I Will Ask.
I Will Ask.
"This time, too, there was no sound from the other side."
At Elysis's words, Violet and the staff member's eyes went wide simultaneously.
Come to think of it, that was true.
The speed of a Mana Bullet unrestrained by a safety device was monstrous. There was simply no way it could have avoided making an impact noise.
Three women's heads turned toward Plan at once.
The scene that met their eyes was simple, and also shocking.
A Mana Bullet dissected and scattering in every direction, and a boy with an utterly unruffled demeanor. That was all.
The tips of Plan's fingers were visibly severely burned. Enough, even, that smoke was rising from them.
And yet Plan simply stared into the empty air as though bored.
Violet opened her mouth, her expression flustered.
"Elysis. That..."
"Indeed."
Elysis nodded.
"It seems he dismantled it this time too."
"Wait, wait just a moment. That makes no sense. Wasn't this Mana Bullet faster than the third round's?"
"It was. I set it to the same speed as Ivan Rose's Flash."
At those words, Violet sucked in a hollow breath.
"Understanding of the core circuit. Flawless interference and dismantling. All of it within that brief span of time..."
"He did all of it. Just what kind of guy is he."
When she had evaluated Plan over three rounds,
until that point, she had thought of him simply as a moderately useful one. Her doubts had remained.
But now, after the fourth round, Elysis's mind had changed.
'An interesting one.'
Considering Plan's age, 'rough gemstone' was surely the correct term. And yet.
...There was something strangely off about him, a side that behaved like a jewel that had already been cut and polished.
Elysis licked her lower lip.
She placed more importance on a mage's inner qualities than on their technique.
Many mages shone briefly through outstanding artistry, but a truly great mage needed an overwhelming spirit that would not retreat from anything.
She hadn't expected that peculiar boy to possess that level of ability.
Yes, she hadn't, and yet...
Elysis scrutinized Plan's face once more.
In the boy's expression, she caught a glimpse of that overwhelming spirit she had searched for.
Greed began to rise. A desire to stand him not in a paltry testing ground like this, but on a real battlefield.
One step, then another.
Plan began approaching her with a dissatisfied expression. Soon he knocked three times on the Black Barrier and spoke.
"What else do you require?"
Though the interior should have been completely invisible, he was looking straight into Violet's eyes.
"Hey, you."
Elysis deactivated the Black Barrier. She immediately asked Plan.
"Why did you go out of your way to touch it and interfere?"
Perhaps because her tone was so rough, Plan narrowed his brow, as if he thought she was picking a fight.
"If your understanding is that good, you could've just observed with your eyes and interfered. Why did you deliberately touch it, I'm asking."
"Ah."
As if wondering if that was all she was curious about, Plan relaxed his expression and spoke. The three women fixed their eyes on his lips.
"There was no Mana to observe with the naked eye."
Everyone except Plan wore an expression of shock.
After a moment, Elysis asked again.
"Then I have no choice but to ask the same question once more. Why on earth didn't you dodge, and touched it instead? Were you not afraid?"
"I don't understand either. According to Student Plan, if he had been even slightly slow in either understanding or interference, he would have been very badly injured."
Violet chimed in from the side.
It was outrageously dangerous.
If Plan's words were true, didn't it mean that the instant the Mana Bullet touched his fingertip, he not only achieved 'understanding,' reading the entire core circuit, but also performed the 'interference' to dismantle it?
Any mage with no Mana left would have tried to dodge.
"Allow me to ask a question."
Plan, in turn, posed a question to Elysis.
"Would you have dodged?"
Silence flowed for a moment.
Elysis furrowed her brow and asked back.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"A situation in which you have exhausted all Mana, and an opponent comes rushing in. Would you dodge?"
"It would depend on the situation and the opponent, wouldn't it?"
"It does not differ. I believe a proper mage would think the same in any situation."
The corner of Plan's mouth curled up subtly.
And then he murmured in a low voice.
"That there is no reason to dodge."
Violet and Elysis faced one another.
They both thought simultaneously:
That today's evaluation, from which they hadn't expected much, this tiny flap of a wing, might just become a massive storm.
◈
—The evaluation has ended. Results will be announced shortly, so students, please do not leave the waiting room.
I picked out one of the chairs in the waiting room and seated myself.
"Louis, did you do well? I prayed hard for you."
"Of course he did well. It's Louis."
Those who wanted to be socially connected were already hovering near Louis. They were all firmly convinced that Louis would be the representative.
"I doubt it will be me."
Louis answered with a faint smile. His gaze quietly turned in my direction.
"Aww~ Louis, isn't that being too modest?"
Hailey, who was sitting beside him, combed his hair with her fingers and smiled brightly.
"Hey, Plan."
Of course, there was no shortage of fools who approached me.
"...Did you do well? I was rooting for you."
It was Becky. I gave a still nod of my head.
Whether they rooted for me or cursed me, I felt no particular sentiment. Since if not me, there would be no one else for the role anyway.
At that moment, Violet revealed herself.
"Everyone, attention. First of all, well done on completing the evaluation."
Elysis stood beside Violet.
Elysis was extremely tall and Violet was short, so the contrast between them was especially stark. It felt as if Violet had been turned into a tiny little witch.
"Enough preamble. Results first."
At the words 'results,' people held their breaths here and there.
Violet flicked a finger and made a name appear in the air.
[ Plan ]
"Louis... isn't the representative?"
Hailey murmured, staring at the letters with an expression of brief shock.
As her mouth slowly fell open, questions began to erupt from other directions as well.
"Plan?"
"Isn't this a mistake?"
"Why in the world...."
The shock the students had received was greater than expected.
"That makes no sense. How does a guy who was totally carried by Trixie during the Exploration Assessment become the representative?"
Just as Martin's single remark was about to become kindling that would ignite the controversy, Elysis spoke.
"I'll say this in advance: this evaluation was fair."
At those words, the murmuring only grew louder.
While the inside of the waiting room was beginning to descend entirely into chaos, Elysis continued.
"Our opponent is Ivan Rose, the one called the supernova of the Knight Department."
Elysis swept her gaze over the students broadly.
"Since Ivan's Inherent Ability is Flash, we evaluated you based on how you responded to Mana Bullets fired at high speed."
The students gave a quiet nod.
Naturally. There would be no one here who failed to understand the story up to this point.
"For reference.... The equipment had a safety device attached. All because the ever-benevolent Professor Violet cherishes you students so very much."
Having spoken to that point, Elysis lifted a lever. The lever bore traces of having been broken.
"Judging that there was a need to measure Plan's skill clearly, I deactivated the safety device. And even on the fourth launch, Plan handled it quite admirably."
As if the story wasn't over yet, Elysis held up a single index finger.
"Lastly, there is one part you must keep firmly in mind."
The students each swallowed dryly. All of them were staring solely at Elysis's mouth.
"The fourth Mana Bullet launched was comparable in speed to Ivan Rose's Flash. The ones the rest of you faced were far slower. Understood?"
The fourth Mana Bullet was comparable in speed to Flash. At Elysis's words, the students were appalled.
"So we... couldn't even shoot down a much slower one?"
"Plan did that?"
While all the students were struck with startled alarm, there was an intense gaze directed at me.
It was Trixie. She was staring intently at me.
Be that as it may, I began to sink into other thoughts.
'How long has it been.'
I absently examined the state of my left hand. The burned fingers were conspicuous.
It was just a matter of using Healing Magic when I returned to the dorm, so handling it wasn't difficult, but....
The very concept of being injured felt incredibly foreign to me. The stinging fingers felt foreign, and trivial....
I had no idea how long it had been since my body had last taken a wound.
But I did not regret my actions.
Even if it breaks, it will never bend. I only move further forward without ever losing my pride of self-existence (自存).
'Hera.'
What's more, I even have a Spirit Artifact.
If I grow alongside the artifact, the summit shouldn't be far off. For now, I concluded my thoughts like that.
"The Mystic Gorge guarantees that the representative selection was fair. If anyone still has doubts, come find me separately."
Elysis concluded her remarks at about that point.
At the name Mystic Gorge, everyone clamped their mouths shut. Seemed its name value was quite lofty.
Violet spoke again.
"I'll emphasize it once more: everyone worked hard on the evaluation. We will now move to the hotel inside the Magic Tower."
Male students on the 24th floor, female students on the 23rd.... Violet's explanation continued for a while, and at last we moved toward the portal.
However, a problem arose in front of the portal. Yushia suddenly shouted.
"Excuse me? What do you mean by that?!"
Looking over, Yushia's golden eyes were shaking violently as she stared at the staff member in front of the portal.
"I can't bring the glow-in-the-dark puzzle in? Truly?"
"For security reasons, carrying personal luggage inside the Magic Tower is not permitted. Please entrust it to the storage facility outside, directly across from the building."
"How can that...!"
Despair spread across Yushia's face.
But I also had luggage. I examined the things I had brought with me.
『 On the Phenomenon of Summoning-Type Interference Collisions 』
『 An Elemental Study on Malleability Systems 』
『 A Study of Elvish Pronunciation by Continental Dialect 』
.
.
.
They were roughly eight theses, carefully and rigorously selected from the library.
Having been in the library without pause since after dinner, I had no choice but to move with these theses in hand in order to make it in time for Violet's sudden summons.
"Student. These also count as personal luggage and cannot be brought in."
Sure enough, before long the theses I was carrying were also flagged.
All the students' eyes turned toward me. Violet said to me.
"Student Plan. Leave those at the storage facility."
I considered, and quickly reached a conclusion.
I approached Violet. I handed her the eight theses I had carefully selected.
"I entrust these to you."
Violet's eyebrow twitched once.
"Student Plan. Are you telling a professor to run an errand for you right now?"
"No. Put these theses in my room."
"For the second time, luggage goes outside the building.... No, what did you say?"
"I am luggage."
I forcibly placed the theses in her hands, then turned around.
I've slept rough before. How hard could sleeping in a storage facility be?
"What... what did you say? Wait. Student Plan!"
Ignoring her, I swiftly stepped onto the portal.
I can't stand to see my theses sleeping out in the cold.
"...."
As I was moving my steps toward the storage facility, I abruptly sensed a presence and turned around.
Something like a soft, white bundle of feathers had been trailing after me and now stopped in its tracks as well.
Naturally, our eyes met.
I asked Yushia, who was smiling brightly as if something were terribly exciting.
"What are you doing."
"Ah! Sir Plan!"
Yushia hoisted her box up and shouted.
"Glow-in-the-dark puzzle!"