Chapter 32: Battle Strategy for a Heroine and the Lunch

Carna: Its about to start.

Folia stood in the middle of the stage nervously. Her opponent was a 1st Year student too. Everyone knew that Folia was not good with magic other than healing. Her friends wondered how she was going to fight this match.

Folia, ganbare[1]! Raz gave a cheer for her. Folia turned around and nodded her head.

The referee rang the bell and the match started. Folia immediately activated her magic.

Luca: Isnt that healing magic?

Raz: How do you know?

Luca: Youll notice if you look closely.

Everyone was wondering why she activated her healing magic when nobody was injured. Then they saw that when Folia used her healing magic on her opponent, he looked blissful. And then he fell asleep peacefully.

The opponent was knocked out. It was Folias victory.

Adis: I didnt know you could use healing magic like that. Shes really an interesting girl.

In the game, Folia was able to use purification magic. Raz felt like she had saw a glimpse of it. Winning without a fight, this was the protagonists halo.

Adis: Hey.

Raz: Yes?

Adis: The plot enforcement that you said earlier, do you really think it doesnt exist?

Raz was surprised when she saw his serious expression. Yes, I think it doesnt exist. Just look at that. Raz turned and pointed at Folia.

Folia was looking around the audience seats, as if searching for someone. Then suddenly, her face turned so bright and she broke into a grin. She had found Zale Ile Moldir. It was easy for her to find him because he stood out prominently among the audiences.

As a ladies man, it was easy for Adis to interpret Folias expression.

Adis: Are you not scared? Theres no guarantee that you wont die.

As Ive said before, the only thing Im scared of is being starved to death. Nobody knows when theyd die. Theres no use giving it too much thought, Raz said while avoiding looking at him.

Adis had a doubtful look on his face. Instead of saying that she had a far-sighted view, he felt that she was being reckless about herself. As someone who was very sensitive about others behavior, he could notice it clearly. Talking about protecting others when she herself dont have anyone to protect her.

At first, he was observing the scholarship student, Raz Granoli because he wanted to join the Knights. After monitoring her for a while, he could feel that she was perilous.

Well done! Raz waved her hand at Folia while Adis looked at her and sighed. He thought that Raz would easily win the preliminary rounds in Battle Fiesta. He had even trained hard with his mother, looking forward to another match with her. He had made a miscalculation.

Im so pissed off Its been a while since he last felt like this.

* * *

After the forbidden magic incident, the tournament went smoothly without any trouble. The love interests had defeated their seniors and succeeded to advance to the next round. There were some high-ranking officials who came to the tournament to recruit new talents. From their expression, it looked like they couldnt wait for these excellent 1st Year students to graduate.

Carna was quite strong too. When Raz and Folia looked at her with surprise, she said, Its only natural to be able to do this much to be by Prince Rubens side.

She sounded more confident than before, probably because she had gotten rid of her worries.

Once Carna and Ruben had the talk, their PDA level had increased tremendously. Raz felt like she almost vomit sugar[2], but she was happy for the two of them.

She had paid close attention to Folias events during the tournament, but nothing had happened. Raz found it strange at first, but then realized that her injury might have been the substitute for the original event.

Although she had denied about the plot enforcement, it seemed that she couldnt fully avoid the events as another person would be forced to substitute.

Worse come to worst, I can just be the substitute, right?

Raz started to seriously think of whether she should go and find substitutes for future events. She was eating while grunting alone by herself.

She was eating alone today because the other students were having lunch with their family. The parents and guardians were here today, so she was left by herself. Of course, her friends did invite her but she rejected them because she didnt want to disturbed their family time.

When she was eating, she heard someone calling her name.

Raz!!

Huh?!

Kyaa! So cute! Youre wearing uniform!! What is this? An angel? My sweet angel!!

Raz was desperately protecting her bento[3], so she was unable to avoid being hugged by the person who had appeared suddenly.

Raz: Julia-san, wh- what are you doing here?

Julia: Obviously I came here to find my therapeutic healing. Seeing you in uniform, Im so lucky.

Julia: (////) (panting with excitement)

Raz frowned her face when Julia drew closer to her.

Julius Harley, 28 years old male with a maiden heart. She[4] was a drag queen who worked at the Monster Hunting Department of Shian Imperial Army, same workplace as Raz.

Raz: Whats the real reason?

Julius: Why do you say it like that? Youre so mean. Of course, the first reason is to meet you. While Im at it, Im here as a guard for His Majesty as well. Enough about that. Are you eating well? Youre always telling your subordinate to eat well but you yourself are too busy to eat. Im so worried about you.

She made it sounded like guarding His Majesty came second to me.

There were many knights protecting the emperor. Julius was good at detection magic, so most likely she was assigned to guard the arena.

Raz: Im eating well. When Im here, I need to follow regular routine.

Julius: Really? Thats good then. Here, Ive brought a treat for you.

Looking at the treat, Raz felt that Julius was full of feminine qualities because she was so thoughtful.

Raz: Whats inside?

Julius: Jelly. Ive brought a lot, so share them with your friends.

Raz: Thank you.

Raz took the paper bag and smiled at her. Even though they belong to the same department, they rarely got the chance to work together. It was Julius who spoke to her first and they became closer since then. Julius was very good at cooking and strict with her beauty regime. Every time they met; Julius would give her many things. She was like a sister to Raz.

Julius: By the way, Professor Yor was going crazy because she wanted to meet you.

Raz: Agh, I knew shed be like that.

The new species in Zone 15 was very different from the other monsters that they had studied before. Raz knew that Professor Yor would be very interested in it. The new species had intelligent behavior that was quite similar to humans. When Raz was frowning while eating her bento, Julius suddenly took it away. Then she gave another bento to Raz.

Julius: I made them myself. Its for you, so you eat this one.

Raz: I want you as my wife![5]

Raz was so moved by her thoughtfulness. Raz felt that nobody could be a better wife than her. It was too bad that she like man.

About Professor Yor, I think Frey-kun can handle her, Raz replied while eating the bento given by Julius. Frey was Professor Yors assistant. He always took care of Professor Yor like a mother[6]. Raz felt that it would fine if she let Frey handle the professor.

Julius: How was the new zone?

Raz: The monsters were pretty strong. Maybe they had evolved over the years. They are more intelligent than the others before.

Julius: Really? Its worth to defeat them then.

Raz: Yeah. We might need to re-evaluate the level for stone magic. Its worth much more than the current S level.

Raz touched her pierced earring. Julius watched her while she ate the bento that she had taken from Raz.

Julius: Is the school boring?

Raz was surprised by Julius question. She replied, Why would you ask that? The school is very fun, of course.

Julius: Its good then. Drop by my office when you return during the holiday next time.

Raz: Okay. Sorry I couldnt go to your place before. I was so busy.

Julius: I know. Bonalt was worried that you would overwork yourself. Make sure not to force yourself. Its not good for your skin!

Raz: I know.

Julius stayed with Raz until it was time for her to return to work.

Julius: Ill leave first. See you later, Raz.

Raz: Un. Thanks for the bento and jelly.

Julius: Dont mention it. Dont study too hard.

Raz: Hahaha. Alright.

There were not many people who would give such advice. Raz laughed as she waved her hands at Julius.

Folia, who came from the opposite side of Julius, walked over to Raz.

Folia: Raz-chan. Whos that?

Raz: A friend. She always takes care of me. She found out that Im studying in this academy so she came to bring me bento.

Folia: Really? Thats great!

Raz: Un.

Folia was worried to leave Raz alone so she hurriedly returned after eating her lunch.

Folia: This is from Zale-sama. He told me to share it with friends.

Raz: I also had received some jellies. Lets eat together.

Folia: Un!

When Raz saw the snacks that Folia had brought over, she was stunned. It was the famous traditional confectionery Relev Stories from Western Shian.

There was a famous anecdote about this sweet. A love hampered by social constraint caused a guy to visit a witch. He received a poison in exchange for his voice. The poison would not cause harm to the person who loved him. He gave the poisoned sweet to the girl and they eventually got together and live happily ever after[7].

Of course, this famous confectionery didnt really contain poison.

The story was more of an obsession instead of romantic Lord Moldir really love Folia

Raz prayed that she wont get poisoned and ate the Relev Stories.

[1] ganbare/ganbatte: A very common phrase meaning do your best.

[2] It came from the original Japanese slang of its so sweet, Im going to vomit sugar.

[3] bento: lunch box, home-packed meal. Wiki page here.

[4] Is drag queen offensive? In the raw, the author used , to differentiate the pronoun. Ill use italic her/she.

[5] (lit. want her as bride) is a common phrase to compliment a woman who has the quality of a good wife.

[6] okan (okan is short form for okaasan). This word can be used for mother, and also a slang for someone who has the traits/qualities of a good mom regardless of their gender.

[7] The story doesnt make sense. I dont know what the author was trying to say.