The Start-of-Semester Evaluation (1)
"How did you end up all the way out here?"
The question was directed at Sylvia, who had materialized seemingly out of nowhere. Michel's presence was one thing, but what could Sylvia possibly be doing in a place like this?
"Ah. Hold on a second."
Sylvia hesitated for a moment, carefully inspecting a crumpled box in her hands. After confirming its contents were unharmed, she let out a quiet sigh of relief. From the crushed packaging, she drew out a single fountain pen.
"What's the pen for?"
"I've been going around apologizing to the people I've wronged and handing these out... and you're the only one left. So, well..."
In short, she had taken the money she earned today to make amends, offering modest fountain pens alongside her apologies. If she had only grown up in a proper environment, a gentle-hearted girl like her would have been surrounded by friends. While I couldn't fathom how much she must have suffered as the illegitimate daughter of a count, there was no denying that her upbringing had been terribly unfair.
Accepting the gift from this pitiable, earnest girl, I spoke to her once more.
"Thank you. I'll make good use of it, Sylvia."
"It's only a fountain pen, but... I hoped it might be useful."
"What do you mean, 'only a fountain pen'? Any student would be thrilled to receive something like this—especially coming from a friend."
"A friend...? Am I...? Um... w-well, anyway, I'm just glad you like it."
At my words of gratitude, color flooded Sylvia's face. Or perhaps it was the word 'friend' that had touched her heart. Watching her, I couldn't resist adding a rather peculiar remark.
"I like who you are now a lot better than who you were back at the count's estate."
"Wh-what...?"
"Back then, you didn't feel human. How should I put it... like an emotionless mannequin sprinting toward an impossible goal? In any case, I prefer the Sylvia who shook all that off."
"I... I see..."
"If things ever get tough, just let me know. I'll step in and help."
Thinking this was the perfect opportunity, I returned the ribbon I had been holding onto. Back then, I had kept it as collateral so she wouldn't recklessly lash out at me, but there was no longer any need for such precautions.
Yet the moment I handed it over, her entire body began to tremble faintly.
"Sylvia...? What's wrong? Are you alright?"
"I-I-I-I'm fine...! I just need to use the restroom for a second...!"
"Huh...? Uh, sure."
Snatching the ribbon from my palm without once meeting my gaze, Sylvia spun around and bolted in the opposite direction. The only problem was... the restrooms weren't that way.
Are you crazy, are you crazy, are you completely insane?! What? He l-likes...? Th-that's...!
Sylvia's face was flushed crimson like ripe fruit, heat practically radiating from her skin. To conceal her burning cheeks, she had no choice but to flee from Junon's sight. As far as she was concerned, it was a miraculous mercy that he hadn't seen her expression.
"Junon... said he..."
He had said he liked her. He had said he preferred her this way.
Far more than the person she used to be.
Every time those words replayed in her mind, the blush that had just begun to cool flared up anew, cooking her cheeks red-hot all over again.
"Uuuugh... what is wrong with me...?"
Worried that Junon might find such behavior unsightly, Sylvia rubbed her cheeks with her palms, desperate to pull herself together. By the time the heat finally began to recede from her skin, a faint smile was already gracing her lips.
"Saying thank you, of all things..."
Between the two of them, she was the one who truly needed to be thankful. Sylvia let out a soft, self-deprecating chuckle. What could have possibly prompted a girl who had never once smiled under the count's roof to finally show her emotions?
—Sylvia! Time's almost up! We have to get to the exam by three!
It was all because of that boy calling her name from across the courtyard—the very boy she had once tormented.
"Y-Yeah! I'm coming right now!"
She hurriedly began tying her hair back with the ribbon, only to pause, slip it into her pocket, and stand up. There was no longer any reason to bind her hair with it. Ever since the benefactor who had completely transformed her world untied that knot, everything had changed.
As expected, the Start-of-Semester Evaluation was split into a written examination and a practical assessment. Thanks to the remnants of my past memories, I recognized a great deal of the material, so I might have actually scored higher on the written test than I had before my regression. Not that the written portion was the real issue here.
"The practical assessment will be conducted as Joint Practical Training. I shall announce the rosters now, so assemble with your respective teams."
In the distance, Professor Muniherr raised a roster sheet and began reading off names. Before long, my turn arrived.
"Junon, Charlotte, ───."
The premise of the practical assessment and Joint Practical Training was straightforward. Teams of six, balanced across different combat roles, were deployed to a designated location to gather mana within their respective badges. However, unlike previous exams, this designated location was not a simulation projected by the Talbrut Ark.
"The venue for this examination is the Tveshar Lowlands."
The moment the name left his lips, a murmur rippled through the gathered students, eliciting varied reactions. Some cried out that it was far too dangerous, while many others clutched their chests in mounting dread.
The Tveshar Lowlands was a territory nestled along the border between southeastern Mirpark and southwestern Algenib. Unlike Mount Utulum, which had served as the testing ground for the end-of-term evaluation, its climate and terrain were relatively mild and posed little natural hazard. Why, then, were the students in such a state of panic?
Because the Tveshar Lowlands was notorious for its extraordinarily frequent demonic beast sightings.
It was the only inward indentation on the map of the rectangular Ardellion Grand Duchy, carving the nation's borders into an irregular pentagon. Due to an endless string of incidents and casualties occurring on the duchy's soil, the territory had ultimately been decommissioned and classified as an extraterritorial wilderness beyond official borders. That very wilderness was our testing ground for this Start-of-Semester Evaluation.
No one truly understood why demonic beasts gathered there in such overwhelming numbers, but the local ecosystem had become so active that fresh beasts emerged no matter how many were culled. In other words, this exam was practically live combat. For students who had yet to hone their strength, an evaluation involving genuine, uncontrolled encounters with demonic beasts bordered on reckless.
There was only one reason such a perilous zone had been selected as an examination ground.
"This semester's evaluation venue was specifically chosen by Professor Flokan. He argued that it would reveal your true capabilities."
Professor Muniherr had also felt that genuine practical combat had been placed far too late in the academy's curriculum, relegated entirely to upperclassmen. While other political motives were undoubtedly at play, he added that the location was undeniably suited for testing real aptitude. Of course, if he knew what was about to unfold out there, he would have vehemently opposed the decision.
Yet even with Professor Muniherr, warning him now would achieve nothing. He would only bark at me to stop spouting nonsense and focus on taking my exam properly. Well, the milk was already spilled. All I could do now was manage the spill before it spread out of control.
Before long, our team relocated toward the entrance, where the members began introducing themselves.
"Pleasure to meet you all. Let's work together and secure a high score."
"Looking forward to working with everyone."
"Leave the crowd-control magic to me!"
"────."
Soon, their flattering voices reached Charlotte as well.
"I have heard plenty regarding your distinguished achievements, Lady Eshrelt. It is an honor to be assigned to the same team!"
"...Likewise."
While our assigned teammates exchanged pleasantries one by one, not a single soul spared a word for me. That suited me just fine; it gave me the perfect opening to cut in.
"Well, since I'm just a vanguard, you'll probably tell me to get lost later because I'm useless anyway. So I'll just see myself out now."
It wasn't as if they cared about my presence in the first place. This spared me the headache of trying to accommodate them only to swallow bitter insults, and deep down, they were undoubtedly hoping I would leave. By taking the initiative to bow out early, exactly as I had originally planned, I wouldn't have to cross paths with Charlotte either. Truly, killing three birds with one stone.
Besides, leaving the team posed no procedural issue for the exam itself.
—If you truly cannot coordinate your training on a team level, you are permitted to operate independently. Furthermore, should you spot suitable talent, you are free to recruit members from other teams.
That was one of the few special provisions Professor Muniherr had explicitly outlined. Acknowledging that discord among team members was inevitable, he permitted students to separate if their synergy proved irreconcilable. Just as differences in personality arose whenever people crossed paths, he was willing to accommodate those who found each other utterly incompatible.
Besides, they said the exam is ultimately graded entirely by the mana accumulated in our badges anyway.
Thanks to that single clause, this so-called Joint Practical Training resembled an individual group project far more than a cohesive squad exercise. Furthermore, it was the very reason countless teams would soon collapse after discarding their frontliners.
I can just head straight over to those guys.
Everything was proceeding smoothly without a single hitch—a stroke of perfect fortune. Or so I thought.
"Why don't you and I have a little chat?"
The realization that something had gone terribly wrong struck the moment a figure caught up to me, resting a hand firmly upon my shoulder.
Charlotte Eshrelt lived by a remarkably resolute motto: think coldly, discard what must be discarded without hesitation, and seize what must be seized without compromise.
Quite simply, that decisive pragmatism and immaculate efficiency had swept aside every stumbling block that had ever obstructed her path. Until now, insurmountable obstacles had practically been nonexistent in her life, and she had firmly believed that would remain true. But the obstacle that had recently surfaced was no mere stone. The memories heralded by that piercing, nauseating headache simply refused to be swept aside.
Could this man... be the cause?
Charlotte regarded Junon, the vanguard assigned to her team, with deep suspicion. Had he pulled some cheap trick? Or perhaps hired an assassin to weave dark sorcery against her? She had assumed that whatever was causing these skull-splitting migraines must have originated from his hand. Yet what had her investigation actually revealed?
—What? A commoner? The person you told me to look into?
—Yes. There's only one person with that name in the entire Grand Duchy, let alone the Empire.
—...Any notable peculiarities?
—I was just about to mention that. Setting aside the fact that he's a commoner, he's a Class E student who's barely awakened a defensive Unique Magic. As for his reputation...
The deadweight of Class E. The weakest vanguard.
No matter how much more she listened, his track record aligned perfectly with those monikers; he was someone who possessed virtually no power to harm anyone with his own hands. A Close-range Interception Vanguard. A pure blocker who threw himself forward relying solely on armor to deflect blows, exhibiting no aptitude for mental interference or insidious hexes. Her initial suspicion that he had cast some sophisticated spell upon her fell completely flat against reality.
Which left only one possibility.
I wondered if he might have dabbled in black magic...
An abhorrent supernatural art practiced through curses rather than structured magic, bringing about catastrophic ruin by completely trampling human morality. The world regarded black magic as an unholy power borrowed from demonic beasts or their primordial ancestors, the archfiends. Yet as documented in the histories of the Artena Empire, black magic bore zero connection to Junon.
—His record is completely clean. A string of incidents followed him ever since he entered Lebrant Academy, but... other than that, there's absolutely nothing.
In the end, now that she stood face-to-face with the man himself, confronting him directly was her only option. To make sense of these fragmented memories that felt like a single page torn from an entire tome, there was simply no other way.
"Excuse me?"
As Charlotte moved toward Junon, unwanted meddlers stepped into her path.
"A pleasure to meet you, Baron Eshrelt!"
"Why use such stiff titles as 'Baron'? Given her youth, calling her Lady Eshrelt sounds far more appropriate. Calling her Baron makes her sound old."
"Is that so? Hahaha!"
Blocking her way, they extended their hands. She had assumed they were merely laughing and exchanging polite greetings among themselves, but it seemed their attention was aimed elsewhere.
"I have heard plenty regarding your distinguished achievements, Lady Eshrelt. It is an honor to be assigned to the same team!"
"...Likewise."
Charlotte accepted the handshake of her assigned teammate, though her expression remained thoroughly unenthusiastic. The blatant way they ostracized one single individual, leaving him entirely to his own devices, was far too distasteful. Unlike the other four, that solitary student possessed a miniscule pool of mana, and Charlotte deduced that their petty exclusion stemmed from that very disparity.
Had he immediately caught onto the hostile atmosphere? Without hesitation, he spoke up.
"Well, since I'm just a vanguard, you'll probably tell me to get lost later because I'm useless anyway. So I'll just see myself out now."
No, his reaction was too dull, as bland as drinking tap water. He hadn't merely 'caught on'—he had endured this so frequently that he was thoroughly sick of it. Yet, brushing it off as though it were nothing out of the ordinary, he took his leave first. Indeed, just as the rumors claimed of a man who rose eight times after falling seven, his mental fortitude was undeniably formidable.
Charlotte moved to slip past the teammates crowding around her. Once again, they barred her path.
"Hm? Where are you going, my lady?"
"The testing grounds lie this way. Allow us to escort you."
"If you do not wish to suffer a harsh lesson, you had best step aside."
"Pardon? But we're a team—whoa!"
Splash!
"L-Lady Eshrelt! What in the world is the meaning of this?!"
"I warned you to move when I asked nicely, didn't I? You should consider yourselves fortunate that it was merely water."
"Ha..."
Snapping at them in a tone that made it clear they weren't worth an ounce of her attention, Charlotte left the stunned quartet behind and pursued Junon. Closing the distance after he had walked far ahead of the group, Charlotte reached out, firmly catching him by the arm.
"Why don't you and I have a little chat?"
Watching Junon flinch, Charlotte cut straight to the heart of the matter.
"Advancing to your third year this semester, previously enrolled in second-year Class E, and bearing the moniker 'the weakest vanguard.' Your name is Junon, isn't it?"
"...!"
She made it abundantly clear that she had already investigated him from top to bottom.
This is bad.
The instant I realized who had caught my shoulder, a surge of alarm ran through me. How could Charlotte, who had only just arrived in the Ardellion Grand Duchy, know my semester, class, and year—let alone my name and derogatory nickname? Just when I thought I had smoothly given them the slip, an entirely unexpected pursuit had caught me off guard.
This complicated things immensely. Not only was I losing precious time to redirect those two, but the very person I had been desperate to avoid was standing right before my eyes. Still, the situation wasn't entirely unsalvageable. So long as I prevented any chance of joining a party with her, there was no reason for her to harbor any resentment toward me.
"I take it that's a yes? I followed you because there is something I must ask, so I would appreciate an honest answer."
"...Yeah. That's my name."
I had walked away from the team making myself out to be completely useless, so what on earth was going on?
"By any chance, do you know the name Tembris......"
—AAAAAAARGH!!!!
Before she could finish, a piercing shriek tore through the air, completely swallowing Charlotte's voice as echoes of terror erupted from all directions.