Chapter 196
Rating Battle of December.
Originally, there were no rating battles in the last month of each semester.
However, in this academia, a tournament between Rikeion and the students would be held for the final exam, and they decided to open an additional rating battle to help the students get accustomed to individual combat.
“Hey, what do you think?”
A male student at one end of the audience seats asked the girl sitting next to him.
He was obviously asking about the outcome of the upcoming rating battle, and the girl chuckled, saying there was no need to think hard about it.
“Of course, Lord Vargan will win. He’s never lost in a rating battle before. He’ll probably just toy with them or finish it in a flash this time too.”
“You really don’t know anything, do you? Do you even know who the opponent is?”
“Why would I not know? Is there anyone else besides Tukum with that unique tiger-striped tail?”
Tiger Ethnicity Tukum.
A formidable competitor ranked 8th in admission scores from the Darek Union.
“You’re saying that knowing it?”
“Why are you spouting such nonsense? You know Tukum is strong, but the opponent is Lord Vargan? I see no chance at all.”
“Seems like this guy hasn’t heard the rumors.”
“Rumors?”
The male student looked around briefly and whispered.
With the surrounding noise, no one would eavesdrop, but it wouldn’t hurt to be cautious.
“There’s a rumor that Lord Vargan has lost his hearing.”
“What?! What kind of nonsense is that?”
“Shh! Quiet down, idiot! Just listen for now.”
“Uh, okay… keep talking.”
The male student began to recount Vargan’s recent unusual behaviors, which came from other students around them.
Though the stories got distorted or exaggerated through word of mouth, they all pointed to the same conclusion.
—It seems Lord Vargan has a hearing issue.
The male student’s words sounded convincing, and the female student slowly turned her gaze towards the arena.
There, Vargan and Tukum had just stepped out and the match was about to begin.
“So… are you saying that Lord Vargan could actually lose?”
“Well… I can’t say for sure… but it’s certain that he won’t perform at his usual level.”
“That can’t be….”
The female student, who had consistently watched Vargan’s rating battles, could hardly imagine him struggling against an opponent after overpowering them with absolute force.
However, if his words were true…
She couldn’t anticipate how the battle would unfold.
Meanwhile, on the arena, Vargan faced Tukum, and they exchanged glances with a brief conversation.
“You there, I heard your hearing isn’t so great?”
Tukum, with a thick neck like an old tree, was flexing his body confidently using informal language against the third son of the Schugenhartz Family. He was one of the few who adhered to the equal rules set by the Academia.
He was one of the few who upheld the rules of equality.
Vargan shrugged as if he didn’t understand.
“Well.”
“You’re not saying no, though.”
“Even if I said no, you wouldn’t believe it, and you’d still be dubious, so what could I possibly say?”
“Ugh, that’s true.”
Tukum smirked.
Surprisingly, it was Tukum who first challenged Vargan to a ranked match, not the other way around.
Tukum, a student from Class 3 alongside Leon and Bell.
About a month ago, he saw Vargan training with Leon. Shortly thereafter, he heard rumors that Vargan had issues with his hearing.
That’s when the pieces of the puzzle fit together.
It was strange for someone like Vargan to ask for help from others, so seeing him with Leon made more sense now.
“The rumors are true. He was trying to compensate for his hearing by learning from a Protector.”
Deciding this, Tukum quickly submitted a challenge to Vargan, who accepted.
Woosh—.
Tukum’s mace sliced through the air, boasting its heavy weight.
A mace the size of a human head.
Tukum handled it like a toy.
He may have been overshadowed by Leon for various reasons, but he was undeniably a powerhouse in Class 3, and he was pumped up from the get-go.
“If I can take the upper hand against Vargan, I can make a name for myself in no time.”
He wanted to build his reputation as a martial artist.
Even if Vargan was in a weakened state, the result was still anyone’s guess.
Tukum was ready to fight.
He took a stance and prepared to charge.
“Vargan! Don’t expect me to go easy on you!”
—Beep!
Finally, the high-pitched sound signaling the start rang out.
Confidently swinging his mace, Tukum thought.
“Huh? Where am I…?”
When he regained his senses, he found himself lying in the infirmary bed.
*
The ranked match with Tukum ended in the blink of an eye.
The result? My win. Overwhelmingly.
I didn’t even use any magic besides the Protector.
Sure, I was wearing a cloak, but come on, I’m a magician; not pulling off something like this would be weird, right?
His mace didn’t even leave a scratch on the cloak.
Thanks to the Protector, but also because the cloak had been upgraded after consuming Seiman’s wings.
…Well, saying it like this makes it seem like it was all the cloak’s doing, but the cloak was only used for defense, while I used the Protector for the attack, so I’d say that against a decent martial artist, this isn’t too shabby.
Tukum crumpled to the ground after I punched him with my fist wrapped in the Protector.
After that, he was carried off… Hm, he should be awake by now.
I quickly pushed the image of that bulky guy with a tiger’s tail out of my mind and reassessed my achievement.
“The Protector has almost perfectly compensated for my hearing.”
Saying it was almost perfect left room for the possibility that I hadn’t discovered everything yet; it’s not that it was lacking.
In fact, everything I was experiencing now was clearer than before the hearing trial.
As I grew accustomed to the Protector, even the smallest noises, frequencies that would ordinarily go unheard, were now “detected.”
For example, I could even hear the opponent’s heartbeat before combat began, which is pretty extreme.
Moreover, being able to turn that sensitivity on and off by activating the Protector is incredibly useful. No need to feel annoyed by noise in daily life anymore.
“…It seems better to only use substitutes during the trial period after all.”
During negotiations with Chancellor Heigel of Rikeion.
Heigel spoke of all the trials he had endured and expressed his regrets, like wishing “it could have been better” after overcoming challenges.
One regret was that he hadn’t properly utilized the substitutes during the trial period.
… As a result, if I applied his experience to my own, it looked like this:
Taste or smell aren’t directly tied to combat, so there’s no need to waste time on substitutes for those. But once it comes to hearing, it directly impacts things.
In other words, I had to use a Protector to substitute the sense of hearing and focused on that instead of other magic during this period.
Since I could no longer hear, there was no better opportunity to develop the Protector, and when my hearing returned, it would perform even better.
Of course, I didn’t expect it to be this way, but hearing it directly from someone with experience made it more credible.
“A crisis is an opportunity. It leads to greater development.”
This statement proved true.
In fact, over this past month, my achievements with the Protector had increased significantly.
The loss of hearing could no longer hold me back.
The remaining senses were sight, touch, and the five senses.
If I could safely pass through these trials, I would complete my first Unique Spell.
Therefore, I thought.
“A final exam without the ability to see.”
First, I wanted to overcome that hurdle.
*
“Tukum lost badly in a ranked battle against Vargan.”
Just like any other day, Bell was with Leon.
He shared the news he heard earlier that day, and Leon nodded.
“Hmm! Is that so?”
“Are you not sorry, since Tukum is in the same class? If you had just told him about the Protector, his ranking would have gone up.”
Not only that, but he might have even knocked down Vargan’s solid rank.
Although he didn’t mention it, Bell had an openly regretful tone.
Leon tilted his head in confusion.
“Why should I feel sorry?”
“…Never mind. If I reply, you’ll just say something like, ‘The stronger person won fairly!’ so I’ll just say nothing about it.”
With a sigh, Bell glanced around.
They were currently outside the Training Ground, not inside it.
Perhaps winter was approaching, as the breeze was chilly, causing beads of sweat to bead up. The white moon illuminating the night was obscured by clouds, its light scattered.
“If everything goes smoothly until the final exam, he will eventually finish as the top student for the first year…”
Bell muttered to himself.
With a tone laced with reluctance, Leon asked, “Bell! Did you want to be the top student?”
“No… It’s not like that.”
“Hmm? Then I don’t understand. Be clear about what you mean, Bell!”
As Bell shyly averted his gaze, Leon intensified his penetrating stare.
Suddenly, Leon grabbed both of Bell’s shoulders tightly.
He had no choice but to respond.
“OWOWOWOWOW—!”
He screamed in pain.
Leon’s grip was just too strong. Finally, Leon released his hold, and Bell was liberated from his agony.
“Um… I’m really sorry about that!”
“Well, of course, you’d be sorry! You were about to dislocate my shoulders!”
“More importantly, Bell! What were you trying to say?”
“Well… It really is a genuine apology, right? Do we just brush it off like this?”
Bell looked incredulous.
But soon, he suppressed the rising anger, enduring the throbbing pain in his shoulders as he contemplated how pointless it was to be angry over such things.
It conflicted with the fact of work and faded away.
“I’m such an idiot. What am I even following someone like this for?”
That thought crossed his mind, but the truth was, Bell already knew the answer.
He opened his mouth as if to answer his own question.
It was also because Leon had been staring at him like he wanted to bore a hole into him, making it impossible to avoid.
“…I thought it would be nice if Leon-san took the top spot.”
“Me?”
“Yeah, well… It’s embarrassing to say, but it’s true. Over the year I’ve been at Academia, I’ve come to think that you are the most suited for being a Hero.”
The relentless pursuer of justice, Osser Vanteol, Leon.
Living alongside Leon, who was the exact opposite of him, whether he liked it or not, left Bell somewhat impressed.
‘How can a person pursue ‘justice’ to this extent and show such consistency?’
Leon prioritized others, and by extension, society, as if his own well-being didn’t matter at all. It wasn’t just for show; this person was righteous to the core.
That was a mindset hard for the inherently selfish Bell to accept.
Bell did not consider himself selfish. It was perfectly normal for a person to value themselves over others.
However… as he spent time with Leon, that common sense began to crack little by little.
While fundamentally for himself, sometimes… moving for others, or whatever justice is, didn’t seem so bad.
Bell was changing.
“…Of course, sometimes that justice goes in a weird direction, and his brain… well, it’s seriously lacking.”
“Hahaha—!!”
Leon burst out laughing.
His hearty laughter was so intense it seemed it could drive away the darkness of the night.
“It feels like my eardrums are about to burst… What’s so funny?”
Bell felt embarrassed by what he had said.
It wasn’t just that he was following such a simple-minded person, but it was also because revealing his true feelings felt unfamiliar.
Eventually, Leon’s laughter subsided, and he thanked Bell.
Then he thumped his chest with his fist and confidently declared, “But, Bell! Rankings between others are not important!”
“Then what is important?”
“Yesterday’s me! The only thing to compare to is the past!”
That was Leon’s belief.
It was the secret that kept him unwavering, no matter how many geniuses he met.
Therefore, for Leon, the rankings at Academia or Hero Rankings held no meaning. They could serve as a measure of strength, but they did not become his goals.
Bell shook his head while watching Leon.
“Wow, you really spit out some cringeworthy lines. I truly respect you in a different way.”
“Hahaha!”
Leon had no sense of shame whatsoever.
……A little later.
Whooooosh—.
The wind blew.
By the time the sweat droplets from the two who climbed for training completely disappeared.
Just before they dove back into training, Bell casually mentioned a figure that popped into his mind.
“You heard about Finn coming back for the final exam, right?”
“Of course I know!”
“…Do you think he’s gotten stronger?”
“Oh, Bell! Have you finally realized Finn’s potential!”
“Not potential, more like his persistence is impressive…. I’m just curious about how far Finn, who was about as weak as I was, can grow.”
“Finn will surely become a strong Hero!”
“I really hope he could let me live vicariously through him.”
With those words, the two returned to the training ground.
However.
Contrary to Bell’s hopes.
On December 16th.
Even until the day before the preliminary finals.
Toylen Troa Finn had not yet appeared at Academia.
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