Hakai Me no Yuuri

Translator: ShiroiKaze/Soyokaze Translations

Author’s Note: Please be aware that this entire chapter is in Marle’s point of view.

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A month has passed since I was accepted into the academy.

Thanks to the intensive training with Yuuri and the rest, I achieved the top rank among the new students. As such, I was assigned to a place called “Class A”.

That very Yuuri not having passed was very surprising to me, but I can take care of myself.

For now I will try giving it my best.

However, I was told the results of the aptitude tests upon acceptance, and they said I have aptitude as a swordsman and a scout.

Unfortunately my aptitude as a healer is average, so I was told “success is unlikely”.

While I was feeling depressed after hearing that, Sir Alec caressed me for a whole night in comfort.

And then I was given two possible choices.

Choice 1, return to the village and study the role of a village chief from my father.

Choice 2, remain at the academy to acquire the knowledge required of a swordsman or a scout before returning.

Of course I chose the latter option.

I’m still only 10 years old. Mastering other skills before learning how to be a village chief should be no failing.

If I learn swordsmanship, I can protect the village. If I learn scouting, I can make the village safe.

The knowledge I learn here should be useful even when I return home.

~*~

And so it has been one month since the entrance exam, and it is the first day of classes.

With my uniform and school materials in order, I once again passed through the academy’s gate.

I was met with a shrill voice upon entering the classroom. Must this voice be so painful for my ears?

“Ooohohohoho! Miss Marle, I believe. It would appear you are in the A class as well!”

“Ah, ummmm…”

It’s the person I met at the exams.

She’s the granddaughter of the Water Sage, and I think her name was…

“A good day to you, Miss Curls Blanche.”

“Marielle! It’s Marielle, got it?! My last name is the only part you had right!”

“Oh, right… I’m sorry, I’m bad at remembering names.”

“Bhukukukuku… That ain’t half bad, Milady. Why don’t we change your name to that?”

“We will not!”

Oh, that’s Miss Alma, I believe.

She’s amazing with the orthodox swordsmanship she uses.

“Hello. Glad to see you doing well, Miss Alma.”

“Well aren’t you polite. I’m just here as Milday’s bodyguard, so don’t be worrying about getting too formal with me, ‘kay?”

As expected for one of the four great sages’ granddaughter. It’s almost like she’s a noble, the way she has a bodyguard with her.

~*~

Classes began that very first day.

We started with review, so the morning passed by as we went over history and arithmetic that appeared on the exam.

For the afternoon we had martial arts and physical training on the schedule.

“Okay then, how about we have everyone pair up and do a little sparring.”

“‘Kaaay!”

Everyone began choosing the partner they wanted and started training.

But I don’t have a partner. It looks like everyone is keeping their distance from me, maybe because of how I fought in the exams?

“Ummm, Svalinn, would you like to—“

“Sorry, I’m going with Neel.”

“Then Colt, would you…”

“Sorry, I’m buddying with Mina.”

They’re all plainly avoiding me, aren’t they?

“C-could this be… Bullying?!”

“Naw, don’t be ridiculous. You were just too darn overwhelming in the exams, so they’re afraid of being yer opponent.”

“Ah, Miss Alma.”

Wow. Miss Alma is tall, and she looks cool in her exercise clothes.

I wonder if I’ll grow that tall too? I would definitely feel a bit troubled if I stayed at Yuuri’s height.

“I don’t got a partner either; wanna join up with me?”

“But what about Marielle?”

“Milday is hopeless when it comes to athletics, so… Bein’ against me would be awful rough on her.”

“Do you want me to die?!”

While she was fighting far away against another girl, with daggers, Marielle shouted over to us. She sure has some good hearing.

~*~

The next day we had magic classes.

Because of what I learned from Yuuri, I understood how to mix magic power around, but it wasn’t quite going as well as I hoped.

“Yo, your buddy used such stupid magic, and yet you seem utterly useless at it!”

Upon noticing that I can’t use magic, a boy came up to tease me.

Ah, it’s a boy I took out yesterday at sword practice.

He’s wearing some high-class tailored clothes, made of good fabric, so he’s probably a noble.

We’re learning at this academy without regard to nobility and stuff, so I don’t need to bow my head to him while I’m here.

“Well I’m not good at magic. And Yuuri is not stupid, okay?”

“Sure she’s stupid. I’ve never heard of someone failing because they used magic that was too powerful before!”

“She is not stupid!”

Yuuri is an amazing girl.

She invents new spells in no time, she’s strong, and she knows all kinds of things!

She fought bandits to save me, and even fought a dragon to cure me!

It’s thanks to her that I could even be here right now!

“Oh shut up, you’re just a girl, and yet you’re being so cheeky!”

I was defying him, so the boy threw a tantrum and created a magic circle to attack me. He probably planned to hold back, but that’s a very dangerous thing to do.

It’s a spell called [Fire Bolt]. It’s the first fire attribute attack spell taught.

“O fire, gather and burn my enemy!”

“Hyah?!”

I immediately crouched down and avoided the [Fire Bolt].

From there I leaped forward and wrestled the boy to the ground.

“It’s dangerous to use attack spells all of a sudden! I could have gotten hurt or worse if it hit, can’t you see that?!”

“Let go of me! I don’t give a damn what happens to a commoner child!”

Looks like he really is a noble’s child. He is completely doused in haughty beliefs.

As I struggled with him to keep his mouth covered so he couldn’t chant, I could see that someone had come up next to me.

Said person kicked the noble child, proudly knocking him away.

“In that case, it would be no problem for me to have a noble brat pickled in ice either. An aristocrat or two would mean nothing to my grandmother.”

It’s Marielle.

The way she’s turning her chest away while looking at him in disdain is a bit scary…

By her side is Miss Alma. She has her usual smiling face, but… It feels like there are shadows in her expression maybe?

“I do not particularly care what you think about it, but… Firing off attack magic at this academy, at an ordinary student, is not acceptable behavior, is it? It would be a problem, you see?” 𝙛r𝚎𝐞𝑤𝚎𝗯𝗻𝗼𝐯e𝚕.𝒄𝐨𝓂

“A-as if that matters to me!”

“Based on your attitude, it seems you do not yet understand…” 𝒇𝘳ℯℯ𝚠𝙚𝑏𝗻𝑜ѵ𝑒𝙡.co𝑚

Along with her words, she gave off a heavy pressure which felt like it was bubbling up from deep within the earth.

After the boy opened and closed his mouth speechlessly, he turned his nose away with a “hmph” and left.

The funny part was that his legs were shaking a bit.

“You sure do some reckless things, Marle. There are tricks you need when opposing magicians you know?”

“But he was making fun of Yuuri.”

“Oh, that girl… What is she doing now?”

“She’s exploring the labyrinth. I think she said she’s gone to the 30th floor.”

“The 30th floor in a month?!”

Ah, I guess that really is amazing, huh?

It gets hard to tell what’s considered amazing when Yuuri is around.

“Considering the magic she can use, I suppose it’s a given. To think she turned that twig from the World Tree into sawdust… Even I cannot do that. Just who is she?”

“Eh, ehehe… I can’t really say…”

“So, then, that really was incredible, Milady?”

“It may have been a twig, but it was still part of the World Tree, you see? Destroying that means it’s possible for her to destroy the labyrinth itself.”

“That’s freakin’ ridiculous…”

W-well… It is Yuuri.

“But anyway, those were some nice moves. I guess you did some special training to fill the role of front-liner too?”

“Oh, what? No, that was just an imitation. I was mimicking Yuuri’s moves.”

“She can fight close combat too…? It didn’t really look like it though.”

“Ahaha, it’s because she was holding back at the time.”

It didn’t look like she wanted to enroll in the first place. It sure was reassuring to have her along though.

“Then that means you aren’t joining her party, right?”

“Yeah, I’m just here to learn some useful skills for when I head back to the village.”

“In that case… Would you like to join with me?”

“Join?”

Join what, I wonder? Hands?

“Look, this academy has practical training in the labyrinth, right? I am searching for allies to delve into the first floor, and obtain the qualifications for that.”

“You have talent as a scout, and that’s what you’re studying too, right Marle? We’re both pretty bad at that stuff, so we’d be really glad to have you help us.”

“Ah… I’m sorry, I already have my full license.”

“Eh?!”

It was mentioned that anyone with a full license isn’t allowed to help, if I remember right.

I pulled out the license that I haven’t used once since then, and showed it to the two of them.

“Yeah, look.”

“Uwah, it’s true… Wow.”

“Yuuri and the rest helped me though.”

“That’s still awesome… Hm, “the rest” means you have other companions?”

“Yeah, Ale-… Bern, Al, and Miss Levy.”

They’re registered under aliases, so I have to stick with those, right?

“And with that Yuuri girl there’s four? Probably best to give this one up, milady.”

“What are you saying? Once our registrations are taken care of, we can partner with whomever we choose, yes? The qualification portion may not be possible, but let’s join together when it’s time for practical training.”

“Ah, I see. Yeah, in that case, sure!”

“Alright, scout obtained!”

Hmph, saying it that way makes it sound like she’s only after my abilities, doesn’t it?

When I said as much, her face turned crimson and she flailed her arms around while denying it.

She’s cute, but in a different way than Yuuri.

~*~

After about 10 days passed, they had Hans, the noble boy from earlier, join them and obtained their full licenses.

Even though they’re only students, they finished in two weeks, which is incredible.

Academy parties have up to four people from the same class, with one or two upperclassmen joining in to ensure their safety.

Yuuri said something about, “I guess they power level here too”.

“But is this really okay?”

I glanced behind me.

Miss Alma lightheartedly said, “It’s fine, it’s fine,” waving her hand in dismissal, but…

Our four-person party has Marielle, Miss Alma, Hans, and myself in it.

With the upperclassman Tony joining us, there are five of us.

When I talked with everyone about this, they said, “then you have room for one more!”…

“What? Do you not like having me here with you, Marle?”

And there was Mister Haster, walking with a big grin on his face.

Of all things, the one here was the greatest, most powerful fighter from Yuuri’s party.

“No, I was just wondering why you were here…”

“Not like it’s a violation of the school’s rules. Well, just think of it as a classroom visit.”

Sure, “No grouping together with those outside the school” wasn’t a rule, but…

“I mean, the upperclassman is here supervising anyway, so there’s no problem with me joining in, is there?”

“Well no, but…”

“That is all well and good, but you are strong enough, yes? We are actually quite skilled, you see?”

“Not a problem. I may not look it, but I’ve been to the 30th floor.”

While saying so, he gave Cleaver a swing. One-handed.

The sound as it sliced through the air wasn’t “fwoom,” but more like “VROOM,” and it felt like the air pressure alone would cause damage.

But is it really okay to show that thing to other people?

“R-really now? In that case, very well…”

Marielle put on a strong front with her reply, but I noticed that she was sweating.

Just the existence of the nearly 1-meter-long mass of iron with a warhammer head, known as Cleaver, was intimidating on its own.

Swinging it around one-handed is at a level that can only bring terror.

“With you being able to swing that thing one handed, you’ll definitely add to our battle power, but… Why are ya so far back?”

“Because it’s a classroom visit? Ah, that’s just a joke. I can actually use magic too, so I’m most helpful here. Plus I can see all your movements better back here. We’re letting you take care of our kid there, so I’ll be watching you all very carefully, you hear?”

“Auuuuu…”

I was extremely uncomfortable for that whole day.

What if Sir Alec came to watch us next? Please, give me a break.

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Author’s Note: Something with a bit of “extra chapter” flavor to it.