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Chapter 6

MIRA WAS SHOWERED with applause and adoration from the crowd. But someone else was also focused on the young summoner—Caerus.

“Ladies and gentlemen, a moment!” he called out, seething. He waved his arms like mad.

The audience went silent as they turned to see what was going on, and Caerus grinned in pleasure as the attention shifted away from Mira back to him.

“Don’t you think it a bit strange? Changing their representative on the day of the symposium? Changing their representative to a child? A child who surpasses the skill of even Professor Hinata herself?”

What’s he getting at? To Mira, he seemed to be grasping at straws, but some of the judges seemed to be taking him seriously. Although the onlookers had been enthralled by the performance just a moment ago, a ripple of doubt was forming and growing as he spoke.

“He has a point… Was that actually a summoning technique? Isn’t evocation just black or white knights or somesuch?” asked a young noblewoman who had only ever seen Hinata’s performances. She was part of a new generation who had grown up without ever knowing the original wonders of summoning. In fact, all of the judges swayed by Caerus’s statement were in their mid-twenties or younger, and Mira noted with growing dismay that they made up a majority of the panel.

“Is this not the Alcait Academy?” Caerus shouted. “Is this not the continent’s premier school of magic? Were there a summoner more powerful than our faculty, why, they’d have to be from the towers! I’m sure you all remember the Department of Evocation’s dismal results. No doubt Professor Hinata grew tired of always coming in last and thought she could slip in a sure winner if they were small and cute enough.”

The judges turned their attention to Mira with numerous questions on their minds.

Mira’s head spun and she wanted to stamp her feet in anger. How could summoning have fallen so low?! How can these baseless accusations even merit suspicion?!

Just then, loud clapping drew the attention of those assembled. The headmaster stood with a fretful look on his face as he addressed Caerus’s claims. “If you’re so certain, then perhaps we should settle this not with the symposium’s scores, but rather with a friendly duel.”

A murmur ran through the audience, and soon voices began to shout in agreement. Within moments, a special exhibition match was arranged between Mira and Caerus. There would be an intermission so they could prepare, but everyone stayed glued to their seats. The audience didn’t know what would come next, but no one wanted to risk missing the action.

“What a pain,” muttered Mira, returning to slouch against the wall.

“I’m so sorry. You didn’t sign up for this.” Hinata bowed apologetically.

“I’m sorry to have dragged you into this as well,” said the headmaster, an unexpected interloper in the conversation. He wore charcoal-gray robes, and his brow was furrowed in irritation. “It was the only hope I had of regaining any semblance of order.”

After a moment of surprise, Hinata and the other representatives stood to attention and bowed. He gave a slight bow in return and then turned his gaze to Mira.

“May I ask you to endure just a bit more?” he said with a pained smile.

Mira huffed. “Well, why not?”

“Thank you.” With that, he returned to his place in the audience.

Though he could not say it publicly, the headmaster despised the current state of the symposiums. The recent slump in performances and the preponderance of noble children with no love for the magical arts ate at his soul. But the aristocrats who financed the school were numerous and influential—it was hard to deny their sons and daughters enrollment. More and more young adults emerged from the academy with no knowledge of the Age of Strife and without the skills to cope with such hardships should those times return.

But for the headmaster and some of his older peers, Mira’s performance had been like a window into the glory of the past. It was as if they’d returned to the times of yore, when all Nine Wise Men roamed the land. Having seen her only once, he knew she outstripped the competition. Even if he didn’t know where she came from.

She matches the description. And that power…

There had been rumors that Danblf’s pupil had arrived in the kingdom. What if…? This was the perfect opportunity to find out. Whoever she was, he thought this might be a way to shake the academy out of the complacent status quo. To restore the true mages of Alcait—worthy souls who defended the kingdom against human and demon alike—they would have to destroy Caerus, the decadent modern mage…metaphorically speaking, anyway. He wanted the people to see the potential that real magicians could have.

“Take him down a peg!”

“And then take him down another for me too, if you would.”

“I’ve got this,” Mira replied as the other representatives filed out, offering her words of encouragement as they went by. It seemed she wasn’t the only one who had a score to settle with Caerus; what’s more, their departments’ reputations were on the line. They could tell that Mira was no ordinary mage, and Caerus would have been able to determine the same, had he not been blinded by pride.

A moment later, preparation time was over, and Mira stepped into the ring. The two combatants faced each other in the center of the arena. The emcee stood between them to serve as referee and explain the rules of the bout. The fight would be a fair one. Victory would be decided by surrender or his decision that a combatant was unable or unwilling to continue. No life-threatening attacks would be permitted. They seemed to be fairly standard tournament rules.

“Could someone please keep an eye on Professor Hinata?” Caerus said. “I wouldn’t want her to cheat again.”

This comment had been secretly planned during the break. His attendant volunteered himself and moved to stand beside the feline summoner. If she moved even a little bit, he would immediately cry foul.

It’s all over now, Caerus thought. Now to just wait for the right moment, and victory is mine. I don’t know what they were thinking, but these summoners need to be put back in their place.

He glanced at his attendant, who gave a small nod.

Caerus had secretly acquired magical Chains of Binding. Just before he defeated Mira (and assuredly, he would defeat Mira), he would ensnare himself. His attendant would accuse Hinata of cheating, claiming that Hinata interfered just as Mira was about to lose. His eyes darkened as he imagined completely crushing his foe and ruining the discipline of summoning forever in a single afternoon.

“The exhibition match will now begin. Both contestants, please bow.”

Caerus swept into a graceful bow. Mira, taking a page from Leticia’s book, grasped the edges of her skirt and curtsied. The audience gasped and buzzed scandalously. Danblf had always respected formalities such as bowing prior to a duel or a match. But Mira didn’t quite know if there were different expectations for men and women. Mimicking Leticia seemed to be a safe bet, but she didn’t yet understand the perils of curtsying in a miniskirt.

The emcee glanced at the pair, then stepped back an appropriate distance, raising his right hand high.

“Ready… Begin!”

Caerus leapt backward, pouring mana into both hands as he raised them overhead. He’d give the audience the show they wanted. He would embody the grandeur of sorcery and destroy the lowly art of summoning.

“Host of flames soaring through the sky, obey your mast—hrk?!” In the blink of an eye, he found himself surrounded by six Dark Knights, each tickling his throat with a jet-black blade. “What?!”

A shiver ran through the audience. It had all happened so quickly that it was impossible to grasp; not even those with a full view of the arena had witnessed it. Where was the prep work for Mira’s spell? The gathering of mana? The chanting?

Caerus had been gathering his mana when the magic circles had appeared instantly and six Dark Knights surrounded him. Anyone who had the misfortune to blink simply saw six black blades appear from nowhere, holding steady in a ring around Caerus’s neck. No one had seen any sign of prep work from Mira.

What…what is this? What’s going on here?! Where did they come from?! This must be Hinata’s doing! Caerus thought. He turned his head as far as he dared to glare at Hinata, but all he saw was her shocked stare and his own attendant shaking their head frantically. Damn it! What the hell?! What did that brat do?! He turned his eyes back on Mira, but she ignored him and made her way over to the frozen emcee.

“Good enough?” she asked, poking him in the cheek.

“The winner!” he shouted, shaking himself out of a daze and raising her right hand. “The representative for the Department of Evocation!”

There was sparse applause as his voice echoed around the arena. The younger members of the audience were still stunned, but the older contingent ate it up.

“This is ridiculous!” Caerus cried as Mira dismissed her Dark Knights.

“Caerus Verlan. Do you have a complaint?” The headmaster’s calm voice boomed forth and silenced the clamor.

“That was impossible!” Caerus screamed, his composure and theatrics burning up in the fires of his rage. “There’s no way she could summon six Dark Knights without prep! Have you been paying any sort of attention at these symposiums?! No summoner can do that! This is a ruse! A conspiracy! There’s no other way! Where are your friends?! Show yourselves!”

Everyone in attendance watched as he ranted and raved in the center of the ring. The Dark Knights had been so powerful, it caused people’s hairs to stand on end. Supposing that there even were conspirators, where would Hinata have recruited that many high-level summoners? With even a moment’s thought, the conspiracy fell apart as paranoia.

“Cowards! Don’t you know who I am?! I’m—”

In an instant, twenty Dark Knights filled the arena.

“Eeeek!” Caerus recoiled in horror and tripped over his own feet, sprawling to the floor as forty burning red eyes stared directly at him.

“Such power…” the headmaster murmured, awestruck. From the speed to the quantity to the coordination of her summons, Mira was leagues beyond the norm.

“Maybe now you understand?” Mira said, stroking her chin.


This wasn’t hard for her at all. Summoning required but a few simple steps:

First, affix the summoning location. It had to be in range of a sphere around the caster, the size of which correlated to their ability. or a mage of Mira’s skill, the radius was up to twenty meters from her.

Second, select the spirit to summon. This was when the caster decided what they would be summoning to the prior selected location. After deciding on the summons, the caster needed to charge it with mana. This readied the summon to be called upon at any time.

Third, call the summoned spirit forth.

Lastly, give instructions. After the summon was called upon, the caster had to govern their actions.

That was the standard process of summoning, at least as it applied to a standard summoner. Then again, Mira wasn’t exactly a standard summoner. Mira took the technique a step further with her simultaneous summonings, during which she affixed multiple summoning locations while at the same time summoning multiple spirits. Imagine being instantly surrounded by Dark Knights with their blades bearing down on you, and you’ll understand the menace.

Simplification of the casting processes was the key that opened the door to mastery in any school of magic. Those who could do it naturally were rare, and those who wanted to had to first break their own understanding of the arts to grasp the phenomenon.

And those who had gone beyond mastery were the Nine Wise Men.

The headmaster stood and praised her feat. “Splendid!” The rest of the audience was jolted from their stupor, and soon the coliseum rang with applause once more.

After the match, the judges tallied up the scores. Meanwhile, Caerus fled the arena along with his attendant. Mira received lavish congratulations from the other representatives. They were keen to find out just who she was and how she could do the things she did. Just as she was about to make her usual excuses, two newcomers entered the grounds.

One of them was an elf in a blue-and-black robe with glimmering blond hair that fell past his shoulders. “Well, looks like the symposium is already over,” he mused.

His companion was a young blonde girl wearing a red magical-girl-style hood and cape. “So it seems,” she said flatly.

The two made an eye-catching pair, but as they entered, there was a sudden shift in the arena’s atmosphere. The headmaster and professors rushed down to the coliseum floor while the rest of the audience gazed on nervously. Hinata and the representative for necromancy both looked at a loss for words. Mira seemed much less impressed.

“Hrmm! Well, if it isn’t Cleos.” she said, greeting the elf like an old friend.

He turned and smiled with surprise upon seeing her, then walked right over. “Mira! I heard you came back but I didn’t imagine I’d run into you here.” The acting Elder of the Tower of Evocation sketched a bow in greeting.

“Oh, do you two know each other?” asked the girl in the red hood, peeking out from behind Cleos. As she caught sight of Mira, she grinned and muttered, “How cute,” but her smile soon vanished.

She seemed familiar, and Mira looked to Cleos for answers.

“Ah, right, I don’t believe you two were properly introduced before. Mira, this is one of my fellow acting Elders: Miss Amarette, keeper of the Tower of Necromancy. Amarette, this is Mira, the girl I told you about.”

Hinata and the other representatives sat stunned, watching the exchange. How could such powerful people chat so casually?

“Oh, my, this is her? A pleasure to meet you. As he said, I’m Amarette.”

“Mira.”

Amarette took a step forward and gave a slight nod of the head. She then moved even closer and inspected Mira’s outfit. She was only slightly taller than Mira herself. “Oh, this is splendid work. Would you mind telling me where you had them made?” 

She stooped a little as she stared at Mira’s technomancy robes, devouring them with her eyes as the rest of her face remained blank. Clearly, she was also a fan of magical-girl styling. It was little wonder that she took interest in the sleek and elegant design of Mira’s new outfit.

“This was made by Lily and…well, the entire palace maid corps.”

“Lily, a palace maid? Hmm. I’ll have to make inquiries. Thank you, Miss Mira; that is good to know.” Amarette looked back up with a small smile before walking off toward the headmaster and the professors who had been waiting for a chance to speak.

“I suppose I must go say hello as well,” said Cleos with an apologetic smile. “Oh, but there are some things I’d like to go over with you. If you could make time for me later, I’d appreciate it.”

“Sure, why not. I have a few questions for you too.”

Cleos trailed after Amarette. The headmaster had already approached the petite necromancer, and the two were engaged in conversation.

“Wh-what’s going on here?!” demanded Hinata. Having shaken off her shock for the umpteenth time that day, she lunged at Mira for answers. “How are you so close with Master Cleos?!”

None of the other representatives made a move to stop her. They all wanted to know the same thing.

“We’ve met before. It’s not that big of a deal. Why didn’t any of the rest of you say hello?”

Hinata’s cat ears popped up, and the rest of the group jolted. In their surprise, they had completely forgotten. Mortified, they scurried off toward the headmaster.

Mira watched them go and sighed as she pulled out an apple au lait. It wasn’t often that the pair dropped in on a symposium, but circumstances had afforded them the opportunity. Cleos had been returning a prospective summoner to the academy, and Amarette had just finished some business at the palace before coming to the academy to check on a few things. The sudden appearance of the VIPs caused a brief commotion, but the score tallying was completed soon after. Summoning took first place with the highest performance score in history.

With awe and relief washing over all involved, the Spell Symposium was adjourned.

***

Mira found herself relaxing on a sofa in the academy’s guest room along with a happy-looking Cleos and an expressionless Amarette sitting across from her. At her side, looking trapped and bewildered, was Hinata.

How? How can Mira be so brazen? Hinata wondered. She was a professor at a prestigious academy, yet the two sitting across from her were still leagues above her in status. Just making eye contact felt discourteous. She wondered if she should throw herself prostrate before them. Taking a teacup in her trembling hands, she lifted it to her lips.

“Hot!” The herbal tea was freshly brewed, and she couldn’t contain her squeal. Her ears and tail shot upright for a few moments before Mira calmly offered her a glass of ice water. “Thank you.” Accepting the glass, she sipped the water to soothe her tongue. But then she remembered her current situation and glanced about in panic. Amarette was covering her mouth, but her eyes sparkled with humor.

“Are you all right, Miss Hinata?” asked Cleos with a gentle smile.

“I…I’m fined.” Hinata’s ears shot up once more as she fumbled her words. Her jaw dropped in horror.

Mira snagged one of the cookies from the table and popped it into Hinata’s open mouth. “Come on, Hinata. Why are you so nervous?”

“Mrph…” She scarfed down the cookie and chased it with a gulp of water. “I should be asking why you are so at ease?!” A sliver of her tension had abated…but she was sitting across from two of the acting Elders! How could Mira be so calm?

“Well, I suppose I—” Mira stopped abruptly. She didn’t really have a good answer for that.

Frankly, she still wasn’t all that familiar with how class and rank had developed over the past thirty years, so it was a hard question to answer. She had a vague understanding. But her best friend was the king, and her former attendant was considered to be the most powerful summoner on the continent. It was sort of confusing. I suppose I should figure this out someday. Maybe it was best to just act casually.

“Miss Hinata, please don’t trouble yourself. How many times must I remind you that I’m only holding a temporary position and there’s no need for such formality?” Cleos said kindly and truthfully.

“But…but still.” She was at a loss for words. She’d been raised to show proper deference and respect; it wasn’t something she could just switch off.

Mira sighed. “Come on, Hinata. Are you going to make him repeat himself?” 

Hinata’s eyes went wide as her thought processes screeched to a halt. A superior had asked her to do something countless times and she hadn’t done it? How shameful!

“I’m so sorry!” She fell prostrate on the floor for a moment before Mira took her by the collar and lifted her back to the sofa.

“What a shame.” Cleos chuckled, looking slightly downcast. “I’d prefer to talk about regular things. About classes, plans, anything. You’re fine speaking with Mira, so why not me?”

“Huh? What do you mean about speaking with Mira?” asked Hinata, her ears flattening.

What did Mira have to do with this? Tilting her head, she turned to look at the girl in question. She was definitely cute, and obviously an incredible summoner. Certainly, her magical power would afford her some status…

But she was also an adventurer. Adventurers typically valued their freedom and weren’t associated with the bureaucracy of schools and the Silver Towers. Some top-ranked adventurers took positions where they wielded authority and responsibility, but those were few and far between.

Cleos glanced at Mira with a twinge of envy. “Well, she’s probably more powerful than I am. She is Master Danblf’s pupil, after all.”

At that, Hinata’s brain crashed.



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