The day the sunset burned deep.
A boy sat by the window, quietly watching the scenery.
When he lowered his gaze, the golden wheat of the vast plains bowed their heads as they waited for harvest, rippling in waves against the wind.
The view he always saw through the manor's window was truly beautiful,
"So anyway…"
"This time, you see…"
And the sight of a warm, close-knit family walking through that wheat field looked like a painting come to life.
But the boy also knew well that you couldn't step inside a painting.
You could only admire it from afar.
It was a view he had long since grown used to.
'…'
He turned away from the window.
What met his eyes was a room wide but hollow.
On the table lay a chess set scattered in disarray, as though someone had just been playing with it,
And aside from that, the room held nothing but a bed, a small wardrobe, and the table itself.
He walked over quietly and sat down at the desk; the creak of the worn chair filled the room.
This was the time left over after parting from the neighborhood children, returning to the manor, and waiting before dinner.
A suffocating stillness and silence.
And from outside, the busy sounds of servants, and the noisy voices beyond the window.
The same space, yet the atmosphere was so utterly different—that strangeness always made the boy feel lonely.
But not anymore.
A few days ago, he had discovered a special secret about this manor that no one else knew.
The boy quietly raised both hands and held his palms facing each other.
He closed his eyes and exhaled.
Slowly. Deeply.
The room's quiet and stillness drew out a concentration that couldn't be bettered.
Sssss—
After a few seconds of focus, a full, brimming sensation flowed through every nerve and wrapped around his body.
Crack—
A faint but unmistakable light split the air and made a tiny bolt of lightning,
And his body began to tremble as though shuddering.
'…Hah.'
The boy let out a ragged breath.
He was drenched in sweat, and his head was spinning—
But he was happy, all the same.
The boy could feel mana,
And he knew that he could use magic.
"…Next time."
What should he try next time?
Inside a room where the sunset was fading.
In a room of a manor where no one paid him any mind,
The boy had come to hold a new secret that only he knew.
* * *
…
What was that?
No, more to the point—I can't quite remember what I was doing.
I'm pretty sure yesterday I went to the forest with Elline. And came back.
And today, Elline said 'you skipped yesterday' and called me out.
…Right, she called me.
I could see a clear sky.
Clouds and birds were passing through the blue.
Oh, a bird.
And I'm lying down?
'Ah.'
Flat on my back, at that, with dust drifting around me.
I forced myself up, and my muscles ached as if startled; my vision swayed unsteadily, my head not yet back to its senses.
"Rutess."
Elline's voice.
Only then did my foggy mind begin to clear properly.
The cold of the marble floor seeped into my lower half,
And as my wavering vision steadied, she was standing across from me.
Elline.
"You're alright?"
"…Yeah."
Probably?
"Then get up."
A firm answer.
Right—Elline had called me out.
And I'd been learning from her, one-on-one.
The subject: getting beaten up with magic.
No—developing practical combat sense.
I'd been too complacent.
I should have been suspicious the moment she set the meeting place in the west, or at the very least, I should have been on guard when we walked into the training arena instead of going for a walk.
I staggered to my feet, and Elline watched me with a calm, unreadable expression.
"Move around."
Following her instruction, I slowly moved my body—a little stiff, but nothing that throbbed badly.
"Seems like I'm fine."
"Yeah, looks like it."
Then why did she ask?
"Rest for three minutes. Catch your breath."
The west where Elline had called me was the practical zone, packed with magic training arenas.
Which meant it was one of the few places in the academy—where magic use was otherwise restricted—where you could cast freely.
And the reason she'd called me out today was one thing.
The practical exam.
Unlike theory, where you could sit down and memorize, the practical had many variables depending on the situation, and so it was a test where all kinds of upsets could happen.
I'd been thinking at some point that I should prepare for it—
But to start this suddenly.
'…Figures.'
Was it because of the encounter with Sereen yesterday?
"Let's go again."
"Alright."
Three minutes was very short.
As I struggled back to my feet, Elline, who had been standing across from me with her arms folded, unfolded them and fixed her gaze on me.
"I'm going to raise the output."
"…You're going even higher?"
Because the practical exam always changed its theme, advance preparation was impossible—the only way was to cast as much as possible and raise your overall magical ability through sheer experience.
In other words: you had to grow by getting hit.
Elline had probably had that in mind.
"Try to focus on the sensation as much as you can, Rutess."
If you read the flow of mana, you can roughly see the timing.
Like seeing someone's stance before they throw a punch.
Of course, that only applied to someone who had watched a lot of punches being thrown.
Shwaaack—
"Ow!"
The same was true of magic.
"Don't dodge—block it with magic."
Where I had barely managed to dodge, two spears had driven roughly into the marble and were beginning to dissolve.
Layered magic is extraordinarily difficult.
You have to cast continuous spells while maintaining the linking formula, so even the slightest mistake will break it—
And yet behind her, not one but five spears made of mana hung in the air.
I'd felt it with Sereen too, but geniuses really do have walls that are impossibly high.
It looked so far out of reach that I couldn't even begin to grasp it.
"Focus."
Before Elline's words had even finished, the fierce spears came hurtling straight at me again—
But all I could do was react and dodge.
Crack—
When Elline's last spear, conjured in midair, vanished with the sound of piercing marble, I barely managed to collapse where I stood.
"…Hah."
My whole body was already soaked in sweat, my breath coming out rough, and the blue sky was starting to look faintly yellow.
"Rutess."
Elline, by contrast, wore the same expressionless face she'd had when we arrived at the training grounds, and she sat quietly beside me.
"If you keep just dodging, you won't improve."
"…Sorry, it's hard to react in time."
"Your reaction is actually decent."
I wiped the sweat from my face and turned to look at Elline.
"Really?"
"If you hadn't reacted, you wouldn't have been able to dodge."
Ah.
I didn't want to imagine what kind of disaster would have unfolded if I hadn't dodged.
Right—Elline was always serious.
Don't forget that.
"It's just… my mind keeps going blank. The moment I see a spear, all I can think is that I need to dodge, and magic doesn't come to me."
I muttered with a sigh.
"Is that so?"
At my words, Elline looked at me for a moment, then stood up.
"Rutess, get up."
"Again?"
"Quickly."
At her firm urging, I gave up wiping my sweat and got to my feet.
And in that moment.
"Hm…?"
The same sensation as yesterday began to creep in.
The feeling of my legs being bound.
Like the sensation when Sereen had bound me—something was beginning to coil around me.
Wait—
No, Elline?
"I think I understand why you're not using magic."
She brushed off the dust from her clothes without a care.
"What do you…"
"I think it's because you end up focusing only on dodging."
No, Elline.
What are you talking about?
"I'm actually going to die, Elline."
Ignoring my words—a mix of panic and desperation—she stood up and waved her hand.
The same incantation as before.
Before her incantation had even finished, one of the spears she'd been launching so fiercely a moment ago began to take shape again.
"I trust you, Rutess."
I don't trust myself.
"Elline, wait—!"
Fwoom—
Before I could finish, her spear came hurtling toward me with ferocious speed.
Instinctively I tried to move my legs to dodge,
But my already-bound legs wouldn't move.
Of course, unlike Sereen—that lunatic—Elline's binding only seemed to coil around my feet specifically, leaving the rest of my body free—
But either way, being completely unable to move was the same…
'This is not the time to be thinking about that, you idiot.'
Think.
Think.
Think…!
A barrier?
No, I don't think that'll block it.
Clear my head, think slowly…
There's no time for that.
Shwaaack—
'Too late—!'
Suddenly,
A memory surfaced from my subconscious, just a moment ago.
Hands cupped together, eyes closed—what I'd made was an electric current.
A spark had flown.
'Right. That.'
It was reflexive.
I constructed the incantation in my mind,
And snapped my fingers.
A tingling sensation rose from the tips of my feet, and just as the feeling of it projecting through my hand ended—
Thwip—!
A sharp, small spark snapped.
The spear that had been hurtling toward me with a fierce roar shifted its path ever so slightly and grazed past my side.
Crack—
I glanced over my shoulder, and just as before, the spear she had fired drove itself into the marble floor and began to dissolve.
"…"
Elline watched that for a moment, and once the spear had fully disappeared, she looked at me.
"Four points."
"Out of five, right?"
"Out of ten."
Ah.
"Your reaction was definitely good, and using a spark to deflect the flow of mana was a nice touch."
That sounds like a passing grade to me.
"But that's as far as it goes."
"…Hm?"
"If the formula had been even slightly late and you'd slipped up, it would have failed."
"Really?"
"And you should block magic, not deflect it. Deflecting is inefficient."
I couldn't quite feel the significant difference between blocking and deflecting—
But the one saying it was Elline, so I couldn't find any words to argue back.
It had to be right.
"Understood…"
"Good."
Before my answer had even finished, she conjured the spears again.
Five of them, this time too.
…Ugh, I hate this.
"Let's keep going, Rutess."
Clang—
By the time afternoon came, I had barely managed to block the last spear she launched with a triple barrier, and only then did the sparring finally end.
The shockwave from the first spear I had ever blocked head-on was still making my muscles tremble.
"Good work."
Elline wiped away a single bead of sweat without expression and looked at me.
"…You too."
"You're alright?"
Of course I'm alright.
Even if my clothes were torn, my legs were throbbing, my head was spinning, my breathing was ragged, and my hands were shaking.
"…I'm fine."
I was fine.
Being alive was enough.
She snapped her fingers, and at last the binding magic that had coiled around me seemed to release—my body was free again.
"Rutess."
"…Yeah."
"Are you tired?"
"No, I'm fine."
Right, what does tired even matter—you're giving up your time to tutor me.
Right, this was an enormous privilege.
Private tutoring, given by the academy's top student, one-on-one.
Intense, yes—but receiving a privilege this extraordinary was an honor.
"Just remember this: when responding to magic, build yourself about three response frameworks in advance."
"Three?"
"Because you never know what variables might come up."
I see.
I took Elline's words to heart as she passed on yet another piece of wisdom, and then my legs gave out and I sank to the ground.
The sky was visible.
It had been a clear blue sky, but now it was dyed orange, and crows rather than sparrows were flying past.
'Time flies.'
Maybe it was because of the thought that had surfaced this morning.
Today, for some reason, the sunset felt strangely familiar.
Step, step.
Elline's footsteps drew closer.
And she sat naturally beside me.
She said nothing, but she must not have broken a sweat—the fresh scent of her shampoo drifted over,
And as the dizziness in my head began to ease into something comfortable, my eyes closed on their own.
'…Come to think of it.'
It really did seem like the unease I'd felt when I first started spending time with Elline had faded.
The awkwardness and discomfort weren't entirely gone,
And my heart still raced, and I still found myself watching my own behavior—
But compared to the beginning… it genuinely felt like things had gotten better.
Maybe I'd adapted to some degree by now.
Swish—
A ticklish feeling.
Something like a thread brushing against my cheek made my eyelashes flutter involuntarily.
"Rutess."
And when Elline called my name, my eyes opened on reflex.
What I saw when I opened my eyes was half sky.
The other half was Elline.
Her hair fell like a curtain, strand by strand settling against my damp face.
Ticklish.
And also…
Also…
My heart was not going to survive this.
"Elli… Elli… Elline?"
My tongue tied itself in a knot.
She was staring at me with an unreadable expression, but my body absolutely refused to move.
Her hair was still brushing against my face, and she showed no sign of looking away.
"Rutess."
"Yeah? Huh? Yeah? What…?"
"What are you doing after dinner?"
After dinner?
What am I doing after dinner?
Why… why would she ask something like that?
"Af… after dinner?"
"Yeah."
Her head had gradually lowered completely, forming a curtain that perfectly shut out the outside world between the two of us.
As Elline's shampoo scent flowed directly into my nose,
My head went past comfortable and started to ache.
"Um… I'm probably not… doing anything? Oh, I should study. Study."
Why am I answering my own question with a question?
Never mind.
I want to take back what I said about having adapted to Elline.
She's still impossible.
"…Is that so?"
Elline gave a small nod.
And quietly murmured.
"Then let's come back here after dinner too."
…
It took less than three seconds to process what she'd said.
"Ah."
In an instant, my heart returned to its normal rhythm.
"You'd better work hard, Rutess."