Partner Selection
I had only ever swung her around like a tool. But in the end, it was you who held me up all this time.
Ines knelt before me and extended her hand.
“Please, give me a chance to make up for it.”
Setting aside the fact that this girl had killed people, the scene might have looked like a heartwarming reconciliation to an outsider. But since I had decided to play dumb, there was no reason for me to go along with Ines. Besides, the truly terrifying thing about her was how she could act docile one moment and then stab you in the back the next.
She would pretend to be on my side until the very end, only to bare her fangs at the critical moment when she couldn’t suppress her desires. Even if she swore to become my sword again, there was no telling what she might do once the final moment arrived.
“I already have a partner. You should look for someone else.”
“Partner?”
In that instant, Ines’s entire aura flipped. A heavy, ice-cold pressure descended on the surroundings, as if everything around us had frozen solid.
“Who… exactly are you referring to?”
Ines swept the area with a murderous glare. No one could move easily. Not our trio, and not even Irene. There was no way I could point at that skinny green-haired guy and say he was my partner. The mood was so tense that I was genuinely afraid of what she might do to Yohan if I said the wrong thing.
In the end, for the sake of protecting the poor guy, I had no choice but to take her hand….
I hesitated, then slowly reached out halfway toward her.
“Yes. I will protect you. I don’t need anyone else.”
Ines spoke while subtly glancing toward Irene. Suddenly, a thought struck me. This isn’t right. This was exactly how I would get dragged in. This was how she would control everyone around me until I had no choice but to look only at her.
I need to steel myself.
“Sorry, but I’ve already decided to partner with Yohan. Let’s go, Yohan.”
I coldly turned my back on the still-kneeling Ines. Yohan and I walked over to the instructor and reported our pairing. Only then did Irene seem to snap out of it, her face twisting with frustration, but the matter was already settled.
The students began to stir. They clearly hadn’t expected Ines to be rejected after going that far.
“We will now conclude partner assignments! Any students who still haven’t decided will be randomly paired by the instructors, so please remain in your places!”
In the end, Ines became the odd one out. She was forced to take the test with whatever random partner the instructor assigned her.
Sorry, Ines. Actually, no. I’m not sorry at all. You brought this on yourself, didn’t you? Just endure this much humiliation.
When I glanced back, Ines was glaring at Yohan. Her face was expressionless, but her fingers were trembling faintly on the hilt of her sword. Scary as hell. She wouldn’t actually try to hurt him, right?
“We will now begin the examination! Pairs whose names are called, please step forward. First pair: Simon, Vio…”
Two students climbed onto the training ground. In front of them stood a humanoid golem roughly two meters tall. The evaluation began immediately, and the golem charged at the students.
The golem’s level seemed no different from previous rounds. Just average. The students frantically beat the golem down before descending from the testing area.
“Next, Pair 13! Ihan, Yohan!”
It was our turn. I could handle swords, bows, or magic equally well, but in this round I had decided to focus on the sword. Yohan, of course, was a mage. I took the front while he positioned himself behind me.
“Can you handle the golem’s attacks reasonably well?” Yohan asked in a low voice.
“It won’t be easy.”
“Good. The golem’s movements are slow, so if you create even small openings, I’ll launch spells. I’ll focus on the joints, so keep that in mind when you move.”
“Got it.”
It seemed Yohan wasn’t completely clueless about combat after all. This was textbook strategy. Not bad at all.
Without any heroines, just forming a normal plan with a normal friend and taking a normal test. Yeah. This was exactly the kind of academy life I had wanted.
“It’s coming!”
The test began. The golem lumbered toward us and swung its fist. I deflected the blow with the flat of my blade. Immediately after, Yohan’s magic flew in.
A basketball-sized sphere of ice slammed into the golem’s head.
Thud!
The golem staggered backward from the impact. This was the standard approach. Since it was difficult to inflict meaningful damage on a sturdy golem’s body with a sword, the vanguard created openings while the rear attacker dealt damage. If we kept following proper procedure, we should receive a decent evaluation.
But that was when it happened.
Grind…!
A bizarre metallic scraping sound began echoing from inside the golem. At the same time, its eyes started glowing red.
“What the…?”
This was not a good sign. I tried to retreat and assess the situation, but—
“...!”
The golem suddenly lunged at me with blinding speed. It was incomparably faster than before. Too fast to track with the eyes. I instinctively redirected its fist and countered toward its core.
But while my movement and judgment were first-rate, my specs fell short. My sword struck the golem’s core and bounced off harmlessly. Then its fist came flying again. This time I couldn’t dodge.
“You’ve got to be sh—!”
Wasn’t there supposed to be protective magic on the testing area? How could an attack like this even be allowed?!
I hurriedly raised my guard, trying to minimize the damage, when—
Swoosh.
Something sliced through the air like paper being cut. A beat later, the golem’s upper body separated cleanly from its lower half and crashed to the ground.
“Ines…?”
Before I knew it, Ines was standing in front of me.
“Didn’t I tell you? I will protect you. No one else is worthy of you.”
With that cool line, Ines smoothly sheathed her sword. The entire training ground fell silent.
Though it was only used for student training, the golem’s performance was top-tier. It wasn’t something just anyone could cut down in a single strike. Yet Ines had done it without breaking a sweat. Both students and instructors were left stunned.
“Ihan!”
Irene, who had finally come to her senses, came running over.
“Get away from that person!”
She shoved Ines, who was standing between us.
“I refuse.”
“He might be hurt! Get away right now…!”
Irene grunted as she tried to push Ines aside, but the other girl didn’t budge an inch. Instead, Ines shoved Irene back and stepped closer to me.
“This time, I won’t let you go. I will never let you bleed again. Never again… because of this sword….”
Ines looked down at her own blade and trembled faintly.
“Thanks, but suddenly saying you’ll protect me out of nowhere when we’ve barely met is kind of burdensome, you know?”
“That’s fine. Even if you don’t remember, I remember everything.”
With those words, Ines helped me to my feet.
“And that last movement. It really is you, Ihan. I’m relieved.”
She left behind that meaningful remark and returned to the bench.
Ines: 83 / 100 (+1)
Wait, why is your favorability going up when you just decided to protect me without my permission? This is ridiculous.
The instructors were moving around busily. The test had naturally been suspended. A sudden golem rampage and malfunctioning protective magic. Because of the delayed response, I could have been seriously injured or even killed if Ines hadn’t intervened.
This series of events was definitely not a coincidence. Someone had intentionally manipulated it. The faculty was treating the incident as an attack on the students.
Who could it be? There shouldn’t be any forces yet that would bare their fangs at the academy.
From what I remembered, the villains didn’t appear until much later. Besides, it was strange for them to target me, who was neither a heroine nor anyone important. We were still in the tutorial phase….
Could Irene have done it?
I shifted my gaze toward Irene. Our eyes met. She wore a consistently worried expression, as if she had no idea what to do about my safety.
It’s not Irene.
After seeing her for so many long years, I could tell just from her expression. Irene wasn’t the type to lie. Scheming was even further beyond her.
Then who?
As I scanned the faces of the students and instructors, one person caught my eye. They were maintaining composure, but their expression looked somehow unnatural.
“Don’t tell me it’s you?”
Ines. She wasn’t as bad as Irene, but she was also terrible at lying and hiding her expressions.
“Philip.”
“Huh? What’s up?”
“Do me a favor.”
“What is it?”
“Tell the instructor that you think you know who the culprit is.”
“...? You actually know who did it?”
“No, I don’t. Just do it once for me.”
“Well… okay.”
He accepted the weird request without asking any questions. Philip really was a good guy. I’d have to stick with him until graduation.
“Instructor!”
Philip raised his hand high.
“I think I know who the culprit is! The criminal is among us!”
I hadn’t told him to say that last part, but whatever.
I observed Ines’s complexion. Her eyes, which had flicked toward Philip, twitched intermittently. Her expression hardened in real time.
“It really is you.”
The moment I saw that, I became certain. The culprit was Ines. She was the one who caused the golem to rampage, disabled the protective magic, and created a situation where I couldn’t avoid danger so she could save me. All of it was her doing.
But why?
It was obvious. Only when I was in danger could she protect me and make me dependent on her. In short, it was a combination of favorability farming and gaslighting.
“...What a fucking joke of a woman.”
I mentally raised my wariness toward Ines by another level. I had thought that since she remembered her past life, she might have changed at least a little. But I was wrong. Upon realizing her previous life, instead of reflecting, she had cooked up this sinister scheme. The way she expressed her obsession had become even more twisted.
Ines, just what the hell are you trying to do?