After the holidays, a new day started in Arsenia Magic Academy.

Between the first and the second class, Seiya noticed that the classmates were strangely agitated around him, so he asked the orange-haired girl next to him.

「Everyone is weird today, did something happen?」

When he asked his neighbor, Aruna, she laughed and immediately told him the reason.

Although a lot of things happened on his first day, he felt rather good-willed towards Aruna, Glenn, and Connie.

Besides, he is able to properly converse with the rest of the classmates.

The members of the fan club avoid him and the members of the royal guard only stare daggers when he tries to approach Yua. They only stare and do not complain or attack.

He also became considerably friendlier with the other students.

「What do you mean what? It’s about the time for the Leiria Magic Tournament. Haven’t you done it in your previous academy? 」
「Come to think of it, it is those times」[¹]

While staring at the ceiling, Seiya remembered the time he was in Senabia Magic Academy.

Leiria Magic Tournament is a kingdom-wide tournament aimed to decide the strongest student across the whole Leiria Kingdom.

There are 10 academies across the kingdom, and their representatives will decide the outcome of the tournament.

In the Leiria Kingdom, there is one academy in the Central Kingdom, and Aquaristan, Windistan and Freestan have three each.

The only magic academy of the Central Kingdom, St. Lucifer Magic Academy, is located in the capital city of Reinz. After graduation, most of the students assume a position in the Holy Church or at the top of local churches. You can say that instead of battling, they are more proficient in strategizing.

That being said, sometimes the strategy is more important than combat capabilities. In this academy, students are cultivated to become future leaders.

In the city of Cald, in the northwestern part of Freestan, there is the Sarahditius Magic Academy. Being where it is, it’s rather close to the dark territory. There are even classes where students have to subjugate the monsters nearby. [²]

The Sarahditius Magic Academy is the only one that does the suppression of the magical beasts as a part of the classes across the whole Leiria Kingdom. Taking advantage of their own experience in the dark territory, they often assume command over the subjugation squads after the graduation.

Located in the center of Freestan, in the city of Wokka, there is the Kamarina Magic Academy. With the strong people from the church nearby, the atmosphere of competitiveness is strong there.

For that reason, there are often duels in the Kamarina Magic Academy, it is said that it is the most battle-focused academy out there.

That’s why they had a loose security, if someone wants to kidnap then he will be easily able to enter, but won’t be able to leave, or so people say.

In the southeast of Freestan, in the city of Redeca, there is the Crenias Magic Academy. With the academy being close to the one in the Central Kingdom, they divert a lot of their attention from the combat power to technique.

That includes swordsmanship, spearmanship, and archery. A lot of martial arts fanatics gather there.

There are many dojos in Redeca city, martial arts practitioners like to gather there from around the kingdom.

In the north of Windistan, in the city of Orna, there is the Senabia Magic Academy. This academy is particularly famous in Windistan, many members of the intermediate and advanced magician clans attend it.

After the brilliant performance in the last Leiria Magic Tournament, it became even more famous. [³]

In the center of Windistan, in the city of Kurokure, there is the Elenspia Magic Academy. There is a church in this city and the students are deeply entangled in its affairs.

In the south of Windistan, in the city of Erununita, there is the Fujirong Magic Academy. In the south, Windistan is connected to Aquaristan through a small sea.

In this sea, situated between Windistan and Aquaristan, there is not only the fish but also the sea monsters.

Being near the sea, a sea breeze often hits the academy, as such, people consider this academy as one with a harsh environment.

However, as if to compensate for that, there are plenty of tough students out there. [⁴]

In the north of Windistan, in Wonder city, there is the Holkinaru Magic Academy. Because this academy is situated in the north, there are a lot of joint lessons with the Sarahditius Magic Academy.

The reason is the proximity of the Great Dalis Canyon.

There are strong monsters in the Great Dalis Canyon, in the case of an invasion, the two academies will stand united to repel the threat.

While they engage the magical beasts, the reinforcements from the church, or sometimes the Holy Church, will come to their aid.

In the center of Aquaristan, in the city of Moru, there is the Arsenia Magic Academy, which Seiya currently attends. There is a church in Moru city, but it is separated by a great distance from the academy.

The reason is, Moru city is a famous tourist spot.

As a result, a lot of people visit Moru city. Of course, there are some who come here for other purposes.

With the church and the academy being on different sides of the city, it helps to identify the suspicious people in the crowds. [⁵]

Besides, even if one institution receives an attack, it will be difficult for the perpetrator to simultaneously launch an attack against the other.

In addition, the students of the Arsenia Magic Academy have considerable fighting power, you need to think twice before causing an incident.

Thanks to all these reasons, the tourists can freely enjoy their stay.

In the south of Aquaristan, in the city of Mognadiara, there is the Kristenius Magic Academy. Same as the city of Erununita, Mognadiara city is close to the sea. However, in contrast, it is a calm port city with nice weather.

With that at their disposal, the Kristenius Magic Academy secured a part of the sea to create something like a pool to train.

That’s why the students of the Kristenius Magic Academy are specialized in the underwater battles.

From the ten of above, the representatives will clash in the tournament and decide the strongest student of the Leiria Kingdom of this year.

According to the rules, the fights will happen between teams of six. That’s why, if you gather a team from strong people, disregarding the compatibility, you might lose.

For that reason, the academies will pay attention to the teamwork during their final decision.

The ten teams of six people will be transferred into a special dimension to decide the winner.

Although it is called a special dimension, it’s just an island surrounded by the strong barrier maintained by the big number of experts.

That’s why the insides are pretty safe, the representatives can fight to their heart’s content.

They will never let the barrier expire. It will be maintained as long as needed until the winner is decided.

A lot of students aspire to be selected, but Seiya never even participated in the qualifiers, forget about being a representative.

The reason is simple, no one wanted to form a team with Seiya. Usually, no matter the grades or status, everyone can participate in the tournament.

The same applied to the trainees, and each team that was short on members was picking from the trainees, completely ignoring Seiya.

The representatives from the Senabia Magic Academy were the winners of one of the previous tournaments. The six trainees, who just enrolled into the academy, completely steamrolled through their opponents.

The members of that team were Kair Denas, Chris Haniat, Jin Heint, Lanya Arun, Ryuka Tinamo and the leader Real Christopher. [⁶]

Despite the age of sixteen, they obtained the title of the strongest.

Seiya vividly remembered that time. His classmates became the kingdom’s strongest, and the academy, as if being stimulated, increased the training regime.

By the way, the winner of the recent tournament wasn’t the Senabia Magic Academy. Real left the Senabia Magic Academy, and the representatives became pathetically weak.

Real’s performance during that tournament was so outstanding, that he managed to instill awe and fear upon the audience.

That’s why people said that it was not the Senabia Magic Academy that is the strongest, but Real.

He was proclaimed the strongest magician of his generation. Just as Seiya, he was of a completely different class.

While Seiya was reminiscing, Aruna asked him.

「By the way, Seiya-kun. Are you going to participate with Yua-san? 」

Aruna asked Seiya about that, but he didn’t feel like participating.

There is a fact that he never participated before, but the biggest reason is the lack of people. To participate in the qualifiers, you, of course, need to gather a team of six.

However, with Seiya, Yua, and Lily, the trainee, they only have half the number.

There is an option to accept some other people, but it’s not that easy to find a magician that can match their ability.

With the situation as it is, there was no choice but to abandon the thoughts of participation.

「No, I won’t. I’m not able to gather a team」
「Eh? 」

Seiya intended to say an obvious thing, but Aruna made an「What is this guy saying? 」face.

Seiya wondered where things have gone wrong, and Connie explained to the two.

「Our academy is a special one, Aruna」
「Aah, I see」

Hearing Connie saying that she seemed convinced of something.

「Sorry, Seiya-kun. Different from the other academies, our academy’s qualifiers are in the teams of three」 [⁷] 「Three? 」
「Yes. The academy will pick the rest to suit the winning team, thus creating the strongest team」

As Aruna said, the qualifiers in the Arsenia Magic Academy were different from other academies.

The teams are divided into the 8 blocks. Then, the teams fight each other and the teams with the highest win rate will enter the final round.

The final round is in a tournament style, the winners will be appointed as the representatives.

Then, from the rest, the academy picks three students to supplement the weaknesses of the winning team, creating a total of six.

「So it was like that. Then I might as well participate」

Seiya thought that if it is Yua and Lily, then it will work out.

Until now, he never participated, even in the qualifiers.

The thought of participating was born inside of his head at this moment.