Chapter 10: Tournament
A week has passed since we arrived at school. The daily training is hard, but strangely enough, it feels quite rewarding. The food in the cafeterias tastes good, and Miko is still quite nice to me. Not that I want to complain, but I can't remember having such a trouble-free time.
I recently started using magic again, or rather trying to. Fortunately, I'm pain-free again, but the long break has set me back a little. Not that I could do so much before, but at least I could levitate small things above my hand.
Today, however, I'm working in my field of expertise again. The fighting tournament, which is taking place alongside the preparations for the school festival, is entering its first round. As Lilith announced, I'm being used as a healer.
"This is where the magic barrier is erected so the spectators and we healers can't be hit. But the barrier only blocks magic, so if, for example, one of the fighters should fly towards us for some reason, we have to dodge out of the way."
"That sounds like it's happened before," I remark meekly.
"Perhaps."
Hannah continues to guide me through the arena, which looks a bit like a concert venue. This is where all the tournament matches are held in front of a maximum of one thousand excited students. The stands stretch around the entire pitch. The floor is similar to that in the gym but feels a little softer.
From time to time, I glance up at Miko, who has taken a seat in the stands. She immediately declined the offer to take a look at the facilities from down here. After all, she won't be in action until next week when she faces the tournament winner in a final show match.
"How are you doing at our school? Miko and you?" Hannah asks when she notices how my attention is wandering for a moment.
"Pretty good, I think. We always have a lot to do, and time flies by far too quickly. The food tastes great, the beds are comfy," even if I still miss air conditioning or a ventilator in our room.
"And what about the other students?"
"They usually look at us like we're aliens, but I'm sure that's normal. After all, we seem to be the only guests."
"I'm really sorry about that. I'm pretty sure it's not because of you."
"What do you mean?"
"I've asked around a bit, and it seems to be Miko's fault. She radiates a certain aura. A little arrogant and unapproachable."
Somehow, this statement makes me angrier than if someone were to say something like that about me. None of them have even tried to speak to Miko and talk about her behind her back.
"Then they would just have to get to know her a bit. When you're with her, you realize that she's actually a completely normal girl, whatever normal is supposed to be."
She snores, steals your blanket in her sleep even though she has her own, takes incredibly long showers, is unimaginably honest, and looks out for the well-being of everyone else without wanting to.
But somehow, I can understand the students, which is perhaps why these words sting a little. On the outside, she seems pretty indifferent to everybody. This is mainly because she has no genuine interest in most people. Nevertheless, I'm sure she doesn't enjoy it when others treat her like that.
"Oh, that annoys me. On the one hand, I want to stand up for her, but on the other, the rumors about her are a little too well-founded." Hannah seems really torn. What exactly are we not getting here? Rumors?
"What are they talking about?"
"No idea how much you know about Miko, but they say she killed several people three years ago. She was working as part of security for one of the candidates during the Mage King's coronation ceremony, and, supposedly, there was some kind of incident where she killed the attackers."
I guess I should be shocked, but if that's the case, she was just doing her job, wasn't she? I am aware that, in some cases, it is possible to end things without resorting to killing, but who knows exactly what happened? I doubt that only one of the students who were running their mouths was actually there.
"I apologize for my ignorance. But… what kind of coronation? I don't really understand."
"There is an election every five years in which guild leaders and mages with special accomplishments during that period vote together for a king or queen of the mages. In addition to the title, this person is also responsible for presenting the wishes and needs of the country's mages to the government and ensuring that they are respected."
Sounds like a shitty job. However, Hannah takes a quick breath and continues.
"This event was attacked three years ago, and as I said, Miko killed several people there. I don't blame her; she probably had no other choice, but I also understand the students who feel uncomfortable when they think about the fact that she ended people's lives."
Well, no idea. What am I supposed to feel now? To be honest, my image of Miko hasn't changed at all, whether she killed someone or not. Context matters, you know. Do people avoid police officers when they have to shoot someone? Or doctors when they couldn't save a life because of a mistake? Shouldn't we be much more supportive instead of picking on these people?
"Sorry, I dropped quite a bombshell on you."
I wave it off. I don't even look at Hannah. I can't even remember how we got onto the whole subject. "Don't worry about it."
"I'm sorry, Kayla."
◆
"What did you talk about?"
After the atmosphere had become a little uncomfortable, Hannah just showed me the toilets and changing rooms for us healers and then finished the tour of the arena, so I headed straight to the stands where Miko was still hanging around.
"All sorts of things."
"What's wrong? You look upset and towards the end."
"Really?" I don't know how she was able to recognize it so well from such a distance, but somehow, I'm happy that she kept her eyes on me.
"We somehow ended up talking about your past."
"Oh. Now I'm curious."
I swallow hard and let out a heavy sigh.
"She said something about an attack you were somehow involved in. That you were protecting someone."
"You know I'm not allowed in dungeons at the moment. The incident three years ago is the reason for that."
"Because you killed people?"
"Yes and no. In my eyes, I had no choice but to do it. But in the end, it was decided that I had disobeyed orders."
"What happened?"
"The attack was ultimately a suicide mission. Can you imagine how rational it is to attack an event where the strongest mages of the country are gathered? I was working as a bodyguard for someone at the time, and when the attack started, we were told to flee to a safe room with our candidates. But in my youthful recklessness, I didn't stay put but went back to help fight the attackers. In the end, I saved a dozen lives, ended a few, and was banned from working inside dungeons indefinitely."
Although she tells the story in a relatively relaxed manner, I believe that she regrets it. Whether this is due to the injustice of the suspension or the fact that she had to kill, I can't tell. I don't really know what to say either.
"What assholes, banning you for this." just slips out of my mouth.
"Right?" Miko grins brightly. The whole thing happened a few years ago, but I can't imagine that she doesn't care anymore.
"I'm sorry."
"Sorry for what?"
"That I brought it up."
"Oh, don't be like that. Without all this, we probably would never have met, so you should just be happy."
"I am happy, I really am."
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