[V4C12] Chaotic Council of Apprentices
Translated by Jodas 4: Flying Through the SkyIt was the night after Tia gave her rival declaration to Frederik. After dinner, all of the Apprentice Mages gathered in the classroom they used for group lessons.
They were there to restart the conversation on how to determine a class representative that hadn’t made any progress in their midday meeting. Also, they wanted to share information regarding the magic battle that was scheduled for the next month.
All twelve Apprentice Mages shuffled their chairs around to sit in a rough circle.
The first to get the ball rolling was Sevil.
“While the deadline for selecting a representative is fast approaching, it is doubtful that we will come to a timely decision at this rate. In that case, I recommend we put aside the topic of our representative for the time being, and prioritize sharing information in advance of our upcoming magic battle.”
“Okaayy!” Tia cheerfully nodded. Everyone else nodded out of turn. At least no one had any complaints at the moment.
Even Roswitha and Julius, who usually campaigned for themselves at times like this, stayed silent.
“Very well, then allow me to share the information I have gathered first. Any who wish to add any more information, please raise your hand when it’s relevant.”
Sevil started by sharing the information that she had gathered by herself.
“First, when it comes to the site for the magic battle, I believe it to be to the southeast of the Wedge Tower, in the same forest where we conducted our entrance examination. However, we will not be able to make use of the whole forest; instead we will be limited to a certain radius. With regards to our opponents, Tia has done some questioning for us.”
“Piyopp!”
Chirping in agreement, Tia recalled what she’d heard from Rikard earlier.
“Um… Our opponents from the Extermination Office will be three people: Frederik, Rikard, and Helena. And we win as long as we beat Frederik. Rikard and Helena said they would only be doing defense and support.”
“…I have a question…”
Gerald’s interjection was barely audible.
It was uncharacteristic of him; he usually didn’t involve himself in discussions like this.
Gerald fiddled with his long bangs as he mumbled.
“I don’t know a lot about magic battles, but… is there gonna be a time limit?”
“Pefu?” Tia made a surprised noise.
She never thought that there might be a time limit on a battle.
However, humans always strictly delineated the time for things like lessons. If you considered mock battles to be within the realm of lessons, then it wouldn’t be strange for them to put a time limit on it… As Tia made the logic fit in to her worldview, Julius spoke up.
“Kuku… The time limit for this battle is one hour. As long as we either defeat Frederik Lange within one hour or one of us avoids being knocked out for that entire hour, it will be our victory.”
“Then… Does that mean all we have to do to win is keep running away?”
“Th- then let’s just do that… Let’s just hide for an hour…!”
“Hold it right there!” Finn and Sophie’s cowardly words were met with a powerful rebuke from a certain someone.
Roswitha, in her pointy hat.
“I won’t have such a cowardly victory! If we’re going to do it, we have to win a total victory!”
Roswitha stubbornly shouted, to which Rukiye cast a cold gaze.
“A win is a win, isn’t it? Running away isn’t cowardice. It’s a perfectly valid training exercise to teach people with no combat skills how to run away from strong opponents.”
“Then you guys run away all you like! I’ll fight him by myself!”
Obviously Rukiye, who wanted to be an artisan and who had no interest in fighting the magic battle in the first place, would not see eye-to-eye with Roswitha, who wanted a chance to show off her skills.
On top of that, Oliver properly raised his hand and spoke up.
“I also have no intention of running! I must defeat my brother and have him acknowledge my decision to join the Extermination Office!”
The class’ opinions were divided — whether to win by defeating Frederik, or by running away.
Tia agreed with Roswitha and Oliver. If they were going to fight, she wanted to win. He was her rival, after all.
(But, I also think it’s wrong to force everyone else to fight too…)
“Pirorororo…” Tia groaned.
As the air grew ever more tense, a single voice broke through the tension without a care in the world.
It was that of a fuzzy redhead: Rose.
“I won’t say that running away is a bad idea, but I think it’ll be hard to win by hiding, you know~?”
“What makes you think that?”
Rukiye asked sharply, to which Rose scratched his beard and answered nonchalantly.
“We won’t have the whole forest. We’ll be limited to a certain radius, right? He’s got flight magic too, so he can just look for us from the sky.”
Ella nodded tensely to Rose’s words.
“Certainly, it might be different if we could hide in buildings or crowds, but escaping him for an hour in the forest might be pretty difficult…”
Ella stopped herself there. She lifted her glasses that had been sliding down her nose, and, with a face like she’d just come to a realization, she continued.
“In the Magical University, there were people who used detection or reconnaissance magic. Since the Extermination Office fights against Monsters all the time… I think we should assume they’re capable of detection and reconnaissance magic.”
Tia recalled the fish of water that Roswitha had used. Roswitha said she could share her vision with that fish.
She couldn’t guarantee that Frederik and the others weren’t capable of doing something like that.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Sevil interjected.
“In that case, I suggest we adopt the strategy of a ‘fighting retreat’!”
Everyone’s attention turned to Sevil.
Sevil confidently lifted the corners of her lips.
“Those who are poorly suited for combat will draw the enemy in by feigning a retreat, at which point the stronger combatants will maneuver around the enemy’s flank and press the assault. If the enemy counterattacks and breaks our formation, we scatter. Then, once again, we retreat, lay the trap, and ambush as many times as needed. This strategy is made possible thanks to our superior numbers.”
It was a fitting suggestion for the belligerent but swift-thinking Sevil.
Rather than blindly attacking, this strategy incorporated running and hiding as an integral part.
Tia was impressed.
(Sevil’s amazing! She’s so smart!)
Such a plan would never have occurred to the Harpies who just fight by ganging up on an opponent and lashing out at them until it’s over.
Tia looked at her with respect, and Sevil laughed with a smile. Then, she puffed out her chest and made a declaration.
“—And with that said, since I shall be taking command of this operation, it would only be natural for me to be the Apprentices’ representative!”
“Excuse me!?”
“Ku, ku, kukuku… So you had us talk about the magic battle because you were planning this from the beginning.”
Roswitha shouted indignantly, while Julius cackled.
Sevil nodded shamelessly.
“Precisely! Exhibiting the fruits of my information gathering activities and proposing a pertinent strategy was all calculated to demonstrate why I am the most suited for the rank of representative!”
“At least try to hide your scheming, you dumbass…”
Wren grumbled with a pained expression, but Sevil paid him no heed.
Following Sevil’s announcement, Roswitha and Julius, who had been fighting over the position of representative to start with, once again started to sing their own praises.
“If we’re going to pick a representative, I’m saying it has to be me!”
“Kuku, Even though you don’t have the skills to get any of these people in line?”
“You’re saying that!? That’s why I can’t trust Modern School losers like you who keep spirits like slaves!”
“Pirorororo…” Tia warbled nervously.
She’s already become sick of this pointless squabbling.
Harpies like her were creatures that sang whenever they felt like singing.
And since the thought occurred to her that she’d rather be singing right now, Tia opened her mouth without hesitation.
“Lalalua lalalua me~tea!”
“It is only natural that I, who can formulate detailed strategies and whose love for sweets is unrivaled, become the representative!”
“Lalalua lalalua me~tea!”
“Kuku, how about I become representative, and I relinquish the dessert privilege to you? Would that persuade you to join my faction?”
“Lalalua arche dia~va!”
“You slimy rat! I’m sick of you! Look, everyone who wants to be representative, step forward! We’ll settle this with a battle of magecraft…..!”
“Ashlaw, telyna… Ozlow, Tse~ ly~ va!”
Sevil, Julius, and Roswitha stopped talking and looked at Tia.
And it wasn’t just those three who were arguing. Everyone in the classroom was looking at Tia.
It didn’t look like they were amazed by her singing voice either. They all had faces that said ‘Why in the world is she singing at a time like this?’
But Tia didn’t mind those gazes, and simply continued singing joyfully at her leisure. Songs were a wonderful thing.
When she finally reached a good stopping point and stopped singing, Tia smiled at everyone else.
“Piyo! I’m bored of all this talk, so I’ll just be singing, okay? Let me know if you decide something!”