7. Midterms on a Deserted Island, as Expected
7. Midterms on a Deserted Island, as Expected
There's a phenomenon commonly known as the five stages of death, or the five stages of acceptance.
It is said that when someone is handed something like a terminal diagnosis—or is abruptly dumped on an uninhabited island in the name of an exam—they go through a total of five stages.
First is denial.
"No way, right? You're joking, right?"
"You expect us to survive a whole week with just this? All that's inside are a few useless-looking tools and some water?"
"There must have been some kind of mistake, don't you think? The ship's bound to come back any minute now. Even survival training shouldn't be this absurd."
Second is anger.
"Does this make any sense?! Turn the ship around this instant!"
"How are we supposed to last a week in a place like this! There aren't any dormitories or dining halls out here!"
"You think you can pull this kind of bullshit just because you call it an exam?!"
Third is bargaining.
"Just give me a low score, please, just let me take the regular exam instead!"
"No matter how you look at it, you can't survive with this! Give us something more, anything!"
"Do you know who my parents are?! Hey! Are you listening?!"
"Are they more impressive than the Chairwoman? Are you perhaps royalty?"
"................"
Fourth is depression.
"Hey, quit yelling already! What if the Chairwoman or an Exam Officer hears you!"
"Wait, this is real...? It's real? We're really supposed to survive on an uninhabited island?"
"Wh-what do we do...."
And the final stage.
"Ah, fuck it, I don't care. Hey, let's get moving."
"What? You're actually going through with this?"
"We've been standing here shouting and sniveling for an hour. If they haven't come back after all that, the answer's obvious. And honestly, isn't this an opportunity?"
"An... opportunity?"
"Can you seriously afford to just give up on midterms? It's one of the highest-weighted exams for the whole grade. The ones whining about not being able to do it—they'll just end up as the bottom feeders."
"......You're right."
"I'm nobility too, so part of me is pretty pissed off, but honestly, if we'd done this the normal way, I was locked into the lower standings anyway. I'm going to use this chance to score high."
"R-right! Let's go!"
"Let's do something!"
Acceptance: you simply come to terms with it.
An absurd situation had briefly left them wailing, but anyone admitted to Grandis Academy was a talent of considerable caliber. Most of the students grasped reality and scattered—some cursing the academy, others sniffing out opportunity.
Those who had formed teams pinned on the badges distributed in advance, while those moving solo struck up ad-hoc alliances or simply plunged into the jungle alone.
The Luftragina Archipelago had a sweltering climate, and the beach where the students had disembarked stretched endlessly, offering nothing to see beyond it but dense jungle.
In this extreme situation, every student—save the tiny handful who gave up entirely—began moving by whatever means they could think of.
Only then did the students grasp why teams had been required to consist of one martial artist, one mage, and one administration student.
"L-let's enter the jungle first."
"Milia? Do you have a reason?"
"It's probably fine for you, Sir Rus, but Her Highness and I won't last long under this blazing sun. If we sweat too much...."
"Ah, I see."
As a rule, the ones who studied martial arts, ki, or magic came from households with means, or from the nobility, or possessed considerable talent.
Accordingly, the martial arts and magic divisions had a very high proportion of aristocrats, while the administration division was overwhelmingly commoners.
And commoners generally had more practical survival knowledge than nobles.
Of course, no commoner possessed perfect survival knowledge for an uninhabited island, but it was far better than throwing together three aristocrats.
Rus, who seemed to have some knowledge of his own, added a comment.
"......We have to watch out for dehydration. There's water in the survival kit, but it's only enough to last a week if we drink the absolute minimum."
"It seems the academy did show a measure of consideration. With so many children of noble houses like myself, I suppose they decided to at least supply water."
".........It could also mean something else."
"Rus?"
"Maybe it's not out of consideration for us, but because finding drinking water on this island is extremely difficult—or the supply is scarce."
"Th-that's definitely possible. If the water source is small, then more than two hundred people drinking for a week would be a tall order, wouldn't it? The well in my village used to dry up often, so we always had to conserve...."
"Alright. Let's keep that in mind and head into the jungle to get out of the sun. It really has been stinging for a while now. But before that."
"Y-yes?"
"Hm?"
"Shouldn't we check the rules first? They said they'd display them in the sky, didn't they?"
Once they entered the dense jungle, it might be difficult to read the full rules in the sky.
Rus and Milia agreed with Beatrice's point and began reading through the rules overhead.
<Midterm Exam: Uninhabited Island Survival Rules>
<1. First, rely on the encyclopedia inside your survival kit. Not every plant or animal on the island is edible.>
<2. The use of force between students, including looting or eliminating competitors, is prohibited. Survival ability and hunting ability alone will be assessed.>
<3. Exam Officers and professors will generally be stationed outside the island or on its outskirts; the interior of the jungle will be monitored by autonomous familiars.>
<4. If you can endure no longer, come out to the beach and write the word SOS, or raise your voice loudly to call for help. Immediate disqualification will be confirmed, and you will be transported to a nearby port city.>
<5. Items helpful for survival are hidden throughout the island. Please make good use of them.>
<6. Keep an eye on the sky. There may be something other than the rules.>
"......I understand most of it, but what's with the third rule? Why are autonomous familiars only inside the jungle...."
"S-Sir Rus. I think... I might know."
"Milia? What's the reason?"
"Um, there are things like bathing... and restroom needs... and autonomous familiars lack intelligence—they only execute their pre-programmed commands... so...."
"Ah."
"Ah."
Beatrice realized in that moment that this survival exam would be far from easy.
Survival apparently wasn't simply a matter of willpower or passion; the loss of human dignity alone would likely drive quite a few to surrender.
At which point, Beatrice's and Milia's gazes naturally turned toward the team's sole male member.
"......Rus? Your eye is twitching—is something wrong?"
"N-no, nothing at all."
"Sir Rus, you wouldn't possibly be thinking of peeping or...."
"Such a thing will absolutely never happen. Right! Given our different sexes, we must of course bathe separately, indeed."
"Well, that's only obvious. Just what were you thinking...?"
Rus, after a visible fluster, had delivered the remark as though he'd just found the solution. The two women directed distinctly cool stares at him.
Inside Beatrice's mind especially, her estimation of Rus dropped another notch.
'Anyway, surviving for a whole week....'
For someone who had lived her life as a princess, this week was sure to be grueling. Even just considering the issues of bathing and restrooms already left her feeling daunted.
But.
'Even now, Adam is still working himself to the bone.'
Though when she thought about it, holding midterms this way might actually lighten the Finance Director's workload, at least a little.
There was no way Adam had proposed running the exam like this, and no way such a suggestion would have been accepted instantly—so this survival exam must have been planned long ago.
Even if this week was going to be a severe ordeal.
'I will definitely see it through.'
Unable to work in her capacity as a princess, she had hidden her identity with disguise magic and taken a part-time job—and only then did it truly hit her.
How utterly fanciful her own words had been, when she'd declared she would work, earn money, and buy an artifact herself. Adam must have known that, which was why he'd advised her to simply bring her jewelry and use that to purchase one.
She had taken for granted the wealth that came naturally with being a princess. The money earned through sweat was so very little.
Yet those few coins she'd earned by working felt heavier than that entire box of jewels.
On top of her part-time wages, Beatrice was aiming for a scholarship.
'He made good use of that bribe I gave him, right?'
If she could make Adam even happier that way. If she could be of help to him—someone who received so little proper treatment.
Then she could extract Adam from the clutches of that wicked Chairwoman, who worked people so ruthlessly!
'When I return to my homeland, I absolutely have to take Adam with me.'
Even putting aside that he was her benefactor who had solved her chronic illness, Adam's ability was peerless. No matter how hard he had studied, to perform as Finance Director of such a massive academy in a single year—that was remarkable. If he provided proper support, he would be a tremendous asset once she returned home.
And of course she would give him a luxurious room, a proper, generous salary, and not make him burn through military-grade stimulants just to work.
Inside Beatrice's head, the Chairwoman was the kingdom's wealthiest yet pettiest and greediest creature, and Adam was a pitiable victim slaving away under that vicious figure with none of the treatment he deserved.
She had already forgotten that the source of the method Adam had told her for curing her chronic illness was, in fact, the Chairwoman.
People naturally trust someone helping them in the moment and telling them the solution over a stranger they've never even met. And the truth, strictly speaking, was that it had been Adam, not the Chairwoman, who had ultimately given her the answer anyway.
In any event, Beatrice—who planned to win a scholarship with excellent grades and hand it to Adam to curry favor—
"Then, let's go!"
"Yes!"
"......Yes."
had all the motivation she needed to give her best, no matter how harsh or difficult the exam.
One week of survival on an uninhabited island.
Day one, begin.
*
The third day after the exam started. For me, that meant the third day of rest.
This is fucking wonderful.
"Chairwoman, how's the coconut?"
"Quite good. The puncture's a little rough, but it's sweet and pleasant."
"Isn't it. Whoever drilled the hole must have been venting some frustration."
I idly fingered the ragged puncture—whose origin I couldn't possibly explain. The Chairwoman and I cheerfully ate through the coconuts Kirke had delivered, the very picture of strained smiles.
These weren't, of course, the ones I'd requested (?) on the first day. We'd tried them, found them delicious, and I'd asked her to have some ready every morning.
The Chairwoman, who'd seemed a tad sulky, had perked right up once I'd egged her into trying the coconut, and now she ate them diligently.
Our prepared hut was, honestly, a bit cramped for staying inside all day. So we'd been lounging in the hammock for long stretches, though the sunlight was a bit fierce.
"Chairwoman, a little more if you would."
"Leave it to me!"
Vwoom.
The Chairwoman shaped her Rigid Energy and spread it open like a parasol, which solved the problem neatly. Is that stuff not omnipotent?
My cheek had been a little damp every time I woke up since the first day, but that was probably just from drooling in my sleep.
Waking up at ease after the first real deep sleep I'd had in ages, lying here comfortably munching sweet coconut—how should I put it.
"This is it."
"Sorry?"
"I work in order to enjoy this kind of life forever."
Once we're past the bankruptcy crisis, this kind of life awaits, right? I'll hire more Finance Department staff by the handful and offload all the work onto them. Then I'll laze around and play to my heart's content.
As a working adult, it's a thought that might be called impure, but honestly, considering my current workload and the problems I've had to resolve, isn't this just a natural reward?
I shot a look of agreement toward the Chairwoman lying next to me. She chuckled quietly.
"Well, of course. For the rest of your life—you'll be able to relax and enjoy yourself forever."
"The Chairwoman is, as expected, the greatest of superiors."
"Heh-heh, even knowing it's flattery, when it comes from my Finance Director, it still makes me smile. To a Finance Director, I'm the worst possible superior, aren't I."
"Well, that's...."
"It's alright. I felt so much lighter after we cleared the air up on the rooftop. If I'm being honest, I was never that smart a person."
".........."
"Swinging my arms and legs—that I'm confident in. Killing people... well, I'm confident in that too, though it's a bit of a thing to say. But living my whole life that way, I didn't exactly exercise my head. Looking back now, I really was ignorant back then. Someone like that founded an academy, so, well—I reaped what I sowed."
"Chairwoman."
"Still, even someone like me has a Finance Director I'm grateful for—one willing to follow where I lead. So I'll work even harder to go from worst to best."
......I'm glad she'd arrived at this realization through honest self-reflection. Because even for me, saying something like that to her face would've been difficult.
Anyway, enough of that. Right now, let's just enjoy the break.
We'd more or less finished the coconuts. Should I call Kirke for another round? As I was mulling it over—
──Thud.
"Hm?"
"That tremor just now...?"
This island was also part of the Luftragina Archipelago, but it ought to have been a fair distance from the island where the students were taking their exam.
Still, the vibration we'd barely felt was enough to make me and the Chairwoman sit up from the hammock.
Vwoom! Vwoom!
"Oh? The communication magic tool is...."
──F-Finance Director! This is Exam Officer Darcun! You instructed us to contact you immediately if any situation outside expectations occurred, so I am contacting you!
"This is Finance Director Adam Caines. Exam Officer Darcun, what has happened?"
──A problem has erupted on Island Four!
Island Four? Wait, that's the island where Kirke is.
Don't tell me she's pulled something again.
"Report in detail, Exam Officer Darcun."
──It happened only moments ago, so I am hurrying to assess the situation myself, but based on what I've witnessed...!
"Based on...?"
──Trees are being uprooted from the center of the island, accompanied by a massive shockwave!
"......Excuse me?"
──It is not a natural phenomenon; we believe it is combat between students! And when we gauged the scale of mana or ki, it appears to be a clash between students of at least 5th Rank!
Combat between students was prohibited by the rules. But right now, the rules weren't the problem.
What mattered was Exam Officer Darcun's assessment that this was a clash of students at the 5th Rank or higher.
And the students assigned to Island Four who were at or above 5th Rank numbered only three.
'Beatrice, who can't even really be called 5th Rank.'
The youngest-ever knight, who'd just reached the threshold of 5th Rank, and.
"Rus Spero...."
"Finance Director, shall I move?"
"......It looks like we'll have to."
Ordinarily, the professors and Exam Officers could handle most situations, but if Rus was involved, the equation changed entirely.
He was under restriction, true, but he was a 6th Rank fighter, stronger than most of the Exam Officers—and he'd already once flouted those very restrictions during the entrance ceremony, as if to show he could.
Since I'd inserted a clause that if he violated his restrictions and caused financial damage, I would personally conduct the disciplinary interview, confirming the situation myself took priority.
'It might not be Rus; it could be that youngest knight or Beatrice.'
The weakest of my Financial Destruction Four Heavenly Kings—who snapped several expensive practice swords every day—and the reformed (or so I'd thought) Building Destroyer, whose resume of property damage was spectacular.
Honestly, it would be understandable no matter which one had caused the incident.
"Please handle the movement, Chairwoman."
"Leave it to me!"
CRACK-A-BOOOOOM!!!
With a violent explosive roar, the Chairwoman scooped me into her arms and launched herself with staggering leg-strength.
I exhaled a sigh.
'A peaceful rest is apparently too much to ask for.'
Still, I'd gotten a few solid days of real rest, so I'd call that fortunate. Resolve this quickly, then come back and relax.
But seriously, there's no practice sword here, no wall, no building—so what the hell...?