An Unbalanced(?) Team

"Magic before it gets manifested into your corresponding element is called pure magic. If you let a thin membrane made of pure magic cover your body, then you can increase your resistance to…"

Time passed and the lessons for magic theory class started.

While Ophelia explained the basics, the students wrote down notes on their papers. However, instead of doing that in a diligent way, it seemed like they were distracted by something.

In the classroom, which should have been dominated by silence, whispers and rumors were traded among the students of the black class.

Mika, who had to sit in the front of the spacious classroom, looked nervous as well as dejected with his face lying on the table.

On the other hand, Ophelia continued with her lesson ignoring the disturbances in the class and the pale and lifeless-looking Mika.

[Is this what they call an utter failure?]

Not only did Mika fail to recruit Cail into his team, but now there was even a clear line between the black class and the upper classes.

From what was said during the clashes between the classes, the black class was severely discriminated against and treated like insects.

Not being able to approach Cail anymore, in case a quest forces Mika to interact with Cail, was now the least of his problems. After all, he missed the chance to regain his original magic power and instead of that, he had to deal with the next quest without his sword.

In other words, the next quest is doomed to fail, too.

Drown in his negative emotions, the time flew by.

"Everyone, remember that starting tomorrow quests will be available for you on the bulletin board."

With those words, Ophelia departed silently, whereas the students rushed to Mika.

"Hey, if those idiots try to harass you again, call us! We'll be there for you!"

"Yes, count on us! We can't afford to let them look down on us any further!"

Mika slightly lifted his head up after almost every one of the class surrounded him.

"T-thanks…" Mika responded awkwardly with a stiff smile.

Everyone gave words of encouragement and shouted as if they prepared for war.

"Sorry, but I have urgent matters to attend to now…" Mika said sheepishly.

His voice was barely audible in the midst of their enthusiasm.

Using this as his chance, he squeezed through the crowd and escaped.

Leaving the classroom as well as the academy in the blink of an eye, he finally could take a deep breath.

[I guess this is also a way to make friends.]

"Friends? They all just pity me. Nothing more, nothing less-"

"There you are."

"?"

Mika looked to his left when he heard someone calling him.

His eyes' focus was instantly captured by the person's clear icy blue eyes and her grey hair that lightly swayed in the air.

"Sylvia? How did you find me?"

"Yes. I saw you rushing out of the building so I followed you."

"I see…"

"Anyways, please explain yourself. Why were you trying to recruit Cail?"

Her expression remained indifferent as always, but he felt her sharp gaze piercing through him.

However, before he could even make a sound, someone else barged in.

"Hey, Mika!"

He did not need to look in the direction of the person in order to know who it was.

"Hey, Lily." Mika returned her enthusiastic greeting with a slight smile.

"I was visiting your class, but you weren't there anymore so I thought that you were on your way home. Therefore, I tried to catch up to you!" she explained.

Mika was even more impressed by the fact that she gave an explanation without him having to ask.

"Wait… Is that you, Sylvia?!"

"Good afternoon, Lily."

"Hm? Are you two acquainted with each other?" Mika asked.

"We were standing at the sidelines together during the entrance exam." Sylvia answered.

"Yes, we were the first to pass it!" Lily huffed proudly.

She took a glance at the sight of students from the lowest and highest-ranking class.

Lily smirked.

"I guess the rumors were true… And here I thought that you would try to lay low in the academy."

"What are you talking about? What rumors?"

"She refers to the rumors of the two of us forming a team."

"Now tell me, why did you suddenly change your mind?"

"…"

Mika averted his gaze from her.

"It was actually me, who proposed to form a team." Sylvia confessed straightforwardly.

"Wait, you did?"

"Yes, if I want to improve myself then it would be better to team up with someone stronger, or am I wrong?"

"H-hey, wait a minute… How many times do I have to say that I-"

"That's true." Lily agreed with Sylvia while thinking about something.

Even though they walked side by side, it felt like Mika was nonexistent between the two girls, who were leaving him out in their small talk.

"Do you have a team already, Lily?" Sylvia asked.

"Well…" she tried to laugh it off.

"Didn't you make a team with your friends in your class?" Mika inserted himself into the conversation.

"Ehm…"

"…"

"…"

Mika and Sylvia stared intensively at the now timid Lily.

"Well, I wanted to join your team…" Lily said shyly.

"Our team?"

"Are you out of your mind? Who is sane enough to join a team with an S-rank student?"

[Well said, Mika.]

Following what he said, he felt the girls giving him a blank stare.

"May I ask why you want to join us in particular?"

"To be honest, I already decided to pair up with either you or Mika, but I always missed the opportunity to ask…"

"And just like you said, I, too, want to get stronger and that's why I want to join you!" Lily continued strong-willed.

"I see."

For the first time during their conversation, Sylvia showed a faint smile.

"Then, welcome to our team."

Sylvia offered Lily a handshake.

"I-is it really alright for me to join you…? I'm a B-rank after all…"

Despite being welcomed into their team, Lily still had doubts as she compared herself to the other two whom she believed to be a lot stronger than her.

Hearing that, Sylvia took Lily's hand by force.

"Why are you doubting yourself after demonstrating your determination?"

"I…"

"Don't worry about feeling like a burden. After all, I'm also here!" Mika stated confidently with a smile.

He tried to lighten the mood, but he had the feeling that his comment backfired.

"Anyways, I welcome you to our team, again. I didn't accept you because of pity or because of our friendship but because I deemed your ability to be worthy of this team." Sylvia elaborated.

It looked like Lily wanted to argue back, but in the end, she just returned a smile.

"Thanks!" she said beamingly.

The fluffy atmosphere turned dark as soon as Sylvia turned her head back to Mika.

"Well, you still didn't answer my question from back then, right? Could you now tell me kindly why you wanted Cail on our team?" Sylvia asked again with her stone-cold expression.

"Ah, I remember! It caused quite a commotion in the cafeteria!" Lily added.

"B-because I also wanted to gather strong people in our team…?"

In contrast to his imagination, Sylvia showed disgust at his explanation.

"I guess, it's mature to toss aside personal feelings in order to grow stronger, but please, whatever you do… Please don't involve yourself with such kind of people…" she said with her finger massaging her forehead as if she had a headache.

"I have to agree with Sylvia…" Lily stated with a wry smile.

"I'll take that advice to heart, haha…" he laughed it off.

Truth was, Mika was the person, who was the most disgusted from interacting with people like Cail.

Internally, he hoped and begged that the system would not give him any quest anymore involving Cail.

Mika looked to the girls, who were immersed in their talk again.

"A team with us three should do fine." he muttered as he smiled genuinely.