“You know that the number of people who can become magicians in our country is extremely small compared to other countries. In such a situation, allocating budget to education has a high possibility of being wasted. In that case, it would be better to produce more blacksmiths. Then we would need to expand facilities even further. You understand there’s no extra budget, don’t you?”
“Y-yes…”
At Grants’s explanation, Eliza dropped her shoulders and replied. At her appearance, the people gathered in the plaza also looked at each other. After all, this was a magic academy, and this was currently the venue for presentations at its cultural festival.
Making a public statement that magic was second priority to blacksmithing or lower was not something the representative of a country should say, even for the Kingdom of Grandsands.
Moreover, I also had objections to Grants’s opinion.
“Please wait a moment.”
I called out, interjecting from the side, and Grants turned his face toward me. It was written on his face that he had no intention of discussing the effectiveness of magic.
But still, I had to say it.
“Grants-sama. If you’ve only been teaching up to intermediate magic until now, it’s understandable that there have been few highly capable magicians. If you revise your educational methods and plans so that magicians who can use advanced magic increase, I think you’ll come to understand the importance of magic too.”
When I said this, Grants shrugged his shoulders and shook his head left and right with an atmosphere of being unconvinced.
“…It might be quite difficult to understand. In that case, let me show you our country’s weaponry in practice. Eliza. As I said earlier, fight with my guards. Since they’re equipped with our country’s finest weaponry, be careful not to get injured.”
Grants said this in a tone like someone explaining away a child’s selfishness, shaking his shoulders and laughing.
At this, Eliza pulled her chin down with determination and stood up.
“…I understand. I’ll be your opponent.”
In the center of the plaza, Eliza and a dwarf in full armor faced each other at a certain distance. Being one of the Kingdom of Grandsands’ guards, despite wearing heavy-looking full armor and holding a thick great axe, his movements showed no sense of weight at all.
On the other hand, Eliza was only wearing her usual clothes as an instructor. Just looking at that, Eliza seemed to have absolutely no chance of winning.
However, despite her girl-like appearance, Eliza was a talented instructor at Fidic Academy and a magician capable of using sufficiently powerful magic.
The outcome was uncertain.
Suddenly appointed as referee, I raised one hand and opened my mouth.
“Well then, let the match begin.”
When I gave the signal, the dwarf knight readjusted his grip on his axe, and Eliza lowered her hips to be ready to move at any time while taking her staff in hand.
“Strike with the flat of the axe! Wahahahaha!”
Grants said such a thing in high spirits and laughed. He seemed so confident that he was already acting as if he had won.
“Eliza-chan!”
“Don’t lose!”
In contrast, Eliza’s friends also desperately cheered in return.
I looked at Eliza. Eliza nodded with an even more serious expression than usual. Confirming this, I swung down the hand I had raised.
“Begin!”
When I announced the start of the match, the dwarf knight quickly kicked off the ground.
Acceleration like a sprinter and a powerful way of holding his axe. From the speed with which he closed the distance in an instant and his large axe, his destructive power could be estimated without seeing it.
But Eliza was not to be underestimated either.
“…Rock Block.”
The magic activated with a single verse of incantation caused a stone wall to appear in front of the approaching knight. The guard who destroyed that stone wall with a single axe blow was also quite skilled, but Eliza, who was moving while preparing new magic during that time, was also quite something.
“Sand Storm…!”
The moment the magic was cast, a high-density sandstorm raged in a narrow area. The activation was faster than when fighting Felter, and the power of the storm was also enhanced.
“Ngh…!”
A muffled voice leaked from within the sandstorm where even the figure couldn’t be seen. Felter would have broken through easily, but that was due to Felter’s abnormal physical abilities and body enhancement magic. For a dwarf already wearing heavy full armor, escape would be difficult.
Furthermore, Eliza began preparing the next magic without letting her guard down.
“…Sand Fall!”
By deploying new magic, the power of the sandstorm began to weaken. However, at the same time, she changed the ground over a wide area.
The dwarf knight, whose figure gradually became visible, was now buried up to his lower body and was struggling to break free by hitting the ground with both hands.
“Wh-what are you doing!? Your armor and axe are made of mithril with high magic resistance!?”
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At Grants’s shouting, the knight struggled even more desperately. The knight was gradually extracting himself from the quicksand, but Eliza began preparing the next magic without letting her guard down.
When fighting Felter, she had continuously activated the beginner magic called Sand Ball, but this time, considering she had time to spare, she seemed to be preparing different magic.
Just before the knight extracted himself from the quicksand, Eliza’s magic was completed.
“Over Rock.”
The moment the magic was cast, the surrounding sand converged above the knight.
“I see. She stole sand from the bottom of the Sand Fall and forcibly extended the time the sand flows.”
Such words came from my mouth in admiration. Yes, it was a very well-thought-out use of magic. The effect of Sand Fall would weaken while she was preparing the next magic. That’s precisely why she used the sand circulating in Sand Fall to connect to the next magic.
The momentum of Sand Fall returned for an instant, and the knight who had been about to break free stumbled and went down on one knee again.
Thus, the advanced magic Over Rock, which would normally take too much time, was completed directly above the immobilized knight.
Looking up at the boulder completed with a size that would cleanly fill the venue, the spectators screamed. While some fled, Grants looked up at the sky with a dumbfounded expression while surrounded by his guards.
“…This might actually be unblockable even for the guard.”
Was this dangerous after all? Thinking so, I quickly moved under the knight and activated magic.
“Fracture.”
I made it in time. While inwardly sighing in relief, I extended my hand toward the boulder that had been approaching right in front of me and activated magic. Immediately after, the boulder that had been looming before my eyes was decomposed into fine sand like a beach.
Sparkling white sand danced like smoke, spreading from the boulder’s impact point as the center. The knight who had been holding his axe like a shield was also buried in sand and became invisible.
“Wh-whwhwh…”
Grants made voiceless sounds with an astonished face. Meanwhile, Eliza looked at me with a tired expression and gave a bitter smile.
“A-ahaha… It’s shocking when it gets destroyed so easily.”
Eliza let out a dry laugh and muttered such a thing. While smiling back at her, I turned toward Grants.
“The match is decided. That could have caused serious injury if handled poorly, so I took the liberty of stopping it, but there’s no problem with that, is there?”
When I confirmed this, Grants pulled his chin down with an indescribable expression. After seeing his state, I turned toward the people who had come to watch the presentation.
“This match goes to instructor Eliza Woodford.”
When I declared this, after a moment’s pause, applause gradually began to arise.
“Eliza-chan!”
“You’re still cute!”
Learning of Eliza’s victory, her friends also raised cheers. Smiling at this, I looked at Eliza.
“You have good friends.”
When I told her this, Eliza laughed in a troubled way.
“A-ahaha… Y-yes, I suppose?”
For some reason, Eliza showed a confused response while affirming my words. I tilted my head at this, and then Grants raised his face.
“Mu-muguugugu… I-I can’t believe my guard was defeated… No, but, even with a rock that size, with our country’s weaponry…”
Still not convinced, Grants was groaning about something. I was curious, but the presentation was over, and the match was finished. For now, I needed to repair and clean up the venue for tomorrow.
“Well then, Grants-sama. Please take care of the focus on magic education that Eliza-san mentioned.”
Leaving these words, I headed toward Eliza.
“That was magnificent. Also, I watched your presentation. I never thought you had prepared other golems as well, so I was surprised too.”
When I replied thus, Eliza smiled in a slightly troubled way.
“T-thank you very much. With everything that happened, I’m quite tired. For the presentation, even though I received advice from Aoi-san, I didn’t actually create the golems on the spot, so I felt a bit guilty… So I thought I’d show how I was able to prepare the golems so quickly at the end…”
“I see. Performing magic tricks and revealing the secret at the end. I think it’s very good. Since the people watching were pleased, it was many times better than what I proposed.”
When I expressed agreement with Eliza’s explanation, I received an embarrassed smile in return.
“Thank you very much. It was the first time I received so much applause, so I was really happy… B-but, is it okay to leave His Majesty alone like this…?”
Eliza stole glances at Grants’s state with concern. Smiling at her appearance, I nodded.
“After being so vigorous in challenging someone to a match and suffering complete defeat, he won’t complain about small things afterward. There’s something called a king’s dignity and face.”
After saying this, I began repairing the venue. Well, I need to hurry and clean up, or it will interfere with tomorrow’s presentation. Eliza and I began the repair and cleanup work efficiently.
【SIDE: Grants】
“Magic… Indeed, depending on how it’s used, it can render our country’s weaponry ineffective. No, conversely, if there were someone who could use magic to negate magical effects like earlier…”
Grants muttered quietly while watching Aoi, Eliza, and Aile repairing the plaza in the now-empty venue with no more spectators.
His basic thinking hadn’t changed, and was still focused on how to utilize the weaponry of the Kingdom of Grandsands in which he had absolute confidence, but his interest had turned slightly toward magic as well.
“…In any case, bringing Aoi to our country would be best. Now, how to bring her back? From her attitude, she won’t be tempted by objects or money.”
Grants crossed his arms and groaned. The guards looked at each other at his behavior, but Grants paid no attention and devoted time to contemplation.
And he muttered quietly to himself.
“…Her appearance isn’t bad. If anything, I wouldn’t mind welcoming her as my queen.”
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