MTLNOVEL Chapter 14
Chapter 14
"I'm so jealous—Ellie gets to be in the Light Magic class."
Amy held the school-designated bag in front of her with both hands and looked up at me.
Right now, I was walking to school with Amy. The sisters seemed to always go to school together like this. Amy had been waiting at the front door, so we naturally ended up going together.
"I wonder if I'll get Light in the aptitude test too."
"You want Light that badly?"
"Of course! I mean, it's the same aptitude as the great adventurer Yukimura Sekino!"
"You like him too, huh..."
Clarice, Barry, everyone seemed to absolutely love this so-called great adventurer.
"You like him too, don't you, Ellie?"
"Of course I do, sister."
For now, I gave a deep nod in agreement.
"Ellie is special. The Golden family has always had aptitude in either 'Water' or 'Earth'."
"Has anyone in your class had their aptitude change?"
"Nope. That almost never happens."
"But you're a 'Hexagon', right? I'm more jealous of that."
Amy was a highly skilled mage who could use six types of magic. She'd already received offers from national research institutions.
The magic she could use included lower-tier 'Earth', 'Water', 'Wind', 'Fire', 'Dark', and the upper-tier 'Wood'. She was especially skilled in her aptitude 'Earth' and the upper-tier 'Wood'. In the individual division of the Magic Battle Tournament, she placed in the top ten with this 'Wood' magic. I got all this info yesterday when I visited Amy's room and asked her a million questions. She blushed as she talked, and I couldn't help but think over and over how irresistible she was—no guy could ignore that.
"I think Ellie is going to be an amazing mage someday..."
"Haha... I'll do my best."
Not in a million years could I say I could fire off Thunderbolt.
As we got closer to the school, more and more people were in uniform.
The uniform was a plain navy blazer, shirt, pants for boys, and below-the-knee skirts for girls. About half the students wore robes over them. The uniform looked about twice as high-quality as those sold at regular clothing stores.
Guys kept doing double takes at Amy and stretching their upper lips, and just as many people looked at me and snorted with laughter. While holding back the urge to strike the idiots with lightning, I had a fun chat with Amy.
At the school gate, Amy met up with a girl with black hair and a traditional Japanese-style face, so I entered the school alone. I followed the sign pointing to the aptitude test.
The nervous-looking kids darting their eyes around must have been first-years. Everyone had the same tense expression.
Letting the crowd carry me along, I entered the field where the aptitude test was being held.
A line of students had formed. There were students with rabbit ears, cat ears sticking out, emerald green hair, a boy three meters tall—all just looking at the backs of people was endlessly entertaining. Damn, this is super fun. I'm fat, but this is awesome. I'm fat, and a girl, but still!
Tents were set up on the field, divided into about thirty sections with dark curtains. It reminded me of a haunted house at a high school festival. One after another, students entered the curtained aptitude test rooms.
When I said my name at the reception, I was handed a brown parchment with personal information written on it.
Parchment received!
A fantasy staple.
I'm getting hyped.
——————————————————————————————
Greifner Magic Academy, 200th Class
Ellie Golden
Aptitude Magic: "Light"
Acquired Magic: "Light"
Beginner: "Light"
Intermediate: "Light Arrow"
First Year: "Light Magic Class"
Second Year: "Light Magic Class"
Third Year
Fourth Year
Fifth Year
Sixth Year
——————————————————————————————
There was a lot of empty space. They probably add more info to this sheet until graduation.
As I stared at the document for a while, I heard someone shout "Ellie!" from the front of the line and looked up.
Amy was waving adorably.
Even though she's a beauty, that oddly childish side of her got me, and I smiled and waved back without caring. A moment later, a giant tree burst through the curtain where she'd entered and instantly vanished.
The students in line let out an "Ooooh!" and started chattering.
"It was a tree! Awesome." "She has upper-tier magic aptitude?" "That's insane." "She's so cute." "Haaah... I can't take it!" "Lady Amy!" "Sister!" "She's our sister!" "This year, I'll get close to her!" "Behold my Amy love-letter shuriken!" "I shall hold her in these arms...!" "At least let me get close enough to sniff her scent!" "I'll collect and mass-produce Lady Amy's scent..." "Sniff... huffahh!"
She's insanely popular.
And dangerously popular. What the hell is "scent"?
She's that beautiful, skilled in magic, kind, warm-hearted, and takes good care of others. No wonder she's popular. Amy, waving wildly as she came out of the tent shouting "Ellie!", didn't seem to notice a thing. Probably a natural airhead. A total one. I gave a wry smile and waved back.
I could hear the whispers directed at me.
"Is that Lady Amy's little sister?" "Isn't she a pet instead?" "She's seriously fat." "The youngest is ugly? That's just wrong." "And she's single, apparently." "Wait, single?" "Pfft." "You go date her. I'll give you ten thousand Ron." "I couldn't last a minute!" "No, we should sniff her scent and decide."
"She's the Fat Demon Lord." "Isn't she Piggoo?" "There's no way they're sisters."
I hadn't felt the veins bulge on my head in ages. I held back the urge to rain divine lightning on those bastards with unshakable mental strength and waited in line with a blank face.
"Hand over your documents."
When my turn came, a nervous-looking man in glasses wearing a white coat reached out without looking at me. His shining forehead caught my attention. Bald. When he saw the document, he said, "Ah, Ellie-kun," and finally looked up. Seemed like we knew each other. Probably a teacher.
Inside the tent, a large table had a magic circle drawn on it, with six crystal balls lined up behind it.
The bald, bespectacled man and a woman in her late thirties wearing a green robe with absolutely no makeup gestured for me to stand in front of the table.
"Your sister was amazing. I've never seen anyone burst through a tent during an aptitude test before."
"I was surprised too."
"You're one of the few with Light aptitude. That alone is something to be proud of."
"Yes."
The plain woman in the green robe gave a gentle smile.
"Miss Ellie, your effort is commendable. I've seen you many times holed up in the library reading books. I struggled in my youth too. Yes, I devoted myself to magic and studies without worrying about love, and eventually became a teacher at Greifner Magic Academy. That's right, don't lose hope. You don't need love. Magic is everything in life! Magic is everything!"
"...Madam Boris?"
The bald guy tried to calm her down, but the green-robed woman called Madam Boris wasn't listening. Something about Ellie had flipped a switch in her.
"Now that I think about it, it all started when I entered school. I was so happy to be in the Light Magic class, I studied desperately with a friend. By fourth year, we were a quartet, and right after graduation I acquired 'White'. But that friend betrayed me. Yes, she flirted with a man behind my back. And he was handsome. Kind. Strong. I should've dated the guy who liked me in sixth year..."
"Madam Boris, that's enough. There's a line—"
"Silence, Professor Harshüge! I'm speaking to this pure-hearted young lady Ellie!"
"No, but the time..."
"Time!? If time could go back, I'd go back too! To the past! To my student days!"
The plain teacher Madam Boris grabbed my thick shoulders and stared at me with passionate eyes.
"You mustn't lose, Miss Ellie! Understand?"
"Y-Yes."
"...Can we wrap this up now?"
Harshüge, aka Baldy-sensei, sighed. Madam Boris glared at him, then gave a slow nod.
Baldy-sensei nodded with a "good grief" look and said, "Place both hands on the magic circle."
I did as I was told and placed both hands.
"Now, focus..."
Okay, focus.
"Increase your mana."
Okay, increase mana... how do I do that.
Maybe I just have to intensify that warm sensation near my belly button.
"Good. Now unleash it fully."
All right.
Full power.
Then, the magic circle began to glow bluish-white.
I intensified the power rising from my belly, like tightening my abs, and channeled the now hot magic into my hands. The magic kept getting sucked into the magic circle. I followed Baldy-sensei's instructions and poured in even more power.
A piercing light leaked from the magic circle.
The inside of the tent was filled with light, so bright I tightly shut my eyes.
"Ellie-kun...?"
Baldy-sensei's voice sounded suspicious.
This feels kind of...
"Hey, Ellie-kun?"
Baldy-sensei approached me.
Wait, is this, like, really bad?
"Eeeeh, Ellie-kun!?"
Whoa, something's seriously wrong here!?
"Aren't we at the limit yet!?!?"
"Hahahaha, Baldy-sensei!!!?"
It happened the moment I forcibly cut off the mana infusion.
Flash!
Crackle crackle crackle craaack!
Boom, splash, creak screech, gyuboo, vwoooom!
Neigh!
Kyaaaa!
Crash crumble smash!
Hee-ho hee-ho
Buzz buzz buzz buzz
Fwoooosh
As a flash of light burst from the magic circle, all six crystals shattered, the ceiling of the room exploded violently, a torrent of water gushed down, the ground rose five meters, a fierce wind erupted, the space was momentarily shrouded in darkness, a horse outside the school went wild, a woman screamed, something toppled over grandly, the cowardly Hee-Ho birds went into respiratory distress from the shock, the test site's tent collapsed sideways, and the blackout curtain tore.
Finally, a hot spring erupted from the ground in a clean ten-meter parabola.
Baldy-sensei, Madam Boris, and I looked like the punchline of an explosion gag—our hair stood on end, our faces pitch black, and our clothes were torn in places.
The entire venue turned their eyes toward us as if drawn in.
This is... not good.
"Ellie-kun."
"Y-yes."
"We need to talk about the aptitude test and what you said about Baldy-sensei. Come to the staff room later."
Professor Harshüge wiped the soot from his forehead with his lab coat as he said that.