The Great Robbery of the Third Years

"Haa, can't be helped. Casting, Bullet." Robert muttered. Mana coalesced, and a mana bullet was loaded. However, the first attack was blocked quite helplessly, to my surprise.

"Spell Jamming!!" The fat third-year student on the right shouted, raising his staff. An intense wave of mana disrupted Robert's mana flow. The cast spell lost its power and vanished.

"Oh?" The muscular, obnoxious-looking senior in the center chuckled. With a scar over his eye, I couldn't tell if he was a bandit or a mage.

"Hah. Did you really think you could beat us?" The lanky, tall guy next to him used a spell. "In Code, Paralyze!"

A net made of mana-formed electricity. I activated my Dragon's Eye to its maximum and observed the spell. Just before it was cast, the magic circle broke apart as if it were being dismantled in a specific pattern. The center where the mana gathered was twisted, making it difficult to disrupt.

'I've seen something similar before.'

It was the second spell Karnarof used when the first one didn't work. Of course, even with my current skills, I couldn't even interpret that one. But these guys weren't Karnarof.

If it was just mimicking a mechanism I'd seen once, I could do it too. "In Code, Shield." A protective barrier unfolded normally before my eyes.

"What! A first-year using encryption!?"

"Teaching basic magic is supposed to be forbidden!"

"You... you even learned encryption?"

Even Robert forgot the situation and stared at me. Well, even so, it wasn't something to be used without practice. The casting speed was much slower than standard basic magic. But this wasn't the only card I had to play.

"Robert, try using magic one more time."

"If I use it without a countermeasure, I'll just get jammed again."

"Stop whining and follow me."

They were third-years hunting first-years. Their skills might not be top-tier, but they had learned more than us. If that was the case, I had to be prepared to use everything I had.

"Casting, Bullet!"

The fat one, whose jamming effect had just worn off, raised his staff to cast again. I wouldn't let him.

'Ride the Wind.'

"Spell Ja—ugh!"

Spell Jamming didn't seem to have any effect other than blocking magic. "Then, what can you do if I get close?"

"Herald!!" The scarred senior shouted.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Damn it, an all-rounder? In Code, Shield!" He hurriedly tried to deploy a shield, but my hand was already holding a staff instead of a sword.

"Casting Bullet, Explode."

"What kind of activation speed is—!"

—BOOM!

The scarred senior collapsed with his hair frizzed up. I approached the lanky senior with a friendly smile. "Now, customer, it's time to settle the bill."

"W-wait! I'll give you all the herbs I gathered! I'll give you everything...!"

"Senior, what did I say earlier?"

"Everything you have... hey, no way. You're not serious, are you? Junior?" The senior backed away, sweating profusely.

"Why are you like this? Isn't it a senior's virtue to be generous to their juniors?"

"No, not the magic tools and the flag, anything but those!!!"

He ran for his life, but I easily caught up with a light leap. "It's okay. When you wake up from your nap, it'll all be over."

The pain and the misery would all be gone. Of course, so would your clothes and magic tools. And that flag you mentioned, too. I raised my staff.

"Sp-Spell Jamming!!" He attempted to jam me. A wave of mana erupted from his staff.

"In Code Bullet, Explode."

But I had already understood the core of the encryption. To an opponent who was already terrified, it didn't matter how slow my casting speed was. A localized explosion occurred right beneath his feet.

"You should have used a shield." His consciousness cut off there.

"You're a vicious one..." I looted all the magic tools the seniors had painstakingly prepared and shoved them into my inventory.

...And many other supplies. I shouted with a wide grin. "Yeah, this is the good stuff!!" Then, I turned to Robert with a dissatisfied look. "But why won't you let me take their staves?"

"Confiscating a staff is tantamount to a declaration of war against their family. Do you think everyone replaces their staff several times a year like you do?"

"Weren't they consumables?"

"There's a limit to what you call a consumable."

Then we opened the herb bag. This was effectively the main event. "Robert."

"What is it?"

"Look at this."

"They said the third-year exam started four hours early. I didn't think ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠they'd have collected this much."

The herb bag was overflowing. We looked at each other and nodded. We decided to change our target from herbs to third-years.

It wasn't like we moved without any plan. Before setting a concrete strategy, we checked our strength against theirs. "Given their skill level, they're at the level where they could qualify as 3-Rank Mages in the Empire."

We thought back to the scarred senior and the others. Robert, an elite first-year, wasn't much help, and I only won by exploiting the weaknesses of mages—hand-to-hand combat and psychological warfare. But the rewards were sweet.

"Once you're here, it makes no sense not to rob the third-years."

If you put items in your inventory, there's no risk of them being taken even if you're caught and searched by third-years. Zero risk, high return. It was truly an environment optimized for a big score! Also, this was a mountain full of tall trees. I could climb them to secure aerial mobility and wait out of sight for an ambush. It was the perfect environment for me to shine.

"But what's this flag?"

"It seems to play an important role in the third-years' scores."

"Then let's steal that too."

Wouldn't we get points if we turned it in at the reception desk? Now, it was time to execute the plan. "So, do you have a plan?"

"Yeah. You're going to be the bait."

"...What?" Robert doubted his ears, but the picture was already painted in my mind.

Robert was playing the role of the bait, holding a bulging herb bag and muttering in dissatisfaction. Of course, there wasn't a single valuable herb inside. Then, he ran into third-year students who were targeting other students. The seniors targeting students were mostly low-to-mid tier.

'The top-tier students are mostly deep inside, so I don't even see them.'

But for lost first-years, even they were a handful. As soon as they saw Robert, they licked their lips with hyena-like eyes. In reality, they were lanky and tall, and their attire was sloppy.

"Heh heh heh, a cute first-year."

"We'll have to take you to the entrance. We'll take that bag as a reward, heh heh heh."

Approaching with a laugh that looked like a villain's, the seniors cornered him. Robert acted the part of a terrified student quite well. "Wait...! Seniors! You can't do this! My younger siblings at home are starving...!" Robert hugged the bag as if it were precious. He acted better than I thought. That guy was actually enjoying this.

"A bag that precious? I can't wait to see what kind of treasures are inside!"

"Hand over that bag! In Code..."

At that defenseless back—

—WHOOSH!!

"GAAAAAAH!!!"

A force far exceeding the physical power of an average hunter slammed into him. I, who had been up in the tree, had ridden the wind and delivered a dropkick as if I were being sucked into his back.

"Wh-what is this!! Magic!? In Code... ugh!!!" The remaining guy tried to chant a spell while looking at me.

"You're too slow."

I immediately turned and struck his gut with the flat of my sword. Where is there a mage who allows a swordsman to get close? Though, I am a mage.

"How many is this?"

"The fifth one."

"Has it already been that many?"

We had been robbing third-years with this tactic for a while. No matter how low-tier they were, third-years were still third-years, and Area A was still Area A.

"Heh heh heh, my lovely herbs..." I could get a few dozen gold coins if I sold the artifacts too. If I had sold the staves as well, it would have been hundreds of gold, but anything beyond that level was no joke. According to Robert, it could trigger a territorial war. I had to milk this world for more, so I couldn't touch those.

"At least a perfect score is guaranteed." Even if we only selected a fraction of the herbs we had, Robert and my grades would be perfect.

"Ugh, it's not even half full yet."

"Are you talking about the capacity of your unique magic? It's quite vast."

"Yeah."

It wasn't actually unique magic, though. Anyway, I used Robert as bait to rob the easy third-year seniors. Then, I used a combination of Dragon's Eye and Observation Eye to quickly pack up and run if it looked like top-tier students were coming. If I met a top-tier senior using tricky unique magic with my current specs, I'd get robbed myself. Actually, they were just relatively weak among the third-years, but that was the position of a third-year at Rainhart, a four-year academy.

"You're the only one who would call third-year seniors 'easy'." Robert sighed. Well, I wouldn't have even tried if I couldn't handle hand-to-hand combat.

"But I don't see them well anymore."

They were falling for it until a while ago, but now almost no teams were falling for the bait tactic. What's going on? Just then, a sound came from somewhere.

"Form a formation!" Under someone's command, the third-years were setting up a formation.

"Tsk, this is troublesome." Whoever it was, they seemed to be using their head. Looking down from the tree with Observation Eye, their individual capabilities weren't very high. They were the ones I had been targeting. But the number was the problem. There were over thirty third-years gathered. I saw quite a few who had been robbed by me, too. Since third-years learned jamming, even if just five of them moved together, the chance of winning dropped significantly. After all, I had only won earlier by inducing carelessness and then ambushing them.

Robert shook his head. "Hmm, the situation has become unfortunate. Shall we start retreating? Oh, don't forget that 20% is my share. I must be rewarded for my excellent acting."

"Wait."

"Do you want to watch more? It's ridiculous. To be that scared of a mere first-year."

"No, that's not it. In this case, just... can't we just push through?"

I found a High-Grade Mana Potion in my inventory. To use this, I needed to replenish mana immediately.

"...What on earth are you planning to do..."

I pulled out a token that glowed with a golden light.

"That's... a catalyst for summoning magic?"

"Watch closely."

I rode the wind and climbed a tree near the formation. They were busy gathering herbs while keeping an eye on their surroundings. Even though the robbery rule existed, they were cooperating. But. They wouldn't expect this.

"Come. Leokan."

—BOOOOOOM!!!!

With a roar that shook the mountain, a giant the size of a house landed, kicking up dust. The seniors' eyes popped out. I drank a bottle of Isabel's potion. Now the manifestation time increased to about 10 seconds.

"Wh-wh-what is that!???"

"This wasn't in the exam content!!"

"C-calm down! The opponent is an examiner! They would never demand an unreasonable task from us!!"

What are they talking about? I'm not an examiner. That means it doesn't matter if I demand an unreasonable task. I jumped lightly from Leokan's back and gave the order.

"Do it, Leokan."

"Yes. My liege!"

Leokan stomped his feet.

—THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP!!!

With a cheerful smile, the giant began to charge.

"GAAAAAAH!!!"

"RUN AWAAAAAAY!!!"

Dust and screams scattered everywhere.