Chapter 64 - Chapter 63: Rimliche's Awakening
The 3rd Month of Fire, the 4th Week, Saturday.
According to the calendar, autumn will arrive in another week, but the temperature has already dropped considerably.
There is a Harvest Festival when the month changes, but this is not a holiday for the entire nation.
It seems that while rural areas celebrate it, cities like Sarbengeal do not particularly do so.
Nothing happened last year either.
How should I put it... this country has no concept of a "holiday," so only sunny days are holidays.
(Maybe they don't have the luxury for that?)
Refreshment, vacation, a human life... those things require "leeway to live."
If you must work every day just to eat, you will work without question.
The difference in cultural levels naturally appears in these parts as well.
(But... it doesn't look like they lack that much leeway...?)
The main street and the Central Plaza are overflowing with people, looking like they are enjoying themselves however they please.
I can understand if the whole country were struggling to eat, but this country doesn't seem that exhausted.
It's just that there is no high-ranking person who thought, "Alright, let's make a holiday."
(Please, someone come up with an idea!)
If even one high-ranking person had a change of thinking like, "If everyone takes a day off, I won't get caught slacking off if I do too," then it would probably spread on its own.
While thinking such things, Mika looked at Rimliche sitting next to him.
Sitting on the roots of a tree in the usual forest, Rimliche was practicing moving her magic power.
Rimliche had already become able to move her magic power sufficiently.
Since it was a matter of personal sensation, Mika couldn't tell, but it seemed she could now move her magic power as she pleased without releasing it.
However, Rimliche's [Physical Enhancement] still had not manifested.
Murt and Cecilia were also struggling because their [Physical Enhancement] hadn't manifested yet, so that itself wasn't strange.
But summer's end was approaching right around the corner, and there were no more days left until the decision on whether to participate in the field trip.
It seemed that manifesting [Physical Enhancement] before the 1st Month of Wind was one standard.
It wasn't an absolute condition, but if it hadn't manifested by then, it seemed one couldn't master it to the level required for the field trip.
As Mika watched Rimliche, her closed eyes suddenly snapped open.
"You worked hard. Want to rest a bit?"
Mika spoke as usual, but Rimliche kept facing forward.
She blinked, and her gaze slowly lowered.
Something seemed a little off.
"Rimliche?"
Even when Mika called out, there was no answer; she seemed to be deep in thought.
Watching Rimliche's state carefully, suddenly strength entered her eyes, and she tightly pressed her lips together.
"Watch me."
Saying only that, Rimliche stood up straight.
Not knowing what was happening, Mika looked up at Rimliche.
"Great God of Fire, the spark of creation. O God of Power, swelling and bursting forth, you great divine offspring."
Rimliche began chanting the spell for [Physical Enhancement].
Mika was stunned, just silently watching the scene.
"Listen to my prayer, cast away hardships, and grant me the mighty power to crush suffering."
At that moment, Rimliche's body was enveloped in a strong heat haze.
"Huh!?"
That was a heat haze befitting the name of the God of Power, bursting forth.
The heat haze that appears when [Physical Enhancement] manifests changes in intensity depending on the amount of magic power offered first.
Mika's heat haze, forced to go all-in, was stronger than anyone else's in the class.
But, Rimliche's heat haze was likely even stronger than Mika's.
So strong that Mika, watching right beside her, flinched for a moment.
Rimliche slowly turned around.
Her expression seemed surprised even by herself.
Her gaze slowly lowered, intersecting with Mika's.
"...Mika-kun..."
Rimliche's face twisted as if about to cry, and she called out to Mika in a voice on the verge of tears.
"Rimliche... you did it."
Seeing that face, Mika almost cried involuntarily.
Rimliche's worries, her suffering, above all, her hard work, her efforts.
No one had watched more closely than Mika.
"Congratulations, Rimliche. You worked so hard."
"...Mika, kuu~n..."
Rimliche's face was already a mess, and tears were spilling out drop by drop.
Mika stood up and faced Rimliche.
But Rimliche's body swayed slightly and she seemed to fall over as is.
"Rimliche!?"
He instinctively supported her body, but all her strength had gone, and all her weight fell onto Mika.
Rimliche had fainted.
"Magic power exhaustion."
"That's right."
"I thought so."
Mika picked up the fallen Rimliche and ran to the school infirmary.
Dagny and Naporo were still in the school building, and after explaining the situation simply, the answer returned was "Magic power exhaustion."
Right now, Rimliche was lying in a bed.
Mika had also collapsed after suddenly manifesting [Physical Enhancement], so he wasn't in a state of worrying too much.
"But, for Rimliche-san to manifest [Physical Enhancement]... I was surprised."
Dagny said such things while looking at the sleeping Rimliche.
"To be honest, here in Sarbengeal, I thought there wasn't enough time, so it would be impossible."
Dagny's eyes were gentle.
Usually, Dagny instructs with a very strict attitude, but now that he thought about it, she seemed gentle even when Mika collapsed after manifesting [Physical Enhancement].
"I knew that Mika-kun had been giving Rimliche-san special training. Was it because you trained her that she could sense magic power?"
"...No."
Dagny's gaze turned toward Mika, but Mika felt somewhat uncomfortable.
Was this discomfort from talking one-on-one with a teacher due to the memories of his student days ingrained in Mika?
He wasn't a very serious student either.
Being made to sit seiza in the staff room for two hours was a good memory.
Nowadays, it would be a level where one could sue for corporal punishment.
"She must have wanted to participate in the field trip with everyone very much."
That was certainly true.
Blessed with magic power far greater than anyone else, yet lagging behind in magic power proficiency more than anyone.
He thought she must have strongly wished to participate with everyone absolutely.
"Mika-kun gets along well with Rimliche-san."
"Well, it's not exactly like that..."
Both Mika and Rimliche were the type who didn't talk much about themselves or ask others.
They weren't hiding anything specially, but talking freely about things not asked didn't suit their nature.
Since they resisted having others intrude, they didn't try to intrude on others either.
So, during special training, they didn't talk about unnecessary things much.
"It's not good to talk about such things with fellow academy students..."
Dagny's expression darkened slightly as she looked at Rimliche.
"Mika-kun, do you know that Rimliche-san didn't go home this spring?"
"Yes. Well, that's..."
When Mika finished his first year safely and returned to his village, Rimliche had said she would stay in the dormitory.
When Mika said they couldn't train on Saturdays during the return to the village, she said she wouldn't go back.
"What was the reason?"
"I didn't ask. I didn't listen..."
"I see."
When Mika shook his head, Dagny looked down slightly and pondered.
"I think asking this puts a heavy burden on Mika-kun, who is the same age as Rimliche-san... but if possible, I want you to be her support."
...Indeed, that isn't words to say to a child.
Mika couldn't gauge Dagny's true intentions for suddenly starting such a conversation.
"She lost her mother, you see. There seems to be a new mother, but... it doesn't seem to be going very well."
It seemed that was the reason Rimliche didn't go home.
It appeared that the environment in which Rimliche was raised was something like neglect.
Dagny said she learned this information from a report from the official Bartaf.
(...That official who came for the home visit. He didn't just come to explain; he was investigating such things too.)
Mika's family had returned quickly, but it seemed they observed the state of the target children and conducted such investigations if necessary.
On the day of entering the dormitory, Mika happened to meet Rimliche, and she was wearing patched clothes just like Mika.
Mika's clothes were often mended by Loretta, but it seemed Rimliche had done that herself.
Rimliche, who was a bit shy, always looked down, and seemed lacking in confidence.
That was a habit ingrained from living with the new mother.
When Mika first entered the academy, he was quite skinny.
That was due to the Noisheim family's financial situation, but Rimliche was also on the thin side.
Her height was not much different from Mika's.
Just as Mika was, Rimliche's nutritional state was probably not very good either.
Due to neglect by the new mother.
"I don't mean to say you should be her strength. I just want you to know her situation, and even if it's just a little, if there is a child nearby who can care for her, Rimliche-san will surely be able to keep going."
Saying that, Dagny let out a sigh.
"We can only watch over her until she gets here in Sarbengeal."
It was still half a year away, but once they graduated from the Sarbengeal Magic Academy, Mika and the others would go to the Royal Capital.
If that happened, it would be goodbye to Dagny here.
No matter how much Dagny worried about Rimliche, our relationship ends here.
Dagny would welcome new children in Sarbengeal, and we must go to the Royal Capital.
Mika let out a long breath. "Fuu..."
Honestly, the talk was too heavy.
(Really, why make children carry such burdens...)
Normally, this is not something that should be allowed.
Normally.
But Mika was not normal.
Although he looked like a child on the outside, he was not a child on the inside.
No, recently he had felt quite childish himself.
(I can't solve it or carry it. Is it okay to just continue our relationship as before?)
If it was just that, there was no problem.
Mika himself had the Noisheim family's situation and problems that had to be solved, but if he just cared a little or gave advice as before, there was no problem.
"I'm sorry, but if you expect too much... I will just continue my own way of interacting. As before."
Mika looked at Rimliche.
She didn't seem to be in any particular pain.
She seemed to be sleeping well.
"Yes, that's fine. I'm sorry for telling you such things."
"No. I was a little concerned about it too."
It must have been a secret Rimliche didn't want known.
So Mika said nothing.
He would just treat her as before.
"I will take care of her. What will you do, Mika-kun?"
Asked by Dagny, Mika thought for a moment.
"Normally, it would still be time for special training. If you like, I can watch over her?"
"Oh? Then I'll leave it to you. Will you call me when Rimliche-san wakes up?"
"Understood."
Dagny returned to the adjacent staff room.
Mika quietly watched over Rimliche by the bed until she woke up.
And so, when Rimliche woke up, she was extremely embarrassed.
Her face turned bright red, and she hid under the sheet thrown over her.
She said in a half-crying voice, "Mika-kun's pervert!"
Dagny, who noticed the commotion, gave him a very white-eyed look.
Eh, is it my fault?
■■■■■■
The 1st Month of Wind arrived, and training for the field trip officially began.
Afternoon exercise was based on [Physical Enhancement]; they stopped doing athletic courses and just ran fast or jogged on the ground every day.
Moreover, they had to match the pace of Naporo, who led the front, and this was quite fast.
Everyone could not maintain [Physical Enhancement] for three hours matching Naporo's pace, so they would give up halfway.
However, resting was not allowed even then; they were forced to run in their raw state without [Physical Enhancement].
Honestly, did they really want to kill us? I seriously worried about everyone.
As for Mika, maintaining [Physical Enhancement] was no problem thanks to [Absorb].
It would be nice to say, "It's easy if I just follow along," but in reality, that wasn't the case.
Even with Mika's stamina and his [Physical Enhancement], it was quite difficult.
There was no way the class could keep up with such training.
Still, Murt was able to keep up to a certain extent.
As expected, those with higher natural physical ability had an advantage with [Physical Enhancement].
He couldn't finish until the end like Mika, but even after cutting [Physical Enhancement], he somehow ran in his raw state.
And clinging even tighter than Murt was, surprisingly, Rimliche.
Rimliche's physical ability was significantly inferior to Murt's, but she used her abundant magic power to raise her output considerably.
By doing so, she compensated for the lack of physical ability and somehow kept up with Naporo and Mika.
She couldn't run for three hours yet, but probably the next one to achieve it would be Rimliche.
"Aaaah... tired... aaah..."
Mika lay flat on the ground, catching his breath.
Running continuously for three hours was quite difficult even with [Physical Enhancement].
"Wow, Mika-kun is really amazing. You could keep up for three hours from the start. I've never heard of a child like that. Even though I increased the pace today, you still seem to have plenty of room."
Naporo looked down at Mika, breathing heavily through his shoulders.
It must have been a pace that was quite difficult even for Naporo.
To impose such a pace on a child like this, there were some terrible academies.
"Normally, you can't even say 'I'm tired'."
Saying that, he gazed at the corpses rolling on the ground.
Everyone seemed unable to move another step, lying on the ground.
Today, it seemed everyone managed to cut [Physical Enhancement] properly before exhausting their magic power.
Sometimes, children who didn't notice their limits would feel sick while running or collapse.
Collapsing suddenly while running was truly shocking to watch from the side.
They rolled around making scrapes all over their bodies.
Actually, both Dagny and Naporo could use [Heal], so they could heal them immediately, but seeing a child covered in blood and not moving at all made my own heart stop.
Seeing his classmates in such a state, Mika reflected on his own deeds.
When Mika collapsed on the road.
He realized how surprised Horatio, Radi, Amalia, and Loretta had been.
(Well... seeing children in such a state is really tough... I really feel sorry to everyone...)
Even though it was an accident, he felt he wanted to sincerely apologize to everyone again.
"Is it dismissal for today?"
Mika asked Naporo while getting up.
"Yeah, dismissal is fine. Well, I'll go around calling everyone."
Saying that, Naporo walked toward Charl, who was closest.
Mika also stood up, cut [Physical Enhancement], and walked in the opposite direction.
Rimliche was lying about 100 meters away.
Mika didn't know how many laps behind he and Naporo were, but Rimliche had kept up until the end again today.
"Rimliche~, it's dismissal~. Let's go~."
Mika called out, but there was no reaction.
She stretched her legs, her chest rising and falling greatly, desperately trying to catch her breath.
It seemed it would take a little more time before she could get up.
"I'm going ahead~."
Saying that, a hand slowly extended toward Mika.
"...Carry me."
Between gasps of rough breathing, such a voice was heard faintly.
"Don't be spoiled."
Mika slapped that hand away sharply.
Rimliche's arm fell onto the ground with a soft thud.
"Mika-kun's big brother... stingy..."
Rimliche threw a tantrum, flailing her limbs while lying on her back.
She's surprisingly energetic, isn't she.
"Look, I'm really leaving you behind."
Looking at the ground, Naporo was already calling out to several people, and everyone was walking toward the dormitory, though unsteady.
Seeing such a scene, Rimliche's hand was extended toward Mika again. ...This time, both hands.
"...Wake me up."
Mika looked at Rimliche with a sticky gaze, but unfortunately, Rimliche had her eyes closed.
Letting out a sigh, Mika took Rimliche's both hands and pulled.
"Ehehe..."
Smiling shyly, Rimliche stood up firmly.
"Come on, let's go back."
"Okay."
Rimliche walked a little behind Mika, loosening her body lightly while catching her breath.
And so, in the direction toward the dormitory, Cecilia was lying on the ground.
"Hey, Cecilia~. Wake up quickly or I'll step on you~."
Calling out with a slightly louder voice, Cecilia threw sand toward Mika.
But it was a bit far, and she didn't put any force into throwing.
It ended with just sand flying up.
"Now, don't say such things."
A voice scolding Mika from behind was heard, and Rimliche ran quickly toward Cecilia.
And, just as she had been treated, she pulled Cecilia's hand and helped her up.
...But it seemed quite difficult.
She stood up, but it was barely enough to stand.
Probably not just the limit of simple stamina, but her magic power was likely insufficient too.
"Hey, are you okay? Can you walk?"
Calling out while approaching, but no answer came back.
There was no answer, and she didn't move from there either.
"Hey, hey, are you really okay?"
"..."
When Mika lined up next to Rimliche, Cecilia muttered something.
He couldn't hear what she said.
"What?"
Mika asked back, but no answer came.
However, Cecilia's face twisted with frustration, and her legs trembled.
Seeing that, Mika secretly let out a sigh.
"Come on, get on."
Without saying unnecessary things, he squatted in front of Cecilia.
There was a slight hesitation, but Cecilia honestly leaned her weight onto Mika's back.
(...Oh, heavy...)
Mika didn't have that much leeway either.
For a moment, he thought about using [Physical Enhancement] right now, but... he stopped.
That would be too lacking in delicacy.
Mika secretly gathered his spirit and stood up firmly.
He ignored Rimliche saying from the side, "How nice."
And he pretended not to hear the faint sound of sniffing his nose in his ear.