Ch.35Reassignment Exam (3)

*Ding!*

[— Alert: A new task has been assigned.]

[— Succeed in the following two quests simultaneously during the Reassignment Exam.]

[1. Your rank must remain unchanged after the Reassignment Exam.]

[2. Use the ‘Calipers of Wisdom’ to knock out one person who has been arrogant toward you.]

[— Success reward: ‘Sage’s Manual (Lv.10)’]

[— Failure penalty: Destruction of corpus callosum]

Damn, they really don’t give me a moment’s rest.

I think I can manage condition 1 somehow. It literally just means maintaining first place. The problem is condition 2.

Hit someone arrogant with the calipers?

Isn’t fighting between students prohibited in this exam?

But the success reward being the ‘Sage’s Manual’… that’s an overpowered item that lets you glimpse the future. It would be extremely useful to have.

Emerging from my thoughts, I spoke to the two girls.

“I think we should divide our labor now.”

“…Divide our labor?”

“Staying too close together like this might reduce our efficiency.”

We’re currently in first place, but that’s because our points are the combined total of three people.

To gain an advantage, one person needs to do more than their fair share. What we need for that is teamwork. More specifically…

Division of labor.

“How about we keep a reasonable distance apart, with Seti handling exploration, me doing collection and mapping, and Rustila serving as lookout and combat?”

“Wait, why are you acting like the leader?”

Seti said with a pout.

“Then you do it.”

I naturally handed over command to Seti. It doesn’t matter who takes the lead.

“…”

She was silent for a moment before speaking.

“Let’s divide our roles. I’ll handle exploration, Eidel will do collection and mapping, and Rustila will handle combat.”

I knew this would happen.

***

[Real-time Scoreboard]

[1. Eidel von Rheinland / Seti von Rheinland / Rustila Kersil: 426 points (shared)]

[2. Welton Yusoford: 24 points]

[3. Mathers Byteling: 18 points]

[4. Kristin Heresset / Mezulen Hueritia: 12 points]

“What is with that person…?”

Kristin gritted her teeth as she checked the scoreboard.

Despite being in the early stages, Eidel’s group was surging ahead with fierce momentum. They were even showing a significant gap with those below second place.

Unless they had discovered three or four jackpots in succession, such a score difference should be impossible.

“Is this corruption again? They must have gotten in through corruption, right?”

“Kris, you shouldn’t say things like that.”

Mezulen admonished her well.

“But it’s strange no matter how you look at it! Maybe the academy told them exactly where all the crystals are…”

It was entirely possible.

After all, who is Eidel? A delinquent rumored to have poor conduct and mediocre academic performance.

It might be petty to hold onto past events until now. Kristin had seen countless times under her prosecutor and judge parents that people can reform at any time. There was a possibility that Eidel was truly skilled.

But there’s also something called probability, right?

This didn’t make statistical sense.

“Do you think there’s really a vein around here?”

“There must be. If we can’t find it, all our efforts are wasted… wow.”

Mezulen, who was examining the map, exclaimed in admiration.

Mezulen was quite knowledgeable about mathematics. Using various techniques, she found an approximate solution. There was a point where the flow of Aether peaked.

“Here!”

Mezulen pointed at the map.

“This seems to be the vein.”

“Really?”

“Numbers don’t lie.”

Once they got started, the two began to speed up their exploration. And just as quickly, other teams seemed to have found jackpots too, as scores were rising madly.

[Real-time Scoreboard]

[1. Eidel von Rheinland / Seti von Rheinland / Rustila Kersil: 546 points]

[2. Welton Yusoford: 180 points]

[3. Kristin Heresset / Mezulen Hueritia: 168 points]

[4. Mathers Byteling: 150 points]

“…We’re at a big disadvantage.”

“Let’s keep looking for now.”

Since Kristin and Mezulen were a team, they had to consider that their score would be divided in two later.

They needed to either split up now or drastically improve their search efficiency.

After wandering around for a while, the two girls discovered something.

A black, shining orb was sitting alone among the bushes.

“What could this be?”

“Probably a cheap black pearl. Someone must have dropped it.”

It was a dark, exotic-looking orb.

One thing was certain—it wasn’t an Aether fragment.

“We’re in a hurry. Let’s just go.”

“Hmm.”

Mezulen stared intently at the orb but soon lost interest and followed Kristin elsewhere.

Because of this, the two didn’t see it.

Crack.

The moment when the orb split open and something tried to emerge.

***

[— The ‘God of Purity and Resolve’ has detected an ominous energy.]

[“Be careful, Rusty. Something’s there.”]

In the midst of earnestly searching for Aether fragments, Vega, Rustila’s patron constellation, warned her. Rustila interpreted it as golem activity.

Yes, that’s what she thought at first.

No golems were visible. But strangely, the atmosphere felt heavy.

It felt suffocating, like entering a foreign god’s territory.

“Don’t you guys… feel something strange?”

“Not really?”

When Rustila asked, Seti shook her head.

Eidel did the same.

This unpleasant smell. The Rheinland siblings didn’t seem to notice it at all.

“I feel like something bad is about to happen.”

“What kind of bad thing?”

“I’m… not sure. Maybe a monster?”

“Come on.”

Seti waved her hand dismissively.

“Even if a monster attacks, we’re on a mountain. It’s an open area where we can just run away and end the game. Even foreign gods aren’t that stupid, right?”

Seti had a point.

If they wanted to attack, they would do it in a confined space like last time, not on a mountainside.

“But…”

“Don’t worry. I heard the school has deployed inspectors all around just in case.”

It hadn’t been long since the attack during the Reassignment Exam.

The academy had raised its security level by deploying B and A-rank inspectors from the government in the vicinity.

They could easily defeat C-rank monsters or B-rank monsters. The same went for A-rank ones.

[“The smell is still faint. It might not turn into anything serious… but it’s better to be careful.”]

Vega continued to warn her.

As it was the word of a constellation, Rustila thought it should never be ignored.

She resolved to prepare herself for any eventuality.

The point collection itself was going smoothly so far.

When divided by three, their score was slightly less than second place, but Seti’s exploration ability was improving over time.

Perhaps they could soon achieve first place in the true sense.

“Isn’t something strange though?”

“What?”

“…Wait a minute.”

The three of them checked the rankings simultaneously.

[Real-time Scoreboard]

[1. Eidel von Rheinland / Seti von Rheinland / Rustila Kersil: 546 points]

[2. Welton Yusoford: 180 points]

[3. Kristin Heresset / Mezulen Hueritia: 168 points]

[4. Mathers Byteling: 150 points]

“She’s not there.”

They realized the source of their unease. Zernya von Adelbein. The girl with genius abilities wasn’t showing up on the rankings.

“What’s going on?”

“Maybe she’s just playing around.”

“…No. This is.”

Eidel bit his lip lightly.

“She’s planning something.”

That’s when it happened.

BOOM!

An explosion sounded nearby, making the ground shake.

At the same time, the scoreboard began to vibrate.

[2. Zernya von Adelbein: 300]

Once more.

BOOM!

[1. Zernya von Adelbein: 600]

***

“They said it was a B-rank golem.”

Zernya clicked her tongue and placed her hand on her waist.

“They all look so flimsy.”

This was her third encounter with a golem.

Even facing a giant over 4 meters tall, Zernya remained confident. With its upper body disproportionately larger than its lower body, it looked more ridiculous than frightening.

Its color resembled wood, but its texture seemed stone-like.

Though modeled after a monster, it had a form similar to a human.

Was it trying to intimidate?

It felt like all shell and no substance.

Zernya smirked.

Shing.

A silver sword drawn from its sheath gleamed brilliantly in the sunlight.

As she infused it with Aether, the blade heated up.

Just before the golem took a fighting stance, Zernya lightly kicked off the ground and charged.

Despite appearances, the golem was quick. As soon as it spotted Zernya approaching, it brought down both arms with terrifying force.

BOOM! The ground was deeply gouged, creating a crater.

Zernya wasn’t there.

“I’m here.”

Her figure appeared behind the golem. The golem turned around clumsily. A sharp silver line rushed in from the side.

The golem raised its disproportionately large hands to block the sword strike. But it was futile. The blade, heavily infused with Aether, emitted plasma energy as an output terminal.

A heat sword that could melt most objects. Powerful energy that a B-rank couldn’t withstand surged into the golem’s body.

Stab, stab, stab.

Zernya’s sword repeatedly stabbed and withdrew.

With each pass, the number of holes increased. Not just destructive power, but her speed and technique were extraordinary.

THUD!

The golem collapsed without being able to do anything.

The scoreboard updated.

[1. Zernya von Adelbein: 900 points]

[2. Eidel von Rheinland / Seti von Rheinland / Rustila Kersil: 552 points]

[…]

A smile curved on Zernya’s lips.

Yes, this is it. The sense of omnipotence, confidence, and self-esteem that comes from taking first place.

The sense of achievement from stepping on others to rise. That alone drives Adelbein forward.

By the way, Zernya wondered:

“…Rustila Kersil.”

Who is this girl who’s with Eidel?