Author: Eltria	Original Source: Syosetu
Translator: Mui	English Source: Re:Library
Editor(s): Robinxen

Project GB is an official initiative by Re:Library.

After taking an extra half an hour of break time, I somehow managed to finish the ten laps of the first period. Without much time to rest, we immediately moved on to the second period, which was a class on magic studies.

Since it was called ‘magic studies,’ I had assumed it would be a lecture, but upon returning to the classroom, there was a note on the board instructing us to move to the outdoor training grounds.

According to the note, the designated training grounds were a wide grassy area overgrown with trees, located near the northeastern port.

We rushed to the training grounds as the bell signaling the start of class rang, but fortunately, the teacher hadn’t arrived yet.

“Why the training grounds, though?”
“Maybe we’re going to practice some large-scale magic techniques… or something?” Alfe answered, though I couldn’t shake a bad feeling about it. What kind of lesson would take place in such a vast training area, one even used for mecha soldier piloting exercises?

The class was being led by a female sorcerer, in other words, a witch called Matilda, from the vast forest region along the border between the Arcadia Empire’s imperial territories and the Gutstein territory—an area commonly known as the Forest of Eternal Darkness. Even in this era, it seemed witches still flew freely on broomsticks made from a tree called gishenu, native to that forest.

Back when I was Glass, during the Great Human-Demon War, a witch once saved my life, so seeing broomsticks and witches still around in modern times brought back a lot of memories.

It must have been around the time the town where my atelier was located became a toxic swamp due to the miasma from decaying demonic corpses.

My atelier was burned down, and I was left with no place to escape—a truly desperate situation…

Lost in thought, I looked up at the sky just as Ms. Matilda appeared, riding on her flying broomstick.

“Welcome to the training grounds! I’m Matilda, your magic studies instructor!” Hovering in midair, she introduced herself, twirling a magic wand lightly in sync with her voice’s rhythm.

“For today’s first lesson, I’ll be testing your current magical combat abilities. Anyone who can dodge my attacks will pass.”

With a cheerful smile, Matilda pointed her wand down at us as she made her declaration.

“Huh? Attacks? What does she mean by that?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll hold back just enough to not kill you. And if you do get hit, I’ll heal you right up ♪,” she added, her tone casual.
“Hold back just enough… not to kill…?”

A ripple of unease spread through the class. And then—

“Sagita. Certa. Radius~!”

With a light swing of her wand, she cast a three-part incantation, and countless homing magic missiles materialized, launching toward us.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!”
“Run for it!”

Panicked, my classmates scattered like frightened spiders.

“Hehe, running won’t help you~!”

Ms. Matilda’s gleeful laughter echoed as the magic missiles began to hit several students, sending them flying through the air.

“Aaagh!”
“Help me!”

Cries for help rang out from all directions, though it seemed like Ms. Matilda was indeed holding back, as none of the injuries appeared too severe. Still, getting hit directly looked like it would hurt a lot.

“She’s still chasing us! Everyone, defend! Water Shooter!”

Reacting quickly, Alfe raised an ice wall and fired off a series of Water Shooter projectiles to intercept the incoming magic missiles.

““Wind Shooter!”” In unison, Lili-Lulu’s voices overlapped, and the transparent wind bullets they conjured shot down the homing magic missiles that were tracking their classmates.

“Lili-Lulu, that was amazing!”
““As expected from you, pale-skinned elf!””

Lili-Lulu twirled in place, praising Alfe in sync. Thanks to Alfe and Lili-Lulu’s quick thinking, it seemed like they had successfully fended off the first wave of attacks.

“Oh my, well done,” Ms. Matilda clapped her hands slowly, offering praise to those who had avoided her strikes. However, the smile plastered on her face didn’t quite reach her eyes, which remained unsettlingly cold.

“In that case, how about this?” As she spoke, she swept her broomstick across the ground.

“Leafa, duck!”

Alfe immediately sensed the danger and called out just as a sharp blade of wind was unleashed from the broom’s path.

“Earth, rise at my command. Clay Wall!” Alfe chanted while placing her hands on the ground, summoning a sturdy wall of earth that surged up to intercept the wind blade.

““Well done!”” Lili-Lulu dashed up the sides of the earth wall, springing into the air with graceful leaps.

““Heavenly thunder, pierce the enemy as spears of violet lightning! Lightning Phalanx!””

The two voices of Lili-Lulu merged as one, and countless spears of lightning converged, streaking towards the airborne Ms. Matilda.

“Hehe, well done,” Ms. Matilda giggled, completely unbothered by the incoming attacks. The spears of lightning, which should have hit their mark, dissipated as they collided with an invisible wind barrier just in front of her.

““This… is the power of the Witch of the Forest of Eternal Darkness…””

Lili-Lulu’s eyes widened in disbelief, clearly shaken by their inability to land the surprise attack. Ms. Matilda, twirling her magic wand playfully, pointed at Lili-Lulu and Alfe with a smile.

“Truly splendid. The three of you have passed with bonus points~♪”
““Good job, pale elf!”” Lili-Lulu clapped in perfect synchronization, praising Alfe upon hearing they had passed.

“Lili offers her boundless praise.”
“Lulu offers her boundless praise.”

With synchronized applause, Lili-Lulu ran up to Alfe and began to dance around her in circles.

“Th-thank you,” Alfe said, visibly relieved as she joined in, trying to match Lili-Lulu’s movements. It seemed that the ‘Elf Alliance’ dance involved the same steps every time. After watching it a few times, I was starting to catch on myself.

“And as for you over there, you’ve passed too!”

Ms. Matilda illuminated the other students who had managed to avoid her attacks with a beam of light.

One of them was Gide, who had erected an ice wall to shield himself from the magic missiles. The wall now stood riddled with cracks, barely holding together after taking so many hits.

Several other students, who had hidden behind trees for cover, were also announced as having passed. They were all students from the magic division, it seemed.

“Ms. Matilda, don’t forget the healing spells,” A male student from the fishmen race, who had managed to avoid any hits, spoke up in a low tone. His sharp, shark-like teeth seemed to flash, perhaps an indication of his frustration.

“Yes, yes~♪”

With a cheerful tone, Ms. Matilda quickly cast healing spells on the few students lying beside him. She smiled warmly, encouraging them to get back up.

Among the injured was Vannabelle, who, after receiving her healing, kicked the ground in frustration. Standing next to her was Numelin, seemingly unscathed from the start.

“Now then, let’s continue the lesson~”
“Um, what about me and Hom?” I asked cautiously, wondering what our fate would be. If the criteria for passing was simply avoiding getting hit by Ms. Matilda’s attacks, then we might qualify too.

“Hmm? You were protected, so it’s a redo for you~♪” With a bright and carefree tone, Ms. Matilda declared our fate and immediately conjured up another barrage of magic missiles in the air. From that moment on, the lesson turned into a grueling ordeal, continuing until we successfully defended against her relentless attacks.

Hom, thinking strategically, managed to use her arms transmutation to shoot down the magic missiles. However, since I had been protected by her, I was disqualified again. It wasn’t until I conjured a water shield with Create Water to block the attacks myself that I finally earned a passing mark.

Though my body could quickly recover thanks to Aurora’s aether, I couldn’t help but think that, under normal circumstances, Ms. Matilda’s magic class would have killed me several times over. Honestly, this class was nothing short of a nightmare. I had a feeling I’d be haunted by it in my sleep tonight.