Extreme Flame Wizard

“You’re right! Sister Elinaー!”

As I was going back and forth with Elina on the edge of the Training Field, the kids noticed and came running towards us.

“When did you get back, Sister Elina?!”

Elina: “Just now, Rena.”

“Sister Elina, who’s this?!”

The children who came running over surrounded Elina and Igni together. One of them pointed a finger at Igni to ask.

Elina: “His name is Igni. Igni is my bー, bー…”

“Boyfriend?”

One of the girls asked Elina, and with a scarlet flushed face, Elina nodded. Igni thought the reaction was so innocent and cute, but as he gazed at Elina, the girls erupted into a squeal full or glee and began talking amongst themselves.

“Sister Elina, have you already held hands?!”

“What are you saying. It’s Sister Elina we’re talking about, so she already kissed!”

“RーReally?! Then...have they gone even further….?”

Lucas told Igni that girls enjoy talking about romance at any age, but even then, seeing girls who were not even 10 surround Elina with sheer joy and curiosity and jump onto this topic was a bit of a culture shock for Igni.

Igni: (......is Sara going to be like this too?)

Igni worries as a father-figure might, but Elina has other things on her mind as she continues to blush and remains silent. Elina was unaccustomed to these kinds of topics.

Igni: “Everyone, those are not topics that should be discussed openly.”

And in a rare show of wisdom, Igni said something reasonable.

But these are children. Reason washed over them as oil over water.

“Then we won’t tell anyone so can you tell us?!”

“If you’re Elina’s boyfriend, can we call you Brother Igni?!”

“So how far did you go? A kiss? Did you kiss?”

And Igni was pressed even harder by the girls. Glancing towards Elina, she looked beggingly at Igni as she weakly tugged at his sleeves. She wordlessly mouthed the words, “Help.”

Popularity Etiquette No. 5. ーー”Always help a woman in need.”

Igni quietly took Elina’s hand and looked back at the girls…...and placed one finger on his mouth.

Igni: “Sorry, but that’s a secret between Elina and I.”

The girls went speechless for a moment, but then erupted in ear-piercing, delighted shrieks. Being released from their attention for a moment, Igni took Elina’s hand and escaped from the group.

Igni: (That actually went better than I expected.)

Igni’s broad, self-gratified smile after a small success is his strength, but also his weakness. But since Alicia, who was the only one who seemed to notice, wasn’t around, he continued to smile dumbly.

Elina: “ThーThank you, Igni. They aren’t bad kids…….they’re girls after all. The love stories about romance. Please forgive their rudeness.”

Igni: “I’m not bothered by it. Besides, I got another opportunity where you depended for me for help. That made me happy.”

Elina: “.........sheesh.”

The way Elina looked at the ground with her face red was cute to Igni.

“Sister Elina, can you have a match with me?!”

Once Igni and Elina escaped from the girls, now the boys came over.

Elina: “It’s been a while, Leo. Have you gotten stronger?”

Leo: “Of course! I wouldn’t even lose to you, Sister Elina!”

“After Leo, fight with me!”

“Me too!!”

Elina: “I’ll fight all of you at once! Line up!!”

And maybe being used to handling boys more than girls, Elina shouted and had the boys line up in a single line. One of the girls handed her a wooden practice sword.

Elina: “As a handicap, I will not use any Spells. Everyone, cooperate together, and if you lay one strike on me, you all win!”

Leo: “We’re going to win today!!”

Leo announces confidently as he readies his sword. The instructor who was teaching the children smiled helplessly and volunteered to referee the fight.

Elina was really popular with the kids.

“Sheesh. Boys can be so stupid.”

And the girl sitting next to Igni mumbled loudly to herself.

Igni: “Do you not want to fight Elina too?” Igni turns around to speak to her and sees that it was one of the girls that surrounded Elina earlier.

“Yeah, of course. There’s no way we could win against Sister Elina.”

As soon as the girl said that, the referee gave the signal to start the match.

“{Fireball}”

“{Wind Blast}”

“{Water Ball}”

They must have been kids who just started learning Magic, and a stream of beginner’s Spells comes pouring down upon Elina. But Elina deflected all the incoming Spells with her sword with ease and immediately jumped towards the kids.

She gently struck each child with her sword, and it was like watching a dance production like a ballet.

“See? Sister Elina is really strong.” The girl who sat next to Igni proudly pointed that out to him. The fight only lasted for less than a minute. Elina laid the final strike and all 10 kids were out of the fight without having laid one hit on Elina.

Elina: “Haha! You all still have a long way to go!”

“Geesh, Sister Elina, you’re way too strong!”

“How are we supposed to win against that?!”

But even though they lost, the boys chatted happily amongst themselves as they complained. Elina also held out her chest with pride.

Igni: “That was an amazing performance by Elina.” “Right?! Sister Elina is really amazing and cool!!”

Even though they were kids who just started learning how to fight, it’s not easy to take on 10 opponents and avoid every single blow without using a Spell. It told volumes of how much talent and effort Elina must have poured into her training.

As Igni sat there impressed, the girl next to him suddenly popped another question.

“Between Sister Elina and Brother Igni, who is stronger?”

Igni: “I wonder…” If it was any other situation, Igni may have answered, “Me.” But that would be the unpopular thing to do in this instance. A truly Popular man is able to read the situation and give an answer accordingly. But, that doesn’t mean that he could say, “Elina is stronger,” because Elina has lost to him once, and the statement would be an insult to her.

That’s why Igni did not answer the question straight on.

Yes. “A man who can read the situation can become Popular.”

This isn’t anything as grandeur as an Ultimate Secret. It is the first “f” of fundamentals.

“I’m sure Sister Elina would be stronger!”

Igni: “Yeah, that might be true.”

The girl looked upon Elina with admiration and confidently announced her guess to Igni.

Igni: “Do you like Elina?”

“Yes! I love her! She’s strong, cool, and kind! She’s a sister to everyone here!”

The girl continues to compliment Elina.

Igni realized how attached they all were to Elina and thought better of his friend.

Elina: “Igni! I’m definitely No. 1!!”

And with an unbreakable smile, Elina came running over.

Igni: (........the sister to everyone is like this, huh.)

But his terse retort was swallowed by the “popular” man inside.