Ch.67Ruide’s Test (1)

Whoosh-

Catherine summoned fire using magic.

Though it was still dark, they could at least make out some shapes.

“What’s going on?”

“S-suddenly what is this… I’m scared.”

Hersy closed her eyes and let the wind flow. After scanning the internal structure, she snapped her eyes open.

“We’re screwed.”

“…!”

Hersy covered her mouth, surprised at her own crude language.

“Screwed?”

When Catherine asked, Hersy looked at Irina and said:

“Floors one through three are filled with monsters.”

Catherine narrowed her eyes.

Irina was a second-year student and an Imperial Princess.

Of course, it made sense to report the situation to her first, but hadn’t Catherine asked first?

She didn’t like it.

“What about the people?”

“…I don’t see any.”

“That’s fortunate at least… but this is serious. Should we jump out the window?”

Hersy shook her head.

“The entire building is surrounded by a black barrier. I don’t know what would happen if we touch it.”

“Hmm… what’s going on all of a sudden.”

“We should consider the possibility that this space itself has been moved to another dimension.”

“I guess we have no choice but to go out and see?”

“Yes.”

As they were calmly discussing the situation, Hannah spoke with a terrified face.

“N-no, going out isn’t right.”

“What?”

Her voice was so small that Hersy had to ask again.

“I-if we wait here, the professors will surely come to rescue us… besides, the Headmaster is in the next room.”

“…The Headmaster is out. He probably won’t be here today.”

Justin said with a serious face. Hannah sat down and covered her ears.

“We shouldn’t go out. I have a bad feeling. Let’s stay here, okay?”

“But…”

“That’s right, Justin. In situations like this, it’s better to stay put. Did you forget the manual?”

One of the Academy’s protocols stated that in dangerous situations, students should “wait for a professor to arrive.”

When she mentioned the school rules, Justin closed his mouth. But he didn’t seem pleased.

“Did you hear that? It’s decided that we’ll wait here.”

“…Who decided that?”

Hersy was dumbfounded.

She turned her back as if she didn’t even want to exchange words.

“We’ll move separately.”

“W-wait! Shouldn’t we move together?”

A commoner blocked the door.

“Th-that’s right. It could be dangerous to just leave. Let’s all wait here together.”

The commoners had eyes to see.

Imperial Princess Irina.

Imperial Prince Damon.

Hersy, eldest daughter of the Minerva Marquisate.

In the world of magic where talent was the top priority, bloodline proved ability.

They were truly formidable forces. Three experts, weren’t they?

“…You break the rules all the time, but now you’re looking for regulations.”

Hersy said incredulously.

That’s when it happened.

“How dare you block my path! Insolent fool!”

THWACK!

Damon sent the commoner who blocked the way flying!

Then he opened the door and went outside as if nothing had happened.

“That’s a bit harsh.”

Irina walked out with a bright smile.

Hersy looked at Damon in disbelief, then followed after them.

Right after they left.

The commoners were dumbstruck.

“Q-quickly, close the door.”

Hannah quickly closed the door.

‘Is staying put really the right choice?’

Justin wanted to follow them. His chest felt tight with anxiety.

**

Thud— Thud—

The three of them walked down the corridor that was completely dark.

“Um… Hersy?”

“Yes.”

“Could you light a fire? I really can’t see anything.”

“…Well, my attribute is wind.”

Of course, she could use fire if she wanted to, but using magic outside one’s specialty consumed a lot of mana.

She couldn’t waste mana carelessly when they didn’t know how long it would take to escape.

[Should I do it for you??]

Miho, who had been quiet, whispered from Hersy’s shoulder.

‘No. Then people will learn about your abilities.’

A familiar was like capital to a magician.

She couldn’t carelessly reveal the power of Ruide’s familiar, not her own.

“Hmm. What should we do? It’s hard to find our way like this.”

“Such trivial concerns.”

Whoosh-

“…!”

Four balls of fire appeared in the air. The surroundings brightened with warm colors.

“Wow, Damon, is your mana okay?”

“My ocean-like mana won’t decrease even slightly from this.”

Damon said cynically, hands in his pockets.

“Come to think of it, what’s Damon’s attribute?”

“Greatness.”

‘Let’s not even bother…’

Hersy drooped her shoulders.

“I smell something unpleasant.”

It was when they turned a corner.

Hersy tensed and raised her staff.

She grabbed a formula with her staff-holding hand, and the staff transformed into a silver bow.

“Be careful. When I looked around, this area was full of monsters.”

“I’ll take the lead.”

Shing, Irina drew her sword and stepped forward.

‘One knight, one Litten, one Pure. On the surface, it’s a perfect combination… but can I control them well?’

There were several types of magicians, including Litten and Pure.

Pure fought with pure magic.

Litten, like Hersy, mixed various abilities like archery, scouting, and orders.

“Grrrr-“

“What is that?”

The monster had a human form. It approached with a limp, its arms twisted grotesquely.

Hersy frowned. It was a type of monster she’d never seen before.

“Um… it looks really weak.”

-Slash!

Irina feinted to the right once, then struck upward, cleanly cutting off its head.

“¡Acelerar ¡Aceleren!”

Several green arrows from Hersy’s bow pierced through.

About ten monsters instantly vanished.

“Hmm. You said these things filled the place?”

“Yes.”

“I was expecting more. The difficulty of this event is too low.”

Irina looked disappointed.

Damon crossed his arms and said:

“Don’t be so arrogant. Look at that.”

“Huh?”

Rustle-

“!”

The monster corpses moved.

Making extremely unpleasant sounds, they squirmed.

Especially the first monster whose head Irina had cut off—it picked up its head and put it back on with a plop.

“Gweeeeek!”

“Wh-what is that thing?”

“Move aside, Hersy.”

Woong-!

Damon took out the spear hanging on his back and assumed a throwing stance. The air vibrated as powerful red mana gathered.

Swooosh-!

The monsters were shattered with a sound that was hard to believe came from throwing such a heavy spear.

BOOM!

The building was partially destroyed as the spear embedded itself in the wall. Damon looked at his hand with a satisfied expression.

“That felt good.”

“…D-Damon, were you a spear user?”

Damon reached out into the air. The spear flew back at high speed. Damon easily caught it.

“So this is why he handed out treasures.”

Damon looked down at the tattered monster with a contemptuous expression.

The monster turned to ashes after emitting white smoke.

‘Is it the difference in mana quantity… The imperial bloodline is not to be underestimated.’

Her arrows had merely pierced through. But Damon had erased their very existence.

But that was Hersy’s misunderstanding.

“I’ve heard of them. Monsters of darkness that don’t die even when killed. They’re called undead.”

“Undead?”

“Fake monsters created with black mages’ mana.”

Damon stated the conclusion.

“These monsters can only be killed with specific weapons.”

“…I-is that possible? A living being that can’t die.”

“Because they’re not living beings. Ruide must have known this would happen.”

Damon raised the corner of his mouth as if annoyed.

“Otherwise, he wouldn’t have distributed weapons each worth an entire castle. I thought it was strange, but he was reading dozens of moves ahead.”

“Ooh. So this is all an event prepared by Amelia’s brother?”

Irina smiled brightly.

“Then more interesting things will happen!”

“Ruide couldn’t possibly be involved with black mages…”

Hersy thought briefly.

Damon might be half-insane, but his insight and abilities were real.

“What does Ruide want from us?”

“That’s obvious.”

Damon leaned against the wall with an arrogant expression.

“He wants us to solve this incident. Hmph, ridiculous fellow. If this is a test, the difficulty is far too easy.”

“Then Ruide is…”

“He’s probably already captured the filthy black mage who caused this situation. However, he deliberately didn’t lift the curse to test our abilities-“

Hersy gulped.

‘Ruide has a plan for everything.’

At first, she thought Ruide had just thrown things together because he didn’t want to teach.

But all of it was calculated action.

Telling Damon to kick Justin’s butt to start a fight… telling Irina to stop that fight…

‘He placed key personnel at the center of the incident and directed the rest outside for safety. At the same time, he’s testing our abilities.’

That was her conclusion.

Hersy stiffened.

‘…Then what about me.’

Hersy had been instructed to take a walk. Nothing else. Unlike Damon and Irina.

That meant…

‘Does he… not trust me?’

Hersy became dejected.

Damon looked at Hersy and smirked.

“You’ve finally realized it. How foolish. But don’t be mistaken. That’s not all there is to it.”

“…What?”

“Kick the commoner’s butt—do you really think that meant literally kicking his butt?”

Hersy blinked.

“But you did kick his butt.”

Damon spoke as if she were pathetic. How could she not understand this grand intention? He truly couldn’t comprehend it.

“I did that because I was bored. I thought from the beginning that there was more to it-“

Hersy opened her eyes wide.

“Th-that means. There’s a hidden meaning?”

Damon nodded.

“Of course.”

“…!”

‘Then… does taking a walk with Miho also have some hidden meaning?’

Hersy brightened up again. It seemed like her role might be something more significant.

“To explain simply, it’s like this.”

Damon took out his staff and drew on the wall. Golden mana created a line.

Hersy focused intently on it. Letters appeared. Damon wrote:

-I am great.

‘??’

Hersy looked at Damon with an incredulous expression.

“Do you understand?”

“…Yes.”

Curious about what would come next, Hersy had no choice but to answer.

Satisfied, Damon put his staff back inside his robe and said:

“The final exams are coming soon. But with Ruide’s personality, would he create something like exam questions?”

Hersy shook her head quickly.

“Absolutely not.”

“In other words, we are taking the exam right now. We pass if we find the ‘true meaning’ of each instruction given to us and complete it.”

Hersy thought it made sense, but something bothered her.

“But… then the fairness of the exam. The difficulty levels are all different. It would be difficult to grade.”

“That’s why Ruide created the excellent merit-demerit system before this exam.”

Currently, Damon had 39 demerit points.

His demerits had been reduced to 29 points when Ruide gave him merit points, but he recently gained 10 more for breaking a commoner’s staff.

“As you know, the merit-demerit system was created out of concern that I might be expelled.”

“Yes.”

Hersy answered habitually, then narrowed her eyes.

“What??”

Ruide created the merit-demerit system because of Damon?

She wanted to argue, but she missed the timing.

“It’s the same this time. This stage is solely for me—it’s a pretext to give me merit points.”

Damon shrugged.

“He’s a shy guy. He could just give them to me directly.”

‘That doesn’t seem right at all??’

It sounded plausible at first, but the more she listened, the stranger it became. Hersy felt odd as she asked:

“…Then what meaning is there in telling you to kick someone’s butt?”

“You haven’t figured out even that? The weapon I’m holding is a legendary spear manufactured 500 years ago in the ‘Kingdom of Rudemaliak.’ It was the most valuable item among those things. Ruide must have known I would choose this.”

Irina took out the item she had chosen from her pocket. It was a blue handkerchief with cute decorations. She had picked it during the cooking class because it was adorable.

In the corner, it said:

-Ruide’s.

‘…What meaning could this have?’

Irina pondered seriously. Damon continued:

“In the Kingdom of Rudemaliak, kicking someone’s butt means to play a trick on someone or to say ‘eat this.'”

Grinning, Damon smiled.

“And Justin is the leader of the commoners. In short, the intention was to make the commoners eat it. Hmph, by the way, the Kingdom of Rudemaliak disappeared 500 years ago, so he really made it so only I could solve it.”

Hersy opened her eyes wide.

“Th-then Ruide not only anticipated this incident, but also predicted which items students would choose, and gave out notes with individual meanings?”

“Geniuses are hard for ordinary people to understand. They act by foreseeing hundreds of moves ahead. If you want to stand by Ruide’s side, pay close attention to his every word and action.”

That made sense.

Hersy bit her lip.

‘What hidden meaning could there be in telling me to take a walk with Miho? I can’t imagine it with my brain.’

Standing beside a genius was difficult.

But Hersy wasn’t the type to give up because something was difficult.

‘I will definitely—pass this test successfully.’

Hersy’s passion blazed.

She took out the staff tucked behind her waist. First, she needed to figure out what this staff was.