Trials Breed Trials
Trials Breed Trials
The phone call contained just one message.
─ Come home.
It was a simple statement. Yet no words could be more terrifying. Kleis was deathly afraid of being summoned by her father. That single phrase alone made her calves sting, triggering a habit ingrained since childhood. Kleis burrowed under the covers.
Some time passed like that.
"Right, grading...."
Recalling a task she had to do, Kleis crawled out of bed like a mouse peeking from its hole. She took out the midterm exam papers and answer key, then sat down at her desk.
[Subject: Basic Fire Magic]
Kleis's exam questions were notorious within the academy. Mostly in a bad way.
Though a basic course, she never set basic questions. That alone was enough to earn the students' indignation.
Of course, one couldn't ignore the academic abilities of the special students Kleis was in charge of. They were prodigies. They could solve any ordinary problem.
Even considering that, the dominant assessment was that Kleis's exams were hard. In a sense, they could be seen as lacking discriminatory power.
Anyway, Kleis began grading by the answer key she had prepared. Swish, swish, swish. Snow and rain fell together outside.
The average would be around 40. A score high or low depending on the perspective. Only two people had managed decent scores so far.
[Rote Saliere: 93 points]
[Vermel Horde: 90 points]
Saliere was a family famous for fire magic, so that score was understandable. But the elf exchange student blessed by air spirits scoring 90 was hard to comprehend.
'Didn't they say this student scored 90 on every entrance exam...?'
Coincidence? She didn't know.
She felt a sense of incongruity, but had no time to dwell on it. Because the next student hadn't missed a single question. Only after finishing grading did Kleis's eyes land on the student's name.
[Aether: 100 points]
"Again...."
Don't tell me she'd gotten everything right again? After the entrance exam, this time too?
She couldn't accept it. Kleis began a re-examination.
Was there no mistake in the concepts? A calculation error she might have missed? She meticulously scanned each line, desperately trying to pinpoint a flaw.
Unfortunately, every part was flawlessly correct. Even the killer question designed to induce the wrong answer was solved with ease.
An answer sheet that looked as if it had been copied and pasted from the key. You could say a machine had taken the test and be believed.
"......."
Grading was over. Before dawn, Kleis came to the faculty office and placed the exam papers and answer key on a colleague's desk. She also left a note and a few silver coins in the same spot.
"My Lady, the carriage is prepared."
Kleis took one last look around the classroom. She took in the sight of the special class she was in charge of.
As she turned her back, she had this sudden feeling.
That she might never be able to come here again.
**
─ Bzzz.
"Ah."
This little shit.
─ Bzzz.
Smash!
On spinal reflex, I slapped the wall, and felt something shatter against my palm. Powdered iron parts scattered down the lines of my palm.
[Summer's coming soon.]
Even in this world, mosquitoes were pests. Not just any pests, but classified as magic beasts that needed to be wiped out completely.
The standard for distinguishing ordinary pests from magic beasts was simple. You just had to judge if they were made of iron and oil.
What kind of messed-up world-building was this? Not even normal mosquitoes, but having your blood sucked by mechanical ones.
"Ugh."
Did I overdo it with the reminiscing, anyway? The whiskey I'd consumed over the weekend was still sitting in my stomach. Even after brushing my teeth, my breath reeked of alcohol. I felt like I was getting drunk twice because of it.
Pressing my temples, I arrived at school to find someone standing at the podium. It was Professor Herlein.
What now.
"You're here? Take your test paper and sit down."
"...Professor, why are you in our classroom?"
"I'll explain that during morning assembly."
Professor Herlein left just that, called the class president, asked her to hand out test papers as soon as friends arrived, and left the classroom. Of course, I got one too.
It was the Basic Fire Magic exam. Why was Professor Herlein handing these out?
Had Professor Haspelt dumped her chores on a friend? Wow, just wow.
"Not sitting up front today?"
"Nah. Not feeling it today."
After the ruckus I caused last week, I wasn't about to sit right in front of Haspelt.
Despite Rote's dissuasion, I sat in the back. The little kid was right behind me, and the pointy-eared exchange student was right in front. Rote carefully came and sat beside me.
Frey greeted me.
"Hey! About releasing the Flare patent, I heard it was processed well!"
"Who'd you hear that from?"
"The Squinty-Eyed Teacher!"
The topic naturally turned to Flare. And this was supposed to be girls' talk.
"Didn't know we three were all thinking the same thing."
"Still, it's a bit of a shame! I didn't even get beer money for it!"
"Well."
I didn't care how much I made here. I wasn't planning to live on this continent my whole life anyway.
Not that I hadn't considered the option of funding other magic research with the patent money. But there was a reason I had to release Flare for free.
"You both know why?"
The two nodded. As if sharing a memory, we all shrugged at the same time.
The magic beast attack that occurred at the entrance ceremony. Even two months later, the memory of that day was vivid.
The circumstances of that incident were still unknown.
─ It was merely a formality.
We only knew that an Extinction-class magic beast was behind it.
Extinction-class magic beasts were the pinnacle of monsters, able to speak human tongues, whose purpose was to resurrect the Demon King, capable of ruling countless creatures underfoot. They were the close aides of evil, working to revive the Demon King sealed a thousand years ago.
Since it had happened once, we couldn't say the capital was safe either.
No matter what, I had to learn the other three fields of Elemental Magic at Tillet besides Air and then bail. If the Northern Front collapsed before that, my plans would be screwed too.
"Since I released the Flare patent, the world should change into something a little more bearable."
"You think so...?"
"Sure. Everyone thinks that, right?"
I smirked and nodded.
"And Flare is just the beginning."
"Just the beginning?"
"You're planning to make something else!"
"I've got to make something stronger. Something powerful enough to shake the whole world."
I felt Flare alone wouldn't be enough to take down an Extinction-class. If I was going to do it, I should do it right.
If I developed nuclear weapons, the people of this world could cope even if the Demon King revived. At the same time, I could master various Magic Arts needed to return home during the development process. Truly killing two birds with one stone.
I'd already made a plasma generator, so now I figured I just had to develop a way to confine it.
"Have you been well?"
A very unpleasant voice reached me then.
"Judging by your faces, you all look well enough."
Clion Philiut, the Second Prince.
The bastard showed up with his head wrapped in bandages. My expression soured in an instant. The prince sat right next to Vermel, turning his back with a crooked posture.
Ah, here we go again.
"Agh, coming back to school after so long makes my head feel like it's getting crushed."
Tap, tap, tap.
He tapped my desk with his index finger. I was already sick to death of it.
"You haven't forgotten the promise that if I won the duel, you'd stop pestering me and Eliyev?"
"...Oh right, that. Gotta keep that promise. I am the Second Prince of the Empire, after all. It'd be ugly for the loser to run his mouth after a duel fought in the spirit of chivalry. But you know...."
Thump, thump, thump.
"The hospital bills are going to be a bit of an issue."
"And what about it."
"Hmm, I'm not blaming you. My hospital bills are covered by taxes. So that'll take care of it."
"Was that remark aimed at me?"
"Was it? Could be."
"Worry about your own grades, not my wallet. You didn't even show up to school until the midterms were over."
"Ah, midterms! Right... But what a pity!"
Tap, tap, tap.
"I took the exams separately at the Imperial Palace! So don't worry, unlike what you hoped, I won't be held back a year."
The prince let out an uncanny laugh and stood up.
"......."
Something was....
...something was off.
**
Meanwhile.
Vermel was quietly listening to Aether and her group chatting in front.
"Hey! About releasing the Flare patent, I heard it was processed well!"
They'd released the Flare patent...?
When Flare was developed, the story progressed. At first, he was reluctant, but Aether's will was so firm that Vermel had no choice but to help. Managing Aether's stress was more important than controlling the pacing of the story.
He considered it briefly, but actively supported the experiments. He just prayed the girl's Flare would only be used to defeat magic beasts.
There was a high chance the plot's pace would return to normal after this. No, it had to.
But.
Releasing the patent meant that everyone could now use Flare freely. It meant scrolls containing top-grade Fire Magic would be supplied to the Northern Front for just 1,000 won.
In a way, it was good news, but for Vermel, who knew all the plot developments and routes, it was like swallowing poison.
The First Trial was starting.
Trials. Gates that invariably existed in the main story.
If you failed to pass these gates, you had to abandon that round regardless of remaining playtime. Because it meant Game Over.
Among them, the event that occurred when humanity attacked the 'Iron Magic Tower' on the First Defense Line was the trigger for the First Trial.
The magic beasts, now thinking they were being pushed back, gathered at the Iron Magic Tower for a meeting. As a result, the motion to stir up the Empire from within was passed.
I knew the strategy, so that was fine. But....
Aether's condition was critical. If Aether uttered a specific statement, it created the possibility of the Fourth Trial arriving simultaneously with the First. If both trials hit at once, the world would end that day.
Vermel pricked up his ears and eavesdropped on Aether's conversation with her friends.
"Since I released the Flare patent, the world should change into something a little more bearable."
─ Ah, nice. The world's finally becoming a bit more tolerable.
"You think so...?"
"Sure. Everyone thinks that, right?"
─ Right? Don't you think so too?
"Ah."
A cold sweat ran down his neck.
"And Flare is just the beginning."
─ This is just the beginning.
"Just the beginning?"
"You're planning to make something else!"
The girl of the Gold-Eye Tribe nodded.
"I've got to make something stronger. I don't think I'd be satisfied with just this."
─ I won't be satisfied with just this.
Doubt gradually turned into certainty.
So helping her really had been a bad move...!
No, it was hard to call it a bad move either. If he hadn't helped develop Flare, Aether's stress levels would have skyrocketed. 'Between a rock and a hard place' fit this situation better.
What a shit game. The pacing was insane!
Still, he had to see it through. He wouldn't be satisfied until he saw the Happy Ending.
Vermel recalled what happened in the game right after Flare was commercialized.
Right after Flare was practically released for free, the Demon King's army took a massive hit on the Northern Front. According to the plot, at that time, one of the Extinction-class magic beasts gathered at the Magic Tower would reveal itself on the Northern Front, while another Extinction-class magic beast would release a biochemical weapon to sap the vitality of the Capital City. Stopping that biochemical weapon was the core material of the First Trial.
─ SYSTEM: (Urgent) Probability of [First Trial] commencing has reached 99%.
Despite being called the First, its difficulty was among the top three out of the 23 trials. Because of this, players had to progress through the first round by sacrificing a few key characters. Even veteran players called 'Old-Timers' had to discard one or two sub-characters to proceed as the optimal build.
─ SYSTEM: (Urgent) Now entering the <Black Death> event.
But.
─ SYSTEM: To reach the Happy Ending, do not allow anyone within the academy to die.
Reality was different. It had to be different.
Because this place wasn't a game. It was reality.