Avoid Former Co-Workers

13 – 13. End of Semester Assessment (1)

“Wow!”

As I rounded one of the corners of her gym, Senia showed up without fail and tried to startle me with her mischievous face.

“…”

“Ah, I’m not surprised anymore. Anyway, nice to meet you? Today too.”

Ah, really…

I wonder if I can turn my attention to this?

When Senia sees me for a few days, she follows me and asks me to sparring just once. I know very well that I am not such a combative kid.

But what do you mean?

“How the hell did a kid who was embarrassed just by being surprised like this beat Sylvia?”

“…”

“That’s what I’m curious about. How did you hone your way to beat Sylvia in a short period of time? That’s it? If I could just tell you that?”

Even a trivial action of mine serves as a clue to Senia to infer the process.

I can assure you, even if I tell a lie right away, it’s obvious that they’ll catch on and make me commit suicide.

That sharp insight didn’t catch his eye for nothing. It’s practically an attack that can’t be defended against.

And this time, Senia persistently clung to her side and repeated her same words.

“Can’t you just give me a sparring once? Seriously, I’ve waited a long time for this. It’s not like I’m going to eat you, really.”

I was afraid I would notice something, but I didn’t know it would be this painful.

No, no matter what the reason is in the first place, it is important not to show off on the outside no matter what.

Any other guy might be able to get rid of it somehow by using harsh swear words or swear words, but it’s not going to happen to Senia.

So… Let’s just say what we need.

“It’s because you’re uncomfortable in my position.”

I’m in a position where there’s nothing good about being close with you, but I’m the only one who’s in trouble if you follow me.

***

[ Name: Michelle Granodia ]

[ Age : 18 years old ]

[Grade: Levant Academy 2nd year student]

[ Division : A ]

[ Magic Color : Red, Blue ]

[ Inherent mana: A ]

[ Magical Condensation Rate: A- ]

[ mana Saturation : A- ]

[ mana turnover rate: A+ ]

[ Magic level: A ]

[ Appropriate positions: All positions except front line and support system ]

[ Magi Adaptation Ratio : 89 : 11 ]

[ Unique Magic : – ]

“…Nothing special.”

Except for the addition of one magic color.

Including the practice related to the advice given during the guest lectures, magic has been continuously honed in many ways.

However, it was difficult for Michelle to calm her distraught mind because one item had not yet been added.

Unique Magic. As the goal is to graduate as soon as possible, it is indispensable to germinate and train native magic to fully bloom.

People around me persuaded me that it would be okay if I continued as I am now, or advised that I was in too much of a hurry, but I couldn’t.

The freezing device is operating to conduct an autopsy of the student who committed suicide, and most of the private expenses have been spent.

To make matters worse, the children in the orphanage have grown up and the time has come for them to go to school.

Not only do I need subsidies, but the maids take care of me little by little, but I need that kind of money in terms of clothes, food materials, and schoolwork.

This made Michelle more impatient.

“Ha… What should I do…?”

Inherent magic shows no signs of being revealed, and the status of a student and the position of an inexperienced person who has never dealt with witches were holding back too much.

I hope someone can help me.

This time, the statement that the maid organized and arranged the necessary amount was put into Michelle’s blue eyes, and soon it was crumpled.

In the meantime, a human voice is heard from one side of the alley.

─It’s because you’re uncomfortable in my position.

─What is there to be uncomfortable about? In the first place, Dalian is…

─Do you really think so? That you ask so much, that question that somehow sounds like a threat?

I heard about the situation and it seems that a male student and a female student are arguing.

It doesn’t look like they’re going to fight violently, but they don’t narrow their opinions at all.

Comprehensive of the situation, the male student named Junon showed her grown-up appearance to her female student named Senia, and the female student seemed to be seeking advice from her, igniting her will to grow up.

It was a story that Michelle herself was also applicable to in that respect, so it was something I could sympathize with.

Still, I’m about to leave because I don’t feel the need to intervene.

─I have to go up to Class C. So, I sincerely ask for your advice. Because you subdued Sylvia.

…Sylvia?

It was a name I had heard somewhere.

‘No way…!’

Is that the boy who knocked out the girl in the infirmary?

─Sylvia or whatever────.

Michelle pondered and realized that this was really nonsense.

The name Junon is the only one in Class E who is said to be reckless even among students. It is so famous that few people know about it.

The unique magic is also irrelevant to the attack, so the nickname given is the weakest vanguard.

The student named Sylvia, who kept her mouth shut in the infirmary, is in class C.

She is the daughter of Count Kutelli, who is in class C with good grades, and is a long-distance mage who mainly uses wind elements.

The only thing I can guess based on the information of these two people is the scene where Junon attacks and defeats Sylvia all over the academy every time.

But… The girl, what did she just say? Did Junon subdue Sylvia?

This is nonsense. But, haven’t you seen it with your own eyes recently? She saw Sylvia, who had passed out on the spot, with her off-white hair tangled.

In other words, that male student named Junon overturned the gap of two classes.

‘But how…?’

No, now is not the time to ask yourself how that is possible.

If she had narrowed down her level of skill in a short period of time, Michelle’s head guessed that Junon might have something.

——I see. I didn’t know you thought so.

After the female student’s words, the conversation between the two did not continue, and the sound of their footsteps split in the opposite direction and then stopped.

‘Look at me…! Erica will be waiting for you!’

Michelle’s footsteps also head to the partner she was supposed to meet today.

Junon’s wish to simply avoid meeting his former comrades seemed unlikely to come true.

***

Today, exactly two weeks have passed since the day of the victory banquet.

An inferior student riot, which should have caused their prestige to fall further as false charges were laid over the avant-garde and support positions.

If the division had occurred, the end-of-semester evaluation would have been delayed further, and Professor Meuniher would have arrived to find out the truth of the case and take up more time to catch the real culprit.

But that didn’t happen.

The banquet hall, which should have been under construction due to the collapse of part of the building’s outer wall, is intact, and the end-of-semester evaluation took place even earlier.

And it seemed that things had progressed the other way in these two weeks.

─Hey, did you see the bulletin board?

─I have eyes too. Of course I saw it!

─How could the professors do such a thing? Really.

Even if you listen to the buzzing students and infer it.

And if you recall the official notices and information posted on the bulletin board.

I could tell that things were progressing one step faster.

─You followed that professor well. What is it?

─Isn’t it? Hey, I just did a separate pre-learning!

─You fools. It had nothing to do with the students. Corruption, corruption!

─But what should I say… It seems that those who have nothing to do with that kind of thing have been kicked out?

─That’s right. It seemed like that was the case with Professor Kyoff. You were a good person.

‘You sound like a nice person.’

What kind of reaction would those idiots have if they listened to Professor Kyoff’s lectures as me or other D or E class students?

The people they mentioned are not only openly blaming them, but they are also frantic about tearing down students in the classroom.

I’ve never been treated like that before, so I’m sure you’re talking like that.

“Looks like you’ve come. Did you check your partner’s names? Raise your hand if anyone forgot.”

He arrived while the students were talking.

Professor Meuniher.

If you want to find a modifier, a man who can’t even count on a single digit has appeared.

“Then, let’s briefly explain the end-of-semester evaluation and move on.”

In a place where all the first and second year students attended, Professor Meuniher jumped into the field when he touched the Talbrut arc, and the background changed dramatically.

The Mizar Hall’s mock battle room has been transformed into a place for end-of-semester evaluation exams for current students.

The information about monsters and geography obtained by those running on the frontlines is transformed into reality itself, sending vivid sensations.

The scent of the trees and soil that made up the forest winds up in your nose in the lightly flowing wind.

Even in the Duchy of Ardelion, it was the region with the most indistinct climate, the Northeastern Sheet.

‘Among them… Mount Utulum.’

A mountain without a single village located further northeast in sh*t, the northeastern part of the principality. That is Mount Utulum.

It’s a place I can’t forget because I’m used to it, and it’s a place where I was sick and tired of catching a troublesome beast in the past in Tembris. And,

─Wow… This is right there, right?

—Yes. The place occupied by the expedition this time.

─It was like this. That’s interesting.

It’s also a place secured by Princess Ophelia’s Expedition Corps and Arkab Party, which the students would be enthusiastic about.

It is a terrain that can maintain a high point, and it boasts a fairly rough terrain at the northeastern end, so it is a place where it is difficult to recapture it once it is lost.

At the same time, this place where all the first and second graders were standing was the place where the end-of-semester evaluations were to be held.

However, it wasn’t just professors and students standing here.

─Who are you? Were those people originally at the academy?

─Well… I’m seeing it for the first time too.

People who only have something to record are standing in a row.

It is so different from the usual way of conducting end-of-semester evaluations, students look uneasy.

Perhaps even this was expected, Professor Meuniher adds a word after penetrating the psychology of the students.

“Those people are just instructors who will watch over you and act in emergencies and coaches who will score points. Stop thinking nonsense.”

It seems that each student’s thoughts have been fully answered.

Some people let out a sigh of relief, and some feel sorry for being an instructor from Hardia.

Leaving the various reactions behind, Professor Meuniher continues to speak.

“This semester’s end-of-semester evaluation consists of four stages. We do not inform you of deductions or additional points, so try your best.”

Although it is a practice test, it does not inform you of any rules. Therefore, it is a story that they start without even knowing the significance of this test!

All the students are already buzzing about what that means.

‘I was like that at one time too.’

I don’t know why the end-of-semester evaluation is done this way, even I remember the past.

Can you tell because the test is so heterogeneous and different?

If there’s one clue, it’s that Professor Meuniher wasn’t originally a professor at Les Brandt Academy?

He is not only a genius of the century, but also a tycoon who invented numerous magic tools and contributed to the development of the empire and the principality, even receiving the emperor’s medal himself.

That’s a big miscalculation, however, if you just look at him as a nerd who is only immersed in research. Since he is a survivor of the Mirum Finale, where only 1/3 of the power of the Artena Empire in the past survived, his skills were guaranteed.

It won’t be long before that eccentric professor’s face will visibly frown when the end-of-term evaluation is over.

I can still remember the harsh reality of Levant Academy students.

Maybe I’ll see it right in front of my eyes today.

In accordance with the guidance of the judges, we headed in front of a rock wall, the gateway to the first step.

“The first step is simple. Just go over that rock wall. From the second step, the instructors assigned to each step will give you an answer. More than that.”

Leaving those words behind, I used a Talbrut arc and gave each student a pocket watch and a pocket watch.

─This pocket seems to be enchanted with weight reduction?

─The volume also seems to be shrinking. But what’s inside…

─It’s just useless stuff.

A rock wall about 8m in front of you and a given pocket. It seems that the intention is to openly write these things and move on.

‘But they don’t think that way.’

Because there were only things that would look like junk to wizards, such as ropes, hooks, cloth, and fixtures.

Wasn’t magic so convenient and useful?

It’s about climbing a rock wall. Most students can climb it if they use that clever magic.

However, it can be seen as a must-have for someone who has no talent for magic and is not good at climbing rocks.

Within less than 5 minutes since the test started, all the test takers in the field are in confusion, and some people ask where is this used or what it is.

And in the midst of this, one person is the first to use magic to jump over the rock wall.

─This is a speed battle!

It was as if one person had stopped the start.

─I want to go quickly too!

─Uh.. Uh uh…? I don’t know!

When one of the students jumped over using magic, the rest of the students followed suit, using magic, and in an instant began to hide their figures on the cliff.

I’ve never said that going fast is the best, but they blindly trusted each other and were scrambling to move.

***

Kidduk- Kkadeuk-

‘Where are you… Where are you really…!’

Sylvia’s fingernails get into Sylvia’s mouth and break into her teeth.

The original smooth shape is broken, creating a rough surface that cannot be found.

I didn’t know if I bit more, blood would flow.

However, there was no proper way for Sylvia, who had a problem to solve right away.

“Sylvia? What’s wrong…?”

“Go first.”

“But…”

“Just go. I’m fine.”

“Oh, okay…”

Is the end-of-semester evaluation partner a problem?

Sylvia said that to herself and moved in all directions around her, trying to find only one person.

Knowing that she wasn’t going to win in a fight again, she had no choice but to find her and talk to her. If possible, it should be manipulated.

To make matters worse, time is running out.

Would the count’s excuse that there was an exam called the end of semester evaluation work? Not even the seeds are eaten.

Thus, if the end-of-semester evaluation is over, if it is not dealt with immediately, the news of the failure will be delivered to the ears of the Count, and the death sentence of excommunication will come to Sylvia.

‘It’s time to see it soon…! Where are they!’

Have you already climbed the rock wall?

No… That guy can’t use magic properly in the first place.

Of course she couldn’t have gone over yet…

“Ah…!”

As I turned my head, a boy with distinctive black hair caught my eye.

‘I found it.’

Sylvia started to see a ray of hope.