Ch.35Prologue (3)

Gallimar’s written exam is notorious for its brutal difficulty.

First, the scope is ridiculously broad.

Starting with all kinds of ancient documents, extreme magical formulas, circuit disassembly and reconstruction… in severe cases, even the latest research papers from the magic tower.

They cram in such a vast amount of information that it seems almost unreasonable.

And that’s not all.

The level of the questions automatically makes curses fly out of your mouth.

It demands high-dimensional thinking and creativity to the point where average students find it impossible to fill even half the exam paper.

The professors’ malice is embedded in every line of ink.

Some students eventually can’t hold back and burst into tears during the exam.

It’s literally hell.

If someone achieved a decent score in such an exam… especially second place, they deserved applause.

After all, they ranked 2nd, surpassing countless other students.

I was fully prepared to offer splendid congratulations.

“Lady.”

“……”

“Lady.”

“……”

“Even second place is an excellent achievement.”

“I told you to stop that. If you do it one more time, I’ll seriously get angry……”

“Even second place is an excellent achievement.”

“……”

That would be true if the person wasn’t Amelia.

“……I told you not to mock me.”

The villainess trembled with obvious irritation.

Whether her rationality had become blurry from the continued teasing, even her elegant speech pattern was crumbling.

Was she truly upset?

Despite her anger, she kept checking my reaction, unable to raise her voice too much, which made her look quite pitiful.

I smiled brightly at the girl.

‘This has its own charm for teasing.’

This is what dopamine feels like.

I’d been restraining myself lately, but my instinct for stirring up trouble emerged without fail.

Her unique reactions were delicious, you could say.

There was something I simply couldn’t resist.

“I didn’t know you would dislike it so much, Lady. I apologize.”

“……It’s fine. It’s okay.”

“I didn’t know you would dislike it so much, Lady. I apologize.”

“Just how long are you planning to continue this?”

The girl asked while grinding her teeth.

Honestly, isn’t this Amelia’s fault?

Showing such delicious reactions is practically inviting me to tease her.

If it bothers you so much, you should have gotten first place.

A happy sense of fulfillment I hadn’t felt in a long time.

I continued twerking at the loser for a while with a childlike smile.

The world is still beautiful.

I can live a little longer.

“Do you find this amusing…?”

“It’s enjoyable.”

“……”

“It’s enjoyable.”

“Enough already…!”

Amelia was seething, trying to suppress her anger.

While I was putting on such a passionate dance performance.

A pink life form that had been watching cautiously from the side peeked into my field of vision.

It was Lezia.

“Um, hmm.”

She seemed to hesitate for a moment, then opened her mouth with a determined expression.

Her green eyes trembled slightly.

“Um… L-Lady.”

“What do you want now?”

“Eek…!”

“Are even you, a mere commoner failure, trying to mock me now?”

“N-No! I just……”

Perhaps because of the sharp response.

The girl’s shoulders shrank for a moment.

Though her voice was trembling as if frightened, Lezia still conveyed her thoughts while stammering.

“I-I just thought the Lady was amazing……”

“……What?”

“Th-The written exam… it was too difficult for me, but y-you got second place.”

What the girl was offering was pure praise.

“It seems so, so impressive, I wanted to tell you how cool that is… I-I’m sorry if I overstepped!”

“……”

The villainess froze at the sincere compliment.

Amelia seemed to stiffen for a moment, then her lips began to twitch.

“Ahem.”

Though she tried to appear nonchalant with a fake cough, she couldn’t hide her rising cheekbones.

The girl muttered quietly.

“R-Right?”

“Yes! I knew Lady Venatti was amazing…!”

“H-Hmm… I thought you were completely hopeless, but you have quite a good eye?”

“I admire you!”

“Ahem!”

A smile kept breaking through.

The venomous atmosphere from just moments ago had disappeared completely, immediately softening.

Her subtly proud expression was impressive.

‘What a pushover.’

Perhaps because she’s someone starving for affection from others.

She crumbles helplessly against praise attacks.

Recognition from someone she had been wary of. The satisfaction would naturally be higher.

At this rate, she’d soon be conquered by the protagonist.

‘If only she had been like this in the original work.’

Such a situation couldn’t have occurred in the original story.

Because of Amelia’s trauma, Lezia always avoided the villainess.

Even when they did meet, she only suffered bullying.

‘This looks much better.’

I’ve always preferred this kind of story.

Rather than tormenting, being jealous, feeling sad, or hating… I liked seeing smiles like this more.

A tender smile spread across my face.

I broke the tranquility and spoke.

“Lady Venatti.”

“Why are you calling me again?”

“You seem to be in a better mood now.”

“That’s because of you.”

“My~ I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“……You’re annoying.”

“Thank you.”

“……”

The girl finally clenched her fist.

Her eyes seriously contemplated whether she should punch me.

I hastily changed the subject.

“By the way… you all know this is just the beginning, right?”

I was referring to the midterm exam.

Of course, the written part was important, but the practical portion accounted for the largest percentage of the grade.

In other words, the real test was just beginning.

“Since our team has three top-tier students… the difficulty of the assigned exam will likely be extreme.”

“W-What should we do? C-Can we manage on our own?”

“Hmph. That exam is nothing special.”

“Being too complacent isn’t good either, Lady.”

Especially since this exam would be particularly difficult.

As it was the stepping stone leading to a core episode, it would be wise to approach it carefully.

I encouraged my team members.

“Shall we do our best together?”

“The practical exam date is already tomorrow… Just don’t hold me back.”

“I-I’ll try my best!”

“Hehe, I’ll do my utmost as well.”

Words conveyed in our own languages.

We each took our steps, thinking about the exam that awaited us the next day.

***

That night.

Lezia tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep.

“……”

Despite having spent an exhausting day because of the written exam, strangely, she didn’t feel sleepy.

Perhaps it was due to the tension that was turning her mind blank.

The girl quietly placed her hand on her chest.

Thump-thump-thump-thump!

Her heart was beating unusually rough.

Following her faint breathing, her heavy chest rose and fell repeatedly.

Her long pink hair shimmered softly in the night light.

The girl murmured.

“……Can I really do well?”

A question she asked herself.

Her voice was tinged with deep distrust.

“I don’t want to be a hindrance… even if I can’t help.”

Her powerful summoned beast.

However, it had a weakness—the summoning would fail with even the slightest emotional disturbance.

Just like during the previous class assignment test.

Lezia was worried.

About causing trouble.

About failing to live up to the trust placed in her.

The girl bit her lip gently.

‘Lord Snakus.’

The only person who called her a friend.

He had readily extended his hand for this exam too, proposing they form a team together.

Her heavy heart stirred with complexity.

“……Why someone as useless as me.”

It had certainly been exposed during the last exam.

An amateur who couldn’t properly summon her beast. Such an unsightly side of her had been revealed.

Yet the boy trusted her again this time.

-That’s because… I believe in you, Lezia.

When asked why he chose her as a team member, the young lord answered like that.

Without a moment’s hesitation.

“I don’t understand.”

It didn’t make sense.

Why do you.

So readily believe in me when even I can’t believe in myself?

That excessive kindness felt burdensome in a way.

“Still… I don’t want to disappoint you.”

A quiet murmur to herself.

She forced her eyelids closed.

The girl simply tried to sleep, unaware of the terrible things that would befall her tomorrow.

It was a night where profound darkness settled.

***

And so, the next day.

The long-awaited practical exam day had arrived.

We were listening to instructions in the designated area, having gathered early in the morning to take the exam.

It was a teleportation area with magical symbols prepared.

“The exam will proceed as previously announced.”

The snake, the manipulator, the vain one.

Standing before the three of us was a woman with purple hair exuding decadent beauty.

It was Selena, the supervisor for this midterm exam.

The woman gazed at us with indifferent eyes.

Fatigue was visible in her red pupils.

After standing still for a moment, Selena took a swig from the liquor bottle she was holding, then continued her explanation.

She truly was a heavy drinker.

“The exam content is monster subjugation.”

In front of you is a magic circle.

This is a magic circle combining spatial, illusory, and dimensional formulas, which will transport you to a specific location the moment you step on it.

At that location, monsters appropriate to each team’s level have been prepared.

The exam ends when you cleanly eliminate the given area.

“You can rest assured about safety.”

Safety personnel are standing by.

If a situation arises where serious injury is likely, the exam will be terminated immediately and you will return.

Additionally.

We will not tell you what terrain awaits you.

Ruins, forest, sea, cave… it will be selected from among many terrains, so please adapt quickly and break through.

That concludes the explanation of the exam.

“Any questions from students?”

Selena asked lightly.

Since we had been sufficiently informed of the content beforehand, we quietly shook our heads.

The woman then opened a booklet in her hand.

“Then we will begin immediately.”

The voice announcing the start.

Thud-.

I calmly took a step forward.

At my feet was a faintly glowing magic circle.

Amidst the intense flow of mana rushing around, I addressed the girls standing beside me.

With a meaningful smile.

“Miss Lezia. Lady Venatti.”

“Y-Yes?”

“Why are you calling me?”

“I have something to tell you.”

It was a bit of concern.

Hoping they wouldn’t be too shocked by what was about to unfold.

“Whatever you see, please don’t be too surprised.”

An advice thrown out of nowhere.

The two looked at me with puzzled faces, but I didn’t mind and took the final step.

We were standing at the center of the magic circle.

Then.

Rumble-!

The mana that had filled the surroundings began to surge.

As the stored magic activated, blue light flashed around us. It was a brilliantly sparkling scene.

Just as the three bodies were about to flicker away.

Crack-!

An alien noise brushed past.

The crackling sound, like sparks flying, repeated a few more times before growing uncontrollably.

The originally blue magic circle turned blood red.

“……?!”

“……!!”

Crackle-!!

Dark red fragments swept in all directions.

The remnants of violently rampaging mana, like a storm, disturbed the surrounding air.

We were standing at the center of it.

“The magic circle…?!”

“W-Wait, what is…!”

“Kyaaa! L-Lord…!”

“Hehe.”

Selena, Amelia, Lezia.

While everyone was shocked, I was smiling leisurely.

Is it beginning?

“Shall we go?”

Snap-!

With those final words, my vision went dark.

And so we flew to an unknown place.

To a place where a terrible monster awaited.