Once you’ve accepted a match, if you don’t even make it to the selection process, the name of Slutarch will be ruined. As a result of preparing thoroughly, I was able to successfully make it into the selection of 20 people.

Of course, there were names such as Cectiara-sama and His Highness, as well as Emilia and Melinda. Melinda is capable of doing well if she wants to, she just doesn’t feel like it. Other acquaintances include my brother and Olivier, Fried, etc. In the first year, Lancelot and Gadd Maysen also joined the selection group.

This time, all four of the top students in the school have been selected, but they also have their own strengths and weaknesses.

Cectiara-sama excels in intelligence and her Phantom Beast is powerful, but she is not physically strong. She is at a disadvantage in pure combat.

Olivier is the opposite, with outstanding combat abilities and a Phantom Beast that is well-suited for battle, but his intelligence is inferior to the other top students and he is not particularly good at [research] this time.

His Highness Llewayne excels in all areas, especially magic, which is his specialty. He is the leading candidate for the [Fall] Championship.

Vanderlei is also an all-rounder with high standards, but in his case, his performance in [winter] is particularly expected. This is because his horse(Phantom Beast) and swordsmanship shows powerful strength in [battle].

I am looking forward to hearing the announcements from four people in [fall], it is something to look forward to. The order of the draw was Cectiara-sama, His Highness, me and then Emilia in fourth.

When I returned to my room in the dormitory, I flipped through the strategy book. It had been a long time since I had picked it up. My chest aches as I think of my mother.

I opened the page for [fall]. There, the details of what would happen on the day were written. I traced my mother’s writing with my finger.

“…[Ouka attack incident]..”

Fans of the game call [fall] this way.

***

“[During the presentation, the protagonist starts behaving in a strange way. Controlled by Ouka’s magic, the protagonist uses the advanced healing magic that is the result of her research on Ouka. Ouka obtains the opportunity to revive his body and immediately disappears, causing the magic research presentation to be canceled], I see…”

Actually, this time, I helped Emilia quite a bit with her research. The field of healing magic that Emilia handles is behind compared to other fields. This is because there are fewer absolute numbers of magicians. So until now, it has been considered that healing magic can cure injuries and illnesses, but it can’t completely cure serious illnesses.

However, Emilia alone has the power to heal. She is the best in history, no matter how you look at it. The problem is how to do it.

Healing magic is a magic that maximizes the natural healing power of the person. Therefore, it is necessary to come up with a way to revive completely lost tissue.

Therefore, Emilia thought of materializing her own magic power and filling the space as a replacement for damaged cells and tissue. This is Emilia’s research this time, and also what Ouka is aiming for.

Ouka, who received magic power from Emilia, combines her own magic power and amplifies its effect to the limit, and completely creates his own body. And she succeeded in moving his spiritual body from stone to body, reviving, and welcomed the [winter] with great expectations.

***

I understand that I should have stopped Emilia’s research when I knew this, but I couldn’t help it. Moreover, this research has an incalculable value.

Surely in the future, someone will save a precious person.

So I decided to keep Christina in Emilia’s pocket for the day.

Even so, I wonder where Ouka got the information from. At this point, the only people who know the contents of Emilia’s research are me and Melinda, and Lancelot who talks to us well from April. It’s not like information is leaking from the students.

Given the statement at the summer event, it is certain that there is a special information source.

And thus, when it became a little bit chilly, our [fall] began.

***

As always, I received an explanation of the event in the lecture hall. [Fall] is the only time this place becomes the venue.

On the stage, there are five judges including the Principal. On the other side, there are 20 chosen people. The remaining students sit politely and listen to the presentations.

Presenters sit in order of presentation, so I’m next to His Highness. He put a jacket or something on me and said, “Are you cold?” or “Are your hands cold?” I can’t help but think, “Wait, do I have a fever or something?” He’s so overprotective.

The first presentation, Cectiara-sama’s research, is summed up in one word: wonderful.

It’s the current state-of-the-art technology in long-distance communication, the application of crystals to human self-calling. By using crystals as a medium and fixing coordinates, safety and ease have been successfully pursued. It’s like a safe and easy version of transfer magic. If we can overcome the difficulty of handling, it will change the way transfer magic is used in this country.

It is said that she got the idea from her Phantom Beast, a butterfly that has the ability to create 100 clones (alter egos?).

The second person is His Highness. His Highness has been basing his theme on increasing the things that can be done with magic since last year. This year, he has succeeded in reproducing a very simple healing magic by combining water magic, fire magic and nature magic. This was a huge shock. Healing magic, which was said to be impossible without innate talent, was made usable by others, even though high-level magic talent is required. It is because His Highness, who has more knowledge of magic and a rich variety and quantity of magic power than anyone else, was able to do it. Even though the quality may be inferior to that of a real healing magic user, it can be said that His Highness showed off his abundant talent.

Then it’s my turn. I was quite confused about what to research. Because I can’t do anything without borrowing Christina’s power.

So I decided to research how to use Christina’s power. We all borrow the power of Phantom Beast, but that’s all we’re borrowing. Strictly speaking, it’s not our own power. However, if the bond between Christina and I is so strong that a legendary dragon is born, could I not make magic truly mine, that is, share magic with Christina? Like His Highness, I plan to continue this research for three years.

This year, I succeeded in using basic magic with the help of Christina’s power. Christina has the ability to transform into a dragon and can only touch my body when she is in that form.

When all of Christina’s magic flows into my body at once, it’s possible that my body could explode, so we have set up a large tank with a small faucet to control the flow and use it like that. Still, it is a new attempt and I think the reaction of the judges was not bad.

“Oh, I was nervous.”

In the midst of the overwhelming applause, the person who responded politely to my muttering was the next presenter, Emilia. “You did great,” she said to me.

“Thank you, and good luck to you too, Emilia.” I replied and at the same time, I confirmed that Christina was slipping under Emilia’s jacket.

“Good afternoon everyone, I’m Emilia from the first year. Without further ado, my research is——”

Ouka, come whenever you want. With that attitude, as the clock’s hand moved, I could no longer hide my confusion.

Ouka did not come. Nothing happened and the presentation continued. Finally, I heard the voice saying “thank you for listening.” And Emilia’s presentation was over. And then the next one began, and the next one.

Ouka did not appear in [fall].