Class Assignment (1): The Obelisk's Judgment
Who was that tanned, blond sheep beastman who spent the day before the entrance ceremony beating up several incoming students with his fists, then ignored the order to wait on the actual day of the ceremony and strolled right out of the building? The one who told the white-haired, red-eyed rabbit princess chasing after him that slaves obey and humans choose, mashing the concepts of beast and human together? That was me.
That's right. It was me. I used to be human, and now I'm a freshman at the academy doing a full sheep beastman cosplay. My name from back when I was human doesn't matter. If anything, it's something to keep buried, not something I'd go around announcing. The important part is that even without me saying a word about my name, everyone around me simply assumes I'm some unidentified, eccentric sheep beastman.
It had been one day since enrollment. In all the time I'd spent going back and forth to the dormitory, not a single person had questioned whether I was actually human. That left only one thing to do. From here on, I had to blend into this academy without revealing my identity as much as possible, rack up the best grades I could until right before graduation, and secure the King's Symbol.
Of course, the same applied even before graduation. Whether it was a verbal promise from each of the kings or breaking some tacit contract the Twelve Kings had made among themselves and receiving the King's Symbol early, all I had to do was collect every last one. That was how I could repay the being who had enrolled me in this academy and given me a place to live as a member of society.
That was why I planned to make as much noise as possible from the entrance ceremony all the way through class assignment. To achieve what I wanted. To obtain the King's Symbol like all the other beastmen who had entered the academy. So I was moving quietly, trying to secure a good position while staying under the radar… and yet.
"Do you really know something? Or are you just walking around completely aimlessly like this?"
The Rabbit Kingdom's First Princess, a girl named Bleber, kept following me. She was wearing the academy uniform and had those perky rabbit ears standing straight up on her head, but she gave off the unmistakable vibe of a college girl in her early twenties. It was a strangely specific impression.
"I'm not walking aimlessly. I know exactly where the entrance ceremony is being held."
"Where?"
"The student cafeteria."
"Excuse me?"
"It's a cafeteria that also doubles as a large banquet hall."
"...How do you know that?"
Bleber began showing open wariness toward me. Honestly, I wished she would just react like that and leave me alone, but it seemed she'd taken far too much interest in this rabbit.
"I have an acquaintance inside Cadelis Academy."
"Isn't that... cheating?"
"It's not cheating."
It really wasn't. After all, that acquaintance was me.
"You're the Rabbit Kingdom's First Princess, right? Then who recommended your enrollment?"
"Obviously it was Her Majesty Queen Isendra. The Rabbit Queen, and one of the Twelve Kings!"
"Exactly. I also enrolled on the recommendation of one of the Twelve Kings."
"Huh...?"
Bleber tilted her head, looking like she couldn't believe it.
"That's impossible. I've never seen or heard of anyone like you among the sheep beastman princes...? D-don't tell me you're a...!"
"It's not that. The one who recommended me wasn't the Sheep King to begin with."
"Then who on earth...?"
"The Rat King, Silmarion."
"????"
Bleber's eyes widened in shock. It was such a ridiculous claim by any common sense that, as the First Princess, she simply couldn't process it. That was understandable. Each king had the right to recommend six beastmen. Naturally, those recommendations were usually for members of their own race. If not, the standard practice was to recommend someone like a nephew or niece to show an alliance between kings.
"Ah, I see. Hmm..."
But she'd probably never heard of the rats and sheep forming an alliance. Her mind seemed to be spinning, but I just kept walking forward in silence.
"Oh, right! Then what about the entrance ceremony? What about class assignment?"
"Do you know who handles class assignment?"
"Pardon?"
"Class assignment is carried out by 'scholars' invited by the academy. Over there."
The banquet hall that also served as the grand auditorium. It might once have been called a cathedral. Inside were over a hundred tables and several beastmen, with a magic pillar resembling an altar set up for some kind of baptism.
"That thing..."
"Looks like an Obelisk for class assignment."
"An O-Obelisk...? That cursed artifact that absorbs mana and, if you make even the slightest mistake, turns people into idiots? Why would they use something like that for class assignment...?"
"It just shows how important class assignment is. They're even pulling out relics from before the humans' rule."
"W-wait a moment. Putting aside the fact that they're using an Obelisk... how do you know all this? Just who are you...?"
"An academy freshman."
I strode forward. In front of the Obelisk, several beastmen in black suits were holding a serious meeting, but they noticed my presence and quickly exchanged glances.
"A new student?"
A white lion beastman in a black suit stepped in front of me. His body was humanoid, but the mane around his neck and his head were unmistakably those of a lion. He gave off a restrained sense of intimidation, like a wild beast wearing formal attire, but I simply shrugged it off.
"Yeah, a new student. Are you a new student too?"
"...I am not a new student."
"Then you must be faculty."
I didn't bother with politeness. No matter how much beastmen tried to live like humans, the basic rules that governed the beastman world didn't change. If you bowed your head first, you lost. It was an immutable law that held true anywhere, in any era. Even in this world where beasts had seized civilization's victory over humanity.
"...What business do you have here?"
"I couldn't just sit around in the dormitory, so I came out to check on things."
"Do you know what this place is?"
"I don't. But I figured that if it was a place where people even stronger than the students were gathered, there would be academy staff here."
In truth I'd only followed the paths on the ground and the academy's distinctive landmarks, but there was no need to say that.
"Hmm. So you think you have some skill?"
"If you're asking whether I have skill, the answer is obviously yes. So how long exactly do we have to wait?"
"Heh."
While the white lion beastman was laughing fiercely, he pointed at the Obelisk behind him.
"If you want, shall we conduct your class assignment test right now?"
"......."
"Looks like you're worried after all. Then step back."
"Worried? You're the one who should be worried about me."
I waved a hand at the white lion beastman, walked past him, and approached the Obelisk.
"Let's start the class assignment right away."
"...You."
The moment I stood in front of the towering crystal pillar, my eyes met those of the various beastmen standing on the magic circle. Beastmen wearing mages' robes. And among them, one witch with cat ears barely visible under a deeply pulled hood did the same.
"Your name?"
"My name is."
Rustle.
"Sapiens Goat."
You have been placed in Class 13
* * *
I had heard about the Obelisk and that cursed monstrosity countless times since I was young. It was the merciless device the humans had used against beastmen during the Bremen Revolution. A crystal spire installed on a magic circle would emit mana, and those exposed to it would be struck by a very special kind of magic.
A decline in intellect. Some called it Beastification, while others referred to it as a beastman extermination spell that reduced beastmen to nothing but animals. But if you overcame the Obelisk's trial, the story changed completely. It meant your personality was developed enough to withstand the humans' intellect-destroying magic. If you touched the Obelisk and something went wrong, you would become an idiot, a beast with no intellect at all. Perhaps even worse than the beastmen who had been ruled by humans a hundred years ago.
"I have a question, Instructor."
"What is your question, Princess Bleber?"
Bleber asked the white lion instructor a question, and the white lion instructor responded to her with polite attitude and formal speech. She was a princess, not just a student. If that wasn't simply the white lion's personal trait, it meant the academy's instructors would show some degree of deference to the students' social status.
"Is there a problem with the Obelisk? Enough to delay class assignment?"
"Ah, it's nothing major. The Obelisk's mana went into a brief rampage, so it took some time to adjust it."
"A rampage?"
"Yes. As you know, the Obelisk's intellect-destroying magic has difficulty levels, but for some reason it keeps setting itself to the highest difficulty. We made adjustments so it wouldn't rampage to the point where the mana boils violently and emits dangerous light."
"...Like that?"
"?? Oh no...! Stop right now!!"
Flash—!
The Obelisk was glowing with an ominous light more intense than ever before, but the sheep beastman's hand was already touching it.
"Ah...!"
"Damn it!"
It was too late. The trial began the instant contact was made, and it ended just as quickly. The Obelisk's mana subsided in the blink of an eye, and the instructors drew their weapons, aiming them at the sheep beastman. They were preparing for the possibility of a rampage, of Beastification.
But then.
"So this is the highest difficulty."
The sheep beastman who had withdrawn his hand shrugged with a bored expression.
"It was definitely a trial, but... is that all?"
"......."
"Does class assignment end with the instructors' decision?"
"...No."
The white lion instructor pointed at the Obelisk.
"Look at the number."
The number floating on the Obelisk. 13.
"Sapiens Goat. Congratulations on the first class assignment. You are in Class 13."
"Really? Then that table marked with 13 must be my seat."
"Correct."
After the sheep beastman headed to his seat.
"Your Highness. About readjusting the Obelisk's mana..."
"No need."
The instructors tried to readjust the Obelisk, but Bleber instead walked toward it and reached out her hand.
Whoooosh!
The Obelisk reacted violently, just like before.
"Your Highness!"
The instructors cried out in worry, but Bleber stretched her hand toward the Obelisk anyway.
"!!"
The moment she felt mana flowing through her hand, Bleber sensed it.
A vast white space.
Something far larger than the Obelisk was pointing at her.
A finger?
Sit.
The finger approached.
The overwhelming pressure that said it would crush her if she didn't sit made Bleber's spine run cold.
Wait.
Wait?
Bleber moved.
And then—
Crackle—!!
Electricity coursed through her entire body. The lightning that threatened to make her lose consciousness instantly, or rather made her wish she would just pass out, scorched every inch of her.
I told you to wait.
The enormous presence continued to command her.
If you wait, I'll give you this.
What fell with that command was something sweet, something that made saliva drip, something that triggered an impulse to rush forward and sink her teeth into it.
At the same time, an uncontrollable sensation as if her entire body was burning up. If she surrendered herself to this feeling—
"Beasts... obey...!"
In that instant, words that had flashed clearly through her memory rose up instinctively. Not her pride as First Princess, not her status as the Rabbit Queen's daughter and successor to the King's Symbol.
"Humans... choose...!"
The words spoken by that one human she had met today for the first time, the one who had come all the way here saying those very words.
Flash—!
The world collapsed.
"......."
Back in the original world.
"Your Highness!!"
The trial had ended in an instant, but no more than a single second could have passed outside. She didn't know how to describe what had happened in that one second that felt like thirty, but at the very least, Bleber was certain of one thing.
"Class."
"Yes?"
"What class was I assigned to?"
She was supposed to be placed in the most outstanding class. Class 1, of course. She hadn't been wrong—
13.
"......?"