The Boy in the Straw Hat
"Khuhp······ Hehehe······ Ehehehahaha!"
"Get a hold of yourself, please······!"
No. How could anyone not laugh in this situation? How could absurdity not flee and leave one standing? Emilia was perfectly fine. I had kept all my limbs intact. Yet I had failed to protect the exam paper.
'Incredibly competent, that one.'
So this was the work of a master at concealing spells. Instead of risking a grand ritual that might catch my attention, they had used a pinpoint ignition spell on the exam paper alone. Had the output been strong enough to burn my body, I would have noticed and dismantled it long ago. Thanks to their restraint, the paper burned to ash without me sensing a thing until it was too late. The spell I had embedded in the paper's mana had already fled, soaring freely away.
"I'm sorry······ Because of me······."
"······."
Emilia's voice had dropped low. Her speech had returned to formal register. Honestly, claiming I felt no resentment would be a lie. Still, this was not Emilia's fault.
"No. I'm the one who's sorry. If I had kept my wits about me, none of this would have happened."
"No. It was my carelessness that got me captured······"
"If you keep saying that, I'll leave you behind. It was Crow we were dealing with. Do you really think you could have handled them just by being careful?"
"······."
Emilia finally fell silent. I hoped she would stop blaming herself. I was simply overjoyed to see her alive again. Even if it meant dropping out of the Imperial Academy, I would make the same choice a thousand times if it meant saving Emilia.
"Thank goodness. You're safe······."
"Schluss oppa······."
"Hm?"
"Was there a professor's seal or something on the exam paper?"
"Why do you ask?"
"If I knew the shape, I was thinking of forging it perfectly······."
Emilia was still thinking about the missing exam paper. It was already too late. It was pointless. I was about to tell her to give up when······
"Huh?"
Only after mulling over her words did I realize it. Come to think of it, there had been no seal or signature from Ludwig on the exam paper, the kind one would expect. That made it extremely vulnerable to forgery. Not just vulnerable—anyone could copy it and no one would be the wiser.
"Ah······!"
"What? What is it? Huh? Huh huh?"
I understood now. The exam paper had been so saturated with mana that it was convenient to write answers on, so I had naturally assumed the paper itself was the answer sheet. But Professor Ludwig had never once specified how we were supposed to submit our answers. In other words, the form of the answer sheet did not matter. As long as the spell's structure did not collapse beyond recognition, the platform was irrelevant.
Ha. The absurdity of it. The very person who created this exam had only now noticed the loophole. If not for Emilia's single remark, I would still be standing here like an idiot.
"We don't need the exam paper anymore. Let's run. Hold on tight."
"What do you mean we don't need the exam paper······ Hwaaah!"
We had already wasted too much time hesitating. I poured Selection and Concentration into my agility stat and leaped. Emilia's scream echoed across the plaza, startled by the sudden acceleration.
***
"Schluss Heinke-eel!"
"······."
A cold silence. Erika cleared her nearly hoarse throat and looked up at the large mansion. She had been calling for Schluss for over an hour. Neither Schluss nor his attendant had shown their faces. Were they both out? The submission deadline was approaching, and she could not fathom what he was thinking······.
"So he really meant it when he said he wouldn't accept an escort on the last day?"
Had his pride been wounded after accepting her protection on the first day of the midterm? No, that could not be it. Schluss had clearly smiled and thanked her. No matter how humble or insincere he might appear on the surface, Schluss was the type to voice his dislikes plainly. ······They were not particularly close, but that was what she had observed so far.
"Ah. Seriously······. Where did he go?"
Could he have already been attacked? If so, there was nothing she could do to help from here. The exam's end time was only five minutes away······.
"Tsk······. I can't let myself fail because of this."
In the end, Erika had no choice but to turn away with heavy steps. Something had clearly gone wrong, but there was nothing she could do. She could not go looking for Schluss now. If their paths crossed the wrong way, she would only end up failing the exam herself.
"Sorry!"
Erika shouted toward Schluss, unsure if he could even hear her, and ran off.
*
"Hwek······ Hek······ Heok······ Huk······."
With a creak, the exam hall door opened. Nearly all the students had already arrived and taken their seats. At the center of the podium, Professor Ludwig sat at his desk, staring in their direction. Rumor had it that the professor had not left his post once in two days. Erika had heard as much from combat magic students who had dropped by out of curiosity. Had he held it in for two whole days? The thought suddenly intrigued her.
"Will you be submitting your answers, Erika von der Lichtenburg?"
"Yes."
Erika strode down the steps and held out her exam paper. The desk was already piled high with submissions. She glanced at Professor Ludwig's expression, then quickly turned around. Iris was waving gently in her direction. Erika smiled brightly and hurried over to sit beside her.
"Schluss? He hasn't arrived yet?"
"No. I haven't seen him."
"Do you think something happened?"
"Now that you mention it, I heard there was some commotion in the old town's market area today. Something about a clash between mercenary groups?"
"That······! Could Schluss be involved?"
"I don't know."
She felt anxious. If Schluss Heinkel failed to submit his exam paper, would he have to drop out? The promise he made on the entrance ceremony day carried no real obligation to fulfill, but knowing how rigid Schluss was, he might actually go through with it.
'It's not that I don't want Schluss to leave school······.'
If Schluss Heinkel disappeared from her sight, that would be a good thing. It would be good, but······. The problem was that she would no longer be able to keep an eye on him. The only flaw was that she would not get to witness the end of the villain who had sold his lifespan to a demon. That was why she hoped he would stay at the academy. If he left, Erika felt she would drop out too and chase after him. After all, one could always retake the entrance exam for the Imperial Academy.
"But why do you look so relaxed?"
"Hmm······ Do I? I'm quite worried too, you know."
"Liar."
Iris rested her chin on her hand and smiled. Her face truly overflowed with composure. It was not because Iris's personality enjoyed the prospect of Schluss dropping out. She had probably seen an interesting future through her foresight. Perhaps she had witnessed a future where he arrived dramatically just seconds before the deadline. Erika clasped her hands together and prayed that whatever future Iris had seen would come true. She did not know what it was, but she hoped for it anyway.
"No, time is really running out······."
Professor Ludwig began checking his watch. Erika, growing frantic, checked hers as well. Only one minute remained until nine o'clock, the deadline.
Fifty seconds. Forty seconds. Thirty seconds.
"Huh?"
Kugugu······!
A faint vibration could be felt. It was coming from afar. But the tremor grew stronger until—
Kwaang!
The exam hall door burst open with a thunderous roar. What appeared beyond it was none other than Schluss Heinkel.
"Haa······ Heuu······ Heu······."
Schluss Heinkel, covered in blood from head to toe, gasping for breath. The students gaped at the sight. Yet Schluss descended the steps without the slightest disarray and stood before Professor Ludwig's desk.
"Huh?"
Only then did Erika notice the paper in Schluss's right hand. It was clearly an exam paper. The very one distributed on the first day of the midterm. But only the very end of it remained. The edge was blackened, as if burned.
"Kuk kuk······."
Laughter began to rise from one group. Only then did it sink in.
'Ah. He's done for······.'
She suddenly felt all her strength drain away. Now she understood why Iris had been so composed. Iris had already known that Schluss had failed the exam. Since she had foreseen it and prepared herself mentally, there was no need for worry, anxiety, or this crushing sense of defeat.
As expected, Professor Ludwig looked down at Schluss's right hand and let out a derisive snort. Twenty seconds remained until the exam's end.
"Did you lose your answer sheet?"
"An answer sheet? I didn't bring one."
"······?"
Schluss dropped the tattered exam paper to the floor. Then he squeezed his eyes shut.
"I will now submit my answers."
"Ten seconds until the deadline."
"That's enough."
"Just how do you intend to submit······"
Professor Ludwig's voice, which had risen in irritation, suddenly fell silent. Spells were unfolding. In the air of the exam hall. Everywhere. Spells deployed simultaneously, surrounding the entire hall. It was truly an ingenious method. The exam had never specified how answers should be submitted. That meant writing answers directly into the hall's mana was acceptable!
'He memorized all of that and brought it here······?!'
Erika looked around in shock. To remember all those complex spells and deploy them at once—his memory was extraordinary, but more than that, his mana capacity was unbelievable. Inscribing ten spells would require at least twenty thousand mana at minimum. And now those gathered here were desperately trying to dismantle Schluss's spells. To protect them, he would need to expend even more mana······. Even conservatively, he would need at least fifty thousand mana. Considering he had not used a single drop of mana despite arriving covered in blood, his total capacity must far exceed fifty thousand······.
"Whoa."
Erika, estimating Schluss's mana, let out an exclamation. She no longer had the luxury to think deeply. As she read the flow of mana spreading in all directions, something astonishing occurred.
"What is that······?"
"Wow. It's beautiful······."
It was a painting. When each spell had been inscribed separately while solving problems, she had not noticed, but now that they were connected, a continuous image had formed. Though not particularly detailed, what it depicted was clear. A lush green meadow. Sheep running freely. And a solitary windmill standing tall, its panorama unfolding across the hall.
"Huh······?"
But there was one empty spot. The space where the answer to question ten should have been. Well, question ten had been extremely difficult. Even Erika had barely solved it after racking her brain until it felt like it would split. So Schluss was not omnipotent after all. Even after being attacked, he could not achieve a perfect score. Just as she thought that—
"Will you submit it as is, Schluss Heinkel?"
"······."
"Three seconds until the deadline."
"······."
"This······"
Just before the second hand reached twelve, a mana wave rippled out, and a spell was embroidered in front of the blackboard. It spread instantly, connecting with the spells on either side, and by the time the second hand reached the center, it was complete. Interacting with the surrounding spells, the mingled mana flow revealed an image that was none other than—
"Ah."
A boy wearing a straw hat. A boy with a bright, innocent smile. And that figure resembled someone she knew all too well. Erika's gaze, which had been looking up at the blackboard, slowly drifted downward. Professor Ludwig's face, slightly bowed with a fierce expression, came into view. It was unmistakably Professor Ludwig. His childhood······. His appearance as a boy.
"Time's up. Go sit down."
"Yes, Professor."
Professor Ludwig's voice sounded strange. It was as if he had something in his mouth, or perhaps it was the voice of someone enraged. What was certain was that he was clearly not his usual self. He was displaying emotion on his face, something he never did. But that lasted only a moment. Professor Ludwig took a deep breath with his head lowered, then returned to normal. He was once again the cold Chief Professor Ludwig von Wehrmannstein, whose only expressions were blank or frowning.
"Well done. With this, the first semester midterm exam is concluded. You may all leave."
Ludwig declared this, then gathered the pile of exam papers from his desk and strode out of the lecture hall.