The students were momentarily taken aback by the sudden appearance of monsters roaming the streets, but they quickly threw themselves into hunting shadows, as if to prove they hadn’t breezed through the utterly absurd entrance exam. Within about an hour of starting the task, every shadow servant was completely annihilated, leaving only their cores behind.
[Yes, the first stage of the integrated project, “Shadow Hunting,” is now concluded! That was much faster than expected!]
Professor Istel’s cheerful voice echoed, and the students who had managed to snag only a handful of shadow servant cores groaned in disappointment.
[Now, I will announce the rankings of each team! The team names are based on the name of the representative at the time of registration, so please take note. 31st place goes to Hans Joachim’s team, 30th place to Canon…]
As various students’ names were called in succession, Roto protested to his party with a bright red face.
“Isn’t throwing people a bit too much, Rabaul!?”
“Well, um, I’m sorry. It was a desperate situation, and I did it without thinking.”
“Would you like to find out what it feels like to be casually thrown!?”
As Rabaul awkwardly averted his gaze, Roto’s focus turned to Fiore.
Technically, it was Rabaul who had thrown him, but wasn’t it Fiore who encouraged it?
No matter how much they had helped Chrome, Roto felt he couldn’t let this slide.
*Thud.*
Two hands, as white as porcelain, grabbed Roto’s hands.
As Fiore’s silver hair shimmered under the moonlight and her beautiful eyes came into view, Roto instinctively gasped.
“I’m so sorry, Roto! How can I make up for this mistake…? Are you hurt anywhere?”
“Uh? Yes? I’m not really hurt, but…”
“I’m so inexperienced at commanding that I’ve made a huge mistake. I truly apologize. Given that we were surrounded by monsters, I panicked…”
“A, ah, no! I understand! In such a situation, anyone would panic!”
Fiore wore a look of admiration.
“Thank you, Roto. You stood your ground against the monsters without retreating even a single step; that was truly commendable. You were thinking of us behind you, right?”
“Haha, it’s nothing. I just did what I should have.”
All memories of being a newbie, who had received incessant beatings from monsters without landing a single blow, evaporated, replaced by the image of a gallant knight who desperately held his ground to protect those around him.
Self-justification was deliciously sweet, and the face that had been flushed with anger just moments before now brimmed with bashfulness and pride.
As Rabuel and Pino observed the scene, their expressions grew complicated.
*‘Fiore seemed to be the one analyzing the situation calmly rather than panicking.’*
*‘What a sucker. A total sucker.’*
Amidst Roto’s oblivious joy, enjoying the soft gaze of sympathy directed at him, Istel’s announcements continued, gradually naming the teams at the top.
[……5th place, Alphonse Betuar’s team, 4th place, Crow Bain’s team, 3rd place, Eagle Pendevig’s team, and 2nd place, Laila Everblaze Barhart’s team.]
Someone among the students gasped in surprise.
The revelation that someone else held a ranking higher than that of the princess was incredibly shocking.
Despite the fact that being in second place was by no means a low rank, it still elicited such a reaction.
She occupied a truly unparalleled position in every kind of evaluation.
Well, at least up until this very moment.
[1st place goes to Chrome Midas’s team. Thus, the top 15 teams will advance to the next stage! The announcement for the second stage task will be released tomorrow noon, and for those unfortunate students who didn’t make it—]
“Wait a second! Isn’t this totally unfair!?”
One student shouted out.
“We jumped into action as soon as we heard the broadcast! But dozens of shadow servants had already been wiped out by those guys! How does that make any sense!?”
Someone who seemed to be the student’s comrade chimed in.
“It seems like they must have had prior knowledge of the exam content to prepare! This is totally unjust!”
“Shouldn’t we verify this again?”
“There’s no way we would have lost under the same conditions.”
“It’s outrageous that he’s in 2nd place!”
Voices, voices, voices—someone’s voice continued to echo.
The night’s darkness served as a splendid veil, concealing their figures.
While not all the students echoed the same blame, the rising chorus of unfairness began to take root in their hearts.
They felt the confusion from the sudden situation and the frustration of not being able to show their true skills before being eliminated.
The thought crossed their minds that if the results were declared void, there might be another chance.
In the midst of this, I remained quietly silent.
Arguing against this would have been easy.
It would have been a simple task to point out, based on Professor Istel’s announcement, that we had prepared thoroughly while they had simply let their guard down.
But that wouldn’t be enough.
Even though I had anticipated such reactions, there was no merit in hastily confirming our first-place position.
Because—
“It looks rather bad.”
The most fitting individual to resolve this situation wasn’t me, but her.
Her flaming red hair shone clearly even in the night’s darkness.
Despite the apparent urgency of the situation, her dress was perfectly arranged without a single wrinkle.
Laila Everblaze Barhart confidently emerged onto the scene.
“Just as the early bird catches the worm, it is only natural that those who diligently prepared by picking up on hints hidden in the professor’s announcement achieve good results. How could you call that cowardly or unfair? Do you possess no sense of shame?”
As the sunset-colored eyes began to scan the surroundings, students who had been raising their voices in blame, as well as those who had been quietly silent, suddenly bowed their heads in shame.
The public sentiment that had begun to coalesce in the dark as a form of blame was entirely overturned by the presence of the princess.
She possessed the charisma to face the mounting pressure of dozens of students and squash it without a second thought.
If I had started defending myself actively just a moment ago, it would have been completely futile in this atmosphere.
Princess Laila looked at me.
“Congratulations, Chrome. Please don’t pay any heed to the surrounding chatter.”
I responded, “Thank you, Laila. And honestly, this is nothing new to me. I’ve grown used to it since childhood.”
“Just because you’re used to it doesn’t mean the pain goes away. Your teammates have all worked hard too.”
As the princess offered her encouragement, Roto completely froze, and even Pino, who usually exuded confidence, was unable to hide his surprise.
Rabaul silently bowed his head, while Fiore looked at the princess with a hint of admiration, his usual smile wiped away.
Only Ligret met the princess’s gaze with his typical stoic expression, but he couldn’t affect the overall mood.
The princess, who praised not just the outstanding outsiders but even those who ranked higher without hesitation, created a heartwarming scene that made even the students who had expressed animosity towards us start to recognize our achievements.
It was a gentle and gradual resolution that satisfied everyone.
So, to break that atmosphere, I decided to speak up.
“I’m truly at a loss for your kind words of encouragement; however, I think saying we’ve worked hard might be a bit premature, Your Highness. Our team still has a long road ahead. We can’t let our guards down just yet, can we?”
Princess Laila replied, “Indeed, we have only just finished the first stage. I wish you all the best in achieving good results in the remaining schedule.”
I smiled. “Yes, we’ll have to work hard, especially if I aim to snatch the first place from none other than you.”
For the first time, a different emotion flickered across her face, which had been gently smiling.
“Ah, I see that’s your goal, Chrome. It might not be as easy as you think.”
“Well, since I’ve done it once, I can definitely do it again.”
The warm atmosphere began to gradually chill, as if it were a prelude to an even bigger flame.
But that was precisely what I had been waiting for.
Simply getting along wasn’t enough.
Merely being recognized wasn’t enough either.
The reason I had intentionally secured a dominant first place despite knowing there would be backlash from those around me originated from a singular focus: to make the “Heir of the Red and Blue Blood” truly see me.
Not just as a perfect princess to admire from afar, but to draw her in as a companion with whom to navigate this world.
I intended to defeat Laila Everblaze Barhart head-on in this opportunity.
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