enough to cast one last spell. You have no idea how many times that has saved my life!’
[Chains of Binding]
‘Don’t fear magic exhaustion. It’s just a fake warning sent from a body accustomed to magic. In reality, even if you squeeze out all your magic, you won’t die. It’ll just be painfully excruciating.’
Whoosh!!!
Chains of magic arose and arose around Chloe.
Her black ribbon unraveled, and her ponytail became a mess, but she didn’t mind. She couldn’t even properly open her eyes due to the flowing sweat, but she ignored it. Her overworked heart pounded wildly and demanded rest, but she refused.
And once more.
[Chains of Binding]
“Huff… huff!”
‘Okay, that last one was acceptable. Now recover your magic power.’
“Phew…”
There was no proper rest. Unlike martial arts, which relies on physical stamina, magic doesn’t care much about physical fatigue.
She squeezed her magic power until exhaustion hit, then rapidly recovered through meditation and elixir consumption, only to return to the beginning.
It was a training method brutally foolish. Any ordinary mage would have their heart explode and die by now doing this.
But Chloe Pisty was different.
‘Remember. The only thing the talentless Chloe has is her venom.’
“Huff… huff…”
‘I won’t die at least with my magic, so repeat it. Right until I’m about to die for real.’
[Pulsating Heart]
The magic manifested by adult Chloe was a magic she only saw in books.
It was among the top-tier of 7th-grade magic, a top magic that even 8th-grade mages find hard to use.
[Pulsating Heart] forces the heart to beat, and as long as the magic is maintained, the heart will never stop.
Thus, Chloe could repeat this grueling training for a whole week.
‘Tired?’
‘…Yeah, it’s tiring.’
‘Painful?’
‘Of course, it hurts…!!’
‘Then do you want to give up?’
‘No!’
Chloe had always considered she had undergone substantial training, but now she could finally realize it was her own arrogance.
The training demanded by adult Chloe was like hell. Not even time to breathe, her stamina was long gone, and she often used magic while lying on the floor.
But beyond that.
With every grueling repetition, Chloe could feel it.
She was growing.
[Chains of Binding]
And finally, after a week of practice, [Chains of Binding] transformed from existing magic into her very own ‘original’ that creates dozens of iron chains.
Only then could Chloe finally rest.
‘Okay. If I can use [Chains of Binding] like this, it’ll be much easier from now on.’
‘I really… did it…’
‘Originally, I planned to change it more slowly, but this was unexpected. I never thought you’d request to train faster first.’
‘…’
Adult Chloe was right. In reality, it was not adult Chloe who pushed for this harsh training regimen but Chloe herself.
A week ago, the day before the festival.
Inside Kirke’s research lab, where she entered with the finance director.
Chloe deeply felt her own shortcomings.
‘I thought I could be of some significant help.’
‘…’
‘I honestly didn’t know why you liked the finance director. To me, he just seemed like a rank 1 guy who was just average looking. I couldn’t understand why you would go that far for someone like him.’
So she could assert to adult Chloe that she would never come to like the finance director.
And when she entered Kirke’s lab, she thought of gaining favor by assisting the ‘useless rank 1’ finance director.
That was supposed to be it.
‘In the end, I ended up doing nothing.’
‘Well, that’s true.’
Finding the way and advancing? The finance director did all that.
Going into the basement? While Chloe was terrified, the finance director went in first.
Solving the problem’s root? It wasn’t Chloe, but ‘adult Chloe’ who did it.
Chloe, who had been so confident, now realized she hadn’t really done anything once the situation arose.
‘Pathetic.’
Pathetic.
She could have brushed it off, saying it was just a lack of experience, it was her first time, or that the finance director was impressive.
But Chloe did not do that.
Because the finance director, whom she unconsciously underestimated as just a rank 1, who was not a mage, was now someone she saw with new eyes.
Seeing his competence up close and facing her own incompetence.
Chloe expressed her desire to learn the [Chains of Binding] used by adult Chloe.
‘With this, your [Chains of Binding] surpasses rank 5. But never be arrogant. True geniuses are in a league of their own.’
‘…Amatrius Delphia Beatrice.’
‘That girl has already solved her chronic condition, right? That means she’s like a bird with wings. Perhaps the youngest 8th-grader will appear in ten years?’
Adult Chloe said this indifferently. Perhaps she no longer felt envy for Beatrice’s talent. Adult Chloe was fixated on the finance director.
But Chloe now was different. Unlike the clumsy past self or the future trajectory, she had reached the pinnacle of rank 7. Recognizing Beatrice’s talent and uniqueness was.
A rather unpleasant feeling.
‘Huh? Just look at your expression. You’ll never win against that princess with magic anyway. Give up.’
‘…I still don’t know.’
‘Right, you still don’t know. But probably after a month, you’ll find out for sure.’
Vague.
Adult Chloe’s words felt like they weren’t speaking the truth but rather provoking Chloe.
As she struggled to force her exhausted body to cast magic again.
‘Just stop. There’s a place I need to go.’
‘What? What do you mean? The festival is already on its last day.’
‘I know. I know that to the point it’s annoying.’
‘…?’
‘Anyway, you trained me as you wanted, right? Now you have to fulfill my request.’
In the midst of her confusion, she quickly washed up, had something to eat to regain her strength, and where did she go?
Not to the bustling center of the academy, not to the magic dueling ground, not to the martial arts tournament, and not to the meeting with high-ranking youths.
Just to the roof of some building on the outskirts.
“…Finance Director?”
“Headmistress, you’ve already… arrived?”
There was the finance director. Why he was on such a roof was a mystery, but he appeared much more fatigued than usual, his already rough white hair looking even more disheveled.
He seemed like he could fall asleep at any moment, but also not.
“Chloe, student?”
“Y-Yes, Finance Director.”
So why was the finance director randomly here?
Actually, if she recalled how he had just mentioned the headmistress, she could think he was here by appointment with her.
But, having been stuck in the training ground for a week, just washed up and filled her stomach, Chloe was too tired to think straight.
In her awkwardness, she tried to go back down.
“…Um, I’m going down.”
“Chloe, student?”
“I’m leaving, goodbye!”
“Student, what do you mean? I haven’t even properly expressed my gratitude since the hair loss incident. Please come and sit.”
“……Really?”
Chloe’s instinctive question was not if she could really sit, but more so why she was being thanked when the finance director had done almost everything.
Whether the finance director understood that meaning or not.
He smiled tiredly, nonetheless.
“Weren’t you the one who said, Chloe? That next time, you should rely on me?”
Yes, that was the case. More accurately, it was the adult Chloe who said that.
Chloe could only observe that scene internalized. It was impossible for Chloe to cleanse all the hair loss substances filling the research lab.
Adult Chloe had asked for the [Chains of Binding] she saw back then.
But for the finance director, there was no distinction between adult Chloe and Chloe. He wouldn’t know about that.
So.
He reached out to Chloe, not adult Chloe.
“Come on.”
“………Yes.”
Adult Chloe was unusually quiet. Chloe had expected her to immediately possess her body and sit next to the finance director but sensed something else beyond.
But she was already overwhelmed with drowsiness, and besides, she couldn’t ignore the finance director.
Yeah, it’s just that.
Chloe quietly sat beside the finance director. From such a high building roof, the center of the academy came into view.
At first, she thought it was some random roof, but it turned out to be a pretty great spot.
‘How does my future self know about this place?’
Well, since the future has been changed, maybe adult Chloe had been here before based on her experience.
Not that her mind was really working, Chloe just brushed it off. Instead, she slightly shifted her position.
…Next to the finance director.
“Chloe, student?”
“It’s nothing. I’m just a bit cold.”
“Oh, is that so?”
Being on a high place, the wind blew quite a lot. Of course, Chloe, the rank 5 mage, absolutely shouldn’t feel cold.
It was just that she felt sorry for the finance director being alone there.
Although she really didn’t want to, she went closer. All for the promise with adult Chloe. Nothing more than that.
As she repeated that in her mind, the finance director, who had been looking at her, suddenly spoke.
“Chloe, is there something troubling you?”
“…What?”
“You know, your expression looks similar to when someone is trying to hide a mistake. Despite this, I’m a faculty member. I’m here to listen.”
“Well, but…”
“That might be embarrassing, since we’re too close, but perhaps there are things you can’t say. I’ll listen, if you’re okay with it.”
Is he saying that the relationship between him and Chloe isn’t that close? True, but there’s no need to say it like that.
Chloe temporarily felt a bit irritated but sighed, eventually opening her mouth.
Of course, she had no intention of revealing everything in detail.
“It’s nothing serious; I’m just a bit worried.”
“Worried, you say?”
“I… have a rival I want to beat. Someone said, ‘You’ll never win,’ so I just…”
The words of her future self, who had almost reached 8th grade, were absolute. No matter how much Chloe denied it out of annoyance, the reality wouldn’t change.
What if Beatrice reaches rank 6? What if she’s invited to the Magic Tower? What if the Master takes Beatrice as a disciple instead of me?
And.
…And.
“This is all unrelated to you, Finance Director.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because you’ve already chosen Beatrice.”
Adult Chloe had said that Beatrice’s chronic condition was resolved thanks to the finance director. She hadn’t really believed it, but she couldn’t help but accept it, given how firm her future self looked.
And if that statement was true, then the finance director had already chosen Beatrice over Chloe.
So.
‘…The enemy.’
To Chloe, who hadn’t met the finance director yet, it was adult Chloe’s words.
Perhaps in the future, she had chosen Chloe over Beatrice, but that future already changed.
In this altered future.
The finance director had become Beatrice’s ally, merely an enemy.
“…Anyway, that’s how it is.”
“Hmm, is the person who said that really trustworthy?”
“I suppose you can say that. They said it would never change.”
Thinking that, Chloe felt a vague resentment towards the finance director. Wouldn’t it have been fine if he hadn’t helped Beatrice solve her chronic condition?
Chloe sulked inwardly for a moment, but she didn’t let it come out.
Before she could speak, the finance director began.
“Then can’t you change it?”
“What?”
“Is there really such a thing as a predetermined future? The future can change dramatically with even a small action.”
“…That’s a twisted argument.”
“Of course, you might see it that way.”
The finance director openly accepting her rebuttal met Chloe’s eyes.
“I’m just saying I think that way.”
“……….”
“It doesn’t matter if the future is really set in stone or easily changeable. I just need to believe it that way. I should strive to change it, and believe in it. In the end, my thoughts and perceptions are what matter.”
“It’s a bit naive to just say ‘effort’ like that…”
“How do you think I’m able to keep my position as the finance director?”
“Huh?”
“I’m just a student who majored in administration for 3 years; I have no experience, and not much knowledge. Yet I manage to hold the position of finance director… by making some efforts.”
“………….”
The finance director was merely rank 1.
Objectively, it’s very low rank. It doesn’t even seem fitting for such a high position in a grand academy.
What kind of efforts did that rank 1 have to put in to become the current finance director?
Chloe had never even thought about that. She had always seen him as just the finance director.
‘So that’s it.’
Just as Chloe struggled between Beatrice and her future self, the finance director was in a similar situation.
Fighting for his own position.
A very small, trivial realization. For someone as proud and arrogant as Chloe, it took her this long to acknowledge ‘common sense.’
Just as she was trying to regain her voice, the finance director spoke first.
Puff! Puff! Puff!!!
“…Ah.”
“Oh, it seems to have started.”
The finance director, who had briefly looked for someone, then turned to Chloe and smiled as he looked forward.
In that place, fireworks exploded.
Lighting up the night sky beautifully.
Countless fireworks.
The light sparkles. The cheering of students resounds. The night sky brightens.
Chloe, momentarily captivated by this scene unique to Grandis Academy that she was seeing for the first time.
Immediately turned to the finance director beside her.
“……It’s splendid.”
The side view of the finance director as he muttered that looked quite handsome despite being annoying.
Listening to a troublesome girl’s worries, captivating the heart of her future self, and drawing closer while sharply drawing lines.
Even standing beside her now, it was annoying that he had ultimately chosen Beatrice.
“Finance Director.”
“Yes?”
“From now on, call me───”
──Not just a student, but Chloe.
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