Ch.37Reassignment Exam (5)

[Real-time Scoreboard]

[1. Eidel Rheinland / Seti von Adelbein Rheinland / Rustila Kersil: 2406 points]

[2. Zernya von und zu Trisha Adelbein: 1500 points]

[3. Mathers Byteling: 1278 points]

[4. Kristin Heresset / Mezulen Hueritia: 1272 points]

[5. Welton Yusoford: 1266 points]

Zernya frowned.

The score increases for 3rd, 4th, and 5th place were expected. Nothing particularly concerning there.

The problem was just one thing.

Why had she dropped back to 2nd place?

She had clearly defeated five golems, hadn’t she?

So, the first place…

“2400 points?”

The moment she blurted out stupidly, 600 points were added to Eidel’s team.

[1. Eidel Rheinland / Seti von Adelbein Rheinland / Rustila Kersil: 3006 points]

“Isn’t this complete fraud?”

She was dumbfounded.

But it was fine.

If 3000 points were divided equally among three people, Eidel would only get about 1000 points.

Calculating to that point, Zernya was still ahead. Yes, of course she was.

[The scoreboard has been updated!]

[1. Eidel Rheinland / Seti von Adelbein Rheinland / Rustila Kersil: 4506 points]

“…?”

Wait a minute.

[1. Eidel Rheinland / Seti von Adelbein Rheinland / Rustila Kersil: 5712 points]

Something, something was happening.

“Th-this is rigged.”

The scoreboard must be wrong.

Or that Eidel was using some strange trick. Otherwise, such an abnormal score increase couldn’t be possible.

What is it? What could it be?

While Zernya was clutching her head and groaning, a boy bounced out from the bushes on the right.

“…These damn supervisors!”

A fierce-looking boy with hair as red as if it had been dipped in dye. A face she’d seen somewhere before.

Was he a classmate?

She remembered his name was Mathers.

“What B-rank? That’s at least an A-rank! You’re deliberately doing this to me, aren’t you? Huh? You’re tricking me because I’m from the frontier?”

Mathers shouted with a scowl on his face. In the direction his eyes were looking, two golems emerged from the bushes.

Zernya smiled and drew her sword.

“Ahah.”

She had been struggling to find golems, so this was perfect timing.

Whatever the reason, it was a good opportunity.

Zernya’s figure shot forward with her drawn sword.

***

Mathers had seen it.

A tail in the form of a scorpion. A body shaped like a lizard. But the upper body resembled a hideously elongated human form—an enormously large monster.

It was a dark creature as if its entire body was wrapped in a blade.

At first, he thought it was a B-rank golem and charged at it. He had judged that one shouldn’t gauge an enemy’s capabilities by appearance alone.

But that judgment had gone spectacularly wrong.

The creature played as it looked. It was strong. In just one exchange, Mathers’ sword was knocked away.

“…Kuk!”

He felt a tingling in his arm.

The next moment, the monster’s tail swung.

With a bursting sound, Mathers’ body cut through the air.

He heard a ringing in his ears. His abdomen was burning.

What exactly had happened? What had hit him?

Before he could think, the monster approached within reach.

He needed to move his body. To survive.

Mathers shook his head and got up. Then he ran. He fled desperately toward where the supervisors might be.

Along the way, he encountered a real B-rank golem and suffered the misfortune of being chased, but that was nothing compared to what he’d just faced.

Monster.

Without a doubt, Mathers was being chased by a monster.

“Huff, huff, damn it…!”

Running frantically like that, he reached the small clearing where Zernya was.

***

[2. Zernya von und zu Trisha Adelbein: 2100 points]

“Lucky me.”

Zernya smiled after defeating two golems in an instant.

With this, she had reclaimed first place once again.

But she wasn’t satisfied with just that.

She would widen the gap further. Zernya intended to overturn the top position that had been taken from her at the entrance ceremony, and do it with overwhelming practical scores.

Just wait, Eidel.

I’ll definitely crush you.

After making such a resolution, Zernya turned her head. Mathers was there, breathing heavily.

“Sigh.”

Zernya sighed.

“Pathetic, unable to defeat even a single B-rank golem.”

“…What?”

Mathers turned his head with a scowl. He had something to say too.

“I said you’re pathetic. Laughably so.”

“You think I couldn’t defeat just one of those?”

“Well, yes.”

Zernya put away her sword and slightly raised her chin. Her expression was calmly arrogant.

“If you want to make excuses, tell them to that tree over there.”

“It’s not an excuse… There’s something strange in the bushes besides that golem!”

“Oh, is that so?”

She didn’t believe him.

Why would she? The words of a loser who ran away from a B-rank opponent.

Of course, looking at the scoreboard, she could indirectly gather that Mathers had defeated several golems. But so what? He might have barely managed to take them down one by one with sneak attacks. Fighting head-on and winning was clearly different.

Zernya kicked the golem and examined the path Mathers had come from. Nothing particularly monstrous was visible. The bushes he had emerged from were dense to begin with. It was impossible to secure a clear view.

Zernya shrugged and turned to hunt the next golem. Watching her back, Mathers gritted his teeth.

“Damn it…”

That’s when it happened.

Boom!

A sound that shook heaven and earth. Birds flew away from their nests in flocks. Zernya’s vision trembled slightly.

“What?”

Thud, thud, thud!

The heavy sound wouldn’t stop. It was as if a giant was forging the iron of the world with his hammer.

The rumbling continued even after Zernya surveyed her surroundings, and soon two girls were spat out from between the bushes.

“Haa, haa…!”

“We’re doomed!”

One was a tall girl with brown wavy hair, and the other was a girl with dark green short hair.

Both of them lay face down in front of Zernya and Mathers, vomiting. Their faces were bright red, though it was unclear how fast they had been running.

“You are…”

These were also familiar faces. She had seen them in class.

“…Run, run away!”

The brown-haired girl, Kristin, shouted.

“We’re all going to die!”

The green-haired girl, Mezulen, cried out next.

Were they all making such a fuss over a B-rank golem?

“Good grief.”

It was ridiculous. The further she went, the more she couldn’t shake the feeling that she had been placed in the same class as subpar individuals.

To be frank, it was disgusting.

“Are you afraid of golems?”

“…No, that’s not it!”

“I don’t understand. Not even an A-rank, but trembling before a mere B-rank. Idiots like you will probably go around claiming to be alumni later? Ugh, this school’s admission standards must be dropping.”

“What nonsense! If we don’t run now, everyone will…!”

Kristin’s words stopped.

A chilling sensation. A dark shadow loomed over her head.

“Ah, ah, ah…”

What appeared behind Kristin and Mezulen was something deformed.

It was like an ink-black scorpion, lizard, centipede, or even human.

Like a chimera from mythology, a steel reaper mixed with various animals had manifested on earth.

“Shit, that’s it, that’s it! That’s what I saw!”

Mathers cursed loudly.

Unlike everyone else who was panicking, Zernya calmly tilted her head. She raised her head to examine the monster’s form.

“What is this? A golem?”

“Does a golem look like that?!”

“They could make it look like this to scare students.”

The intention was obvious.

A field boss created to test crisis response abilities. It was within expectations for Zernya, who had received gifted education.

Of course, it looked creepy for a B-rank golem. It was also large. The number of weapons it had was considerable, without even mentioning it.

“Whoa, what is that?”

A boy who emerged from the bushes on the opposite side exclaimed in admiration.

His name was Welton Yusoford, wearing sunglasses. He had just arrived at the clearing while wandering around hunting golems.

Welton said:

“The visual is completely insane?”

“Urgh.”

Watching her classmate dry heave, Zernya fell into thought.

This one, that one. All of them were nothing but subpar fools.

If there was anyone worth considering, it was only Eidel.

Zernya smiled and drew her sword again.

“It’s a big one. Wonder if it’s worth about 1000 points?”

***

[300 points added!]

Rustila and I were literally hunting golems.

Rustila would take the tanking role, and I would finish them off with the calipers.

Of course, Rustila could handle it alone. She took down three or four golems at once.

Her potential is insane.

That’s what a sword saint is.

Anyway, thanks to Rustila’s consideration, I could better understand what role the “Calipers of Wisdom” played. The calipers were effective not only on humans but on all beings with consciousness.

“Big sister, you’re amazing!”

Rustila and I worked in perfect harmony. Thanks to that, our score rose explosively.

“Phew, that’s the end of it.”

Rustila said after finishing off the last golem.

“Eidel, don’t you feel a strange energy?”

“Energy?”

[— ‘God of Wisdom and Curiosity’ detects the energy of its kind.]

“…Indeed.”

[“Disgusting. A rat has sneaked in.”]

It seems some monster has crept in.

Right, I was wondering why nothing was happening.

[— Notice: Assigning emergency quest.]

[— Complete at least one of the two sub-quests.]

[Choice 1. Defeat the monster that has infiltrated the reassignment exam (0/1)]

[Choice 2. Remove the unknown anti-Aether barrier surrounding the exam site (0/1)]

[Reward: 3,000 Pron each]

“Eidel, I think we should move to another location soon.”

I nodded.