“I-I’ll give it some serious thought!”

As Yu Ge walked along, he kept thinking back to Saya’s reaction when he’d told her he could make a custom magic card for her.

He’d never seen Saya like that before—her cheeks flushed, her body trembling, her emotions running high.

Who would’ve thought the famous Star Sword Princess, who’d stood her ground against a powerful enemy like the Flame Demon Sword and sacrificed herself to buy everyone else time to escape, could make such a girlish expression?

Thinking back on it now, Saya was flawless in every way—from her looks and figure to her family background and status. If he hadn’t fallen for Luna at first sight, marrying a top-tier beauty like her would’ve been pretty great.

But Yu Ge was only thinking about it. This wasn’t the time to have his heart in two places. Sure, sometimes he fantasized about building a harem like in the novels, but if he kept eyeing what he didn’t have while taking what he did for granted, he’d probably end up with nothing at all.

“Huh? They’ve all gone to practical training.”

When Yu Ge arrived at the classroom, he found it empty. He checked the time and realized the afternoon practical training session had already started. He hadn’t realized he’d spent so long in that room with Saya—he’d even forgotten to eat lunch.

Come to think of it, was that girl Saya the type to get so absorbed in her research that she forgot to eat and sleep?

His stomach was a little empty, but Yu Ge still headed to the training grounds for class. Luna would be there, after all. If he could see her, it’d be worth starving to death.

When Yu Ge reached the training grounds, he could hear a commotion from far away. He looked down from the stands and saw what seemed to be students from two classes gathered together. If he wasn’t mistaken, it was his own Class S and the neighboring Class A.

A crowd stood on either side of the training grounds. In the battle area, a boy with short brown hair from Class A faced a humanoid monster that looked like a puppet. Judging by the monster card below, the brown-haired boy had summoned it.

Across from the brown-haired boy stood a student from Class S. If Yu Ge remembered right, he was ranked second in the class, just behind Luna. What was his name again—Reeves or something? Yu Ge couldn’t remember. But right now, he was slumped on the ground, looking frustrated. It seemed he’d lost the fight.

Was that brown-haired kid really that strong? Even Class S’s second-ranked student couldn’t beat him.

Yu Ge clicked his tongue. The brown-haired boy wore a swaggering, arrogant grin as he looked down at Reeves like he was trash.

“I didn’t expect Class S students to be such pushovers. Looks like there’s no point in me transferring to Class S.”

Inzack looked down at Reeves, slumped on the ground and already defeated by him, and spoke with open disdain.

“You bastard…”

Reeves clenched both fists, his face full of frustration. If that bastard hadn’t somehow gotten his hands on an A-rank monster card, there was no way he would’ve lost.

“What, has no one else got the guts to face me?”

Inzack looked around at the Class S students, his expression unbearably smug. He hadn’t gotten his father’s permission, but this time he’d secretly taken an A-rank monster card, the “Blade Queen,” from the family card pack. Its strength had far exceeded his expectations. Now his father would have to acknowledge him, right?

“I’ll be your opponent.”

The Class S students glanced at one another, but no one dared step forward. A few had already lost to Inzack after being goaded into fighting him. Now even Reeves, ranked second, had been defeated. The others, who weren’t as strong as Reeves, naturally didn’t dare stick their necks out.

Reeves had wanted to show off his manly side in front of Luna. He was already close to becoming an A-rank Mage, but he hadn’t stood a chance against the other guy’s A-rank monster. It was humiliating.

“Fine. I’ll be your opponent.”

Just as Inzack thought no one would accept his challenge and turned to leave, Luna stepped out of the crowd and walked up to him.

“Luna, don’t go.”

A girl who was friends with Luna tried to talk her out of accepting the challenge just because Inzack was provoking her. But Luna smiled and shook her head. This was about Class S’s dignity. How could she just stand by while their class’s honor was insulted?

“Be careful. That monster’s strong.”

Reeves had completely lost the confidence he’d shown earlier. Seeing Luna step forward to defend the last of Class S’s pride, he called out a warning.

“Yeah, I know.”

Luna took a deep breath. She’d seen the fight just now. Honestly, she wasn’t sure she could beat an A-rank monster—but things had come this far, and she had no choice but to step in.

Luna clenched the magic card Yu Ge had given her in her pocket. She could win easily by using it, but she didn’t intend to. First, using it would draw attention and might cause trouble for Yu Ge. Second, she didn’t want to rely on the card’s power. If she depended on it for everything, all her past efforts would’ve been for nothing.

Yu Ge still hadn’t come back. Had something happened?

Luna looked around but couldn’t find Yu Ge, so she had no choice but to focus on the battle in front of her.

“Begin!”

At the referee’s signal, Inzack waved his hand and sent the Blade Queen charging straight at Luna. The Blade Queen was a humanoid puppet, but its hands and feet had all been replaced with blades. They said those blades could pierce through alloy.

“Glacial Spikes!”

Against a close-combat monster like this, letting it get within striking distance would practically mean defeat. So Luna used a ranged spell to slow the Blade Queen down.

A mass of ice spikes erupted from the ground and froze the Blade Queen’s legs in place. But just as Luna was about to cast her next attack spell, the Blade Queen sliced through the ice trapping it with two swings. The next second, it was right in front of Luna.

“How is that possible?”

Luna’s expression turned grim. She hadn’t expected her ice to hold an A-rank monster back for less than a second. As the Blade Queen swung its blades at close range, Luna could only react on instinct, raising an Ice Barrier to block the attack.

But the A-rank monster was stronger than Luna had expected. The Blade Queen’s blades shattered the ice barrier. Luna avoided a direct hit, but the tremendous impact still sent her flying.

Luna felt herself flying backward, completely out of control. She thought hitting the ground was going to hurt—yet the next moment, she didn’t hit anything cold and hard. Instead, she landed in a soft, warm embrace.

“Are you okay?”

Yu Ge looked down at Luna in his arms and asked with concern.

“I-I’m okay.”

When Luna saw that Yu Ge had caught her, she shook her head, her cheeks turning pink. The ice barrier had blocked the direct hit, and the training grounds were fitted with formations that reduced injuries, so she wasn’t seriously hurt.

“Looks like Class S’s number one isn’t all that impressive, either.”

When Inzack saw Yu Ge appear, he walked straight over and spoke with a contemptuous look. Damn transfer student. So you finally showed up.

“Why didn’t you use that card?”

Yu Ge ignored Inzack’s taunts. He helped Luna to her feet and asked softly, “With the power of the Divine Shield Mirror, an enemy like this shouldn’t be any trouble.”

“Using that card would’ve caused trouble for you, wouldn’t it?”

Luna adjusted her hair and spoke quietly.

“That still wouldn’t matter as much as your safety, dummy.”

Yu Ge rolled his eyes. What was this girl thinking? She was still worrying about him at a time like this. S-She was just too kind.

Luna makes a dramatic entrance!