*****
"That's it…?"
"Sir! Considering how low the temperature of the chestplate got, this is clearly an equivalent of a 3rd tier spell, maybe even 4th! It's by far the best spell this year's first year showcased yet!"
Syon's expression soured as he pointed at the impact area, to which Brice let out a baffled gasp, hurriedly glancing back at the student, worried that one of them could hear that.
"True, but in all fairness, I expected a lot more from a so-called genius who labels her own cousin trash so eagerly."
He shrugged and said casually.
"...I can't really argue with that…"
"Right?"
Teacher Hervolst tilted her head to the side, taking one more look at the damage done by Saria's spell, and the vice headmaster sneered.
"But you can't forget about all the cheating allegations surrounding young lord Vallhall, Sir. He might be stronger, but if it wasn't something he achieved fairly…"
"..."
The woman fidgeted and pointed out, but the man merely looked at her with an indifferent look in his eyes, and it was enough to make her close her mouth.
"You are aware that all of those RUMORS are made up entirely by students, though? Even Sir Oltial took back all of his accusations after being presented with actual evidence."
"...I…"
The vice headmaster added, causing teacher Hervolst to lower her head and bit her lips like a child on the verge of tears getting scolded by their parents… Even though the tone of the man's voice wasn't actually harsh at all.
"Pardon me for sticking my nose where it doesn't belong, but you could prevent this kind of mishap if you showed up in the teacher's lounge even a little bit. A sudden promotion puts a lot more responsibilities on your shoulders, and it's perfectly fine to ask for advice from the more experienced colleagues. Don't be afraid to bother those more experienced."
"...eh…?"
As it turned out, it wasn't a scolding after all, but rather the vice headmaster showing concern for one of his staff members, which took Brice Hervolst by complete surprise.
"I'm sure that teacher Karlasth was preparing you well for the job of a full-time teacher, but actually taking the position without warning is completely different. I promise you that other teachers don't bite and will be happy to help you out… although, now that I think about it, they will be more helpful after the end of the grading period because right now they will be very busy."
"Th-thank you…! I…! I will keep that in mind! Really!"
The vice headmaster smiled lightly and nodded encouragingly before glancing to the side and gasping in realization, but either way, teacher Hervolst stepped a lot closer to him and said eagerly… even if coming off a bit too pushy… but only a little bit!
"That's great, let's get back to our students… Oh, that's right, if you don't mind, please do tell me if I'm making a disappointed expression, I shouldn't agitate young lady Vallhall more than I already have."
"Of course!"
If Syon was taken aback by the sudden uninvited closeness, he didn't show any of it and instead smiled even more, although slightly mockingly, when talking about the silver-haired student, and Brice cheered out enthusiastically.
"..."
The shift in her behavior was a bit too much to ignore, but still, Syon kept it professional and did not react.
*****
The teachers were taking their sweet time beside the training dummy struck by her spell, which instantly gave Saria a bad feeling.
Even considering their lack of experience with the spells from the Essence of Winter, it was clearly too long…
There was just no way…
There was just no way that her spell could be weaker than that trash's…!
There must have been another reason, surely…!
At any moment, the vice headmaster and teacher Hervolst will walk back and praise her just like her parents and the rest of the family. After all, her mastery over the Joy of First Snow was outstanding for someone her age, better than even her father, the patriarch of the Vallhall family, was at her age!
"..."
On the other hand, Saria felt her insides churning because of a memory from merely a few months ago, just as the school year started.
That trash used a spell to push aside her and that commoner upperclassman without a surname. The chant he used was the shortened version of the Joy of First Snow, Snowball, but...
Back then, she was far too agitated to properly pay attention to it, but wasn't it ridiculously powerful?
"Very impressive for a first-year student."
"!"
The vice headmaster spoke up, pulling Saria out of her thoughts. The thing was, the all-so-familiar words she was so used to hear, were said differently than usual.
That man wasn't impressed in the slightest, despite him and teacher Hervolst marking Saria's score as the highest for the year.
Honestly, the silver-haired girl wanted nothing more than to rush back to her room, but the exam wasn't over yet, and she simply wasn't capable of quitting a challenge.
…
For the defense test, Saria surprised both her classmates and teachers alike and did not use a spell from Essence of Winter. Instead, her body began shining with the brilliant white light of Swordsmanship.
"Take a good look. I'm the actual youngest grandmaster in our kingdom."
"~!"
Saria announced proudly, to the choir of gasps and awestruck cheer, as four blades composed of the true sword aura materialized over her head, hovering around it like vigilant sentinels.
Those blades would slice up the spells cast by the vice headmaster, they had no trouble with any 2nd tier spells, although with the 3rd tier, two blades would have to attack a single spell, reducing the number of spells they could efficiently protect their caster from to two.
With only a single 4th tier spell, a fire arrow, all four blades broke apart, and the silver-haired girl grimaced because of the heat that passed through the layer of protection provided by the white light covering her body.
Then, with the help of her contracted fae, the spells that Saria could defend against increased in strength exponentially.
Although the elemental disadvantage made even the 1st tier light spell almost break through, in all the other cases Spite swatted away dozens of 3rd tier spells as if those were mere flies and could stand its ground against a couple of 4th tier ones. With the 5th tier one, it could block a single one, which was already an amazing feat for a fae that wasn't classified as the Great One.
Not to mention that, in the first place, darkness wasn't a direct defense-oriented attribute in the slightest, making Spite quite the special one.
To no one's surprise, the young lady of the Vallhall family received the highest score both in the defense and then, the later utility tests, but the silver-haired girl herself did not appear to be content with that.
Neither happy nor proudly acting as if her superiority should be obvious, like she sometimes did, Saria, instead, stormed back into her room, grumpy… no, not even grumpy. She was sulking quite a bit, acting as if she had experienced the worst day in her life.