episode_0090

Students murmured as they watched Loki, who was observing them while drinking a cool beverage in a comfortable place, though they didn’t know where it was, unlike the uncomfortable and murky forest.

“…… Where on earth is that place?”

“The screen he’s watching, it looks like it’s showing the forest, right?”

“Then he was using that to keep track of where we were throughout the exam?”

“Isn’t that where the professors grade in the first place? Why is he there?”

Seeing Loki, the special class students were also surprised and stared at him.

The special class students knew that the broadcast announcing Loki’s disqualification was fake, but they didn’t know that Loki had been watching the students from the control room.

Only then did the special class students realize why Loki hadn’t been seen during the exam.

It would have been stranger to run into him, given he was in a place like that.

When all the students were focused on the screen showing Loki drinking his beverage, and on Loki himself, Loki spoke in an innocent voice.

“Why is everyone staring like that? Is there something on my face?”

“………”

At his nonchalant remark, not only the other students but even the special class students were speechless.

As if unaware of their feelings, Loki continued speaking amidst the students’ silence.

“Ah, you’re not going to say something cliché like ‘you’re so handsome,’ are you? I’ve heard that too many times, I’m getting sick of it…..”

While the students were pondering where on earth to begin refuting him,

Clara, who had been staring intently at the screen, opened her mouth.

“I can guess what that place is, but how did you get in there and when?”

“Didn’t I tell you I was there?”

“No, you didn’t.”

“I’d like to tell you right now, but the video isn’t over yet.”

Loki pointed at the screen with his finger, and this time, it showed a different scene, not him observing students in the control room.

The location was the same, but instead of holding a drink like before, he held a doll that resembled him.

And he sent sounds to the doll through illusion. The voice was perfectly identical to the professor who had been broadcasting.

[Loki disqualified.]

The screen finally turned off, with the last scene showing the professors looking at Loki in bewilderment.

“You’re telling me that broadcast about his disqualification during the exam was a fake he orchestrated?!”

“To think he could even manipulate sounds with his unique magic……”

The special class students weren’t surprised as they already knew, but the other first-year students were.

Just when the students thought it was over, the turned-off screen lit up again.

Clara and Sepia’s videos had ended at that length, but Loki’s video showed no sign of ending.

Unlike Sepia and Clara’s videos, which only showed their well-done parts briefly, Loki’s video was long, as if to show the students everything he had done.

Furthermore, during Sepia and Clara’s videos, the professors gave feedback or explanations, but when Loki’s video was shown, they said nothing.

It was unclear if that was because he was first place, or simply because he was Loki.

This time too, Loki had a doll resembling himself on his hand.

And then, using screams, he would reveal the location of hidden students to others, or instigate fights among students and watch.

“What? So my disqualification was because of him?”

“No wonder, I was sure no one was near me earlier, but then I suddenly heard a sound.”

“That really crossed the line!”

This time, it was even noisier than before.

That’s because while the actions before were not directly related to the students’ disqualification, this time they were.

There was even a student who, upon realizing they had been disqualified because of Loki, tried to say something to him.

Of course, they all averted their gaze or lowered their heads when Clara glared at them once.

So the students watched the video to the end, unable to voice any complaints for now.

The screen truly turned off for the last time, with Loki tricking Clara about the remaining time and causing her disqualification.

“……………”

While other students were complaining as they watched the video, the special class students, from the middle onwards, watched with admiration.

“Aren’t you all bothered by this?”

Loki pointed his finger at the other students who were glaring at him.

“It’s absurd, but I have no complaints. You won with your skill.”

The other special class students nodded at Lucas’s words.

They knew how Loki dealt with Alicia every morning, and therefore knew that this wasn’t coincidence, but Loki’s skill.

[With this, the practical exam concludes. Students other than these three should check their evaluation scores through their assigned professor.]

“……………….”

Even though it was announced that the exam was over, the students were quiet, far from cheering.

Amidst the continuing silence, one student raised their hand.

Just by the expression on the student’s face, the professor knew what they were about to say.

[Do you have something to say?]

“Professor-nim, I absolutely cannot accept the results of this exam.”

As one student spoke on behalf of others, thinking this was their chance, other students also began to voice their complaints.

“That’s right, I was unfairly disqualified because of him!”

“I think we should have a re-exam, or at the very least, he should be disqualified.”

Hiding behind the shield of being the majority, they began to unleash all the complaints they had held in their hearts.

At that moment, the student who had first raised their hand and voiced a complaint cautiously looked at Clara and opened their mouth.

“Furthermore, he even broadcasted a false time at the end; because of that, Clara-nim couldn’t get first place even after using such powerful magic.”

Mixed in the student’s mind was the desire that Clara would like this.

‘Clara-nim must also have complaints. And if I can use this as an excuse to get closer to her.’

However, contrary to the student’s expectations, Clara’s expression was cold; even her red eyes staring at the student held contempt and disgust.

“Tsk, if you’re going to whine, whine among yourselves to the end. Don’t drag me into your pathetic antics.”

At her cold voice, the students who had been complaining instantly fell silent.

Clara was genuinely displeased at that moment. The reason she had asked Loki how he did it after the exam was not due to a complaint, but pure curiosity.

She had been pleased that the recent video had satisfied some of her curiosity, but the student’s words just now had soured Clara’s mood.

She felt so unpleasant that she’d rather have been sitting exhausted in a chair after using that magic earlier.

Although they had momentarily quieted down after being reprimanded by Clara, the students’ voices grew louder again.

The professor, who had been announcing scores, listened to the students’ complaints in silence for a while.

If Idra hadn’t thought of that method, it would surely have taken a long time to convince them.

[You say Loki should be disqualified or we should have a re-exam?]

Hearing the professor’s words, the students, thinking their protest had worked, looked forward to the professor’s next words with anticipation.

Of course, that was naturally the students’ misconception.

[I truly don’t understand why that should be. On the contrary, let me ask you.]

The method Idra had thought of in preparation for the students’ protests was this:

[What went wrong? Did Loki break any rules during the exam?]

The idea was, ‘You got caught by Loki, so what’s the issue?’

The reason the professors couldn’t say anything to Loki was precisely because Loki hadn’t broken any rules.

To make this point, Loki’s every action had been meticulously shown to the students through the video.

With the intention of saying, “If you can find a rule he broke in Loki’s actions, then find it.”

The professor knew that the students were trying to tear down Loki’s score like this.

“If we had done what he did, we wouldn’t have been disqualified and would have survived until the end.”

“If I had ‘accidentally’ been in a place where I could check the students’ locations at any time until other students were exhausted, like him, I would have been first place too.”

Because they thought that even if they had acted like Loki, they could have won.

If they had pretended to be disqualified with a fake broadcast, and instigated fights and watched from a place where they could know the students’ locations.

They all refused to acknowledge Loki’s actions as skill.

They just thought he got first place by luck.

Of course, the professor knew the students would bring up such things.

The professor uttered the words Idra had told him to say when the students brought this up.

[Then why didn’t you do it? It’s not against the rules, after all.]

“Huh? That’s…”

The students were speechless, like mutes.

“Why didn’t you do it?” When asked that, they had nothing to say.

[Did we ever state a rule that you couldn’t tail a professor before the exam? We told you not to take off your blindfolds until the signal, but we never said not to move.]

“………….”

[Although there was a barrier where we were, that place was also within the forest. If you had found it and entered, we wouldn’t have said anything. Was there any student other than Loki who noticed that place?]

The students couldn’t say anything this time either.

The students only now realized that place was even within the forest.

[When Loki made the fake broadcast, he didn’t use the microphones the professors use for broadcasting, but rather a magic tool he possessed. Did we ever state a rule that you couldn’t use magic tools during the exam?]

The students’ silence continued.

This was because many students used magic tools.

The professor, seeing the students with their heads bowed in silence, thought, ‘This is enough,’ and spoke.

[Then I’ll ask again. What did Loki do wrong?]

“………………”

The students who had been clamoring about needing a re-exam and Loki’s disqualification all fell silent.

Because they couldn’t refute that single phrase: “He didn’t break any rules.”

Thus, the practical exam concluded without any problems.