Chapter 22: Final Exams (1)

Final exams had arrived.

Frondier breezed through the written exam. This time, Aten had had plenty of time to study on her own, leaving him free of distractions. Unless he had somehow written his own name wrong, his score would be close to perfect.

Then came the long-awaited day of the practical exam.

For every exam at Constel, all three years took the written portion on the same day, but their practical exams were held separately. The first-years went first, and the third-years last. As a result, plenty of upperclassmen had gathered in the stands to watch the first-years this time as well.

Today, however, before they could watch the first-years, those upperclassmen found their attention drawn to an unusual sight.

"... Is there some special occasion today?"

"It's the first-years' practical exam."

"Even so. Look over there."

A large number of nobles sat where the student was pointing. There was Ampere, head of the Roach family, and Ort, head of the Richae family, with his son Revet beside him. And approaching them was Lidwe von Urpa.

They exchanged greetings.

"Good to see you here, Ampere, Ort."

"You must be tired after such a long journey."

Ort greeted him normally, while Ampere, true to form, remained silent.

Revet bowed to Lidwe.

"An honor to see you, Lord Urpa."

"Ah, yes. Been a while. You've grown into an even more dependable young man."

Lidwe lightly patted the shoulder of the politely bowing Revet.

Lidwe von Urpa. The head of the family defending the northwest had come to watch Constel's practical exam.

"This is unusual. I wouldn't have expected to see you at an event like this, Lord Urpa."

"Mm. I hear Quinier was recruited for this practical exam?"

"Quinier... Oh, you mean Quinier de Biet. Yes, she was."

Quinier was not only a student at Constel but also a well-known family head. Naturally, Revet knew her.

Lidwe looked at the Wizerview screen. As it happened, it was showing Quinier, together with Frondier and Aten.

"... Now that's a frightening lineup."

"Yes. Having the imperial princess on her team must be quite a burden, even for Quinier."

"Ah, right. Well, the princess is there too, but..."

Lidwe trailed off vaguely.

What did he mean, "the princess is there too, but"? Revet wondered. Surely even the head of House Urpa wasn't paying more attention to Frondier than to the princess? Surely not.

Lidwe watched Quinier for a moment. She appeared to be discussing something with Frondier.

'Hmm. Has she gotten over her complex? Or is she working on it?'

Quinier was the main reason Lidwe had come to watch Constel's practical exam today. He had heard that today's mission was a simulated rescue operation. Even if it was only a simulation, to think Quinier was taking part in a mission like this.

Was she finally ready to rise above her scars, or...?

... For some reason, his gaze drifted to the languid-faced young man listening to her.

'So she's teamed up with that impudent brat.'

Lidwe set his thoughts aside and asked Revet,

"I suppose I'm one to talk, but it feels strange seeing you here too. What brings you?"

"Oh, isn't it obvious? To watch my little sister Elodie, my pride and joy!"

"Ha ha. Then why didn't you come for the midterms too?"

Smiling, Lidwe checked the screen. He knew Elodie's face well from their last meeting about Mistilteinn.

What sort of team had the girl said to be Lord Ort's precious jewel assembled...?

"Now, what in the world is that?"

He had spotted a team even more absurd than Quinier's.

* * *

"I take it back. First place is impossible."

"Yeah, looks that way."

"Agreed."

Quinier and Aten nodded in emphatic agreement.

This was strange...

I had no idea what butterfly effect had led to this, but an utterly unbeatable team had formed over there.

"To think Elodie would team up with Aster."

The words came out as a grumble.

On top of that, the upperclassman they had recruited was Theo de Villancourt, a third-year who had been student council president until last year. In the game, he had exceptional skill and a balanced, versatile fighting style. He would probably be much the same here.

"I heard Elodie and Aster are pretty close. Wasn't there a decent chance they'd team up?"

"... You're right."

It was difficult to explain, so I simply agreed.

Elodie and Aster really were quite close. They had been in the game too. Both were extraordinarily good people, neither had any particularly difficult traits, and they were in the same class.

But Elodie never teamed up with Aster under any circumstances. Not after they became professionals, and not even for temporary parties like this one.

Players of Etius had no reason to pass up Elodie, with her tremendous talent and skill, not to mention beauty said to bring nations to ruin. So they tried every possible way to recruit her. I had too.

And in the game, every attempt failed, even when we had done nothing in particular to upset her. She was an unattainable flower atop a cliff, beyond even the protagonist, Aster Evans.

That was why so many gamers believed recruiting Elodie was the key to beating the game.

In the end, it was just a crap game.

Normally, Aster teamed up with Runia Frisel, who was practically the official heroine, while Elodie often teamed up with either the hotheaded Robald or Saibel.

Aster and Runia were already a powerful enough combination. But Elodie instead of Runia? I felt despair clouding my vision.

"So what now? Looks like first place is out of reach."

"For now, let's focus on the mission. If we stick to the roles we decided on, we should get a respectable score."

Despite what I was saying, ours was an excellent team too. Quinier and Aten together guaranteed stability in both offense and defense. Aster's team was simply ridiculous.

But I desperately wanted first place if I was going to change Ampere's mind. Even winning might not be enough.

My hand went to my tie without my realizing it.

"Why do you keep touching that tie?"

"Oh, I only changed it recently. It still feels a little unfamiliar."

"Really? Hmm. It looks nice."

Quinier spoke after briefly examining my tie.

Nice was an understatement.

It was so good I couldn't help touching it.

* * *

Aster and Elodie were relaxed. They had no reason not to be.

"So our mission is to hurry over and deal with things whenever an 'alarm' goes off somewhere in the field?"

"And there'll be a teacher playing a 'monster' and an upperclassman playing a 'victim' wherever the alarm sounds."

As they talked, they worked through the outline of the final exam. Judging by the details, it really was close to an abridged professional mission.

Unlike during the midterms, the field now resembled an urban area. Frameworks shaped like all manner of buildings filled it, obstructing the view in every direction and making the surroundings feel cramped.

"But if that's how it works, every team will head for the same place when the alarm goes off. How are they going to rank us? First come, first served?"

"Who knows? We'll just have to try—"

It happened then.

WAAAAAAH!

A blaring noise that anyone would recognize as an alarm rang throughout the field. That much they had expected, but...

WAAAAAAH!

WAAAAH!

WAAAH! WAAAAAAH!

WAAAAAAAAAAH!

"So loud...!"

Alarms sounded from every direction. Aster frowned at the noise erupting from so many scattered points.

Before they could worry about who got there first, there was the fact that there wasn't just one alarm.

Which of these countless blaring alarms was closest...?

Three Wind Spells

Levitation, Swiftness, Far Sight

Watchman

While Aster listened closely to the noise, Elodie cast her magic and rose into the air. Soaring thirty meters above the ground in one go, she surveyed her surroundings.

An alarm meant an incident had occurred. There had to be some visible sign of it. With Far Sight added to her magic, Elodie could freely inspect even distant locations.

"Found one."

Elodie spotted a teacher in the middle of an intersection. It was Jane. She couldn't see the upperclassman playing the victim, but every teacher in this field was an enemy.

She descended to the ground and pointed in the direction where she had spotted Jane. At precisely the same moment, Aster pointed the same way.

"... How did you know?"

When Elodie asked, Aster answered as though it were obvious.

"I heard it."

... Was he a monster?

Looking at Aster, Elodie was thinking exactly what other people thought when they looked at her.

* * *

I broke into a run the instant the alarms sounded.

I knew which alarm was closest because I already knew. Moving beforehand would have looked far too suspicious, so I had merely waited for the alarms to start.

But when I arrived, the scene was slightly different from what I remembered.

"... Pfft."

Quinier couldn't hold back a laugh at the sight.

"Hey, you. What are you doing here? Pffft."

"... Is it really that funny?"

The young man before us asked peevishly as Quinier continued to chuckle.

... Long time no see, Edwin.

Edwin von Behertio was playing the victim.

"They've worked me to the bone all over the place because of the golem incident. And this is my last assignment."

"What, you've been doing community service?"

"Well, something like that. Similar sort of thing, different level of intensity."

It couldn't have been just a little different. He must have been through hell.

Still, no one had died, and Binkis had smoothed over his theft of the golem. That was probably why his punishment had stopped there.

Then Edwin looked at me.

"Hello, Frondier."

"Hello."

"How have you been? Have you gotten stronger since I last saw you?"

"Um, yes. More or less."

Edwin smiled at my answer.

"That's good."

His expression was bright, without a shadow on it.

Quinier asked,

"So where's the teacher playing the 'monster'?"

"Sorry, I can't answer that. I'm just a victim, after all. I'm supposed to be terrified and panicking."

"Is that just your character?"

"No. None of the 'victims' in this field can reveal anything about the final exam or move on their own."

That was rather inconvenient.

"Hmm." Quinier pursed her lips and looked around.

A teacher had to be hiding somewhere nearby, but she couldn't find them at all. Her ability to detect mana was considerable. For a teacher to escape her notice, they would need exceptional control over their mana.

"... Come to think of it, there's Mr. Atzier."

Even Quinier lacked reliable information about Atzier. It wasn't that there was too little information, but that there were so many outlandish stories it was hard to separate truth from fiction.

"Frondier. Could the teacher hiding here be Atzier?"

"... I don't think so."

"Really? How do you know?"

"Rather than being certain it isn't Atzier, you could say I've figured out which teacher is playing the monster in this area."

"Really?"

Frondier nodded at Quinier's repeated question, but he didn't look very happy. Whoever the teacher was, he didn't seem pleased to encounter them.

"Shall we start rescuing the victim, then? Nothing will happen if we just stand here."

"Will you be all right?"

"Well, yes. More or less."

Again, Frondier answered in the affirmative, but his expression said otherwise.

With the air of someone heaving a sigh, Frondier slowly walked over to Edwin and held out a hand.

Edwin gazed at the offered hand.

"Are you really going to be all right, Frondier?"

"No."

"... Right. I suppose not. Especially you."

Edwin smiled wryly and took Frondier's hand.

At that instant—

CRASH! BOOM!

Walls and floors shattered all around them as massive bodies emerged. The floor beneath Edwin was no exception. Something enormous burst out of the cracked ground and clambered to the surface with Edwin atop its head.

Huge chunks of rock and clouds of stone dust cascaded down, revealing a golem.

At the all-too-familiar shape, Frondier's gaze grew colder and colder.

An incongruously cheerful voice burst from the golem's mouth.

["Hellooo! It's your teacher, Binkis!"]

Yes. Of course it was.

Frondier surveyed his surroundings. Golems identical to the one carrying Edwin had emerged on every side.

Quinier hadn't detected them because they had been inactive. A golem that wasn't running had no mana to detect.

["I gathered data from the records of the last incident and Edwin's testimony to improve the golems! Meet Atzier Mk. 2!"]

"Atzier Mk. 2..."

Did you get his permission for that?