Chapter 21

Episode 21: Eliza Rowlett

In the First Practice Room of Crawford Magic Academy, the students of Class 2-A were engaged in a mock battle during their lesson.

Among the eight battlefields set up, two female students stood facing each other. One was Eliza Rowlett, ranked third in her grade and a member of Class A.

The other, standing opposite her, was a silver-haired girl so beautiful she seemed almost ethereal.

“(──Today, I will win.)”

In stark contrast to Eliza, who glared with unveiled hostility, the silver-haired girl stood with an expression so devoid of emotion that it gave off a cold impression to all who saw her. Her name was Yufia Queensroad.

At Crawford Magic Academy, the title of “Class A” was awarded to the most outstanding students, proving their excellence. Among them, only those who far surpassed the realm of Class A and the limits of a magic student were exceptionally granted the title of “Class S.”

Yufia Queensroad was one of only three students in the academy’s history to achieve an “All S” rating in the basic attributes of magic during the practical exams, earning her the title of Class S magic student. She was the top-ranked student in the second year and widely regarded as the strongest in the academy’s history—an opponent Eliza had never once defeated.

“Let’s go!!”

“…Sure.”

Eliza declared with a strong tone, while Yufia responded with an expressionless, calm demeanor.

“Destructive Piercing Rain of Wind Arrows!!”

“Brutal Azure Water Dragon.”

Eliza quickly chanted her spell, unleashing a barrage of wind arrows from her magic circle toward Yufia. In contrast, Yufia calmly, albeit slightly delayed, deployed a deep blue magic circle and released a massive water dragon-shaped spell.

The water dragon, struck head-on by the countless wind arrows capable of shattering even large boulders, sprayed water droplets from its surface but continued to roar toward Eliza without losing momentum.

“Ugh…!!”

Eliza gritted her teeth, pouring more magic into her circle to resist the approaching water dragon.

“…Haaaaaaah!!”

Responding to Eliza’s roar, the barrage of wind arrows intensified, seemingly halting the water dragon’s advance.

“…”

But then, the water dragon opened its mouth wide, letting out a deafening roar as if howling, and swallowed all the wind arrows, regaining its momentum as it closed in on Eliza.

“…!!”

Eliza tried to counter with even more magic, but it was futile. She was swallowed by the massive water dragon and slammed into the field’s barrier.

“…Kuh!”

Unable to withstand the impact, Eliza coughed out a breath and collapsed to the ground.

However, gritting her teeth, she immediately pushed herself up with her arms.

“I’m not… done yet…!!”

“…”

Yufia watched her expressionlessly.

Eliza staggered to her feet, weakly raising her arm to deploy a magic circle.

She tried to continue the match, but…

“That’s enough, Eliza.”

The supervising teacher, overseeing the mock battle, stopped her from behind.

“…!”

“Clearly, you’ve lost. The next pair is waiting, so please vacate the field.”

The teacher urged Eliza to leave the field.

“It’s not over yet! I can still fight!”

“No. As the supervisor of this mock battle, I cannot allow the match to continue. Fighting in an exhausted state significantly increases the risk of serious injury. There will be more mock battles in the future, and this isn’t about winning or losing. Let’s end it here for today.”

“…Tch.”

Despite Eliza’s strong resistance, the teacher spoke in a calm, admonishing tone.

Realizing that further protests wouldn’t change the teacher’s decision, Eliza reluctantly gave in.

“…Understood.”

She bowed slightly to Yufia, muttering, “Thank you for the match,” before leaving the field, her head hung low in frustration.

Yufia, still expressionless, also said, “Likewise, thank you,” and exited the field.

As Eliza left the mock battle area, she noticed a group of female students glancing her way and whispering among themselves.

“…How annoying.”

Though she couldn’t hear their words, Eliza could easily guess what they were saying.

After all, she had once overheard some of her classmates talking behind her back: “Eliza, you always try so hard,” “There’s no way you can beat Yufia,” “Don’t you realize there’s a fundamental difference in talent between you and Yufia?” “Eliza, you’re just too proud,” “It’s kind of pathetic how desperate you are.”

Eliza imagined they were saying similar things now, pitying or belittling her.

Being talked about like this was deeply humiliating for Eliza, but she accepted it. She could easily retort or challenge them to a mock battle to show them the difference in strength, but she knew it wouldn’t change the fact that she couldn’t defeat Yufia Queensroad.

Instead, she vowed to one day surpass Yufia and prove them all wrong.

Eliza continued to unleash her magic at the targets in the practice room, venting her frustration until the supervising teacher announced the end of the lesson. She then left the practice room and headed to the locker room.

Back in her first year, Eliza had always refused to accept defeat in mock battles against Yufia, stubbornly trying to continue the matches until the teacher intervened.

Before enrolling at Crawford Magic Academy, Eliza had been hailed as a once-in-a-generation genius magician. She couldn’t accept losing to a peer.

Born into the prestigious Rowlett family of magicians, she had defeated not only her peers but even adult magicians from a young age, earning her a strong sense of pride as a genius. However, upon entering the academy, she experienced her first defeat at the hands of a peer.

At first, she resisted accepting it, training harder than ever to defeat Yufia Queensroad. But no matter how much she trained, the gap between them only widened.

By the time she became a second-year, she had stopped trying to force the matches to continue. She began to accept what others said—that there was a fundamental difference in talent between her and Yufia.

Eliza had to admit that, compared to Yufia, a true genius, she was nothing more than an ordinary talent. No matter how hard she tried, she would never catch up to Yufia. There was no point in desperately struggling against an insurmountable wall.

Recently, Eliza had started to give up on defeating Yufia and began to accept the difference in their talents.

However, she had recently started striving to catch up to Yufia again.

The catalyst was a phrase spoken by a man she had dueled with a few days ago:

“No matter how many times you’re knocked down, no matter how stark the difference in strength, no matter how hopeless the situation—as long as you don’t give up, you haven’t lost.”

Though the man usually spouted nonsensical lines, these words carried an unusual weight. From that day on, his words echoed in Eliza’s mind.

For some reason, she felt a strong determination in his words—a will to struggle and crawl forward, even in the face of an insurmountable wall.

As his words repeated in her mind, Eliza recalled the days when she had desperately tried to surpass Yufia Queensroad.

──Just a little more. I’ll keep struggling.

Though it grated on her, there was no denying that the man’s words had reignited a fierce fighting spirit within her.

Since then, she had trained harder than ever, striving once again to surpass Yufia.

But today’s mock battle, where she had thrown everything she had at Yufia only to be effortlessly defeated, left Eliza on the verge of despair once more, faced with the undeniable gap in talent between them.

“(Yufia is just too strong… No matter what I do, I’ll never beat her…)”

It wasn’t that Eliza’s will was weak. It was simply that Yufia Queensroad’s strength was overwhelmingly beyond her reach.

Eliza had once again been painfully reminded of the insurmountable gap in talent—a gap so vast that no amount of effort could bridge it.

As someone with magical talent herself, Eliza understood all too well the extent of that difference.

Walking down the hallway toward the locker room, her head slightly lowered, Eliza noticed a male student approaching from the opposite direction.

“Ah,” she muttered, stopping in her tracks.

The black-haired, black-eyed male student also stopped, noticing Eliza.

—

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