Chapter 155
Chapter 155
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 155
Chapter Title: How to Survive as the Second Son of a Magical Noble Family
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Of course, no matter how extreme the situation, it was only now that Team 5 had finally achieved the same level of balance as the other teams.
‘That side had it pretty easy up until now.’
All they had to do was run hard and then launch the victims from the flat plateau.
If anything, they should’ve been assigned two victims instead.
But Team 6?
Things were still heavily stacked against them.
Sure, there would be score adjustments, but the ones taking the test would be utterly bewildered.
Team 5 panicked for a moment, then quickly regained their composure.
[Daniel has to keep using fire right now.]
[So you’re saying we take out both 5th-graders at once?]
[No way. You trying to get us killed? Even pros struggle with a single 5th-grader on-site, and you want to attack two at the same time?]
‘Fair point.’
Leo stroked his chin, focusing on their conversation.
But it didn’t last long.
The sphere that had spotted someone was hurtling down from the summit toward the plateau at a breakneck speed.
The Team 5 leader bellowed.
[Four of you, split into pairs! Daniel and I will handle these and then join up!]
“Oh.”
“Wow~ That’s some impressive situational awareness. Not a single one falling off despite charging like that.”
“They gotta hurry, or the vitriol will splash all over the surrounding trees.”
“Team 6 just made it up there. Missing out on even one unique ability makes a huge difference, huh?”
“Man, so straightforward~”
Elias muttered beside him. He didn’t seem pleased that the students were praising Team 5.
A student sitting next to Leo asked Elias.
“Hey, got a better idea?”
“Yeah. Just toss that thing to another peak~”
“Think that’ll work?”
“…….”
Anyway, at this rate, Lucas’s team would have a hard time scoring higher.
Based on what they’d shown so far, Team 5 was at least as good as Team 6, if not better. It was thanks to their unique ability, but that counted as skill too.
Then, the Team 5 leader let out a scream.
[Aaack!]
“…?!”
“Whoa, that startled me.”
The Team 5 leader nearly tumbled down the slope.
He didn’t fully fall or get injured badly, so he’d take a minor deduction but wouldn’t be eliminated.
Elias cackled and pointed.
“Hey, look at that. They’re getting pushed back. Should’ve split into threes with their meh skills instead of twos and fours. Idiots?”
‘True, but splitting into threes would’ve been problematic too.’
Three people handling what six had been managing?
Tough job.
Anyway, Team 5 had slipped up a bit, giving Team 6 a chance to catch up.
But….
‘What exactly are they hoping to see here?’
He was asking the school.
No matter that the goal was self-preservation, things were getting increasingly messy. In terms of question quality, this was the weakest of the four exams so far.
If they just wanted to see magic skills under extreme pressure, there were way better ways than this.
He was starting to wonder if they really had to pick this location.
“Hey, they’re all bunching up now?”
Deciding to go with raw mana output, Team 5 had already regrouped into six and was responding to the victim.
Kwaaang—!
[Ack!]
[Don’t let your guard down! One more left!]
The Team 5 students barely launched one sphere.
But after sprinting up to the plateau, they’d burned through a ton of stamina and looked drained.
“What’s the school thinking? Going all out at the end.”
“The kids are gonna die….”
“Huh, uh!”
“Hey, what are we even supposed to do here~? They saw all the other teams go first since it’s last, so they’re cranking up the difficulty?”
Elias shook his head with a grin, like he was watching someone else’s house burn.
Team 6 had now reached the plateau too. Like Team 5 earlier, they looked baffled.
[Why really two?!]
[You got energy to yell?]
On screen, Lucas spoke to Philip in a flat voice.
‘Hmm… Would’ve been nice to see Lucas’s situational judgment in action beforehand.’
Recently, that is.
Even against other teams, he wasn’t showing off to me? Honestly, it was a bit ridiculous.
Of course, he knew Yulia’s strategy was to hide the team’s real tactician.
Overkill strategy, but habits die hard.
Someone trained to become king had to master disguising their most valuable card as unimportant.
‘…Hold on.’
Most valuable?
“No way….”
“What? Why?”
Leo shook his head at Elias’s question.
Hiding skills wasn’t a big deal in this exam, yet Yulia was going overboard telling Lucas to conceal every calculation?
He’d known Yulia for years, and their similar upbringings had made them close.
From what he knew of Yulia’s personality….
‘She might not plan to end this exam partnership here.’
Maybe she’d already marked Lucas as her political ally.
That’s why she’d minimize situations where he revealed his skills.
She probably figured anyone approaching Lucas wouldn’t stop at one or two if he showed off too much.
‘From my position, Yulia’s the one in that spot right now.’
Without even knowing what name Lucas had built for himself, she’d zeroed in on that potential perfectly. He wanted to applaud her eye for talent.
Leo crossed his arms and leaned back.
‘…If I’d been a few months later, I would’ve been in big trouble.’
No matter how much the Grand Duchy of Baden wanted to pull him in, Bavaria already had him.
At least one identity, anyway.
He hadn’t become friends over politics, but judging politically, it’d be a shame for him to miss out on a mage like this too.
If Yulia was playing it this way, he’d have to stay wary.
He knew from their shared kingly training: once they decided to claim something, they didn’t let go easily.
[Don’t attack. No magic. Just wait. They’ve probably sensed us anyway, so they’ll come down soon.]
Yulia’s voice came through.
[Let’s wrap this quick. Split up—one group with me, one with Lucas.]
Unlike Team 5, the Team 6 students on screen looked like corpses.
“Ugh…. Aren’t they freezing to death?”
“But they’re doing the same as Team 5.”
“No choice, right.”
Leo let the students’ chatter flow in one ear and out the other as he sank into thought.
‘It’s about time to step up.’
[No.]
Right on cue, Lucas spoke.
A faint smile crossed Yulia’s face.
* * *
“No.”
I expelled the chill filling my lungs as I spoke.
My ears and nose tip felt like they’d fall off any second.
“Gather them in one spot.”
“Gathering them could mean total wipeout, Lucas. To minimize damage, splitting the team is better, no?”
“Please.”
“…….”
Cherlingen smiled satisfactorily.
‘Cheeky….’
I had no intention of refusing anyway.
No energy for long talks either.
He must’ve been suspicious of Team 5’s unique ability too.
The school didn’t want brute force solutions.
They wanted to see how well they used background knowledge and ingenuity under extreme conditions.
Otherwise, it was too questionable for a problem from the Imperial Second Academy.
So we needed to exploit our environment more aggressively.
Cherlingen’s face turned serious again as he asked.
“What do I do?”
“Philip stays here. Split the remaining four into pairs with you, and herd the runaways coming down both peaks into one spot.”
The blizzard was kicking up, but the black smoke descending from afar was still visible.
“Got it. Melvin, follow me. Heike and Florian, head to the other peak.”
Cherlingen said that and dashed off into the distance.
“Hey… hey, Lucas! What’s your plan?!”
Left alone, Philip shivered, his face already purple.
I rubbed magic against the surroundings several times to generate heat.
“No time. But no time doesn’t mean….”
Might as well rack up points for the whole team while we’re at it.
I wasn’t the first to cast, so no deduction for me.
This would show the professors that all team members remembered their textbook knowledge.
That’d boost the team score too.
“Philip. You said you’ve searched ley lines before? Meaning you can map underground structures with your ability?”
“Y-Yeah!”
“Then use it on the ground here!”
“What?! Where are the ley lines here?! It’s all frozen!”
“You said it yourself earlier! Limestone, karst. Not getting it? Slept through science class?”
Philip’s friend muttered through the artifact.
[One slip-up and he’s getting chewed out multiple times….]
“Karst…?!”
[Ah.]
A short word from Cherlingen came from afar.
He’d caught on.
Melvin gasped, then yelled excitedly.
[He means doline, Philip! Textbook said this plateau’s karst terrain. And if not, there’s caves or limestone caves below, right? I think Lucas means find either…!]
Doline.
Classic natural feature in karst terrain.
Drilled into our heads in the 21st century and here too.
Basically a type of sinkhole.
Unlike what Philip had pointed out, Melvin hadn’t slept in science class.
‘Was aiming for a decent-sized underground cavity, not necessarily doline.’
Anyway, with the spheres rolling down from above, any pit in the ground or shallow-covered cavity would do.
I only had one way to use it.
“Philip.”
“Y-Yeah!”
He replied with a tensed-up voice.
“Find it. Trap their feet and take them out at once.”
* * *
[If it collapses wrong, pick a safe spot. Finish completely in 1 minute.]
Cherlingen burst out laughing unwittingly.
“Freezing our asses off and now textbooks…. They’re something else….”
Florian muttered incredulously as he followed.
Florian felt the same, which bruised his pride a bit, but he agreed.
Cherlingen smiled contentedly and charged toward the runaway.
Everyone thought the leader handled all strategies inside and out, but they were wrong. His role was to set the stage for specialists to shine.
‘Personally, I wanted to handle internal strategy too….’
Good thing he hadn’t.
Couldn’t be more successful.
He wanted to drop everything and study tactics with Lucas 24/7 right now.
“Lucas.”
[Yeah?]
“You’re the best.”
[…….]
Much later, Lucas let out a faint chuckle.
[Results aren’t out yet. Too early.]
Maybe, but this was the answer.
‘The exam’s designed to hinder unique abilities, so no favors to Team 5 now.’
Meant there was another solution independent of unique abilities that the school wanted.
Blizzard made everything white, hard to spot sinkholes, but magic could clear vision briefly.
Even without Philip’s ability, the natural environment was exploitable.
Would Team 5 do the same?
“Lucas, signal when you find the spot. I’ll adjust speed.”
[Got it.]
Kwaang—!
A rock-shattering sound echoed from afar.
Seemed they’d found an underground cavity, not a doline.
Cherlingen narrowed his eyes.
‘Sound of mud falling’s getting closer.’
The runaway was right ahead now.
He yelled back to Florian.
“Turning direction soon. Lure it after me!”
“Got it!”
Kwaang!
Cherlingen deflected the incoming attack and spun around. Through the blizzard afar, familiar red mana flickered.
‘At that distance….’
Position-wise, Heike and Melvin would arrive first. Only 2-3 seconds difference, but still.
“Heike, keep position and pass through. Philip, lay a barrier on the ground till team arrives, then clear it. Don’t relayer.”
[What! I’m the one crashing!]
[Understood.]
Philip’s panic was followed by Heike’s deadpan voice.
From 3rd Academy, expressionless, hard to read, but skills were trustworthy.
[Yulia, don’t be too late.]
“Got it.”
Cherlingen grinned and mana’d his legs.
[If you abide in me and my words abide in you.]
Lucas’s voice came through the artifact. Feeling chill rising from below ahead, Cherlingen twisted away.
Kwaang—!
The massive black mass turning direction slammed into the barrier.
Lucas lowered his wand skyward, switching to staff. Fiery mana wrapped it.
[Ask whatever you wish.]
Kwaaaang—! Peuruk—
Cherlingen winced unwittingly.
Explosion boomed, followed by mud splattering.
“…….”
Students stared at the still sphere, then at each other.
One or two started chuckling.
Piiik—
[23 minutes 35 seconds.]
[Exam end.]
* * *
[Exam end.]
The team that had been pushed back had now overtaken Team 5 and finished first.
The gym fell silent instantly.
“…Doline?”
“What the…?”
Laughter broke the quiet here and there.
Not negative. Just hadn’t expected a textbook concept here.
“…….”
Leo’s lip curled up.
Even just thinking ‘dig a pit trap’ would score the same points. Professors wanted that efficiency.
But more importantly, they’d actively used their environment.
Faint voices from 1st Academy profs watching above.
“Yeah, that’s the approach~ Worth making the question.”
“…….”
Professors made the exam?
Figures….
Anyway, finishing fast didn’t guarantee top rank.
Team 5 was still handling runaways, but lateness alone wouldn’t drop them.
Real results when the lid opened….
‘Team 5 losing isn’t the issue now.’
As he looked up at his teammates, Elias slung an arm over Leo’s shoulder.
“Didn’t your team have 1st locked? Prime candidate.”
“…Never.”
“What never? Talkative from the start.”
Elias grinned, whispering just for Leo.
“How’s it feel to lose?”