An Unexpected Entrance
I was completely stunned by the appearance of people I hadn't anticipated at all. Who could have predicted that those three would show up here?
No, maybe they came for a completely different reason.
Just in case, I approached the three of them and asked,
“May I ask what brings the three of you here?”
“Hm? Oh, we were chosen too.”
Sherry answered with a sly smile. At the same time, Lillia added to her words.
“We received an invitation from the transfer students over there. Isn’t that right, everyone?”
“Y-yes! That’s correct!”
“Yes, it is!”
“Exactly! That’s right!”
At Lillia’s question, the remaining transfer students nodded their heads vigorously while breaking out in cold sweats. Their faces looked far too terrified to claim they had simply been “invited.” From a third-party perspective, it would be completely believable to say they had been forcibly threatened.
“Hmm, so that’s how you’re going to play it.”
Aria narrowed her eyes while watching their behavior. Sparks seemed to fly between the female group and Aria.
-Crackle!
This was no joke. Worried I might get caught in the crossfire, I quietly stepped away from them. Suddenly, someone clapped their hands.
“Everyone, please pay attention.”
At those words, all our heads turned in that direction. There stood the archery professor, the elf Illya, with her arms crossed. Ignoring our reactions, she continued.
“I’ll only explain once, so listen carefully. This transfer exam will be a mana orb collection test.”
“Mana orb collection?”
“Yes. We have hidden several mana orbs across this island. Your final grade will be determined by who possesses the most orbs by the time the test ends. Any questions?”
“I have one~”
Lillia raised her hand with a relaxed expression. She then asked,
“How long is the test duration?”
“Hmm, three hours.”
“May I ask one more question?”
Illya nodded. Luden tilted his head with a puzzled voice.
“You said you hid mana orbs on this island, but honestly, is it even possible to find them in such a vast area?”
“There’s no need to worry. Since they are mana orbs rather than ordinary ones, finding them won’t be difficult as long as you can sense mana.”
“Professor, I have a question too.”
Sherry raised her hand high. When Illya looked at her as if to say ‘go ahead,’ she asked in an extremely serious tone.
“Is interference allowed?”
At that question, everyone’s eyes focused on Illya. With an expressionless face, she answered.
“Yes, it is allowed.”
The moment I heard her answer, I instinctively knew. The female group would definitely interfere.
After a few more questions, the transfer student exam finally began.
Once the test started, everyone moved quickly. Perhaps they had no intention of interfering from the very beginning? Fortunately, the female group focused on collecting mana orbs first.
Just as I was feeling relieved—
-Whoosh.
Suddenly, pure white smoke engulfed Aria and me. From within the smoke came Lillia’s annoying voice.
“I’m sorry. Baran, it looks like I’ll have to interfere this time~”
With those words, she leisurely walked away. As expected of an illusionist. She started obstructing us with illusions right from the beginning.
But to me, who possessed Mind’s Eye, this was nothing. Just to be safe, I turned my head toward the Saintess.
“Saintess, are you alright?”
“Ah, yes. I’m still fine for now.”
“This fog is most likely made of illusion magic. So please don’t let go of my hand.”
“Okay!”
She nodded energetically and grabbed my hand. I quickly activated Mind’s Eye. Beyond the fog, the real path appeared, not an illusion.
Seems like they were trying to keep us completely stuck here.
Thinking that, I tried to lead the Saintess forward. But at that moment—
“Baran. May I handle this myself? When I think about it, this is our exam as transfer students. If I only receive help like this, I don’t think I’ll get a good score.”
“Hmm.”
She was right. The professors were probably watching this situation from the waiting room. If her partner interfered too much, her score could be heavily deducted. Since I had an obligation to get her into Class A, I should trust her here.
“Understood.”
With those words, Aria gripped her staff tightly. Soon after, she began radiating divinity.
-Whooooosh!
Pure white divinity poured out from her body. Just being near it gave a warm feeling. It wasn’t just me who felt that way—Miroel, who had no physical body, let out a gasp of admiration.
Her talent is on par with Janne’s. For me to feel the divinity like this…
As I watched from the side, she slammed her staff into the ground. The next moment—
-Flash!
The divinity that had been pouring out completely erased the fog before our eyes. What? How did she do that? Even with Mind’s Eye, I couldn’t tell what she had done. I quickly asked her.
“How did you dispel the illusion magic?”
“Oh, it’s simple. I just released an overwhelming amount of divinity, and it disappeared.”
“…….”
She just brute-forced it? What the hell.
“I-I see. Anyway, we shouldn’t waste time. Let’s hurry and find the orbs. The other groups have already gone ahead.”
“Yes!”
With that, we quickly moved to search for the mana orbs.
Although we were hindered by Lillia at the start, this test was overwhelmingly advantageous for us. Setting strength aside, what special trait did Baran possess? It was none other than Mind’s Eye. Finding mana orbs was as easy as lying down and eating rice cakes for him.
When I found another orb, Aria next to me was genuinely impressed.
“Wow. You really find them incredibly fast?”
“Ahahaha, even though I can’t see what’s in front of me, my other senses are quite sharp.”
“That’s amazing. Just like when you saved me before. You really are incredible, Baran. Most people would fall into despair if they had the penalty of being blind.”
“It’s just that I can see other energies and auras. If not for that, I would be just like everyone else.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, it is. So I’m not that amazing of a person.”
“Hmm.”
Aria narrowed her eyes at my words and added,
“Usually, the people who say things like that are the truly amazing ones.”
“Ahahaha, you’re mistaken. By the way, this is unexpected.”
“Yes?”
“Hmm, to be honest, I thought the others would come to interfere.”
About two hours had passed since the test began. Only about one hour remained. According to the mana bracelet for this test, two people were overwhelmingly in first place. I had thought they would definitely come to interfere, but…
They’re not coming.
While Baran and Aria were wondering about it—
“Haa, this won’t do.”
Meanwhile, the female group had gathered and were seriously discussing their strategy. They had also collected mana orbs as quickly as possible. However, for some reason, Baran was collecting them even faster. From their perspective, it was incredibly frustrating.
“It seems Baran’s other senses are extremely sharp, so he’s finding them faster.”
“That makes sense. He did mention before that he could see mana.”
“Ugh. There’s no choice. We’ll have to execute the second plan, right?”
At Sherry’s words, Luden and Lillia put on determined expressions. Then, the two of them slowly nodded their heads at the same time.
“You all heard the plan, right? Transfer students?”
“Uh, y-yeah.”
“Then let’s go interfere right now.”
With Lillia’s words, the female group headed toward Baran.
A short while later—
Hmm?
The female group appeared in Baran’s field of vision. It seemed they had realized that the Saintess would enter Class A at this rate and had come to interfere.
Why are they going this far to interfere?
Feeling dumbfounded inside, Baran shifted his gaze and spoke.
“Saintess. Get ready. They’re here.”
“Yes.”
Hearing that, the Saintess nodded with an extremely serious expression. However, contrary to expectations, the three didn’t come out from the forest. It looked like they were observing how the two would move.
“Hmm. Baran, may I be a little rude for a moment?”
“Pardon?”
At Aria’s sudden words, Baran tilted his head in confusion. Then Aria smiled sweetly and apologized in advance.
“I’m sorry beforehand.”
The next moment, as if she had been waiting for this exact instant, she brought her face close to Baran’s. Thankfully, it was only their faces that got close. But since the three were quite far away, they couldn’t see the details clearly.
Perhaps that was why—
“Kill that witch!!!”
“Execute the witch!”
“How dare she try to seduce him?”
A vast amount of mana erupted from the middle of the forest.
And so, the first-ever catfight had begun.