Nonetheless, Serephina was ecstatic to be basking in the attention of most of the people on the ship.
“Heh-heh. This flame magic is my personal specialty. Go ahead, compliment me more! Sing my praises!”
She puffed up her chest with a proud smirk. However, that confident air was born out of her lack of real experience in battle.
Suddenly, the sea monster shot its tentacles right into Serephina’s blind spot.
Tearing through the air with a roar, the powerful attack closed in on Serephina.
“…Hmm?!”
In an instant, Serephina once again enveloped her rapier in flames and aimed to take out the encroaching tentacle.
The rapier and the tentacle clashed fiercely.
But the rapier’s blade only cut a few shallow centimeters into the tentacle.
“Grr… It’s too thick…! And heavy…!”
Serephina held back the tentacle that had come down on her by blocking it overhead with her rapier.
Serephina, who was already able to use physical enhancement spells, infused magic into her body as she pushed back the tentacle.
But no matter how much she enhanced her strength with magic, the fundamental difference in power between her and the sea monster was too great.
The monster pushed harder, trying to squash Serephina into the ground.
Slash! Slash! Slash!
Suddenly, the tentacle was in four round slices, which flew off in all directions.
“…?!”
“Serephina!”
It was Rix. Swooping in from the side like a gale, he had severed the monster’s tentacle with his sword.
Then the Kraken unleashed more tentacles on either side of Rix and started closing in on him.
The monster’s speed was almost unfathomable for something so massive—like some kind of illusion.
But Rix’s reaction was faster.
“Hup!”
He sliced the tentacle incoming from the left vertically in two, and with a leaping somersault toward the right one, cut it to pieces at the base.
His attack and defense were so swift he barely left behind an afterimage.
Having dealt with the tentacles in a snap, Rix stood next to Serephina to cover her back.
Without leaving a single opening, he readied his sword once again.
“Wow, your flames are amazing! Looks like I can really count on you.”
However, Rix’s praise hadn’t seemed to register with Serephina.
“Serephina?”
She was blinking at Rix in disbelief.
Then, as if she had suddenly realized something, she looked over to the remains of the tentacle Rix had just chopped off.
She took up her rapier, summoned her flames once again, and brought them down upon the remains of the tentacle.
Slash! Her blade cut deeper into the tentacle than her last attempt…but still couldn’t cut completely through it.
Having confirmed this, Serephina grinned. “My, my, what a world we live in. There’s always someone superior, isn’t there?”
“Hmm? Did you say something?” Rix asked.
“Heh… It seems there was some worth in me pushing my way into the academy after all.”
“???”
Rix had no idea what Serephina was talking about.
“I suppose that’s a scholarship student for you…,” said Annie.
“…Rix… Who the hell are you…?” Randy muttered.
The two of them were surprised by Rix’s power all over again.
“What’s with your physical enhancement magic?! It’s ridiculously strong…!”
“And that enchantment spell…! Just how much mana did you infuse into your sword…?!”
“H-he’s a beast…!”
The other students were similarly flabbergasted, even more so now than after witnessing Serephina’s abilities.
Then…
“…Swordsman…”
Something had drawn the white-haired girl’s attention. She was looking at Rix.
This girl, who hadn’t shown any interest in a single thing—even her own life—was now for some reason staring at him.
“In any case! We can’t drag this out, or else the ship won’t hold! We need to finish it, and pronto!” said Rix. “Serephina! Bind its movements with your flames!”
“Oh my, now you think you can make me into your little sidekick? What insolence! Well, fine! I’ll allow it this time!”
And so Rix and Serephina recommenced the battle.
Serephina stirred up more of her flames and began burning the monster. The flames wriggled like snakes and wrapped around the Kraken’s body.
Then Rix, using the immobilized tentacles as his footing, leaped up and brought down a flurry of slashes on the creature.
The sea monster shrieked in agony.
It had realized it was no longer hunting the passengers on the ship—the monster itself had become the hunted. But it was already too late.
“Haaaaaaah!”
Serephina’s flames rose up to lash back at a tentacle that tried once again to stop their attacks.
“Yes, this is it!”
Rix’s sword swooped down from above and slashed into the monster’s weak point—into its eyes and the tender space between them.
The atmosphere trembled with the sound of the monster’s death throes.
The Kraken, a symbol of the terror and despair of countless sailors, slowly sank back down to the bottom of the sea…
After everything was over…
“Whoo-hooooooo! Rix, you saved our lives back there!”
“Thank you, Rix! Thank you so much!”
“Whoa?!”
Annie and Randy, with tears in their eyes, ran up and hugged the flustered Rix from both sides.
The students, the captain, and the sailors were also crying in relief as they embraced each other.
Hmm? What about that girl…?
Rix suddenly remembered the white-haired girl, whose name he still didn’t know. He struggled to look around for her while Randy and Annie jostled him.
Then…
“…”
…he caught sight of the white-haired girl silently descending the stairs that headed belowdecks.
It was as if she had absolutely no interest in any of the merrymaking and hustle and bustle on deck.
Or—she was trying to escape it.
It wasn’t like Rix expected her to thank him or be happy about the situation. Not like he expected some new event to get triggered with her or anything.
Okay, sorry. That’s a lie. I did expect some of that. I am a guy, after all.
Anyway, that aside…
Actually, just forget it.
“…She really is a strange one,” Rix said to himself as he watched the girl walk away.
“Excellent work, Princess. Truly, a magnificent display,” said a woman in a maid outfit who appeared to be one of Serephina’s retainers.
Serephina pouted. “Hrmph. Enough with the flattery. No matter how you look at it, I was merely the backup.”
“Ah-ha-ha, I suppose so,” the retainer replied.
“Isn’t this the part where you’re supposed to refute what I said and tell me I was amazing?!”
Tears of despair sprang to Serephina’s eyes.
But soon enough, she was back to a serious expression as she whispered secretively to her retainer, “Still, there were some fruits to my labor… You catch my drift, don’t you?”
“Yes. Please give us some time. We will thoroughly investigate the boy…this scholarship student, Rix Frestat.”
“Please do.” Serephina nodded triumphantly. “I see now how he could have been chosen for a scholarship over me. If I am going to take control of the Aldran Empire and bring the rest of the world into my grasp…I’ll need a man like him in my army. His power will surely be a boon to my military pursuits. While we are at the academy, I’ll make him mine, by any means necessary. I’ll find a way, no matter what. Heh-heh-heh.”
“Oh? It’s rare for you to make such statements, Princess,” the retainer remarked. “You seem quite charmed by this boy… He must have caught your attention, yes?”
“What?! I-it’s not as if I like him or anything! That’s not it at all!” Serephina countered. “This has nothing to do with how my heart skipped a beat because that was the first time I’d ever been protected by someone! I—I think of him as a subordinate! An underling! A pawn!”
“If you say so, Princess.”
Serephina, red in the face, waved her arms frantically, but her retainer simply shot her an exasperated stare.
Meanwhile, in a part of the sea far away from Rix’s boat…a hooded figure wearing a black robe stood suspended on the water’s surface—directly on the water, not supported by anything.
“…That didn’t turn out as expected,” the mysterious figure whispered scornfully.
The figure turned on their heel and began walking.
Their image wavered like a mirage.
“Well, no matter. I do have a bad habit of getting ahead of myself,” they said to no one in particular. “There’s no need to rush. If that’s the case, there are many ways to deal with it. And I have plenty of time…as long as they’re at that academy.”
Then the figure disappeared completely.
Wanting to leave the battlefield behind and live a peaceful life, Rix had decided to become a mage.
However, he had yet to realize the dark clouds that were already beginning to gather over his grand scheme.