Author: Himezaki Shiu	Original Source: Syosetu
Translator: PunishedLyly	English Source: Re:Library

Project GB is an official initiative by Re:Library.

Unlike my battle, this one is sword against sword, making it dynamic and entertaining to watch.
From what I can tell, the boy is making full use of his Job’s abilities, while the proctor is barely reliant on his.

Each of the boy’s strikes is, although crudely, imbued with magic power, making them far more powerful than they appear.
However, despite the monotony of his movements, because he is attacking non-stop—or perhaps because the proctor has a plan in mind—the proctor has focused entirely on defense.
As the spectators became more excited over what looked to be a one-sided assault, it finally happened.

The proctor, parrying each blow, had continuously exposed his sword against powerful impacts, resulting in the shattering of his sword, with its broken tip sent soaring into the air.
Both the students and the boy himself seemed convinced of his victory.
The moment he relaxed and slumped his shoulders, the proctor pulled a dagger from a pocket and pressed it against the boy’s neck.

The boy showed a look of surprise, which turned into frustration as he declared his surrender.
Even so, having appeared to hold his ground against an active high-rank hunter, the boy received plenty of praise; some showered him with admiration, while others watched him with animosity.
Is it just me, or are most of the admiring stares coming from the girls?

Looking closer, the boy is well-built for his age and is kind of cool… I guess. Frankly, I’m not interested. He does have good looks.
Yeah, I don’t have any strong opinions on him. If he wants to stand out, that’s none of my concern.
The hunters wearing wry smiles right now aren’t my concern either. The proctor clearly knew the sword would shatter and ensured the fragments would fly where no one was standing. The actual gap in power between the two of them must be enormous.
The boy may have top-class potential, but someone still who is developing is no match for a high-ranking hunter with real battle experience.

Even so, he should be already around D-rank in strength.
After all, the proctor took him seriously with that last move, and the boy may even be close to C-rank level in a one-on-one fight, but he sorely lacks experience.

『Ain, how did that look to you?』
『Ailneige likely wouldn’t win. But depending on the rules, I don’t think we’d lose either.』
『Yeah, that sounds about right. This is normally amazing, isn’t it?』
『How do I put it? You remember those low-ranked hunters who kept picking fights with us, right?』
『Right, they did exist.』

Judging from her tone, it seems Ciel has mostly forgotten about them.
That’s understandable, and normally there’s no need for them to be remembered, but I needed her to recall them for now.

『Those people were much older than you, but they are weaker than that boy, don’t you think?』
『That’s true. I feel like there were some around his level, but either way, that means the boy earlier is amazing, right?』
『Relative to his age, yes. It’s similar to how you’re now far stronger now compared to when we first escaped the mansion.』
『Just like how Ain’s barrier keeps getting stronger and stronger, right? I wonder how many years it would take for him to reach the level of Carol or the Fool’s Gathering?』
『He has the potential to get there, but it’ll depend on his efforts from now on. If he starts cutting corners, he might never grow beyond being moderately strong.』
『I see… I need to be careful about that, too.』
『Let’s do our best together, okay?』
『Yes! Of course!』

Whether or not my explanation was entirely correct aside, Ciel seemed satisfied with it, so all is good. At the very least, getting the chance to see what level of strength people of her age have already makes this trip to Ausente feel worthwhile.

That reminds me—while watching the boy’s match, I noticed a few people I hadn’t seen during the written exam or basic ability tests.
Among them, an elf-like? girl caught my eye. She had long ears and a spirit with her, so I’m probably not wrong. I didn’t see her during the magic power measurement, so perhaps elves are treated differently regarding that test.
I asked Lisyl to ensure that the girl’s spirit wouldn’t notice our unique nature, so there shouldn’t be any issues.

The nearby spirits in the capital also were instructed not to approach us when others were around.
I wasn’t entirely sure if such a request would be possible, but apparently, for High Spirits of Lisyl’s level, commanding the local spirits is entirely possible.

Their purpose is to “tune” the world. While spirits often appear to act freely, they need to work together for large-scale tunings, which is why she can lead them.
When I asked Lisyl if it was really okay to use that kind of authority for our sake, she gestured that it was fine, so I accepted her offer.

I was also told that the Spirit King can command every spirit in the world and that when Mother Fii captured Tur, multiple High Spirits had to be present to perform the necessary tuning.

「Everyone! Heed and bear witness to my superiority over that commoner!」

From a distance, a loud voice echoed across the arena.
I don’t even need to guess who it was. Turning toward the source, I saw the thunder sorcerer boy, his eyes glimmering with excitement.
With exaggerated flair, he donned a pair of gloves and extended both arms, concentrating magic power in front of him.

I was confused at first, but then I noticed the magic circles etched on his gloves.

Though hard to see from this distance, the magic circles were intriguing. Each glove seemed to have its own pattern, and the two apparently work as a pair.
Because of this, even though the circles were small, they allowed the use of highly powerful sorcery.

However, it had its drawbacks. For the caster, it takes far too long to finish a spell. And consequentially, bluish-white sparks began manifesting around the gloves—which does look cool—but it’s practically telegraphing his intentions.
Since this was a test, the proctor remained still, but in an actual battle, he would have been attacked by this point.

Since this is a rare opportunity, I wanted to observe what kind of sorcery he was trying to use, but I quickly noticed that something was wrong.
The boy, who had been so confident moments ago, now wore a grim expression.

『Wait, isn’t he using too much magic power? It looks to me like he’s struggling to control it.』
『It looks the same to me. He’s probably pushing beyond his limits in order to stand out.』

Perhaps it’s his noble pride driving him, but if his casting fails, it would completely defeat his efforts to show off.
This spell, if properly activated, can likely deal substantial damage—or even incapacitate—a much stronger opponent, but at this rate, it’ll misfire and not only endanger him but the surrounding people as well.

Noticing the growing instability, the proctor prepared to intervene. However, before he could move, someone else had already started sprinting toward the thunder sorcerer boy.

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⌈ Index ⌋

And that ends this chapter! Whelp, it seems like the foreshadowing has bore it’s fruit quite early, and not in the way we might have expected!

Instead of it being the usual “Oh, the noble kid is going to bully the commoner kid”, we got “Oh, his ego is really going to get him killed this early after his introduction, huh” and, as morbid as it is, it is kind of funny. The high magic power boy is really living in his head rent free, huh. The kid’s sorcery is pretty interesting though. He went fullmetal alchemist with the gloves and prewritten magic circles.

Also, going back a bit, I like how both Ain, I mean Ailneige, and the proctor weren’t “playing fair” and no one really batted an eye over that detail. After all, this is combat assessment *for actual real world combat situations* and the only important thing is winning.

Now then, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please feel free to comment. Stay healthy, stay safe, and have a nice day~!