Silent Witch

There is an all-purpose excuse that is always used when one wants to escape from certain situations.

———Which is, ‘I need to go to the bathroom.'

However, not everyone is comfortable with this all-purpose excuse. For those who are extremely shy, even speaking out in public is a hurdle.

So Monica remained rigid in her seat, trying to say this all-purpose excuse, only end with her mouth shut, and then open it again, and then close it all over again.

I'll say it this time, I'll say it next time, I'll say it when there's good timing in the conversation, I wonder when good timing is, I'll say it anyway, I'll say it, I'll say it this time, this time… In the meantime, the mana measuring tool slowly came closer and closer to Monica. Currently, it was Casey's and Neil's turn to put their hands on the crystal.

If she touches that thing, it will be the end for Monica. And they'll know she's not an ordinary person.

"Hmm, my strongest attribute is fire, and my magic power is 52… not so great."

"It is said that the more magic you use in your youth, the more your mana will grow, and it may grow in the future."

After Casey, it was Neil's turn to touch the crystal. Neil's results showed that his strongest attribute was earth, and his mana was 96, which was not a bad number.

Felix admiringly remarked Neil.

"Young Maywood, you've never used magic before, have you?"

"Yes, I've only learned a little bit in my class. I heard that my father can use it quite well."

"Well, the Maywood family has been good at earth magic for many generations."

Now! Now is the time to say, " I need to go to the bathroom…" But, with this timing, won't they think I'm interrupting His Highness' speech?

"It's my turn now!" said Glenn cheerfully and took off his gloves.

Waaaah, once Glenn's done with his turn, I'll be next… I have to get out of here before that happens…

As she was holding her head and sweating heavily, she heard a snapping sound right next to her.

Why a creaking sound?

The sound came from the mana measuring tool in Glenn's hand. A portion of the crystal ball where Glenn's hand was touching was glowing red, revealing a small crack in it.

"Oh no," Glen exclaimed, and the next moment, a large crack appeared in the crystal ball. Glenn hurriedly took his hand away from the measuring tool.

"Professor! This thing's broken!"

"No way. How much do chuu think that thing costs?"

"No, no, it's not my fault! It must be defective! It's defective!"

The glowing red in the crystal indicated that Glenn's strongest attribute was fire. The problem was the amount of his mana. The scale indicating his mana was completely overflowing to the very end.

The maximum value of that instrument was 250, which meant that Glenn's mana exceeded 250… but how's that possible?

Within the kingdom, there were only a handful of people whose mana exceeds 250. Even among the Seven Sages, only two people have that much mana.

If Glenn's mana is more than 250, that would be great, but…

Everyone in the room seemed to think it was a malfunction of the measuring tool. It was the same for Monica.

Glenn gingerly lifted the cracked measuring instrument and said, ‘This won't explode, will it? It's going to be okay, right?' and was fussing over it.

The other students were also watching Glenn, as they were buzzing around—now was her chance to get out.

"Um, I… I need to go to the restroom."

"Oh, sure."

Casey nodded easily, without questioning Monica. Relieved by this, Monica sneaked out of the classroom.

T-That was close…

Haaaaaa… puffing out a long breath, Monica leaned against the wall.

Her heart was beating fast.

However, she could not rest assured here. There was still plenty of time left for the observation of the elective courses. If she didn't go back to the practical magic course, Casey and Felix might get suspicious.

As she trudged down the hallway, Monica pondered over what excuse she should give.

Perhaps she should just pretend that she had been in the bathroom for the whole time because she had a stomachache… As she was thinking of some crude excuse, she caught sight of the classroom of another elective course ahead of her. Since the classroom door was filled with glass, she could see what was going on in there.

Is that… chess…?

Inside the classroom, the students were quietly playing chess. Monica had never played chess before and didn't know the rules, but she knew that such tabletop games were popular among the nobles.

So chess is also one of the subjects at this academy…

Pulling the handout out of her pocket, she saw that chess was indeed one of the courses on the elective list. Judging from the number of students in the classroom, the course seemed to be reasonably popular.

I wonder if there's a certain rule behind the movement of those pieces.

Somehow, as she was peering through the glass at the table closest to her, the door in front of her rattled open.

Surprised, Monica jerked and took a step back.

The person who opened the door was a boy with droopy eyes—the secretary of student council Elliot Howard.

In the past, he had mocked Monica's dance practice, taken her badge, and thrown it on the roof.

As Monica reflexively clutched the badge on her lapel, Elliot smiled, raising his lips to a grin.

"Oh, isn't that His Highness' favorite little squirrel? Are you interested in chess? Come on, I'll teach you."

"N-No, I just…"

Before Monica could turn on her heel, Elliot's hand grabbed Monica's wrist and dragged her into the classroom.

A few of the students who were playing chess in the classroom stopped and paid attention to Monica. Monica felt very awkward about it and quickly lowered her head.

"Well, you can sit here. How long have you been playing chess? …oh, you don't know the piece names, by any chance?"

"N-No, I don't know…"

When she gave a foolishly honest answer to Elliot's joking words, he chuckled. It wasn't just Elliot. The whole classroom was laughing at Monica.

As Elliot laughed and shaking his shoulders, he took a seat in front of Monica.

"Then I'll teach you what these pieces are and how you move them. This is the pawn. The weakest piece."

Elliot held up the black and white pieces and explained what they were and how to move them.

Monica's knowledge of board games and cards was limited. It's not that she wasn't interested, it's just that she had never had the chance to play them before. When she was still a student at Minerva, she could only see the children of the nobles playing chess from afar.

When Elliot finished explaining the pieces, Monica timidly raised one hand and asked.

"Um, I have a question… what do I have to do to win?"

"Haha! You really don't know where to start from, do you? The winner is simple. The one who takes the enemy's king wins. That's it."

Elliot picked up the white king with his fingertips, squinted his eyes, and smiled mockingly.

"Chess is a form of mock warfare… an important pastime for the nobles to develop a sense of strategy."

"…mock warfare"

Monica looked down at the pieces lined up on the board.

Pawn, knight, rook, bishop, queen, king… mock warfare using those six types of pieces.

"…in which positions does the magic soldier hold?"

"Maybe something along the lines of a bishop. Since in the past, the monks preferred to use spells."

"Then, are the magicians'—monk soldiers' spell capability fixed? What are their main strengths and ranges, and how fast can they set up defensive barriers? And what are the individual combat capabilities of the soldiers and the food reserves of the fort?"

"Hah?"

As Elliot's eyes widened, Monica questioned more quickly.

"Does this mock warfare have a defined season, climate, and temperature? What is the height of the terrain? How about the wind direction?"

Elliot was puzzled by Monica's serious question, but then he started laughing out loud.

"Oh, come on, how can there be that many elements on this board! This is just a game, little squirrel. You talk like you've been to war before!"

"I have… never been in a war."

Right, Monica has never participated in a war between humans—but she has participated in dragon slaying.

At that time, Monica had been thoroughly drilled by Louis Miller on how to read strategic charts.

The wyvern that Monica defeated had to be killed in the air—that's why she had to know the terrain, the direction of the wind, and the strength of the wind in order to release her magic accurately.

But this board had none of that.

"It's just a flat surface, okay? Height is irrelevant. The pieces only move in predetermined ways. No negotiations between superiors, just defeating the king."

"O-Oh…"

Monica asked to make sure, and Elliot nodded with a look as if he were looking at something strange.

Still staring at the board, Monica opened her mouth.

"Then, that would be quite simple, I think."