The Perfect Knight and the Illusionist (BL)

LEO

I was a little nervous.

Sitting at the back of the classroom again, just like on the first day at the Academy, I had people come up to me to say hello as I returned to the class for the first time since the survival mission.

"How have things been?"

"Do you feel better now?"

"We’ve been missing you and your stories, Leo."

"Here are my notes for the history classes you missed."

It was all nice, albeit a bit overwhelming. I’d rather have just blended back in—something I thought I was finally getting better at—but at the same time, it was nice to know that people cared.

After the attendance check was over in the morning, we split into magic and physical combat training classes. As was always the case for practical magic courses, the class took place out in the field because we didn’t want to accidentally burn down the classroom with stray fireballs, which Mr. Karavan said had happened once. We were asked to form into groups of four, so I ended up in the same group as Isabelle, Beatrice, and Janice. The task was to come up with a magic demonstration routine that showcased ’teamwork and control,’ where all the different magical talents in the group could be combined into one performance.

"So do you want to do fire magic or water magic, Leo?" Isabelle asked me.

Given that Beatrice was a water magic user, she chose that one. Isabelle could use both, but since Beatrice was using water magic, she decided to go with fire magic for variety. Janice was an odd one with wind magic. She had this neat idea that she could make flower petals swirl in the air while Beatrice and Isabelle did something with their fireballs and water balls, so she went off to collect some flowers.

That left me with having to choose magic that I... did not quite know how to perform.

But at the same time, I remembered Mathias’s encouragement as he told me I was ready to leave my special room and rejoin the classes: ’When in doubt, just do as others do. You can do anything that anybody can do, Leo.’

"I... will make a small water ball or something," I said, remembering how I failed to light the wood on fire while we were building our camp during the survival mission.

"That’s nice, but would that be enough?" Beatrice wondered aloud.

"I don’t think I can do much more than keep it floating in the air," I said, although even that I wasn’t fully confident I could pull off.

"We can make it LOOK impressive if we work together, I think," Isabelle said.

Then Janice came back with her flowers and asked us with a keen smile,

"Do you guys want to see my flower swirl?"

"Sure!" I jumped at the chance.

With that, Janice placed the plucked flowers on the ground, spread her arms, and swayed her body as if she were dancing to music we couldn’t hear. The flowers rose into the air and began to swirl beautifully like hundreds of fluttering butterflies.

"This is so pretty," Isabelle said, clapping her hands.

"Janice, you can do so many beautiful things!" I blurted out, which made the flowers stop for a moment before swirling even faster as Janice said, "Thank you, Leo."

"So now, how should we combine all this?" Beatrice asked.

Then I had an idea.

"Why don’t I hold my water ball up in the air, then we have Janice’s flowers, Beatrice’s fireballs, and Isabelle’s... er... other water balls swirl around?"

"That could work," Beatrice said, nodding.

"Yeah, it’d look like a lady with a water head wearing a flower dress, dancing while fire and water birds fly around her."

"Ha! I don’t think we can pull that off, but it is a nice idea," Janice laughed.

Then we began to practice. Beatrice made three water balls, each the size of a fist. Isabelle then made three fireballs, and it was my turn to make my water ball.

’Make the water ball just like Beatrice did... I can do anything that anybody can do. Beatrice did it, so I can do it. Mathias told me. If he said I could do it, then I could do it. I can—’

But I couldn’t.

"It’s okay, Leo. Take it easy," Isabelle said as she noticed I was struggling.

"You need to relax," Janice chimed in.

’Relax... take it easy...’ I told myself.

I felt like I could almost do it somehow, but the water ball wasn’t materializing.

"Janice, maybe you could sing to help Leo relax?" Beatrice suggested.

"Oh, okay. Would that help, Leo?" she asked me.

"I don’t know..." I said.

"Let’s give it a go," Isabelle agreed.

With that, Janice began humming a soothing melody.

I closed my eyes.

I thought of the night Janice sang, then laughed a little as the image of her singing was immediately replaced by Marius’s horrible performance. Then I tried to concentrate again. I thought of Isabelle’s soup, how Dimitri teased Thomas, my prank on the boys with the stinky fruits, Dimitri throwing a rock into the lake when he was supposed to make it skip, the splash, Marius throwing the stone and making it skip across the water’s surface, the droplets springing up each time the pebble bounced, water—

"You’ve done it!"

The three girls spoke at the same time, and I opened my eyes to see a small water ball floating in front of me.

"Oh, wow!"

I was overjoyed that I had actually managed to pull it off, and the girls applauded me.

"But... shouldn’t it be a bit bigger?" I asked.

"It’s okay. The task is to demonstrate ’teamwork and control.’ It’s not about making something big or strong," Beatrice said encouragingly.

"Yeah. Don’t think about making it do some complicated movement. Focus on keeping it steady in the air, as still as you can. That’s also a good demonstration of control, Leo," Isabelle added.

"Okay! I will do my best!"

Now I was ready for my first magical show.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!