Chapter 15
Kariya had been a mercenary.
He had been born and raised in a nameless little rural village in the East. His three-person family, consisting of his father, younger sister, and himself, was not affluent, but they made a decent living by hunting as their primary occupation.
Not only Kariya's family, but everyone in the village was a hunter. The mountain behind the village, their hunting ground, was both the land where the locals had lived and hunted for decades and their lifeline.
That was, at least, until they designated the mountain behind the village as some protected area or whatever.
The reason given was that a rare animal classified as endangered had been discovered in the vicinity. Since the creature's presumed habitat was in the nearby mountains, every mountain in the surrounding area was placed under strict control.
Whenever Kariya, his father, or the other hunters tried to enter the mountain, they were forbidden from doing so under one pretext or another. What was it? They would block them with ridiculous excuses about how increased civilian traffic would stress the rare animals or something along those lines.
The scholars wearing academy uniforms, however, came and went as they pleased. Apparently, the high-ranking officials in the royal capital had no interest in such circumstances.
The village, having lost its livelihood overnight, gradually began to struggle. The neighbors scattered in search of their own ways to survive. Fortunately, Kariya's family had always steadily stockpiled money, food, and other supplies, so they avoided falling into poverty overnight—but even that was only a matter of time.
That was why Kariya headed for the royal capital. To earn money as a mercenary and support his family.
His father was not so much strong as he was an experienced hunter. He was not suited to mercenary work.
The first thing Kariya felt upon arriving in the royal capital was that it was not particularly kind to a country bumpkin from the East.
Having his pay stolen was an everyday occurrence, and even after successfully completing a job, he was often treated as though he had done nothing.
Because he was an Eastern country bumpkin. His heavy Eastern accent, shabby clothes, jet-black hair, and youthful face marked him unmistakably as an Easterner.
So he put his hackles up. Anyone who looked down on him got beaten up, and anyone who acted cocky got beaten up too.
Sometimes he won, and sometimes he lost. And every day, Kariya pushed himself to the limit so that he would not lose even once more.
As a result, he gradually stopped losing. In the end, there came to be more mercenaries who trembled at the mere mention of Kariya's name than those who did not.
Life in the royal capital became much easier with strength to back him up. Of course, people who looked down on him continued to appear, but most problems could be solved by beating them up whenever they did.
Sometimes he even extorted money from such people and sent it to his family back home. That was how Kariya slowly adapted to the royal capital, in his own twisted way.
Then something happened. A current student of Magnus Academy entered the fray, saying she wanted to earn some pocket money.
By coincidence, Kariya ended up carrying out a group job with her, and they clashed with each other at every turn while completing it.
She called him a worthless Eastern villager and bragged that she was a genius ranked in the top ten at Magnus Academy.
To the haughty young lady who prattled on like that, Kariya proposed ‘the ways of the East,’ just as he always did.
The winner would be right and just. The winner would also take all the payment for the job.
The young lady, arrogance personified, readily accepted his terms—and lost to Kariya.
It was a flawless victory, one that left no room for disagreement.
Once he had gone that far, Kariya became interested in Magnus Academy as well. It was a terribly trivial reason.
It was a simple thought. If this was all it took to reach the top of Magnus Academy, then maybe he could do it too.
If only he could quit those tiresome mercenary jobs and become a magic knight.
Fortunately, the doors of Magnus Academy were open to everyone. As he submitted his application for the third-year transfer exam, Kariya thought,
As a magic knight, he would surely be able to earn far more money than he did now.
His family's life back home would certainly become more than twice as comfortable as it was now.
But more than that, he wanted to prove himself.
He wanted to reach the top—as a magic knight, not merely as an Easterner.
Because he was sick and tired of being looked down on for no reason other than being from the East.
He had also long since grown tired of proving himself through fighting every single time.
When he had been a young boy, when he had been a hunter, he had comrades he could always trust to watch his back.
His neighbors, including his father, who were now scattered in every direction.
He was tired of fighting. Kariya wanted comrades, not enemies. He wanted to have companions again, just as he had in the old days.
Behind his bristling exterior, Kariya concealed a small wish.
If he became a magic knight, then someday, he too…
=
“Student Kariya.”
“…What is it.”
“You’re finally answering me.”
After withdrawing her blade, Haru spoke with a faint smile.
“Teacher’s happy.”
“…Teacher, huh.”
Not ‘instructor,’ though. Kariya murmured quietly. Most of the other instructors at the academy called themselves instructors.
They spoke as though they stood above him. In reality, most of them were low-level nobodies who were inferior to him.
But Haru was somehow different. It wasn’t merely some lukewarm commonality like sharing an Eastern origin. He sensed a fundamental difference between her and the others.
“Hup.”
Bending her knees, Haru crouched down where she stood so that she could meet the kneeling Kariya at eye level.
“Kariya.”
“….”
“Was there a reason you decided to transfer to this academy?”
“…I—”
Kariya opened his mouth haltingly. The loser obeyed the winner. That was the way of the East.
“Wait!”
“…?”
“You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”
But before he could, Haru held out her palm and spoke first.
The startled Kariya raised his head, and his eyes met hers.
“But whatever it is… could you at least allow me to help, even if only a little?”
“….”
“I won’t ask you to open up. But please don’t reject an outstretched hand—not just mine, but the other students’ as well. Because you’re my… first student.”
Haru glanced back. Three students stood within her line of sight, staring blankly in their direction.
Come to think of it, perhaps they had not really looked down on him from the very beginning.
‘…Was I just being overly sensitive?’
Kariya stared at her in silence, then slowly closed his eyes.
The Kariya of long ago had trusted people. When he had first come to the royal capital, Kariya the rookie mercenary had still been a boy with innocence in his heart.
Betrayed, ignored, and looked down on, the boy lost his innocence. All that remained in the heart of the boy who had become a young man was a stubborn, bristling defensiveness.
Though he wanted comrades he could entrust his heart to, outwardly he still clung to his old ways.
Because they were familiar. Because they were comfortable. It was paradoxical. He said with his lips that he wanted to stop, yet his body kept trying to cling to that uncomfortable way of doing things.
Still—or perhaps because of that—he found himself wanting to believe Haru’s honeyed words.
For all that, those honeyed words were the first such words he had heard since coming to the royal capital.
“…I see.”
Kariya plopped down where he stood and muttered softly.
“There’s no need to argue about it. I lost.”
“That’s a relief.”
“I’ll do as you say. That’s… the way of the East.”
Kariya said with a hollow laugh, thinking that perhaps he could trust her.
“…I look forward to working with you from here on, Instructor Haru.”
“Polite speech.”
“….”
“You need to speak respectfully, Student Kariya.”
…Well, she did hold a bit of a grudge.
It wasn’t a particularly important issue.
=
“Hahaha, you fucking weakling!”
The gray-haired girl pointed at Kariya and laughed, clutching her stomach.
“Stahp it.”
“Whaddaya say, weakling? C’mon, dumbass! Bleh bleh bleh.”
“…Haa.”
“Bleeeh.”
As Kariya watched Miriam stretch her mouth wide from side to side and stick out her tongue, he recalled Haru’s words.
‘Friends… huh.’
After thinking for a moment, he arrived at a conclusion of sorts.
“There needs to be some degree of hierarchy among comrades too, right?”
“W-what?”
At his words, Miriam narrowed her eyes and hurried over to Charlotte’s side.
“You wanna try me, punk!”
“…Why are you coming over next to me?”
“Fine, just what I wanted! Go ahead and try it, then. Miss By-the-Book and I won’t forgive you!”
“Who are you calling Miss By-the-Book!”
“You.”
Miriam answered, pointing lazily at Charlotte with a finger as though she could not believe the question.
Charlotte looked at her as though she were fed up, then stepped away from her and replied.
“In the first place, why have you suddenly started pretending to be so friendly? Weren’t we just fighting until a moment ago?”
“We made up! So what’s the problem?”
“Made up?”
“Teacher Haru! We made up, didn’t we?”
In response to Charlotte’s reply, Miriam turned to Haru, who had been quietly watching from the side, and asked her.
“….”
“Why aren’t you saying anything!”
“No, I just thought it was nice that you two seemed to be getting along.”
Haru said to Miriam with a gentle smile.
“Miss Miriam.”
“Y-yeah?”
“Would you like to spar with Kariya?”
“Huhhh??”
Miriam blinked as though she had never expected such words from Haru.
“I don’t mean that you should establish a hierarchy, as Kariya said… but you’re all comrades who will be carrying out various missions together from now on, right? I think the most important thing among comrades is understanding each other’s capabilities.”
Haru said it casually, smiling brightly. The instant she heard this, Charlotte murmured with equal seriousness.
“Indeed… If we ascertain each other’s capabilities in advance, we can carry out missions more efficiently. We can cover one another’s weaknesses, and, should we encounter a crisis, it would even give us a basis for judging whether to give up or fight….”
“No….”
Miriam glanced at Charlotte with a weary look, scratched her head, and let her voice trail off.
“No, I mean, I don’t mind.”
“Then it’s settled!”
Clapping her hands together cheerfully, Haru spoke in a bright voice.
“Since we’re already outside, let’s spend today testing our skills against one another….”
“What a coincidence.”
At that moment, a familiar voice reached Haru’s ears. Her bright expression stiffened in an instant.
“Our Class A was just about to do something similar.”
“…Rex?”
“Good to see you, Instructor Haru.”
The instructor standing before the visibly flustered Haru spoke in a low voice.
“I’m Rex, the instructor in charge of Class A of the third-year practical class.”