The Class Assignment Exam: Interlude
Following my conversation with Stella, Evan entered the infirmary as if he had been waiting just outside the door for his cue.
Seeing Headmaster Arhen accompanying him came as a bit of a surprise, but given how much there was to unpack after an incident of this scale, it was hardly out of place.
Setting everything else aside, seeing Evan standing there in one piece was an immense relief. I had wondered for a fleeting second how he hadn't sustained a single scratch, but if the creature sent to claim his life had been solely the Demon of Delusion, Nightmare, it made sense. I chose to let it go.
Not that physical injuries would have mattered much when I was right here. In fact, tending to his wounds would have let me maintain my saintly concept while reaping a little guilty pleasure on the side. Just to be thorough, I leaned in close to inspect his condition and check for any hidden trauma.
"Lie back down," Evan urged softly.
Compared to me—still far from whole after dying more times down there than I cared to count—Evan was practically glowing with vitality. Naturally, the tables turned, and I found myself pelted with an avalanche of worried fussing before being semi-forcibly tucked back into the hospital bed.
Ahem.
Just to clear the air: I was by no means hoping Evan would get hurt. Wishing harm on someone just to preserve a roleplay persona and indulge in a little personal euphoria—would any decent human being even entertain such a thought? Well... after spending two whole years in this world, I know my sanity has taken quite a beating. But no matter how unhinged I might have become, I wouldn't sink that low. Definitely not.
Besides, his opponent had been Nightmare. It would have been far stranger to suffer physical wounds against an incorporeal entity like that, and knowing that full well, hoping for physical damage made even less sense. It really, truly wasn't that... Mmh...
In any case, it must have been an excruciatingly difficult opponent to handle, yet he had managed to overcome it and emerge intact.
Back in the game, fighting Nightmare was nothing short of an absolute headache. The damn thing didn't even have a visible HP bar, physical strikes slipped right through it, and if you hesitated for a few seconds, you ended up dead before you knew what hit you. Calling it a monster was almost generous—it was essentially a malicious ethereal pest that clung to your side and stacked debuffs endlessly.
Your MP and mental fortitude would steadily drain away, and the instant those debuffs stacked beyond what your stats could endure, your HP would abruptly plunge straight to zero in an unavoidable instant kill. To make matters worse, its race wasn't categorized as a standard demon, but rather a unique incorporeal spiritual entity, meaning physical force couldn't touch it. You had to frantically cast wide-area purification spells into empty air just to hit it... Ah, the nostalgia.
Truth be told, Nightmare was far more terrifying than your average run of high-tier monsters because the tactics required to bring it down were fundamentally different. Even if it only appeared during scripted story sequences, defeating it was notoriously tricky—something players only managed toward the endgame. No matter how brilliantly Evan had handled the situation, actually destroying that demon should have been an impossible task. Considering that high demon currently lying half-dissected on an imperial operating table, Nightmare's abilities truly were ridiculously broken.
"[Please forgive me for what occurred,]" I projected my telepathic voice, soft and weighed down with sorrow. "[Had I noticed the signs sooner, you would not have had to suffer through such an ordeal...]"
Evan, Stella, and Headmaster Arhen, whose lingering presence still slightly baffled me—before all three of them, I offered a careful, deferential apology.
It wasn't as though I was entirely blameless. I had been so preoccupied with the exam that I failed to realize something was wrong with Albert until it was already too late. If I had to make an excuse, Nightmare's spiritual nature meant its demonic energy was faint, and it had burrowed so deeply inside Albert that even my Divine Power Detection couldn't trace its silhouette. I still have a long way to go to truly master this Saint role. If my control over sacred energy had been just a little sharper, I could have caught the anomaly immediately and kept the situation from spiraling this far out of hand.
Of course, dying over and over at Albert's hands beneath the earth had been pure, unadulterated bliss, but I had nearly botched the entire situation because I was too lost in the ecstasy. My apology carried genuine self-reproach for almost letting things slide into ruin.
And yet...
"What are you talking about, Aria?!" Evan burst out, stepping forward. "You didn't do anything wrong!"
Uh... wait, what?
"Aria... if you say something like that one more time, I'm going to hit you," Stella threatened, her fists clenched tight.
Ooh, now that's tempting. Should I say it again?
"Indeed. Evan is right—you bear no fault in this," Arhen spoke up, her youthful face wearing a solemn expression that belied her appearance. "If anything, the fault lies with me for failing to realize something had gone wrong with the exam... no, with a student under my care, and allowing such a catastrophe to unfold within my Academy."
"[Is that so...?]"
Honestly, I kind of agree. Albert had felt somewhat off, sure, but I had brushed it aside, assuming that was just his regular personality. Beyond that, none of this was really my fault... I was feeling a little hard done by, to be frank.
In that predicament, the only thing I could realistically do was restore Albert to his senses. If I had drawn upon the Red Stone of the Bright Sun, I could have obliterated him in a single hit. But even if I did one-shot him, how on earth was I supposed to track down Evan all on my own across that cavernous expanse? No matter how far I pushed my detection radius, it had hard limits... I would have wandered aimlessly all day without finding him, so why bother?
I figured it made far more sense to play around with Albert to my heart's content, restore him to normal at a leisurely pace, and then pass out! That was truly all there was to it. No noble, sacrificial motives whatsoever. Granted, causing everyone this much agony and worry was my bad, but what's done is done. Beating my chest in regret over something that already happened wouldn't change a single thing. If someone asked whether I'd make the same choice if thrown back to that moment, I would nod proudly without a shred of hesitation.
Anyway.
I wasn't entirely certain why Arhen had accompanied Evan here, but for an Archmage of her caliber to visit in person, there had to be a pressing reason. She must have already heard Evan's side of what happened during the incident, but since the spatial magic had separated us, she likely came to ask about my experience down in the depths.
She would bring that up herself soon enough, so that wasn't an issue. Before she could ask, however, there was something I needed to establish first.
"[Um... this may be an unreasonable request, but would it be possible to keep this incident confidential as well?]"
We had been ambushed twice now. While this was undeniably a critical matter, letting the public catch wind of it was risky—no, downright hazardous. Just look at this exam: events had already deviated wildly from the original storyline, catching me completely off guard. I had narrowly avoided disaster as a result. If news spread across the entire continent that an event that should never have occurred had unfolded—that the Academy itself had been breached by demons—what would happen?
I couldn't say for certain, but one thing was guaranteed: there was no telling how much further the timeline would derail. If that happened, managing upcoming crises with my meta-knowledge would become entirely impossible. And above all else...
There's no way the Holy Kingdom and the Northern Archduke would sit quietly...
The Academy would be thrown into utter chaos in more ways than one. I wanted no part in such a circus, which was why I broached the topic of keeping it quiet, even if it earned me some peculiar looks.
However...
"Indeed... I expected you to say as much," Arhen murmured with a heavy sigh.
Ah. As expected of Arhen... a true Archmage! She had already anticipated my request! Then it seemed there was no need to plead any further to bury this incident.
"[What a reli—]"
"Regrettably, that will not be possible," Arhen cut in firmly.
Excuse me, what the fuck?
"Rumors regarding the incident are already beginning to leak, and we have an undeniable victim in Albert, who has no ties to our circle."
"..."
Well... Hmm. I feel bad for Albert, but it looks like we have no choice but to perform a blunt-force memory wipe. If I just smash his head against a stone wall really hard, wouldn't he conveniently lose all his memories of that moment? ...Yeah, probably not.
"Above all... now that we know who orchestrated this from the shadows, we cannot simply sweep this under the rug."
"[The one behind it...?]"
"An executive of the Demon King's army. An Archmage, just like me."
"[In that case... it cannot be helped, then...]"
Honestly, this was the only logical response. Demons that had remained hidden for centuries had suddenly reemerged, striking none other than the venerable Academy—reputed to be one of the most secure sanctuaries in the entire Empire. That fact alone was enough to put the entire continent on maximum alert. And rightfully so. If anything, I was the abnormal one for asking to cover it up. I had no ground to press the matter any further.
"Phew... well, I should be taking my leave," Arhen said, turning toward the doorway.
"[...Are you not going to ask what happened down there?]"
"Ah... hm, you can ask Evan over there about that. I have somewhere I need to be."
Somewhere she needed to be? Perhaps she was on her way to meet Asselina.
"For starters, I must do something about these decrepit barriers."
The defensive barriers, too... On top of that, controversies regarding her qualifications as Headmaster would likely erupt from all corners of the Empire, so she was bound to be swamped. Giving a brief wave of farewell, Arhen slipped quietly out of the infirmary.
Now then...
"[Um... Brother Evan?]"
"Uh... yeah?"
"[Could you... tell me?]"
A nagging sense of unease gnawed at my gut. Judging by his behavior just a moment ago, it seemed impossible, but still... I didn't get found out... did I? Please tell me I didn't.
"Uh... alright," Evan replied, scratching the back of his neck.
Hearing his agreement, I settled back against my pillows and switched into full attentive-listening mode. There was a minor hiccup when Estelle suddenly piped up and nearly ruined the mood, but it was fine. Because what Evan went on to tell me was a source of profound, genuine relief.
Thank goodness I just played around with him down there... If I had one-shot him, I would've been totally screwed... Seriously...