After the last batch of students, the magic division tournament ended just before lunch. The result of the tournament would only be announced after lunch, so people would be curious about it.
However, no one ever used Lv 4 magic besides Eliza to the end of the magic division. At most, three people from Patientia, two from Humanitas, two from Royal Academy, and five from Castitas could use Lv 3 magic. The third used <Holy Magic>, and it was a support type one, so the point would be calculated differently.
No one from Temperantia managed to use Lv 3 magic. They seemed to focus on their swordsmanship and spearmanship instead.
Currently, I walked in the corridor to visit the star of the day in the waiting room for the magic division. Finding her was easy with my <Presence Detection>.
From my radar, I could see that a few people surrounded her. Arriving in the waiting room that looked like a locker room, I knocked on it three times.
Tak tak tak!
If there was only Eliza inside, I might just open the door without worrying about her being naked or clothed. However, this waiting room for females had other people in it, so I couldn't do as I pleased.
I heard a voice from inside as I stepped back to keep me out of the door.
"Yes? Who is it?"
She sounded close to the door but didn't open it. From my radar, I also noticed three other people near the door, probably to block the view or something.
"I am Arthur Vainglory. Is Eliza inside?" I asked in a calm voice.
However, as soon as I said my name, the door opened, and three girls stepped out. Two of them had long brown hair, while one of them had dark green hair. They were all beautiful and looked at me with dreamy looks.
"Y-Your Holiness?!" They exclaimed simultaneously. I heard some noise from inside, footsteps of those who tried to exit the waiting room but were blocked by the three girls.
From the way they called me, they probably were from Castitas Academy.
"Ladies, can you call Eliza for me? I wanted to invite her for lunch. Tell her that her beloved is here." I said while blinking my eyes. It sounded a bit cringe to me, but I had no choice if I wanted to mark Eliza as mine.
I just knew that some nobles loved this kind of thing and the flowery talk. Eliza would be famous after her previous display, so I did this to keep the flies away before they approached her.
"Y-Yes, of course!" One girl replied and ran inside.
The others gathered their courage and talked to me. I smiled at them and humored them with a short talk as I waited for Eliza to go out.
Before long, my beautiful childhood friend stepped out in her Royal Academy uniform. She was holding a brown bag in her hand, used to keep her magic robe. Her face was still a bit red, and she took my hand before pulling me away.
"H-Hey," I called out to Eliza, but she ignored me. So I just waved my hand toward the other girls while giving them an apologetic smile.
When we turned in the intersection and couldn't be seen anymore, she released my hand and turned around, pouting.
"Why did you say that to them? The girl who called me said that my fiancé is here!" She said, explaining the reason why she was pouting.
"Do you not want to become my fiancée?" I asked with a teasing tone. Then I sighed, putting up an act of sadness, and wiped non-existent tears. "I am sad, Eliza. And here I want to make our relationship official."
"Ugh… I-It's not that I don't want to, but…"
"But you just want to be my girlfriend secretly? If that's what you want, then I don't mind. Although I want to flirt in public, it seems that I have no choice. I will respect your decision."
"N-No, it's not like that, I said!" Eliza raised her voice. Her face reddened to her ears. "I-I do want to make our relationship official, but… I am too embarrassed if you say it in front of other people."
"Hmm, is that so?" I said with a slightly disappointed tone, "Well, that can't be helped. Then, I will flirt with other girls in public. Coincidentally, I might officialize my relationship with Tristan. Oh, she's the winner of the long-distance division yesterday."
"Huh?"
Eliza's expression froze. Her whole body followed suit as her gaze turned blank.
"You would be engaged with that girl?" She asked.
"Yes." I nodded, "She was my first love." I told her honestly.
"First love…" My childhood friend muttered in a daze. "Did you love her?"
"As much as I love you," I replied.
When she heard that, she let out a relieved sigh. Then her expression turned serious.
"Let's get engaged." She said.
I smiled. As I got to know her, the more I knew her personality. While she didn't show it, Eliza easily got jealous and was competitive. Her tsundere side didn't fully disappear even when she matured slightly.
Since I told Tristan that I wanted to marry her, I had also decided to tell Eliza and the others about it. Of course, slowly, and I would do it over time. The marriage would happen in the far future, and getting engaged was enough right now.
"Great."
I smiled brightly, showing her that it was all within my plan. Her eyes widened in realization.
"You…"
"No take-back. We will get engaged next month after everything settles down." I said, patted her head, and walked away. She was still freezing in place.
***
Inside a closed room, six individuals were seated around a long table. They were the headmasters of each academy.
And at the end of the table, where the seat of honor was, sat Alesia. She was holding documents filled with the score from two tournaments from earlier.
"So, I believe no one has any objection?" The elf headmistress spoke and looked over the participant of the meeting.
Everyone nodded. The petite headmistress, an Archbishop of the Castitas Church, had a small smile.
"Fufufu, she's really talented." She commented. "Isn't that so, Headmistress Ivy?"
"Truly. I heard that she was the Paladin's friend. I wonder if all his friends are all that talented." The green-haired headmistress nodded and held her cheek in wonder.
"Hahaha, I have no objection. My kids will only focus on close-range division, after all." The Temperantia Academy headmaster laughed loudly.
"While my students lost, I do believe that they lost fair and square. Having second to fifth place for ourselves is enough. I do agree with John, and so I have no objection." Diligentia Academy's headmaster said, fixing his monocle.
"It's rare for you to agree with me, Albert." John grinned, looking at the smart-looking man.
Only Patientia Academy's headmaster, Isaac Lawrence, had yet to express his opinion. He gritted his teeth, mainly because his students failed to get to the top 10 in both divisions.
"I-I don't mind. Do as you please." He squeezed his voice out of his throat.
The pig headmaster knew that if he expressed his dissatisfaction here, he would be in a bad position, and his position as a headmaster would not be safe. So he swallowed his pride and chose to agree with the others.
"Alright." Alesia nodded, satisfied. "So no one objects that the general study and magic division winner is Eliza Rose."
Saying so, the Elf put the documents on the table. Eliza's information was written on the topmost paper, and the sign 'Winner' was written in big letters below her name.
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