Chapter 12
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: Memories (1)
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Endex garden. The seniors who had already finished the assignment were gathered in clusters with their friends.
"Wasn't this secretly tough? I bet a ton of people failed."
At Esher's words, Kain twisted his lips.
"If you can't even do this, you're a fucking idiot."
"Kyokyokyo—And yet you guys were slower than me~"
Rae giggled as she teased Kain and Esher.
"......"
In contrast, Elise was silent.
Whenever any exam ended, it was always like this. Everyone gathered and chattered about the test that was already over.
It was irritating and pointless.
"But honestly, this was way too advantageous for you, Rae. Your family makes prisms—"
"Hey. Could you quiet down a bit?"
Elise shot Esher a faint smile laced with a glare.
"......"
Esher rolled his lips inward.
Kain set his golf bag down on the ground and asked,
"Hey. So how're you gonna get your golf bag back? That rat Sion ain't showing up."
"Huh? Oh, right. Now I have to waste two hours waiting because of him."
Sion Askal or whatever his knife-ass name was—that little rat had no chance of passing. At a D- average GPA level, two hours wouldn't cut it; he'd need two hundred.
"Ah~ Shouldn't have entrusted it—"
"63 minutes 43 seconds. Sion Askal."
"......Huh?"
Everyone reacted to the voice coming from somewhere. It wasn't just Elise's crew. Gerkken and Soliet, who took first and second, along with all the other passers, turned to look that way.
"Whoa...... it's really him."
Esher let out a hollow laugh. Elise furrowed her brow.
A buzzcut maybe 12mm long. Shaving off that shaggy mess had revealed his sharp features—honestly, it suited him better.
Hated to admit it, but he was pretty good-looking.
—......Ah, my arm's numb.
He approached with the golf bag slung over his shoulder, gripping a golf club in one hand.
"Sion Askal. Take any open seat."
Sion trudged over and plopped down in a corner spot. The area stayed quiet until then, but suddenly he turned toward Esher.
"Oh, right. Worked fine."
With that, he flung the golf bag and driver at him—whoosh—whoosh—whoosh.
"......What the fuck— Ah, shit, why's it bent?!"
Esher caught it reflexively, then freaked out. The driver's shaft was bent.
Sion asked in a tone like he had no clue.
"Wasn't it given to you to use?"
"Bullshit! You little shit—"
"Shh. Sit quietly and wait."
At the TA's words, Esher sat down trembling with rage. Kain beside him was also shaking—but for a slightly different reason. Kain's nostrils were flaring too.
Esher bit his lip hard.
"......Hey. Don't break it. Ever heard of empathy? If you were in my shoes, you'd smash it too?"
"How's it yours if it ain't mine? Idiot, who asked you to borrow it?"
"You fucking bastard."
"1:00 PM."
At 1 PM, with the midday sun beaming straight down on the garden, making the flowers and grass sparkle, the TA checked his wristwatch and spoke.
"Evaluation complete. Congratulations. Out of 153 total, 127 have passed."
127 passers out of 153.
As expected of the prestigious Endex.
"Congratulations to you all."
The TA said, looking around the garden.
"Everyone who passed will receive 2 CP points. It's the same 2 points regardless of rank, but your ranking today will affect future College Board advantages."
But suddenly, I felt sleepy.
Aftereffect of swinging the golf club too hard? Golf practice.
"Also, I have something to tell you. The College Board assignment is of course important. Failing it means you can't even apply to college. But the universities you call 'prestigious' also place great weight on school activities. Clubs, intramural contests, student records—all of it. Don't neglect campus life by obsessing over the College Board."
I half-listened while stifling a yawn.
Until the TA mentioned a certain name right after.
"These were the words of advice from Professor Theia Esil, whom you all know well."
Theia Esil.
That name pierced my ear like an arrow, burrowing straight into my frontal lobe. My eyes widened, and for a split second, my heart went haywire.
"Then—"
"Was that person here?!"
Without thinking, my body sprang up like a coil. A roar exploded from the pit of my stomach.
"Theia Esil?!"
Everyone stared at me, and the TA blinked.
"......Yes. Professor Theia Esil was watching over you all."
"......"
My thoughts froze for a moment. The students' murmurs buzzed in my ears, but soon it all dulled like I'd been dunked underwater. The whole world seemed to pull away from me.
......I might not be able to say I can do it.
But in that haze, someone's voice rose up.
......Don't assume you can't.
So warm and tender a tone.
A memory I wouldn't forget even in death, one I cherished because I could never forget it.
......If you give up like this, you'll only regret it.
Even in my shitty life, there had been a benefactor.
In my twisted fate, there had been someone precious.
A person worthy of being called my master had reached out to me first.
......Because you're my disciple.
Always cold and harsh to everyone.
Strict and prickly with me too, of course—but she had a soft side she showed only to me sometimes.
That's who you were.
......You can endure. You will.
I remember her lips curving into a subtle smile as she watched me head into the operating room.
I remember her eyes, clear as a child's, gazing at me from the hospital bed.
I could never forget.
......Win this. Come see me.
Theia.
Theia Esil.
My old master was here.
"—Sit down."
"......Pardon?"
"I said sit."
The TA gestured downward with his palm toward me.
"Ah, yes."
I snapped back to reality late.
As soon as I sat, the TA continued.
"The next College Board is on Wednesday. Take care of your condition and do your best. Dismissed."
On the way back from Endex to the national university, inside a luxury limo 'Aurus Phantom SWB', Professor Theia Esil was reviewing her work. She was going over the footage from today's Endex College Board assignment.
"......Spectrum, perhaps."
Thwack—!
The guy smashing the prism with a golf club. The scratches etched into the prism's surface by that brute physical force.
It was intriguing. On a grand scale, you could call it a change in perspective.
Prisms are weaker to physical force than mana, sure—but no one thinks to hit them.
Still, it couldn't be just raw 'strength.' Even a mana-fiber golf club wouldn't have the durability resistance to withstand that impact.
In other words, Spectrum.
At least one that interferes with 'objects.'
"Intriguing."
Intriguing again.
That's all.
No special flair stood out.
Endex already had tons of talent like Gerkken, Soliet, Elise, Rae—and beyond Endex, other mana academies brimmed with noteworthy prospects.
She didn't have time to dig into some D- student.
"......"
Even so, Theia silently picked up a certain paper.
It was Sion Askal's personal info document.
A single pathetic page with no real specs to speak of. But right there, the reason she watched him.
[Origin: Libra Orphanage]
[Future Aspiration: Protector Knight of Libra]
Libra.
Theia closed her eyes gently. She took a deep breath and clenched her fists tight. Leaning back against the headrest, she gazed out the window.
"Libra......"
A senior born from Libra's knights, raised in Libra's orphanage, aspiring to be Libra's protector knight.
She twisted her lips into what looked like a sneer.
"Even here, you show up."
Emotions pressed deep in her chest, spat out with gritted force.
Theia Esil hated Libra. It was the most loathsome, vile existence to her.
And she dared claim it: her grudge was vaster than anyone's on the continent.
"Pathetic."
She set the document ablaze. She watched Sion Askal's face crumble from the corner until her palm was full of ash.
And she watched for a long, long time.