Date: A Week After the Hollow Bear Lecture
Location: Academy Lecture Hall → Courtyard → Library
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David made us all sit through a full breakdown of the Hollow Bear operation.
Not a word was wasted.
He dissected each team's decisions like a battlefield autopsy — calm, surgical, and merciless. No team escaped his scalpel.
> "Team One: All offense, no coordination. You thought power alone would carry you. Result? Three out of five teleported out due to poor positioning."
"Team Two: Stable but hesitant. Yukari — you compensated for your team's mistakes, but that is not a long-term solution."
"Team Three… used intelligence over brute force. Predictable patterning, terrain manipulation, calculated retreat and redirect. Efficient."
He didn't say my name. But everyone looked at me.
When the lecture ended, the room buzzed.
I heard it for the first time from a student near the back, half-whispered, half-awed:
> "That's him, right? The Silent Tactician?"
I didn't correct them.
---
Mireille found me later — by the garden wall, where I sometimes sit after classes.
She tossed me a wrapped apple bun. I caught it. Barely.
> "You're good, kid. Real good," she said, leaning on the stone rail. "Smart. Calm. Stubborn as David used to be."
"He was different back then. Laughed more. Took risks. You remind me of that version… before Morgan vanish."
"He'd never admit it, but I think seeing you — it rattled him, just a little."
I didn't know what to say to that. So I didn't say anything.
She chuckled. "Don't let the praise get to your head. Strategy's like a sword — shine it too much, and you start seeing your reflection instead of your opponent."
Then she walked off, humming an old adventurer's tune.
---
The nickname stuck.
Anna and Riya teased me endlessly.
Anna: "Master Tactician, do you bless this spoon for future duels?"
Riya: "Don't mind her. You did amazing. That Hollow Bear didn't stand a chance."
Even Alice said something today. Short and sharp:
> "You don't fight for glory. That's rare. Don't lose it."
Yukari, too. We crossed paths in the library. She sat beside me for a while, flipping through summoning tomes.
> "Your team… you lead them without saying much," she said. "I respect that. I've been trying to do the same. But they don't listen."
I didn't know what advice to offer. Maybe I'm still figuring it out too.
---
And then… Lily.
It was near the spellcasting wing. Evening, almost curfew. She paused as she walked past.
Her voice was quiet — like she didn't want to say it, but couldn't help herself.
> "Tactician… suits you. But I think you're still hiding part of yourself."
She didn't wait for a reply. Just kept walking, her silver hair catching the moonlight like silk.
I sat alone for a long time that night, journal open, ink drying slower than usual.
---
I didn't ask for the nickname.
But maybe… I'll carry it a little while longer.
Not for glory. Not for fame.
But because, somehow, it's what they saw in me — even when I didn't see it in myself.