After escaping with senior Xian to a park reasonably far from the scene of the incident.

I sat her down on a random bench nearby and calmed her down.

It felt like senior Xian’s magic appeared and then disappeared near the bulletin board.

As expected, it seems that it was right that it came to the surrounding area and then went back.

“You only got help again.”

It was already the third thanks after the hunting festival and the after-party.

If it were the original Xian senior, he would have been able to relax alone with the group he met today, but he seemed to be in danger because his luck didn’t follow him.

It was a misfortune that happened while I forgot to release the quiver in the shade of a tree for a while.

Even Xian senior could not deal with a group of five swordsmen with just one bow without arrows.

I don’t know if it was one or two.

“Is this, senior Xian?”

Seeing the quiver I handed over, senior Xian’s eyes widened.

“Why do you have it?”

“I knew that senior Xian was watching from the shade of the tree near the bulletin board.”

“… … .”

“But when I went there, there was no senior, only the senior arrow. I thought it was a lost item, so I tried to bring it to the dormitory.”

It was right after I sent Lulu and Stella to the next class.

Leaving only the quiver and moving to another place was an unexpected action.

I immediately used magic detection to figure out where it was, but something dangerous was about to happen.

It was really fortunate that I found senior Xian on time.

“You knew.”

“I was thinking about when the senior would talk to me, but I didn’t know that he would go back as well.”

“… There was a reason for that.”

Perhaps you were covering your face.

Since we met at the hunting festival, we probably know each other’s faces, but we still haven’t shaken off the awkwardness with Lulu and Stella.

In the first place, approaching others first wasn’t the way Xian sunbaenim should be.

“Are the preparations for the evaluation going well?”

“… so-so. I have a lot on my mind these days.”

“What are you thinking?”

“You think.”

“… Yeah?”

I almost pulled my body backwards in surprise at the sight of senior Xian making unexpected remarks in a calm voice.

“I was thinking a little bit about whether I could continue to be close to you like this even after we had an evaluation match with you.”

“… That’s what you meant.”

I was infinitely ashamed of myself for almost making a strange mistake.

“Is there anything you can’t be friends with? After all, Xian-senpai promised to join our party anyway.

Losing might upset you to some extent. It won’t soften up after seeing each other for a few days.”

“Did you forget what I said? I told you that I will join your party only after you beat me.”

“Of course you meant that I would win, right?”

A small spark flew between the eyes of senior Xian and I.

“You junior, you are cocky.”

“Should I only do senior Xian?”

“It was a useless worry. I became a fool for thinking I would have mercy on you for a moment.”

Senior Xian still seemed confident that he would beat me.

“It would be better to look forward to the evaluation match. I will do my best to deal with you.”

“Senior Xian gets beaten up by me and is sarcastically rude, so just say that he won’t come to the party.”

“Nothing like that.”

Senior Xian stood up with a firm answer and put on his bow and arrow case and turned his steps towards the archery club dormitory.

I gave her one last piece of advice to make up her mind.

“Senior Xian, I have one last thing to say.”

“… … .”

“Even if I lose the evaluation match, I will not give up recruiting senior Xian to our party.”

“… … .”

“So don’t worry about making the relationship awkward, and do your best to deal with it so you don’t regret it.”

She stopped in her seat, her body twisted backward about half way, and a reply continued as if she was responding to what I had said.

“I also.”

“Yeah.”

“I won’t be offended like a child just because I lose, so I won’t forgive you if you hesitate.”

“Absolutely.”

“yes.”

The back of Xian, who finally smiled with satisfaction, slowly disappeared behind the building along the road.

It was the point at which there was only a week left until the confrontation with senior Xian.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

As soon as I cleared my mind and entered the arena, dozens of thunderous cheers rang out.

loud voice. little voice. male voice. female voice.

Even before the start of the game, the tension was relieved by the cheers heard in various forms from students and faculty.

“It’s Conrad! Conrad Perdalos has appeared!”

“Seniors! You must win!!”

“You are the hope of the Ministry! Show the head of the Archery Club how strong the Magic Ministry is!!”

Because I had a personal relationship, there were voices from people who wished for my victory.

There were voices that seemed to want me to win because of the sense of kinship with the same Ministry of Magic.

The overwhelming majority of the shouts seemed to simply want to cheer for one side in order to enjoy the amusement.

It was a heartfelt match between the chief of archery and the chief of magic.

In this academy, where alcohol and rock-paper-scissors were all entertainment, there could have been no other spectacle as interesting as this one.

The battle with the mad dog last semester wasn’t even this much of an interest.

In the first place, no one would have even imagined that I would win at that time, so no one would have thought it interesting and come to see it.

However, today’s game was an exceptionally large stage that I have never experienced before among the academy’s midterm evaluation matches.

Even though it was the largest stadium in the academy, all the seats were already full, and even the stairs and the entrance were filling up.

Maybe I can properly promote my family once.

“Wow! It’s Xian Rudflica!!”

“Sister Xian!! You can’t give orders to the Ministry of Magic!!”

“Cheer up Xian! Show the Ministry of Magic juniors the difference between one year seniors!!”

At the same time as senior Xian appeared, he appeared after receiving a similar level of shouts to me.

magic and archery. man and woman. lower and upper grades.

I can’t say it’s a very perfect dichotomy, but people who actively support me and Xian-senpai are largely divided into these two categories.

It was not the intention of the two people, but it was like a confrontation with a lot of expectations on each other’s shoulders.

After lightly making eye contact with senior Xian walking from the other side.

As if they had made a promise to each other, they simultaneously moved to the center of the stage.

“… … .”

“… … .”

They only shook each other’s hands and shook hands once.

Other than that, the distance was immediately widened without any further conversation.

Because the sincerity to do our best for each other was conveyed enough.

While I put my hand inside the cloak and chanted, Xian-senpai was ready to fire three arrows at the same time.

The announcer’s announcement that the game was going to start immediately resonated throughout the stadium.

“start!”

At the same time as the host’s cry, a huge explosion sounded.

The muffled voices of the crowd, which had remained until just before, were silenced by a single explosion.

It was a power that was on a completely different level from the 3-circle explosion magic that was shown in the last evaluation match.

The power of the explosion magic, which had grown one step stronger in half a year, had more than doubled in power and scale.

The arena that senior Xian was stepping on with both feet.

Some of them were powerful enough to blow them away.

“… … .”

A large cloud of dust rose from the place where Xian-senpai was loading an arrow until just now.

If it hit properly, it wouldn’t be strange even if the death prevention magic was activated.

It was an apologetic story to Xian-senpai, but since I was serious about it, I had no intention of directing a halfway, boiling situation.

More than anything else, the senior Xian I know would have been able to cope with this kind of magic.

Three arrows came out of the dust with the sound of blades cutting through the wind.

It seems that I fully anticipated the attack as soon as I started and fired the loaded arrow at the same time as dodging.

The three arrows drew different curves and were approaching me in a trajectory as if aiming at the three vital parts of my body.

You couldn’t just avoid it, you couldn’t just block it.

In order to nullify all three attacks, the most important thing was to properly defend against all three.

An arrow aimed at the ankle caused a small explosive magic and twisted its trajectory.

An arrow aiming for the eye was blocked by the 4th circle vision barrier and stopped moving.

The last arrow that flew towards the heart hit the blade part and bounced off by swinging the broadsword held in reverse.

Brilliant. Choncheol, who approached my heart with a sound, lost its direction and bounced off the back of my shoulder.

Each shot was a lethal attack with no mercy.

Everyone knew how to deal with it, so it wasn’t difficult to deal with.

Could it be that your resolve to fight against me has weakened while you haven’t seen it?

There was a time when I had such ridiculous worries for a while, but maybe I should quietly bury them in my heart again.

From the dust of the explosion magic, Xian-senpai’s figure reappeared.

The aftermath of the explosion looked slightly scorched, but it seems to have failed to inflict any serious wounds that would affect the battle.

It’s probably because he figured out a location where he could take less damage even in the midst of a huge explosion.

It was clear that it was not an easy opponent as expected.

That’s why it was an opponent that I had to win even more.

“… … .”

Senior Xian’s eyes met mine exactly.

Like the eyes of a beast still looking for prey, her will had not faded at all.

Then, the easiest way to win was to let that will fade.

I immediately used my special magic at the point when her hand moved to the quiver behind her back.

“Oops!”

Xian’s arm, which was about to pull out the arrow, was blocked by magic and shrunk in an instant.

Because the reaction that the sabotage operation went well was clearly shown.

As soon as he used the small-scale light explosion magic on her again, Xian-senpai’s body trembled again.

pop. pop. pop.

She continued to sabotage using explosion magic around Xian-senpai so that she could not continue the attack properly.

It may feel a bit cowardly, but the best attacks in combat are not dangerous ones that can crush and destroy anything.

The method of blocking the opponent’s means of attack itself was the most effective attack to knock the opponent down.

With just this explosion magic, I can continue to attack and defend at the same time.

Senior Xian had no choice but to keep accumulating damage without being able to attack or defend.

I didn’t care about the slightly twisted expression on her face, and I continued to sabotage without stopping.

“… … !”

In an instant, Senior Xian rolled his body quickly.

After being hit several times, I realized that there was a very slight gap in the middle of my explosion magic, and it was a movement to quickly get out of the explosion radius.

Xian sunbaenim’s arm finally reached the quiver hanging behind his back.

I also stopped disturbing Xian-senpai with explosion magic and increased my distance to prepare to deal with her attack in any form.

And the moment she confirms that she takes out two arrows from her quiver.

I was sure in my head that the next attack would be a no small attack.