chapter 14
At the academy, there was a midterm vacation to recover the body right after the midterm evaluation.
It was the academy’s midterm evaluation match to hit with all one’s current available power.
Injuries and serious injuries were inevitable, and it took time to heal the aftereffects of the anti-death magic.
However, in this evaluation match, as I promised to Lulu, I finished the match safely without getting hit by ‘a single hit’.
Of course, I didn’t have to take care of the church during the rest I arranged for recovery.
I decided to use my long-awaited vacation for something more meaningful.
“Hello, senior Lulu! This is Stella Arwen, who entered the swords club as a freshman this semester!”
“That, yes. You are Stella… . Ko, I’ve heard about it several times from Conrad… .”
The afternoon of the day after the evaluation match against Dyke.
I met Stella and Lulu at a rare opportunity to get to know each other.
In any case, in the future, they would belong to the subjugation party they drank together and spend a few years together.
I thought it would be nice to talk to each other from now on and get to know each other better.
Unlike Stella, who completed her own justice from a young age and already showed her swordsmanship talent.
On the outside, it might seem strange that Lulu, who looks like just an ordinary student from the Technical Department, is also a member of the Demon Suppression Team.
She was also one of the irreplaceable figures as a searcher and thief of the demon subjugation party.
In fact, Lulu’s first joining in her past life was to temporarily fill in the missing number of people, but.
After working together a few times, I felt her vacancy getting bigger and bigger, so I officially became a member of the drinking party.
As I have memories of that time, I wanted Lulu to join the demon slaughter party without fail.
It was important to introduce Stella, who would be appointed as a hero in the future, from now on.
“Is Lulu-senpai a friend of Conrad-senpai? Or is it a special relationship?”
“T, special… ! It’s not, it’s just Chi, we’re friends! A normal friend!”
Unlike Stella, who tried to approach her normally, Lulu had a rather shy personality.
I was able to observe that the conversation was cut off a few times in awkwardness even though I was barely able to speak.
To lighten the mood, I took the two of them to a restaurant where we could have dinner.
A glass of ale was enough to make Lulu, who was nervous like an idiot, relax.
“You were really sick?! Conrad throws the magic bullet straight into the back of the mad dog’s head… !”
Sure enough, even though there was only half a glass of beer in her mouth, she was drunk and her voice naturally rose.
“You were so cool! I heard that Dyke-senpai’s great sword was difficult to block even other swordsmanship seniors, but you received it with a broadsword and even stabbed it in reverse!”
Stella also began to chit-chat more vigorously in line with the lively rhythm of Lulu.
“It was really funny how the mad dog was at a loss for nothing! I heard that all you can do is wield it randomly with ignorant strength?”
“It was really amazing how you consistently overpowered Dyke-senpai! It was the first time I knew that wizards fought in close quarters like that!”
Although the topic of conversation was my embarrassing compliment.
The only common topic of conversation between two people who have just met is my story, so I have no choice but to accept it.
“By the way, I haven’t even talked about when the 3rd circle was released! If there was something important like that, you should have told me beforehand, man!”
“Senior Conrad actually overpowered not only magic but also swordsmanship, right? I didn’t even expect to get there!”
The two people, who had been in harmony thanks to their drunkenness, were questioning me for not telling me the trump card to use in the evaluation match.
“You never know. If Dyke heard that I was good with a broadsword or that I could use 3-circle magic, he would have become annoyed.”
Contrary to his size, he answered moderately, referring to the guy who was well-prepared.
It was much easier for Dyke to continue to see me as a 1st class mage until just before this evaluation match started.
It was the same reason that he hid the fact that he handled a broadsword.
“By the way, the mad dog is completely finished now. If you lose ugly even after using the elixir, you’ll probably be at the bottom.”
“Perhaps.”
I don’t know if even the fact that the opponent is a wizard will be a deductible factor.
After all, having suffered such a disastrous defeat, you will receive a score that is practically no different from abstaining.
There were so many people who were watching the evaluation match in real time, so it wouldn’t be possible to manipulate the score due to Professor Oliver’s denial.
“I was surprised to see how he handles the broadsword. Did senior Conrad learn the sword from our master, too?”
“Master?”
“Ah, Father! My father, Professor McDowell!”
Perhaps because of the alcohol, Stella’s slurred speech was a little looser than usual.
Fortunately, Lulu, whom I listened to together, was also drunk, so I didn’t immediately notice the secret she inadvertently revealed.
“I learned from your father’s pupil, not your father.”
“I see. Somehow, it seemed to be a movement similar to the sword I learned from my father when I was young.”
“… Well, I guess.”
Of course. Because it’s a sword I learned from you.
“If I get a chance, I want to meet Conrad-senpai’s swordsmanship master!”
You should already be meeting each other in front of the mirror every morning.
It would be an incomprehensible story if I told it now, so I swallowed it quietly.
“Come to think of it, how did you get to know Stella?”
After a certain amount of time, when the atmosphere was passing, Lulu came and asked me a question about Stella’s relationship.
“yes? Didn’t you talk?”
“I talked about it before, but I just skipped it. You said it like it was nothing, so I thought it wasn’t a big deal. Looking at what we’re talking about today, it doesn’t seem like that… .”
“Is it okay if I tell you?”
I told you not to talk about what happened that day.
It’s a story that has already become famous enough to be famous, so it won’t matter much now.
“Yes, Stella, tell me.”
“It happened when I was still a prospective freshman… .”
Stella, who was allowed by me, began to explain to Lulu about the day I first met her in a raised voice about what was so exciting about it.
A little strange heroic story was added, but for the most part, it was a story as it was without distorted facts.
“… That’s how Conrad senior overpowered the last one as a staff member, and sent all the other seniors to the church!”
After hearing the story, Lulu looked at me and made a puzzled expression.
“Did you talk about the true education of Oliver’s gang?”
“Looks like it.”
“You say you don’t know who did it last time?”
“I didn’t say anything. You just assumed you didn’t know and moved on.”
“… … .”
Lulu put on a completely relieved expression, as if something had become meaningless.
“Ah, what is it? Then you were worried for nothing. If you can take down 7 people, you should have easily defeated Dyke.”
“Were you worried?”
“Well, I’m just worried that my friend won’t get hit somewhere. It doesn’t mean anything strange… .”
If you’re worried about your friends, it’s natural, what’s the point of saying something strange?
“Didn’t senior Lulu said it was the technical department?”
“That’s right.”
“Then how did you become close with senior Conrad?”
“Yes?”
Stella also seemed curious about why LuLu and I were friends from different departments.
Since he had already asked the same question to Stella, Lulu couldn’t go on without answering her.
“Just for saving me.”
“You saved me?”
“Ah, gu, it’s a bit strange to say that I saved you, and I should say that I helped you… ?”
Saying that, Lulu looked at me and sent a subtle glance as if I was asking her to speak for me.
“Did you know that there was a monster attack near the academy last year?”
“Oh, I heard from my father. It was an incident in which thousands of monsters suddenly attacked the academy grounds.”
“Even Lulu could have been attacked by a monster. I was just passing by and I helped. That’s just about it.”
In terms of experience, it was almost 8-9 years ago, but the memories of what happened at that time were still vivid.
As soon as he found Lulu in trouble, surrounded by three or four monsters from the academy guild, unable to do anything.
First of all, I thought I should do what I can, so I started using magic against the monsters.
Even at that time, the only magic I could use was 1st circle magic, but I was able to defeat low-ranking monsters as long as I had enough time to reload.
Fortunately, she survived with only minor injuries.
Because the tech department doesn’t learn combat skills in the first year. He would have been desperate for help, even if it wasn’t such a big deal.
“I said it wasn’t a big deal so I didn’t have to worry about it, but he kept sticking to me saying he couldn’t live in debt.”
“It may not have been a big deal to you, but I really thought I was going to die, right?”
“So we became friends. That’s how it was meant to be.”
“I see. After all, you are Conrad senior.”
“Anyway, I got this cloak I’m wearing now as a reward for that time.”
It was the first gift that my first friend I made at the academy gave me for my birthday.
In many ways, it was a little more special to me.
“So that’s why you always wore only that cloak.”
“To be honest, I didn’t expect much after giving it as a gift.
If it was your needy personality, I would have thought you wouldn’t wear it at all until the original cloak was worn out.”
“… I hope so.”
It was definitely a friend I knew deeply in many ways, judging from the exact predictions of my actions in my previous life.
“Should I give something to repay the favor?”
“You don’t have to. Why do you take it so seriously?”
“But isn’t it a bit like getting help without shame and moving on?”
“No shame… . Oh right. this.”
As I remembered, I wanted to hand it over, so I pulled out the broadsword I used yesterday from inside my cloak and showed it to him.
“You wrote this well. Thanks to that, I was able to deal with Dyke easily.”
“Yeah, that’s right. I’m glad it was helpful.”
“I used it, so I’ll give it back. Stella, you have affection in your own way, right?”
“Yeah?”
It’s a borrowed item, so I’m just trying to return it to the original owner.
Stella put on a rather puzzled look at my actions.
“Aren’t you going to continue using it?”
“You said you were borrowing it at first.”
“You didn’t tell me about the deadline, did you?”
“I just borrowed it because I was in a hurry. I’m sorry to have had it longer.”
“After you give it back like that, will senior Conrad live without a secondary armament again?”
“No, I need to buy a new one.”
The midterms are over, but there is still work to be done.
For that, I still needed a secondary armament.
You’ll probably have to find something similar to replace it.
“Well, in that case, instead of buying a new one, please continue to use my sword!”
“yes? But this is Stella, something you’ve been using since childhood… .”
“Even if I have it, it doesn’t suit me anyway! And that sword sword, Conrad-senpai, will be more than happy to become the new owner.”
“… … .”
“Perhaps that’s not enough, but you can accept it as a reward for saving me the other day.”
I didn’t intend to ask for anything in return for that, but Stella’s words themselves were quite charming.
Because this sword he had borrowed from Stella was the same broadsword he had used in his previous life.
It was definitely a much more useful thing than acquiring a new sword and learning it again.
Besides, it wouldn’t cost more than a penny or two to get a good sword.
“Then I will be grateful. Because I had something else to write about.”
“Oh, on the contrary, I am more grateful!”
“Then I will use it even more gratefully.”
I never thought I’d put this sword in my hands again.
The first opportunity was to deal with troublesome things, but after getting the results, it wasn’t too bad.
I became close with Stella much faster than before, and the midterm evaluation match was also finished with a good score.
It even opened the eyes of two people who normally wouldn’t have met each other until they graduated from the academy.
In the process of sorting out the troublesome things, what I gained in my own way was the midterm evaluation.