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chapter 27
Marco Crav was the only son of the Crav viscount family.
Ruling almost like a king over a remote viscountcy, he had, upon entering the Academy, for the first time faced people with real power far beyond his own.
When Marco saw them, what he felt was intense inferiority.
They were of similar age and comparable talent, yet while he would inherit only a rural viscountcy, they were destined to lead the Empire.
Among them, two stood out above all:
The Crown Prince of the Crocus Empire, Daon Grace,
And Carnis Escliff, the only daughter of the Empire’s most powerful magical family, so skilled that even the emperor acknowledged her supremacy.
Normally, Marco would feel only inferiority toward them and could never openly show it.
However…
“What? Princess Escliff is a non-magic user?”
“That’s right. You know how furious the duke was—any noble in the capital would know!”
When someone seemingly untouchable shows a fatal flaw,
“…Is that so?”
People develop an even stronger malice.
It’s not just irritation at seeing someone like themselves—or even someone less capable—above them; they become obsessed with crushing them.
This was not limited to Marco alone.
At the Academy’s Department of Magic, which gathered only the brightest prodigies of the Empire, Carnis Escliff, a non-magic user with merely a prestigious family, was like a bloody piece of meat.
The lowly thrill of having a woman of noble status, normally untouchable, at one’s feet—he was consumed by this delight.
Yet clearly…!
“Number one is ln7. Number two, csca=4π. Number three, 17. Number four, 0.8185. Number five, sum of t-values is 6…”
“When a bullet approaches a mage’s hand, insulation breakdown occurs due to high potential difference. If that happens…”
Carnis Escliff, who had always seemed hopelessly incompetent, was changing.
Her head, once bowed, was held high; her back, once hunched, was straightened.
Her once desperate blue eyes now radiated confidence.
Marco Crav found her posture unbearably irritating.
So when she became his first opponent in the tournament preliminaries, he made up his mind.
‘I’ll give her a trauma she’ll never forget.’
Even if she graduated from the Academy, she wouldn’t dare touch him.
After all, though she was the only daughter of the duke’s family, she wasn’t under the duke’s wrath, right?
“Beg for your life like a dog.”
The vile smile and petty threats he showed before Carnis Escliff stemmed entirely from these feelings.
“Maybe I’ll let you off with just a fainting spell.”
He glanced at her arrogantly.
After all he had done, she was surely terrified and trembling.
Then he would pretend to show mercy, only to drag her further into the abyss…
‘She should be trembling…’
He sensed something strange.
Carnis Escliff was staring at him with an utterly calm expression.
And when he met her icy blue eyes head-on, Marco instinctively took a step back.
‘What… what is this?’
Why am I feeling this way toward this woman?
While he was confused, a cheerful voice rang from far away.
“Sis!”
“Ah, yes. I’ll be there soon.”
Carnis immediately turned and walked toward the voice.
Only then could Marco breathe easily.
“What? You’re just letting her go?”
“Hmm, well…”
He shrugged at his friend’s puzzled look.
He didn’t want to admit that he had momentarily been scared by a non-magic princess, the lowest of the low in the Department of Magic.
“Anyway, in a few hours, she’ll get wrecked by me. For now, I’ll just leave her be.”
“Wow, so that’s it!”
His friend patted him on the back.
“Of course! Remember last year? This is the last chance, so I’ll make sure it’s done properly this time.”
Marco regained his confidence as he spoke.
Yes. There’s no way.
What just happened was merely a misunderstanding!
‘Damn it. How dare she make me feel this way?’
Thinking that only made her more infuriating. Marco clenched his fists and gritted his teeth.
‘You won’t walk out unscathed today, Escliff.’
Someone once said:
“The most miserable existence in the world is a non-magic user born into a magical family.”
Of course, it’s not certain whether that non-magic user is more miserable than a beggar on the street.
But at least among prideful nobles, especially those from families that consistently produce excellent mages, this was regarded as truth.
Naturally.
For them, having a relative of the same blood who was a non-magic user was an insult.
Non-magic families couldn’t understand the lofty pride of magical families. This division between magic users and non-magic users in the current Empire’s social scene existed for the same reason.
If there were a greatest victim of magical family supremacy, everyone would point to Carnis Escliff.
“Today’s first preliminary match is Escliff versus Crav, right?”
“Ah, I’m looking forward to it.”
“Damn it. Crav is lucky as ever. Last year, and now again this year…”
Even now, all students at the Magic Academy eagerly anticipated seeing what would happen to her in the first match.
Some even placed bets.
Of course, not on who would win or lose.
“Escliff lasts five minutes—ten krones.”
“Then I’ll bet one minute.”
“One minute? How could Escliff survive that long? I’ll bet she’ll fall within five seconds.”
A mock betting board on how long the princess could withstand Marco Crav—a form of ridicule.
And at the center of all this attention…
“Yaaawn.”
She yawned lazily, sleepy from the morning.
‘The principal’s speech is so boring.’
Carnis applied her twelve years of ‘listen with one ear, ignore with the other’ school skill, but Mei, standing close behind, whispered.
Mei, small and white-haired, looked like a wary little wild rabbit.
“Sis, people are staring at you.”
“Let them stare.”
“Shall I poke their eyes?”
“No, that’s a bit extreme…”
Mei’s defensive reaction triggered her indignation.
“Why? Because they’re pathetic?”
“No.”
Carnis smiled lazily.
“I just want to poke them myself.”
Mei’s eyes widened.
At that moment, the boring principal’s speech ended, and the students’ faces brightened.
“Alright, everyone! Head to the stands! Students with front numbers, wait in the waiting room!”
Carnis glanced at the paper she was given.
[Number 1]
A clean number, impossible to forget.
The first match, which drew the most attention, and the cruelest for Carnis Escliff, a non-magic user.
Of course.
“Time to stop pretending to be weak.”
If she were indeed Carnis Escliff, a non-magic user.
“Sis, what did you say?”
“Nothing.”
She shook her head and waved her hand.
“Then I’ll go first.”
“Uh…”
“Watch carefully from the stands.”
“No way.”
As Carnis turned to leave, she looked at Mei, surprised by her response.
With tears in her eyes, Mei said resolutely,
“I don’t want to see you in trouble. So I won’t watch.”
“What?”
“My friends said… last year…”
Carnis laughed softly at Mei’s boldness.
“Mei, weren’t you my mage?”
“That’s…”
“Then trust me this time.”
Mei’s blue eyes wavered at the reassuring words.
Carnis whispered to her in a voice only she could hear.
“I’ll win in one second.”
In the waiting room, jeers came from all directions.
“Free prey entering.”
“Crav, take her down immediately.”
“So how fast will you surrender today? Last semester, you gave up immediately.”
She didn’t respond.
‘It must have been hard to endure in that atmosphere.’
When Carnis Escliff entered the Academy, she was only seventeen.
Having been rejected and bullied since adolescence, it was natural she had given up on school life entirely.
[D-Group First Match Begins! Relevant students, please step outside!]
She slowly stood.
‘I’ll make sure you get your revenge, Carnis.’
Time to claim what was owed.
Stepping on the sand-filled arena floor, a satisfying crunch echoed.
“One strike, done.”
The man standing across kept provoking her, probably to shake her mentally.
She smiled.
“Shall we make a bet?”
“What?”
“How long it’ll take me to knock you down.”
“Huh?”
He laughed as if hearing the most ridiculous thing in the world.
“Ha! You? Your job is to beg for mercy!”
“Really? Then you’ll bet on winning? Fine…”
She pointed at him.
“I stake my honor that I’ll knock you down in one second.”
“What?”
He furrowed his brows.
“You have no honor to stake!”
“Oops.”
Right.
“From now on, I will.”
The title of an unprecedented genius.
“What nonsense…!”
A high flame ignited in his hands. A judge in the upper seats held a whistle.
And…
-
Beeeeeep!
The match buzzer sounded. She raised one hand.
“Pointless resistance…!”
[Current (A)]
Crackling! A blue flash blazed. The man collapsed convulsing without a scream.
She whistled at the magic scoreboard.
[0.87 seconds]
“I won?”
Immediately, a chilling silence fell over the arena.
It was a signal.
From that single blow, everyone realized: the once-dismissed ‘Carnis Escliff’ was no longer an inferior non-magic user.
And…
“Beg… like a dog…!”
Those who had underestimated her would soon pay the price.
She slowly approached him.
“Beg for your life like a dog.”
Then, smiling brightly, she stomped on his writhing hands.
“Maybe I’ll let you off with just a fainting spell?”
