Ch. 188: The Numberー One and the Wizard
“HーHey, Igni, can I ask you a question?”
Igni: “Hm?” Igni was discussing with his group on what matches to go watch next when someone came up to him.
“Do you happen to know where Miss Elina is?” Igni: “Elina? No, I don’t know but……what’s going on?” “Well, it’s time for Miss Elina’s match, but we can’t find her anywhere!”
As the girl spoke, she spoke almost face to face with Igni.
Igni: “You can’t find her? Are you sure she’s not in the waiting room?”
“No, she isn’t! She isn’t there! We need to find her quick or we’ll have to forfeit!!”
Igni: “Hmmmm, yeah, that’s not good.”
Igni: (That would be a waste.)
The competition is only held once a year. Letting a match be determined by forfeit was too wasteful of an opportunity for Igni.
“I thought since you’re pretty good friends with Miss Elina, you might know. I thought you might know where she might be.”
Igni: “........I understand. I’ll search for her too.”
Igni had an inkling of where Elina’s whereabouts, and parting with Alicia and the group, he headed towards the school building.
Igni: (She’s probably in that spot again.)
And quickly arriving at his destination…….he found her.
Elina hunched over with her head buried in her knees and drew circles on the ground with one finger.
Igni: “EーElina? What’s wrong?” Elina: “........it’s no use. I lost. It’s overー......”
Igni: (Crap. She’s gone mental.)
Igni: “WhーWhat’s wrong? Did something happen??” Igni did his best to proceed with the conversation, but Elina glanced up at him and let out a big sigh. She turned away and began drawing her circles on the ground once more.
Elina: “It’s okay……. I know I can’t be first anymore…….. I’m going to forever be second……. Always second……..”
Igni: “HーHey now. It’s not like you. C’mon. Don’t be so pessimistic…..”
Elina: “BーBut I worked so hard………..that slash attack…….” Igni: (Is she talking about [Wind Sickle] {Kamaitachi}?)
Elina was referring to her ability to send the slash of her sword across a distance. To Igni’s knowledge, he only knows of two other people who could do the same.
In other words, it was the [Extreme of Sword] Kurara, [Extreme of Life] Celia, and now Elina.
That’s why Igni undoubtedly considered Elina to be a 1st class swordsman.
Igni: “Oh, yes! That move. I can count on one hand how many people I know who can do that. I think you’re amazing….”
Elina: “But…I wost…….”
Igni: (“Wost”? When she says it, it sounds so cute.)
Elina: “I’m so jealous. You can only use {Fireball} but you’re so strong. No matter how hard I try…..I can’t beat you…..”
Igni: “BーBut……you know that I can’t participate in the matches, right? So wouldn’t it be a waste to lose a match by forfeit? C’mon, Elina. Let’s go to your match.”
Elina: “My next opponent is Fray….”
With those words, Igni finally understood what was bothering Elina so much.
Elina: “Ahhhhh!! *sob* It’s overー! I’m gonna lose!! But…..but I tried! I really, really tried! I even asked father to train me over summer break, and I worked on deflecting {Fireball}!!”
Igni: (......she was doing that over the summer?)
Elina: “But I still lost!! I’m going to lose again! I don’t want to lose anymoreeee!!”
Elina began throwing a tantrum on the ground.
Igni: (Crap!! The stress is causing Elina to regress into a child!! I need to do something!!!)
Igni: “Wait! That’s not necessarily true! In the previous match, Fray didn’t do so well. He was having a difficult time with Estea!”
Elina: “What? Against Estea?” Igni: “Yes, against Estea.”
Elina: “IーI see. He struggled against Estea…”
Elina suddenly stood up straight with hope burning in her eyes. Ignoring everything that was happening moments before, she placed a hand on her sword handle.
Elina: “Hehehe….then I might be able to win…..!”
Igni: “Hm? Do you know how strong Estea is?” Elina: “Yeah, I fought with her on several occasions……and each time, I won.”
Igni: “Oh, I see!”
Igni knows that Estea is top of the class, but that is determined after compiling together multiple forms of assessment into one grand total.
Igni: (In that case, it’s totally possible that Elina has a better grade than Estea in certain aspects!)
Igni: “Then you have a chance to beat Fray, Elina!!”
Elina: “YーYes! You’re right!!”
Elina was now pumped up full of energy and grabbed Igni’s hand with both hands.
Elina: “Thank you, Igni! Thanks to you, I’m ready to face this match!!”
Igni: “Well, I know how you feel. Anyone would hate to lose.”
Elina: “......even you, Igni?” Igni: “Of course. When you lose, it’s like someone proved that all of your efforts were for nothing.”
Elina: “IーIgni…..!”
Igni: “But no matter what, efforts are never a waste! Remember how you chopped my arm off? Go into this match with the same amount of fight, and you can’t lose!”
Elina: “Thank you. Really, thank you so much. I’ll be going now!”
With that, Elina headed towards the field. Her expression was full of pure confidence. Igni followed after her. He suspected that he would see Alicia and his friends there.
So as they both headed to the field, Igni found Alicia and the rest standing near the entrance for the spectators. Since the participants and spectators have different entry points, he parted with Elina there, and Igni headed for the seats.
Alicia: “I can’t believe you managed to find her, Igni.” Igni: “I just got lucky.”
Igni avoided going into details, and although he looked for an open seat, he could not find any.
The spectator seats were packed with people
Igni: “........there’s a lot of people here.”
Alicia: “I guess we’ll have to watch standing.”
Igni: “Yeah.”
Igni and his group moved towards the back of the spectator seats.
Standing in the back, they looked across the field.
Yoori: “Who do you think will win, Igni?” Igni: “.........well, if Fray fights like he did the last match, then it’ll be Elina.”
While they waited for the two participants to enter the field, Igni answered Yoori’s question honestly. He wasn’t sure why Fray wasn’t in top form, but that lag between Spells means Fray’s skills have significantly dropped.
After a while, the two entered the field and the match began.
As soon as the signal was given, both fired off Spells, and the Spells collided and exploded in between the two contestants!
Yoori: “........amazing….”
As he watched, Igni heard Yoori mumbling in awe.
But to Igni, Fray’s technique was still sloppy. Though Fray used [Light Spells], Elina was able to predict his moves and blocked the Spells accordingly. The only thing preventing Fray’s loss was his mobility, and Elina had difficulty pinning him down.
Slowly but surely, as if tightening an invisible noose, Igni saw Elina corner Fray inch by inch.
Igni: “........it’s over.”
Elina raised her sword above her head.
The unique stance was unmistakable. She was preparing her [Wind Sickle] {Kamaitachi}.
A flying sword slash is much harder to time than a Spell.
Fray paused as if trying to decide between using a Defensive Spell or not. Fray’s Magic smoldered inside of him.
Not missing the opportunity, Elina swung her sword downwards.
A moment later, her slash crossed the distance between her and Fray.
But Igni saw no blood as a result.
Instead, Fray stood there unharmed.
Igni: “.........!!!”
Igni did not miss it.
As Elina’s slash flew through the air, Fray’s arm transformed for just an instant. He had shifted his arm into light particles.
A sword slash was unable to do any harm to it.
That’s why Fray was unharmed.
This was the same invulnerable Defensive Spell the [Extreme of Light] devised.
Igni: “.........how did he…….”
After a second of delay, Fray managed to push Elina out of bounds, and the match signaled loudly of Elina’s defeat.
<<<<>>>>
♪~CHONKY Novels Discord~♪ General Chat and Announcements: https://discord.gg/CdjxzQBvRt
♪~EFW Fan Discord~♪ Release Announcements and Illustrations: https://discord.gg/2SWtrgTbUG
<<<<>>>>
Extreme Flame Wizard - I can only use fireball but I became the strongest just wanting to be popular with the girls
Written by: Cyclamen
Translated by: ChonkyTranslator
Japanese Title:
極点の炎魔術師〜ファイヤボールしか使えないけど、モテたい一心で最強になりました～
作者: シクラメン
Original Source Link:
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n1537gq/189/