Is This a Good Thing?
White Ghost came toward me.
She was clinging to that expressionless face of hers, but her perked ears and her tail told another story entirely. With her whole body, White Ghost was making her delight at seeing me abundantly, unmistakably clear.
I used the Silent Killing Method so that only she could hear my voice, then spoke to her.
"What brings you here?"
"Decided to stay at the Academy."
She explained that she was handling security for the freshmen during this Treasure Selection period — that was why she was here.
At White Ghost's little signal to keep moving slowly forward, I drifted naturally to the very back of the student group and kept my distance.
"Um, I have a question."
"Mm."
"Do I... need to return the Ember?"
If she'd come all the way to the treasure vault to talk me into handing it over, I wouldn't have much choice.
"Don't worry. Mom took care of everything."
White Ghost gave a crisp thumbs-up.
From the scraps of explanation she offered, she and Baba Yaga had negotiated with the Academy to stay on, and the Ember had been written into that deal.
"Mm. Tiss worked hard to get it."
Having said that, she kept glancing my way, as if she were waiting for something. Her face was as blank as ever, but every little movement of her body was loaded with intent.
Suspecting what it was, I said it just as I felt it.
"...Thanks, Mom."
Y-you actually said it?
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Her face was still expressionless, but at that single word White Ghost's tail started swinging left and right twice as fast as usual.
T-this person... wow. She's incredibly honest.
Shan watched White Ghost with open interest. Compared to how she'd been grumbling only a moment ago about not liking her, the venom had drained right out. At this rate, she'd be falling for White Ghost's looks any day now.
Yeah — even if she said she didn't like her, when the bishoujo of her ideal type was walking around right in front of her, what was she supposed to do? No need to worry about the two of them not getting along.
"Huh...? Unnie, what are you doing?"
"Angel-nim, what are you doing?"
"It's nothing. Let's go."
Sia had apparently found it strange that I was lingering at the very back; she and Dorothy came up behind me. White Ghost, wearing a faint smile of satisfaction, didn't speak to me again. After that she walked with us, casually keeping a few steps off to my side — never closer, never farther.
S-she's kinda like a stalker. It's a l-little much.
Come on, think a little more generously. We've got a legendary Hero party member stuck to us as a bodyguard, you know.
Ugh... Tiss, you might unconsciously feel safe because you're the same species, but for my species' survival instinct, th-that's a little hard.
While I was soothing a startled Shan, we arrived at the Selection Chamber before I knew it.
"Only one person may enter the Selection Chamber at a time. All others shall wait here in the waiting room and keep their turn."
It was like watching a live game stream. Most of the students waited outside while one person went in and walked among the treasures on display.
"Angel-nim, what if a thief sneaks in while this is going on?"
Dorothy whispered it to me, curious. A little event going off inside a big one? Perfectly possible. Something similar had happened in the game, too. But there was no need to worry.
Ahem!
Lionel cleared his throat to gather every eye, then pointed at empty air as if introducing someone.
"As a precaution against any eventuality, one person shall be overseeing this entire process."
A faint stir of air.
"Kyaaah! Th-th-there's something over there!"
A girl screamed. Something pure white had appeared — a being that was clearly here, and yet whose form, appearance, and presence could not be read in the slightest. There was only one such person in the world.
Waaah!
Some of the freshmen who had witnessed that figure at the entrance ceremony cried out in astonishment.
"It's White Ghost!"
"Yes. White Ghost, the hero who defeated Abaddon, shall be with us."
The sight of a former Hero party member — the one who had made even Cheon Geomhwa unable to break through, reducing the chance of a treasure theft to essentially zero — put everyone at ease.
I-isn't this hero a little too... f-free?
Except for one particular monster, that is.
"Proceed one at a time along the passage. I shall call you in order of assigned attendance numbers. Levi, you will begin."
"Ah, yes sir!"
At last, the treasure lottery began. Levi, called first, walked into the Selection Chamber.
The Academy's cutting-edge system monitored the interior for those waiting outside, and as she passed each treasure a hologram bloomed above it — name, conditions, and a brief description. The early stretch had treasures with relatively easy conditions; the farther in you went, the more demanding they became. At the very end, after admiring the treasures left by the Hero party under dazzling lights, you turned back.
Tiss, the layout of the treasures is... k-kinda like a museum.
Yeah. For anyone who doesn't get chosen, it might as well be a museum.
There weren't even that many treasures, so even taking your time you could see them all in ten minutes.
At Lionel's call, Levi was the first to step forward. At first she took a cautious step —
Bam-ba-ra-bam!!!
"Whoa-whoaaa!"
A brilliant golden light burst from a treasure, complete with a noisy fanfare. There was even a slowing field on the floor, so you absolutely couldn't miss it by accident.
"Oh, right from the start?"
The first person through getting chosen the instant she entered the Selection Chamber had the crowd outside buzzing.
"S-so, um, what do I do now?"
Place your hand on the panel in front of the treasure and information about it will automatically be inputted into your mind. Then, before leaving the Selection Chamber, decide whether you will take that treasure.
Lionel switched on the radio he was holding and guided Levi through the speakers inside. The information on the treasure that had chosen her appeared on the waiting-room monitors as well.
A small necklace
◈ Condition: Must have experienced death while still alive
◈ Condition: Must be overwhelmingly unlucky
"Ehh?"
Huh? Tiss, you're pretty unimpressed.
Well. It looks like something that goes to the person it's supposed to go to.
The rabbit's foot was treated as Levi's exclusive artifact — the game's officially unfortunate character. In other words, Levi getting that rabbit's foot was basically a guaranteed event.
Levi's ability was Illusion Rabbit, which let her create identical clones of herself. Thanks to that ability plus the rabbit's foot, she was treated as a half-immortal gag character. She was also the first batter, meant to show the player that this was how treasures got chosen.
After that Levi walked all the way through the treasures to the hall where the Hero's relics were displayed, but nothing else reacted. When she arrived, a translucent hologram of the treasure, an explanation, and a prompt asking whether she would take it appeared — just like in the game.
"I-I'll take it!"
◈ Grants survival luck
◈ The hologram shone, took on true form, and slowly descended into Levi's hands
"Phew~ W-well, I got one at least. Luck was on my side this time."
When Levi came out, the students started urging Lionel to call the next person already.
"Very well."
One by one they entered the Selection Chamber at Lionel's call. Thanks to the first person walking out with a treasure in hand, the others were full of hope that maybe they could get one too.
"Huh?"
"Why wasn't I chosen?"
"Aaah... so it's a bust after all."
But just as with the seniors of previous classes who had passed through this chamber, after Levi, no one else was chosen.
Bam-ba-ra-bam!!!
"Loser♡ At least some of these treasures have eyes, huh?"
The next person chosen after Levi was Jin Seoyul. As I'd explained to Shan, it was a sword a successor of the Jin Clan's bloodline could inherit.
Will you take it?
"Nah, I'll pass♡"
Jin Seoyul refused, saying the twin swords at her waist were enough. She turned to walk out —
But then.
That very heart is the mindset a member of the Jin Clan ought to possess.
You have passed the final trial.
With a clack, the sword flew of its own accord and fastened itself at Jin Seoyul's waist. It was an old blade of a murky color, neither white nor black, as if paints had been sloshed together at random.
"It just stuck itself on even after I refused once. What a bothersome sword♡"
What will you do?
"Hmm~ What to do?"
Jin Seoyul's split black-and-white hair swayed with her movement. Her small lips, curved like a cat's, betrayed that she was secretly pleased.
"Can't be helped♡ I'll specially take it, seeing how sincere this loser sword is."
The number of students still waiting had dwindled quite a bit.
"Next, Sia."
"Yes!"
Sia, who had been waiting with her neck craned for her turn, answered brightly and stood up at Lionel's call.
"Alright, everyone watch closely! I'm gonna march in and yank out a Holy Sword, just like that!"
"Sia, don't talk about getting chosen by the Holy Sword like you're grabbing green onions at the grocery store."
Hahaha.
The students who'd been gloomily fiddling with their terminals after not getting chosen laughed at Siwoo and Sia's exchange, looked up from their devices, and turned to the monitors.
Sia entered the Selection Chamber and didn't stop — she just kept walking straight ahead. Having watched every student before her get chosen or not, regardless of how slow or fast they went, she strode forward with big, confident steps, as if petty little treasures weren't worth her time. And in an instant she arrived at the hall where the Hero party's treasures were enshrined.
"Alright! I'm here!"
Sia threw her head back as if announcing the Hero's return and shouted up at the treasures displayed above.
And then.
Bam-ba-ra-bam!!!
A tremendous fanfare and a flood of golden light erupted — enough to wash the waiting room away — announcing that one of the Hero party's treasures had answered Sia.
"What?"
"I-is this for real?"
As the students' murmuring grew louder, the light slowly faded, and the screen began to show which treasure had been chosen.