Lecture Observation (3)
"Flora, how far is it to the target point?"
"About 1.5 kilometers."
The practice group that had gathered around Ayla quickly fell into formation and sprinted off at a speed that made it hard to believe they'd just met.
Ayla drew up as much Mana as she could and continuously cast Scan.
She could now detect a 500-meter radius, but she didn't stop.
"Gilbert, Camilla! There’s something I need you to do until we get there. Is that okay?"
"Just tell us what you need!"
Immediately, Ayla heated her Mana Circuit and attempted to expand the scanning range.
"I’m going to expand Scan’s range."
"How far are you thinking?"
"It's about five hundred meters right now, so up to one kilometer!"
"Is that even possible?"
Ayla chuckled at Gilbert's bewildered question.
Using her own Mana Circuit as the axis, she drew Gilbert and Camilla into the calculation.
The Scan spell Ayla had been handling alone changed immediately.
"What is this?"
"Is this Ayla's Mana Circuit?"
Almost unbelievably, they could feel the Scan range expand to one kilometer.
Ayla utilized her Mana Control to its fullest, striving to prevent any red afterimages from showing in the dark of the night.
The others watching seemed surprised by something they'd never seen before, but—
"Huff... huff..."
"Can't we stop and rest after just a little more?"
With the exception of the four running crew members, their stamina was lacking, and they were growing exhausted one by one.
To survive Karon's exercise, they had to keep running without rest, leaving them too exhausted even to speak.
Even the strange red glow sparkling around Ayla's body wasn't enough to draw a reaction from them.
Flora, who had taken overall command, glanced swiftly at the formation and clicked her tongue briefly.
"Let's take a break at the safest spot we can find."
"Where's that?"
"About three hundred meters ahead, there's the center of the forest. If you go right from there, there's a large rock."
Flora exchanged words with Ayla and revised the plan in real time.
Simultaneously, she scanned the surrounding terrain once more.
'It really is the mountain behind the academy, just like the boss said.'
She had mapped the mountain behind the academy—one of the Empire's key sites—long ago.
Because of this, they would hold a terrain advantage, which would make for a favorable fight, but something felt strange.
'Why do I feel like I've missed something important?'
If he wanted to teach small-unit movement, he should have chosen harsh terrain like the Northern Region of the Continent.
Fear came from unfamiliar places, not familiar ones.
"Terror...?"
In that moment, Flora sensed a dangerous presence climbing up her spine.
She reconsidered why Karon had deliberately chosen this exact location and time.
Why the academy's back mountain?
To make them let their guard down through familiarity.
If so, why the nighttime?
To obstruct their vision as much as possible.
At that instant, Flora's gaze turned toward Ayla.
"Did you find the instructor's location?"
"I just detected something strange in the center. The Mana Fluctuation is faint.... Could it be?"
"...It's the instructor."
"Wh-what?"
Flora, who had observed Karon for the longest time, realized what his next move would be.
By now, he should have revealed himself, but for some reason, he was waiting still in the very center of the forest.
And he could have hidden it cleanly, yet had deliberately let mana leak out to fall within their detection range.
To anyone else, it would have looked as though he were merely pretending to block their path.
"Then, shouldn't we detour around the center?"
"No. It's no use."
"Why? What do you mean?"
"Because an attack is coming soon."
At this completely incomprehensible answer, Ayla stared at Flora like someone struck dumb.
Conversely, Flora's expression grew darker by the second.
'I have to block this?'
Despite being basic magic, the spell could pierce Defensive Magic with tremendous force and strike only its intended target.
In the past, as the price for having gotten on the bad side of an 8th-level Karon, three out of four of Chimera's avatar bodies had vanished without a trace.
'Even with the Artifact limiting the boss to Level 5, the damage will still be enormous.'
If she didn't block it right here and now, very few people in their group would survive.
Then even the chance to achieve the victory condition would vanish.
Flora urgently looked back and shouted.
"Anyone who isn’t doing anything, cast Defensive Magic now! Whatever happens, keep it up!"
"Wh-what's going on?"
A male student who didn't know the situation asked Flora the reason while gasping for breath, but—
"Do it right now if you don't want to die!"
"Uh, o-okay... got it!"
At Flora's shout, the remaining students cast Defensive Magic with uneasy expressions.
Flora immediately drew her favorite sword and gathered every last bit of mana.
With Mana Control far cleaner than before, she imbued the blade with a deep cold energy.
Then she took her first step into the realm of a Swordmaster, which began to reveal itself at Level 6.
The cold energy blanketing the surroundings rapidly froze mana on contact.
Then, as if time had stopped, Flora's world slowed to a crawl.
Only then did the attack trajectory become visible to her eyes.
A compressed wind was flying precisely toward her.
But as if this alone wasn't enough—
'Left? Right? No, it's coming from every direction.'
Karon's tests always presupposed an extreme situation.
She realized he had wanted to test how far her Mana detection had developed now that she was Level 6.
"Naturally, I have to live up to your expectations."
Flora steadied her breath and adjusted her grip on the sword.
She kicked off the ground and leaped forward like a lightning bolt.
Her blade tip, cleaving the air, cleanly sliced through Karon's first attack.
Then.
Using the recoil, she twisted her body lightly.
A faint trajectory flashed past in that fleeting instant.
Feeling her body grow as light as a feather, the second attack aiming for her flank was stopped by her graceful rotation.
But there was no time to rest.
Sensing the final attack behind her, Flora ducked instinctively and swept her sword backward, slowing it down.
Claaang!
The compressed wind clashed against steel, producing a thunderous roar.
Even so, she poured all her strength into eliminating the wind that pushed forward without losing force.
"...I suppose that finishes my Level 6 initiation?"
Having covered every blind spot, Flora's eyes glinted coldly.
Since it was a technique she was trying for the first time, there were shortcomings, but she would grow accustomed to it gradually.
Now, all that remained was to brace for the aftermath.
Since she had ordered the others to cast Defensive Magic, all they had to do was withstand the shockwave.
And just like that, Flora's time gradually sped back up.
BOOM!
An enormous blast, strong enough to snap trees, struck from all directions in an instant.
The Defensive Magic they had cast in advance minimized the damage.
And so, staring at the area around Ayla, which had been scoured clean without a single blade of grass left—
"Is this the kind of thing you normally learn?"
"Are you crazy? We've never done anything like this before!"
"Haha, so there is a reason you get strong..."
Gilbert and Leon reacted as if utterly dumbfounded.
Afterward, the observing students, who had some remaining mana but whose stamina had hit rock bottom, collapsed to the ground.
At that moment, Karon, who had been waiting for this, appeared, holding an attendance sheet in one hand.
"Looks like there wouldn’t have been any survivors. I’ll give you a quick evaluation and wrap things up."
He carefully examined the nightmarishly destroyed area and the state of the students, then nodded.
"Flora, you pass. Aside from your technique still being rough when you blocked the attack, there’s nothing in particular to criticize."
"Thank you."
Karon's gaze then shifted to Ayla.
"Ayla, you pass too. You used Scan well, and you even managed to cast Defensive Magic on Flora in that split second."
At those words, Flora's eyes sparkled.
Ayla fiddled with her hair and pursed her lips.
"Hmph, I was afraid you might get hurt..."
"You really are the best friend!"
"Eep!"
Flora beamed a radiant smile and hugged Ayla like a teddy bear.
The corners of Karon's mouth lifted slightly as he watched them.
"Finally, Gilbert and Camilla...."
Karon tapped the attendance sheet lightly and spoke.
"You pass. Your cooperation was good, and you met the benchmarks I had in mind exactly."
After that, Karon gave the dazed visiting students detailed advice on what they needed to improve.
The lesson went on so long that several students ended up forgetting about their next class.
* * *
After the lecture ended, when I saw Welton running over, out of breath, I was certain the proposal had hit its mark.
He handed me a letter envelope and briefly relayed the higher-ups' opinion.
'You will have only one chance.'
Afterward, guided by a knight who had followed Welton, I was escorted to an interrogation room in the underground level of the knight order's headquarters.
The letter stated that if I obtained the information the Empire needed within ten minutes, the Artifact restriction would be raised to Level 6.
'Ten minutes is nothing.'
Honestly, I’d expected them to give me five minutes at most because the Imperial officials hated loosening my restrictions. Ten minutes was a surprise.
It seemed Chimera's refusal to talk even under torture had worked in my favor.
To think Demons would be useful for something besides reducing my prison sentence.
Anyway.
Under the strict surveillance of the knight, I descended the mossy, gloomy stone staircase and was briefed on the situation.
"That bastard has no intention of opening his mouth, no matter what we do. It's to the point where the torturers are shaking their heads."
"Have you tried Holy Water or a Holy Relic?"
"We did, but he struggled desperately to die, so we halted it."
"It really made up its mind."
Our Chimera had really steeled itself.
It was clearly determined to hold out by any means necessary and eventually feed them false information.
Well, it's useless against me either way.
Because I knew what that thing was hiding.
"Here it is."
When we arrived underground, a knight and a mage who were already on standby unlocked a lock composed of three devices and opened the door.
Creeeak.
An interrogation room drenched in bright-red blood.
Chimera came into view, bound in chains, its head hung low.
It was so committed to its act that it didn't even bother to check who I was.
So I returned to the very beginning and started with a light self-introduction.
"Stalling for time here won't solve anything."
At the sound of my voice, Chimera flinched.
As its body trembled from the imprinted terror, the chains clashed together with a chilling sound.
I dragged over a chair that had been placed in the corner and sat down in front of it.
"It’s been a while, hasn’t it?"
I lifted Chimera's battered, torture-covered chin and met its eyes.
"Ah, aah... Euhh... Why? Why? Why the Empire?"
Its eyes were filled with terror.
The composure it had unconsciously displayed was gone.
Yes. This was why interrogations were worth it.
It would've been no fun if it had stayed quiet.
Chimera writhed, screaming at the top of its lungs toward the door until its voice went hoarse.
"F-Fuck.... I’d rather have the Inquisitor, so please...! Huh? You pieces of shit!"
"No. Not happening."
Silence Magic filled the interrogation room.
From this moment on, we had ten minutes to have an in-depth conversation.