The Villain's Counterattack (1)
Even without knowing Shirone's true identity, those waiting were the kingdom's top officials and the Ten of the Mage Council.
Either way, they were people a Magic Academy teacher couldn't handle casually, but the Wizard was stubborn.
"I want to go say hello! Hurry, hurry!" the teacher's voice was threadbare.
"Wizard, those people are very busy. Don't—why don't you play with me instead? Want to draw a picture?"
"No! I want to go! I'm going!" If she had been a normal child, the teacher probably wouldn't have tried so hard to stop her.
But the Wizard had never bothered with social niceties for anyone.
Not even when the king visited.
'She pulled His Majesty's beard. Well, that was probably fine—His Majesty dotes on her more than on anyone.'
The teacher herself was a mage, so she knew how much influence the Stars of the Ivory Tower had over the kingdom.
"Huh?"
In an instant the teacher felt his legs go light and the Wizard dragged him forward by the hand.
Shirone's gaze changed.
'Gravitational collapse.'
It wasn't a consciously cast spell, but a phenomenon that sprang naturally from her synesthetic thought.
'Her latent power is the strongest among humanity…'
Rampa's words suddenly made sense as the ground slid and the Wizard arrived.
"Who are you, oppa?"
Her thick blond hair was braided into big pigtails, and the faint freckles across the bridge of her nose were oddly cute.
'This is worse than I expected.'
He didn't want to call it madness, but her eyes were not those of an ordinary child.
'She already knows how strong she is. She knows people will hate her for it, and she takes pleasure in their helplessness.'
A child who could beat adults.
'When that simple curiosity mixes with pleasure and amplifies toward infinity…
will she become a Habitz?'
The thought was grim and extreme, but Shirone smiled and accepted her greeting.
"Hello. I'm a kingdom inspector."
"What's an inspector?"
"They're the ones who check whether students are doing well and if they have any troubles. Of course that includes you."
"Hmm."
When the Wizard seemed to lose interest, Shirone asked a question he wanted answered.
"How's school? Is magic fun?"
"Yes! It's fun!"
Her moods shifted as simply and quickly as they came.
"The Wizard beats oppa and unni! She beats the teachers, and she beats all these uncles!"
As she pointed past Rampa at each member of the Ten of the Mage Council, the teacher's face flushed.
"I'm sorry! She's still young—"
It was an easy excuse, but the Wizard didn't stop and pointed at Shirone.
"And I beat oppa too."
The expressions of the Ten hardened. Shirone tilted his head with a sly smile.
"You're a mage too, right? A kingdom inspector who's a mage."
Rampa's eyes narrowed.
'When one of the Five Stars conceals their power, even my eye can't rank them. Truly a terrifying talent.'
Shirone admitted it matter-of-factly.
"Yeah. I'm a mage too. Like the Wizard, I started studying magic young."
The Wizard made a caricature of a laugh.
"Oppa's really weak, though."
She believed her impressions without filter—a sign of innocence relative to her ability—but—
"The Wizard is strong. This much strong."
She made a huge circle with her short arms, a motion that carried a bestial quality.
She won't be easy to handle, Shirone thought, and he said gently,
"Yes, you're really good. But there are many people in the world who are even better."
As if his words had hollowed her out, the light left the Wizard's eyes.
"I'll win. I am strong."
"Is that so? Hmm, then how would you feel if you lost? Would you be angry or sad?"
At that moment—
"I said I'll win! I'll win everything!"
Anger, as if it had been bottled up somewhere, burst from the child's voice.
"I hate you! Puuuh! Puuuh!"
Showing the fullest extent of her hostility, she suddenly scooped up a handful of dirt and threw it at Shirone.
"Wizard!"
Unlike the pale, stunned teachers, Shirone didn't flinch and simply continued.
"Alright. Since you say you can win everything, will you show oppa?"
"Okay, yes! Game! Game!"
Used to being tested from birth, the Wizard turned to face the arena.
"No, not a game. With real magic." The teachers' eyes went wide; even the anxious official turned his head.
"Um, but real combat—"
"It's fine. Her skill is more than capable. How about it, Wizard? Still think you can win?"
"Alright. I'll win everything. Let's do it."
Shirone nodded, and Bartok, leader of the Ten of the Mage Council, stepped forward.
"Then I'll be your opponent."
Hearing that, the teachers couldn't believe their ears.
"What?"
Remembering what the Stars of the Ivory Tower could do, they surged forward and cried out.
"No! She's still a child! Let us handle this instead!"
The teacher assigned to her pleaded with Shirone.
"Inspector! Please—I will be responsible for the Wizard's rudeness. Please stop this."
Shirone's thought was simple.
'Bartok is going to test the Wizard.'
It would make a good match, he thought.
'The teachers are terrified. They teach her up close yet still don't know her true nature.'
Shirone spoke.
"I'd prefer you not go easy on her because she's young."
"W-what—"
The teachers' stares turned ugly, but Bartok grasped the true intent.
'Is that all?'
He had expected it, but hearing it from Shirone rekindled a flame in him.
Rampa stepped in to mediate.
"Then I'll be the referee. Match time: three minutes. If it gets dangerous, I'll step in directly."
At the words of a three-star resident of the Ivory Tower, the teachers snapped out of panic.
"Three minutes—just three minutes…"
Amy frowned.
'At the Stars' level, three minutes is enough to accomplish anything. In the end, Rampa bent the rules for Shirone's sake.'
At the center of the training ground, Bartok regarded the Wizard with a cold gaze.
'Synesthetic thought.'
What humanity revered as creative inspiration was basic logic for the Wizard.
'If she can create every solution…'
As Bartok's eyes widened, flames rose from beneath the earth.
'An answer that doesn't exist by force!'
A pillar of flame, growing without end, twisted in the air and surged toward the Wizard.
'Crush with raw power!'
As the training ground was engulfed in colossal fire, the teachers screamed in panic.
The assigned teacher shouted at Rampa.
"This is not what we agreed! How can you pit this against a child? I'll sue you!"
No one paid her any attention.
Shirone, Amy, and Rampa were all watching the two shadows moving through the fire.
"So there was a solution," Rampa said.
Shirone answered.
"You could call it found. It happened outside Bartok's line of thought."
Just as Bartok's decisive strike had been negated, the two were almost evenly matched.
'Unbelievable.'
When you block magic coming from every direction, tension spikes to the top of your head, but—
"Bang! Bang, bang!"
Sometimes when the enemy's face flickers into view, you can't tell if this is real.
The students' reactions were understandable, but emotion could not be a variable for the Ivory Tower's Stars.
"Let me show you how an adult does it."
When he slipped his hand out from his robe, the gem set into the back of his glove flared.
"Essence of spirits."
Of the seventeen in the world, the Ten of the Mage Council possessed as many as ten.
"Earth's awakening."
Kurururrrung!
The ground quaked and heaved up from all sides, waves of earth surging toward the Wizard.
Rampa's expression tightened for the first time.
'Danger!'
A form that integrated all aggressive possibilities of earth resembled a catastrophe.
"Huh? Huh?"
The earth rose into a dome, trapping the Wizard—and then suddenly deflated like a punctured balloon.
"Well now—"
As Rampa moved to act, thousands of tiny droplets sprang from the dome's surface.
"Huh?"
Then, with a tremendous roar, the earth shattered and exploded.
"Yaaaaa!"
Around the revealed Wizard, convection swirled so visibly it could be seen.
Shirone said, "Technique isn't everything. Attributes, power, even the laws of nature… things you can create through a creative idea."
"I'll win!"
As her desire manifested through synesthesia, dozens of hybrid magics that defied common sense surged in.
'Damn! What is that?'
Heat, gravity, fluids, elasticity, electromagnetism, rigidity, friction—countless elements were being used in forms no one had seen before.
'Amazing.'
More than fear of death, the thrill of having the limits of thought shattered was ten thousand times greater.
As the flash carried him away, the hybrid magics detonated against the ground.
Kuuuuung!
Dust rose, and Bartok, who had grabbed onto Rampa, landed beside the group.
"Where's the Wizard?"
She pushed through the smoke, ran to Bartok, and shook her hips.
"Yahoo! I won! I won!"
Though the teachers tried to restrain her, she didn't stop—she seemed angrier than before.
"Idiot. Idiot. Puuuuu!"
"Wizard, that's enough. It's worse than usual."
Bartok stood.
"No, I lost."
Everyone there already suspected it, but hearing it from him was a shock.
"I'm sorry, Rampa. Teaching the Wizard is apparently beyond my ability."
"No need to apologize. I was surprised too. In any case, the situation's awkward now."
Turning his head, Rampa saw the official near the trees trembling in his shoulders.
'This is huge.'
Adrenaline left him breathless.
'A seven-year-old beat a Star. Sending the Stang Kingdom into the temples is no longer a dream. The Ivory Tower or whatever—she has to be mine. Her parents are stupid farmers anyway; I'd just buy her, adopt her…' Rampa sighed and turned his head.
'I should have taken her three years ago.'
At the time, it had been a long, divisive issue even among the Ivory Tower's purist internal council.
Of course, since Shirone eventually became a Star and one of the Four Great Superhumans, their decision was proven right—but still…
'People need flexibility. What harm would choosing two do? Obsessing over Kar…'
He couldn't help feeling regret.
"It can't be helped."
Shirone patted Rampa's back and moved closer to where the Wizard stood.
"You're really good at magic, Wizard."
"Yeah! Much better than oppa."
Still sulking, the Wizard lifted her chin so it barely reached Shirone's waist.
"Wow, really? Then how about you finally face oppa in one last match?"
At the same moment the Stars of the Ivory Tower all turned, the assigned teacher objected.
"Enough! She only threw a little dirt—must you be so persistently cruel? Her skill was proven in the last match."
"Of course. Sorry. But there are circumstances. This situation isn't good for the Wizard as it stands."
"What do you mean—"
Rampa cut in.
"If Shirone wants it, we can't stop him. But I don't think I can referee this match."
"It's fine. I can control it."
The teacher scowled.
"What on earth are you saying? You couldn't even beat the Ivory Tower's Stars—how could you, inspector? Huh? Shirone?" Even without seeing his face, anyone in the magic community would know the name.
"What! Shirone!"
Amid the murmurs, Rampa spoke.
"Sorry for not saying earlier, but will you entrust the Wizard to us one more time? Nothing dangerous will happen. I've already obtained the palace's approval."
The official, who had been watching the assigned teacher, squinted and nodded.
'Is this for real? Is this person truly Shirone?'
Infinite Mage, one of the Ivory Tower's Five Stars, the Yahweh of the age—countless titles flashed through their minds.
"Huh? Strong."
The Wizard was staring at Shirone with interest.
"Oppa, you suddenly got stronger."