Chapter 032 - Light and Darkness (3)
The inter-class competition starts the day after tomorrow.
I'm participating in the first event, the Swordsmanship Competition, and the third event, the Combined Competition.
However, I can't participate in the second event, the Aura Competition.
Because I don't have Aura.
So, we need to pick one more person.
And Professor Totten completely entrusted the player selection to me.
"...So you brought the student records all the way here?"
Phil looked bewildered.
I spread the student records on a table in the main building's student cafeteria and replied, "Yep. To pick players."
"You're crazy... No, are you out of your mind? I don't even know where to begin. First, are you allowed to take that out?"
"Professor said it's fine. Just not to show it to anyone else."
"Am I not 'anyone'?"
"What's it matter? Just don't tell on me."
"What do you take me for...? Do you know the number one rule of Digi Orphanage?"
"What is it?"
"Never tattle, no matter what."
"Really?"
Then why did Melissa, the prodigy from Digi Orphanage, eagerly tattle on our meeting?
"That's right! But putting aside whether I'd tattle or not, don't you know I'm competing for Class C?"
"I know. You told me yesterday."
"And you're showing me how you're picking Class B's players?"
"Not showing you, I'm asking you to help. Two heads are better than one, probably."
"You...!"
His dark pupils rolled up and down beneath his eyelids.
Phil shook his head, looking exasperated.
"Hmph... Do whatever you want. It's no skin off my back. But no complaining later about me 'stealing' inter-class competition information, okay?"
"Of course. Steal all you want."
"Ha, why are there only such clueless kids in Class B...? But aren't you just picking someone for the Aura event anyway?"
"Right?"
"Then it seems like it's already decided, doesn't it?"
"Who?"
"You know. There's a monster in Class B with absurd Aura, isn't there?"
"Eunice?"
"Yeah. That was the name."
The answer came immediately.
Eunice Doffenhouzer.
A girl always staring out the window, or perhaps asleep.
I think she's the most famous student in Class B, besides me.
She possesses the highest ley line sensitivity across not just Class B, but all of Class A as well.
A whopping 7-star Aura.
I don't know if it's lower, middle, or upper, but once Aura reaches 6-star, you can use Aura Blade.
As the name suggests, it's a technique to condense Aura into a sword.
At 7-star, it's said that you can insanely extend or shrink the problematic Aura Blade at will.
Of course, I've never actually seen it.
My father's Aura was 5-star, and my brother's Aura was also 5-star.
So she's special.
Apparently, Eunice is the only 7-star in the entire Academy.
But this friend had one serious problem.
-"Hmm, Eunice Doffenhouzer, you see..."
Before handing over the student records, Professor Totten had already emphasized with a complicated expression.
-"It would be best to exclude that child from the inter-class competition for now."
-"Yes. Of course. 7-star Aura is incredible. But, you see..."
-"Hmm, I suppose it's alright to tell you. Please keep it to yourself. Doffenhouzer doesn't react to external stimuli."
I had asked, 'Is it some kind of rebellious phase?'
The professor replied with a wry smile.
-"No, that's not it, they say."
-"It's just... some people are born that way. People who live confined in their own world."
I asked if it was a congenital disability.
The professor didn't directly say yes.
-"Still, you're in the same class, so please treat her well. Even if she's a bit strange, we're all part of the Sword King family, after all."
And so the conversation about picking inter-class competition players suddenly shifted to topics of ostracism and consideration...
Well, anyway, Eunice turned out to be a severe communication maladjustment case, one even the professor had given up on. It wasn't the professor's problem to begin with.
No one in the Doffenhouzer family, not even her parents, could communicate normally with Eunice, it was said.
This was Eunice's first problem, and thanks to it, a second problem automatically followed.
Eunice knows nothing of swordsmanship.
Since communication is impossible, teaching swordsmanship is also impossible.
It seems her family forcibly made her memorize only the forms of basic swordsmanship, but in reality, it's said to be nothing more than a puppet repeatedly performing the same movements.
Of course, you can participate in the competition even if you know nothing of swordsmanship.
After all, the Aura event is hand-to-hand combat without even a wooden sword.
But to put a student who doesn't even know the basics of Sword King family swordsmanship, and who will likely never know it in the future, into a competition watched by many people?
-"The Doffenhouzer family even sent someone specifically to ask us. To somehow just let her graduate."
-"We intend to do that if possible. 7-star Aura is truly a rare talent."
Of course, this was also natural.
7-star Aura is a talent that simply cannot be discarded.
Even putting aside Aura Blade and such, 7-star itself functions as a perfect gas mask, completely blocking all kinds of poisons.
Simply activating Aura and remaining still can inflict severe damage on an enemy.
Perhaps a biological weapon specifically for the Poison King Cult?
Anyway... So, Eunice is out of the running for a player.
Phil, having roughly heard the situation, turned pale and lowered his voice.
"My goodness, is that true? Eunice Doffenhouzer is mentally ill?"
"Not mentally ill. Just difficult to communicate with, perhaps?"
"It's the same thing. Ugh, if I go blabbing this anywhere, I'll become enemies with the Doffenhouzer family, won't I?"
"Yeah. So keep it to yourself."
"I didn't want to know this..."
Phil clutched his head in his hands, agonizing.
"Doffenhouzer family has a bad reputation. Even reaching the ears of lowlifes like me."
"Why? Aren't they just one of the 10 branch families?"
"They're a family that came from the East a long time ago, aren't they?"
"What's that got to do with it?"
"Their race is different. Their appearance itself is grim. Almost no expression."
"Have you seen them directly? Is there someone from the Doffenhouzer family in Bryce?"
"There is. There's a swordsmanship dojo on 17th Street."
"17th Street?"
"If you go quite a ways west from the Academy, you'll find it. The Doffenhouzer kids gather and live there. I went once because I heard you could learn swordsmanship without tuition... Anyway, excluding that Eunice, who's next?"
"Next strongest Aura is..."
The student records displayed student abilities in a kind of code.
I recalled the code decryption method Professor Totten taught me.
However, regardless of the decryption, the order of the student records was already arranged by Aura strength.
"...The second strongest is Giel Craven."
"That idiot? He's second?"
"Yeah. They say his Aura is mid-3-star."
"He's still got high Aura, despite being a jerk. Are you still going to pick him?"
"I don't know. He needs to show up first before I can pick him or not."
"Huh?"
"He hasn't been showing up since the day after the succession match. Professor says he has the flu and is taking a few days off."
"Flu, my foot. He's probably too embarrassed to show his face. Serves him right. So, who's next?"
"The next highest Aura is... Redin Loca? Ah, he's out too."
"Why?"
"He hasn't been showing up since yesterday either."
More accurately, he's never going to show up again.
Phil scratched his head and asked again,
"What's going on? So, who's next?"
"Next is... Eric Newt. He's out too."
"Again? Why?"
"He hasn't shown up since the very first day. Professor says he's missing."
"Missing? Why are there so many absentees? There'll be some empty seats in Class B, huh? Hmm, how much Aura does that Eric kid have?"
"3-star lower."
"Tch, still higher than me. So, who's next?"
"Next is Froggie Flang. Aura is upper 2-star."
"Froggie Flang?"
"Do you know him?"
"I don't know Froggie, but I know Flang. Flang Merchant Guild. It's not huge, but it's a well-known merchant guild. He must be their son."
For the first time, a family name other than the Eight Great Main Families or the Ten Branch Families of the Sword King family appeared.
I read Froggie's student record.
"Swordsmanship estimated to be lower 2-star, showed a sense for newborn swords during the entrance test.
Bone and muscle not special, but has a unique physique...
Doesn't seem bad?
How's the Flang Merchant Guild?
Any bad rumors or anything?"
"Rumors? Their rumors are actually good. No, it's not just rumors, they're genuinely good. They help us out a lot."
"A merchant guild helps the orphanage?"
"Social contribution and poverty relief is their guild's motto, or something? Anyway, they sometimes come and give us lots of food and clothes."
"Really? Then he's chosen."
I closed the student records, finalizing the player selection.
Phil asked with a reluctant face, "He's chosen because they give food to the orphanage? What about his skill?"
"His skill must be good, too, right? His Aura is high, at least."
"Hmm... Well, do what you want. But actually, I know this kid."
"You said you didn't know him earlier?"
"We're in the same dorm. Though we don't really talk."
"Froggie Flang is in the Black Luna dorm?"
"Yeah. Didn't I tell you before? About some crazy guy carrying a blue doll around the dorm?"
***
After-school, the classroom was as quiet as ever.
One by one, students cautiously slipped out of the classroom without a sound.
I took a moment to catch my breath, then stood up.
I needed to move before my target left the classroom.
Luckily, the target was still sitting at their desk.
Froggie Flang.
A strange guy who always hugged a doll during class.
At least now he had put the doll he always carried next to him.
Instead, he was muttering something, with a pile of coins spread on his desk.
"700... 750... Ugh, no matter how many times I count, it's not enough..."
"..."
"Where can I get 250 Sill right now... Father? No. He'll just ask annoying questions, that's troublesome... Hmm..."
What is with him?
I stood next to him for a long time, but he didn't notice me.
Suddenly, I didn't want to talk to him.
Should I have chosen someone else for the player selection?
"Froggie Flang?"
"Huh?"
Froggie turned his head towards me only after hearing his name.
Black hair, round eyes, an innocent impression.
But caution was key.
There were plenty of strange people underneath a normal exterior.
"...Ray Granvelle? Why are you here?"
"Why? We're in the same class."
"No, I mean why are you next to me...? Ah, class is over."
Froggie belatedly looked around and sighed.
"Oh no. It's already this late... Do you know what this is?"
Then he lifted the blue doll he had placed next to him.
No, I know nothing.
I forcibly suppressed the urge to say I had the wrong person and turn away, then answered.
"A frog? A frog doll?"
"That's right. This is a sea sponge frog."
"...What?"
"Sea sponge frog. Do you know what a sea sponge frog is?"
Yes.
I see.
He also seems to have communication problems.
To think there would be someone who, upon first meeting, would skip introductions and start talking about an unknown frog.
I can understand how Phil must have felt encountering him in the dorm.
He's the type you'd rather not talk to.
However, the unfortunate thing was...
"No. Of course, you wouldn't know. Such a cutting-edge novelty that just came in..."
"I know."
I also knew the identity of that frog.
"I know about it too. Sea sponge frog."
"Really? Truly?"
Not only did I know it, but I had also seen the real thing.
I began to talk about the frogs mobilized for the Granvelle village purification project.
"...So I saw it directly back then. The people on site called them poison frogs instead of sea sponge frogs."
"Wow! Wow, wow!"
Froggie's mouth hung open like a three-year-old child.
"You really know! Poison frogs! Actually, they're not frogs that have poison, but frogs that absorb poison. But do you know? Actually, the sea sponge frog, or rather the poison frog, arrived here first?"
"Here? Bryce?"
"Yeah. This is the northernmost city of the Sword King family, right? If something comes from the north, it usually comes here first. That's how I found out. They used to keep them to themselves, but these days they're slowly privatizing them a bit. Isn't that a total jackpot? This is a completely new opportunity..."
The excited boy shook his entire body up and down, rattling on about countless things.
"...So information is important. If they can just breed, they could become a new hit product, couldn't they? Oh, right. Actually, my mom loved frogs, apparently. That's why my name is also related to frogs. So, I just love frogs, period. Frogs are good, right? They're goofy and cute. Ribbit, ribbit, ribbit!"