Ch.1919. End-of-Term Evaluation (7)

At last, the rain falls.

Cold winter rain dampens the sandy soil of the mountain, gradually turning into a heavy downpour.

The students began to grow restless, and the soil of Mount Utulum was slowly developing into a massive landslide.

Yet there was still one female student searching for someone.

“Ugh… where on earth are you…!”

It was Silvia, who hadn’t prepared for the rain despite continuing negotiations with Junon, nor had she found shelter from it.

Even the Talbert Arc couldn’t protect her from the chill of the winter rain.

The raindrops falling with a pitter-patter caused her gray hair to stick to her skin, and her clothes had already lost their function.

The rain intensified exponentially every minute, while Silvia grew increasingly weary.

Soon, a danger signal might appear.

Splash!

“Ow! W-what is this…!”

The sandy soil, turned muddy after several minutes of rain, transformed into a sludge that suddenly grabbed Silvia’s ankle.

“Damn it…! As if I wasn’t struggling enough already…!”

With the rain pouring down, she needed to find Junon at the test site to complete their deal, come what may.

Silvia struggled to escape the mud she had fallen into, tears streaming down her face as she wondered why she had to endure such humiliation.

And soon after, there was another splashing sound of something heavy sinking into the mud.

This time, not just her ankle was submerged; her balance was broken by her struggling, and she fell face-first.

Completely covered in muddy water, Silvia could no longer get up.

“…Where did it all go wrong…?”

-‘Are you not my daughter, the daughter of Count Kutelli? You must clearly engrave in the eyes of those lowly ones a nobility befitting your status. Now, this is your responsibility. I hope you won’t do anything to lower the prestige of our family.’

To avoid leaving a blemish on the Count’s family.

-‘Oh, Miss Silvia! The way you firmly educate those beneath you not to climb above their station is truly noble and beautiful! The very essence of nobility!’

To meet the expectations of other nobles.

-‘Thank you, Silvia. Your efforts have established discipline among the vanguards. Unlike others, you make no mistakes and are quite thorough.’

To graduate, her goal, while receiving high praise from professors.

She had repeated the same actions over and over.

Silvia’s task was simple.

Subdue the targets mentioned in the letters and demonstrate an exemplary display of putting others in their place.

The reason was for noble dignity and to maintain discipline between positions.

At first, she just went along with what everyone else was doing. She endured and committed the same acts as them.

Then they began to bow their heads, kneel, bend their waists, and lower their posture.

-‘I’m sorry… I was wrong…’

-‘I won’t do it again! Please…!’

-‘I’m a stupid and ignorant fool who made a mistake. Please be merciful…’

That’s when it started. When a part of her heart became uncomfortable, and she began to hold back a little or do just enough before leaving.

It was because she saw herself reflected in them.

What was the difference?

Between the hierarchical relationship she established by frustrating the weak, and her own master-servant relationship as she struggled not to be cast out by the Count.

Still, though she had touched on the principle, she hadn’t stopped. No, she couldn’t stop. Because it was the only thing the Count was satisfied with.

She endured, thinking it would be okay someday, but the end was pathetically close to collapse after one mistake drove in a large wedge.

She had maintained her position precariously, like walking a tightrope, but now it had all become meaningless.

That was the fact Silvia had just realized.

“I see…”

Silvia began to carefully reconsider her past. She finally understood where this incongruous starting point had been.

“It was… wrong from the very beginning…”

Only after becoming covered in mud and rainwater, with no trace of noble dignity left, did Silvia realize there had never been a starting point at all.

Silvia closed her eyes.

She didn’t want to be conscious of the Count’s family because of her position as an illegitimate child.

There was no meaning in receiving praise from nobles about being noble and beautiful.

She had tried to graduate by catering to the professors, but everything had become tangled.

She didn’t want to commit acts that no longer mattered to anyone.

This was… the end of everything.

As her body completely relaxed and even the sound of rain became muffled, a voice emerged in Silvia’s mind.

-‘Remember this…! You who constantly torment others will surely come to lose everything one day!!!!’

The boy with glaring eyes and a voice filled with rage, who never bent his will.

The black-haired boy whom she had once tormented severely.

The boy who had changed beyond recognition and defeated her by breaking magic circles in an absurd manner.

His shout seemed to echo vividly beside her, making her laugh hollowly.

‘You were right…’

For the dignity of the Kutelli Count family? For the authority of nobles? To display the superiority of those with power?

There was nothing she could do now. She couldn’t turn back time, and no such method existed.

Resigned, Silvia emptied her complicated thoughts and fell asleep listening to the rain.

Leaving only the thought that it might be easier to just die like this.

“────!!”

“──… ──.”

Shortly after, two people arrived and shook Silvia’s body, but her eyes remained closed, and her ears shut.

“Those guys…?”

“What should we do? Proceed as planned?”

“Shh, let’s wait for now.”

The supervisor watching Silvia reported the emergency, and under the direction of Professor Jake, who happened to be nearby, they planned to stop Silvia’s test and take her out of the testing area.

But things didn’t go according to plan.

“The rain makes it too dark to see…”

Junon picked up Silvia, which could be seen as part of the test conditions being met.

“Damn… I can’t tell where I’m going…!”

At that moment, a bright strand of light unfurled, clearly illuminating one path. It was Renias’s magic.

Unless one was blind, there was no way to miss this bright path.

“Is this enough?”

“It’s nice and bright! How long can you maintain it?”

“Unless I suddenly collapse, I think I can keep it up for a few hours.”

“That’s reassuring! Go ahead and light a fire first to raise her body temperature.”

Professor Jake and the supervisors stopped in their tracks because of this perfect pair.

They had predicted the rain and immediately packed up their tent as if to stop the test, and positioned themselves safely in anticipation of landslides.

While other students were working together to evacuate as waves of soil surged, this pair even had the leisure to continue their test in the remaining time.

“…Let them proceed as they are.”

The most unusual boy in this test added another peculiarity.

***

“Lay her down over here!”

“Heave-ho.”

The gray-haired girl, soaking wet and unconscious, is laid on a moss bed prepared in advance, next to the campfire.

“Can I leave the rest to you?”

“Huh? Leave what?”

“I’m a man, so you, being a woman, should remove her clothes to dry them. I can’t do it.”

“Ah… r-right…!”

“I’ll stay near the entrance for a while, so please take care of it. There’s no time to dry her underwear, so just remove her outer clothes and cover her with that remaining cloth over there.”

Leaving Renias, who nodded in agreement, I sat turned away at a distance just enough to avoid getting soaked by the rain and wrung out my rain-drenched clothes.

‘How did it come to this?’

This is where Renias and I hurriedly moved our tent, anticipating the rain from the moment the storm clouds formed.

We dismantled the tent, gathered leaves, soil clumps, and even wood to create a crude shelter to escape the rain.

Just when I thought we could relax and continue the test while taking turns resting, Renias suddenly said someone had collapsed.

When I went to check, I found a face unpleasantly familiar, buried in mud.

I could have turned my back, saying it wasn’t my concern…

-‘She’s your senior’s friend! Let’s go save her!’

With her pushing me like that, what could I do…

No, more importantly, she’s not my friend!

“Sigh.”

…It’s already done, so what can I do?

I never imagined I’d end up carrying Silvia, who had tried to frustrate me multiple times, on my back to our shelter we had just built.

It seems like unimaginable things happen in Professor Muniher’s test.

“I’m done, senior. You can look back now.”

Hearing Renias’s words, I slightly turned my head, but I still couldn’t believe she was lying here.

So I shifted my gaze back to the falling rain outside and said:

“…I’ll keep watch for a bit. You should rest now, Renias, since I rested earlier.”

“You’re still thinking about the test…? You’re so stubborn… even with your friend lying here sick!”

“It’s not like that… ah, never mind…”

Let’s just leave it be.

It’s better to let her talk than to explain.

The truth is, I’m reluctant to look back, but Renias will understand when she sees how Silvia reacts to me when she wakes up.

‘More importantly… this isn’t like her.’

Silvia Kutelli.

One of the families that collaborated with nobles and professors to cause position troubles. The daughter of Count Kutelli, belonging to that family.

The image I saw before my regression isn’t much different from what I’ve seen so far.

So from my perspective, she’s someone associated more with bad memories than good ones.

But there’s something strange.

Before the semester-end evaluation began, she came to me with a tense look, requesting a deal.

When I first heard it, I thought she might be planning revenge against me.

But how could that be?

It would be quite paradoxical for her to do such a thing in a place where everyone could see, especially Professor Jake, who had often witnessed our fights.

If she wanted revenge, she could have mobilized the four she always kept around after the test, and she wouldn’t have attempted to talk to me at all.

The most awkward part was that she requested a deal.

The girl who had consistently pressured me with an oppressive attitude wanted to make a deal.

‘…Perhaps it’s related to how awkward she seemed then?’

I’ve only ever seen her consistently bullying others, so I’ve never had any certainty.

Then there was this day, among the days when Silvia made me kneel again:

-‘…Please. I don’t want to hurt you anymore, so just stay still like this.’

A distant memory. The last words Silvia whispered after making me kneel before my regression.

What made it awkward was that, just on that day, she somehow gave off the impression of someone who had been chased and then resigned herself.

I remember that Silvia disappeared after that day. I don’t know what happened afterward since there wasn’t even any inquiry.

“Um… senior. It’s time to switch.”

Has thirty minutes already passed while I was lost in these thoughts?

I’ll just hear what she has to say when she wakes up.

“Right. I’m counting on you like before.”

“I’ve dried her clothes, so you should get some rest too, senior. You worked hard carrying her here.”

“Rest? No, I’m fine. I’ll just dry my rain-soaked clothes.”

More importantly, it’s 1:50 during the final semester-end evaluation test. That means one day and two nights have passed.

Given that the test location is Mount Utulum, I thought the test would be suspended soon, considering the remaining students.

It seemed right, expecting that the rain would destabilize the soil, causing landslides and rapidly changing terrain that could sweep people away.

But nothing happened. This wasn’t an unexpected situation but a test prepared by Professor Muniher…

It means it’s been upgraded even more than before… but there’s no point in thinking about it. It just gives me a headache.

As I warmed myself by the fire while worrying about school life, Silvia mumbled something after a while.

Shockingly, the words Silvia uttered were…

“I’ve been sorry all this time…”

A completely unexpected statement.