Spring Never Comes to Stolen Fields - Chapter 21

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Arsène

◈ Spring Never Comes to Stolen Fields ◈

Chapter 21: Interview

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Luna and I arrived at Training Ground 1 at a leisurely pace.

We'd been told to gather by ten, but even though we arrived on time, two people were still nowhere to be seen.

Our homeroom teacher showed up shortly afterward. I had assumed his messy hair yesterday was because he'd just woken up, but now I could see that was simply how he looked.

"Good morning, everyone. Two, four, six, eight, ten. Hm? Where are the other two?"

He gathered us together, counted us, and confirmed that two students were missing.

"Whatever. They'll show up. It's fine to be a little late on the first day."

I should've been late too, then.

It wasn't as if good attendance would get me into the Hero's Party.

"Today, before I assign groups, I'll be holding individual interviews with each of you. I need to know your strengths if I'm going to put together even halfway decent groups."

I had to make one thing clear during my interview.

Luna and Celia didn't get along, so he should never put them together.

"Come here every thirty minutes according to your number. Once you're done, you're free to leave for the day. Now then, let's start with the Hero."

That meant I was stuck here until the end because I ranked last in class. I shuddered at the thought.

I shouldn't have held back... I should've used some cooler magic and aimed for around sixth place...

Luna patted my back as I made a miserable face.

"Well, well. Our Sirius got stuck with the thing he hates most~"

Her hand was comforting, but her words were nothing but teasing.

Hey. It was still better than earning a ranking by beating up a teacher like Luna had.

Luna was second, so her turn would come in thirty minutes. We decided to wait together.

Sitting in a corner of the training ground, we watched Celia receive her interview on the opposite side.

After talking for around twenty minutes, Celia drew her sword and demonstrated her techniques.

The homeroom teacher watched her, then shook his head for some reason.

She looked plenty strong to me. I didn't know if she could defeat the Demon King, though.

During the conversation that followed, Celia appeared red-faced, perhaps because she was angry, then turned around and came toward us.

"It's your turn, Luna Iaros."

Luna nodded, rose from her seat, and walked over to the homeroom teacher.

That left the Hero and me behind.

"Sirius."

"Yes?"

"Do you think I'm weak too?"

Celia asked me with a serious expression.

"No?"

I wasn't flattering her just because I wanted to join her Party. The brief clash with Luna and the techniques she had just shown were impressive.

Celia looked troubled.

"What did he say to you?"

"Well..."

She seemed unsure whether to tell me. At least one thing was certain: it wasn't good news.

"...He said... that, as I am now... I don't stand a chance against the Demon King..."

If that was the standard, I agreed.

There was no question that Celia and Luna were both exceptionally strong, but I had never seen the Demon King firsthand. If Amelia was the benchmark, they had no chance.

If either of them managed to leave even a scratch, it would be cause for celebration.

As I silently agreed in my heart, Celia seemed to grow even more dejected.

"No. I think you'll have a chance once you become stronger."

My own hypocrisy was starting to disgust me.

A moment ago, it would've benefited me to reinforce the idea that Celia could never do it.

If she gave up, forgot about defeating the Demon King, and started a new life, that would be enough.

Yet the moment I saw her looking so depressed, I comforted her out of pity.

My words had come out almost instinctively.

I was no different from Yuwol, the boy who had comforted her in Homeron Village when she teared up over her favorite blouse being torn.

"You think so...? If I train more... I can become stronger...?"

Her blue eyes trembled.

"You're the Hero. I'm sure you can."

I smiled softly at her.

When she saw me smile, her expression brightened.

Right. Celia really was prettier when she smiled.

It felt like the first time since we'd met again that I had properly seen her smile. She used to smile so often, but now she hardly did. Sorrow mixed with anger toward humans surged inside me.

I could never forgive those Empire bastards who killed the parents of a girl who knew nothing and robbed her of the ability to smile freely.

I smiled at Celia, but my clenched fist felt as though it might start bleeding.

"Thank you, Sirius. I guess training really is the only answer."

Just don't work too hard because of what I said...

I truly didn't know what to do with myself.

"By the way, did you try the fruit yesterday?"

"Ah... the fruit? Mm... It was delicious!"

I hadn't, but the Demon King's daughter said it was delicious.

"If you want more, let me know. There's still plenty in my room."

With that, Celia left the training ground.

Like Celia, Luna talked with the homeroom teacher for around twenty minutes before showing her skills near the end.

It seemed Luna had once again said that martial arts was her specialty.

She probably wanted to avoid showing magic or any other talents. If she did, there was a higher chance she'd end up in the same group as the Hero because their roles would be different.

Luna calmly demonstrated the techniques I had also learned from Yan.

She was better than me in that area, so I watched from a distance, thinking she really was good while idly waiting.

Once the interview was over, Luna walked over to where I was sitting.

Her expression looked complicated.

Still, it was better than the sour expression Celia had worn earlier.

"What did he say?"

"Well... how should I put this... it was ambiguous. No, it wasn't ambiguous at all. One good thing and one bad thing."

"Tell me the good thing first."

Luna suddenly puffed out her chest and said in a confident voice,

"He said I seem more like a Hero than the Hero!"

...Wow... That was really hard to respond to...

You're the Demon King's daughter, Luna...

Taken the wrong way, that was practically patricide.

...And you're happy to hear that...?

Those facts didn't seem to concern her in the slightest. All she wanted to emphasize was that she had been rated more highly than Celia in combat.

"Then what's the bad thing? You're basically the strongest fighter at the academy right now. What could possibly be bad about that?"

What she said next made my head spin.

"Um... To quote him exactly..."

[Luna. Your way of fighting is very... demon-like.]

Oh, God... It was worse because it was true.

Naturally, Amelia and Yan, demons among demons, had passed the essence of their techniques on to us.

When we became pseudo-humans, we'd never been taught a way of fighting that would let us pass for humans. It had never even occurred to us that such a thing existed.

"Are we... going to get found out?"

I asked Luna anxiously.

"Master personally guaranteed those rings. Even if they suspect us, there won't be any way for them to prove we're demons."

I agreed with her.

If Amelia guaranteed it, their effectiveness was assured.

"I don't know about me, but I think he'll keep an eye on you, Luna. There's not much we can do about it, but let's be careful not to get caught."

"You're right... But how does he know? Honestly, isn't he more suspicious than we are?"

Our homeroom teacher... Another unpredictable variable had entered my already botched operation to save Celia.

I'd come here in a hurry because Celia's Proof had been brought forward, even though I had no concrete plan. With more and more problems piling up, my head was starting to hurt.

Luna's interview was over, but mine was still a long way off, so we went for a walk and had lunch.

Luna said she would head back first, abandoned me, and returned to her room.

The more I thought about it after being left alone, the more I regretted not using a spell one tier higher.

I wandered around near the training ground with nothing to do until the homeroom teacher finally called for me.

"You're the last one, Sirius."

"Yes."

"To be honest, I'm completely drained. Haa... I could tell from the moment I first saw this class, but you all have such strong personalities..."

The homeroom teacher looked exhausted. It made sense. He had spent five straight hours dealing with students without even getting a proper meal.

"Let's keep this short. That's good for you too, right?"

Yes, sir. You're the best.

"Sirius... It looks like you don't have a surname... and you're listed as Luna's attendant?"

"Yes, that's right."

The homeroom teacher laughed as if he couldn't believe it.

"No matter how I look at it, you seem weaker than Luna. Aren't you basically getting paid for nothing?"

From an outsider's perspective, I could see how it looked that way. It was funny enough to make me laugh too.

"You're not wrong. Even if I tried to hide it, I think you'd notice right away."

At his level, he would immediately see the difference in strength between Luna and me.

"Well... as long as your employer is satisfied, I suppose it doesn't matter. Your specialty is... magic? Magic is what you're good at, then."

I nodded.

"Good. Let's assess you right away. Show me one spell you're confident in."

"Yes."

I got up and walked to the center of the training ground.

After considering what spell to use, I chose one I had practiced diligently in the Demon World, thinking I would definitely find a use for it someday.

Reverse Gravity.

The ground within the range I designated sank inward, forming a depression about a person's height deep.

Reverse Gravity was a gravity-reversal spell, and it truly shone against opponents weaker than me.

It created artificial gravity that pressed opponents down so forcefully they could not stand.

It was a difficult spell that required delicate mana control, so I thought I had demonstrated it fairly well.

When I finished casting and returned to the homeroom teacher, he looked at me with an unimpressed expression.

Then came his brief evaluation.

"Both you and Luna have a very... nonhuman way of fighting. Hmm..."

He stroked his chin as though considering something.

I broke out in a cold sweat.

My attempt to pretend I was human, despite having once been one, had apparently failed.

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