Five years early in school.

I was seventeen.

"What do I do, I can't sleep"

"Just go to sleep. I won't know if I pull my leg tomorrow because of lack of sleep."

"Ugh, yeah."

Benjamin throws a pillow at me as I gush my hair around on the bed. You say you can't sleep, but you don't have to throw anything a pillow.

Besides, the pillow is such a stiff guy. Such a loser.

Originally, Benjamin complained scatterly that the soft pillow in the dorm was' sooo uncomfortable '. To name a few, I brought my favorite pillow from home to the dorm when I was in sophomore year, okay? What do you say? I was proud of me and Nike. But no matter how you look at that, no matter how hard you touch it, it's tight solidity for people to sleep, and I still remember that my lips stuck unexpectedly.

I have a rich memory of having an argument three days and three nights later with Nike about whether I can call that a pillow.

Yeah, so, it hurts so bad. To throw a pillow. I feel like if I joined the war with this, I would definitely kill one. Besides, that horn hit me straight in the eye, and I was bored stroking one around my forehead.

I want you to understand a little more about the lethality of your pillow.

"But I can't believe the people in this dorm are squadrons with each other."

With Nike lying on his back, he extended his arms to the universe on the sleeping table. Benjamin also, hey, leans back in the position he was lying on.

I was nodding and bored, too, and when I saw it, I somehow wanted to look up, turning to the ceiling with Goron holding on to my forehead.

From my bedroom by the window, the starry sky looked good over the glass.

In this school year, a class tour is awaited, named Attack Major Technical Match.

An offensive major technology match is a generic term for a battle stage in which students compete for strength using magic against each other.

classes, it was more like a kind of tournament.

The place is supposed to be played in the stadium next to the school building, which we often use in practice classes, and all fifth graders will fight there.

There are many guests scheduled to come, and they even come to the king and queen of the kingdom of Dolan, the chief knights of the kingdom and the heavy towns of nobility, and what a great man of Hare.

Doctor, this is a great opportunity to sell yourself into a place of employment. I hear that the school is playing this tournament for that purpose.

And if I showed a good place here, maybe in the sixth grade, I could call in a recommendation from where I wanted to go and say, "Won't you work?"

Such a stunning show, you'll never miss it!

"Is that what you decided to do with the dorm room from the beginning?

"Well, that's scary."

Nike listens to Benjamin and rubs his arms in a big way.

That tournament I refrained from tomorrow.

In a two-stage configuration, each squad is initially divided into teams to fight different squads, and only where it passes through is it supposed to be able to go to the next personal battle. And the squad, they say, the dorm room will be organized between the students with them. I mean, me, Nike and Benjamin are in one squad, that's all.

"But I did as much as I could about magic, so I don't know if it's gonna be tomorrow."

"Benjamin...... hey"

Naturally enough to come to it, the three of us have been specially trained ever since we advanced to the fifth grade. Almost all fifth-graders practiced magic in the arena after school, or were canned in the library. I was about to make a leap to learn more effective magic than anyone else, and everyone's eyes here these days have been so horribly giddy.

I was wet many times by the magic of Nike's water, which I was dealing with for special training, and Benjamin's flames burned my hair. Oh, I'm sorry, but they burned me a few seconds after that again, so I'm starting to feel like I'm getting some kind of punishment game.

And literally, it was definitely a special training to cut yourself.

"But Nike, I don't want to fight the Rockmen."

"I don't like it either.... nanary would be different though"

"What, did you say something?

No, I said something after that, so when I asked back, shut up! and Nike threw me a pillow.

Since when have I been on the pillowcase......

"Me too! Ouch.... Ah, but I look forward to fighting Rockman. Uhhhhhh."

"See, I knew it."

"It's true."

Yeah, and he's been in conflict with him being the next seat for five years, of course. I had just had a punch between a woman and a man before this, and I'm starting to think that was also no longer like a kind of special training. I don't know what to say, but Rockman has no mercy for me, so it's easy to do in a way. It's upsetting.

Plus, multiplying by the special training, he bothers to raid where he's tired, and my depression doesn't mean he accumulates. It is on the verge of explosion.

So, and this one was aimed at surprise, and before this I made a pit and fitted it with some kind of magic tool dedicated to trapping.

My depression squeezed in the look of the guy who suddenly disappeared from my sight, so this subtracts zero. Now if they do it again, now I'm deciding to give it back ten times.

Even in the exam the other day,... oh, I'm starting to hate to say it anymore.

I took a brilliant second place in the magic midterm exam I took before this. Yes, brilliant.

Let's think about this. Maybe I have the talent to take second place. This second patron saint is a brilliant keeper of a position that is neither first nor lowest, one step away. The future is marked by the faithful: 'Long live the second God/Hell!!' Or maybe we can celebrate it after death.

But when I say that, I think the first place is still better, so I really don't like the second place. How regrettable is the second. What's so good about being the second God's follower? Besides, I don't want you to stay in second place until I die.

And to him, and to him who comes first again, I will beat him straight from the front with something called defeat one day in this lifetime. As you become Hare's receptionist sister, you become a better wizard than him, clearing up the snowflakes you've had.

But 10,000 years. Not to say second place. It's in the top, but once enough, the reality is that it hasn't taken first place. Because there's always Rockman up there... no, no, if you admit you're above yourself, that's where the game ends.

Anyway, I know you don't just need grades for anything to become an employee of Hare. I'm looking to be a receptionist sister, and administrative work and dating people are important. The fact that magic can be used is a prerequisite for employment, and what becomes necessary afterwards is something other than magic.

I've definitely not given up on going for the best, but when this tournament is over, you might want to broaden your horizons a little. I'm going to come out with as many books as I can find to help with the clerical system, how I deal with people I meet for the first time, and the library.

So watch before then, I'm going to break through tomorrow's challenges in a flash now, fight at the top and beat you!!

"Let's get some sleep."

"Right."

Benjamin took the pillow he threw at me and went back to his bunk. Nike likewise puts the pillow back on his sleeping table, good night, and the two go to sleep.

I also turned off the lighting beside the bedroom and said good night.

●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

In the middle of the arena, 150 fifth-graders gather.

And the stadium seats surrounding it had the appearance of parents and guests. At first glance, there are about three or four hundred people here. And my parents, of course. Other grades had come to visit.

The arena was about half the size of the school building and there was no roof.

If it rains, etc., it can be used even in rainy weather because the principal will build a transparent roof of defense over the arena.

That principal's magic, I want him to teach me one day, too.

"Master Maris, you're making me nervous."

"Oh, nervous? If I did something like that, they'd treat me like one. You have to be grand at all times."

That kind of conversation comes into my ear from behind.

Now aligned in a vertical row by squad, waiting for the teacher to explain.

The noblemen dressed more than usual because they were in front of guests and guardians. But it's not flashy or anything, it incorporates sophisticated beauty, and it's not the blistering dress or coat I wore in my freshman year. It doesn't seem difficult to watch and move, and it emits noble colors and emphasizes functionality...

In the meantime, it has been conveyed to Hishihishi that they all mean it.

By contrast, we, the common people, are dressed in the same outfit as usual. I always focus on ease of movement. Practice is like real life, real life is like practice, so clothes are just wearing what they were wearing in practice, not without clothes. I'm serious.

But Miss Maris told me, 'That's just an excuse'. Our motivation cannot be conveyed to the nobles.

"Ah."

Turning back to chill, I looked into the face and eyes of the hater who was behind me.

Rockman, whose hair is now stretched over her shoulders to her chest. It's good because it suits me otherwise, but I regretted something and I said 'you bitch' the other day and they burned my hair.

Somehow my hair seems destined to be burned a lot.

"Beh."

I did something for now, and years of habit came up reflexively, and I turned to him.

But the reaction is thoughtlessly thin and ends with a nigga laughing at me after a moment of cold eyes.

What's that laugh?

"Then you guys are going to have a more offensive technical match than this."

One of the teachers stands before all fifth graders.

I rushed forward.

"The content, as we talked about the other day, starts out as a squad and takes assignments. And from then on, it becomes an individual battle. But if we were letting each of the 150 fight, we wouldn't have time, so the squad that couldn't make it through the first assignment decides not to put them in a personal battle. You know what I mean?

The teacher looks at us students from the top of the table.

"Look, I'm gonna say it again, okay? I can't leave a squad I couldn't get through."

The doctor said again just in case.

Does putting your index finger up and saying it seriously twice mean it's something serious?

"Now, let men and women split up to do the assignment. Shall we start with the girls? A man is a tour."

We were lined up separately by dorm.

Then, as the teacher said, the boys were moved to their stadium seats and 75 girls were left on the spot in 25 pairs.

75 people look like such a tiny bunch in a wide arena.

"Common woman! Come on!"

"Hell, don't lose even if you're mean!

"Show him the power of the aristocracy!

"The battle of women is a sight to behold."

The men in their seats are looking at us with pleasant faces.

Tourists feel comfortable.

Looking at his seat swallowing, his body swayed slightly as he stood.

Shaken? Maybe not.

This is not like I'm shaking, it's like the ground is shaking.

"Hey, Nike -"

"So the first challenge for a woman is.."

"" Aah!

Two of my colleagues, Nike and Benjamin, who unplugged me scream before the teacher finishes.

"Nike, Benjamin!?

A flame spread emerged from the ground. The crawl quickly hangs the two hands while this one is still in motion.

Were the slight ground swings just now a precursor to this coming out?

"Are you okay?!

Both hands are caught, and they're not moving. Besides, Nike doesn't like to be hot, so his face is supposed to be worse than sticky. He was supposed to be hot, but his complexion was blue, and his blood was drawn. Benjamin seemed to have some resistance, either because he's a magical type of fire, but I couldn't help but think of his expression because he's hot.

The other squadrons are likewise, two of the three being captured by the flames spreading and hanging in space.

"Oh, you're hanging around."

The teacher looked forward to seeing the situation with the book in his hand where he had been hiding it.

Or I'm laughing. He's a fucking animal!

"Doctor! What do you mean?!?

I scream as I see Maris hanging and about to cry companion.

"This is my first challenge."

"This is the challenge!?

Everyone saw a teacher who didn't know why.

"I have two fellows in front of me who have been captured. If you magically cut the flame spread, you can help, but only one can help you safely. And if he hath helped them, he hath returned unto himself, and his body hath been crafted to burn. I'm not going to die, but it's pretty hot. The time limit is five minutes. Use magic in the meantime to help your people out. Oh, kids who are caught, it's no use trying to magically get out of the flames. This has the magic of the king's cooperation."

When everyone saw the royal seat, they saw the king waving at us.

Is that the magic of fire that King Dolan, Prince Zenon's father, put on? Strong. I've never seen the king's magic, but I've also heard of him as one of the best wizards in the country. It won't cut easily.

"Help one, what about the other kids left?

"Let them endure in a hot flame for a while, but there is no obstacle to their lives. Maybe my skin will burn a bit...... When you're free, move to that place."

The teacher pointed to the sky.

Soon, if you look, there was a large plate of glass floating over the arena.

"If I can get to that place, I'll consider it a pass and have a personal battle played.

... Look, guys, don't look like that. You'll be free from the flames in five minutes, and don't worry. "

No, don't worry, you said earlier that your skin might burn.

"What? It's not easy."

"I can't believe we're just going to cut the crawl... but if we don't hurry up, we're all going to burn"

"That crawl was put on by the king, wasn't it? And... oh? I thought you said you were gonna burn.

It's not wrong to ask. I was just saying.

But I wonder if I can just burn five minutes in flames.

The kids not caught in the crawl see their squad mates.

I have been shot in and burned by Rockman's fire all the time, but I usually had my healing magic specialist cure me, so there was nothing I could do about it.

All I can say is thank you to the teacher who always makes it perfectly scratch-free.

Once I got a few major injuries, I said, 'Already! Mr. Nanally!? You're a girl, so calm down!' And it's a good memory that he got so angry.

That's why I think it's okay for everyone to get hurt somewhat.

All right, guys, good luck for five minutes.

The teacher puts the book in his hand up there and shows it to us.

If you look closely, it said big 5 and 10 there. The 10 parts are 9, 8, and the numbers go down gradually and backwards.

Is this possible, time? So you're saying we'll see the rest of the time with that?

And when those 10 numbers reach 1, the book floats in the universe and takes the shape of a round clock.

There was no short needle, only a long needle clock.

"Begin"

Our five minutes have begun.