Arc 22: Final Exams (4)

“Binkis...”

Watching the screen, Malia put a hand to her forehead.

Unfortunately, the entire peaceful, gentle negotiation between Frondier and Binkis had been broadcast on-screen. A teacher spilling the locations of the other teachers—this was a flaw that should never have arisen in this exam.

‘Then again, if Frondier weren’t my son, I might have talked in her position too.’

Malia knew Frondier’s character, as well as the limitations of the technique Constel called “Fireworks.” After all, he had accomplished it with the help of her hereditary magic, Sensory Sharing.

‘Still, if this helps change the image Ampere has of Frondier...’

Malia knew what Frondier intended: to give this exam everything he had and make Ampere see him in a new light.

She stole a glance at Ampere beside her. Yet he remained expressionless. No, if anything, he seemed even more displeased. Did he distrust Frondier that much? Or was there another reason?

A heavy voice emerged from lips framed by deep creases.

“You’re wasting your effort, Frondier.”

“... Ampere. Are you still saying that?”

“My decision has not changed.”

“If that’s what you’re going to say, you shouldn’t have given Frondier that condition in the first place. You say your decision hasn’t changed?”

Malia looked him straight in the eye. Ampere merely met her gaze with aloof composure.

“Of course I will keep my promise. He must place in the top ten overall. If he fulfills that condition, he will not be disowned.”

“Then that settles it. Frondier will do it.”

Malia’s firm tone closed the matter. Ampere watched her quietly before speaking.

“How strange. Didn’t you agree to disown Frondier as well? You’re like a different person now.”

“Because Frondier was pathetic back then. I thought being disowned would actually do my son good.”

“... I see.”

Ampere said nothing more. He simply watched the screen, a faint sadness in his eyes.

... Being disowned would actually do Frondier good.

Turning Malia’s words over in his mind, Ampere held within him a voice no one could hear.

‘I think so too, Malia.’

* * *

Aster took his stance, facing Atzier. Atzier had a hostage, which halved Elodie’s effectiveness.

“Well? What will you do, Aster?”

Atzier held a dagger, its tip touching his hostage Theo’s throat. His main weapon, his spear, was nowhere to be seen. Was that his way of giving them a handicap, or was even that a bluff?

“Sorry, Aster. He caught me.”

Theo looked apologetic. Aster smiled.

“He sure did. You should have handled that better.”

“I know. I was only planning to watch from the back, since I’m a third-year.”

Aster and Theo chatted with a calmness quite unsuited to their predicament. Perhaps it was partly because this was a mock exam rather than a real emergency, but something was a little odd.

“Looks like I can’t just watch anymore.”

At that instant, Theo moved.

The corner of Atzier’s eye twitched. In a split second, Theo bent his knees and dropped his entire body. With a dagger at his throat, it was an utterly reckless move.

The blade cut across Theo’s neck.

GRRRK!

The sound was entirely wrong for a throat being slit.

‘Petrification?’

Atzier immediately checked Theo’s neck. Its gray coloring was no ordinary discoloration. It had turned to stone.

Petrification was usually a kind of curse cast on an opponent. Using its hardness to strengthen one’s own defenses was hardly a conventional idea.

Free of Atzier’s hold, Theo swung his left foot at Atzier’s feet. Dust rose with the sweep, and Atzier dodged.

Atzier had a dagger, while Theo was barehanded. To overcome that disadvantage, Theo pressed closer.

They exchanged several blows. Even allowing for Atzier’s lack of killing intent, Theo’s hand-to-hand combat was first-rate. The mere fact that he was putting up a proper fight against the man who had beaten Aster without letting him land a single hit spoke to his skill.

Atzier swung his dagger horizontally to check him. Theo dodged and opened up the distance. That was precisely what he had wanted.

‘He never intended to fight in earnest. He only needed to stop being a hostage.’

If Theo had simply tried to escape to avoid being held hostage, Atzier could have read his movements. Instead, Theo had attacked, increasing the number of possibilities Atzier had to consider. That required both skill and courage.

As a result, Atzier had lost his hostage. And the exchange with Theo had left an opening.

Atzier’s eyes shifted to his right, where he had been facing Aster a moment ago.

Sure enough, Aster was there.

Right before his eyes.

In the gym, Aster had fallen to Atzier countless times. His abilities and talent were exceptional, but he still lacked experience. A mere few days before finals could not remedy that.

But one thing was different this time.

Aster had already released his Divine Power.

Aster announced his attack.

“Here I come!”

Atzier met him.

“How needlessly considerate.”

CLANG-CLANG-CLANG!

Aster’s sword clashed noisily against Atzier’s dagger.

‘The blade is damaged.’

Atzier had intended to deflect the blow. It had not gone as planned because his blade was already damaged. Scraping Theo’s neck had left it unable to function properly.

Evans Family Weapon Arts

Basic Sword Form

Horizontal Slash

Aster had yet to reach a high level of swordsmanship. That was why he had no personal sword forms like Elin’s, and why he had failed to break the rock, unable to use Aura.

But with Divine Power enveloping him, his strength gave even a simple slash an entirely different meaning.

Atzier saw it: the air trembling around the blade rushing toward him, its path wavering like a heat haze from the wind pressure and heat.

Indeed. With this much power at his disposal, it made sense that learning Aura would be slower.

Atzier dodged, and Aster swung his sword again and again. Aster was faster, but Atzier closed that gap by moving only as much as absolutely necessary.

And then—

“Ugh!”

Aster jerked his head back as something suddenly shot up from below his face. When he stepped back and stopped, Atzier stood holding it.

A spear. Atzier had hidden his spear in the ground.

In other words, he had been luring Aster toward it as he dodged.

“... You got me again.”

“No. I hadn’t intended to use it. You should be proud of yourself.”

Atzier’s words bordered on arrogance. But Aster could only accept them. He had been desperately hoping Atzier would not pick up his spear.

The mere act of Atzier taking up his spear made the surrounding air settle heavily. Stone dust and dirt trembled around him. He had not even begun to wield Aura, yet energy was already flowing through his surroundings.

Keeping his guard up against Atzier, Aster surveyed the area. Theo seemed to have retreated to safety, while Elodie was keeping Jane in check. Or was it the other way around? Either way, they had reached a standoff.

In truth, though, they were at a disadvantage. Their best option had been to subdue Atzier before he could do anything—at least while his hands were empty.

‘All right. Now what?’

That did not mean Aster had lost his will to fight. He wanted to see Atzier’s true skill. Of course, having his spear did not mean Atzier would use his full strength, but it would be more than last time.

Aster moved one hand behind his back and signaled Theo to support Elodie. Those two would subdue Jane quickly, then join Aster. With that, they should be able to manage Atzier somehow.

... The question was whether he could hold out until then.

“Oh my. You’re underestimating me.”

At that instant, Atzier felt a chill and rolled sideways.

Flames suddenly flared where he had been standing. Had he stayed still, he would have been engulfed. It would not have caused a serious injury, but Atzier would never miss such an opening. Fortunately, he was still on his guard.

“I merely entrusted you to Mr. Atzier. I can handle all three of you perfectly well on my own.”

It was Jane who had spoken. The index finger of her left hand was glowing.

Had she cast that spell with just one finger?

“Hah!”

Elodie filled the air with shards of ice and sent them flying at Jane. Jane canceled every one of them with identical ice.

She copied a spell already cast and used it to block the original. It was a demonstration of the gap in their abilities.

Elodie bit her lip at the sight, though she still wore a smile. She was trying to appear composed, but she had no good options.

“Theo, can you get close to Ms. Jane?”

Elodie asked, but Theo shook his head.

“That’ll be difficult. As far as I know, Ms. Jane is a stickler for the fundamentals. And for a mage, sticking to the fundamentals means laying dozens of traps around yourself.”

Elodie was quite skilled at sensing mana. Her senses, too, confirmed that the area around Jane was extremely dangerous.

What should she do? Elodie felt cold sweat trickling down her skin. She was not confident she could subdue Jane quickly.

Elodie touched the metal brace on her wrist. It was an Artifact forged from the unbreakable steel she had bought at auction. With it, she could keep her firepower from exceeding a set level, but right now she had no opening to use a spell of that magnitude.

Jane was an exceptionally skilled mage when it came to keeping opponents in check, and above all, she knew Elodie well. She had understood what Elodie was aiming for from the start.

What should they do? What should they do?

Similar thoughts passed through Elodie’s and Aster’s minds.

At this rate, defeat was all that awaited them in the near future. Unless something new appeared... unless...?

Aster and Elodie slowly turned their eyes toward something. Theo did the same.

It was an extremely dangerous thing to do while facing Jane and Atzier, but they could not help looking.

Finding their behavior strange, Jane and Atzier followed their gazes. Far off to the left of their standoff, someone was there.

Someone was walking along with someone else on their back.

“... Oh.”

The someone carrying someone looked their way. With no particular reaction to being spotted, he blinked briefly, raised a hand, and said,

“Oh, don’t mind me. Keep up the good work. I’ll be going, then.”

Then he resumed walking.

The someone carrying someone had black hair and peaceful eyes, and strolled along as leisurely as though he had come out for a solitary walk.

That—was that really...?

“You—hey! Hey! Frondier!!”

Elodie shouted.

What? How are you here? And who’s that on your back?

Amazingly, before Elodie could ask, Jane answered her question for her.

“... That’s our ‘victim’!!”

“Huh?!”

Elodie cried out before she could stop herself.

At that instant, Jane, Elodie, Aster, Atzier, and Theo all moved at once. Toward Frondier.

Absorbed in the fight, both sides had briefly forgotten, but rescuing the victim was this mission’s primary objective. Dealing with the teachers playing monsters came second.

In other words, Frondier was now a new enemy from the teachers’ perspective, and a rival stealing points from Aster’s team.

They were hardly going to let him leave peacefully.

Watching them race toward him, Frondier said,

“Ah, so it does turn out like this?”

Of course it did.