Chapter 39: Special Scholarship Student, Elliot Freegan

“──… Damn it!!!!”

Kevin, a male student in 2nd year Class A and ranked fourth in the grade, kicked over a nearby trash can with an exasperated shout.

“What the hell, what is up with that bastard…!!”

Breathless and agitated, Kevin raked his slicked-back hair styled with hair gel and stomped over the scattered trash he had kicked aside.

Trailing behind him, Marco and Dominik, from the same class and ranked sixth and seventh respectively, followed closely, kicking aside trash as they went.

“What do you mean, ‘I’m sure I’ll never lose to you’? Just thinking about it makes me absolutely furious…”

“He always implies from above that he works harder than us, or that it’s okay to resort to sneaky tactics—he really gets on our nerves…!!”

After classes ended, on the way back to the dormitory, the three of them each showed their own brand of irritation.

The cause was an incident during today’s practical class.

During that practical class, the three had schemed to teach Alphonse Freed—a man they despised—a lesson.

However, even though they had set the odds overwhelmingly in their favor to trap him, they ended up receiving a harsh blowback instead.

Alphonse, whom they originally despised, had recently been praised by everyone following the Dragon Incident, and because of that they hatched today’s plan out of spite—but it ended in complete failure.

On top of that, Alphonse, who had previously been dejected when subjected to insults, boldly retorted to the three, delivering such a cutting rebuke that left them speechless.

Having experienced these events only a few hours ago, their anger showed no signs of abating, even as they vented it on objects and in words.

“Damn it, that guy, seriously…!! Somehow, somehow we have to do something about that bastard… ahhhhh damn it!!!”

Targeting Alphonse, the object of their hatred, Kevin again plotted to somehow take him down.

But having failed despite setting up such an overwhelmingly favorable situation today, Kevin bitterly realized that they were now powerless to do anything, ultimately having no choice but to roar in anger.

As he walked down the hallway, visibly agitated and catching his breath, he collided with a short male student coming around the corner.

“…!”

“Ah…!”

Immediately afterwards, the small student—about 140 cm tall—dropped the bucket he was holding in both hands from the impact, and the liquid inside splashed directly onto Kevin’s trousers.

Furthermore, the liquid that splashed on the floor also spattered onto Marco’s and Dominik’s trousers.

“Whoa!”
“Hey, it’s coming on!”

Marco and Dominik, suddenly drenched with dirty brown water, exclaimed, but Kevin, who got the dirtiest, said,

“…Huh?”

—as if he couldn’t comprehend the situation.

“Hey, shorty! Don’t mess around!”

“What are you gonna do about it, huh!”

“Ah, uh, ah…”

Under the barrage from Marco and Dominik, the short student stuttered in fear.

Then,

“What the hell is with all of you… Seriously, cut it out…”

Beside the two who were seething with anger, Kevin, looking dejected, ran his hand through his hair.

“Uh, um… s-sorry—”

Just as the short student began to apologize, he was suddenly grabbed by the collar, cutting his words off.

“Ugh…”

Kevin grabbed the student’s collar forcefully and slammed him against the wall, glaring at him with bloodshot eyes.

“Hey, shorty… come over here for a moment.”

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…………

………

……

“You’re kidding me!! You piece of shit!!”

“Ugh…!!”

In the shadow of a building within the school grounds where few could see, angry shouts and pained groans echoed.

The small student, pinned against the wall with his shoulders pressed, received a knee kick to his abdomen and collapsed, groaning in pain.

“Hey, since you’re the one who dirtied your shoes, you better clean them up yourself!!”

To the student crouched low on the ground, Kevin mercilessly stomped on his head and trampled it with the sole of his shoe, grinding it down.

“Ugh… I’m sorry… please, just forgive me already…”

Tears streaming down from pain and agony, his face smeared with dirt from being pressed against the ground, the student pleaded desperately.

“Shut the hell up, trash!! A piece of D-Class trash sullying A-Class’s clothes…!!”

“Ugh… ugh…”

Kevin hurled insults at the student, who—lacking the class-indicating stripe (red for A-Class, blue for B-Class, gray for C-Class) on his uniform—was clearly a member of the line-less D-Class.

“Wait a minute, this…”

However, Dominik noticed that in place of the stripe, something had been attached to the uniform.

“This badge—this kid is a Special Scholarship Student…!!”

“Ah, no way, really.”

“Huh? This shorty?”

In order to enhance the abilities of individuals with skills beneficial to the country, Crawford Magic Academy enrolls those with exceptional magical talents on a special scholarship, and these students have a badge on their uniforms indicating that status.

The badge on the collar of the small student before them was precisely that indicator.

Remembering, Dominik continued,

“I’m pretty sure there was a kid who entered in the second year on a special scholarship for weapon fabrication magic. I think he was that half-dwarf, half-human hybrid. Isn’t this him?”

“…Sure enough, he’s unusually small, and his ears do look pointy.”

“…If I thought his skin was grimy, then you’re a filthy mongrel too.”

After cursing his somewhat dark complexion, Kevin bitterly recalled the other half-human male he despised the most, Alphonse Freed.

Just as the three had anticipated, the small, crouching male student was none other than the boy, Elliot Freegan, who had entered two years ago as a special scholarship student for weapon fabrication magic.

Dwarves, as is well known, are characterized by their long, pointed ears, large noses, and unusually short stature, and are renowned for their craftsmanship.

Among such dwarves, Elliot was a descendant of a legendary master craftsman, and his skill in weapon fabrication was already world-class.

However, in terms of magical ability, Elliot excels only in weapon fabrication magic; outside of the special curriculum for scholarship students, he can barely keep up with the basic magic classes taught in D-Class. That is the true extent of Elliot’s magical prowess.

Therefore, Elliot was utterly powerless to break free from being trampled by the three A-Class students.

“It pisses me off… that a little runt like you gets better treatment at this academy than us, the superior ones!!”

“Gah…!! Uh, ugh…”

Kevin’s powerful kick sent Elliot sprawling to the ground.

“Ugh… sniff, s-sorry… I’m sorry…”

Crouching in a mud-soaked heap, Elliot pressed his forehead to the ground and frantically repeated his apologies.

“There’s no way I’m letting that slide, you idiot. It’s your own damn fault for splashing your filthy water all over me, of all people.”

Even Elliot’s choked, sobbing apologies did nothing to make Kevin listen.

“Hey, show me that bag. Bet there’s something interesting in it, isn’t there?”

“Ah…!!”

As Dominik approached, he snatched the bag that Elliot had been carrying on his back.

“N-no, stop it… P-please…! That is…───”

“Don’t touch it with your dirty hands!!”

“Ugh…!!”

Elliot stretched out his arms in a desperate attempt to stop him, but was kicked aside by Dominik. Dominik opened the bag and dumped its contents onto the ground: various hammers in different sizes, a piece of metal shaped like a clamp, a black, grimy cloth, something resembling a hand-sized broom, and a small bottle filled with an oil-like liquid—everything clattered about.

“Huh? What’s this? Pathetic.”

Dominik let out a bored remark at the sight.

“Hmm? What is this?”

“……!!! Th-that’s the one thing…!!”

When Marco picked up a roughly 30 cm long, slender object wrapped in cloth, Elliot let out a cry of panic.

“What is this…? A sword?”

As the cloth was unfurled, it revealed a short dagger.

“Hey, what the hell is that!!”

“What a shoddy job! The blade and the hilt are all off-kilter!”

“You’ve gotta be kidding me! It looks just like some kid’s craft project!”

The three burst into laughter at the atrocious shape of the dagger.

“Hey, you didn’t make this, did you?”

“With this, I could even swing it myself! Hahaha!”

“A scholarship student in weapon fabrication magic… hah, what a joke.”

All the while, they mocked Elliot.

“P-please…!! P-please give it back… and d-don’t do anything to it…!!”

“!”

As Elliot crawled on all fours toward them with a look of desperation far more intense than before, Kevin smirked.

“Oops, my hand slipped.”

“Ah…!!”

Kevin snatched the dagger from Marco’s hand, deliberately dropped it to the ground, and then stepped on it.

“Oops, what’s this? Some trash at my feet.”

“P-please, stop…! Sniff… Don’t step on it…!!”

Elliot pleaded desperately, his face twisted in anguish.

Seeing this, Kevin’s amusement grew.

“There’s no way a scholarship student in weapon fabrication magic could forge such a pathetic dagger—it must be a failed piece.”

“P-please, stop…”

As Kevin said, the dagger was nothing more than a failed piece that should be tossed aside.

To most people, it would be seen as nothing but a shoddy, inferior dagger.

But for Elliot, it was different.

That dagger was a treasured keepsake.

Elliot’s grandfather had died when he was very young, but that dagger was the first and last one they had ever forged together.

Elliot, who had never been good at talking with others or making friends, always tended to care for that dagger when he felt lonely, reminiscing about the happy days he spent with his beloved grandfather.

Even if its form was unseemly, the image of Elliot forging that dagger was forever linked to the warm, gentle memories of his grandfather—a memory that meant more to him than anything.

“P-please, stop… uh, don’t step on it…”

“I told you, don’t touch it!!”

“Ah—!!”

Clinging desperately to the foot trampling on the dagger, Elliot struggled to pry it away, only to be kicked aside once more by Kevin.

“A master weaponsmith can make countless better daggers, right? Holding on to this trash is a waste of time, so I’m going to dispose of it.”

“…!?”

Elliot’s face contorted with despair.

“N-no…! P-please, just… stop…!!”

“Shut up!”

“!!”

As Elliot lunged forward, clinging desperately, Marco delivered a kick.

“Ugh… ugh… P-please, just… that’s enough…!!”

With his face crumpled in tears, Elliot reached out, pleading with all his might.

But, as if to put distance between them, Kevin kicked the dagger a little further away.

“Don’t worry—I’ll dispose of it properly so there’s nothing left to miss. You just watch from over there.”

With a grotesquely twisted smile, Kevin walked over to the dagger and began to deploy a magical circle on it.

“S-stop it! P-please, don’t… break it!!”

Elliot screamed desperately at Kevin.

But then───,

“Crimson Blood Bloody Thunderbolt Itoning!!”

Without mercy, a red lightning bolt rained down upon Elliot’s dagger.

With a shattering roar of thunder, red light exploded upon the ground, accompanied by the sound of destruction.

“Ah… ah…”

Before his tear-blurred eyes, Elliot could only let out a hoarse, despairing cry.

“Hey, look at that!! It’s smashed to pieces!! Hahahaha!!!”

Where Marco pointed with glee, all that remained was a shallowly gouged, scorched patch of ground; not a single fragment of the dagger could be seen.

The three laughed merrily at the sight.

“You acted so precious about it—what a joke!”

“Really, it was nothing but a worthless, failed scrap!! Hahaha!”

“Pathetic!! Hahaha!!”

“Ugh… ugh… sniff, ugh…”

Overwhelmed by the loss of his most precious treasure, Elliot could do nothing but wallow in sorrow.

 ──”It’s done! It’s done, Grandfather!”

 ──”Ah, a fine dagger indeed. As expected of my grandson, Elliot. I’ll be surpassed by you in no time at all.”

 ──”R-really!? Do you think I can become someone as important as you, Grandfather!?”

 ──”Of course. Elliot, if you can forge such an amazing dagger, then you’re destined for greatness.”

 ──”Heh, heh… And, um, Grandfather! I promise I’ll treasure this dagger forever…! It’s the one I forged with you, the one I love so much…!”

 ──”Hohoho! Such sweet words, Elliot. Grandfather loves you too!”

 ──”Ah, ah—stop, you’re tickling me, Grandfather!”

 ──”Hohoho!”

In that moment, Elliot’s memories of his childhood flooded back—the cherished, happy days spent with his beloved grandfather.

They were his most precious memories of all.

“Ugh… ah, ahhhh…”

──I’m sorry, Grandfather… I’m so sorry…

Unable to bear the deep sorrow, searing pain, and overwhelming sense of loss from losing the dagger he held most dear, Elliot began to sob uncontrollably.

At that moment───.

“Hey, this dagger is insanely cool. Stop staring at the ground and look at it, too.”

Out of nowhere, a voice emerged right beside Elliot—a voice that did not match any of the three he had just encountered.

“My parents are merchants, you know. I’m pretty damn good at judging quality.”

“Ugh… sniff… ……?”

Elliot, still confused, looked up to see an unbelievable sight.

“……!!!!!!!”

Before Elliot’s eyes, a black-haired male student was crouched down, and in his hand was Elliot’s dagger—which, moments ago, should have been completely destroyed.

“So? Don’t you think it’s a fine dagger? It may look clumsy, but you can feel the maker’s dedication, and above all, it’s been well cared for.”

“H-how… how is that even possible…”

The male student continued, his gentle tone belying his words.

“I can tell this dagger holds someone’s precious feelings. It’s one of a kind in this world.”

Then, his voice softening further, he added,

“But it seems there are those too shameless to destroy such a beautiful weapon. So, I want you to protect this dagger.”

Saying that, the student gently placed the dagger before Elliot.

Then, turning his back to Elliot, he stood up and declared,

“Leave punishing those damn bastards to me.”

His gaze fixed on Kevin and the others.