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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Chaos
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To Lyla Everblaze Barhardt, the boy named Chrom Midas was a very unique individual.
For example, right now, in this very class.
“Let me ask you a question. What do you think is the most important thing for a mage operating alone?”
At Professor Neville Briggs’s question, the magic students rushed to answer.
“High firepower and a wide attack range. If you’re acting alone, you’ll often have to face multiple enemies at once.”
“I think it’s the speed of spell activation. If there are no other allies to buy time, acting before the opponent is what’s most important.”
“Wouldn’t it be abundant mana and support measures? A mage who runs out of resources becomes drastically powerless.”
“Hmm, Lyla Everblaze Barhardt. What is your opinion?”
Having been called upon, Lyla stood up and answered.
“May I know the purpose of the solo operation?”
“Why is that?”
“Because the abilities that are prioritized differ depending on the objective.”
“Correct.”
Neville nodded and then addressed the students.
“What you all said before is not wrong. Firepower, speed, sustainability. All are important abilities for a mage. But their priority is not fixed; it changes endlessly depending on the situation. Do not be bound by stereotypes, and cultivate the ability to think about what is needed at any given moment.”
The students nodded, and some of them sent admiring glances toward Lyla.
This time, Professor Neville singled out Chrom and asked a question.
“Chrom Midas. If you were ordered to defeat an enemy leader alone, what would you do?”
At the professor’s call, Chrom seemed to ponder for a moment before opening his mouth.
“First, I would reflect on my own conduct. To think that a mage would be in a situation to move alone without any support, I would wonder just how terribly I had managed my connections to end up like that.”
A murmur went through the room.
At the response, which was practically an insult, several students began to whisper among themselves, and even Professor Neville wore a wry smile.
Chrom’s words were tantamount to a direct refutation of Professor Neville’s question.
Professor Neville asked.
“Did you not hear what I just said?”
“I heard.”
“Magic is a versatile art. Compared to talents specialized in their respective roles like ‘Combat’ or ‘Support,’ it should be the most suitable for solo action.”
“Just because there’s a wild card in a card game that can substitute for any other card’s role, it’s foolish to actually use it at any random time.”
Chrom continued his explanation.
“You said it yourself, Professor. The abilities required of a mage differ depending on the situation. But in a situation that requires ability A, it’s more efficient to deploy someone else who can only do A and keep the mage, who can do ABC, in the rear. They can be used as a stopgap in a pinch.
And for the same reason, it’s better to have a mage operate as part of a group rather than alone.
The other members of the group can dramatically reduce the consumption of the mage’s limited resource, which is mana, and at the same time, the members who have obtained the versatile card that is a mage can use a much wider range of tactics.”
Professor Neville had an interested look on his face.
“That’s the standard textbook answer. But in the world, there are unavoidable circumstances. What would you do if you were in a situation where you had no choice but to carry out the aforementioned directive alone?”
Chrom replied.
“I would make the situation as chaotic as possible and increase the variables. It would also be good to get a faction hostile to the target’s organization to make a move. A direct power struggle should be left as the last resort.”
“Hmm, good. You may be seated.”
Professor Neville neither affirmed nor denied Chrom’s opinion, and so the students’ reactions were also divided.
Some were displeased, thinking he was cleverly twisting the topic and playing with words, while others praised him for presenting a novel perspective.
A few people also compared Lyla and Chrom, as their answers were so contrasting.
Lyla discussed the optimal solution within the given conditions, while Chrom questioned the premise of the board itself.
Of course, it was rare for a proper evaluation based on logical reasoning to be made on this matter.
This was because many considered it sacrilegious to even compare Lyla, a royal who inherited the name of Barhardt and a genius who ranked first in all her subjects, on the same level as Chrom, who was merely the son of a merchant family, even if he was drawing some attention.
Even those who were checking Lyla to prevent her from forming a faction were in agreement on this point.
Ironically, the one who contemplated this most seriously was Lyla herself.
If Chrom had merely spoken the words he had said earlier, Lyla would have found his opinion somewhat amusing but would not have paid it much mind.
But he had already proven that he was not just a braggart who only talked.
The last confrontation.
Chrom had declared that he would defeat Lyla, and he had actually achieved it.
It wasn’t a one-on-one match? He just ran to the goal because he couldn’t win in a head-on fight? What foolish talk.
In the first place, that match was a team battle, and Lyla and Chrom were the leaders of their respective teams.
Selecting the team, and making that team perform in the right place at the right time, that was their ability.
Moreover, in a battle where the method of victory was clearly defined by the rules, to call a victory achieved according to the rules cowardly would only bring shame to Lyla herself.
‘Why did I lose?’
A question she had repeated to herself many times.
It would be a lie to say she hadn’t been careless.
It was also true that she had been somewhat overconfident.
If she had used the rules of the game to their fullest and pursued only collecting the tokens and reaching the goal, even Chrom would not have had an easy way to counter it.
It was Lyla herself who had insisted on a straightforward approach, thinking that if she was going to do it, she would crush him head-on without leaving any room for excuses.
But even if she had shown a weakness, it would have been meaningless if he didn’t have the ability to exploit it.
‘How on earth did she get that strong?’
The image of Regret, who had single-handedly dealt with an attack that she was confident could annihilate a regular imperial army unit below a certain size with only her physical abilities and skills, and who had shattered a defense that she thought could not be broken without a high-level spell or a cannon of equal power, was still vividly etched in Lyla’s memory.
She acknowledged that Regret was a brilliant genius.
Perhaps in terms of talent alone, she might be on par with Lyla herself, albeit in a different field.
Yes, on par.
It was certain that Regret stood in the same realm as Lyla, but conversely, she was not in a position to overwhelm Lyla.
If they possessed the same potential, what was important were the starting point and the surrounding environment.
The age difference between Lyla and Regret was two years.
In other words, Lyla had a two-year head start, and it was hard to imagine that she had fallen behind Regret in terms of her environment.
And yet, Lyla could not overwhelm Regret.
That meant only one thing.
Something that could bridge that gap.
There was something that Regret had, and Lyla did not.
And it was as clear as day what its identity was.
‘Chrom Midas.’
The boy who wore a golden monocle, who casually crossed the line between politeness and rudeness as if it were nothing, the boy who had taught Lyla Everblaze Barhardt her first defeat.
Lyla realized that he was the true reason behind Regret’s remarkable power.
Along with the possibility that she too might be able to obtain that benefit.
A desire was born. She wanted it.
The obstacles lying before Lyla were too many, and the burden she carried was too heavy.
In her repeated efforts to overcome them, she had instead reached a state of maturity too early and had stagnated.
Before her eyes, as she felt an indescribable sense of suffocation, a staircase appeared that seemed as if she could climb it right away.
It was certain that Chrom was calling to Lyla.
But it was also clear that he would never take her hand until she first took a step towards him.
After thinking, and thinking, and thinking, she reached a conclusion and acted.
After class ended.
As the students were leaving one by one, Lyla spoke to Chrom.
“Chrom, can you spare me a moment later?”
“If Lyla-nim calls, I will gladly come. But I would like to know the content.”
To Chrom, who replied with a sly attitude, Lyla opened her mouth with a serious expression.
“Help me.”
Chrom wiped the smile from his lips and answered.
“What do you desire?”
Lyla’s two eyes stared directly at Chrom.
“Everything.”
Facing those eyes, which burned like fire, Chrom also replied.
“Welcome to the sincere and consumer-friendly Chrom Company, Lyla-nim.”
It was the moment when the “Heir of Red and Blue Blood” clasped hands with the “Greedy Prodigal.”
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