Twenty Life Signs

Atel Dane was a female martial arts student, a warrior of 2-Star caliber. Her naturally bright brown hair suited her well, and her eyes matched it exactly, lending her a distinctly healthy look. She was tall for a girl her age, which made her stand out all the more.

Her personality and her way with people were decent enough. She had a tendency, however, to fold in the face of rank and hierarchy — and perhaps because of that, she had never been able to hold her head high at the academy.

"Your main weapons are the sword and shield, I take it?"

"Y-yes! I've trained in shield techniques since I was little!"

The swordsmanship she practiced was built around blade ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and shield, and it was obvious at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a glance that she leaned far more on defense than attack. He'd heard her dream was to join the Imperial Royal Guard.

If I introduce her to Milia later, is she going to faint on the spot?

A frontliner with real defensive capability was desperately needed. X, Lola, and Circe were all offense-heavy, after all.

When he'd spoken with Atel separately, he'd learned a little more about her.

"M-my parents were mercenaries, so I had the chance to learn swordsmanship from a young age. But I never liked getting hurt, so I picked up a shield first. They said I had a talent for shield work, so my parents sent me to the academy..."

Atel was not untalented — that much was certain. It was just that X was surrounded by monsters in human skin, which had thoroughly warped his sense of what counted as strong.

By the empire's overall average, anyone at 2-Star or above is practically a superhuman.

Most mercenaries and adventurers out in the world had never even learned internal energy arts. They'd never so much as glimpsed a fragment of them. Their weapon work wasn't systematized martial technique so much as brawling — cruder even than the Three Powers Swordsmanship X had first picked up. So Atel was definitely above average for a warrior her age. Except for one serious problem.

"A shield-bearing frontliner who's afraid of combat and holds herself back. You know that doesn't make any sense, right?"

"Ugh..."

That was it. Atel was afraid of combat. She was afraid of getting hurt, and of hurting anyone else. Understandable in an ordinary girl — but she was a warrior.

"Have you ever thought about changing that personality of yours?"

"I've thought about it a lot, but it's not something that comes easily..."

In short, Atel was afraid of changing herself. It was a thoroughly inconvenient temperament in every respect. Keeping her issues in mind, X moved on.

Ames Bailey was a male martial arts student, likewise a warrior of 2-Star caliber. A tall boy with red hair tied back in a single knot, he had the look of someone who'd trained hard, and old scars marked his skin in plenty. His dark eyes burned with a zeal that seemed ready to overflow.

"Just give the order and I'll ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠do anything...!"

"Your main weapon is a spear. Unexpected — most people go for the sword."

"I learned spear techniques from my father!"

Ames was an aggressive frontline fighter. With a spear as his weapon, he could pair well with Atel and her shield work. His personality was proactive, and his attacks packed a genuine punch. In most teams, he would have been a valuable combatant with real finishing power. There was a reason, however, that he still didn't have a team.

"Is there a reason you just charge in without looking left or right?"

"If you're born a man, there's no such thing as retreat!"

"Which is why you went down first."

"..."

Unfortunately, Ames's personality was completely unsuited to anything that required cooperation. The moment a fight started, he trusted only his own judgment and barreled in headlong. That was the problem.

"Would you still do that even if I gave you an order?"

"N-no! I absolutely wouldn't...!"

"I certainly hope not. I'll say it again: my goal is first place. A subordinate who doesn't follow orders is useless."

"Y-yes, sir!!"

X had deliberately dropped his voice into a warning, and Ames tensed up, thoroughly intimidated. He had no choice.

Given the nature of Ames's weapon, his role was to land a decisive blow at the right moment. If he broke from the leader's judgment and engaged the enemy at the wrong time, it would be a disaster. An incompetent ally was more dangerous than a powerful enemy. After a few more warnings that bordered on coercion, X sat down with the last of them.

"I called you here just to get acquainted. Fortunately, Tene, you don't seem to be afraid of me."

"..."

Tene Stere was a male student of the divine arts, with ability at the 3rd Class level — quite high for Class F. His short blue hair, reminiscent of a monk's, was striking, and his deep brown eyes had a settled, almost transcendent quality. He was of average height, but the traces of serious training were plain to see.

"You're studying enhancement-type divine arts, correct? Can you enhance others as well?"

Tene nodded carefully. He was a cleric walking the path of a monk, the same road Frey had taken. In the earlier fight, he'd charged in with his entire body enhanced. As was typical of a Warrior Monk, his ability to lock down a single opponent was quite difficult to shake off.

"Decent combat ability, a fair amount of confidence, and you can buff others — an all-purpose offensive asset. I like that."

"..."

"But there's a small problem. A rather large one, actually."

X sighed, looking at Tene, who still hadn't spoken a single word.

"Have you been this quiet because of a Vow of Silence?"

"..."

Tene was a cleric bound by a Vow of Silence.

"I know you can gain divine power faster by shouldering a personal disadvantage, but a Vow of Silence of all things... How much time is left on it?"

Tene held up three fingers.

"Three months?"

Tene shook his head.

"...Three years?"

Tene nodded.

X's vision swam. He pressed a hand to his forehead.

I can't exactly tell him to break a Vow of Silence...

Vows like these had the advantage of rapidly accumulating divine power, but the drawback was that breaking one meant losing every last drop you'd gained. Telling a cleric to break a vow was something no one could do — not the emperor, not even the pope.

If that were the only issue, it would still be manageable.

There was a reason Tene hadn't been able to form a team until now, either. He waved his hands around and launched into an enthusiastic display of body language. Of course, X had no ability whatsoever to interpret any of it.

"...I don't suppose written conversation is allowed either?"

Tene crossed both hands into an X, signaling no. A Vow of Silence blocked all linguistic communication. The moment you conveyed something through writing or speech, the vow would break.

Hands whirling, chopping, slicing through the air — Tene put his entire body into the pantomime. The problem was that Tene was a chatty person by nature. He tried desperately to communicate through gestures, and in the end none of it was intelligible. Watching it, both X and Tene himself were ready to lose their minds from sheer frustration.

"Right. Let's get along from here on out..."

Tene clenched his teeth in mute, grinding exasperation.

These were the teammates he would be carrying out group assignments with from now on. The silver lining was that Circe and Lola were with him. Whatever else, he'd already built decent coordination and rhythm with those two. So for now, all he had to do was sync up with the new members.

Of course, things in this world never worked out that easily.

After wringing every last drop out of the students in the time they had, Thursday arrived, and with it the practical evaluation for Basic Strategy and Tactics.

As befit a practical, the class was held at a dedicated training ground — a multi-purpose experimental facility inside the research complex. All sixteen students of Class F changed into the designated training uniforms and assembled before the professor of Basic Strategy and Tactics.

He was a middle-aged man with a rather sharp cast to his features. Leather Winson, professor of Basic Strategy and Tactics, was a former military commander — a man rumored to have been dishonorably discharged for corruption.

So that's why his personality is so foul.

He was a character who had never even appeared in the original novel. And in any case, that temper of his was unlikely to be pointed at X. As always, X watched the situation unfold with indifferent eyes.

Once Leather had confirmed that every student was present, he opened his mouth.

"As announced, today we will conduct the practical evaluation for Basic Strategy and Tactics. You were told to form teams of no fewer than four and no more than six, and to prepare yourselves to respond to any situation. I trust I don't need to repeat myself."

Not a single student contradicted him. The professor's personality was already rotten enough that nobody wanted to give him an excuse to pick them apart before the evaluation had even started.

Leather savored the silence for a moment, then operated a panel on the training ground wall.

"Today's evaluation is a tactical assessment inside a labyrinth. Your objective is to escape within fifty minutes. I will evaluate you across multiple criteria based on how you conduct that escape."

"What are the evaluation criteria?"

"Cooperation, leadership, improvisation, and so on. The various abilities required at the party level. If you fail to escape the labyrinth, you will be disqualified and receive a grade of F. Keep that in mind."

"Are we allowed to attack other teams?"

It was a fairly sharp question. Leather nodded as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Of course. Your response upon encountering another team will also be factored into your score. For reference, this evaluation is graded on a curve. If you want a high mark, neutralizing another team wouldn't be a bad approach."

"W-won't people get badly hurt...?"

"There are Safety Devices you'll equip before entering the labyrinth. If the system determines you've been neutralized, a spell will return you to this location. Feel free to go all out."

It was a remark designed to stoke competition. The moment a competitive element entered the evaluation, the other students started shooting looks at X's team. His was the strongest team in the class, which made them the primary target of everyone's wariness.

X tossed out a line for good measure.

"Don't say stuff like that...! Why would you go making enemies on purpose...!"

Lola, startled, swatted at him to shut him up, and the other students' faces grew grim. Competition only worked when the levels were comparable. When one side was overwhelmingly superior, it was simply unfair.

"The practical evaluation for Basic Strategy and Tactics will now begin."

A few more of Leather's complaints followed, and then the evaluation started in earnest. Each team chose one of the three entrances in front of them. X headed for the one in the middle.

The moment his six teammates stepped into the labyrinth, the entrance sealed shut and darkness came flooding in. X kindled a small flame with magic and looked around. Fear was written plainly on the faces of the three new members.

"You remember the dungeon-style exploration method we learned, yes? We'll follow it as taught. Visibility is this poor, so we'll be using the Cat's Eye spell. Circe, if you would."

Circe chanted quietly and laid the magic over the team — a night-vision spell that brightened their darkened sight.

Even so, the labyrinth's darkness was not fully dispelled. Atel, who was particularly prone to fear, quietly raised her hand.

"W-wouldn't it be better to just make some light? It's still pretty dark, and we might get ambushed..."

"If you expose a light, you become an even better target for an ambush. We'll only use light magic in actual combat. If you're that scared, hold onto the person in front of you."

The others accepted X's reasoning. After that, the teammates laid out how they would conduct the exploration going forward. As a baseline, they would follow the right-hand wall; if they sensed something unusual, they would approach with caution. If they encountered an enemy they couldn't communicate with clearly, they would suppress them immediately. If they were ambushed, they would counterattack at once.

"Line up in single file, the way we practiced."

With a plan more or less in place, they began the exploration in earnest, standing in order: X, Atel, Ames, Tene, Lola, Circe.

"If we just do what we've learned, this won't be difficult. There's no way they'd throw something ridiculous into a mere practical evaluation. Let's explore at a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠comfortable pace and aim for an A."

The easy, unhurried confidence in his voice brightened their faces. A leader's confidence was a subordinate's confidence, and knowing that, X feigned composure. Even he, however, was not free of tension. The only one among them who was truly at ease was Circe.

And one pair of eyes held a shadow. What was about to unfold in this place would be nothing good.

Leather, professor of Basic Strategy and Tactics, did not let out his breath of relief until he had confirmed that every last person had entered the labyrinth dungeon.

To think I'd end up paying off my debt to the Burckhelm family like this. I should never get involved with that house again.

He had nudged the labyrinth's base difficulty setting a notch higher than usual, and he'd tampered with the Safety Devices in a few places besides. The students wouldn't lose their lives — but if something went wrong, it would not end with a few scratches. If it went badly enough, his head might roll on charges of assassinating imperial royalty. The Burckhelm family had said they'd taken every possible precaution, though. Now he had no choice but to trust them.

With this, I owe the Burckhelm family nothing.

Leather pictured the powerful future waiting for him and, as always, began checking the labyrinth's safety management items. And that was when the anomaly occurred.

"...Hm?"

The monitoring equipment installed inside the labyrinth was not functioning. Every unit was sending nothing but a disconnection alert.

What is this...?

At this rate, he wouldn't be able to evaluate them properly, let alone respond to an emergency. Individual monitors going dead wasn't uncommon — but every last one failing at once was a first.

And I can't even halt the evaluation...

He had an arrangement with the Burckhelm family. Stopping the evaluation now would put him in a very difficult position. The one mercy was that the training ground's status board still let him roughly track the students' progress through the labyrinth in real time.

I'll have to grade them off this, at least.... Hm?

The moment that thought formed, he noticed another irregularity. There were sixteen students, so there should have been sixteen life signs. The training monsters generated in this facility were golem-type constructs with no life signs of their own, which meant the board should have displayed only as many signals as there were students.

"...Twenty?"

Four extra life signs were showing on the board. It was an anomaly even Leather knew nothing about.