Into the Simulation
On the ride back to Kizen atop the skeleton horse, Lorraine spoke.
“Thank you for cooperating with Kizen on this. For now, your safety is the problem—that priest could come for your life at any moment, from anywhere. You should take a break from classes for a while...”
“No.”
Simon shook his head.
“I'm going to live like I always do.”
“...Isn't that far too dangerous?”
“It'll be fine. For one thing, that person may not have seen my face. And even if they're after me, any move they make will leave some kind of clue behind.”
Interest flickered in Lorraine's ruby eyes.
“Don't be ridiculous. A clue isn't worth staking your life on.”
“Hear me out, Lorraine. If I skip classes or start acting out of the ordinary, the priest will take that as confirmation of my identity instead. And what do you think they'll think when they see Kizen's guards circling me? They'll realize I've reported everything to the upper echelons—and that they've been backed into a corner.”
“That may be true, but—!”
“Can you predict what a fanatic will do once they're cornered? Any kind of erratic, desperate action?”
Lorraine bit her lip hard.
Her opponent was loyal enough to carve the sin of abominable crimes into their very core before setting foot inside Kizen on a mission. And the behavior of fanatics simply could not be understood within the bounds of a sane mind.
Mass hostage crises and suicide attacks were already incidents that fanatics had committed countless times before.
If the same thing happened at Kizen, it would not only gravely damage the organization's public image—it would hand a perfect justification to all those who had been questioning the Dark League's dominion to unite.
“...Fine.”
After a long deliberation, Lorraine let out a sigh.
“But if there's even the slightest hint that something is wrong, I will protect you—even if it means stripping you of your freedom. Remember that. There is no need for you to sacrifice yourself for everyone else's sake.”
“I'll remember.”
Though Simon, of course, didn't think of it as a sacrifice at all.
I can't put my school life on hold over something like this.
Every day he missed class, the gap between him and the other students would only widen.
And what if the day came when, short on grades or short on skill, he had to leave Kizen?
Kizen was never an institution flexible enough to accommodate anyone's personal circumstances—sit back and do nothing, and only you would pay the price.
Either way, risk was coming for him. So in Simon's judgment, it was better to boldly press on with school life. There was still so much left to learn here.
And so the two of them parted ways upon arriving at Kizen, and Simon returned to his dormitory as though nothing had happened.
The next morning.
The students of Class A waited outside the building with faces bright with anticipation.
“Finally! Today's the day!”
“I can't wait.”
Today was Professor Jane's Basic Dark Magic class—and specifically, the Cyclops simulation everyone had been counting down the days for. They were all dressed in their dedicated training uniforms rather than school attire.
“That's Professor Jane for you,”
Dick said, sniffing admiringly.
“I heard you're supposed to get your first taste of simulations in the second semester. We're doing this before our protection period is even over.”
“Uuu, I barely slept a wink last night,”
Camibarez murmured. Meilin snorted with laughter.
“Already falling apart? Come on, it's just a virtual battle.”
“Now, now, Class A! Please line up by your groups!”
Jane's teaching assistants herded the students into order, and they filed into the building in neat lines.
The corridors were immaculate—it seemed to be a brand-new building. Everyone chattered excitedly about the simulation ahead, but with every step Simon took, he felt an inexplicable sensation prickling his skin, like the hair rising on his arms.
“Groups 1 through 8, this way.”
“Groups 9 through 16, this way, please.”
Then they boarded a magic-circle elevator and descended, and a vast open space unfolded before them.
“Whoa...!”
Avalon—Kizen's virtual combat simulation system. The only system of its kind on the continent, capable of recreating any monster as a mana-based lifeform for virtual battles.
It was the product of an ancient ruin called Halukina, the Fortress of Illusions, transported to Kizen and subjected to endless rounds of modification.
“Welcome, Class A.”
Jane and her assistants descended from the magic-circle elevator on the opposite side. The students bowed their heads in unison.
“We're short on time, so I'll move straight to the explanation.”
Crisp and efficient—exactly her style.
When Jane pressed a button on the control device in her hand, the mana projectors in the ceiling hummed to life and a screen appeared.
“Groups 1 through 4 will run their simulations on the left, groups 5 through 8 on the right. All rules are exactly the same as the performance assessment. One active member, three support members. Support members may not leave their set positions, and only the active member may employ direct means of attack. And the Cyclops will recognize and attack the active member alone.”
Jane extended her arm and patted the vest held up by an assistant.
“That said, there's no need to worry too much. The virtual Cyclops's attacks will be entirely absorbed by the barrier magic woven into this vest. Each time it absorbs damage, the barrier gauge on the screen you see above will decrease. When the gauge reaches zero, the training session ends immediately. Return to the waiting room.”
The students nodded with tense faces.
“You will each experience up to three sets of virtual combat. I hope you'll use this time to evaluate on your own how well the strategies you set last class hold up—and to hone your instincts for real combat as much as you can.”
The simulations began almost the moment Jane finished speaking. Groups 1 and 5 entered the training chambers, while the remaining members were shown to the waiting rooms.
The waiting room was a lounge dotted with spacious sofas and laid out with refreshments. Mana projectors installed in the ceiling displayed screens through which they could watch the other groups' sessions.
Before reviewing their own strategy, Simon's group decided to watch the other teams' trials first.
Ah, there's Cindy Vivace.
Group 5 belonged to the pickpocket he'd met in Langestin—Cindy Vivace, aspiring Spirit Magic major.
She was the active member, backed by a combination of students from Curse Magic, Jet-Black Mechanics, and Toxicology.
By Simon's assessment, the balance wasn't bad at all.
“We will now begin the simulation battle.”
A deep, resonant hum filled the air—
Vuuuummmmm!
The surroundings seemed to flood with mana, and suddenly the training chamber transformed into a forest.
As if they'd been dropped into the very heart of a real woodland, the walls vanished beneath a canopy of trees. Birds called, and a breeze drifted through. The watching students burst into exclamations of awe.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Then, from deep within the distant forest, came footfalls that shook the very earth. The birds fled.
The footsteps drew closer and closer—then a massive, teal-scaled monster, well over two meters tall, burst through the underbrush.
Its whole body rippled with muscle. One eye was twisted and crushed flat as if it had been stomped in, while the pupil of the other darted up and down with manic frenzy.
The monster flung its jaws wide and roared, and the expressions of the students inside the training chamber froze solid all at once.
“Alright!”
Cindy stretched both arms behind her back. A sleek jet-black scythe materialized into her waiting grip.
“Let's do this!”
With a thunderous crash, the battle began.
And then—
Result:SIMULATION FAILED
Elapsed Time:1 minute 16 seconds
Damage Inflicted:22%
Barrier Gauge:0%
Overall Grade:F
The data from the simulation was projected onto the mana-projector screen.
Everyone's mouth hung open at the utterly one-sided result. Simon was no less astonished.
Yeah. That thing is the real deal.
Cindy's teammates came rushing toward her where she lay sprawled on the floor. She pushed herself up, chuckled sheepishly, and scratched her head.
“Sorry—my ghost-transformation timing was a little off. I'll dodge it for sure next time!”
Group 1 on the other side finished even faster than Group 5.
The cause was identical: the active member failed to cope with the Cyclops's furious onslaught and was knocked out. A single clean hit dropped the barrier gauge below half.
Worse, both groups had brought curses as their means of sealing the Cyclops—but before they could even unfold them, their active members were already down. There had been no room to do anything at all.
“The ones going out there all look stiff as boards,”
Dick remarked. Simon nodded.
“Part of it's psychological.”
Even with three teammates standing behind you, the terror and tension of facing a Cyclops alone wasn't something you could easily overcome.
Simon turned his head.
“Meilin. Are you really going to be okay?”
“Huh? Oh—y-yeah?”
Her face was white as a blank sheet of paper, but she nodded quickly.
“O-of course I'm fine!”
Her voice itself was trembling with nerves—it clearly wasn't fine at all.
In the end, she excused herself to the bathroom. She was hardly alone; a whole stream of students was making a beeline for the facilities.
Group 2 and Group 6's sessions followed. Simon watched with his eyes wide open, hoping to pick up some hint—but this time too, the active members went down to the full force of the Cyclops's swinging attacks.
“Groups 3 and 7, please enter the training chambers.”
Group 7's turn arrived far sooner than expected. As Simon rose from his seat, a cluster of students was heading toward the training chamber on the opposite side.
Ah, right—Group 3 is Hector's team.
Centered on their leader Hector were Pierre Buckler, Class A's ace of the Summoning major, and two more members who each scored over 90 in Jet-Black Mechanics and Spirit Magic—genuinely skilled students all around. It was, for all practical purposes, the best-rated team in Class A.
And at that exact moment, Hector's gaze met Simon's across the room. The corner of Hector's mouth curled up.
“Group 7's active member is obviously going to be you, right?”
Simon shook his head.
“Not me. Meilin.”
“That sheltered little rich girl is going out there? Did you step aside to let her save face?”
“The person best suited for it went out. That's all.”
“Don't get cute with me, Simon Polentia.”
Hector's eyes flashed.
“Come at me with everything you've got. This time, I'm going to crush you properly.”
“Groups 3 and 7! Enter the training chambers immediately, please.”
Urged on by the assistant's voice, the two of them turned their backs and headed for their respective chambers.
Simon stepped into the training room, where Dick and Camibarez were waiting, stretching to loosen up. An assistant holding a clipboard glanced around and asked,
“Where's your last member?”
“Sorry I'm late!”
Meilin finally stumbled in, out of breath. When the assistant pressed the control device in her hand, countless mana signal emitters along the walls lit up and the door slid shut behind her.
“Active member, step forward.”
“Yes.”
Meilin stepped forward, her face taut as a drawn bowstring.
“I will now mark the support positions.”
The signal emitters in the ceiling blinked, and rings of mana drew themselves onto the floor. The three walked to their assigned positions—Camibarez on the left, Simon at center, Dick on the right—all standing in their set positions, with Meilin standing before them.
“Rest assured—the Cyclops cannot see the support members. Of course, if you step even a single pace outside these rings, you'll be disqualified.”
“Yes, ma'am!”
“Active member. Are you ready?”
“Ah... yes!”
Meilin answered, snapping out of a brief daze.
“Meilin, get your head in the game. You're really sure about this?”
Dick asked.
“...I told you, I'm fine!”
“Please don't be too nervous, Meilin! It's just a virtual battle anyway! You've got this!”
“Right. Thank you.”
Everyone settled into position. The assistant stepped back and said,
“Then—Group 7, first simulation battle. Beginning now.”
The assistant's body melted away into the empty air as if dissolving, and a fierce wind whipped through the chamber. Simon's eyes sharpened.
Wind, indoors. So it's not just a simple illusion after all.
The floor bled green as the surroundings shifted into forest, and a stretch of marshland spread out before them.
Leaves came riding the breeze and struck Simon's forearm. He ran his fingers over one—the texture of the leaf felt completely real.
Watching from the outside and experiencing it firsthand were dimensions apart. In the face of this storm of overwhelming realism, Simon couldn't spare a thought for anything else.
And then—
Kuuung! Kuuung!
Vibrations rumbled up through the ground. Dick shouted.
“Everyone get ready! Here it comes!”
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
With that deafening barrage of footsteps, the massive Cyclops came barreling through the dense foliage.
The roar of the King of the Mountain shakes the training chamber to its foundations.
Every hair on his body stood on end as his heart pounded like mad. It truly felt like coming face to face with a monster in the middle of a forest.
If the pressure was this crushing even from a set position, then for Meilin, who had to face it head-on...
“Whewww.”
Then he saw her take a long, deep breath. Meilin's expression settled into something far more focused.
“Okay. Just like we practiced.”
Her trembling died away.
Simon smiled. Contrary to all his worries, she had adapted to the situation fast.
Right. Who am I to worry about anyone? Nobody here needs looking after.
Simon pulled the invisible lever.
Two hundred percent focus on my role. Nothing else!