“They’re the ones who got weird scores in the preliminary exam!”
“I only managed a score of 5 after living off trees in the mountains; how can that skinny dude score a 6 in physical ability? And what about that brown-haired guy next to him!”
“Didn’t they say they were from the Midas family? Did they grease the examiner’s palm or something? Ugh, that’s disgusting.”
“They seem to be planning to go off on their own. They must be feeling confident.”
“Who knows? Maybe they found a hidden path through bribery,” they speculated.
Fiore, looking a bit flustered, asked, “Do you hear that buzzing over there? It’s like they’re all mumbling in a group!”
Ligret shrugged, having an expression that said it wasn’t too hard to decipher.
Nicolaus, seemingly recognizing who we were, sneered as he spoke.
“Those Midas brats who don’t understand honor or shame are just gilding their true nature, like a stone on the street. They might have pulled a fast one in the preliminaries, but don’t think that’ll fly here.”
“Are you saying we used bribes?”
“Are you denying it? We could say anything, couldn’t we—”
“No, that’s not it.”
I widened my eyes and spoke in a deliberately loud voice so everyone around could hear.
“Are you implying that the Empire’s fair examiners received bribes at our house and engaged in biased judging?”
Nicolaus was momentarily taken aback, but after realizing only participants surrounded us, he took on a more menacing expression and yelled again.
“You coward! Grasping at straws!”
“It’s strange that this is the main exam, yet there isn’t a single examiner’s eye around. They might be watching from somewhere.”
“You little—!”
In a fury, Nicolaus drew his sword.
“Stop right there, Nicolaus!”
Actually, he was about to, had Alphonse’s voice not interrupted him.
“Lord Alphonse.”
“Step back.”
Nicolaus shot me a glare, as if to say, “We’ll settle this later,” but he didn’t disobey the command.
Alphonse continued, “I apologize for my subordinate’s rudeness. Just to clarify, I have no intention of discriminating against you for being from the Midas family. If that’s why you’re looking to break off, think again. This forest is dangerous.”
I shook my head. “Thank you for your words, but I’d prefer not to walk around on high alert unnecessarily.”
“Is that so.”
As if expecting that answer, Alphonse didn’t press further.
Instead, he asked, “You seemed to get off the train quite late; did something happen?”
“I tend to sleep deeply and can’t get up easily. It took me a while to assess the situation. But why do you ask?”
In that moment, I noticed Alphonse’s gaze flickering toward my bag and the bags of the other two.
“Well, if nothing happened, that’s good. I wish you luck.”
Watching his retreating figure, I thought, ‘He seems to suspect I picked up extra baggage but doesn’t want to clash prematurely. After all, if they’re ‘prepped,’ they should have secured enough already.’
I glanced at the participants flocking around Alphonse. I contemplated how many among them would stand firm to protect their own food against a ‘reasonable decision of their leader for the majority.’
—
Strange Gatherings (5)
“Huff, huff.”
Roto, from a small rural village in the Spero Kingdom, raced through the forest, unable to distinguish front from back, and thought to himself,
“Where did it all go wrong?”
Was it when he poured all his hard-earned savings into the academy entrance exam fee, hoping for a life-changing opportunity?
Was it mistaking his barely passing magic score as a reflection of his true capabilities despite his utterly lackluster physical and knowledge points?
Or was it when he, in a fit of excitement, blurted out to a village friend that he found extra food in another train seat?
Or maybe it was when he defiantly continued his pursuits, even after being surrounded by some gruff, imposing fellows who robbed him of his provisions?
No matter how he turned it over in his mind, the answer was clear.
“I actually thought I’d manage to eat if I could just hunt something—how naïve was I!”
—Grrrr!
Facing a wild boar charging at him, Roto yelled,
“Uooooo! Damn it! Of all the things to get caught in a trap, why did it have to be that thing?!”
He had initially felt triumphant when he saw that the beast was caught in his trap, but as the boar broke free with brute force, their roles had flipped from hunter and prey.
The escaping drama between man and boar was established, and it was evident that the angry creature, having injured its leg while breaking free, was slower than normal.
Yet just because its leg was hurt didn’t mean all that bulk of muscle disappeared, and even its stunted speed was nearly on par with Roto, who was sprinting with all his might.
“Damn it! Is there anywhere high up, or at least somewhere that thing can’t follow?!”
Desperately brainstorming, Roto suffered the consequences of his distraction.
“Cough!”
He tripped over a tree root and fell to the ground.
In that instant, a sharp pain shot through his wrist, and he felt stinging abrasions all over his body.
He thought he needed to get back up, but his stunned body wouldn’t respond to Roto’s will.
His vision lay sideways, twisted at a 90-degree angle.
The dark beast barreling towards him felt like a personification of sheer terror.
Unable to even close his eyes, Roto let out a silent scream just as—
Swish!
A white flash of light suddenly burst forth from somewhere and cleaved through the wild boar.
With its long, flowing brown hair and delicate features, the girl who had performed the feat left Roto mesmerized. Her clear, tinkling voice rang out,
“Are you okay? Oh dear, you’re covered in wounds. Just a moment.”
In contrast to the girl wielding the sword, who had brown hair, another girl with long, bluish-silver hair and a voluptuous figure reached out her empty hand, and as a soft glow enveloped Roto, the pain that had been radiating from his wrist and body quickly subsided.
Healing magic. Although Roto knew of its existence, he had never experienced its benefits, making this feeling almost dreamlike.
“Where are your companions? Are you all alone?”
The third person to appear was a blonde boy who seemed to be around the same age as Roto.
He wore clothes that were clearly made from high-quality material and sported a sophisticated monocle.
Despite being in the middle of this rugged forest, his garb showed no signs of dust or dirt—his clean appearance unmistakably hinted at some noble lineage or wealth.
Roto hesitated but couldn’t help blurting out a word to the boy, who was clearly from a privileged background.
“Um… Can we talk after I use the restroom first?”
The silver-haired girl and the blonde boy both turned their gaze to Roto’s soaked lower half, and the silver-haired girl smiled, as if realizing something.
“That’s understandable after such a shocking experience. Don’t worry too much.”
Seeing Roto’s expression deteriorate, the blonde boy looked at him with pity.
“Just, um, don’t say anything, Fiore. You should go quickly.”
Roto looked like he might start tearing up for a different reason this time.
<><><>
Three days into the main exam.
As we roasted the wild boar that Ligret had caught and prepared, we listened to the story of a boy named Roto.
‘So food fights are really happening among the participants.’
It was somewhat expected.
Scarce food, limited time.
Just like Roto in front of us, one could hunt to acquire food, but the effort and time required was certainly not trivial.
Choosing a method that took a long time to yield results through traps and then actually catching something quickly would be luck at best.
Though, it wouldn’t make sense to tell the boy who was chased to near death by a wild boar that.
Roto cautiously opened his mouth after recounting all that he had experienced.
“Um, if it’s okay, could you take me with you? I can help with some chores!”
“Hmm.”
I contemplated his request.
From a purely practical standpoint, taking this boy along wouldn’t be of much significance.
Even if he was saying he’d do chores, with only a few days remaining and considering my previous experiences, Ligret was quite adept in such tasks and could manage most on her own, so he wouldn’t offer much help.
But—
‘Well, there’s not much to lose.’
It wasn’t like I had to look after Roto continuously from now on or protect him at all costs; just bringing him along wouldn’t be that difficult.
It’s like when a bad guy occasionally helps a stray cat, creating an inexplicable improvement in their image—we, the notorious Midas family, could use some good deeds for once.
“Then let’s go together.”
“Th-Thank you!”
The boy bowed his head several times in gratitude.
“I’ll introduce myself again. I’m Roto from the black mountain village in the Spero Kingdom.”
“Chrome Midas.”
“I’m Fiore Midas, Roto.”
“R-Ligret.”
“Oh, I see. Nice to meet you… wait, what?”
I realized as I watched the boy’s once-bright face gradually turn pale.
Ah, he didn’t know about our house.
<><><>
It seems Roto didn’t backtrack on his words about wanting to join us, either because he was curious about the infamous reputation he’d heard rumors of or because he thought he needed to prioritize surviving.
When he was offered some food beyond the initial wild boar he caught, he looked deeply moved—but sorry, that’s still piled high in the backpack. Honestly, a single serving for you wouldn’t even make a dent.
‘I had planned to give food to those who were friendly or neutral to create some favors or debts, yet I’m not running into any other participants as often as I thought.’
It indicated that either the starting points of each participant were more distanced than expected, or they were quickly being eliminated.
Or possibly both.
“-Everyone, wait.”
Ligret, who had been leading the way, suddenly stopped.
“Um?”
Roto looked utterly bewildered, and Fiore seemed to catch on as she quickly started gathering her magic around her hands.
I turned to Ligret and asked,
“Do you want to handle this alone?”
“If it’s okay to go all out.”
“Well, that would be a waste.”
We still had the rest of the exam ahead of us, so I couldn’t just reveal all of Ligret’s skills right now.
Thud. I heard something fall to the ground.
I had prepared to pull out whatever I wanted from “Tot’s Large Backpack” and opened my mouth.
“Any hidden folks! If you’ve got something to say, come out quickly!”
There was a moment of silence, but soon after, as if they deemed it useless to stay hidden, about five figures appeared from the thicket.
They appeared to be mostly young adults in their mid to late twenties.
The oldest among them spoke.
“Hand over all your belongings.”
I replied,
“I’d give them to you if all of you could reach your destination, you know?”
“…You idiot, don’t you realize you’re not in a position to negotiate? Shut up and hand everything over!”
“You’re being unreasonable; if passing the exam is the goal, wouldn’t it be better to move on without making things personal?”
I continued,
“—I mean, if the luggage is just an excuse and you’re really after us, that’s a different story.”
I didn’t miss the way the man’s eyes widened in surprise.
He shouted,
“Everyone! Let’s get our revenge on the kingdom’s traitor!”
The five participants in front drew their weapons and charged at the same time.
At that moment, I felt a group that hadn’t yet shown themselves closing in from both sides, yet I ignored it.
The throwing spear shot from Ligret’s hand glinted in the light, followed by a chilling sound of explosion.
With the screams in the background, I drew a specially crafted crossbow from my backpack and fired.
Designed for high accuracy and rapid-fire at close distances, it unleashed a volley of arrows in quick succession, and one of them struck a target directly in the leg, causing him to tumble.
The other four, proving they had enough skill to ambush their prey, managed to dodge or only sustain minor scratches from the arrows, but it was enough to stiffen them up as if they’d turned to stone, leaving them immobile.
Only two remained.
The loaded arrows were gone.
As the two approached, expressions of excitement and rage mixed on their faces.
I quietly closed my eyes—and stomped down hard on what I had scattered on the ground when I first addressed those guys.
Squeeeeeak!
Even with my eyes closed, I felt a tremendous flash erupt from under my feet, and the light struck the two directly, leaving them unable to steady themselves.
I took out a poisoned arrow and thrust it at the two.
Soon, they collapsed, foaming at the mouth.
Looking back, I saw Ligret had also finished dealing with the five attackers in a remarkably short amount of time.
I addressed the fallen foes.
“If you swing your weapon calling someone a villain, you ought to be prepared for what that villain might do to you, right?”
Some names can really draw unwanted attention.
By the way, it seems it’s about time Theo Midas sends me the next profit summary; I wonder if I can get it at the academy?
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