175. The End of the Test
175. The End of the Test
The third test had involved Perda and Amy, and the fourth test had involved Liber and Casey.
Perda had allied with Amy in exchange for providing some support to her territory, which had allowed her to survive until the end, whereas Casey had been planning to take it easy until someone in the middle said something that rubbed her the wrong way, drastically souring her mood, and she had single-handedly beaten down every single student.
In that process, not even Perda's girls, nor the tiger beastman Volte, had been able to endure.
I wondered who she took after, with a temper that fiery.
The rebellion of the ordinary students ended there.
It had left quite an impression, but that only worked when they knew nothing; later on, people came prepared with countermeasures, so it didn't work so easily.
In truth, the fact that it had worked even once was remarkable.
And so, the tests were completed without any major incidents.
There were still about two days left of final tests, but since several students had already finished theirs, an atmosphere of leisure had begun to settle in.
The fact that the test using the entire Circular Arena had ended seemed to be the trigger.
"Atlas, why are you so restless?"
"Isn't it weird that things are so quiet? Normally around this time, some conspiracy would get uncovered and an incident would break out."
"I don't think that's normal."
"It's been like this all semester. If that's the case, then incidents breaking out might actually be the norm, don't you think?"
"If it ended without anything happening, then that's a relief... It'll be fine."
After the tests were over, everyone had gathered in the dining hall.
With the tests finished without a hitch and the expectation that they had all received decent scores, they seemed to be in good spirits.
While everyone else was like that, I alone was restless with the nagging sense that something remained unresolved.
They said they each had one test left tomorrow, but as of today, mine were all done.
This was because my schedule had been arranged by cutting out all the factors ordinary students had to deal with.
"You merciless bastard! You're always going around saying you don't care about scores, so would it kill you to let me win just once?!"
"Hear, hear!! You only ever say that, and then whoa!! You ruthlessly beat everyone down without a shred of mercy!!"
The drunks who had arrived earlier joined in.
The normally antagonistic elf Cindy and dwarf Hal came over with drinks in hand and caused a ruckus around me.
I wanted to kick them away, but I decided to just let it slide today.
"Since you guys were trying so hard, I had to respond in kind. If I'd served you a win on a platter, you'd have been pissed off too."
"Whaaaat?? You're blaming us?? Hey, if we hadn't done anything, you'd be saying stuff like 'How arrogant, trying to take scores without any preparation,' right, Hal?"
"Yeah, your personality is just rotten to the core...!! That's why, see! Your height is only this much!!"
"There's no end to the shit you spout."
-Ppajik!
"Gyaak!! My beard?!!"
Because his insolent words had crossed the line, I grabbed and yanked, and a huge clump of Hal Baud's lush beard came right out.
Hal and I were similar in height, but there were things you could say and things you absolutely shouldn't.
Clutching his now patchily bare chin, Hal hollered and screamed in every direction.
Seeing that sight, Cindy, who had been feeling gloomy, laughed her head off.
And then, new figures who had finished their tests appeared.
"As expected of my little brother! They said you'd make a mess of things. Mind if I join you here?"
"Of course, go ahead."
Hera, still draped in her short cloak, came over and sat down beside me.
"Nunim, have you finished all your tests?"
"I always listened well in class, so I was done already. I even had time to spare, so I spectated your test."
Hera smiled and wrapped an arm around my shoulder, pulling me close against her body.
When Hera, who was a full head taller than me, did that, her chest naturally touched my head.
She had been moving intensely, so it must have been secured with something quite strong, yet the softness was still exceptional.
To the point that I inadvertently imagined just how big they must be.
"I have something a little serious to talk about, is that okay?"
"With me?"
"Yes."
"Should we move somewhere else?"
I remembered that Liber and Amy were sitting right in front of us.
"Not to that extent. It's fine if everyone else hears it, too."
It seemed it wasn't some critical secret that would be a problem if it leaked.
It was sudden, but I was curious, so I decided to listen quietly.
"It's vacation soon. I'm planning to invite you to the main house once."
The bomb I had only thought about defusing later, but hadn't yet dealt with, had come right up to my nose.
"Invite Atlas... to Nemea... you say?!"
"Yes. No matter how I think about it, it's absurd that my little brother still isn't registered on the family census. I will definitely make Father acknowledge you."
Hera's eyes were exceedingly serious.
Apparently, while I had been putting it off thinking, 'I should go and give a heads-up someday,' she had inquired with the main house several times.
"... I'm grateful for the thought, Nunim, but I..."
"No, there's no need to decline. Leave it to me. You have the qualifications to be treated well."
I had politely refused, but Hera placed a hand over my mouth and then rose from her seat.
It seemed my response didn't matter either way.
Could she have thought I was refusing because I felt bad for everyone?
"Ah... what do I do about this."
"It seems like it's gotten bigger. Will you be okay?"
"I'll have to try and resolve it before vacation... I did put it off for too long."
One more thing had been added to the pile.
Even though it was something I should have taken care of beforehand.
Looking at the spot where Hera had left, I decided to stand up as well.
"Atlas, you're getting up first? I was going to hang out more..."
"I'm going in early to rest today. You have your last test tomorrow, remember? It's a written exam, they said. You should prepare for it."
Everyone obediently returned to the dormitory.
For the two whose tests weren't over yet, preparing for tomorrow was the priority.
My tests were finished, but the work I still had to do was just beginning.
.
.
.
.
.
The Academy in the dead of night was eerie.
Since the building was so old, no matter how diligently it was maintained, the traces of time lingering in every corner were impossible to ignore.
When seen in the light, they were just features that lent an antique feel, but when seen in the dark, there was nothing as spooky.
"Wow... You're really doing this for me?"
"Quiet."
Carmel, dressed in an outfit typical of girls her age, pointed at me as if surprised.
Now that the tests had truly reached their final stages, I intended to follow through on what I had said before persuading Hulan.
Thanks to that, I had to sneak into the church again and extract the Saintess.
Entering through the front and bringing her out was something that stuffy Bishop would never have understood.
No doubt, he would have held her back and started nagging again.
"Let's hurry up and finish. Staying up late is poison, you know...."
"But you wander around at night all the time anyway."
"And that's probably why I turned out like this."
When I was young, I had maintained a very regular sleep pattern.
At the Titan mansion, and during my apprentice days, I had lived by the habit of going to bed early and waking up early, but after becoming a formal knight and then a Shadow, unpredictable situations arose frequently, so I often stayed up all night... and I ended up learning things like the 3-hour compressed sleep method.
I wanted to blame that for why I hadn't grown taller, but unfortunately, I hadn't grown even when I had a regular sleep pattern, so what could I do.
"How was the Academy? Does it seem like you're enjoying what you always imagined?"
"I don't know about that because I couldn't even get a proper look at the students."
"You would have seen them from a distance."
"They said it's the test period, so no one was coming out much, right? Still... there seem to be various issues, but overall, it looked lively."
Carmel wandered freely down the empty corridor.
When wearing ceremonial robes, she had to be mindful even of her gait, but now she was moving however she wished.
She was savoring the freedom in a place with no one else around.
"You should have given me a heads-up before coming. If you had, I would have dressed up prettier and waited."
"You're pretty no matter what you wear, so it's fine."
"Wow...."
I had said it more forcefully than I intended, and the Saintess's face reddened slightly.
Maybe because she was always the one on the offensive, she seemed weak to being on the receiving end.
"No way, are you trying to seduce me? If it's Atlas, he's good enough, but after all, I still have my position as Saintess..."
"Stop rambling nonsense. We're short on time, so let's go quickly."
I roughly shut down Carmel's nonsense and began guiding her through the Academy in earnest.
.
.
.
.
.
We roamed mainly through places that were usually too crowded with students for Carmel to wander freely.
The clubrooms where various extracurricular activities were held, the large dining hall, the café, the library—places normally packed with students were all completely empty in the dead of night, giving them a different feeling.
"So the main building of the Academy has this kind of feel. Where is Atlas's class?"
"Here."
When I told her, Carmel came over and looked around at the desks.
"Mm-hmm, so this is the sight you see most often. Is there no assigned seat or locker or anything?"
"The seat I usually sit in is over there, and the locker is over there, but there's nothing special in it."
Carmel sneakily opened the locker I had pointed at.
"Heh! It really is just books and... are these nutritional supplements?"
"Yes, they're nutritional supplements for growing taller."
"So it's really true that you still take them every day."
"What's wrong with looking for my daily supplements."
Carmel perched herself on the desk I said I often sat at and swept her gaze over the empty lecture hall.
"So this is the scenery you usually look at."
"Scenery, my ass... Hold on, something's weird."
Just then, I sensed a presence in the corridor.
It was still the test period, and getting caught wandering around the Academy building in the middle of the night would be a hassle, so I decided to hide first.
"Mmph?!"
"Shh. Someone's coming."
I blocked Carmel's mouth and quickly hid behind the wall.
If it was a faculty member on patrol, getting caught would make things a pain.
'Is this okay...? Carmel's scent is spreading pretty thickly...?'
After hiding, I thought about it and realized that Carmel's scent had already spread incredibly thick throughout the entire classroom anyway.
If it was a faculty member, a word from Carmel would resolve it, but... to leave quietly, it was best not to get caught here.
"... Can't you do something about this scent of yours?"
"Now, at this point, it's a bit difficult."
I pulled myself together and focused my senses outward; though I couldn't see them, I could guess who was walking around from their footsteps and other cues.
"... A beastman?"
A single lizard beastman was moving stealthily.
"... That's in the direction of Hulan's quarters, isn't it?"
The timing was perfect, as I had things to discuss with Hulan anyway.
-----------------------------------
Hulan had found the Academy's tests quite interesting.
It was entertaining how the weak humans had banded together to oppose the strong ones, and the sight of the strong humans countering them and competing against one another with their skills made for an amusing diversion.
He had taken all his photos too, so now all that remained was to depart again.
He wanted to have one last drinking session, but... it was his habit to always leave without anyone knowing.
He had no luggage to carry anyway, so just as he was about to leave with only two sets of the clothes he had received from the Academy packed, someone knocked on his door.
"Master Hulan! How did you find it, watching us use humans to topple one of the Empire's pillars?!
Originally, I wanted to demonstrate the solidarity of the beastmen more, but... even combining all the grades, the numbers were too small, so I efficiently utilized the humans."
One of the beastmen who had been constantly seeking Hulan out, a lizard beastman, had come to explain that the ordinary students banding together today had all been orchestrated behind the scenes by them.
'The kids... they're not bad, just a bit stupid. But since they're not bad, should I cut them some slack...?'
"...You won't become a Great Chieftain, but... I'll at least try to get you to the alliance once."
"Thank you!!!"
As he watched the figure receding into the distance after receiving a definite answer, Hulan felt a bitter pang.
'So this is the future of the beastmen who came all the way to the Academy to study abroad...'
Very young, and clumsy.
Thinking of his own childhood made him heave a heavy sigh, but perhaps it was understandable if he considered that the times had changed?
Now he was worried about the nations of the kinfolk he would be leaving behind.
With the tests nearing their end, just as Hulan was preparing to leave the Academy, he sensed an unfamiliar presence behind him.
"You said you'd go to the alliance, but can you even get there on your own?"
"Who are you."
"It's been a while, Hulan."
Calling it a longed-for face would be a misnomer.
Because the other party was using a perception-inhibiting magic so dense that it was hard to see even in the eyes of the dragon beastman Hulan.
But that was his most defining feature.
After all, there were only two swordsmen in the entire world who wore armor emitting a jet-black mist of perception-inhibiting magic.
"Before you leave here, let's do one job together."