Three-Color Rings (1)
Istal, standing on the platform, opened her mouth. [Hmm, where was I? Ah, time to explain the rules.] At her gesture, soldiers appeared carrying a large box. [The name of the exam you will all be taking from now on is Three-Color Rings! I won't repeat myself, so listen carefully.] She pulled out three rings from the box—red, blue, and white. [The passing condition is simple! From now on, one of these three rings will be randomly distributed to each of you. You pass the moment you steal someone else's ring, or defeat the familiars present in the exam area and collect all three types.] However, she smiled faintly. [There are affinities between the rings. Red is strong against blue, blue is strong against white, and white is strong against red. You'll figure out exactly what that means once you experience it yourselves.] After casually dumping the important details on them, she continued. [The test supervisors here will guide you to the starting points, so just follow them. Ah, if you want to forfeit, there's no need to declare it—just toss your ring away and collapse somewhere convenient. We'll collect it ourselves. Good luck to you all!] Waving her hand from the platform as if to say "bye-bye," Istal watched as the group spoke up one by one.
"She's insane."
"She's no ordinary person."
"W-wait, she said if you're forfeiting, just collapse? What the hell…?"
I shrugged. "Just pretend to be dead and it'll be fine. Want a sleeping pill or something?" As Loto's face turned deathly pale, a nearby supervisor shouted.
"We will now distribute the rings! The ring must be worn on one of your wrists, and touching another participant's ring before the signal is a rule violation, so be careful!"
Ligret, red. Fiore, white. Loto and I, blue. The supervisors sorted the examinees by ring color and moved them accordingly, separating Loto and me from the other two. "The starting signal will sound shortly, so please wait here until then."
In the vast park-like exam area, Loto—who was also wearing a blue ring like me—asked the other examinees left with us, "They're dividing us into groups of ten to avoid chaos if everyone piles into one spot, but why group only same-colored rings together?"
Before I could answer, another examinee nearby cut in. "Obviously so we form teams. After all, to pass you need rings of different colors than your own, right? We same-colored folks don't need to fight each other." Another examinee spoke up.
"Oh, I see. So that's what it means. Nice to meet you all. Let's work together and pass as a group!"
Among the blue-ringed examinees, lively chatter began—encouragements like "Let's do our best" and "Trust in yourselves." I thought to myself, Really? Do we truly not need to fight others with the same color? While everyone was laughing and talking noisily, I caught a few exchanging secretive glances and felt certain. I whispered to Loto.
"—When the starting signal rings, drop to the ground and hold your breath."
"Huh?" Loto looked confused, but I didn't elaborate. If he didn't follow the advice, that was on him. I had no obligation to look after him that much. [—The exam begins!]
The moment it started, I held my breath and hurled a pouch I'd prepared in advance from Thoth's Bag into the air. As the tied string came undone and the powder inside scattered into the air, screams erupted among the other participants.
"Kuhak…!"
"Hup, you bastard!"
"Nice!"
"Idiots, you actually believed that?!"
Out of the ten blue-ring holders here, three—including the one who'd claimed same-colored rings didn't need to fight—attacked nearby examinees with weapons. Thanks to the surprise attack, three went down pathetically easily, leaving only four of us, including me. But right after, something went wrong with their movements. The three suddenly grabbed their throats, convulsing and collapsing. Without hesitation, I shot paralyzing poison arrows into their legs. The airborne powder-type drug worked instantly but also wore off quickly. It was wiser to finish them off fast rather than give them time to recover by dawdling.
Just like during the preliminaries, poison really is efficient when fighting against weaklings. Against proper mana users later on, ordinary poisons wouldn't even tickle, but at least in the early stages it was extremely useful. In truth, a poison this effective wasn't something you could easily obtain just by wanting it—but that also meant if you tried hard enough, you could get it. The stockpile I'd built up over two years by pouring money into it was still plentiful.
Besides, I've already thought of ways to use it later. Thinking that passing came first for that reason too, I spoke to Loto, whose face was flushed red as he covered his mouth and nose.
"You can get up now. The stuff I scattered should have all blown away in the wind."
"Hah! Hah! Hack! Cough!"
Keeping my weapon ready at any moment, I asked the remaining two, "So, what about you two? Want to keep going?"
The girl with dark green hair removed her sleeve from her mouth and said, "I'll pass. No point in getting marked by the Midas family for nothing. I don't want to end up eliminated like these people just because I made the wrong choice either. Ah, this might not be fair compensation, but can I take one of the blue rings from the six who fell?"
I shrugged. "What do I gain from giving it to you?"
The girl replied, "The reputation that even the infamous nouveau riche family's heir has the mercy to overlook a frail girl?"
"Not bad." I looked at the other one—a young man wrapped in clothing reminiscent of academic robes. He was extremely tall, with long arms visible between his loose sleeves. Gray curly hair, tanned skin. He had a sturdy build, yet his gaze was fixed on the book he held, his brow furrowed repeatedly.
"So, what about you?"
"……."
"Hey? Can you hear me?"
"……."
No good. The young man was completely absorbed in his book, seemingly unaware that a fight had just broken out around him. While I was debating whether to attack or not, the green-haired girl had already approached and grabbed his arm.
"Hey, can't you hear? What are you looking at so intently that you won't even answer?"
The gray-curled young man looked at the girl holding his arm with a serious expression. The atmosphere grew tense, like a philosopher facing an enormous dilemma, when he finally spoke.
"…I don't get it."
"What?"
"No matter how much I look at this sentence, I can't understand its meaning."
"……Give it here for a second. 「This sentence is false」? What is this? Of course you can't know the answer when there's no answer to begin with."
"Does that mean not knowing is normal? That I'm not ignorant?"
"How many things in this world have definite answers anyway? Just accept it and move on."
"Ooh, right—you can't give an answer to something that has none. Little sage! You've given me a great lesson!"
"Kyaa! What's wrong with this guy!?"
Watching the young man suddenly grab the green-haired girl's hand and bow repeatedly, I said to Loto, "Let's just leave them and collect the rings."
"Yes."
As expected, there were plenty of lunatics among those connected to the academy.
Shwaaaaak! Ligret didn't bother to block the greatsword strike coming down toward her face. She advanced forward while turning her body half a step to the left. The thrust coming from her right rear was deflected by the wall of the greatsword, and in that opening, Ligret's dagger grazed the back of the giant's knee. Immediately after, she twisted her upper body to dodge the spear aimed at her heart, then wrapped her arm around the spear shaft and secured it tightly. At her action, the man who'd thrust the spear laughed. He was confident he wouldn't lose in strength even if the girl—who was a head shorter than him—grabbed the spear with both arms and pulled. Trying to snatch it away with just one arm and upper body strength was foolish beyond belief.
I'll slam her straight into the ground! The man put his weight into swinging the spear he held with both arms, but right after, he experienced the sensation of his body floating up while still attached to the shaft. What kind of strength— By the time he decided to let go of the spear, it was already too late. The man's body, fluttering like a flag attached to the end of the pole, collided with the two attackers trying to follow up and rolled across the ground as one mass.
Whee-whoo, a whistling sound. In the melee that erupted right after the exam began, the dual-wielding swordsman offered words of admiration at Ligret, who had instantly subdued the four who'd attacked her.
"Impressive skill, miss. From what I can see, you didn't even reinforce yourself with mana, so how does that slender body produce such monstrous strength?"
After glancing at the other four examinees collapsed behind the dual-wielder, Ligret answered. "Adequate nutrition, intense training, and regular rest—that's what some corrupt employer said."
"Hmm, those are certainly important. But didn't they help much with your growth? Your face is to my taste, but the chest is a bit lacking."
"Not needed. It'd only get in the way when slicing up perverted sexual harassers like you."
"Hahaha! Well, I prefer that too since there's nothing to hold back when cutting!"
The man drew two blades from their sheaths, while Ligret stored her dagger in the thigh sheath, then pulled out a segmented spear folded into three parts from her waist and straightened it before gripping it. "Crow Vein. And you?"
"Ligret."
On the plain where eight dropouts lay fallen, the only two figures still standing on their own feet clashed fiercely, wielding silver weapons. It wasn't just the administrator Istal who had a reckless personality. Regardless of ring colors or rules, those hot-blooded enough to cut down anything in their way didn't need much time to start brawls throughout the exam grounds.