The Final Entrance Exam
Simon took Heidi to the infirmary inside the ship.
"You can put me down now. I mean, please put me down...... now."
Heidi squirmed in his arms, her face flushed bright red with embarrassment, her voice so small it was barely audible.
Simon grinned playfully.
"Using honorifics now. So you finally believe I'm a second-year?"
"Th-that's......!"
She hid her burning face behind her hands.
"Th-there's no way someone as strong as you could be a new student...... sir."
Simon set her down and accompanied her into the infirmary, where Sun, who had been waiting, examined her.
"Mild symptoms of stress and abrasions on the wrists. Everything else is perfectly normal. As long as she gets plenty of sleep from today onward, she'll be fine to attend classes."
"That's great news, Heidi," Simon said.
Heidi, who had been staring down at the bandage wrapped around her wrist, blinked.
"I'm... really okay?"
Only yesterday she hadn't slept a wink, sobbing and wailing until she'd outright fainted.
"Yes. You're in remarkably good health."
Come to think of it—
She'd dozed off briefly right after Simon rescued her, and ever since then, her exhaustion had melted away as if it had never existed at all.
Did he do something to me?
Simon only kept smiling and said nothing.
While the doctor stepped out briefly to fetch some medicine, she spoke up in a tiny voice.
"Um...... excuse me......"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you so much for bringing me to Kizen...... sir."
Still unaccustomed to addressing Simon with honorifics, she rolled her eyes around in circles, and the sight was endearingly cute.
"I should repay you somehow, but, um...... my family isn't well-off, so if you could just wait a little while, I'll—"
"I didn't do it expecting a reward."
Simon cut her off cleanly, letting his arms drop.
"Protecting students during missions is the student council president's duty. I just did my job. There's no need to feel like you owe me anything."
"B-but still!"
"Fine. If you absolutely insist on repaying me—"
Simon paused to think for a moment, then his lips parted.
"I'd like you to make it through the first-year competition alive."
"...What?"
"Graduating up through third year would be even better, but that's a level I haven't reached myself yet, so it's hard to say much about it. Anyway—you're the first student I've ever rescued as student council president. I want you to weather every competition that comes your way and survive to the very end."
Simon leaned his back fully against the wall and looked up at the ceiling.
"Yeah. That's all."
A choked wave of gratitude welled up in Heidi's eyes as she gazed at him.
He's incredible.
Only a single year older than her, and yet everything about him—his skill, his mindset—was on a completely different plane.
Me too.
She pressed her hands tightly together over her chest.
I want to become someone like him, too.
She wanted to grow strong and help as many people as she could.
It was the moment when the person she respected most in the world shifted from her father to that senior at that school.
"Senior."
"U-uh, yeah?"
Simon, still flustered by being called senior, scratched at the hair beside his ear.
I respect you. Someday, I'm going to study hard at Kizen and become someone just like you.
Heidi swallowed the words too embarrassing to speak aloud, then broke into a bright smile.
"Thank you truly, from the bottom of my heart, for saving me."
And someday, I'll pass on everything you've given me to far more people than just me.
It was the moment a lifelong role model was born for one young girl.
After thirty minutes of rest, the Kizen staff called all the freshmen together and began the briefing.
"Alright, freshmen! In ten minutes, the Underworld Whale will arrive at Kizen!"
Simon stood beside them. Far more of the freshmen's eyes were drifting toward Simon than toward the staff member giving the explanation.
"Every one of you received one of these, correct?"
"Yes!"
What the freshmen held in their hands were crystal orbs. They resembled the common amplification crystals, but these had multiple safety mechanisms built into them.
"In a few minutes, you will all be falling from an altitude of several thousand meters."
"???"
The freshmen fell into confusion.
"At that moment, this crystal orb will be your lifeline. I'll explain how to activate it. There are two locks. First, pull out this pin, and then—"
The Kizen staff walked the students through the procedure step by step with impeccable patience, but students who were already fumbling and stammering began popping up everywhere.
"Now, once you've released both of these locks and waited a moment—"
Shuuuuunk!
A bubble burst out of the crystal orb's opening and, in an instant, enveloped the staff member's entire body. His voice was muffled from inside, but he demonstrated within the bubble—punching it, jabbing at it with his fingernails. Naturally, the bubble held firm; it wasn't about to burst from anything that feeble.
Pop!
The staff member gathered jet-black at his fingertip, punched a hole in the bubble, and stepped out, looking over the students.
"Everyone understands now, yes?"
"Yeeesss......"
Hesitant, uncertain answers drifted back from all corners.
The headquarters staff member raised his voice.
"If you can't manage even this much, you have no right to call yourselves students of the great Kizen! Think of it as your final entrance exam. Stay calm and do exactly as you've been taught."
This was the official manual, after all.
Last year, Silaje had come in person and handled everything with his own power—but this year, no professor-level necromancer was in attendance, so the students had been issued the safety equipment per the manual.
Just then, a henchman holding a communication crystal shouted out.
"We're arriving at Roc Island shortly!"
"Then freshmen, everyone please return to your seats!"
"Yes!"
The freshmen shuffled back to their places in a crowd. Simon moved among them, checking that each student was seated exactly where they were supposed to be.
"You're so handsome, senior~"
"Ehehehe!"
Mischievous teasing from the girls punctuated the bustle here and there.
Simon deliberately ignored it, going about his work with a perfectly blank expression—but the tips of his ears had turned bright red.
"Is this really the time for joking around? Everyone, stay focused!"
When Princess Molly turned around and shouted, the rowdy freshmen hastily shut their mouths.
In the meantime, the ship was sealed once more within the barrier, and seawater began flooding the whale's belly, rising to the ceiling in the blink of an eye.
"Student council president, we're about to begin!"
The henchman looked at Simon and said.
Simon took his own seat, then addressed the students.
"If you don't want to fall, hold on tight!"
At his words, every freshman in sight gripped the handles of the seat in front of them with all their strength.
And then—
SHOOOOOOOOSH!
As if a plugged faucet had blown open all at once, the seawater blasted out toward the bow with overwhelming force.
The staggering sensation of their bodies going weightless hit the freshmen so hard they couldn't even scream; they simply buried their faces against the seats in front of them.
Soon the ship shot through the pitch-black tunnel and burst out into dazzling light.
"Whoa......!"
With a fierce wind whipping past, a breathtakingly open vista unfurled before them. The moment the cold air touched their skin, the freshmen lifted their heads. They were at an altitude almost impossible to fathom.
The entirety of Roc Island lay spread out below, looking no bigger than a toy. But their awe lasted only a moment—the water jets fired by the Underworld Whale gradually weakened, and the bow of the ship pitched forward.
Now.
Simon, who had been through this once before, was wearing a relaxed smile.
We fall.
AAAAAAAHHH—!
KYAAAAAAAHHH!
Under crushing pressure, the surroundings streaked past like rays of light as the ship plummeted endlessly downward, and down, and down.
A handful of students were torn loose from the ship and scattered away. The barrier had been deactivated to avoid the risk of collision.
"Here we go."
Simon, leading the escort, released his own handle and dropped free of the ship. The ship fell first, while the students who'd lost their grip tumbled end over end through the sky.
"Alright, everyone, stay calm!" Simon shouted.
"Activate your crystal orbs and get inside the bubble! Just do exactly what you learned!"
The majority of freshmen who heard his cry quickly activated their crystals and slipped safely into their bubbles, but a few were completely paralyzed with panic—frozen stiff, unable even to scream, as they plummeted.
Good thing I prepared for exactly this.
Simon triggered the dark magic he had readied.
Cloud-series Dark Magic — Activated
The Imperial Guard, right on the heels of the Skull Drone. Casting two Cloud-series dark magics back to back was a first for him, but there had been no choice.
From Simon's subspace, teal-tinted bones came bursting out and wrapped around his body.
The Imperial Guard's cloak settled behind Simon's back and transformed into two pairs of fluttering wings, while the bones clinging to his whole body like joints glowed brilliantly, generating thrust.
Jet propulsion engaged
A magic circle unfurled behind his back, and from within it Cloud erupted like flames, launching Simon's body up into the air.
He shot toward the first target—a girl whose first lock wouldn't release.
"Nnnghh! Why won't this stupid thing work?!"
Tears brimming in her eyes, she shrieked as if screaming a war cry.
"Stay calm!"
Simon came in from behind, caught hold of her, and released the lock for the girl who'd lost all composure. Moments later, the freshman's body was enveloped in a safe bubble.
Next!
Trailing an emerald tail behind him, Simon darted from person to person, releasing locks as he went. Bubbles bloomed open all across the sky.
"There, all set!"
Amid it all, he spotted one admirable junior.
Arthur was helping a student who couldn't work their locks, unfolding the bubble for them himself.
"Nice work, Arthur!" Simon said, thrusting a thumb up.
"This much is just the basics!"
Arthur returned the gesture with a casual thumb of his own.
Truly the Mercenary King.
Years of hardened mercenary life rolling across battlefields gave him a depth of experience the other noble freshmen simply didn't share. To him, this level of danger probably didn't even register as danger.
"Okay, now unfold your own bubble, Arthur! I've got the rest of the kids!"
"Yes, sir, Senior!"
Arthur drew out his crystal orb and yanked the safety pin.
And then—
CRACK!
He was so strong that the safety pin shattered into pieces.
"NOOOOOO! IT'S RUINEDDDDD!"
For every virtue listed above, Arthur possessed a matching flaw: he was an absolute fool.
"Senior Simon! Please help me!!"
Are you kidding me, I'm drowning in work, why HIM too—!
Simon activated the crystal orb of a freshman who'd lost his grip on reality, then moved on to the next person as he shouted back.
"Arthur! You can land on your own, right?"
"What?! That's so mean!!"
"You're a Special Admission student, aren't you?"
Simon yelled as he freed another freshman's locks.
"If your goal is to be the strongest in Kizen, something like this should be a piece of cake, shouldn't it?"
Arthur's teary face transformed in an instant.
"Now THAT'S what I like to hear!"
Arthur drew a brand-new sword from his subspace.
"That just makes me WANT to pull it off, no matter what!"
Watching Arthur swing his sword through the empty air with a thunderous whoosh, Simon moved on to the next student.
"Phew."
One by one, every student falling from the ship descended safely inside their bubbles. Those who dropped later were personally looked after by the henchmen and Kizen staff.
Simon switched his Imperial Guard suit to low-speed flight and looked down below.
Every bit as breathtaking as the first time.
His alma mater came into view.
Dense jungle, smoothly swept plains, a waterfall drifting with falling leaves, snow-capped mountains. The landscape of Roc Island, holding all four seasons at once, unfolded like a masterwork painting.
And at the island's center stood the Kizen campus, its buildings rising abruptly one after another.
The freshmen, who had finally recovered their composure, were now gazing at the scenery with pure, unfiltered awe.
"Everyone—welcome to Kizen!"
Hearing their student council president's voice, the freshmen carved the sight of that sky into their memories—the image they would carry with them for years to come.
And so, every single freshman who had ridden the Underworld Whale arrived safely on Roc Island.
Arthur, in his attempt to land, swung his sword wildly toward the ground with a colossal flourish—which left several students eating a faceful of sand, but no real harm was done.
Here and there, freshmen sat slumped on the ground catching their breath, while a few others were on all fours vomiting.
It was the exact same scene as a year ago. But they quickly regained their energy and were soon chattering noisily, one-upping each other with tales of heroism.
"Student council president! Outstanding work leading the group!"
As Simon landed and retrieved the Imperial Guard into his subspace, teaching assistants came out from the school to greet them. Simon returned their greeting.
"Sorry for the delay. A bit of trouble came up in Langestin......"
"Not at all! We heard reports about what happened on our end too. What matters most is that every student arrived without exception."
One of the assistants looked over the students and called out.
"Alright! Freshmen, everyone into a four-column formation! You'll change straight into your Kizen uniforms and head to the entrance ceremony hall."
The freshmen began to move, one by one, forming lines in front of the henchmen. But they were too busy laughing and joking among themselves; even when the assistants shouted themselves hoarse, the crowd refused to fall in line.
"Hey, everyone."
Just then, Simon stepped forward with a sharp clap of his hands.
"Four-column formation."
At that single sentence—
Every freshman who had been fooling around or goofing off snapped to attention at once, came running, and swiftly lined up. Simon spoke.
"Count off from the front."
"One!"
"Two!"
Watching the freshmen count off crisply as they fell into place, the assistants turned to each other with stunned expressions.
"Th-that's incredible!"
"How did he manage freshmen at the most disobedient stage of their entire......?"
Simon gave an awkward smile.
"Er, um. That would take a while to explain."