It did not take long for the two girls and all five Beasts to die. Three minutes or so at most. The girls themselves had lasted only a few seconds.

'He's skilled at killing people, but he's even better at killing Beasts...'

Floating in the air, Calipha hid her admiration as she pretended to catch her breath. She was a mage, not a swordswoman, but she was hardly ignorant of the sword. She had accumulated a wealth of experience over her long life and killed more swordsmen than she could count.

'That swordsmanship has been honed entirely through actual combat.'

That was precisely what Yuto intended. His swordsmanship was originally rooted in the Belkain royal family's secret swordsmanship. Before honing it in actual combat, he had learned it from the royal family and the knights, then perfected it through countless battles.

At the academy, however, he intended to conceal those distinctive traits as much as possible. Above all, he had to hide any trace of the Belkain royal family. Shiro, too, was an exceptional swordsman.

'He may have worked as an adventurer, but reaching that level with three years of experience is impossible.'

Experienced and accomplished a mage as Calipha was, she could not entertain the possibility that Yuto had traveled back in time.

In fact, it was precisely because she was a mage that she dismissed the possibility outright. Reversing time was beyond even the constellations that strutted about calling themselves gods.

'And what in the world is that Evomon? It doesn't look strong at all...'

Yuto was not the only remarkable one. Flokiro was astonishing as well. He was a beastfolk-type Evomon who walked on two legs, with a body as small as a child's. Frankly, he looked adorable, but there was nothing adorable about the way he fought. Those tiny fists and feet crushed Beasts larger than himself, usually with a single blow, and when that was not enough, he could even produce flames.

'They aren't just strong. Their teamwork is flawless.'

They never spoke. She had not even seen them exchange glances. Each understood perfectly what the other needed to do on the battlefield, so they never got in each other's way.

"Calipha."

Yuto called to her. She gave a startled twitch and turned toward him.

"Y-yes!"

"Catch."

Once again, Yuto tossed her an Aether Restoration Potion. The rewards for killing the five Beasts lay on the ground. From among them, he took one dagger and one longsword.

'I won't draw Gloria.'

It was far too sharp a blade to use in an entrance exam. Picking up restoration potions and biscuits, Yuto said,

"Analyze the crystal. Find out how long this event lasts, and what my score is."

"Ah... All right."

Calipha cast her analysis spell, pretending to concentrate. A little later, she spoke.

"Your current score is... thirty-four points, Yuto."

So far, Yuto had killed four students and seven Beasts.

'As I thought, Flokiro's kills count toward my score too.'

Five points per student, two per Beast. The values might differ from one individual to another, but for now, Yuto decided to calculate them that way.

"This event... will end in another forty-three minutes."

Judging by the time that had already elapsed, the event would last roughly an hour in total. While Yuto considered that, Calipha continued.

"There are currently 447 survivors..."

Thirteen had been dead at the last check, and fifty more had died since then. Either the Beasts had killed them, or other students emboldened by the chaos had. Yuto thought for a moment, then spoke.

"I'll kill at least ten more students."

"Y... yes?"

"Since there's a scoring system, I intend to get a high score. Counting the Beasts we'll encounter while killing those ten, that should secure a hundred points."

"Should I... use detection magic?"

Calipha asked hesitantly, and Yuto nodded.

* * *

Two hundred fifty meters northeast. Detection revealed one student fighting three Beasts.

And so it was. Deep in the forest, fallen trees came into view—traces of the battle.

By the time Yuto arrived, a boy wielding a sword was struggling against two Beasts. He had managed to kill one in the meantime.

He was fighting fairly well. His swordsmanship was orthodox, faithful to the fundamentals taught to nobles. His practical experience was not sufficient, but neither was it sorely lacking.

Yuto broke the stalemate. His sword suddenly entered the fray and severed a Beast's neck. It was a silent strike, and even his approach had betrayed no sign of his presence. Only then did the boy notice him.

THUD!

Flokiro kicked the remaining Beast, sending it tumbling. Meanwhile, Yuto and the boy regarded each other briefly. The boy did indeed have the makings of a competent fighter. His expression immediately twisted as he charged at Yuto.

'Quick to read the situation, but lacking in skill.'

He had a solid grasp of the basics, but that was all. If not for the unusual circumstances of this year's thousand candidates, he would never even have set foot in the academy.

People could dream despite lacking skill, but those without the necessary qualifications could not make those dreams come true. Even if extraordinary luck put him among the final hundred, he would not survive at the academy with abilities like these. Under the professors' cold scrutiny and the other students' contempt, he would eventually leave of his own accord. That was the future awaiting him.

SLASH!

The boy's throat was cut. Before light enveloped him and he disappeared, he glared at Yuto with eyes full of bitter hatred. Yuto saw him off with an indifferent expression.

One hundred meters east. A pair of students was fighting two Beasts. By the time they reached the location indicated in the report, both Beasts were already dead.

A girl gripping a staff stood behind a boy who was gathering the rewards. Rather than charging in immediately, Yuto watched from behind a tree. Above the boy's head, a winged, serpent-shaped Evomon hovered in the air, keeping watch over their surroundings.

Yuto gestured to Flokiro. His partner immediately nodded and climbed a tree without a sound, intending to drop from above and take out the serpent Evomon.

A few seconds later, Flokiro kicked off a branch and leaped down at it. Before the serpent could react, both his hands closed around its head.

"Mir?!"

Startled by the sound overhead, the boy looked up. At that instant, Yuto sprang from behind the tree.

SHUNK!

The sword he thrust as he charged pierced the boy's chest.

"Gah!"

Without bothering to pull the sword free, Yuto drew a dagger with his left hand and slit the boy's throat. Then the boy's body vanished in a swirl of light, making it unnecessary to pull the sword out at all. Yuto whirled toward the girl.

"E-eek!"

The girl screamed, but she still raised her staff. Aether began gathering at its tip. Unlike the girls he had killed earlier, this one could cast magic despite her fear.

THUD!

The dagger Yuto threw buried itself in the girl's forehead. Or it should have—but blue smoke appeared in midair and caught it.

'She was keeping her Evomon hidden.'

There were advantages to leaving an Evomon unsummoned. It conserved aether and could catch an opponent off guard, as it had now. The smoke-wreathed Evomon charged at Yuto with an eerie shriek.

Instead of responding immediately, Yuto waited a moment. Soon, pure white light enveloped him.

"Kyaaagh!"

A fist made of smoke pounded against the defensive spell protecting Yuto. After confirming that, he signaled Flokiro with a glance.

FWOOSH!

The flames Flokiro unleashed burned the Evomon away completely.

"D-don't come any closer!"

The girl screamed and cast her spell.

BANG! BANG!

Aether bullets battered the defensive spell.

"P... please..."

The girl sank to the ground and pleaded, but Yuto did not answer.

SLASH!

His sword severed her neck.

"Hah... hah..."

Calipha put on a show of panting for breath.

'Damn brat. How dare you test me?'

The Evomon's attack, the girl's spells—judging by the movements Yuto had displayed so far, he could easily have dodged them all.

Yet he had not. Instead, he had stood still, ready to let the attacks hit him. All of it had been designed to make Calipha cast defensive magic.

"Y-Yuto, are you all right?"

Calipha stammered out the question. She could not give voice to the emotions rising within her or the curses filling her mind.

"I'm fine, thanks to you. Your defensive magic is excellent too, isn't it?"

"Heh... hehe, thank you..."

Calipha bowed her head, saying words she did not mean. Yuto regarded her with dark, contemplative eyes.

'Something's odd.'

Yuto was not a mage. Experience had taught him about mages, but that experience alone was not what made Calipha seem odd to him now. The instincts he had honed meeting countless subjects and other people as the king of a nation sensed something about her that grated on him.

'I know she's been studying me.'

He had let it be because he sensed no hostility. Besides, he stood out enough that being observed was inevitable.

'Detection, analysis, barriers, defense... Every one of them is exactly the magic I need. Too exactly.'

They were especially well suited to dealing with this so-called event. So perfectly suited, in fact, that he almost wondered whether their meeting and being partnered like this had been arranged in advance.

'The headmaster said the pairs were random. But... the constellations are interfering with this space. Did a constellation match Calipha with me, then?'

Perhaps Shiro had intervened. He might be overthinking it, but when it came to that bastard, excessive caution gave him more peace of mind.

Yuto did not trust Calipha. But he did not think she would betray him now. That was all the more true if she was connected to Shiro and followed him. In that case, Calipha would have to do everything in her power to help Yuto pass this exam.

'Because Shiro must be looking forward to meeting me at the academy.'

Yuto concealed a smile at the thought. It was possible that all of this was mere overthinking and Calipha had no connection to Shiro at all.

Still, he acknowledged how useful she was in this exam.

* * *

The southern cliff.

The battle was already drawing to an end. A girl had been driven to the cliff's edge, and two boys with swords surrounded her.

The girl's partner had already died and vanished. So had her Evomon. Her sword lay ahead of her, pinned beneath one boy's foot.

"I told you, it's dangerous over there. Come closer."

One of the boys spoke with a leering smile. The girl before them came from a minor noble house. Outside, there were too many complications to consider for them to lay a hand on her, but this place was not real.

In an exam where even killing was not a crime, surely playing with her a little could not be one either. If she complained in the real world, they could simply deny it and brand her a liar instead. Since this place was not real, no evidence would remain.

"You don't want to get eliminated like this either, do you?"

"Your partner's dead, and so is your Evomon. But you know, nobody said you had to stay with your original partner to pass."

"All you have to do is make the final hundred. Get what we're saying? Do as you're told, and you can pass along with us."

The boys whispered, their eyes gleaming.

"Or you can just jump off yourself. It's not like you'll really die, right?"

"Seeing as you can't jump, you don't want to get eliminated like this either, do you?"

The girl hesitated, tears streaming down her face. As they said, this place was not real. She did want to get into the academy. But she did not want to go toward them. Nor did she want to step back and jump. In the end, all she could do was hesitate, tears falling from her eyes.

Yuto watched from a short distance away.

What he had considered earlier was becoming reality.

Having understood that dying here did not mean truly dying, the students were about to indulge in violence without a shred of guilt.