Aila and Reedmore had a heart-to-heart. They promised not to leave each other alone in crowded places anymore.

They apologized to Felicia and Pogos for causing a disturbance and belatedly congratulated them on their engagement.

Only then could they finally escape the chairman and return as duke and duchess.

The unusual moments of the engagement ceremony passed, and they returned to their daily lives.

Back at the academy, Claude avoided me, just as he said he would.

If we happened to cross paths, or if our paths crossed, he would quickly turn away as if he hadn’t seen me, and rapidly move on.

Even now, as soon as he saw my face at the end of the corridor, he naturally changed direction and disappeared.

“…”

I paused briefly to watch him, then continued walking in a different direction from where Claude headed.

Unlike our previous noisy encounters, I didn’t chase after him as recklessly as before.

It was useless.

Knowing that Claude was still trying to avoid me, a brief encounter wouldn’t solve anything.

More importantly, repeatedly playing this ridiculous game of hide-and-seek would attract unwanted attention.

But I didn’t care. Claude wouldn’t want any unnecessary attention.

“Is there no other way?”

A crucial moment that could change our relationship.

I waited, crouched down, hoping for a solution.

But a solution didn’t immediately come to mind; time passed as I pondered.

During this time I became increasingly frustrated.

There seemed to be no progress with Claude or Helena, and my mastery of elemental magic remained inconsistent.

Despite relentless training, summoning higher spirits beyond the Undines seemed elusive.

The mysterious force that guided me during my first summoning remained silent, evaporating like steam from my veins, leaving me feeling helpless.

“Is there no good solution?”

“We don’t know.”

Even after consulting Undine and others, I couldn’t find an answer.

Undine looked apologetic and fiddled with her fingers, while Undaean silently shook his head and wagged his tail.

“Sigh…”

It was frustrating.

After returning from my exile and entering the Duchy, summoning spirits and all, it felt like the first time I hit a roadblock in what I thought would be a smooth journey.

I leaned against a tree while resting my elbows on my knees and covering my throbbing forehead.

“It’s never easy the first time.”

Her brow furrowed as she concentrated on extracting ether, Felicia spoke as she listened to my struggles.

It was a time when Felicia and Pogos helped me with elemental manipulation in an empty classroom.

Pogos nodded in agreement.

“It feels like we know something, but when we look back, we don’t understand. We feel like we could catch it, but we can’t.”

Being a water elemental mage like me, he grinned as he touched Undaean, the Undine I had summoned. His expression was as if he couldn’t quite grasp it.

Felicia sighed heavily beside me, stretched out her arms and legs, and sprawled on the floor.

“Yet you managed to summon a mid-level spirit. We’ve been stuck with lower-level spirits for how many years now? Almost four?”

“Even when I read about the experiences of other elemental mages and try to summon based on their chants, practicing several times to use the ether efficiently, I still don’t feel anything,” Pogos said, sitting down next to her. His eyes were focused and serious as he clenched and unclenched his fist.

“In the end, you have to truly understand the essence of this spirit and feel the energy of the element vividly. But it’s not easy to do that here,” he added.

“Hah! Even if we had elves here, they’d probably just be fooling around. They’re born elemental magicians, but they can’t become outstanding ones in Valentina. Even our teachers take anyone without much thought. What can we learn in such an environment?” Felicia vented her frustration, her voice filled with genuine emotion.

Given her tendency to be carefree, talk nonsense, or ignore others’ affairs, I was somewhat surprised by her sincerity.

It seemed she had accumulated a lot over the years, having studied and worked with elemental magic longer than I had.

She bit her lip and tapped her knuckles on the wooden floor as she murmured.

“If only we could meet elves and learn from them, just seeing how they summon spirits would greatly improve our skills.”

“But elves haven’t appeared on the Central Continent for hundreds of years, have they? They hide in their own forests and don’t do anything on the continent, no matter what happens… There are hardly any sightings of them anymore,” Pogos interjected.

“Just a thought, Pog.”

She glanced at her fiancé. Pogos shrugged, seemingly unaffected.

Felicia turned her head again and sighed. She rolled onto her back, resting her head on her crossed arms.

“Well, if we keep trying, eventually a way will open. We’ll have to practice a lot on this trip to Medina, though.”

“Medina?”

I perked up at the sound of the strangely familiar name.

Raising her head from her prone position, Felicia exclaimed, “You don’t know Medina? Oh, it’s your first time attending!”

“Participating? In what? What are you talking about?”

She jumped up excitedly, her hair swaying.

“Of course, I’m talking about the combat training we’re going to do in Medina! The dungeon! The Medina Dungeon!”

As dust swirled with her fluttering hair, Pogos cleared his throat to interject.

“From second to fifth year, one student from each class forms a team of four and takes on dungeons to gain practical experience in combat classes.”

As I listened, memories came flooding back. It seemed like there was such a thing.

“Since you’re in your second year, this will be your first time competing. It would be great if we ended up on the same team!”

“Considering various factors and each student’s abilities, it won’t be easy to end up on the same team…”

“Oh, stop being so pessimistic, Pogos!”

They started bickering as usual, explaining things to me.

I listened to their bickering in the background, lost in thought.

“If I continue to stay at the Academy in this state, I won’t be able to summon any higher level spirits.”

In the beginning, Valentina’s elemental studies weren’t meant to produce competent elemental magicians.

It was superficial training.

They barely managed to pass on their lineage, but no one could fully harness the true power of powerful spirits.

However, it would be difficult to gain the insight to summon higher-level spirits.

Maybe I couldn’t even handle the contracted spirits properly.

I needed a breakthrough.

First and foremost, I hoped that the dungeon practice in this place called ‘Medina’ would be helpful.

* * *

As informed by the loud duo of the engagement, the next day brought an announcement about the dungeon practice.

This training was held once a year, in the middle of the first semester.

Except for the clueless freshmen and the already experienced sixth and seventh years, teams of four students from the second through fifth years were formed.

They would arrive at Medina Mountain and spend three days conquering dungeons one at a time to gain practical combat experience.

I hadn’t taken any combat classes like swordsmanship, archery, magic, or summoning before I returned, so I wasn’t worried.

“But what if someone gets hurt?” A student raised his hand nervously with a worried expression.

“There’s absolutely no risk, so don’t worry,” the professor reassured.

Noble heirs and heiresses were often more involved in combat than one might think.

Except for a few court nobles who lived and ruled in their own territories, monsters weren’t unknown in various parts of the empire.

For a member of a capable fighting family, it was a matter of honor to participate directly in the subjugation of a monster.

Therefore, practical experience was crucial. However, it wasn’t possible to involve esteemed noble heirs in risky endeavors.

“The Medina Dungeon has mostly lower-level monsters that even some lower-year students can handle. Also, our administrators and priesthood are always nearby.”

If there were any security incidents within the dungeon, activating the pre-issued artifacts would immediately cast defensive magic and rescue personnel, including priests, would intervene.

After this explanation, the questioning student seemed somewhat relieved.

“You will soon receive the list of senior students who will assist your teams.”

A week later, a notice was posted on the bulletin board of the academy’s largest building, the Central Lecture Hall on the first floor, listing the members of each team participating in the dungeon drill.

I pushed my way through the crowd to the front. Quickly scanning for my name, my eyes stopped in the middle of the large paper.

「 Team 13

• 2nd Year – Khalia Tisina el Estelle

• 3rd Year – Reedmore Vasnet el Desmiere

• 4th Year – Claude Rosal el Roside Valentin

• 5th Year – Felicia Melvin el Oakley」

My lips parted slightly.

It was a list that felt quite deliberate.

Putting me and the troublemaker Claude on the same team, with Reedmore and Felicia who were close, next to a prince who wouldn’t be intimidated as the heir to the duchy, and knowing that Claude wouldn’t dare bother a woman with an engagement, it felt like they had strategically included potential allies to prevent problems caused by me or Claude.

It was the perfect combination I wanted. A smile gradually crept across my face.

“First of all, there’s Claude.”

Leaving the academy and entering a new environment, I now had the chance to spend time with him and talk to him.

I felt movement beside me. A tall man approached to look at the list, casting a shadow over me.

I raised my head and met his face, feeling joy in my chest.

Claude’s light gray eyes wavered without restraint.

“It’s been a while, Your Highness.” Claude looked surprised and took a step back.

He alternated between the list and me, his expression one of disbelief.

“You said you would avoid me, but it seems that won’t be possible this time.”

I gently dashed his hopes, as he acted as if he must have seen something wrong.

“See you in Medina. I look forward to working with you.”

“Ha…”

He made a pained sound and slowly backed away. I waved my hand lightly as he did so.

Laughter bubbled up. Something felt good.