170. Final Exams
170. Final Exams
As if the sandwich were some kind of treasure, Pina—who had been clutching it ever so preciously with both hands—dropped it.
Stella, who had been sipping tea while imitating Silina's relaxed posture, spat out her tea with a *pfft*. Eurasia's mouth fell open.
And Silina's brow furrowed even further.
"...Are you insane? No... you must be. You'd have to be insane to say something like that so shamelessly."
"What's wrong with what I said?"
"If you're going to say something like that... please, for the love of god, read to the end first."
Then, as if a headache was creeping in, she massaged her temples.
To the end? Did I need to read to the end?
I already knew how to get a perfect score and finish fast. Well, that was just what I thought—I decided to read it anyway.
There was an explanation about a captain-class Monster.
Its location kept changing, so it couldn't be pinned down.
It concealed itself so that neither Wizards' detection magic nor Martial Artists' Energy Sense could perceive it.
It was classified as a High-Grade Monster.
Among those, it belonged to the medium-sized species.
Of course, it wasn't a real Monster.
In the first place, the Monsters in the mountains where the exam took place were thoroughly crafted illusions, made with the help of each Magic Tower.
But you couldn't exactly call them fake, either. They were made exactly identical to real Monsters, and if a Monster attacked you, you could even feel the pain.
And if you caught those Monsters, you earned points. If you accumulated 500 points, it was treated the same as catching the captain-class—you could end the exam immediately and receive a perfect score.
But a single goblin was worth 0.2 points.
I skipped over that since I had no need for such trash.
I moved on to the explanation about the bracelet.
The bracelet came with 10 points by default.
This was your lifeline. If your points hit zero, you were disqualified.
The final exam would be scored as zero, and you'd be pulled out early.
And so that students wouldn't die from shock, the bracelet had a function that blocked the illusory pain once it exceeded a certain level.
Still, it emphasized—in red, underlined, and covered with stars—that you could vividly feel the pain until it was blocked, so be really, really careful.
If you wanted to give up, there was a button for voluntary surrender. Pressing it would immediately activate high-Circle illusion magic, preventing any being below Tier 8 from perceiving that student.
This... was probably Adelia's magic.
And below that.
"Aha."
There was "another way" to earn points.
[All students participating in the exam may "transfer" points to one another.]
To put it nicely, you could transfer points.
To put it plainly, you could receive points.
To put it badly, you could steal some other bastard's points.
This was probably why Silina had asked about my plan. And this was probably why she'd been horrified by what I said.
But, well...
"Does anything change?"
"Did you actually read it?"
"I read it. I mean, there's no rule saying Signia can't take Hurnt's points, and there's no rule saying Eliarnes Eustetia can't take other students' points."
"Ha...?"
The viciously creased furrow in Silina's brow smoothed out.
Because her eyes had gone wide.
"If I couldn't take other students' points, sure, it'd be tough. But I can take them just the same. You don't seriously think I'd get beaten up by other people and have my points stolen, do you?"
"...You really are... arrogant."
"For someone like me, it's not even arrogance."
If you had to pick the most arrogant human alive, Paulo would take it.
If Paulo had been here...
That bastard didn't accept other people evaluating him in the first place.
-Who would dare evaluate me?
-I'm doing it, you dipshit. Stop posturing for no reason and put your sword away.
-It is not posturing. I was born into this world with dignity, and style flows from me even when I merely breathe.
-What's a beggar-born bastard talking about? Shut up and put your sword away! Hey, you little shits are running away! Hey! If you run, you'll die! No, fuck! It's not me killing you—the Demons will kill you! Hey! Arisa! Catch those brats! What? Why would you break their legs... Oh, you fucking—! Kaloso!! Stop that crazy chimpanzee bitch!
This was while we were rescuing the little kids who'd been taken hostage in the Demon World.
When a child asked which of us was stronger—me or Paulo—most of the kids said I looked stronger, and Paulo, pissed off, drew his sword.
Naturally, the kids ran away, and it took a very long time to round them all back up.
Stupid fucking moron.
"And the fact that you're not denying what I said means you think the same thing, doesn't it? That there's no way Eliarnes would lose."
Silina didn't answer and twisted her lips.
Pina was still going *hawawa* and glancing around nervously, and Stella wore an expression of regret, as if wondering why I—from another group—was sitting here at all.
"It's true... I can't imagine you losing, my lady."
And Eurasia, flustered as she was, agreed with me.
"In the first place, even Eurasia alone could wipe the floor with most of these kids. So stop overthinking it and let's just eat."
I plopped my subspace pouch onto the table with a *thunk*.
Then I saw two girls sidling up to me, all sneaky and awkward.
They were Gailan's friends, the ones who'd left their luggage with me before departure.
But Gailan wasn't there.
Weren't the other groups all gathered together?
From the whispering and chattering, it looked like each group was making plans or something.
Gailan? Where was she?
"U-um, excuse me..."
"Yeah. I'll give you your stuff, but where's Gailan?"
"Um... a Hurnt student said they had something to talk about and took her away...?"
"Hurnt?"
I looked around and counted the number of students wearing Signia uniforms.
Nineteen including me. Gailan was the only one missing.
"I see."
I nodded for now and hauled out the luggage they'd left with me, heave-ho.
There was a lot of it.
"Th-thank you!"
"Yeah. Don't get hurt, and good luck on the exam, friends."
I waved them off.
They were girls who looked incredibly ditzy. And yet they were wearing Signia uniforms all the same.
"Do you know them?"
"I was about to ask you. They're in your class. Do you know them?"
Stella had asked, and I turned the question back on her.
"I mean... I do know them."
"What kind of kids are they?"
"Quiet... friends? I guess?"
Stella tilted her head, as if even she found her own words dubious.
"Those two are always together with that girl from your class... Gailan? The three of them. Um, the girl on the left there—I saw her smoking once... but she didn't smell like cigarettes. Maybe she erases it with magic?"
"Sure, that's possible."
"And the girl on the right, um... I'm not sure if he's her boyfriend, but anyway, she seemed to be seeing this really... you know, kind of thuggish older guy."
"I see."
"Why is your reaction so lukewarm when you're the one who asked?"
"Want me to react dramatically?"
"Honestly, it's surprising enough. Even Pina and Eurasia were shocked."
As Stella said, Eurasia had flinched and was now watching the two girls with cautious eyes.
And Pina.
"Huh? Hey, why are you picking that up and eating it?"
She was picking up the sandwich she'd dropped on the ground and eating it...
"Hee...!"
I snatched it away from Pina as she went *nom-nom-nom* and shredded it to pieces with Mana.
"You did this before too. Do you really want to get scolded?"
"Hee... hee..."
Pina curled her tail into a circle, covered her head, and trembled. Stella wrapped her arms around Pina and glared at me.
"Even so, why do you have to be so harsh? If I picked food up and ate it like Pina, would you get mad at me too?!"
"Obviously? There's perfectly good food rotting in abundance, so why the hell would you pick that up and eat it? What if you get sick?"
"...Are you worried about me?"
"I'm worried you'll get me sick, you brat."
I pushed away Stella's forehead as she leaned closer and watched the two girls return to their seats.
I already knew that girl smoked.
Stella called it a cigarette. But she said it didn't smell like cigarettes. Did she erase it with magic? That was possible. But that girl didn't.
She just didn't think to.
Because she thought it didn't smell.
But I knew that smell.
It was a smell I'd been sick of in the Demon World 400 years ago.
Nuclexirol.
A drug.
And not just any drug—one cultivated and produced by Demons.
Nuclexirol itself had little odor, so people who'd never encountered it wouldn't know. But people like me, who'd smelled it often and for a long time, could recognize it instantly.
Of course, I'd never tried it myself.
Naturally, my comrades hadn't either.
We weren't weak enough to lean on drugs.
But other knights, mercenaries, adventurers—they were different from us. They couldn't endure.
So they turned to drugs, and most often smoked Nuclexirol, the easiest one to obtain in the Demon World.
But why was that tiny girl smoking a drug like that? And where had she even gotten it?
The older man who might be the other girl's boyfriend. There was a high chance he was a drug dealer.
Then what about Gailan?
I hadn't seen any signs of that from Gailan.
Did she not know? Or did she know and still hang around them?
"Oh, everyone's gathered already? Did I take too long...? Sorry..."
Gailan had returned.
I decided not to ask for now.
Even without asking, I'd find out soon enough.
"No need to be sorry. Let's just eat."
I pulled out a chair for Gailan and took out tonight's dinner from my subspace pouch.
Starting tomorrow, it would be hard to eat strong-smelling food, so tonight's menu was—
"D-dinner? Gasp... oh my god, wh-what is all this?"
Gailan jumped.
"Ch-chicken! Eliarnes, you nagged me about my luggage, but you brought chicken yourself? Then why did you nag me!"
"Is this pork belly? Whoa... you even brought out a grill pan...?"
[Ohhh! It's ramen! I definitely think ramen is necessary to create this kind of camping atmosphere!]
"...Is this tteokbokki? It's tteokbokki... tteokbokki..."
Stella, who'd been grumbling at me, smelled the chicken and licked her lips.
Eurasia gulped and helped me set everything up, while Pina picked up ramen crumbs to eat and got scolded by me again.
And Silina—maybe she liked tteokbokki—was glaring murderously at the still-unheated retort-packaged tteokbokki.
"C-can we really eat like this?"
Gailan, who had cautiously come over and was helping set things up, asked hesitantly, and I nodded nonchalantly.
"Starting tomorrow, it'll be hard to eat smelly food anyway. Gotta eat while we can."
"Well... that's true, but... the way the others are looking at us..."
"Why should we care how they look at us? We just need to do what we need to do."
This kind of thing was all about seizing the initiative.
Those guys had been attacked by the professors just the same and had their carriage and luggage stolen.
And us? Just looking behind us, our carriage without a single scratch stood out. And our luggage. Chicken, pork belly, ramen, tteokbokki. We'd brought all of it here safely.
What they'd had taken from them by force, we still had. That fact alone was enough to shake off a certain amount of trouble.
So right now, the one sitting next to me—
[It looks really, really delicious!]
—Pina, eating every kind of food with the happiness of the world, had an important role to play.
"Okay, Stella, you grill the pork belly. And Gailan, you boil the ramen. Silina, stop glaring like that and make the tteokbokki. Pina, you just eat stuff off the ground. I'll snap your fingers right off. Got it?"
"Hee..."
After assigning everyone a role, I looked at Eurasia for a moment.
"Do you have something to say?"
Eurasia was in danger. Someone was targeting her.
Why Eurasia? Were they trying to get at me?
But behind me stood the Fist Demon, Leona, and the Flame Emperor.
Eustetia and Nameless. Would they dare touch me?
They weren't touching me.
They were touching the people around me.
Pina had Leona behind her.
Silina had the Flame Emperor behind her, and the Flame Emperor's disciple was Stella.
But Eurasia was just a member of the Eustetia Knight Order and my personal knight. She had no particular backing.
A master's sword dying or being crippled in the master's place was an "accident" that happened all too often even in this world.
They were trying to cause that accident.
And after that?
They'd touch Eurasia, leave evidence that they did it, and ultimately provoke me.
Even if something happened to Eurasia, Leona and the Flame Emperor couldn't move recklessly.
Both of them seemed to live however they pleased, but behind the scenes, they were people who knew exactly how much influence they held and where they stood.
So they'd make me move.
They were baiting me into throwing the first punch after Eurasia got hurt and I lost my temper.
And if I threw the first punch, what would happen?
Eustetia and Nameless. They would definitely... move.
What about Leona and the Flame Emperor? I wasn't sure about the Flame Emperor, but Leona... she would at least fall into deep deliberation.
And in the end, there was a high chance she'd break the pact.
And then, what next?
The fall of Eustetia, the breaking of the pact Leona had made, and the Flame Emperor's restraint.
I couldn't know the details right now, but I could tell they were preparing thoroughly.
The collateral branch, the Cartel, the Puppet Emperor, Anton de Hermann.
And with faint suspicion, even the Holy Kingdom.
When would they carry it out?
During the final exam starting tomorrow?
I couldn't be certain, but for now—
I had to keep Eurasia within my sight.
As long as she stayed where I could see her, I could protect her somehow.
But if, by one chance in ten thousand, one in a hundred million—
If something happened to Eurasia despite my conclusion that I must not throw the first punch, then what?
"Let's go set the tableware over there."
"Huh? Is that all you wanted to say?"
"Yeah."
"Then you sit down, my lady! I'll do everything!"
"If we do it together, it'll be quick. Why do it alone?"
"But I don't want a single drop of water touching your hands, my lady?"
"What's with that way of talking? Even if you ate a whole drum of cheese, you couldn't produce something that greasy. You picked that up from another weird book, didn't you?"
"Hehe."
Watching Eurasia smile bashfully, I set aside my pointless thoughts.
If I moved, too many people would step forward to protect me. The name Eustetia attached to my back was heavy enough to be cumbersome.
So I'd protect Eurasia so that such a thing never happened. Thoroughly, without leaving even a one-in-ten-thousand, one-in-a-hundred-million chance.
That was all I needed to do.
"So, how's the bathroom situation?"
"Eep... I-I haven't... I haven't gone yet."
"You're gonna be in trouble when it's time to sleep."
"Ugh... then come with me later."
"I can at least keep watch for you."
"Then I'll also, um... er... I'll keep watch for you too when it's your turn, my lady!"
"So you can sneak a peek?"
"Gasp... how did you know?"
"...What?"