The Former Swordmaster Who Pretends to Be the Worst, and the School’s Top-Ranked Chairman’s Daughter Who’s Way Too Sweet in Public, It’s a Real Problem
――The Japan I returned to after my second reincarnation had changed beyond recognition.
That said, there weren’t any major changes to the country’s systems or its underlying structure. What had changed was daily life itself, brought about by the emergence of magic as a source of power. Back before my first reincarnation, when I was still alive, there had been widespread concerns about a shortage of scientific resources, which is probably why magic—as a new form of energy—seemed so appealing.
It didn’t take long for the world to start revolving around magic.
“Um… ah, the spell formula here is—”
“Whoa, what the hell! Slimes move faster than I thought!?”
That said, when it came to the dungeons that appeared simultaneously all over the place, each country handled the situation differently.
Japan had adopted a policy of opening up some of them to train promising magicians. Even so, some whisper that it’s a hasty response that lags behind other countries…
“Hey, Aragaki! Are you going to get serious or what!?”
“…Yeah, but still…”
As I was lost in such thoughts, I heard Kusunoki’s voice from behind me.
Scratching my head, I headed over to my classmate who was struggling right in front of me. My class was full of all kinds of underachievers. For example, there were those like me who simply lacked magical power to begin with, and those who had power but were too clumsy to control it.
Furthermore,
“—Uh, um! Fire… bafuu!?”
“Oh, Takanashi. Another spectacular failure today, huh?”
“Waaah… cough, cough…!”
Like Takanashi Azusa , the girl who had just failed to cast a basic spell and ended up with soot all over her face. With limited magical power, some struggled even to control what little they had.
She and I were constantly battling it out for the bottom of the class rankings.
With shoulder-length golden hair, blue eyes, and childlike features, she was the class mascot. She was popular in a different way than Rika.
“B-but even you can’t do it, Aragaki!”
When I teased her, Takanashi snapped back at me.
She definitely seems to view me as a “rival,” and unlike the other classmates, she actively seeks me out. Whenever we have practical training like this, she invariably challenges me to a mud-slinging contest between the bottom two, betting on who can get the better grade.
As far as I’m concerned, it’s just the thing to kill some time—
“…………Isn’t there a mistake in the wording of that spell?”
“Huh, where…?”
I glanced at the notebook Takanashi had open and pointed it out.
I know absolutely nothing about magic, but even I can spot a simple spelling mistake. As she brushed the soot off her notebook, I pointed to the relevant spot.
“Oh, is that what you mean!?”
“There, there. Try it again.”
Takanashi’s eyes sparkled as she took a deep breath.
Then, she began chanting the spell smoothly—
“Go onnnnnnnnnn!! Fire!!”
—Piggyu~!?
She finally managed to cast the spell. It didn’t quite defeat the slime… but she did manage to drive it away. For her, it must have been one of her few successes.
“I did it, I did it, Aragaki! Thank y—”
“Oh, you’re welcome.”
Almost without thinking, she tried to thank me,
“—A-are you crazy!? There’s no way I’d thank Aragaki!?”
“Oh, thanks for that classic reaction.”
She’d just uttered a line you wouldn’t even see in manga these days.
While casually brushing off Takanashi, who was blushing bright red, I suddenly thought about Rika’s class, which was likely active far ahead of us.
And what came to mind was,
“Was that really just my imagination…?”
About the sense of unease I’d felt at the dungeon’s entrance.
The strange dissonance seemed to grow slightly as we ventured deeper. Yet it was so subtle that I wouldn’t have noticed it without paying the closest attention.
It was possible I was just imagining things—
“Huh? Hey, Aragaki?”
“—Hmm, what is it?”
Just as I was thinking that, Takanashi pointed ahead.
And she said this:
“Aren’t those… the students from Class A running over there?”
Class A is the class where the top students are gathered.
In other words, it was the class Rika belonged to.
◆
“(I wish I could be in the same class as Saito-kun too…)”
—Let’s rewind just a little bit.
Rika, who had entered the dungeon ahead of Saito, was unhappy about being separated from him. Of course, she understood that it was due to the difference in their classes.
Even so, she resented not being able to stay with her childhood friend.
“(I know I’m being selfish, but I still feel lonely.)”
Though she didn’t show it on her face, Rika’s thoughts were completely focused on Saito.
Being separated from her beloved was becoming more painful with every passing moment. Perhaps in the near future, she might even run to him despite the circumstances.
That’s how completely her mind was filled with thoughts of the one she loved.
“(……Ugh, I really want to see Saito-kun soon.)”
Perhaps that was why her mind was completely consumed by such thoughts.
“………………Huh?”
It is said that the more gifted one is with magic, the more sensitive they are to the flow of magical energy.
However, Rika hadn’t noticed it until now.
“(……What is this heavy atmosphere!?)”
When she, who had been walking at the front, stopped, the rest of her classmates stopped too.
They all tilted their heads in confusion, but before they could even think, Rika was already shouting.
“Everyone, run!!” — she yelled.
Maiban