Ch.1515. End-of-Term Evaluation (3)

The climbing test wasn’t as difficult as I had expected.

Rather, it was so easy that I felt a bit disappointed. So I challenged myself to climb back down from the top, but the difficulty level was still underwhelming.

Since this was designed as an evaluation site for students, it wasn’t the original cliff from Mount Utulum but a shortened and tilted version made considerably easier to climb.

Thanks to this, Junon was able to properly assess his current physical condition and felt satisfied knowing that his training had been effective.

But who would have thought things would turn out like this?

“Renias. You need to stretch your left leg and step over there…”

“H-how do I get over there…?”

As you can see, Renias wasn’t making any progress climbing up.

There wasn’t a specified time limit, but they hadn’t mentioned when the test would end either.

So it was reasonable to assume there was some kind of limit, but…

‘Twenty minutes and we’re still here…’

Watching this, I can only imagine what chaos would have ensued if they’d brought an actual cliff from Mount Utulum.

“Huff… Oh? Oh my goodness!”

While Renias was struggling, Junon had already climbed up and down the rock wall several times, finding mere observation unsatisfying.

It had been twenty minutes since she confidently declared she would try it herself, showing her spirited determination.

Yet Renias’s hands and feet remained in the same position.

Though there was no time limit, Junon felt the need to make her face reality.

“Hey, Renias. Would you come down for a moment?”

“No way! I’ve climbed so high already!”

“…You haven’t even climbed two meters.”

“Come on, senior, that’s mean. Are you teasing me? Even though I’m struggling, that’s a bit… Uh… W-wait a minute? What are you doing…”

…Unfortunately, it was the truth.

What could be done? He wasn’t trying to pull her down, but he had to point out that she was making no progress.

“Can you feel my palm?”

“…Yes.”

Junon placed his hand under the sole of one of Renias’s shoes and lowered his posture so she could tell where he was tapping.

“Here. This is where you’re standing.”

“…Oh my god. That’s impossible. There’s no way… Ah!”

When Junon kindly explained by crouching down, Renias let out a deflated sigh. Her trembling legs gave out, and she promptly landed on her backside.

“Ugh… What should I do now?”

“You should have just used magic to climb up easily from the beginning.”

“Then that means you should have used magic to climb up too, senior.”

That’s true… That magic could block attacks as a shield substitute, but it couldn’t be used as an actual platform to step on…

“…Ahem. Still, with your help, wouldn’t it have been possible somehow? After all, that would have counted as passing as a pair.”

“Oh… That could have worked? Why didn’t I think of that…”

She’s unexpectedly scatterbrained. Is this what people mean when they say she has cute sides?

No, this isn’t the time for such thoughts.

“What’s done is done. More importantly…”

By now, no one else was around. Everyone had finished the first stage of the rock climbing test.

One might wonder why they weren’t using magic even though they were falling behind, but there was a reason.

-‘Pairs must complete each stage of the test using the same method unless the partnership is dissolved.’

When Renias declared she would use magic this time because she couldn’t manage otherwise, a supervisor came out and mentioned this rule.

So couldn’t they just split up now? They had agreed to separate from their pair. However…

-‘By requesting a break time, you have essentially declared that both parties have reached an agreement, so you cannot separate unless you terminate the test.’

There was one more clause, and why did it have to be such a ridiculous one!

Break time was apparently a chance that had to be used when facing difficulties during the evaluation stages!

So the reason for being paired was to work together using the same method to take the test, and if they encountered difficulties, they should use break time to reach an agreement and pass the test together.

Since her partner had climbed the rock wall using physical methods, Renias was stuck having to climb with her bare hands.

Isn’t this like a bolt from the blue…

‘Professor Muniher… what kind of test is this…’

The more he thought about it, the more he could hear that eccentric professor’s nagging. Feeling a headache coming on, he shook his head vigorously to clear his mind.

At least he had confirmed his physical condition through this test, so he had no regrets. Besides, due to the hidden test clause, they couldn’t proceed further anyway.

Gently touching Renias’s knee with one finger, he said:

“Ouch.”

“If your knees keep getting scraped like this, you’ll have scars outside too.”

“You’re right…”

For a nobly raised daughter of an aristocratic family, even this gentle rock wall wasn’t so easy to climb with just her body.

If she continued to get injured, the situation would become worse than not taking the test at all. At this point, Junon decided to seriously advise Renias to give up. He had achieved his purpose anyway.

“If you’re okay with it, we can give up and leave.”

“…What?”

“I didn’t have any expectations for this test anyway. We both didn’t know about the test clause, so it can’t be helped.”

“…”

Junon spoke as if he didn’t care what happened with the test.

He didn’t need to struggle for the end-of-term evaluation score, and even in the worst case of failing, there was still the beginning-of-term evaluation with the written test remaining.

However, seeing the girl hanging her head in dejection and falling silent stirred complicated emotions in him.

It was a situation that could make him feel guilty toward his kind and innocent junior for the first time.

‘Because of me, senior has to…’

Because she couldn’t climb that mere eight-meter rock wall.

Because of that, they would have to forfeit the end-of-term evaluation score for the pair test and lose half of their class placement points.

She could berate herself for her own score in this situation where no countermeasures could be taken, but it was different when another person was involved.

While Renias was surrounded by these complex feelings, Junon urged her once more.

“You don’t need to be so dejected just because you can’t do this one thing. Everyone has things they’re good at and things they’re not. I’m not going to blame you for not being able to climb this, and even if we took the test, I’d probably end up in E class again or at best D class. As you can see, I lack talent.”

The senior’s tone suggested he truly had no expectations for the test whatsoever. This came as a fresh shock to Renias.

When class placement was mentioned, she remembered something she had forgotten until now—something about the protagonist of the victory banquet.

“…Senior, may I ask you one thing?”

“Hmm? What is it?”

“Why didn’t you come to the banquet hall…?”

“Oh, that. I accidentally fell asleep during a lecture.”

Now she was beginning to have doubts. Did he really fall asleep during a lecture?

‘Senior is also in E class…’

And there had definitely been this conversation at the banquet hall:

-‘Hey, isn’t Senior Junon in E class?’

-‘Huh? Yeah, that’s right. Why?’

-‘Hey, Noel. Renias is partnered with Junon.’

-‘Ah, I see.’

Just as a good conversation was flowing, and Renias was about to ask about Junon’s whereabouts.

At that time, the D and E class students who were gathered there all gave the same response:

-‘What? He attended the last lecture?’

-‘I’m sure of it. I definitely saw him leaving the classroom. But we don’t know what happened after that. We came straight to the banquet hall.’

It wasn’t a lie that he had attended the lecture. However, he never said he had dozed off.

There was no mention of where he might have gone. The only other information was that he had easily solved problems as if it were nothing.

There was no information about his final whereabouts that day.

It was clear that one side was lying.

‘Senior is lying.’

Why? For what reason? If anyone should be desperate about test scores, it should be him.

Despite having been discriminated against, he would be living an unfair life no different from those who were blocked at the entrance to the banquet hall.

Isn’t it strange that he has no regrets? And according to others’ testimonies, his claim about falling asleep during the lecture was false.

A lie.

There was only one reason for the lie.

‘To be considerate of me…’

-‘What if I end up holding you back in this end-of-term evaluation?’

That was what the senior had worried about during their first meeting, but somehow Renias felt a pang in her heart and hung her head low.

‘Who’s holding whom back…’

From the beginning, it wasn’t the worried senior who was holding anyone back, but herself who couldn’t even properly climb a single rock wall.

What kind of school life had he been living, behind all those malicious nicknames and labels?

Not wanting to think about it anymore, Renias’s body moved before her mind.

“Wh-what…? I said you don’t have to push yourself!”

As Renias immediately stood up and grabbed the rope to start climbing again without even dusting off the dirt on her backside, Junon could only be flustered.

“Wait, that side!!”

Though her enthusiasm was greater than before, there are things that determination alone cannot accomplish.

“Ah…!”

“Renias!”

She had climbed a bit higher but fell in a dangerous position.

She had tried to climb up even if it meant pushing herself, but this rock wall was too challenging for the delicate body of a magician who had never undergone any training.

Still, her silver hair didn’t hit the ground as it fluttered.

Junon, who had anticipated her fall, rushed over and gently caught the delicate female magician’s body like a princess.

But the girl, feeling bitter about causing trouble for her senior—so bitter that she was on the verge of tears.

“You almost got hurt! Why are you pushing yourself so…”

“I’m going to climb it… no matter what!”

The emotion of resentment that Renias harbored began to support her in facing the innate fear she possessed.