Kunon had somehow heard that there was some kind of large group from the guestsâŠâŠ older people who had become friends.
But this was the first time I had heard the information properly.
âThey said that they would not intervene for a month. Even though we were in a special class, we were still new students, so they prohibited any contact or solicitation in order for us to get used to life here.
But yesterday, one month has passed since we entered the school. Thatâs why they started to recruit us today.â
Lunch time.
I prepared another sandwich with failed bacon today, and the four classmates gathered in the classroom of the Saint, where we talked about the factions.
âI was invited in the morning, but did you guys get invited?â
The Saint brought up the topic.
Itâs a shame.
âDid all three of you get invited? Then Iâm the only one who wasnât invited.â
It turned out that Kunon was the only one who hadnât been invited.
This morning, the saint, Hank, and Leeya were all recruited by the faction.
Starting with the saintâs statement, both Hank and Leeya said that they were invited, so naturally, I assumed that all four of the classmates were invited.
I didnât think Kunon was the only one who hadnât been invited.
â No.
âI think theyâre fighting over it upstairs.â
âI think so too.â
âI agree with you.â
Itâs not that Kunon is the only one who hasnât been invited, itâs that all the factions are fighting for ownership of Kunon and they havenât settled yet.
Leeya, Hank, and the Saint also considered the same.
âFight? âŠâŠ I mean, the girls are fighting over meâŠ..?â
Iâm not sure if theyâre girls or not, but thatâs what the word implies.
âI hope they donât fight for me.â
âSo, where do Reyes and Leeya belong?â
Iâve always been a âharmonyâ person.
âIâve decided to go with the Harmony faction,â said Hank, who was familiar with the inner workings of the school.
âIâm more interested in the Rational factionâŠâŠ.â
Leeya is still undecided â but his mind is already very much in the right place.
As a matter of fact, during the morning âflyingâ practice that they had today, a senior member of the Rational faction came to scout for him.
The senior gave him some advice on flying as a way of recruiting him â He tried it with a light heart, and the magic of flying was a success.
In the morning, he only trained for the âwind levitationâ so Kunon was not there at that time.
I feel like Iâve done a lot of things wrong.
It had been a light-hearted attempt, and Leeya hadnât given a second thought to the possibility of success.
Hee told Kunon, who came to check on him, what had happened and apologized.
Kunon was pleased with the success of the flight.
He said that it was okay because it was not the development of an uncharted magic, but a magic that people who were familiar with knew about.
I was really relieved.
In the afternoon, Iâm supposed to take more detailed and precise records.
â Well, whatever the case may be.
Since such a background has already been created, Leeya is very concerned about the Faction of Rationality.
âIâm struggling with it.â
The Saint canât decide.
If Iâm being honest, I donât really have a good reason for belonging to a faction.
Even in a magic school where apprentice magicians from all over the world gather, there are very few with the light attribute.
Even if we belonged to a group, we wouldnât be able to help each other much when it comes to light magic.
If thatâs the case, I think it would be better for me to repeat my research and experiments on my own.
âSo, what are the factions after all?â
Kunon, who had not been invited, was curious to know more about this interesting topic.
âI think itâs called ideological factions. Well, it doesnât mean much right now.â
Hank, who was familiar with the schoolâs situation, began to explain.
âThe teachers will not have any more contact with you than necessary, and they donât interfere too much in disputes.
That means we have to do as much as we can on our own.â
Thatâs the price of freedom.
In exchange for being able to set our own schedule and use the school facilities freely, we have to solve any problems that arise from that freedom ourselves.
Thatâs what Iâm talking about.
âThe faction is a so-called mutual aid society.
After all, numbers are power, and power affects us in many ways.
For example, if there is a magic you want to try but there is no room because there are too many people. Or maybe you have a book you want to borrow but itâs not coming around.
If you have the numbers, you can do those things, right?
In the worst case, interpersonal conflicts can lead to fights, and the results of research can be stolen by violence of numbers.
The origin of factions is the creation of groups to prevent such brutality.
As the years went by, they gradually formed according to their own ideas.
Nowadays, there are four major factions, and most of the special classes belong to them.â
There was a brief explanation along with the invitation, but Leeya and the Saint should also understand properly.
âAnd there are some researches you canât do alone, right? We are also a group that helps each other in such cases.
If someone betrays you in a joint research or experiment, there is a risk that everything will be taken away. If that happens, we might be able to get it back with the help of numbers.
And if itâs not too bad, the teachers wonât help us either.â
Many sorcerers are selfishâŠâŠ, no, they are only keen on their own research, so they have their fair share of interpersonal troubles.
If itâs a problem between sorcerers, I canât even be seen.
Itâs not uncommon for problems between magicians to turn out badly because of the power they possess.
âI see. What about the harmony that Hank belongs to, or the rationality that Leeya was talking about?â
âThere are four factions. There are four factions: Competence, Rationality, Harmony, and Freedom.
There arenât that many students in the special class, so there should be around thirty students in each faction right now.â
The factions are divided by ideology.
In the past, it was the only rule that mattered, but now itâs a general policy.
The â Competence Factionâ is a meritocracy.
In fact, the factionâs main objective is to improve the quality of individual magicâŠâŠ.
In other words, it is a group that improves individual skills.
âThe Faction of Rationalityâ is a faction that values rationality.
They aim to reach the depths of magic by exchanging information with other like-minded people.
There are several small groups of two or three people, and their main stance is to improve their magicâŠâŠ through their close friendships.
There is also a high percentage of male and female couples in this group.
âThe Harmony Factionâ values harmony.
They believe in helping each other out if someone is in trouble, and they often conduct large research projects involving a large number of people.
Because they value the power of the group, they all get along quite well.
The âFreedom Factionâ is a faction, but there is nothing special about it.
Each person does what they want, and those who want to help only do so when they are in trouble.
Iâm not sure if they are in control or not, but itâs a strange group that has always worked surprisingly well.
There are also a few people who are not affiliated with the group.
Since the original purpose of the group was to help each other in times of trouble, the factions are not that opposed to each other, nor are they hostile to each other.
Thatâs why we can do what we can do without affiliation.
In the past, the conflict and hostility seemed to have been great.
âAnd thatâs the whole point of having factions. In the past, however, there were no such restrictions. I donât think youâll have any trouble choosing any of them.â
According to Hank, the four factions that now have big names are just rough policies.
Hank is the Harmony faction.
Leeya will probably decide on the Rationality faction.
The Saint cannot decide.
And KunonâŠ
âI prefer to be free. I donât see any reason to be tied down to a group when Iâm free to experiment and do research. Even if itâs rough.â
It was a typical Kunon answer.
â I donât think Iâm wrong in my prediction that if a woman asks me out, Iâll probably go with her.
Afternoon.
A woman came to Kunon, who was recording Leeyaâs flight.
âKunon. Are you interested in joining the Faction of Competence?Would you like to join?â
The first to arrive was Elia Hesson, who was said to be the most beautiful girl in the Faction of Competence.
I think she is about fourteen or fifteen years old.
She has orange hair like the setting sun and eyes that remind me of the finest peridot, which inevitably catches my attention.
She looks as if she herself is shining and sparkling.
As a country boy, Leeya had never seen such a dainty and beautiful woman before.
Even though he wasnât being watched or called out to, he was thrilled. Half floating in the air.
âIâm more interested in you than the faction, but would it be immodest to say this is why I join?â
Kunon is the same as always.
In the face of such a beautiful girl, he was as usual.
Elia Hesson pulled up happily, as if she had just received a colorful reply from Kunon.
âKunon Gurion.â
The second woman arrived.
âI am Elva Darglewright of the Faction of Harmony.â
She had long, shiny jet-black hair and slit purple eyes, as beautiful as polished obsidian. She drew my eyes to her.
âHa, ha, ha.â
Leeya is a little out of breath from the âflightâ experiment that Kunon so freely orders him to do, and he canât take his eyes off Elva while heâs out of breath.
I think sheâs still in her teens, but sheâs so sexy that itâs making my head spin and Iâm nervous. Half floating in the air.
âKunon. Would you like to join the Faction of Harmony?â
Whoa⊠The black hair that she pulled up was filled with an excess of feminine charm.
Itâs not that heâs being watched or called out to, but Leeyaâs heart was racing like a bat out of hell.
âWhy do you ask such a foolish question? Princess of the night, everything is as you wish it to be.â
âWhat?â
Leeya let out a squeak at Kunonâs reply, but Elva left without regard to Leeya, satisfied.
âUhm, Kunon, itâs a two-wayâŠ..â
âLetâs continue the experimentâŠâŠ. Oh, what? What did you just say?â
ââŠâŠ No, itâs nothing.â
I think you just replied to Elia that you would join the âfaction of competenceâ.
And now I think you gave Elva a response like you are going to join the âharmony factionâ.
But since Kunon has made his own decision, itâs not for the outside world to say anything about it.
I was tempted to tell him that he was playing two games.
I held my tongue.
âMr. Kunon! Hello!â
The third person I expected to come arrived.
As I had expected, she was an incredibly beautiful girl, as beautiful as the first two.
Her dazzling blonde hair was smooth and swayed with every movement she made, and her endlessly clear blue eyes revealed a wealth of emotion.
âHa-ha-ha-ha-ha!â
She glanced at me with a look that said, âWhat a pain in the ass!â Leeyaâs breathing and heart stopped for a moment.
It seems that the shortness of breath was blinding and deafening.
It canât be helped.
Iâve been flying for training, my magic is about to run out, and Iâm tired.
âŠwithout apologizing, Leeya floated in the air and took some distance from the beautiful girl.
âHello. What can I do for you?â
Kunon asks while recording.
Leeya tilted his head inwardly, âOh?â
Because itâs not every day that Kunon can single-handedly deal with a woman.
âIâm Cassis from the Rational Faction! Hey, donât you want to join the Rational Faction?â
As if the disdainful look that had been directed at Leeya for a moment had been a lie, Cassis solicited Kunon with a sparkling smile.
Iâm sure the face I just saw was her true self and this one is for sales.
I am aware that I am being tricked.
â and yet, it was an incredibly cute smile that was so destructive that Leeya was almost mesmerized by it.
If someone asked me for a favor with a face like this, I would never be able to refuse.
No, a man of his age would never be able to refuse.
As proof of this, Kunon said.
âWhat? I really donât like it.â
â Eh.â
âUhm.â
Cassis seemed surprised, but so was Leeya.
He refused.
Kunon refused. The womanâs offer.
âIâm in the way of the experiment, can you leave? Oh, well. Leeya, letâs finish this.â
âWhat? Ah. What?âŠâŠ Yeah.â
Leeya was simply amazed at how blunt the reply was.
Later, Kunon told me, âThatâs a man. Iâm not happy to be asked out by a man, and I canât take it,â he said, which surprised me even more.