* * *
Anakin bit her lip until it almost bled, then abruptly turned and headed for the waiting room.
As soon as she arrived in the empty room, something rose from within her.
Gulp.
Anakin had also drawn out an unimaginable amount of mana.
It was a 4th Circle spell that Mikhail had taught her to use when her stage had eventually risen.
Since she, a 3rd Circle mage, had cast a 4th Circle spell on the fly, it was natural that its power was less than a quarter of what it should be and that her mana circuit had become severely twisted.
Anakin looked at the clot of blood in her palm, then quietly wiped her mouth with her arm.
This…
Doesn’t this feel more like their playground than an exam?
From the first exam, they were attacking and crushing the same applicants all day long.
The second exam was also staged to create provocative situations somehow.
There was no way such an exam was normal.
“Anakin.”
It was Hilde’s voice.
When Anakin raised her head, Hilde approached her and carefully pulled back the hood attached to Anakin’s robe.
“Are you okay?”
“…”
Hilde asked that and then quietly wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth.
“I’m fine.”
“You’re hurt. You would have won even if you’d just fought normally.”
“But then I wouldn’t have stood out.”
She had to create a thrilling duel that would satisfy them.
Hilde frowned, looking at Anakin who spoke indifferently.
“You would have been chosen even if you hadn’t done that.”
“Hilde, what are you trying to say?”
Anakin looked at him with confusion at the uncharacteristic remark.
Then, Hilde spoke with an air of frustration.
“Don’t you know what I mean?”
“…”
“I don’t like you getting hurt.”
Anakin froze in place, surprised by Hilde, who turned his head and spoke in an irritated tone.
“Hilde…”
A tickling feeling in the corner of her heart.
She had thought that to Hilde, her presence was neither here nor there.
Since he was so cold, prickly, and… indifferent, she had never dreamed of becoming this close to him at first.
But… now, that same Hilde was worrying about her like this.
Anakin blinked, then smiled and said.
“Did you suddenly develop some kind of comrade-love? Thank you. For worrying about me.”
She felt the fatigue in her tired heart completely disappear.
At that, Hilde stared intently at Anakin’s face and said.
“Don’t overdo it like this next time. Especially when your body isn’t well…”
Anakin merely gave a bitter smile at those words.
The tournament grew more heated as it headed toward the final stages.
There were more instances of opponents being brought to their knees in more brutal ways than in the preceding matches.
Then, finally, a shocking incident that appalled everyone occurred.
The very accident everyone had been worried about.
Blood spurting like a fountain.
Icy eyes that had lost their focus.
A body growing cold.
“This is…”
This is just murder.
One body of a boy, growing cold on the arena floor, and one white-haired boy calmly looking down at him.
The standing boy’s name was ‘Lucien.’
Had he really died?
The host hastily suspended the match, and several waiting healing mages rushed over to check the collapsed boy’s pulse, but they shook their heads, as his pulse was no longer beating.
“He is deceased.”
Along with that, the children were immersed in horror.
And the disciples watched the situation silently.
“Hmm. He finally caused an accident.”
“What should we do? By the original rules, he passed.”
“He’s… already an internal pick anyway, isn’t he?”
“What’s the big deal about one brat dying…”
With the extended deliberation, the atmosphere in the arena instantly changed.
The previously heated mood cooled down abruptly, and a growing number of applicants began to withdraw.
What guarantee did they have that they wouldn’t die?
Especially that shameless, shoulder-shrugging lunatic.
If they met him, they would surely die.
“He made a mistake because his power is still immature.”
He had killed a person, yet there was no trace of guilt to be found.
He was smiling innocently and holding his hands behind his back, but the applicants who had witnessed the cruel match knew.
That he had killed him on purpose.
He had deliberately matched his level to toy with his opponent, preventing him from forfeiting, and then carried out the killing spell when the opponent was off guard.
“Does this make sense?”
Despite one applicant’s outcry, the Pasadian disciples remained silent without saying a word.
“I shouldn’t have come to this crazy school.”
Finally, one person threw down their robe and stormed out of the arena, panting heavily. Perhaps he had already anticipated their response.
“Since there was no malicious intent and the matter was disclosed beforehand, no other measures will be taken. I trust you haven’t forgotten that anything that happens due to a failure to forfeit is your own responsibility. Therefore, according to the decision-makers’ opinion, applicant Lucien is accepted.”
A decision too harsh for a mere 15-year-old child.
Anakin momentarily gripped her head in shock, then quietly mumbled.
“A crazy school…”
Hilde’s expression was also not good.
Was it because he had witnessed the low-quality underbelly of the school he had desired?
“Lucien, he’s probably the grandson of Rapiter Filo…”
“Rapiter Filo? Isn’t he that famous Pasadian elder?”
“Yes. He’s the elder’s direct grandson.”
“What the… Isn’t this against fairness? Their background and bloodline are different. To have to take the exam alongside someone like him…”
“As expected, you can’t deny the bloodline. He’s incredibly strong.”
Whether it was reality or this other world, blood-related privilege was the same.
Despite the murmurs of those around them, Hilde spoke calmly.
“His skill is good, but as you can see, he’s the kind of guy who can cause an accident like that without any hesitation. It’s best not to get close to him.”
“…Okay.”
Watching Lucien calmly receive his acceptance and descend from the arena, Anakin felt a second wave of disillusionment with humanity since coming here.
“They’ll cover up the murder. They’ll give the bereaved family money to silence them.”
The rumors about Pasadian were not exaggerated.
If anything, the reality was less known than the rumors.
“Anakin. Do you still want to go to Pasadian?”
“…”
She had initially decided to go to Pasadian only because she looked at the superficial shell of the faction.
The admiration for the scene of annihilating the enemy at the forefront, and… the determination to meet someone in such a school.
It was a school she had challenged without knowing better, but now that she knew the truth, she didn’t want to run away.
She had faced the male leads head-on when she first met them, too.
Why would she avoid it now?
Even if she felt disappointment and disillusionment…
Since she had already set her path, she didn’t want to turn back.
Anakin answered Hilde.
“Yes. I’m going to Pasadian.”
“…Alright.”
Hilde looked at Anakin once and then nodded.
“I thought so.”
“It’s almost your turn, Hilde? Go do well.”
Anakin smiled and sent Hilde off. Hilde then pressed down on Anakin’s head and got up from his seat.
“If some weird guy tries to hit on you while I’m gone, you can kill him.”
“Haha. Why would you say that…”
As the main heroine of the original story, she knew she always had to be careful with her conduct.
Even so, wearing a robe all day was difficult.
She would try not to take it off when people were watching, but she couldn’t just keep walking around with the robe over her head, could she?
Hilde headed to the arena, and Anakin watched him from afar.
Sure enough, a few minutes later, just as Hilde had mentioned, someone spoke to her right beside her.
“Excuse me, are you Miss Anakin Descartes?”
“…Yes?”
The person who spoke was someone Anakin hadn’t expected.
It was Kaila, the successful applicant who had placed 5th in the previous day’s assessment.
She was the person who had stopped the fight between Lute and Hilde, and also a fellow successful applicant who had just passed along with Anakin.
She had beautiful red hair and black eyes, but one eye was covered by an eye patch and not visible.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Kaila.”
She, who looked somewhat like a strong warrior, greeted her with respect.
This kind of polite treatment seemed to be the first she’d received since coming to Pasadian.
“I am Anakin Descartes. You can just call me Anakin.”
When Anakin accepted the handshake, Kaila’s eyes seemed momentarily surprised and stiffened, but she soon continued speaking nonchalantly.
“Indeed, you are as beautiful as the color of your soul… Actually, the reason I came to find you, Miss Anakin, is nothing other than to talk about Miss Hilde, who always accompanies you.”
“…Hilde?”
“Yes. Be careful of him. He is… dangerous.”
“…”
At the sudden remark, Anakin blinked and stared at Kaila with a bewildered expression.
She had approached her out of the blue, seizing the moment when Hilde was absent, and was telling her to be careful of him.
“…In what way is he dangerous?”
“He seems to be acting in front of you, Miss Anakin… but he might be a more dangerous being than even that Lucien. I can see a person’s aura in exchange for losing one eye. I call it the color of the soul.”
She pointed to her eye and said.
“And I see the same color in Miss Hilde as in Mr. Lucien. Perhaps an even darker aura than his.”
* * *
