Ch.170170. Week 2 Evaluation (6)

The first round of individual evaluations had come to an end.

Unlike yesterday, everything now involved cooperation with others.

“Ugh… my stomach still burns.”

Renias grimaced at the lingering hangover from the alcohol she had impulsively downed.

‘…Still, I don’t regret it.’

This morning’s routine had involved Maria making a huge fuss, asking who that man was.

Renias couldn’t understand why Maria was so excited, but after drinking some warmed honey water and chatting about various things, she began to see why.

‘Senior… with me…’

No. It went beyond what was reasonable.

-‘I’m telling you, when I arrived, you were already in his arms! Miss, do you really not remember anything?!’

Maria had said she fell asleep leaning on his shoulder.

He had taken off his coat to cover her and wrapped his arm around her affectionately, pulling her close as if to keep her warm.

Such things…

“Renias. Are you okay? Your face is red.”

“Yes, yes, Uncle! Somehow I feel hot… Ahaha…!”

“…In that outfit?”

“Ah…”

Renias blushed and tried to make excuses, but there was no way Jake would believe her.

It was because Maria had insisted on putting her in a dress today, saying it would be good to make a strong impression.

“I-I could suddenly get a fever! Uncle, you have those times too, right…?! Like, the day after drinking…”

Renias was spouting nonsense without realizing it.

To be clear, she had no talent for making plausible excuses.

Thanks to that, she had essentially confessed to drinking yesterday.

Despite her extremely unnatural response, Jake decided to let it slide.

“Ahem. Right. You might be feeling hot. Let’s watch the match.”

“…”

Of course, Renias still had to fan herself for quite some time afterward to cool down her flushed face.

“I was curious about what happened yesterday since Lonelion rushed out right away and I couldn’t see. How did it go?”

“The individual event scores for Rodskhul were in this order: Mirpark, Algenib, Schütt, and Sirah.”

“Hmm… so the standings didn’t flip. What about Levrant’s individual events?”

“…The same.”

However, unlike the previous event, the results of this one could have easily been reversed.

‘Of course, even so, respecting Senior’s opinion comes first.’

Renias understood Junon’s honest feelings about being afraid of others’ expectations, and she kept this to herself.

“Hmm… so it was as Muniher predicted.”

“What prediction?”

“Well… you wouldn’t have heard this as a second-year, but two weeks ago, he showed the current third-years something like this.”

Jake took out an identification card and channeled magic into it.

“That’s a Shell-type magic armor. Why?”

A type of magic armor created to compensate for the durability, sustainability, and magic volatility efficiency issues of the first-stage Mirage type.

It was named Shell type because the magic was wrapped around a material object rather than the body, like a shell.

It was quite familiar to Renias.

“This might sound strange, but like Lonelion, you mastered this in less than three days, right?”

“Well… yes? To be precise, it took me three days from Mirage type to Shell type.”

But why was he bringing this up?

Renias found it strange, and a strand of her hair that served as an emotion indicator formed a question mark.

“You two are naturally much faster than others. In reality, it takes at least three months, and commonly up to a year.”

“Eh, was that it?!”

“But Muniher showed this to the third-years for this faction battle. What do you think that means?”

Muniher’s grading was enough to make even Renias break out in a cold sweat.

She knew exactly what it meant.

That strict, meticulous evaluation.

“…Are all the seniors going to lose points?”

“I think so too. I wonder what he’s thinking by including that as an evaluation criterion… really.”

Jake sighed as he retrieved his magic and put the card away.

“B-but maybe someone will be able to do it…? The third-years might be better than we expect…”

“In my more than ten years of teaching, I’ve never seen anyone like you two siblings.”

Renias tried to look at things more positively, but Jake firmly shook his head.

It was a guarantee that the possibility was slim.

In the midst of this, a lightbulb went off in Renias’s head.

“Uncle. Then maybe he’s excluding that completely from the evaluation?”

“Huh?”

“Think about it. There are people in the third year who aren’t participating in the faction battle. Wouldn’t it be fair to eliminate that criterion entirely?”

It made sense when he heard it.

The second-stage magic armor, Shell type, that Muniher had mentioned would be difficult to consider as an evaluation element.

“That would mean he threw up a smokescreen before things even started…”

After a moment of silence, they both sighed simultaneously.

Jake and Renias wore expressions of disgust.

“Really, all I can say is how eccentric…”

“Even though he’s my friend, I don’t understand why he’s like that…”

***

From the second day, they had to combine forces by faction.

It was important to select participants and distribute personnel advantageously according to each event.

As a result, the two people inevitably had to face each other.

“…”

“…”

Junon and Aris still had an awkward relationship.

Although he had received a sincere letter, he still didn’t want to even greet her.

For Aris too, Junon was still a reminder of the past.

Despite resolving in her heart many times, putting it into practice was difficult.

“Teacher. So who’s going out for us?”

“Huh? Um. Just a moment. I need some time to think…”

“You said that three minutes ago too. We’re about to compete.”

“Ah… really? Then for now…”

While Aris was flustered, Junon was the first to deliver a sharp remark.

“It’s a time attack. Since it’s an event where we have to catch magical beasts within a time limit, I’ll sit out. No objections, right?”

“…Yeah.”

“You should handle the firepower and bring someone to support you. Sirah has more vanguards and wizard contestants than expected. Considering the cumulative points, it’s better to reduce time rather than proportional to the number of people, so take as many as possible.”

With that, he left.

He didn’t just leave his seat; he left the waiting room entirely.

It seemed like he was deliberately removing himself from sight.

“Let’s get ready, everyone.”

This was an opportunity Junon had created by purposely stepping aside. She couldn’t overturn this environment he had made to reduce the burden.

Aris resolved even more firmly to seize victory.

“Here it is! Haven’t started yet? Phew.”

Meanwhile, Erika, who had rushed over in a hurry, was relieved to finally find Michelle.

“Yesterday was just individual events, but today should be fun, right?”

Michelle, who came as a guest of honor, and Erika, who became a spectator, took their seats in the stands.

The other members were absent for their own reasons.

Erika’s gaze immediately turned to one place.

‘Hmm. So you’re not confident in cooperative events? You know your place and are sitting out this time.’

Junon was sitting outside the Sirah faction waiting room.

Seeing him, Erika inwardly sneered as if this was only natural.

‘Of course you should. Someone like you has no place in cooperative events.’

Someone who abandoned his party members could never be fit to lead others.

Erika asked Michelle with satisfaction:

“How was Aris, Michelle?”

“…”

Michelle didn’t answer. She just stared at the center of the arena where nothing had happened yet.

‘Why is Michelle acting like this? Did something happen?’

Thinking this, Erika was about to ask again when the signal flare sounded.

─The Time Attack has begun!!

“Oh, it’s starting right away. Aris, don’t fall behind!”

As the announcer’s voice echoed through the arena, all the spectators became immersed in the competition.

However, the gaze that should have been directed at the arena now glanced at one person.

It was Michelle, who hadn’t answered Erika’s question earlier.

‘Erika… you really…’

Erika had clearly said yesterday that she was going to meet Aris.

Her reason was to give her a pep talk to ensure a good result.

However, by chance, on her way back, Michelle had spotted Erika heading in a completely different direction.

She had gone to Mirpark Province, known for having the most severe discrimination between nobles and commoners.

Why she went there, Michelle couldn’t bring herself to ask.

***

Aris managed to lead the Time Attack event well, successfully securing high points.

‘The problem is what comes next.’

Today’s events required cooperation, not individual performance.

Team battles, captain battles, group battles.

Except for the Time Attack, all required cooperation to form strategies. The most annoying rule was that everyone had to participate in at least one event.

Even Junon was required to participate at least once.

‘How annoying that withdrawals aren’t allowed.’

Still, if he had to choose one event to participate in, the team battle seemed the easiest.

The captain battle, while similar to the team battle in that you had to defeat all opponents, wasn’t suitable because it wasn’t a group fight but a series of 1:1 matches. There were also personnel restrictions.

Analysis could be done from below, and Aris would likely be the primary target anyway.

The team battle was most suitable, as he could face just one person and then step back.

However, something was weighing on his mind.

-‘I’ve been watching you, Senior… So… I want to see… you winning by giving your all…’

“Sigh.”

How could he forget what happened yesterday evening?

It was the first time since his regression that he had shared his concerns with someone.

And Junon still hadn’t made a decision.

He was still hesitating between Renias’s request and his own past.

“Um, I’ll be going now, Teacher.”

Rana bowed slightly before heading to the arena.

“Don’t get hurt or overdo it.”

“I know. I’ll withdraw if it seems dangerous. But I won’t do it right away like you, Teacher.”

“Cheeky.”

She looked to be in as good condition as yesterday.

‘I’ll just watch the match for now.’

He could decide while observing.

However, the opponent looked quite familiar.

“…I expected Demian would come out anyway.”

While he was the champion of the individual event, there was something unsettling about him.

‘That guy’s magic… something felt off.’

It might have been just a feeling.

But the sensation was too vivid.

Demian’s magic, which he had encountered at the party, was unpleasantly strange.