89. Academy (2)
89. Academy (2)
The famous Class Assignment Exam, which naturally follows the academy entrance ceremony, began.
"We will now begin the Class Assignment Exam. All Combat Department students, please follow me."
I, Prodisia, and the new Combat Department students all arrived at a large plaza together.
There was a large gate in the center of the plaza.
A professor came out to the front and started explaining various things, but I didn't really listen.
As I was busy checking out our Combat Department students with my Status Window, the explanation ended before I knew it.
From what I vaguely heard, it was a method where you teleport to a space designated by the academy and earn points by catching monsters or neutralizing fellow students.
And they said if you judge your life to be in danger, you should activate the Return Magic on the Bracelet that is being distributed to all students right now.
"I heard Return Magic is quite expensive... They're just handing it out like this?"
"That's only the case when you're outside of a specific area."
Suddenly, a female student next to me spoke up.
"What do you mean by 'outside of a specific area'?"
"The place we're going is an area designated by the academy, and there are already several magic circles there. Going from a place with a magic circle to another place with a magic circle isn't very difficult."
I understood.
In other words, it means going from door to door isn't difficult, right?
What I knew was not door-to-door, but a Return Scroll that goes from anywhere to a door.
Come to think of it, a Return Scroll is basically like a Bluetooth showerhead.
That's why it's ridiculously expensive.
"By the way, who are you?"
I looked at the female student who had spoken to me.
She was right in front of me, so it was a bit difficult to use the Status Window.
Because if a person's eyeballs were to change bizarrely right in front of her, she would be startled.
"I'm Mari, and I just entered the academy this time! Please take care of me!"
"Please take care of me too."
"Hehe."
She's a quite cute human.
But looking at her actions and body, she doesn't seem suited for the Combat Department.
Is she a Mage? But the concentration or depth of her Mana doesn't look that great.
'No. Am I just having too high expectations to begin with?'
Come to think of it, the humans I had seen right in front of me were all humans with high levels of attainment among humans.
The one in front of me now is a freshman who just entered the academy.
'If she had the Mana to satisfy me in the first place, she would have already made a name for herself as an Adventurer, not at the academy.'
I was mistaken for a moment.
I'm not here to find a human who satisfies me, but to find a Unique Ability that satisfies me.
Not prey, but a human to put on display.
==
I'm in trouble.
As soon as I entered the forest for the Class Assignment Exam, I tried hard to earn points because I intended to get into Class A.
Class A means they have the best skills even among the Combat Department kids. That means there's a high probability that their Unique Ability is also a good one.
I tried hard to catch monsters to get lots of points, but... what the heck?
Not a single monster is visible.
They clearly said during the explanation to choose well when to fight and when to run away from monsters. But not a single monster was visible.
For a moment, I even thought, 'Did I get dropped off somewhere else alone?' But from time to time, I could see other students in the distance.
In other words, I didn't come to the wrong place.
I wondered, 'What is this?', but I realized it before long.
The monsters are running away to avoid me.
Clearly, humans don't notice my true identity, but the monsters, as if by some animal instinct, knew what was there, and whenever I tried to approach, they would run away like crazy.
If I got serious, I could catch them without difficulty, but if I did that, I would already be going beyond a human body.
'Uh, what do I do?'
I didn't expect this.
Should I neutralize the students to earn points? But I am currently in the role of the Saint.
'No. Isn't it possible that a Saint doesn't need to have low physical strength? There's even the term "Physical Saint".'
While I was worrying hard, someone appeared in front of me.
==
"I wonder if any useful juniors have entered this time."
Not long after all the new students were teleported into the forest, which is the exam site, a female student entered the forest where the new students were taking the exam.
A uniform with a different color from the new students' uniforms.
Padix Academy basically has different uniform colors for each grade.
Charlotta, a 3rd-year student at the academy, entered this exam in a hostile role.
The academy's Combat Department is not a place to study only to deal with monsters.
Although most fight monsters, eventually, when it matters, fights with humans occur.
Criminals, mercenaries, outlaws, and war.
Therefore, the academy also teaches fighting against people importantly.
"Huh? This is a danger zone, isn't it? Which junior is so full of confidence?"
Charlotta discovered a student in the danger zone, a place where high-grade monsters are located.
"There are times when it happens. Students who come in with a strange confidence that they can do it. Wait a minute... That's a Healer!?"
Seeing that the junior in the danger zone was wearing a nun's outfit, Charlotta hurriedly ran to the junior who was alone.
If it had just been a Knight or a Mage, she had intended to scare them and chase them away, but they were wearing a nun's outfit.
That meant they were a Healer, not a Knight or a Mage. In other words, it meant their combat ability was very low.
Of course, they say there are Healers who use magic, but that is only a very small minority.
So she ran over to make the junior get far away from this place.
However, while running, she felt something strange.
'Why is there not a single monster when this is a danger zone?'
She, who has more sensitive senses than others, felt that there should be monsters swarming around, but she couldn't feel the presence of any monsters.
'Let's save the Healer junior first.'
A Healer is simply the nobility among the nobility in the Combat Department.
Usually, Healers don't just leave the cathedral or the healing center.
In the first place, the very fact that a Healer with no combat ability other than healing goes out to the battlefield is quite dangerous.
The moment they go out to the battlefield, all attacks are concentrated on the Healer.
Of course, colleagues will protect them, but being targeted by all attacks also means you don't know when or how you might die.
However, there are Healers who go out to the battlefield despite such danger of death.
Whether a Healer is on the battlefield or not shows a big difference in survival rate.
Therefore, the existence of a Healer in the Combat Department is just like a god.
The problem is that such Healers almost don't exist.
"Hey, you, Nun-hubae-nim!"
"...?"
Charlotta spoke to the nun junior who was wearing a nun's outfit.
"This is a danger zone. If you stay here, many monsters will come, so I'll help you get to a safe place."
Originally, she shouldn't do this.
But if it's a Healer, the story is different.
In fact, a Healer is A-class just by healing fellow students.
She doesn't tell them that because there are cases where students might not take it seriously if she does.
Still, Charlotta was trying to guide the nun junior out of the danger zone because she didn't know what might happen if she stayed in the danger zone.
"Seeing that your uniform color is different, you must be a Sunbae-nim, right? And that armband on your arm that says 'Hostile'... If I catch you, I get a lot of points, right?"
"Uh...? W-well, that's true?"
When she spoke to save the nun junior who didn't know what to do, and the junior asked if she would get a lot of points for catching her, Charlotta was greatly flustered.
"That's a relief. I was worried about what to do because I couldn't see any monsters. But I'm happy that you're bringing points for me, Sunbae-nim!"
"Ha...?"
She was momentarily annoyed because the Healer junior spoke as if it were natural, not just that she would beat her, but that she would just get points for free.
"Our Nun-hubae-nim is quite a cheeky junior, aren't you?"
Charlotta originally intended to help and leave, but her thoughts changed.
Seureuk—
Charlotta drew the rapier she uses.
'I'll just scold her a little and take her out of the danger zone.'
"How am I supposed to do this 'neutralization'? Hmm... Since it's neutralization, should I attack the legs so she can't move?"
Charlotta's forehead wrinkled at the junior who was muttering as if pondering something without looking at her, even though she had drawn her rapier.
"How dare you—! Phew..."
Although she was momentarily angry, Charlotta took a deep breath and rushed at the junior to cause only a little pain.
'First, the arm, which is the least dangerous—'
Charlotta swung her rapier toward the junior's arm.
Shuk—!
"Huh?"
The rapier cut through the air.
The junior who had been in front of her just a moment ago disappeared in an instant.
And her vision tilted in an instant.
Thud.
Charlotta, who had fallen to the ground, lifted her head and looked behind her at the presence she felt from behind.
"Does this count as neutralized...?"
A human leg was held in the junior's hand.
It didn't take long for her to realize that the leg was her own.
"Gggghhh—!"
The pain rushed in instantly. Charlotta, who was somewhat accustomed to pain, did not let out a foolish scream.
"Is this not it...?"
Lea tilted her head while looking at the leg, then walked over to Charlotta with the leg, reattached it, and smiled.
"This counts for points, right?"
'A crazy bitch has entered...'
Charlotta cursed at Lea in her mind.
It was the first time in Charlotta's life that she had cursed at a nun.