“People might even start spreading rumors that the Hero’s party is on campus,” Franz said.
“Now that is unthinkable.” Hagen immediately shot down his outlandish guess.
Franz is way too sharp... Connie, on the other hand, couldn’t reject Franz’s theory, thinking of the toddling Hero and Saint, the sharp-tongued Blademaster and Witch, the half naked monk, and Max in his strangely youthful attire.
“Come to think of it, Emmeline, has your mentor ever said anything about the Hero’s party?” Franz kept talking.
“The topic never came up, so they’ve probably never met.”
“That so?”
Emmeline’s mentor seems like quite the magic supremacist and researcher. Does he ever go outside? Connie thought about Emmeline’s mentor as he listened to his friends.
Falke had shown Emmeline the reality, but the reason she’d believed that a mage could never lose against a swordsman as long as they had a magic barrier was because of her mentor. However, with Sazaki’s teachings expanding and the Clovis School being the foremost adherents, there were currently a fair number of swordsmen who could break magic barriers.
Of course, the masters of the schools that descended from the Sazaki School were part of a generation that had never experienced the fierceness of the great war, but as the world became more prosperous and peaceful, humanity’s population also increased. This meant that talented people grew in number without perishing on dangerous battlefields before they could achieve their full potential, and now that there were more accomplished swordsmen in the world, the advantage mages had once had over swordsmen was no longer absolute.
In other words, Connie guessed that Emmeline’s mentor might not be aware of the current state of affairs.
“Hey, Connie. Is something on your mind?” Franz asked Connie, who had been silent for some time.
“He’s at an age that comes with a lot of worries.”
“What does that even mean?”
“It’s just like that sometimes.”
“Perhaps it’s a phase that just boys go through.”
“Ha ha ha ha...” Connie could only reply to his friends with a dry laugh. He obviously couldn’t tell them about the Hero’s party or that his friend’s mentor might simply be ignorant.
“Oh, that reminds me. The plan is still on, right?” Franz suddenly asked Connie.
“Yes, it’s fine, though my great-great-grandparents and their friends are staying over.”
“Is that so? And they don’t mind?”
“Yes, I’ve checked.”
They weren’t discussing anything complicated; Franz, Hagen, and Emmeline were just going to take advantage of consecutive holidays to hang out at Connie’s place. However...with the Hero’s party staying there, things did, in fact, become complicated.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Don’t confuse conviction with truth.”
—Albert, founder of the monk way.