Chapter 9: Friendly Fire

「Why am I the one who has to do this, exactly?」
「Come on now, don’t say that.」

Since we had the chance, I figured we should all try a bunch of things together.
With that in mind I gathered all the students and handed out wooden sticks and such; the very first to grumble was Tia.

「It’s not even related to my research theme. You and Ruful can do this just the two of you, right?」
「That’s not… true. If we write lots of words and it lets us use magic, wouldn’t that be handy in a fight too?」

Ruful worked hard to soothe Tia, who was making a plainly disgusted face.

「You don’t need to bother—your precious Giant’s Might does it in one shot!」
「Ah…」

At Tia’s sarcastic jab, Ruful fell silent.
The two get along despite all their bickering, but lately I feel like that dynamic’s been shifting a little.
Maybe it’s because the once‑helpless, oft‑crying Ruful has found her confidence. Tia’s been acting more standoffish with her and they seem to spend less time together.

「Leave them be.」

As I hesitated over whether to step in, Nina tossed me that remark.

「If you butt in, you’ll only make it worse.」

She looks like she’s not watching, but she sees everything. I’m not smooth‑tongued either, so she’s probably right…

「More importantly, the ones you need to watch are over there.」

Speaking in a low voice, Nina flicked her gaze toward Yutaka and Light Blue.

Yutaka is upright and straight‑laced, a model student; Light Blue can be hard to read sometimes, but she’s serious about her research. Neither of them clash with the others. So what could be the problem?

If I had to say, it’s that Light Blue still hasn’t made her research theme concrete.
But I know well that elves, in general, are laid‑back and patient. It doesn’t feel like something to rush…

「Light Blue, how’s it going?」

Still, since it was a rare warning from Nina, I tried speaking to Light Blue, who was carving a wooden slip with a small knife.

「Sooo‑so.」

As always, her answer was elusive.

「Sensei, normally when you use magic it, like, comes out when you finish chanting the spell, right? So when does this come out? The instant you finish carving?」

But her grasp of the issue was solid. Now that she said it, that was definitely something to wonder about.

「…No, probably the moment you try to use it. Magic is something you use with intent. That should be the same even when you chant out loud.」

Even with spells, there isn’t some fixed phrase that fires off on its own the moment you speak it. The reason magic triggers at the end of a chant is because the caster intends to use it at that moment.

…Huh? If that’s true, can you finish chanting and then hold the magic without firing it?

「Done!」

While I was mulling it over, Yutaka held up his wooden slip amid a spray of shavings.

「That was fast.」

We’d only just started carving—it couldn’t have been more than a few minutes. Then I looked at his work and understood: he’d carved an extremely simple word into the slip—just “Move.”

「All right… let’s see. As a test, try moving this with it.」

I handed Yutaka the dragon embroidery Nina had given me the other day. It was light and soft—whatever it did, it wasn’t likely to cause any real trouble.

「Right! Then… Move!」

Yutaka brandished the wooden slip like a wand and pointed at the embroidery. The cloth then rose as if alive and took several steps across the floor.

「…You’re not supposed to say it out loud, are you?」

In a voice that sounded faintly chilly, Light Blue cut in.

「Ah, right.」

Since he’d spoken it aloud just now, it had probably become ordinary magic.

「But saying nothing at all makes it kinda… awkward to do.」
「Then call out like you do when you swing a sword.」
「I see! As expected of Aniki!」

Yutaka gave a big nod and took his stance with the wooden slip. In that instant, the air around him changed.
Even Ruful and Tia, absorbed in carving, turned to look; Light Blue’s eyes went wide as she stared at Yutaka.

It was the presence of the Sword Clan with a blade in hand—an aura like running into a large carnivore, compressed many times over, sharp enough that even a dullard like me could feel it prickle.

「Ff.」

A tiny, unforced breath that was little more than the sound of air leaving his lungs.
In the span of less than a blink, the wooden slip came up and came down. The next instant it sprang from his hand and smacked full‑force into Light Blue’s forehead, which she’d been watching intently.

「Whoa! Sorry! Are you okay!?」

The atmosphere from moments ago evaporated; Yutaka flusteredly peered at Light Blue’s brow.

「You let your guard down too much, Warden of the Forest.」

Catching the wooden slip that had bounced off Light Blue’s forehead with a snap, Nina spoke in an icy tone.
Her delivery was as flat as ever, but unlike her usual exasperation there was a hint of barbed steel in it. Maybe she’s stricter with one of her own.

「I’m fine. Don’t touch me.」

As Yutaka reached out to stroke her, Light Blue slapped his hand away. Her voice was sharp—a complete change from her usual languid drawl.

「Ah, yeah… I didn’t think the wooden slip itself would go flying.」

Receiving the slip back from Nina, Yutaka studied it closely.

「Maybe the wording was the problem. If you write “Move,” it suggests the wooden slip itself moving.」
「Got it… I’ll change it!」

Yutaka shaved off the characters with his knife and set to carving new ones.

「All dooone—」

Meanwhile, Light Blue quickly finished her slip and aimed it at the dragon embroidery.
With no sign or warning whatsoever, the slip vanished from her hand.
And in the very next instant, the slip—now sharpened like a spear—shot out, only for Yutaka, still looking at his own slip, to catch it one‑handed.

「Looks like you sent the wood flying too, Light Blue.」

That strike would’ve been more than just an injury if it had landed, but Yutaka just laughed it off and handed the slip back to Light Blue, unconcerned.

Was that… on purpose?

「I did it—!」
「Me too.」

While I was debating whether to warn them, Ruful and Tia brandished their wooden slips and raised a lively shout.

「Eii—!」

When Ruful swung her slip toward the embroidery, it popped out of her hand and started spinning round and round on the floor.

「What did you write?」
「Please dance,」

I see. Except the dragon embroidery wasn’t dancing—the slip was.

「Okay, my turn next.」

Saying that, Tia hugged a wooden slip about the size of her body and floated up into the air, then let it go with a flick.

「Ow!」

The falling slip traced an unnatural path midair and, like a throwing star, smacked Ruful right in the forehead.

「Mou, Tia, you scared me—」
「You’re the one who said to make magic for fighting. Besides, that didn’t even hurt, right?」
「Well, yeah—」

That said, Tia’s entire body is constantly protected by Giant’s Might—powerful enough to shatter rock. Not just a wooden slip; even an iron spear wouldn’t easily wound her. Their back‑and‑forth was thoroughly amicable.

Thinking about it that way, Yutaka’s Sword Clan training means he wouldn’t be hurt by that level either, and Light Blue’s was within the bounds of a joke.

「Hmm…」
「Rin, what’s up?」

Come to think of it, Rin had been awfully quiet—she was off in a corner of the classroom, staring hard at her slip with a serious face.

「Look at this.」

On the wooden slip she held out, a single large character had been carved: just “dragon.”

「It won’t become a dragon.」
「Yeah, that’s a bit much to ask.」

If a tiny wooden slip like that turned into a dragon, even I’d be pretty shocked.

「That’s not it. It doesn’t move at all.」

She stared at the slip, gave it a shake, and tried sliding it on the desk, but it certainly didn’t start moving on its own.

「But then… Become a dragon.」

At Rin’s command, the slip popped out of her hand and began to move awkwardly. It didn’t look like any sort of dragon, but it certainly behaved like a living thing.

「If it’s a chant, it moves.」

Trust Rin—the angle she picks is different. The result was genuinely intriguing.
It isn’t merely a substitute for spoken spells; there are things written magic can and can’t do.

「Okay, this time for sure—ah.」

While my eyes were off him, a wooden slip flew from Yutaka’s hand.
Once again it stuck into the back of Light Blue’s head—

「…Cut it out already, you monkey! Are you doing it on purpose!?」

At last, Light Blue snapped.