Chapter 46.1: The Feud with the Branch Family

Shion, Yufia, Alphonse, and—by chance—Eliza as well. It had been a week since the four of them shared lunch together.

During that week, Alphonse spent every lunch break in the cafeteria with Shion and Yufia.

At first, their mealtime conversations mainly revolved around each of their pasts and hometowns.

However, all three were students of Crawford Magic Academy. Inevitably, their discussions soon came to focus on magic.

The deeper they dug into topics related to magic, the more Alphonse found himself awestruck by Shion’s astonishing wealth of knowledge.

Alphonse, having been drilled in magic from a young age, took some pride in the fact that his knowledge exceeded that of most students. Yet Shion’s expertise far surpassed Alphonse’s, to the point that it seemed there was no end to it.

“Shion-kun, you’re practically a walking library.”

“I’ll have you know I can do more than just walk around.”

“Oh! So, what else can you do?”

“I can even change into my pajamas all by myself.”

“Hahaha! That’s amazing!”

“Well, that was a lie.”

“It was a lie…?”

“(So he really… can’t change into pajamas by himself…?)”

…And so, whenever Shion was praised for his broad knowledge, he offered playful comebacks.

But there was no doubt that his knowledge was truly immense.

Not only in the common language—Shion even possessed detailed information about certain spells recorded solely in Draconic. To Alphonse, this reinforced the impression that Shion was no ordinary person.

Still, while Shion seemed to have mastered nearly every standard magic textbook, he didn’t know much about older Draconic spells that weren’t widely circulated.

Since Shion showed great interest in the Draconic magic Alphonse knew, Alphonse shared all he could from his own knowledge.

Furthermore, Alphonse promised he would lend Shion the Draconic magic book he currently had on hand, along with additional tomes stored at the Freed family’s main estate.

“Are you sure about that?”

“Yeah, it’s not like they’ll wear out just by letting you see them.”

“You’re a good guy, Alphonse. I’ll give you some bread.”

“You’re messing with me, right? Right?”

“………?”

“Don’t give me that look like 『I should be happy I’m getting my favorite bread, so why am I upset?』”

“Hoe…?”

“‘Hoe…?’ isn’t the issue here.”

Shion played dumb, prompting Alphonse to grumble “Geez…” in mild exasperation.

Of course, Alphonse wasn’t truly angry, and he quickly changed the subject with an “Oh, by the way…”

“Speaking of which, I recently brought some old Draconic magic books from my family’s library, but some of the spells are missing pieces due to page damage or stains. So, while I’m happy to lend you the books, would you mind helping me analyze those lost spell formations, Shion-kun?”

“Ah, that’s an easy request. In fact, I’m quite intrigued by such ancient Draconic magic books myself.”

“Great! Thanks a lot! Then could you help me on a day when you’re free after class?”

“Yeah. Actually, I’m free after class today, so we can start right away.”

Alphonse also had no plans after class that day, so they decided to hold a little study session as soon as school was over.

Because Yufia was away from her seat when that arrangement was made:

“Should we invite Yufia-san too?”

Alphonse checked with Shion, but:

“Nah, she can’t read Draconic. She’d just be bored if she joined.”

And so, that afternoon’s study session would be for Shion and Alphonse only.

Today, Alphonse from Class A had classes until third period, while Shion from Class C had classes until fourth. There was a roughly ninety-minute gap before Shion finished his class and they could meet up.

Once Alphonse finished for the day, he returned to his dorm room to study on his own. At the appropriate time, he planned to meet Shion near the entrance to the second-year Class C building.

◆

“(…Alright. It’s about time for fourth period to end.)”

Checking his wall clock, Alphonse tidied up the textbooks and notebooks he had spread out for self-study.

After reviewing the next day’s lessons, he picked up one worn-out magic tome, opened his door, and stepped into the hallway.

Just then, the voices of three male students passing by reached Alphonse’s ears.

“Man, that scared the hell out of me…”

“My heart nearly jumped out of my mouth…”

“I mean, why is he—that guy—even near the entrance to the A-Class boys’ dorm…?”

The three were Kevin, Marco, and Dominik, all second-year Class A students with Alphonse.

A week earlier, Alphonse had crushed their underhanded schemes during a practical lesson. After he displayed his overwhelming ability and declared he wouldn’t tolerate them anymore, they were brimming with hatred.

Because of that, Alphonse expected the harassment to continue.

Yet, from the very next day, their harassment disappeared completely.

They no longer uttered insults under their breath. If they happened to make eye contact, they hurriedly looked away.

They had grown strangely quiet—something Alphonse found pleasing, if anticlimactic.

He heard them whisper as they proceeded down the corridor:

“Do you think he’s here to finish us off…?”

“You’ve gotta be kidding! We’ve been lying low since then…!”

“Don’t say scary stuff like that…!”

“Enough! I never wanna cross paths with that monster again…”

They muttered their fears and vanished at the far end of the hallway without noticing Alphonse at all.

“……….”

Alphonse silently watched their retreating figures.

From the snippets of their conversation, Alphonse inferred that someone else must have threatened their safety, causing them to back off.

For those three, who had despised him so much, to suddenly become so timid…something must have happened.

Naturally, Alphonse was curious, but questioning them might only provoke more trouble. It didn’t seem like a good idea.

“(…No matter. If it means they’ve stopped, there’s no point worrying about it.)”

Putting that out of mind, Alphonse picked up his pace so he wouldn’t be late to meet Shion.

But as he stepped outside the A-Class boys’ dorm, an unexpected figure appeared in his view.

“Huh? Shion-kun…?”

“Oh, hey.”

Shion was seated on a bench in the stone-paved courtyard outside the dorm. When he noticed Alphonse, he raised a hand in greeting.

“Your class ended already?”

Alphonse, carrying the ancient magic tome, approached.

“Yeah, it finished pretty early. I knew you’d be in the dorm until fourth period ended, so I came here.”

“I see… Sorry to keep you waiting.”

“Nah, I got to kill time on my way over, so it worked out. Anyway, is that the magic tome you mentioned?”

Shion’s gaze settled on the book in Alphonse’s hand.

“Oh, yeah. This one. Pretty beat up, right?”

“Sure is worn. Fires me up.”

“Fires you up, huh…?”

“Of course! Old magic tomes are pure romance. Let’s get moving.”

Shion stood from the bench and started walking, Alphonse falling in step beside him.

“Oh, right…”

“Hm?”

As they walked, Alphonse felt a nagging thought connect in his mind.

“Could it be… Shion-kun, did something happen between you and three guys who went into the dorm a moment ago…?”

He doubted there was any real connection, but he couldn’t help asking.

“Three guys…? Earlier…? Nah, you’re the only one I know in A-Class.”

“While you were on that bench, you didn’t see three students go by?”

“No. Nobody walked past while I was here.”

From Alphonse’s perspective, Shion didn’t seem to be lying.

Indeed, Shion was telling the truth. In reality, Kevin, Marco, and Dominik had spotted him from afar and sneaked in through a window to avoid detection.

“I see… Sorry, forget it. Must’ve been my imagination.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“(Yeah, there’s no way that was related, right?)” Alphonse brushed aside his concern.

“Anyway, where should we do our study session? If we go to the library, it’s hard to talk. The cafeteria?”

“Let’s go to the second-floor terrace of the library. We can talk there, and it’s easier to get related materials. Plus, the breeze feels great today.”

“Oh, good idea! Let’s do that!”

“Though…”

“Huh? What’s wrong?”

“There’s no bread in the library…”

“Oh, right… You’ll be— No, it’ll be fine without bread!”

“…You won’t cry?”

“I’m not gonna cry!! Don’t give me that serious look of concern!! Now I almost feel like crying!!”

Shion let out a soft laugh, and Alphonse ended up smiling wryly too.

They continued chatting along the way to the library—when suddenly:

“Getting awfully friendly with a C-Class nobody, aren’t you… Alphonse.”

Alphonse recognized the voice coming from behind.

“!”

He whirled around, only to find no one there.

But the instant he turned:

“So you finally found a friend on your level, loser?”

“──!!”

The same voice spoke again, directly behind him.

Alphonse spun around once more, and again there was no one.

“Where are you looking, slowpoke? Over here.”

“….”