165. Completion
165. Completion
"Still can't do it right now. The skill test will be over soon, so let's deal with it after that."
"Hulan-nim did say she would stay here until then, at the request of the other professors... In that case, I should stay until then as well."
First, they decided to ask Hulan about going to the Summit together either during the test period or after it ended.
From what Carmel heard, Hulan had been asked by the academy people to stay at the academy at least until the test, so there was plenty of time.
As long as she agreed to go, they could move instantly with the magic inscribed on the scroll, so it seemed fine.
.
.
.
A few days later, the mansion was built quickly, just as the artisans had promised.
Aside from the first three days of heavy labor, Rio-sunbae was no longer needed, and the dwarves finished even the interior work in a flash.
As expected, paying a high price got results.
The two who came over often stopped by to see the completed mansion.
They were Riber and Amy, who came over to hang out the most.
"It already looked impressive when I first saw it... but I can't believe it was built in just a week."
"Wow, all of this was made in that short time?"
Riber, who had come to see it together, couldn't close her mouth as she looked at the completed mansion.
It was a two-story mansion that directly used the foundation of the original house.
It wasn't overly lavish by noble standards, but it was clearly too spacious for living alone.
So most of the rooms would all be empty, but it was fine as long as the places I would frequent were in good shape.
"Alright, alright, let's go inside."
The rusted fence had been restored to like-new condition through alchemical magic, and the garden, which had been so overgrown with weeds that the mansion was invisible, had been completely cleared so that only clean lawn grew there now.
I had considered building a wall instead of a metal fence, but rejected it because that seemed too conspicuous.
As soon as they passed through the garden and entered through the front door, Amy was surprised.
"The hallway floorboards are all in perfect condition too... it really feels like a different house."
"Because it is a different house."
"Oh, are you trying to trick me again, calling me a country bumpkin? It's been fixed almost to the point of being gutted, but it's still that same house."
"Should've shown you on the first day."
Amy still couldn't believe that this house had been built from scratch.
She wouldn't believe it if I told her that the previous house had evaporated overnight, leaving only the foundation, and that the next day, Rio-sunbae had assembled the entire frame of this house with telekinesis magic and earth elemental magic even before daybreak.
I explained that it had been completely gutted and built using the foundation of the previous mansion, so the structure was similar, but she still didn't believe it.
And then Riber, who had been listening intently to this explanation, spoke.
"Have you two ever come in here together?"
In an instant, a chill ran down my spine.
It wasn't decisive, but it was dangerous.
"I told you there was a trap that dropped you into hell inside the academy. That was here."
"It was here? Is it okay now???"
"It'd be a problem if it was still there after I smashed it all... The artisans working on the construction said they didn't find anything suspicious, so there's no problem."
It wasn't just smashed; I personally used the Secret Sword Technique to erase it without leaving a trace, so it would be a problem if it remained.
"Reception room, kitchen, study... isn't this a bit too full-scale? You won't even be able to manage it living alone...?"
"It turned out that way because it was built on the existing foundation... Still, golems will handle the house management."
Riber's concern was valid.
If I managed this vast place alone, I would spend all day just tidying the house and then it would be over.
Therefore, when the Magic Tower sold this prefabricated mansion, they bundled in golems that could be used like servants.
They would just stay out of sight according to their programming, but four golems would move about, managing the house and handling the furniture.
Even now, if you listened carefully, they were tending the garden outside.
They were programmed not to be easily seen by people unless I looked for them.
The last place they arrived at on the first floor was the bathroom.
It wasn't touched with flashy sculptures or decorations because they weren't to my taste, but that didn't make it tacky.
"Hmm~ So it's finished? Not just roughly thrown together because you ran out of time..?"
"It's not roughly thrown together because I ran out of time; it turned out exactly as I wanted."
"Really? Isn't it too bare here??"
By the standards of the people here, it seemed extremely simple.
This bathroom looked plain, but by my standards as someone who was a modern person in a past life, it had the appearance of a modern bathroom that made good use of the materials' textures.
The colors looked similar, but it was decorated using three types of stone with different textures, and I tried to create a cozy feeling by adjusting the lighting positions as well.
But by this world's standards, which favored ornate sculptures, complex patterns, and mosaics, it seemed like a sparse bathroom.
Still, there was one thing she seemed to like.
"Why is the bathtub so big? Four people could get in and there'd still be room left!"
Even while saying it didn't seem like a big deal, Riber couldn't take her eyes off the large octagonal bathtub, which was incredibly luxurious for someone living alone.
"Since I was making it new anyway, I indulged a little. The water will be managed with magic anyway, so there's no problem."
The house used running water, but a large bathtub like this became much easier to use with just a little elemental magic.
Because even a bathtub that looked enormously large could be filled with water with a single spell.
I wasn't particularly good at using magic, but an artifact could handle simple spells of that level.
She seemed to want to get in right then and there.
The academy had a large public bath, but since it was a communal bath used by many people, many students avoided it and mostly just showered... so maybe she hadn't been able to soak in a bathtub even once since the new semester started.
"Wow... this bathtub... last time... mph?!"
It seemed like Amy was about to make another slip of the tongue, so I quickly covered her mouth.
Apparently, she had recalled the bathtub that was in that trap.
"Alright, alright, careful careful.."
"Eh.. eb.."
Fortunately, Riber was too busy looking at the bathtub to notice.
"So... can I use this too, later?"
"Anytime you want."
"Wow, thanks! Amy, let's take a bath together later."
"M.. me?? Together??"
"It's spacious so it doesn't matter! We're both girls, what's there to be embarrassed about."
'Says the one who never went to the public bath even once.'
I only thought it in my head and didn't say it out loud.
I'm not that stupid.
After they finished looking at the bathroom and also saw the bedroom on the second floor, they dispersed.
The construction was done, so it would be really nice to study for exams here starting tomorrow.
The preparations for the final skill test were going well.
As long as nothing else came up, that is.
--------------------------------
That day, the atmosphere in the class was strange.
The cause was Instructor Andy, who came in for the morning assembly.
He, who was always grinning, was frowning deeply and couldn't stay still, and that atmosphere spread throughout the entire class.
I wondered what on earth was wrong with him, and a moment later, Andy, having finished his deliberation, opened his mouth.
"Now that the final skill test is one week away, before we begin, there is something I must apologize to you all for."
"....Instructor, please don't make us anxious like that."
Andy, who had always spoken comfortably with the class students after everyone got close, suddenly used the stiff tone he had when they first met.
It was the tone he used back in the Knight Order.
"This is not just my problem. The professors of the other classes are probably saying something similar right now."
That meant the announcement was being made to the entire grade.
Just as I was getting curious about how serious the content must be for him to brace himself and speak like that, Andy finally opened his mouth.
"....The content of the skill test has been changed overall."
"....."
A cold silence followed.
It was a desperate struggle to deny reality, refusing to believe what they had heard.
But the silence did not last long.
"What kind of bullshit is this!! Call the Headmaster!!!"
"Do you think first-years are that easy to push around!!!!!"
At the truly unbelievable news, the students lost their minds and raged.
It was a perfectly understandable situation.
There was barely a week left until the test, and they were changing the content now?
Had they really gone insane??
The others who weren't having fits weren't in a good state either.
Everyone's faces turned pale.
Similar sounds could be heard from the hallway.
The other professors had apparently obediently told them what had happened as well.
Thinking it was none of my concern, I watched the scene and thought.
'Even so, this was way too harsh.'
.
.
.
.
.
Andy fled as if escaping, but the screams of the students, whose test format had been completely changed with only a week left, were endless.
You might think it was just one lecture at most... but with each change like that, the exam-admitted students saw their scholarships vanishing before their eyes, so they had no choice but to be desperate.
Fortunately, the test content that changed was only Instructor Andy's lecture, which had been scheduled as a basic physical fitness test.
It was fortunate that only one thing had changed, but the changed content was the horrific relative evaluation known as 'sparring.'
The existing handout-style test exclusive to first-years, where you could mostly secure an A by just building up basic physical fitness to a certain extent, had evaporated, and only a brutal and cold skill evaluation remained.
"Well, that doesn't really concern us, does it?"
"That's right..."
"Either way, it's no big problem."
Whether it was basic physical fitness or actual sparring, this didn't apply to us—we had recently soared in skill and could handle the top ranks within the grade.
The variable was whether these people would end up matched against each other from the start.
During the assembly, he had tacked on various excuses, but none of them were believable.
He said things like sparring had to be included at least once in the first semester and that he didn't know because it was his first time doing it, but no matter what, Andy wasn't that stupid.
He, who always knew that problems like this gave him headaches and always prepared class materials with trembling hands, didn't know such a basic thing?
There was no way.
Having thought that far, I shot up from my seat.
"Atlas, where are you going?"
"To hear the truth."
Something smelled fishy.
I made up my mind to enter the Room of Truth.