Published: September 6, 2025
"Rosemine, hand over the healing potion. You have some extras in your room, don't you?"
Just before entering the dormitory, the high priest said this to me, and I tilted my head in confusion. I understood that healing only mends wounds and pain, and doesn't restore mana, so healing potions were necessary. Still, the high priest should always have some on hand.
"Doesn’t Lord Ferdinand have some?"
"If I use this, I’ll lose even the healing potions. Having nearly exhausted the magic tools, I want to keep at least some healing potions close by."
…He seemed confident, but was it actually a pretty close victory?
I handed over the metal cylinder containing healing potions, hanging from my waist, to the high priest. Stretching out my arm, I asked, "Wouldn't it be better to carry at least one amulet as well?"
"No, I want to avoid thinning your protection any further."
Without changing his expression at all, the high priest downed the extremely bitter medicine in one go, then handed the empty cylinder to Richarda with a request to refill it, and headed into the dormitory. I instinctively grabbed his sleeve.
"Um, Lord Ferdinand—"
"There's no need to worry. There’s no other territory that would suddenly challenge us to a ditter duel."
It was clear that the conversation was over, so I let go of his sleeve and smiled lightly to ease the mood.
"It would be troublesome if there were many territories like Dunkelfelger."
"No, if there were many, they’d fight each other to their hearts’ content. That would make things much easier for us."
"Is that so? I have a feeling that no matter what, Heisshitze-san will challenge Lord Ferdinand to a fight."
"...Don’t say such unpleasant things."
We returned to the dormitory, but everyone else had already finished lunch and gone back for the second half. The dining hall was quiet and empty. After hastily eating lunch with the high priest, we headed back to the training grounds for the territory competition.
"Did you make it in time?"
"Yeah, Arensbach is currently in the ditter duel with Ditter, so Ehrenfest is up after the next one."
The order for the second half was apparently decided based on the mock battle results during the lecture. It seemed Ehrenfest performed quite well this year, so our turn was toward the end.
Walking toward Ehrenfest, I observed the socializing in the passing territories. Since parents were coming and going, the usually black-dressed noble academy had beautifully colorful attire, making it a joy to watch.
Though everyone wore clothes following the central trend, I noticed subtle differences in style upon closer inspection.
"Finsturm, huh? This one will end quickly."
The high priest murmured, glancing toward the arena, explaining it was a common demonic beast used in training, so it should be easy to defeat.
Everyone from Arensbach gathered at the front to cheer, but from my height, I could only see many purple cloaks and mounts occasionally soaring with purple capes fluttering in the arena. I couldn't even see what kinds of demonic beasts were present.
Resigning myself to not seeing Arensbach’s battle, I pushed myself to keep moving. We had to return to our place before Ehrenfest’s turn. A top-priority mission.
"How do you think Ehrenfest will place in this ditter?"
"This event has a big luck factor. The time varies greatly depending on whether familiar, favorite monsters appear."
"Since only monsters easily defeated by brute force appear, the knight apprentices don’t have to think much anymore. But if a monster appears that only the students can’t handle, it’s dangerous."
The high priest murmured thoughtfully as we arrived at Ehrenfest’s location.
My foster father spotted us and asked, "Did you win?"
I nodded vigorously in response.
"You displayed remarkable demon lord skills. I was reminded afresh that Lord Ferdinand lacks chivalry."
"I'm not a knight. Being unknightly is no problem. You cheered for the opponents during the match, didn’t you? I’d like to see a more saint-like side from you."