Chapter 23

The festival known as Arcana Eclipse: Mystery and Miracles is held over the course of three days.

The way people enjoy it varies, but on the first day, most spend their time strolling through the marketplace, eating at food stalls, and watching street performances.

The second day features a major event, the magical martial arts competition, which I will be participating in.

On the final, third day, people enjoy the food stalls, performances, or the music of world-famous musicians while soaking in the lingering excitement from the first two days.

And on the final night, the night sky is said to be illuminated by a magician’s magic.

I say “said to be” because this is my first time attending, and that’s just what I heard from my father.

Nevertheless, the royal capital was more lively than usual.

“Kraze! Look, street performers! Let’s go check it out!”

“Whoa…”

Trying not to spill the drink in my hand, I followed my older brother as he pulled me along.

I’m already ten years old now, so I wish he’d stop treating me like a child… But when I mentioned that before, he flatly refused in a split second, so I let it go.

A crowd had gathered around what seemed to be a street performance.

There didn’t seem to be any space to squeeze through.

“Hmmm… Kraze, make sure to hold onto my hand, okay?”

As my brother whispered to me, my body suddenly lifted off the ground.

Since we were at the edge of the crowd and everyone else was focused on the performance, no one noticed that we had floated up.

We rose higher and gently landed on a nearby rooftop.

“Yeah, we can see everything clearly from here!”

My brother beamed with satisfaction as he watched the street performance.

I glanced at him and sighed in admiration.

We had floated up from the ground thanks to my brother’s magic.

He used the wind element, which is his specialty.

Generally, it’s quite difficult to float or fly using magic.

It requires meticulous control.

Experienced magicians who specialize in wind magic can do it with ease, but for a twelve-year-old like my brother, it’s not common at all.

At least in my previous life as an adventurer, few people were capable of flight.

“Whoa, that’s amazing… I don’t think I could ever do that.”

The performer was balancing on one foot atop several stacked spheres of different sizes.

A slight shift in balance would cause them to topple instantly.

“Brother, is that person using magic?”

“Nope, they’re not. You see, magicians like me who have some skill can sense when magic is being used. I don’t feel any magical energy coming from that person, so I’m pretty sure they’re not using magic.”

“Wow, that’s impressive.”

If my brother’s right, it’s indeed incredible.

One would need great physical prowess to perform such a feat.

Thanks to this strong body and my daily training, my core is pretty strong.

However, balancing on top of those spheres, like that performer, would be very difficult.

I suppose I could eventually learn it with practice, but for now, it seems impossible.

“Think you could do it, Kraze?”

“No, it’s beyond me.”

“Even for you, huh… But maybe it could help with your training?”

Training, huh…

It looks like just a performance, but if you think about it, it does make sense.

“I’ll try it when we get back to the estate.”

“Good idea!”

Although my physical abilities and toughness improve significantly with combat aura, relying solely on that wouldn’t be wise.

The foundation of everything is crucial, and for me, that foundation is my body itself.

I had thought that overtraining as a child could have adverse effects, but now that I’m ten, it might be time to step up my physical training.

As I was lost in thought about training, the crowd broke into applause.

It seemed the performance had ended.

“All right, Kraze, is there anywhere you want to go?”

“Not really… Actually, I’d like to visit the magic arena.”

“Oh, that sounds fun. Let’s go!”

The magic arena, as its name suggests, is where the magical martial arts competition will be held tomorrow.

On regular days, it’s sometimes used for sparring matches between magicians.

Because the arena is so large, it’s located just outside the capital.

Even so, a wall extends from the capital to make it easily accessible.

The arena is also positioned diagonally from the three gates of the capital, connected by pathways.

The place where my brother and I had been watching the street performance was fairly close.

Since we didn’t want to wade through the crowds, my brother used magic to conceal us as we traveled over the rooftops to reach the white wall.

There were only a few people along the road leading to the arena.

They were probably tourists or people eagerly anticipating tomorrow’s competition.

My brother and I walked down the wide path until we stood right in front of the magic arena.

The official entrance was sealed off by court magicians, so we moved to a less crowded area.

“Brother, are you really going to do this?”

“Don’t worry. We won’t get caught. And even if we do, it won’t be a big deal.”

“Sigh… If worse comes to worst, I’m running away on my own.”

I didn’t plan on entering the arena.

But my brother had given me a mischievous smile and urged me to come along.

Well, without magic, there was no way I’d be caught by magicians, so I figured I could just leave my brother behind and escape if needed.

“All right, here we go.”

With a cheerful chant, both my brother and I disappeared from sight.

Then, with another spell, we floated up once again.

It was the same magic my brother had used during the street performance.

We rose higher and landed on the roof that covered the seating area.

After walking a bit, we found a spot where there was an opening.

The structure of the magic arena was simple: a circular battlefield in the center, surrounded by rows of seats.

The seats had a roof, but the battlefield in the middle was uncovered.

I peeked over the edge and looked down at the arena. The battlefield in the center was bright under the sunlight, while the unlit seats were dark.

The battlefield was vast.

Though it wasn’t designed for it, it looked like I’d be able to move around freely at full strength.

“Seeing the arena in person really makes it feel real, huh?”

“Are you talking about tomorrow?”

“Yeah, it’s sinking in that I’ll actually be competing.”

About eighty noble children usually participate in the magic martial arts competition.

Since that’s too many, the preliminaries divide the participants into eight groups, with one winner from each group.

The format is a free-for-all, where the last one standing is the victor.

Of course, “standing” is just a metaphor—whoever’s magic tool remains unbroken is declared the winner.

Naturally, having noble children fight with their bare bodies would be far too dangerous.

“The outcome is decided by how much damage the magic tools can take. That part seems a bit tricky.”

“Well, it’s not a battle to the death; it’s more like a sparring match. But I agree, it’ll feel different than usual, which could be tough.”

“Yeah, I guess we’ll just have to get used to it during the preliminaries.”

The competition isn’t about life-and-death battles.

It’s simply an extension of sparring matches.

That’s only natural, but I couldn’t help feeling a bit unsatisfied by it.

“Oh, looks like we’re not the only ones here.”

My brother turned to look in the opposite direction.

Because we were too far away, and using magic to hide ourselves, I couldn’t see who it was… but I had a good guess.

“Brother, we should head back.”

“Yeah, we’ve seen enough. Let’s go.”

If someone else is here, they’re probably also participating in tomorrow’s magic martial arts competition.

Now I’m even more excited.

Though I feel a bit bad for my brother, who’s looking forward to fighting me… I’m more interested in someone else.

Genius noblewoman, tomorrow, I’ll be testing your limits.