Chapter 17: The Princess Early Morning

Arc 2: The Daily Life of Class 4, Year 1

“Karen, you have an extraordinary talent.”

Before Karen’s eyes was a black-and-white image of her father’s face.

Oh, it’s just a dream.

At the first flash of the vision, she realized she was dreaming again, as usual.

“There is a formidable and monumental amount of power residing within Karen. One slip-up might lead to misfortune for everyone, but on the other hand, given proper maneuvering, blessings can be bestowed upon the people of this country.”

“Then how can it be put to good use?”

As a young child, she would always pose such a question to her father.

Her father would pat her head tenderly with his hand. Even though it was not visible from here, her face at that time must have been brimming with happiness.

“Well, each person has to seek their own way. To do that, you have to talk a lot with people of different races and countries. In grown-up language, it means to ‘broaden your horizons’.”

Her young self tilted her head at this point. Was it because she did not possess even this level of knowledge of the language that her father was no longer in this world? To this day, it was a mystery to her.

“I guess this is still too complicated for you. But I just hope that you remember this, that you will exchange conversations with many people, assimilate, and develop into the individual Karen Ortesia that you are.”

Hearing this now, she can comprehend her father’s reticence to speak at this time.

Karen failed to grasp even half of the meaning of her father’s words but nodded with the brightest smile she could muster, for she wanted to see him smile.

“Yeah, I get it!”

Her mutterings of “you liar” didn’t reach her young self, nor her father.

“I see, you’re a wise girl, Karen!”

Her father took her in his arms and spun her around in a circle. Holding her in his arms, her young self continued to smile with an innocent expression.

That was when Karen awoke. It was an abrupt awakening, as usual.

She rose from her languid position and rubbed her eyelids.

After having that dream, she always would fall into a state of self-loathing. It served not as remorse for a past that would never be restored, but rather as a force that propelled Karen’s back toward a future that was yet to come.

No, perhaps the propelling was a gentle thing. It was already a kind of obsession.

Let yourself elevate. Let yourself elevate. 

As if driven by the voice inside her heart, Karen changed her clothes again today and set out for her early morning training session.

“Good morning, Lady Karen.”

“Morning, Fina.”

Once outside, she was greeted by Fina, who had already arrived.

The time was still five o’clock. Although many times had she told Fina that she did not have to accompany her for early morning training, she insisted that it was beneficial for her own training, and now Fina has taken on the role of a valuable training partner.

Karen’s morning training session began with a run around the city. Despite being a magician, physical ability was likewise regarded as a key element for a modern-day magician. Even so, Karen had a high level of physical ability to begin with, and with physical enhancement through magic, she could rival even front-line soldiers, but her conceit had led her to suffer a great deal of hardship just recently.

Fina and Karen ran through the still tranquil city. Their pace was slow initially, for the purpose of rousing their sleeping bodies, but gradually their speed picked up. For Fina, who was both a magician and a knight, the pace was average, but for Karen, who was a pure magician, the tempo was significantly more rapid.

“Lady Karen. It would be better if you slowed down a little more.”

“It’s okay. Don’t mind me.”

Karen urged her freshly awakened body to stomp on the ground with all the force she could muster. In her mind, the spectacle of her loss in the mock battle, still glued to her memory since then, was still vivid in her mind.

Karen had been aware that there was someone she was not a match for in the present, yet never in her wildest dreams had she expected to encounter such a person who was only two years older than she was. For her, who had been colored by triumph throughout most of her life, the defeat against Rain was more astounding than a disgrace.

Indeed, defeat is an invaluable experience as well. But there will be no next time.

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As much as Karen despised the aristocracy, a race whose only characteristic was pride, the lady in question herself was also prideful without even being conscious of it.

Since then, rumors have been circulating about the Princess running around the city at the crack of dawn every day in frustration over losing to Rain, and Fina knew that Karen was actually planning to set up a revenge match against Rain in the near future.

―And when he caught wind of the rumor, there was no way the opportunity would go unseized.

“―Oh, what a coincidence at this early hour of the morning.”

Both of them, who were engaged in the running course near the riverbed, each reacted when they spotted the person who had called out to them.

“G-Good morning.”

“Good morning… you are very early, Teacher Kanaki.”

“Hahaha… I woke up early today.”

Fina gave a light bow as she ran, and Karen returned the greeting too, but with obvious displeasure in her eyes.

And Kanaki was not so insensitive that he failed to recognize it. Even so, with a bitter smile on his face, Kanaki still ran next to Karen and Fina.

“The two of you are running this early daily? I am impressed.”

“Oh, thank you very much. Now then, we want to devote ourselves to running, so we’ll see you back at school.”

“…”

Kanaki’s mouth almost shut at Karen’s nonchalant demeanor. From the events of the morning of the entrance ceremony, Karen assumed that he was a foolish teacher, but apparently he has recently been attempting to cajole Fina. Even Fina, who has been with Karen for many years, must have been influenced by Karen’s mindset, but to her surprise, this man has apparently earned somewhat of Fina’s trust. He may not excel at magic, but he seemed to own a triple-tongued[i] that could work wonders. The realization of this led Karen to be more or less wary and uncomfortable with the man in charge of her class.

“But it’s kind of mysterious. A magician of both of your caliber would have more than enough physical ability with body enhancement magic, right? But why do you two train your body so meticulously?”

Karen was blatantly disappointed and disturbed by Kanaki’s words, which sounded like he was attempting to press out a response.

How could he not even understand such a thing? That’s why this man is so incompetent. In any case, he must not even have undergone much training in magic.

“T-That’s a matter of being well-prepared for battle at all costs; if you suddenly rush into battle without preparation, your physical abilities will be affected to no small degree.”

Fina was the first to catch on to Karen’s fury.

On behalf of the master she served, she gave Kanaki a thorough explanation.

“A well-trained knight can close the distance of about ten meters in an instant when facing a magician. Even if it is rudimentary magic, it takes only a short time to be activated, and that split second can be the deciding factor on the battlefield. Needless to say, if we consistently practice, even we magicians are effective against them.”

“I see. Does that mean it’s effective in our academy’s mock battles, which start with the process of generating magical power?”

As Kanaki nodded his head with a triumphant expression, Karen shot him a sideways, icy glare.

“That’s what I meant. If you understand, may I ask you to leave now? You are an ‘ordinary’ magician, and running at this speed would be too much for you to bear for today’s work, Teacher.”

“No, well, that’s all right, but, yeah…”

The cynicism of Karen’s remarks was softly washed away, and Kanaki next to her raised his gaze in contemplation. The cool expression on his face evoked a tinge of unease in Karen.

Now that I think about it, how can this man keep up with us so effortlessly when he doesn’t appear to be using his magical power…

“―Yeah, well, this is about right. Do you two have some time now?”

“What?”

As her attention was jolted back and Karen reflexively turned to look next to her, Kanaki offered a strangely reassuring smile.

“Would you like to practice martial arts a little with me from now on?”

——————

T/N:

[i] Triple-tongued is double-tongued but with a stronger emphasis in Japanese

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