49 Chapter 49: Devastating Defea (1/2)

”Ugh…”

Stirring, I blinked and stared at the white ceiling above me. This time I recognized the ceiling – it was the infirmary where I had spent a good chunk of my first year in.

Come to think of it, I hadn't been in here for a while.

”Damn it…” I struggled to sit up. Reaching out for my glasses, which were conveniently placed on a side table, I put them on and glanced around.

”So you're finally awake.”

I almost jumped out of my skin at the disembodied voice. Turning around, I caught sight of Craig Carlson. He grinned at me.

”That was a great battle. We should do that again. One on one.” He studied me, his eyes gleaming excitedly. ”I'm sure you'll be summoning a lot more stuff.”

”I'll try not to get cornered again like I did the last time.” At that time, I still wasn't aware of Craig's cursed technique, but later I found out that the words I jokingly said were literally the solution. There was a restrictive range of Craig's cursed technique. As long as I hastily backed away the moment he activated it and stayed out of range, it wouldn't be able to hit me.

”We'll see about that.” Craig smirked. It wasn't an unfriendly smirk, but an expression that told me that he had found a worthy rival. ”How the heck did you lose all your matches last year? Your skills aren't bad at all.”

”I put too much focus on summoning and didn't train in combat magic at all,” I replied wearily. I really didn't want to be reminded of my stupidity, but such was life. We all did something incredibly stupid and embarrassing at one point or another. Trying to change the subject, I looked around. ”Where is everyone? Are we the only ones brought to the infirmary?”

”Yeah,” Craig confirmed with a shrug. ”None of the others are here. My society just dropped by about fifteen minutes before you woke up.”

”…my society lost, didn't they?” the words that left my mouth were bitter. No one liked to lose. I thought I had gotten used to defeat after that ninety-nine losing streak, but my recent victories had buoyed me back to the very same complacency I warned my teammates about. It seemed that I needed more training.

Craig shrugged indifferently. ”It's best if you hear from your own society.”

As if on cue, Dong Fang Yue Chu and the rest tromped in.

”Vice-President, you're awake!”

”Vice-President Richard, are you all right?”

”Yeah.” I tested my limbs, and got out of bed. ”Seems like Teacher Cure's healing spells are as effective as ever. I'm fully healed.”

”That's good to hear.” Dong Fang Yue Chu nodded with a smile. I glanced at him, and swept my gaze across the relived expressions of my juniors.

Just…relief. No joy, no delight, no excitement. There was also a sullen weariness that hung over them.

”…did we lose?”

Dong Fang Yue Chu lowered his head. ”Yeah. Utter defeat. We maybe took out another of their members, but the rest of us got wiped out. Five defeats to their two.”

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”At least none of you are hurt.” I studied them. There wasn't even a scratch on them, though with current technology and magic, the modern human body could heal from a simple scratch or bruise under an hour.

”Hurt?” Stan snorted. ”The Crimson Spear Society went easy on us! We were so utterly outmatched that they were practically toying with us! President Dong Fang only beat Howard because he underestimated him, but once the other members realized what a threat he was, they took him out almost instantly!”

”…we lost quite a bit of prestige points this time,” Wang Fei added quietly, unable to meet my gaze.

”It was a complete massacre,” Stan continued bitterly.

I stared at them in silence for a moment, guilt churning in my chest. This was my fault. I made a promise, told them to leave this to me, and I failed them. I was supposed to beat Crimson Spear Society, but I went and lost consciousness in the first match.

”I'm sorry.”

Everyone turned to look at me. I lowered my head.

”It's all my fault. Even though I told you guys to leave this to me…even though I promised you guys that I'll handle this, I went and lost the first match. I ended up dragging you guys into this. I was too weak.”

”Hey, what are you talking about?” Dong Fang Yue Chu clamped a hand on my shoulder. ”You didn't drag us into anything. If anything, I was the one who dragged you into this mess in the first place!”