Chapter 95: Final Exams (5)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 95: Final Exams (5)
"…What is this?"
I absentmindedly rubbed the back of my neck. The hairs there had stood on end for no reason.
An inexplicable, eerie chill wrapped around my entire body before vanishing.
Is it magic power?
But it felt strangely different from that. It was like someone was calling out to me from far away. A sudden ripple on a quiet surface of water.
As I rubbed the goosebumps on my arms, Rachel asked me,
"Is something wrong? Why is your face so stiff? Did you drop something while crossing the bridge?"
"…No, it's not that. I thought I heard a voice. Rachel, did you hear anything?"
Rachel tilted her head and replied,
"A voice? I didn't hear anything like that. Wasn't it just the sound of bubbles popping on that crazy lake? It looks like more than a few people have drowned in there... You know, like those urban legends on the internet: 'I hear the voice of a dead girl in the third stall of the restroom...' Hehe. Geomma, you're more of a coward than I thought, aren't you? If you're scared, you can tell this big sister anytime."
"……."
Rachel giggled, pointing down at the bridge we had just crossed. I let out a sigh.
Did I hear things?
Shaking off the idle thoughts, I looked ahead. Rachel, seemingly fully recovered, was just wiping away her sweat. Senior Hana was also wearing her glasses, giving the lenses a quick wipe. Only Instructor Choi Seol-ah was sprawled out on the ground, her long arms and legs spread wide in a star shape, panting heavily.
"Ugh, ugh. I can't go any further!"
Seol-ah let out a long, drawn-out groan and immediately began throwing a tantrum. Flailing her limbs and squirming, she looked as if she couldn't care less about the cadets' stares anymore.
She strongly resembled that cartoon character screaming, "It's mine! Waaah!" Rachel stared at Choi Seol-ah with a look of utter disgust.
"Is she really an instructor? The way she talks and acts is like a total brat."
I silently agreed with Rachel, but I didn't show it. Regardless of her pathetic behavior, it was thanks to Choi Seol-ah summoning her courage that we had arrived within the time limit.
Well, that didn't mean the messes Choi Seol-ah had made were suddenly wiped clean.
Besides, there was no way this girl actually repented. She had neither a conscience nor shame, so reflection my foot. I fully intended to keep working her like a dog in the future.
The only reason Choi Seol-ah had become so obedient was her sheer determination to avoid getting hurt by me. That single motivation must have been why she crawled on all fours.
Still, I planned to say a word to her. I had just learned that the driving force behind moving a person (or whatever she was) was a proper reward. I approached Choi Seol-ah and spoke quietly.
"You did well."
"…Pardon?"
Choi Seol-ah stared at me blankly for a long moment. Her violet pupils dilated into perfect circles.
"Are you deaf? I said, you did well."
"……."
At those words, Choi Seol-ah's lips and eyes began to quiver. Moisture welled up in her eyes, making her look as if a single tap would send sparkling tears cascading down.
...What's wrong with her?
"Huuup!"
Choi Seol-ah squeezed her eyes shut, snapped them open, and stood up with a spirited shout! She gave a quick shudder, shaking off the dirt clinging to her body.
"Just leave it to me, Master Geomma!"
Saying so, she strode past me to take the lead. Advancing twenty meters ahead in a single bound, Choi Seol-ah gestured grandly, urging us to hurry up.
Bewildered by this sudden change in behavior, Rachel asked me,
"Geomma, what did you say to her to make her fly around like that all of a sudden? Even earlier, she was completely at your beck and call. Don't tell me you secretly gave her a bribe?"
"…Do you think I have the money to bribe her?"
"Hehe, true."
"……."
Rachel caught me off guard with her awkward smile. Indeed, an innocent dagger always stings the sharpest.
When I glared at her, Rachel flinched and quickly scurried away, her blonde hair fluttering. She stood beside Choi Seol-ah, waving her arms along with her.
Choi Seol-ah glared at Rachel. Rachel glared right back.
Blue sparks practically flew between the two women. Soon, they both let out a "Hmph!" and turned their heads away at the same time.
"Those two actually have pretty good chemistry."
Senior Hana said as she approached my side. I nodded.
"Well, that's all because you're a sinful man, Geomma."
"……?"
Before I could even process what that meant, Senior Hana lightly walked ahead. A mysterious smile played on the corners of her lips.
I blinked, watching her back. The phrase "sinful man" weighed on my mind a bit, but I brushed the thoughts aside and moved my legs.
We had already passed two checkpoints. Now, only the last one remained.
"Ah, damn, what is this? Why do I feel so uneasy?"
Excitement and anticipation welled up in my chest, but for some reason, I couldn't shake this discomfort.
* * *
At that same time.
Outside the Special Pavilion, the area was packed with cadets whose faces had turned a sickly, pale blue. Those who could manage to sit upright were the lucky ones; most were slumped over, barely catching their breath.
Among them, a male cadet with two-toned hair tried to settle his stomach with shallow, wheezing breaths. Despite his sturdy build, Speed Weapon had a weak stomach. His cheeks puffed up like balloons, and finally, his tightly sealed lips burst open like a broken dam.
"Bleeegh!"
Starting with Speed Weapon, the surrounding cadets also gagged and soon threw up their breakfast.
The festival of vomiting spread rapidly like a raging torrent. This was the typical sight of those without magic power resistance.
"Haa, haa."
Speed Weapon slumped down after completely emptying his stomach. He irritably yanked at the tie choking his neck.
"Ugh, fuck."
Having thrown up what looked like a whole pizza, his stomach felt completely empty. It was just as Speed Weapon was rubbing his chest and quietly looking around.
"Mr. Speed-Whatever!"
"Oh, what? Chloe, did your group already come out too?"
"…Yes, we ran out of time right in front of the first Check Point."
"Still, that's impressive. My group just wandered around in circles in the forest before getting disqualified. Ugh, just thinking about that crazy forest makes me nauseous again."
Weapon pinched the bridge of his nose, shuddering with disgust. Feeling the cool air only made his stomach churn more. It was motion sickness caused by the sheer disparity between the inside and outside of the Special Pavilion. Meanwhile, Chloe looked around, turning her head left and right, before speaking.
"It seems Geomma and Saki are still inside?"
"Yeah, I looked for them as soon as I came to, but they weren't here. Saki aside, the President stands out because of his black hair. Since I don't see them, they must not have come out yet."
Speed Weapon shrugged as he spoke. At his words, a mix of emotions flickered across Chloe's face.
"…Geomma will be fine, right?"
"Chloe, how can you say that when you're the one who's spent the most time with the President! You know as well as I do that worrying about him is the most useless thing in the world. He'll handle himself. It's just..."
Speed Weapon trailed off. For someone who loved to explain things, this was highly unusual.
The President was one thing, but when he pictured Saki Ryozo's face, inexplicable thoughts swirled in his mind.
She had been assigned to the group of Leon, the Hero Candidate. Although Leon's reliability had been famous for a long time, that was precisely what felt so unsettling.
Speed Weapon thought deeply about Leon.
A prodigy of the era who had suddenly appeared one day. Even to another man, he possessed a handsome face, and his personality and conduct were flawlessly clean.
Speed Weapon defined his nature in a single phrase.
A blank sheet of paper.
An untainted purity that belonged nowhere. It seemed precarious, as if he could lean toward light or darkness depending on what color was painted onto him.
Weapon raised his eyes. Clang— Clang— Whenever the blue tower rang, the stone gate would open its mouth, spitting out the cadets all at once.
Those who had just returned to reality stumbled weakly and vomited, just as he had moments ago. Weapon grimaced at the sight. He was about to turn his head away, but then he changed his mind, dusting off his pants as he stood up.
The two months he had spent with Kang Geomma. He had learned something from him.
Rather than worrying pointlessly, it was better to empty one's mind and move one's body first. And Weapon happened to have something he needed to do.
"Chloe, let's go."
"Huh? Where?"
"We need to root out the villains. It's a shame we got disqualified early, but thanks to that, we have some free time. Let's do what we can."
Chloe stared blankly at the smiling Weapon for a moment, then let out a soft chuckle.
"You're starting to resemble Geomma more and more, Mr. Speed-Whatever."
Weapon scratched the back of his head, feeling somewhat embarrassed. Then, Chloe spoke with a bright expression.
"There are only thirty minutes left until the staff office closes! I'll go ahead, so hurry up, Mr. Speed-Whatever!"
Before she even finished speaking, Chloe was already leaping from branch to branch. Weapon stared blankly at her as she shrank into a tiny dot in his vision in less than a minute. He muttered bitterly,
"…I wonder when Chloe will finally remember my name..."
* * *
Thirty minutes of climbing the stairs of the third checkpoint.
By now, the end should have been in sight, but looking at the stairs lined up densely all the way to the top of the tower only made me sigh.
Damn it, why are we hiking at the very end?
I turned my head back.
"Pant, pant. This place is fucking insane."
"Just a little more, Rachel."
Rachel staggered as if her soul had left her body. Senior Hana held her shoulder to comfort her, but Hana's own condition was terrible as well. Both of them, pale-faced, could barely drag their feet.
And for good reason. Just when we thought we had adapted to this shitty environment, an immense wave of magic power had crashed over us like a tsunami the moment we entered this area. Even Choi Seol-ah was wheezing from the excessive magic power.
Tsk.
Balor Joaquin, that guy really has quite a personality. At this point, it wasn't just restoring a magic tower located in Gehenna; he had basically uprooted it and planted it here. This wasn't dedication; it was madness.
Yet, through all this, I was the only one completely fine. My lips were dry from the arid heat, but it was nothing a quick lick couldn't fix. I didn't know what kind of body I had, but it certainly wasn't normal.
Step, step.
We climbed the tower at a leisurely pace. Whenever we reached a landing, we rested for five minutes before moving on.
Before entering the magic tower, I had noticed only four sets of footprints leading to the entrance. That meant our group was in second place.
It was a bit of a shame we weren't first, but I was satisfied we had made it this far. Besides, everyone except me was in terrible shape. Rather than pushing them and overexerting ourselves, it was better to settle for second.
Haste makes waste. If I were alone, it would be one thing, but there was no need to push my teammates to their limits.
As I emptied my mind and kept putting one foot in front of the other, I was reminded of the 100-kilometer march from my military days. Marching with a full pack on my back, shouting military songs at the top of my lungs.
Compared to then, this is just a walk in the park.
Just as I had cleared away all my thoughts and was moving purely on muscle memory, a squelching sound echoed, and a sticky sensation brushed against the sole of my foot. It was a deeply unpleasant, yet familiar texture.
I slowly lifted my foot from the ground. Then, something caught my eye. Dark red threads were stickily stretched between the sole of my shoe and the step.
...Blood?
My relaxed mind instantly tightened with tension. My gaze naturally drifted upward.
Crunch—!
As if in response, the sound of tearing flesh echoed from above, reverberating ominously within the tall, spacious tower. Instinct outran cognition. I reflexively bolted forward.
"G-Geomma!"
Choi Seol-ah called out, her voice laced with panic. She stomped her feet in place for a moment, told Rachel and Senior Hana to stay put, and quickly followed after me.
I leaped four steps at a time. A single slip would mean falling to my death, but I didn't stop to think. My heart pounded wildly.
Tap!
The next landing came into view. Taking a massive stride, I leaped high.
I had cleared nearly a hundred steps in less than thirty seconds.
Pant, pant—
Leaving my hot, heavy breaths behind, I raised my head.
At that moment, my pupils dilated. Even my frantically beating heart froze.
A pink-haired female cadet and a squinty-eyed male instructor were the only two standing amidst the carnage.
"Oh, my. We already have a guest?"
The pink-haired girl, gripping Leon's right forearm, slowly turned her head toward me. Meeting my gaze, a lazy smile spread across her lips as she spoke.
"Just a second, let me finish what I was doing~"
Crack—!
As she squeezed Leon's forearm, his flesh burst open with a wet pop. Leon let out a piercing scream before his head slumped forward. Blood splattered onto the pink-haired girl's cheek. She wiped it off with her index finger and licked it.
Just then, my consciousness subconsciously drifted toward the corner of my vision. A girl with light blue hair was staring at me with hazy eyes.
"…Geom… ma."
My pupils, shaking as if struck by an earthquake, drifted slightly downward. A short sword was buried up to its hilt in Ryozo's collarbone. Her trembling voice was thick with desperation.
"…Save… me."
With those final words, Ryozo's head fell limp.