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「Sh-she’s already able to react and counter it?! I couldn’t even do it!」

Silva’s eyes were wide open at the sight of Inglis, who had magnificently kicked Yua away.

That said, his surprise was understandable.

The step-in movement Yua performed was apparently something close to teleportation using sorcery. The icicles that Inglis made were not swayed by the wind, instead, the mana in it trembled. If Yua had charged in physically, the icicles should have been blown away by the wind.

The current people of Midland had lost the sensitivity to sense mana. Although they could indirectly make use of that lost power by the use of Artifact, they couldn’t tap into that power directly without those Artifacts. It was no wonder that Silva was unaware of the movement of mana and thus incapable of reacting properly.

Still, even without those setbacks, Yua’s technique was still brilliant. Even Inglis was only able to sense the slightest flow of energy from Yua. Exactly because she couldn’t see it through with her bare eyes, she shattered the ice sword to help her probe around.

Teleportation using sorcery normally would bring about an enormous amount of mana movement in the surroundings. And yet, in Yua’s case, the movement was infinitesimally small. It was almost as if it was mixed in amongst the ambient mana in nature. The result of that, was an entrance that was nigh-impossible to evade.

「After the last incident, it was clear that I am no match to Inglis, but even so, to think there is this much gap between us……Now I’m starting to feel sorry for myself.」

Silva grew a bit downcast. Had she done something wrong? Personally, Inglis never meant to make him feel that way.

Slap!

Rafinha slapped Silva on the back.

「Ouch?! Wh-, what’s wrong with you?!」
「Glis is Glis! And We are us! Get it? As long as we have strength to protect those we want to protect, others don’t matter, isn’t that right?」
「…………!」
「Of course, that doesn’t mean we should give up on ourselves, you know? That’s why, don’t look down, look up and learn as much as you can, right? Well, sometimes you just can’t see their movements, though…」
「……Yeah, I-, I guess. You’re right… Thank you.」

Silva’s gaze looked straight ahead once again.

「You sure have gotten yourself together, huh! You have a strong core belief.」
「I’m just used to the thing called Glis, that’s all. We’re childhood friends, after all.」

Rafinha chuckled. Seeing the conversation from the side, Inglis narrowed her eyes.

She was not biased, a good girl indeed. Silva was right, Rafinha had a solid core belief. She was kind-hearted, brave, and cared for others. Although, she was a bit too naive and ill-mannered for her own good.

All in all, Inglis would say that her education policy of staying by Rafinha’s side was right. She was secretly proud of herself.

Putting that aside, what about Yua who had slammed into the frames of the school building? Inglis turned her attention in that direction.

「Senior Yua! Are you o——」
「Yeah, I’m good.」

That voice came from behind Inglis.

「……?!」

KABOOOMM!!

Yua’s shoulder strike hit Inglis in the back. All of the icicles that were formed from the ice sword had settled down, making Inglis late to detect Yua’s movement. She was once again blown away, flung towards the school building, but…

「——Not for the second time!」

Inglis twisted her body hard to fix her posture midair, kicked the building frames as her foothold, then leaped up.

「You’re right. Principal’s scary.」

Right up above Inglis was Yua, her foot ready to kick.

「……?!!」

Inglis instantly crossed her arms, which soon received a strong impact.

KABOOOMM!!

Inglis’ body fell straight to the ground. She somehow managed to hold on and landed on her feet, but both of her legs were numb from the dreadful impact they just received. It proved just how strong Yua’s kick was.

「Rapid attack. You can’t counter that way!」

Yua was correct, if she was not given time to conjure the ice sword, Inglis wouldn’t be able to detect the presence of mana using the icicles. And even if she managed to pull the trick, the effect only lasted a short while until all the icicles fell. Yua could just keep her distance during that time. In other words, it was just a one-time trick.

「……Inglis is at disadvantage!」

It was no wonder for Silva to utter that. But, he was wrong.

「……I’ll do this!」

Inglis closed her eyes as tight as possible. And, right at that instant, Yua’s fist came swooping down——and was met head on with Inglis’ palm.

KERCHAAANNKK!!

The powerful impact tells a strong blow.

「Stopped it with, closed eyes?!」

A surprising hint of worry came from Yua.

「WH-, WHAT—?!」

Silva was just as lost.

「I can tell things better like this, you see!」

Inglis had learned that Yua’s movement wasn’t based on something physical, but something that involved mana. If so, she had to focus on detecting the movement of mana. That’s what she did with her eyes closed.

Mana was not something to be seen with eyes, but something to be sensed. And so, an intake of visual information would be a hindrance instead. By cutting it off, Inglis was able to increase her sensitivity to mana and respond to Yua’s movements.

Inglis had to shatter the ice sword once to determine which one she should rely on. Therefore, it was still a necessary step.

「HYAAAT!!」
「CHIYAAAT~~」

BOom! BOOOMM!! KABBOOOOOMMMM!!!

Fists and kicks of both Inglis and Yua roared each time they clashed. As the distance between their evenly matched strikes grew larger, Yua let out a sigh.

「This won’t end, huh. Then, I’ll get stronger!」

Along with that murmur, Inglis could feel Yua’s atmosphere had changed. When she opened her eyes to see what was happening, Inglis saw that Yua’s retinas were dimly glowing in prismatic light.

「Oooh……!」

Yua was still able to grow even more powerful! Marvelous! Show me more, more of your serious side!

BAMBAMBAMBAMBAMMM!!!! CRACKLE CRACLE!!

The sound of something crumbling down was heard from behind Inglis.

「「Ah!」」

Finally unable to withstand the damage, the frames of the school building completely collapsed. Perhaps the kick Inglis did as a foothold earlier was the last nail to its coffin.

「AAAAAaaaahhhh?!!!! GEEEZZZZ!!! THIS IS WHAT I’VE BEEN TELLING YOUUUU!!!! Okay, that’s the end of it!! You’ve had enough right, Count Weissmall?!!」

At last, Principal Miliera stepped in and stopped them.

「O-, Of course……! Both of you sure showed me stunning skills! Honestly, I was overwhelmed! Good lord, I’m sure the audience will be more than satisfied with this! Then, Inglis, Yua, I give you two the leading roles!」
「Yus. Now I can, with a hunk…Gufufu」

Yua smirked.

「I would have prefered if we fought a little bit longer, but…I guess that’s about it for today.」

Inglis also nodded. It was a bit unfortunate, but she could make up some measures, so it wasn’t bad.

She could avoid the kissing scene and get her bribes and fight with Yua as much as she wanted. The real showdown would take place on the stage…not bad, not bad at all.

「Before that! The two of you will have to put the broken framework back in place! I won’t give any help to the troupe before it’s done! Am I understood?!」

Principal Miliera raised her eyebrows high, puffed her cheeks out, pouting out in rage. It was a bit scary.

「「Yes!!」」

They had to nod their heads in earnest.