Meanwhile, as Yui was observing the entire class from afar, the grandmaster abruptly turned her way and grinned, like a wild beast setting its sights on its prey. It looked like he had finished instructing her friends, and that was his way of saying she was next on the chopping block. She wouldn’t have minded if he just instructed her normally, but she couldn’t help but feel something bad coming on.
She warily approached the grandmaster, and he instructed her friends to step back. When they did, the grandmaster pulled out a blue orb and tossed it into the air. The orb made a clean arc and hit the ground, shattering. In an instant, a dome-shaped barrier formed, with the grandmaster at its center. This sudden occurrence drew everyone’s attention—even the general and Cecil stopped to look at them.
Yui’s suspicions had been correct. She immediately tried to get outside the barrier in order to run, but it blocked her like a wall and prevented her from moving any farther away. Frustrated, she felt like clicking her tongue. She tried hitting the barrier with magic energy, but it was absorbed without being reflected away. The magic item that had created the barrier seemed to prevent interference from both the outside as well as the inside. This was the same kind of barrier that had been used at the arena to prevent spells and magic beasts from escaping, but it had been infused into a magic item. As long as the one who’d used it—the grandmaster—didn’t cancel it, Yui’s chances of escape looked slim.
“What’s the meaning of this?” Yui glared at the grandmaster. “You don’t need a barrier if you’re just going to instruct me.”
“Instruct you? I was never going to do that. I’ve been wanting to have a bout with you for a while now. But if I had told you that, you would’ve run.”
“Of course I would have. A pile of gold couldn’t convince me to fight with a battle-crazed buffoon like you.”
“Don’t be so cold. Let’s have some fun.” He looked elated to fight. He had a wild glint in his eyes, and he was eagerly waiting with bated breath for the instant he could bite into his prey. It was a giant, flashing warning sign signaling that he was no ordinary person—he was dangerous.
He was raring to go, but she was just filled with disdain. Yui wished he’d get something through his thick skull: her reason—well, one reason—for not joining the guild had nothing to do with her grandfather’s bakery, but rather, she didn’t want to join because he was the man in charge. Besides, the grandmaster stood at the top of the meritocracy that was the guild, and while Yui was strong for a student, she was inexperienced, so she had absolutely no chance of winning.
“Don’t worry,” the grandmaster said. “I’ll give you the minimum handicap.”
Yui felt exceedingly doubtful that there was any way for her to retain her peace of mind when fighting against someone like him, but it didn’t look like he’d let her go without at least a single match. I’ll just do whatever I have to and lose quickly, she thought.
But then, she sensed a thick concentration of magic energy gathering around the grandmaster. Feeling an icy chill run down her spine, she instantly cast the most powerful defense spell she had. At nearly the same time, she was hit by a tremendous impact. Her spell couldn’t stand up to the force of it, and her body was sent flying backward.
“Gah...ugh...” She let out a groan from the shock and pain that filled her entire body. Covered in scratches, she slid to the floor, her uniform dirty all over.
Yui’s body ached, but she stood and brushed the dust off herself. Then, as she healed her injuries with magic, she turned to look at the cause of all this. Her eyes flashed at the grandmaster, and with a quiet anger, she said, “Are you insane? Using this kind of magic on a student—were you trying to kill me?”
“You say that, but you defended against it well,” the grandmaster said.
“If I hadn’t, I’d be lying on the ground covered in blood right about now.” Not only had the grandmaster suddenly attacked Yui while canceling his chant, but the strength of his attack had been far beyond what anyone should use against an inexperienced student. What if Yui hadn’t been able to cancel her own chant? What if her defense spell had been too late? What if she hadn’t sensed the danger and cast a spell at all? She could’ve died if anything had gone wrong. The grandmaster’s attack had been that powerful. Everyone watching had looks of shock on their faces after seeing him attack her without any hesitation at all. First Filiel, then Carlo and Cecil a moment later, approached to try and stop him, but the barrier thwarted their efforts.
“Dammit, it’s not working,” Carlo said.
“Carlo, get out of the way!” Cecil shouted, firing his own spell at the barrier to try and break it. However, the magic was cleanly absorbed without leaving a scratch on the barrier.
Filiel saw this and turned to cast his own spell at the barrier, thinking that he might be able to break it, but the general hurriedly stopped him.
“Your Highness, you can’t! With your strength, even if you shatter the barrier, it’s possible that the two inside might be caught up in the blast!”
Filiel groaned. But if his spell was too weak, he wouldn’t be able to break the barrier. Unable to do anything, he gnashed his teeth in frustration.
In the middle of this commotion, Alexis, who took after his levelheaded mother Alicia, casually looked at Bernard by his side. “Father, isn’t this bad? I’m very interested in their fight, but if His Excellency learns that we were nearby and didn’t stop the grandmaster’s violence, he’ll resign from his position. And if she’s greatly injured by this, the grandmaster—and the entire guild—might not survive his wrath...”
Bernard hadn’t considered the possibility until Alexis mentioned it, and his face turned as white as a sheet. If both the government and the guild ceased operating, the kingdom would fall into chaos. “That is bad! That’s very bad!” he said. Then, in order to avoid an emergency, Bernard shouted at the top of his lungs, “Grandmaster! Dissolve the barrier at once! I won’t be able to stop him, and if this continues, the guild will be in trouble! You’re not all right with that happening, are you?!”
When Bernard’s yell reached the grandmaster, the man froze for a split second. He then held his head in his hands and groaned. His earlier ferocity waned—he was visibly going through some sort of intense internal conflict. He was probably wildly swinging between his desire to fight Yui and his worry that the guild might suffer retribution because of his actions. After spending a while worrying, he must’ve ultimately accepted his responsibility as the head of the guild, because he dissolved the barrier. When everyone anxiously watching over the proceedings saw that he had lost the will to fight, they finally relaxed.
“And here I was, thinking you’d say you didn’t care,” Yui said, surprised by the grandmaster’s withdrawal. “I figured you would force me to fight anyway.”
“I’ve decided that the Prince of Darkness is the one man I won’t make my enemy.”
“Is that so?” Yui had mixed feelings. She was curious, but at the same time, afraid to know what Layce had done in the past to make a battle-hardened warrior like the grandmaster say that.
“It is what it is. The fight is over. I’ll instruct you normally.”
“I’m a Liefe, so I think you’ll have to make some adjustments to how you’ll treat me.”
“Liefe or not, you’re still using the same magic energy. And I can cast nonelemental spells, just like you. As a test, use an attack spell against me. Any one of them is fine, and at full power, of course.”
“That’s easier said than done...” Yui knew the grandmaster was strong, but she was still reluctant to attack someone without holding back at all.
“Who do you think I am? I’m the grandmaster of the guild. And if I happen to get seriously hurt, the cardinal is right there.”
The guild had many members who were highly skilled in combat, but the church had many who were excellent at healing magic. Among them, this cardinal was said to be second to the pope in healing ability. The cardinal’s skills were widely known, and he carried out much of the church’s practical business in place of the pope, who rarely made public appearances.
“Well, I suppose you’re safe with the cardinal here... It’s really okay, right?” Yui asked.
“Yeah, don’t worry about it.”
Yui started to fire a spell at the grandmaster, but before she did, she stopped to think about something for a short while. She always had the option of casting a safe choice and ending things quickly, but she still felt a vague, unresolved anger at the grandmaster for his earlier attack—a weak retaliation would be unsatisfying. She decided that he wouldn’t complain if she gave him a little surprise. Intent on revenge, Yui fished in her pocket and removed the lighter engraved with the Elphie flower that Filiel had given her. She lit it, then began chanting a different spell than the one she’d first thought of.
After hearing Yui’s chant, the grandmaster was visibly shaken. “Huh? H-Hey, hold on, that chant...”
Others who could parse the contents of the chant were just as surprised as he was, but they stood there and did nothing, not thinking that the spell would activate. They were confused about Yui’s intentions. However, Filiel and Cecil were surprised for a different reason from the others, and they hastily rushed to cast defense magic in front of everyone.
Yui chuckled to herself. Judging by how the grandmaster looked, her revenge had already been a success. She swung sideways with the hand that held the still-lit lighter. When she did, the flame began to move as if it had a will of its own—fire combined with a gust of wind from somewhere, creating a large, spinning vortex that bore down on the grandmaster.