Ellie’s rock shattered into pieces.
No matter how excellent Dein Edwick was as a student and the promising new recruit, the match was already over, and everyone could see it, including Dein himself.
But Professor Rensanti shouted.
“Wait, hold on! It’s not over yet!”
Both Ellie and Dein looked at him, confused.
He continued.
“Isn’t it still Edwick’s turn? Sir, please proceed!”
“This….”
Dein made a sound of frustration.
He could maybe crack the large rock, but breaking it into pieces like that was beyond him.
But Rensanti still desperately shouted.
“You never know, maybe Sir is really that powerful! You might still manage it, so go ahead!”
His eyes were filled with the frantic desperation of someone standing at the edge of a cliff, and they were locked solely on Dein.
At that moment, Skaha’s small body began to float up from the audience, heading toward them.
“Ugh, uhm….”
Dein was already demoralized because of Ellie.
So, following instructions, he clenched his fist, gathered his mana, and reinforced it before striking the rock.
He thought, “Might as well test my skills now.”
Immediately, a loud crack sounded as a deep fissure started to form in the rock.
It was too large a crack for someone of his skill.
“!?”
Dein tried to pull his hand away in panic, but Rensanti shouted again.
“Keep your hand on it! Don’t pull it off!”
That was when Dein realized what was happening.
Rensanti had clearly resorted to cheating.
‘No, this… I…’
Even Dein, who had not grown up with a particularly noble heart, couldn’t shake the sinking feeling in his chest.
What the boy had wanted was to show off his strength by bullying a weak maid, making a strange girl cry, and then taking her as his follower.
It was certainly not a virtuous goal.
However, the thought of winning by cheating left a bad taste in his mouth.
The founder of the Edwick family, Duke Edwick, was a hero who had defeated enemies with honor, using any means necessary, and the boy had always admired such heroic tales, even if his own path was crooked.
Though he hadn’t fully matured and had taken some wrong turns, there were still parts of him that weren’t completely twisted.
He was still a child who hadn’t yet reached adulthood.
But as he tried to pull his hand away, Rensanti’s magic kept his hand glued to the rock.
“Yes, just a little more! I knew you could do it, Sir!”
“This is—!”
At that moment, Skaha, floating toward them, arrived right in front of Rensanti.
“Hm? Dean, you didn’t come to stop this match, did you?”
Rensanti, cornered by desperation, grinned grotesquely as he spoke.
“If that’s the case, this match is void. We need to reconsider everything from the beginning! Not just start over, but even decide whether to do it at all!”
To this, Skaha calmly responded.
“You.”
She lifted her head, staring directly at him, and asked.
“Do you know how magicians settled their differences before the Triad Comparison system?”
“What do you mean by that—”
Rensanti’s words were cut off when Skaha’s hand grabbed the back of his head and slammed it down onto Dein’s rock.
BANG!!!
A sound that should never come from a human skull reverberated through the air, a sound that would be an awful omen for the owner of the skull if it ever happened.
“The answer is life-and-death battles,” Skaha said.
Her tone was the same as usual, but there was a subtle change in her voice.
Because, in reality, her body had changed.
Visually, she appeared to be in her late twenties and was about 180 cm tall.
Her legs were long and thin, but her chest and hips were large, and her waist was slender.
The combination of her curvy, feminine form and her long, graceful limbs created a strange but alluring figure.
However, what was most striking were the countless scars covering her entire body.
Arms, legs, sides, back, neck, even her face—places where women usually avoided scars—were all marked.
If the skin was exposed, it was scarred.
There were likely more hidden beneath the surface.
The types of scars were varied: cuts from blades, stab wounds, burns, the unique patterns left by electric shocks, and even arrow wounds.
If you only looked at her figure and face, she would appear to be a breathtaking beauty.
But when you saw the scars, she was a terrifying weapon whose survival seemed like a miracle.
Taken together, she was Skaha Merlinnia, the founder and headmistress of the academy.
“Prad Rensanti. You are hereby dismissed from your position as a professor at this academy. If you wish to protest, come find me.”
Skaha casually tossed the now limp figure of Rensanti onto the grass beside them.
Then, as she turned away, she saw the pale, frightened students watching in silence and gave a wry smile.
‘This is why I try to hide my true self on campus. But here they are, forcing it out of me. Idiots.’
In fact, even without showing her true form, she could have easily incapacitated someone like Rensanti, but she couldn’t just take him down in one blow like this.
He hadn’t gotten his position as a professor through card games, after all.
And there was no time to fight slowly.
She was simply too angry.
No matter how it was framed, the battle between individuals was always a duel, and even if one of the combatants was an ally, fairness had to be maintained as soon as they took the role of an observer.
This was an idea that Skaha held sacred, more so than any god, and one that could never be violated.
So, I have no regrets about publicly punishing those who have desecrated their duties as members.
However, even if the choice was without regret, there are times when you must still feel the bitterness.
Just like Skaha is now, under the fearful gaze of fifty new students.
Skaha opened her mouth.
“The match is over, and the winner is Ellie. All students, return to your dorms.”
She quickly said this and tried to turn around, but there was a hand pulling at her sleeve.
“Dean, Dean.”
It was Ellie.
Despite her age, Ellie’s deep, black eyes looked up at Skaha.
Not with fear, but with a smile.
“Please, give me a piggyback ride.”
“…Huh?”
The greatest embarrassment Skaha had ever felt in her long life overcame her.
“A… piggyback ride?”
“You’re really tall. If you give me a piggyback ride, I feel like I can look down at the world from a really, really high place. Would you do it?”
“Ah, no… that is, it’s not… possible…”
‘Isn’t it?’
In all of Skaha’s life, both before and after founding the academy, no child had ever asked her for a piggyback ride.
She didn’t even think about the dignity or prestige of being the dean.
She was simply that embarrassed.
“Well…”
Realizing she would have to bend down a lot to give Ellie a piggyback ride, Skaha bent her waist awkwardly.
But even so, Ellie was still too short to climb onto her back.
Skaha bent one knee on the grass.
“How about it? Can you get on?”
“It’s still a bit high…”
Ellie’s hand touched Skaha’s shoulder.
Soft skin, rough from scars.
“Then, just cling to me like this.”
“Like this?”
As Ellie pressed her upper body against Skaha’s, they could now feel each other through the fabric.
Skaha could feel Ellie’s soft body, while Ellie could feel the scars on Skaha’s back.
“Yeah. Now, step on my hand and get on.”
“Wait, let me take off my shoes… here I go!”
Her soft soles and rough palms touched.
Finally.
Ellie succeeded in climbing onto Skaha’s shoulders.
“Wow! Hahaha!”
Ellie’s laughter echoed through the entire arena.
She was just happy to be up high, and because she was happy, the fresh laughter came out naturally.
Her laughter, like the carbonation of a cold drink on a hot day, washed away the fear the students had felt toward Skaha.
Still stunned, Skaha, who had given Ellie a piggyback ride, felt it most clearly.
She saw the change in the way the students looked at her.
Ah, Skaha sighed.
‘Did Ellie plan this?’ I don’t know.
The fact that I don’t know is what’s most unusual.
“Dean, you’re really tall! How tall are you?”
“1,179.”
Actually, I’m over 180.
“Wow! So, right now, I’m looking down from over 2 meters high?”
“Uh, yes…?”
Then Ellie giggled and looked down below.
“Do you want to ride too?”
She asked the boy who had lost the match.
“!?”
The dazed boy quickly shook his head, as if saying he couldn’t possibly do such a thing.
The orphan girl looked down from above, while the heir of the Duke’s house looked up from below, confirming their positions.
“Really? Then, Dean, I’m satisfied now, so please let me down.”
“Right, okay.”
Ellie held on tightly with her thighs, and as Skaha knelt down on the ground, Ellie carefully tried to lower her legs.
Then she looked to the side.
***
“What are you doing? Aren’t you going to help?”
The defeated boy was once again flustered and covered his face with his hands.
“Who else is there besides you here?”
“Uh, then…”
Carefully, Dein hesitated, wondering how he should help, before recalling how Ellie had relied on Skaha’s hand to climb up earlier.
He reached out his hand, and Ellie’s foot came down onto it.
The soft touch made the boy’s head spin for a moment.
“Thank you. Here we go.”
Ellie stepped down, put on her shoes, and extended one hand to Dein.
“Here.”
“Uh…?”
“A handshake. If we competed, we should shake hands, right? Isn’t that common sense?”
‘Common sense?’ I’m not sure, but since Ellie says so, Dein dazedly shook her hand.
“Yeah. Then should I apologize to Jeina later?”
“…Oh?”
“Go, apologize to your friends.”
Still in a daze, Dein walked toward his group in the audience.
He sat nearby, but since his group seemed just as confused, no one spoke up.
Actually, Dein wasn’t sure if they were even his group anymore.
The way the students gathered together, forming cliques and thinking about hierarchy, suddenly felt silly and childish.
His face turned red.
Dein, as well as the others who had been in his group.
The students all sent glances toward Ellie.
Maybe this girl would show them something important, not just play the childish games they were used to.
Clea was also staring intently at Ellie, her mouth slightly open.
Though she kept her mouth closed, even the staff members couldn’t hide their anticipation, wondering what this extraordinary girl would say.
And Ellie realized that the atmosphere now called for her to say something.
“Um…”
She could have backed off if she wanted to.
She could run away.
But if she ran away, scared to speak in front of just sixty students, then she wouldn’t deserve to aim for the throne.
However, there was no need for a speech, so Ellie simply shouted brightly and energetically.
“Let’s all get along from now on!”