54. League of Spirit (H)
[Qualified for the Magic Academy National Tournament Finals]
▲ Flame
▲ Mao Lun White
▲ Emperor Goldens
With Stella Academy’s in-school League of Spirit preliminaries now completely over, the teams that would go on to the national tournament had been decided.
Even producing just one team from a single school to advance to the national tournament was an honor, but Stella was the one and only school to produce as many as three.
After the preliminaries ended, each team was given interview time. Baek Yuseol and Ma Yuseong tried to run away using fatigue as an excuse, and Eizel, who said that now that she’d had her fun, she needed to go back to studying, was barely held in place.
No matter what, it would have been embarrassing to go out and do the interview alone.
Q. Player Flame. You defeated Emerald Stella Team, who were called the best team in Stella’s school preliminaries. What do you think was the secret to your victory?
“The secret to victory? It was only the school preliminaries. Do people really need to ask questions like that? It’s not like we won the whole thing…”
[Player Flame: “Winning the school preliminaries doesn’t really count as winning.”]
Q. Player Hae Wonryang. You’ve always had the image of someone who only studies, so I had no idea you were this interested in sports too. When did you start League of Spirit?
“Two weeks ago.”
[Shocking fact! Flame Team member’s match career—only two weeks long….]
Q. Player Ma Yuseong. You defeated other teams who took these matches seriously and were preparing for the pros. What do you think of League of Spirit?
…
Ma Yuseong rubbed his chin, thought for a moment, then answered honestly.
“It’s about right as a hobby.”
[He even qualified for the national tournament, but to Ma Yuseong it is merely a hobby?]
Watching in real time as every single word they said was turned into an article, Baek Yuseol—who had been sitting there with his leg shaking, waiting for something—snatched up the microphone.
Q. Baek—
“I’m happy we won. I studied straight from the textbook. I like kimchi. I love Ji-sung Park!”
Then, right in the middle of the interview, he suddenly ran off somewhere, and the reporters never even got to ask him a proper question.
Q. Uh… then I suppose that concludes the interview….
“What about me?”
When Eizel suddenly cut in, the reporter doing the interview panicked. As a descendant of the Morf family, she was exactly the kind of person the press instinctively treated with caution.
But just look at those sparkling eyes.
‘Th-this girl is really a descendant of that Morf family?’
He had often heard rumors that she was beautiful, and he had seen her in newspaper photographs a few times, but faced up close with those shining, pure eyes that looked like they had been borrowed from the sky, the reporter could not gather his wits.
Trying desperately not to forget his duty as a reporter, he cooled his flushed cheeks by fanning them with his hand, cleared his throat, and asked his question.
Q. Uh… then, Player Eizel…?
“Yes!”
Q. Th-that….
Those sparkling eyes, that pale and lovely skin, and even that brilliantly shimmering hair.
Staring at her in a daze, the reporter blurted out the question he had truly wanted to ask.
Q. What is the secret to your looks…?
“…Pardon?”
Wearing a blank expression at the unexpected question, Eizel answered awkwardly.
“I just… don’t really do anything….”
Q. …….
[Cadet Eizel: The secret to beauty is “being born pretty.”]
Red Falcon Club.
Once upon a time, the real power here had been the third-year senior Edmund Atalek, but after a certain incident in the first semester, Hong Biyeon had now completely taken hold of it.
Since this was a club that all children from the prestigious houses of Adolevit were required to join, Hong Biyeon’s influence had naturally continued to grow little by little, and recently she had begun interacting with noble houses, slowly expanding her network.
Ironically, Stella Academy—located outside the kingdom—had become the social venue where Hong Biyeon, who despite being a princess had been almost no different from an outcast within Adolevit’s royal palace, could most quickly and easily broaden her connections.
“Princess. We are sorry.”
“For what?”
“…We failed to advance to the League of Spirit finals.”
Several members of Red Falcon Club approached Hong Biyeon, who had been reading a book, bowed their heads, and apologized.
But she waved her hand as though it did not matter.
“It’s fine. League of Spirit doesn’t matter to me anyway. I don’t really have the time to enjoy hobbies anymore.”
If events had unfolded according to the “original work,” Hong Biyeon should have participated in League of Spirit too and been selected as one of the three teams that advanced to the finals.
But Hong Biyeon had quit the matches, saying she was busy.
The most representative reason was that after officially being recognized by the queen as a legitimate candidate for succession to the throne and beginning her education, she no longer had enough time.
And on top of that, in order to properly make the Red Falcon Club members into her own retainers, she was spending weekday evenings and weekends holding tea times with noble families.
Although the Red Falcon Club members had attached themselves to her after Hong Biyeon enrolled at Stella, they were still the sort of people who could turn on her again at any moment with just one bit of manipulation from Hong Si-hwa.
That was why she had been running around tirelessly, trying to make Red Falcon Club entirely her own.
It would have been difficult if Edmund Atalek were still in power, but…
he barely came to the club anymore these days.
It was true that his power was still useful, but now, she no longer needed to cling desperately to the coattails of House Atalek, so it no longer mattered much to her.
“More importantly, Princess. I heard Flame Team—the one Baek Yuseol belongs to—advanced to the finals.”
“I heard.”
These days, she found herself thinking things like that.
If Baek Yuseol was involved in something, then surely there had to be some major incident mixed in with it….
So Hong Biyeon had gone and asked him herself. If the reason he was playing League of Spirit had anything to do with some large incident, then she would help too.
And the answer she got back was:
“I’m just doing it because I’ve got nothing else to do.”
That was right. At this point in time, Baek Yuseol really did not have anything in particular to do, and since Flame had asked for help, he had simply enjoyed it as a hobby.
Wondering if perhaps he was lying again, Hong Biyeon had secretly entered the staff spectator seats and watched him herself, but he really had looked carefree and genuinely happy while playing the game.
How many times had Baek Yuseol ever worn such a joyful expression before?
Probably never.
For a moment, Hong Biyeon found herself envying Eizel and Flame. If she had not officially belonged to a team herself, then perhaps she might have carved out time somehow and played matches with Baek Yuseol too.
“Hm….”
Thinking over the teams that had advanced to the finals, Hong Biyeon tilted her head when she saw an unfamiliar team name she had never seen before.
Then, as if she had expected that question, another girl sitting nearby and reading a book eagerly chimed in.
“Oh, Mao Lun White Team is apparently a team that challenged the school preliminaries for the first time this year. They were originally incomplete and their results had been terrible, but a player named Jo Yerin suddenly rose in form, and after that they advanced to the finals without losing even once.”
“Jo Yerin? Never heard of her.”
“She isn’t from Stella’s magic-warrior department.”
Since Hong Biyeon was the type who believed that Stella Academy was a magic-warrior training institution and that all the other departments were basically dead weight, the moment she heard that Jo Yerin’s name belonged to some outside department, she erased it from her mind at once.
She simply was not interested.
“The interview was pretty memorable too. She said they were able to go on a winning streak thanks to advice Baek Yuseol suddenly came and gave her.”
“…That commoner? He gave her advice?”
To some girl from an outside department whose name she did not even know… and not even a boy, but a girl?
“That child, what did you say her name was?”
“Huh? J-Jo Yerin.”
As Hong Biyeon’s expression grew sharply cold, the girl who had been chattering away so cheerfully to her took a quiet step back.
Everyone knew that the princess’s mood could shift easily, but this was the first time it had changed so suddenly for no apparent reason.
‘Hey, hey, you idiot! Read the room!’
‘Huh?’
Fortunately, before the girl could say anything more, her classmate dragged her away while jabbing her sharply in the side.
“…Princess. Shall we look into this student named Jo Yerin?”
At that, Hong Biyeon’s expression smoothed out neatly, and she shook her head. As if she had only just come back to herself, she let out a sigh and closed her book.
“No. What would be the point of investigating someone like that?”
“That’s true. She’s just a commoner who doesn’t really have anything to do with you anyway, Princess.”
Hong Biyeon gave a vague answer, then rose from her seat and went straight into the private changing room in the corner of the Red Falcon Club room, the one reserved for her personal use.
Compared with the wardrobe she had set up in the dormitory, it contained only clothes she had temporarily brought over, but it was convenient enough for getting dressed on short notice like now.
About an hour later, Hong Biyeon emerged, now dressed neatly in casual clothes, and said to the club members,
“I’ll be back after dinner.”
“But tonight is the club’s monthly closing review.”
“You handle it yourselves.”
“Yes, Princess.”
It was completely self-willed behavior, but no one could say anything to Hong Biyeon. Still, the club members did not seem especially bothered.
Because even when she said things like that, given Hong Biyeon’s perfectionist personality, there was a very high chance that she had already taken care of everything that ought to have been done.
“…I was supposed to do this, but the princess already handled all of it.”
“Mine too….”
“Th-this is our group assignment, isn’t it? The princess must have thought it was her own assignment and did it too….”
“When on earth did she…?”
They had seen her scribbling something down with a pen while seated, but there was no way they could believe that one person had handled that much work in such a short time.
The club members stared at the empty spot where their princess had been sitting, still unable to believe it.
“If the princess becomes queen, I don’t think the nation will ever fall….”
“Seriously….”
At that same time.
First Main Tower, Stella Vice Principal’s Office.
The warmly pouring sunlight reflected off Vice Principal Akiheyden’s smooth, gleaming scalp, making it shine especially brightly.
Raidin stared straight at that light, which seemed more dazzling than the sun itself, without blinking once.
“You said this is the list of students scheduled to transfer in this time?”
“Yes.”
“What exactly is this child?”
Akiheyden pointed with his finger at a girl named “Anella.”
Raidin’s eyes swept across Anella’s ID photograph—a cute face, slightly airheaded at a glance, though even that somehow added to her charm—and he answered flatly,
“She is a dark mage from Black Kingdom.”
“Black Kingdom, you say….”
Akiheyden and Raidin belonged to the Moon Shadow Divine Church, and their relationship with Black Kingdom was not particularly good. Though they were fellow dark mages, the beliefs they carried were different.
At present, under orders from the Black Demon King, they were pretending to maintain cordial relations with each other…
but in truth, it was like sitting on a bomb that could go off at any moment.
“And you’re saying you want to bring in a woman like that? You’re going to use one of our precious slots on her? At a time when we don’t even have enough to squeeze in one more child from our own side?”
“Yes. I understand why you might think that, but you need not worry. I have completely won that child over.”
It was the first lie Raidin had ever told.
Having served Moon Shadow Church all his life, had he ever once dared lie to Akiheyden?
Because Akiheyden knew that fact, he hesitated for a moment after hearing Raidin’s answer.
“Is that so….”
“It will be of great help strategically. I plan to use her as a double agent to understand the movements of Black Kingdom.”
“If you say so, then so be it.”
At those words, Raidin felt relieved.
By ensuring that Mao Lun White Team advanced to the finals, Baek Yuseol had performed his role perfectly.
Now it was Raidin’s turn to grant Baek Yuseol’s request.
“But.”
However, when Akiheyden pressed a hand to his forehead and shook his head, Raidin felt a bad premonition and asked,
“Is there some problem?”
“There is. A rather serious one. It seems the principal has decided that this time, he personally wants to inspect every transfer student and choose them himself. Because of that, all of the students who were scheduled to transfer in have now been canceled.”
“…Is that really true?”
“I have no idea why Eltman, that lunatic, suddenly started acting like this either. Wouldn’t life be easier for him too if he simply listened quietly to what we say? But now he’s started meddling in even petty matters like this one by one.”
“Is there… no way around it?”
“No. Unfortunately, there’s nothing we can do. All of the believers who were supposed to transfer in have already been sent back. Keep that child with you for now. We might be able to use her someday.”
Having said that, Akiheyden dismissed Raidin.
For him, a few missing transfer students were not something that would cause any real trouble, so he seemed inclined to brush it off as nothing.
But.
For Raidin, it was not.
‘…This has become troublesome.’
Baek Yuseol had fulfilled Raidin’s request, but Raidin had failed to fulfill his.
And now that they had already put their signatures on the contract, he could not simply pretend none of it had happened.
In other words, Raidin had ended up owing Baek Yuseol instead.
Click.
After closing the door behind him and leaving the vice principal’s office, Raidin walked down the corridor, thinking over how he was supposed to resolve this situation.
At the end of the corridor on the seventy-ninth floor of the First Main Tower, when he reached the elevator,
a boy was leaning against the wall, waiting.
It was Baek Yuseol.
With his usual cheerful smile on his face, he spoke to Raidin.
“Professor. You kept our promise, didn’t you?”
The pressure he felt in that tone today was not just his imagination.
“…You knew from the very beginning that it would turn out this way.”
“Hm? I’m not quite sure what you mean.”
Only then did Raidin realize that he had fallen into some kind of trap…
but by then, it was already too late.
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