Hard Work Will Never Betray Me

　After the match between me and Nadia, the next match is Helene vs Leon, the sixth match.

　Helene is a mage who uses poison spells, a rare attribute, and her specialty is to slowly drive the enemy into an abnormal state by combining it with non-attribute magic and weapons such as bows and daggers.

　In contrast, Leon, the oldest of the two, is a knight and a mage who uses steel spells, an attribute derived from the earth attribute, to fortify an iron-clad defense, and fights in a pleasing manner to smash the enemy head-on.

“Helene Eilenberg, I push for it.

“….. Leon Hoffmeister, I accept.”

　The match began, and Helene moved first. She used her advantage of not requiring a magic circle, rune characters, or chanting due to her unique magic to generate a fog containing some kind of poison around her. This made it difficult for Leon to get close to her within a few meters radius. First, she has to fortify her defenses, huh? That’s quite interesting.

“It’s rare. Iris has such a high level of magic.”

“I mean ……, did Iris have this much magical power?”

Even though we were co-workers in the special division and had trained together for a year, I had no idea that Iris had such a high level of magical power. Iris was not a high-powered mage, although she was good at magic specialties and skills.

　　✳︎

The seventh match was Markus vs. Iris. However, Markus, a trap-handling type of scout and engineer, is at a serious disadvantage if he fights Iris, a mage, in person, so by special exception, Markus was given 10 minutes to set up his trap.

If Iris is caught in the trap, she loses. If he could get through the trap and defeat Markus, Iris would win. Although the edge of the “spiritual sanctuary” included a part of the demon forest, the rest of the forest was just grass, so Iris still had an overwhelming advantage even though she had 10 minutes to prepare. In this battle, Iris could not afford to lose.

“Iris, you need to calm down. Remember the training you received in the Special Division and the training you’ve been receiving for the past year. They are top-notch engineers, but Iris will be able to see right through him.’

“I’m sure Iris will be able to spot him. she has trained a lot for this. Now is the time to show the results of sensing-type light magic.”

“That’s a very reliable statement.”

　Even as we speak, Markus is setting traps. Many of his traps are so clever and so devious that even I don’t want to get caught in them, so even if he only have 10 minutes to prepare, I wouldn’t feel at all comfortable.

“It’s time!　Let’s start match 7!”

　Helene then took out her bow and shot an arrow toward Leon. The arrows and the shafts are probably covered with a deadly poison. It must be impossible to continue fighting properly after being hit by one of those.

…… “Ironclad!”

　However, it was not Leon who sat and waited. He literally created an iron wall from the ground and held it up to block all bow and arrow attacks. The arrows fell to the earth with a light cracking sound.

“Iron sword, iron shield.”

　Leon separated the “iron wall” into two parts, creating an iron sword and an iron shield. He then held them up again and charged at Helene.

“Leon, you haven’t forgotten about the fog, have you?”

　Leon charged at Helene with great vigor, but there was still a poisonous mist floating around her as usual. If he rushed in as he was, he would fall helplessly.

…… “Winds of Death”

Helene manipulated the poisonous fog and tried to hit Leon. In reaction, Leon transformed his shield, which he was holding up, to create a large fan-like object.

”The ‘Death Wind Breaker’!

The steel fan spins with a loud “boooooooo ……” sound. A tremendous gust of wind came from the fan and blew away the poisonous mist.

“……!””

Oh, oh, oh!

Leon’s sword fight strikes Helene, who goes rigid at the unexpected turn of events.

“It’s over!”

　The battle between Helene and Leon ended with Leon’s victory.

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The time for Markus to set his traps was over, and the match began. There must be a number of traps set by Markus in this “spiritual sanctuary,” an area the size of an elementary school playground. Iris had to avoid or disarm them, find Markus hiding somewhere, and destroy him.

—- “Eye of the Bug”

Iris immediately launches a new skill she learned during her training period.

　 　 The scheme is quite simple. By expanding the light-sensing area with magic, it detects the infrared rays that would normally be invisible to humans. This allows her to detect enemies who are either optically mimicking or lurking in the shadows as a heat source.

“Found him ……. …….”

Iris immediately found Markus’s position . It is nothing short of amazing that Iris was able to find the enemy in a matter of seconds, but here comes the issue. No matter how many times Iris found Markus in his hiding place, she had to approach him at a fixed distance in order to defeat him. But along the way, there must be a lot of wicked traps set up. If Iris can fly like me (and even then, there will be anti-aircraft traps), but she can only move forward by walking on the ground and either dodging or breaking through these traps.

　So, what will Iris do ……?

“This is not the only result of my training.”

Iris mutters and starts to focus her magical power. The magic power that has been kneaded becomes invisible pressure and is transferred to us who are in the exercise area.

:A Special Killing. The Sun Cannon.”

Iris muttered and thrust her hand forward. The next moment, although it only lasted a few seconds, the area suddenly became as dark as the setting sun.”

“What is it?”

It was a sudden change in lightness, as if a total solar eclipse had occurred. However, the darkness is only a few dozen meters around us, and the edge of the area is bright as usual. Despite this, when we looked up at the sky, there were no clouds. Rather, it is a glorious blue sky without a single cloud.

Iris’s spell ……?　Ah!

　—- cuiiiiiiiiiiinnnggg!

From Iris’s outstretched hand, a ray of light with an enormous amount of heat, which would have converged sunlight, is released. The light-speed attack, which could not be avoided, struck the root of a tree nearly 100 meters away and blew up the entire tree and its surroundings.

“The tree was blown to pieces.　Winner, Iris!”

　Marie announced, and the match was over.

The match ended with Marie announcing, “Well, no way, ……. Passive Sonar …… Marcus!”

　Apparently, Markus was hiding at the base of the tree that Iris had just blown up. Indeed, if you looked closely, I could see that a large number of traps had been set before heading over there. However, Iris did not make a single move and defeated Markus.

……

“I’m not sure how long she”s been able to use her skills like that. When did you learn to use such a technique?”

“I think it was about a month ago. I wanted to surprise Hart, so I kept it a secret.”

I was pleasantly surprised. I’m looking forward to  her mission when  she return to the Special Division.

“I’ll watch your back.”

‘I am in good hands now.”

A year ago, Iris was a beginner, and although she wasn’t a burden, she was often supported by me. But now Iris has grown to the point where she is not just following me, she is actually supporting me.

　I have a few new tricks of my own that I have yet to demonstrate, but Iris also seems to be showing the results of her training

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“Markus!　Are you safe?”

He was in a “spiritual sanctuary,” so of course he must be okay, but still, it was inevitable that I was worried about him because he was my friend. The sun’s rays had burned his entire body. He must be anxious.

“?”

The person who had unleashed a magic that could have wiped out my friend, even beyond sunburn, simply stared back at me with a puzzled look on her face. Oh, damn it!　She’s a so natural ……!

　I ran to the edge of the area, preparing to cast a recovery spell.