episode_0084

The day of the practical exam.

Loki walked to the forest inside the academy along with the special class students.

This was because Alicia had said during morning assembly that the practical exam would take place in the forest.

“Hogu, what on earth could the practical exam in the forest be?”

“Well, I don’t really have any guesses either. Sepia-ssi, do you know what kind of test it was during last year’s midterm exam?”

“Last year’s midterm practical exam was where professors evaluated how students dealt with artificial magical beasts in the auditorium. But knowing what they did last year is useless.”

“Why is that?”

“That’s because the academy exams are different every year. The academy exams have never been the same as last year, not even once.”

-Stomp stomp.

As they walked and talked with the special class students, they arrived at the forest entrance before they knew it.

At the forest entrance, all first-years except for the special class students had already gathered.

“I think we’re the latest ones to arrive?”

“If you hadn’t suggested going to the snack bar earlier, we would have been the first ones to arrive.”

Alicia’s morning assembly was rather short compared to other professors’, so there was still time left even considering the distance to the forest.

Because of that, Loki suggested to the other special class students that they grab some snacks from the snack bar before going.

The other students worried they might be late, but at Loki’s words that they could just run if it came to that, they accepted the proposal.

However, Clara tried to go to the forest alone without going to the snack bar until the end, but Loki said that going alone would only draw more attention, and she was thus semi-forced to follow them to the snack bar.

“Hey, Clara-ssi, you enjoyed it too, didn’t you? And we’re not late, are we?”

“Yes, as you said, we’re not late. Though if we’d been even a minute later, we would have been.”

The other first-year students stared intently when the special class students appeared.

The reason they were staring wouldn’t be because they arrived last.

“The special class students all move around together, I’m jealous.”

“Even if you had gotten into the special class, you wouldn’t even be able to talk to the Crown Prince-nim, just stammering nervously, would you?”

“I honestly admit that. But being jealous is still being jealous.”

Among the special class students, Clara’s name was heard the most today.

There was no student who didn’t know that Clara had received the first 100 points in the academy’s history.

“Look there. It’s Clara-nim.”

“They say a perfect score on the written exam is an academy first; I want to see Clara-nim’s exam paper once. What could she have written?”

“I want to invite Clara-nim to tea time just once. She’s so beautiful even from a distance, how beautiful would she be up close?”

“Should I try talking to her just once?”

“Don’t even think about it. How many people have tried talking to Clara-nim so far? All those people were ignored.”

Clara walked as if she didn’t care at all, even though other students were blatantly staring and whispering.

“Wow~ Clara-ssi, you’re really popular, aren’t you?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

The students whispered as they watched Loki chattering next to Clara.

Just as Clara became famous for receiving the first 100 points in the academy’s history,

Loki also became famous for receiving the first 0 points in the academy’s history.

Of course, the other students mistakenly thought Loki had pitifully received 0 points because he hadn’t written his name.

“Clara-ssi, do you know that?”

“………”

Clara often ignored Loki’s words, and most of the time it was when he spoke to her in a playful voice like now.

Even though Clara often ignored Loki’s words, Loki had never once given up.

“Do you know that?”

“………”

“Do you know…..”

“Tsk. What is it?”

“If you combine my written exam score and Clara-ssi’s, it’s 100 points. Isn’t that quite amazing?”

Loki said, “Aren’t you surprised?”

“………………..”

Clara said nothing, glared coldly at Loki, and walked forward.

“Let’s go together!”

Clara casually sat in an empty spot, and Loki sat next to her.

“Why don’t you sit a bit further away?”

“Anyone hearing this would think we’re hugging.”

“……………..”

The other special class students also sat near Loki and Clara.

“It’s a joke. Honestly, Clara-ssi, it’s better for me to sit next to you than for some stranger to.”

“Tsk.”

Clara simply clicked her tongue once and didn’t retort to Loki’s words, because what Loki said was true.

Rather than a stranger sitting next to her and subtly glancing over her body, Loki, who chattered noisily next to her, was much better.

* * *

“From now on, I will explain about the practical exam.”

The professor’s voice, imbued with mana, resonated loudly.

“This practical exam will be an individual competition held in the forest, and will end when the time limit is reached or only one person remains.”

“In the forest, there are artificial magical beasts created by Professor Idra, and you will catch them to earn points. For your information, the artificial magical beasts have different points depending on their strength.”

“If you eliminate another student, you can acquire the points that student possessed.”

“If you are eliminated by another student or a magical beast, the points you possessed right before being eliminated will be your final score.”

“Your exam results will be a combination of the points you acquire and the points professors evaluate your actions on.”

The students who heard the rules tried to formulate a strategy as quickly as possible.

Quietly hiding, then targeting another student who had captured a magical beast and was exhausted to acquire their points seemed like the best method, but.

If they did that, professors might evaluate them poorly, and if they stayed hidden like that until the time limit, they might not get any points at all.

“Alright, from now on, you will put on blindfolds. Professors will take you to random locations within the forest. For your information, leaving the forest will result in disqualification, so be careful.”

After the professor’s words ended, other professors began to blindfold the first-year students.

“Sniff sniff, I’m so sad to be separated from all of you that tears are coming out.”

“Why is Loki acting like that?”

“Has he ever been normal?”

“That’s true.”

Can’t you just play along? That’s too much.

“No matter how far apart you are, I will always be watching over you.”

“………………..”

Now they don’t even answer me.

I was somewhat sincere about that.

“Hogu, if you don’t want to get expelled, you can’t make a mistake this time.”

“I made a very small mistake in the written exam, but I won’t make any mistakes in the practical exam.”

“That’s good then, good luck.”

“Good luck to you too, Sepia-ssi!”

And so, all first-years moved along with the professors, their eyes covered.

One professor took dozens of blindfolded students into the forest, stood each student at their designated spot, and told them to wait until the signal sounded.

Loki also moved along with the professor, his eyes covered by a blindfold.

After walking for some time, the professor next to him spoke.

“Student Loki’s spot is here. When you hear the signal sound a little later, you can then take off your blindfold.”

“What happens if I take off the blindfold before then?”

“Naturally, you will be disqualified and receive 0 points.”

“Gasp! Understood. Professor-nim, take care!”

* * *

A situation room filled with screens showing every inch of the forest.

Here, numerous professors were watching the students through the screens.

The professors evaluate the students and eliminate variables through the numerous screens showing the entire forest.

“Can we start now?”

“The professor in charge of Group D hasn’t arrived yet.”

“The professor in charge of Group D has just approached the situation room. I will temporarily lift the barrier.”

The situation room was inside the forest, covered by a barrier, so it couldn’t be seen from outside.

Since it was a barrier personally cast by the academy’s headmaster, a Grand Mage, it was impossible for other students to even perceive this barrier.

[You may now remove your blindfolds]

The professor’s words resonated through the forest via microphone, and on the situation room screens, students could be seen removing their blindfolds and looking around.

Just then, the professor in charge of Group D entered the situation room.

“Which students were in Group D?”

“The most famous student in Group D would be Loki.”

“Has he caused any trouble?”

“No, he’s been quieter than expected. Look, he’s still standing still.”

In the direction the professor in charge of Group D pointed, there was Loki, standing still in the forest.

Yes, he was standing still.

Without even taking off his blindfold.

As the other professors felt something was off, seeing Loki standing still without even taking off his blindfold.

“Tsk.”

Suddenly, Alicia clicked her tongue, and all the professors looked at her.

“You’ve brought something troublesome.”

Alicia said, looking at the professor in charge of Group D.

The professors couldn’t understand Alicia’s words.

“You’ve already been found out, so just come out.”

While the other professors were trying to grasp the situation.

“Oh dear, I’ve been found out.”

From the empty air where there was nothing, a playful voice was heard.

From the empty air, Loki appeared, taking off his blindfold.

“How did he get in here? I didn’t explicitly lift the barrier.”

As one professor, startled by Loki’s entry, muttered to himself, Alicia detached something from the clothes of the professor in charge of Group D.

“It’s a magic tool for tracking location. Did he secretly attach it to the professor earlier?”

“Ding dong! That’s correct!”

Even though this place is invisible from the outside due to the headmaster’s barrier, if one precisely knows the location using a location-tracking magic tool, entering is easy.

By concealing oneself with an illusion and following the professor using the location-tracking magic tool, even the professors watching the forest through the screens won’t notice.

After hearing Loki’s explanation, the professors were lost for words.

The situation room had screens that could check the location and status of all students, and with these, Loki could know the location and situation of all students.

Alicia recalled what Loki had said yesterday.

‘I will show Professor-nim my first-place performance in the practical exam by using every trick in the book, within the bounds of not breaking any rules.’

“I haven’t broken a single rule. This place is inside the forest, and I didn’t even take off my blindfold before the signal sounded.”

As Loki said, Loki hadn’t broken any rules.

Logically, who would set a rule that says you shouldn’t attach a location-tracking magic tool to a professor’s body?

“Professor-nims, please think of me as not being here and just do what you need to do comfortably. I’ll just stay quiet.”

The words, ‘Could you really do that?’ rose to the professors’ throats, but they couldn’t say it.

“…………Alright! What if we turn off all the screens here?”

One professor said in a tone as if a good idea had struck him, but.

“Then how will you evaluate them?”

The professor was lost for words at Loki’s remark.

As Loki said, if they turned off the screens, they couldn’t evaluate the other students.

And to kick Loki out of this place, Loki’s actions, as he had said earlier, didn’t break any rules.

In the end, the uncomfortable cohabitation of Loki and the professors began.

. . .

“Oh! Clara-ssi has already acquired points.”

Loki comfortably drank a beverage while watching the other students through the screens with the professors.

“Hmm. That person has a habit of getting too excited when fighting.”

He even pulled out a chair from his subspace and sat down, evaluating other students.

[Damn it! My left arm is injured! If others find out about this, I’ll obviously become a target, so I should hide it.]

Through the screen, the words of a student who had caught a magical beast and was resting were heard.

No! Don’t say it. A crazy person is listening to everything!

Unfortunately, the professors’ silent shouts couldn’t reach the student.

“That person just now is in a spot close to here.”

At Loki’s words, the professors flinched.

“Then I’ll be back in a moment. Make sure to lock the doors.”

Loki placed his half-eaten beverage and the location-tracking magic tool on the floor and slowly walked outside.

The professors recalled what Loki had said.

That crazy person just said he’d ‘be back’.

The academy practical exam began to proceed strangely.