Announcement

——— Minho ———

I stood next to Mira as Sir Vicario made the announcement, just the day before the Monster Battle Contest began. 

It was a little awkward like this but I was getting used to it.

Everyone's monsters were under Concealment Magic, and here I was, standing in broad daylight visible to all. I must have looked like a badly dressed butler ready to serve a Mage that students of the Academy started to fear. 

Well, maybe not exactly 'fear' her, but people became increasingly curious about the whole situation. 

There were still many who doubted her, and even more who spoke behind her back just laugh enough for her to hear when we walked past. 

The usual spiel was getting boring. It was mostly about how Mira comes from some country village and she just got lucky to summon a Human. Her classmates had a bit more renewed respect for Mira since the bread incident, but there were plenty of people out there who were eager to 'beat that Human who doesn't look that special'. 

And that worried me. 

OK, I was lucky enough to tame the tiger with a catnip. 

I managed to get Timid Tim to lose his unicorn by pissing it off with horrible food. 

But there were other monsters out there that I had no clue what I could do about. 

Heck, even not counting the ones I haven't seen in our class, there were already King fucking Kong and elephant to contend with. 

Talking of elephants, I wasn't quite sure if catnips would work on lions, although theoretically they should, but should I ever come across one my best bet would be to throw it some elephant shit that they are known to love. 

But I really didn't want to summon elephant shit in my mouth. 

"So, as you all know. The Contest starts from tomorrow. Everyone will be divided into groups of four, and members of each group will play the other participants in the group once, which means all of you will at least get three matches in the group stage."

Everyone was paying attention but I had a feeling I heard this one before. 

"There can be three results. A win will get you three points, draw 1 point, and a loss will get you 0 points."

Isn't this just frigging World Cup?!

"After that, the first and second place of each group will enter the knock-out stages. And-"

"Sir!", Lyam raised his hand. 

"Yes, Lyam?"

"How can there be a draw?"

"Ah, sorry. I should have explained that. Each match is to last thirty minutes at most unless one monster is defeated within the time limit. The match will be recorded as a draw."

"What if the opponent's monster just keeps on running away to get a draw?"

Oh, that gives me an idea. 

"If your monster's not good enough to catch it, then you don't deserve a win."

Fair play, Sir Vicario. 

"So, in the knock-out stages, as the name implies, if you lose you are out. There are to be no second chances."

"Sir!", this time Bartek had a question. 

The two idiots defeated by Mira's bread were always pretty eager and keen, but I didn't quite dislike them. They came across as just spirited young men to me.

"Yes?"

"How about the match doesn't end in 30 minutes in the knock-out stage?"

"Then you are both out."

"Huh?"

There were lots of mumbling and murmurs around the classroom. 

"The logic is the same. If neither of you can defeat the other one within the given time, then neither of you have what it takes to progress to the next round."

"But… isn't it unfair if two very strong monsters happen to meet in the early round? With different opponent they might have progressed", Elena sheepishly spoke out and many students nodded their heads in agreement. 

"World of Magic isn't always fair, Elena."

Well, I suppose teachers in this world aren't that different from teachers in my world. 

"From the knock-out stage, I think the rest is self-explanatory. The Contest will continue until there is one winner."

"What is the prize, Sir?", Kimus asked with a smirk on his face without even raising his hand. 

Don't be so smug, dumbass. I already defeated you once. 

Not that I wanted to face his tiger again though.

"If you want to find out, you will have to win the Contest yourself."

"Fu fu fu…", Mira started her silly laugh so I gave a little kick on her chair. 

'Psst, stop that. Don't hype things up any more than it is already.'

That didn't stop her though. 

"Kimus, if you really beg for it. I might tell you what the reward was after I win."

Mira spoke loud and clear to Kimus across the room. 

Jesus…

"Oh, aren't you being a little too confident, Mira?"

Sir Vicario probably wanted to teach a lesson in humility. 

Good! Go for it, Sir Vicario!

"I have trained my Human very well, Sir."

"Excellent. I will be looking forward to seeing your performance tomorrow then."

Don't encourage her!

"Nyahaha. Bring it on!"

'Calm down, Mira…'

This was exactly what I've been getting worried about. Although in the beginning she was getting riled up by the doubters and haters, the little recognition she's been getting in recent days was really starting to get into her head. Her exaggerated confidence was nothing new, but it was starting to go on overdrive. 

"Oh, and one more thing everyone."

Sir Vicario raised his hand as if to mention a little detail that he forgot to mention. 

"You will fight on the same battlefield with your monsters. You are not allowed to directly attack each other, but we want to see you guys get creative. Combine your own magic power with your summoned creatures, enhance their power, and improvise."

"What?!"

"Sir?!!"

"Why are you telling us all this just now?!"

There was a lot of protest around the room.

Nobody had time to prepare for this. For two weeks, everybody was just focused on training their monsters and didn't plan any tactical combinations. 

"A great Mage must be able to think on his feet. Improvising under pressure is an attribute that all of you must strive to possess."

Well, this was unexpected. But perhaps things could work out in our favor actually. I was pretty comfortable with summoning and shooting water out of my mouth, and Mira always seemed to be strong in fire magic. We have some good ground cover-

Eh?

When I looked down at Mira she had her head in her hands, trembling. 

"I'm doomed."

What's wrong now?!