Ch. 19

“Geenie, your dream is so small.”

“Small? Becoming rich is amazing! There’s nothing money can’t solve!”

Mia, probably because she was born into a wealthy family, didn’t seem to understand the true usefulness of money.

“If you have money, you can live a life of leisure!”

“But you can’t buy a spirit with money.”

“You can buy a Spirit Mage.”

“…Eh, but you can’t buy love with money!”

“Maybe? But love isn’t necessary anyway.”

As we enjoyed the lazy afternoon, exchanging idle chatter, Mia suddenly pointed behind me and shouted.

“Geenie! Look over there, it’s Rai! Rai!”

She waved her hand exaggeratedly, clearly excited.

I turned my head and saw Rai emerging from the bushes.

I had definitely tied a big pink ribbon around his neck this morning, but it was nowhere to be seen.

That guy must have deliberately gotten rid of it somewhere, pretending he lost it.

“Ah, he’s leaving! Call him, Geenie!”

“Leave him alone.”

“But maybe he’ll come if you call?”

“I see him every day, I’m sick of it. We’re like family.”

“But…”

Mia was endlessly fascinated by Rai and was eager to touch him, but Rai absolutely despised Mia.

Even now, despite being a snake, he was somehow managing to back away.

At the academy, Rai was recognized as my pet snake. Some students had panicked, claiming his triangular head meant he was venomous, but after months without any incidents, people just left him alone.

Most importantly, the king had granted his approval.

‘Of course, he probably didn’t expect the pet I’d raise to be a snake.’

According to Rai, there were people who had tried to capture him, but they all ended up with broken weapons.

If they set traps, he ate them. If they swung swords at him, they proved weaker than Rai’s body and became useless.

Rai’s weight remained constant, but his toughness was steadily growing stronger.

Since he roamed around all day, eating anything and everything, this was only natural.

Still, raiding an entire storage room was excessive.

I did say he could eat anything lying on the ground, but… at least he followed one rule.

“Enjoy your freedom and roam as you please, but follow this one rule—don’t eat anything that belongs to people.”

Since he had a tendency to devour anything metallic, I had to set this restriction, or who knows what kind of trouble he’d cause.

For a moment, I debated whether I should consider his storage raid an accident.

Well, I didn’t tell him to do it, so it wasn’t my problem.

Feeling carefree, I lay down on the grassy field. Life was truly peaceful.

With independent training as an excuse, I barely attended classes, and it was absolutely satisfying.

I hoped today, tomorrow, and every day after would remain uneventful. I hated dealing with troublesome matters.

—

“Alright, everyone, quiet down, please.”

The headmaster’s voice, amplified by magic, echoed throughout the auditorium.

As always, the students were too busy chatting to pay attention during assemblies.

Today was an unusual occasion where the entire student body was gathered, making it even noisier than usual.

There had been all-school assemblies before, but I had skipped most of them. This was my first time attending one.

I had tried to slip away again, but Master Yael caught me. At this point, he knew exactly where and when I would try to escape. It was frustrating.

“Yawn.”

Among the students standing in rows by grade and department, I was the only one from the Spirit Mage Department.

I stood somewhere near the Alchemy Department, lazily yawning while scanning my surroundings.

Far off, I saw a group of noticeably taller students—probably the Youth Division.

At Drike Academy, students were divided into the Infant and Youth Divisions, with the cutoff at age thirteen. The Youth Division lasted until eighteen.

Most students graduated at nineteen and were assigned positions within the kingdom based on their skills.

They could also apply for positions of their choice, provided they received approval from higher authorities.

But for someone like me in the Infant Division, that was a distant concern. I wasn’t interested anyway.

I had zero intention of getting a job.

Drike Academy was regarded as an elite institution because graduates often found themselves working directly for the royal court.

Especially for commoners, entering the academy was seen as a ticket to an easy life.

The Alchemy and Magic Departments, where I stood, were full of students from wealthy noble families. It was rare to see commoners here. However, the Swordsmanship Department seemed to have a fair number of commoners.

“Now, we will begin the special assembly.”

What a pain. The moment it started, I already felt drowsy. Was there a spell that allowed someone to sleep while standing?

“In one month, the Winkan Festival will be held. As you all know, this festival is an important event where our alliance of five nations—led by the Elan Empire, along with the Kingdom of Dmitri, the western Veilan Kingdom, the eastern Koran Kingdom, and the northern Heidrike Kingdom—comes together to strengthen ties.”

Oh, that thing. It wasn’t a “festival of unity.” It was just a way to reaffirm that we are subjects of the Empire. A ceremony of hierarchy.

“The festival takes place every five years at ‘Winted Academy’ in Elan. Each nation selects its top students from royal academies to showcase their talents…”

I absentmindedly cleaned my ears as I half-listened.

The festival was just another competition where students were ranked based on their skills, and those who placed at the top received awards.

And, as always, the top spots were dominated by the Empire’s academy students.

They could dress it up with fancy words all they wanted, but in the end, it was just an event to glorify the Empire.

What was the point of gathering the best students from each country just to measure whose talents were superior? In the end, everything went the Empire’s way.

‘They call us allies, but we’re practically vassal states. The hierarchy is crystal clear.’

Dmitri was one of the stronger nations, but it still couldn’t match the Empire. And the Elan Empire was particularly wary of Dmitri.

The fact that Dmitri had many powerful knights was nothing more than a nuisance to the Empire.

“Now, we will announce the list of twenty students representing Drike Academy at the Winkan Festival.”

Most students wouldn’t be selected, but don’t be discouraged—focus even more on your studies.

To those chosen, uphold our nation’s honor with strength!

For a brief moment, I thought I made eye contact with the headmaster. Must have been my imagination.

“Geenie, Geenie?”

“Hmm?”

Mia tapped my shoulder and gestured for me to lend her my ear. She then whispered excitedly.

“I got selected! I’m going to the Winkan Festival!”

“Heh.”

“What kind of reaction is that? Do you even realize how big of a deal this is?”

“How big of a deal is it?”

I had no clue. I could tell Mia was thrilled, though.

I could also see the Swordsmanship students reacting with cheers of triumph whenever their names were called, as if they had just conquered the world.

“The Winkan Festival’s tournament is the perfect chance to make a name for yourself across the continent. Gaining fame is the highest honor!”

“Honor, huh… But isn’t that tournament just a big martial arts competition? And you’re participating, Mia?”

“Ugh, you seriously have no interest in this stuff, huh? Knowledge-based divisions like mine compete in a quiz contest. The ones fighting are the Magic and Swordsmanship divisions!”

“Ohh. That makes sense. Well, win it, then.”

“The greatest geniuses from across the continent will be there! Do you know Rovenin Fedri? I heard he’s competing, too!”

I had no idea who that was, but… okay.

As usual, when a conversation drifted into unfamiliar territory, I just nodded along.

I was still groggy from lack of sleep.

“That’s why the Swordsmanship students were at each other’s throats over getting selected.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s the perfect chance to face Rovenin Fedri! He’s the Empire’s pride—a prodigy of swordsmanship! If someone defeats him, they’ll be recognized as the greatest swordsmanship genius on the continent.”

“So many geniuses everywhere.”

Unlike my complete lack of interest, Mia was practically vibrating with excitement.

The Winkan Festival was certainly a rare event. It was held only once every five years, and since the Empire hosted it, it was bound to be extravagant. Maybe it was something the entire continent looked forward to.

“-From the Magic Division: Bright Kenian, Koga Isterao, Yulfi Sanierun, Peter.”

Ah, Peter.

Just from the name alone, I could tell he was a commoner. So there were commoners in the Magic Division.

Out of the 20 students selected, only four were from the Magic Division, and he was one of them. He must have some serious talent.

“-Lastly, from the Spirit Mage Division: Geenie Crowell.”

Oh wow, someone else has the same name as me.

And they’re even in the same department. What a coincidence.

“-All selected students, please step forward to the stage.”

Well, Geenie is a pretty common name.

Hahaha! Laughing it off, I pretended not to hear anything.

But before I knew it, the students around me started shoving me toward the stage.

Once again, the headmaster’s speech about “representing Drike’s honor” and whatever else blurred into meaningless noise.

“Wait!”

“Come on, Geenie.”

Before I could react, Mia had already grabbed my hand and was dragging me forward.

I dug my heels in, trying to resist, but Mia was surprisingly strong.

“Why—why me?!”

“Because you were chosen for the representative team.”

“Something’s not right! Am I really competing?!”

“Yup!”

No way!

They expect me to fight with Spirit Magic?! Against swordsmen?! Magicians?! Martial artists?!

This isn’t right! My adorable Undine isn’t meant for battle!

Just as I was about to cry out in despair, I locked eyes with Master Yael, who was standing near the stage.

“Teacher! Something’s wrong here!”

For once, I sprinted at full speed and clung to him.

I was desperately clinging to a last shred of hope, but it was futile.

“I got it! I must be competing in the quiz contest, right? Right? That’s it, isn’t it?!”

“Not a chance.”

“Nooo!”

“You’ll be participating in the combat tournament, Geenie.”

Damn it!

Didn’t they see Undine?! How do they expect me to fight with her?!

I struggled furiously, but it was no use.

“Wait, wait…!”

I was dragged onto the stage.