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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“How many layers of barriers do you need?”
“As many as it takes to be safe.”
Intricate spells wove themselves into existence, forming a barrier that enveloped the chairman’s residence. This was the third layer.
“Are you trying to sabotage my exam by exhausting me?”
“That’s part of it. Thanks, Erica.”
“What?!”
I had to prepare for the worst-case scenario. Hertlocker flying into a rage and trying to kill me. He’d been holding back because he believed I had his sister’s life in my hands.
Once he realized it was a lie, he’d come for me. My detection abilities and combat skills wouldn’t be enough to stop him. I’d have to stall him within the barriers until Sergei arrived.
“Haa…”
“What’s with the sigh?”
“My life is a tragedy.”
“Huh…?”
I hadn’t expected Emilia to run away without letting me finish. Perhaps fleeing was the logical choice for the intelligence agency if they felt threatened.
She must have thought the Kingdom was on the verge of collapse. Regardless, I was now at a crossroads. Cooperate with the agency and fight Asylum, or sever all ties. I was leaning towards the latter.
I needed to contact the agency and clear up the misunderstanding, but approaching them directly was too risky.
I needed a plan. But the final exams were complicating things. I couldn’t do anything until they were over, so I’d wasted an entire day doing nothing.
Wait a minute.
‘Am I an idiot?’
A day was more than enough time for the agency to evacuate the capital. I hadn’t considered the possibility of them abandoning the capital entirely.
I’d been too focused on guarding against Hertlocker and studying for exams. I had no other options now. I could only hope Hertlocker, unable to contain his rage, would come looking for me.
I needed to meet him, one way or another, to explain myself.
“What happened to your attendant, by the way?”
“Emilia? I gave her some time off.”
Time off. In a way, it was. I hadn’t realized how time-consuming and difficult it was to cook and clean for myself.
I’d have to hire another maid when Emilia returned, to lighten her workload. And give her a raise.
Please come back, Emilia. I can’t live without you.
“Hey, isn’t that Professor Relic?”
“I think so.”
Erica, whom I was walking to the front gate, pointed. Professor Relic was hurrying somewhere. Anything he did looked suspicious.
“He must have something urgent to attend to. I’ll be going now. See you at the exam hall.”
“Okay.”
I watched Relic after Erica left.
The notoriously lazy, overweight professor was actually running, and sweating. If he was late for a class or seminar, he’d simply stroll in late. This was something more urgent.
“Erwin.”
I erected a subtle perception-blocking barrier and contacted Erwin, linking our vision and hearing.
– W-Wait! Not now!
“Sorry.”
Bad timing.
I deactivated the link and waited a moment before reactivating it. Erwin’s flushed face, staring at herself in a bathroom mirror, appeared in my vision.
– Did you see?
“That’s not important. Right now—”
– Did you see?!
“If I said no, would you believe me?”
– Aaaaaaaaagh!
A scream echoed through the link. I hadn’t seen anything, but she wouldn’t believe me.
So I’d simply pretend I had.
– That bastard…
“Erwin. Has Asylum contacted you today?”
– Not me.
“What do you mean?”
– The higher-ups were summoned, but not me.
“Then you should have reported it!”
Damn it.
Having such an incompetent subordinate was a headache. She should have reported anything related to Asylum, even if it didn’t directly involve her.
“Haa… You only know that the higher-ups were summoned? Nothing else?”
– I received the usual broadcast message. Oh, and a special instruction to stay indoors today.
“…”
What did that mean? I hadn’t heard anything about nationwide blood testing.
Why would even low-ranking Asylum members be told to stay indoors? I had no idea.
“Come to the chairman’s residence and stay there today.”
– What? Why?
“They told you to stay indoors. That means something dangerous is going to happen. Come to a safe place.”
– A-Are you sure?
“Yes. I’ll leave the key under the flowerpot by the front door.”
I had to protect my spies. They were valuable assets, potential future leads within Asylum. I ended the communication spell.
‘I have no idea what’s going on.’
The warning within Asylum, the summoning of the higher-ups, and now this… My head was spinning. I rubbed my temples and left the residence. I needed to focus on the exam.
Being expelled would render everything pointless. I straightened my uniform and headed towards the exam hall.
“Schlus.”
Iris stood by the door, smiling as always.
Why wasn’t she inside? The exam was about to start.
“What is it?”
“Schlus. Only answer the last question on this exam.”
“Why?”
“You’re in a hurry. You should finish the exam quickly and leave.”
Iris smiled and entered the exam hall without giving me a chance to question her.
Was something that urgent happening? She’d told me to only answer the last question… Was she telling me to fail the exam?
“Take a seat.”
“Yes.”
I entered the exam hall.
Ludwig nodded curtly. The other students were already seated. I exchanged a glance with Erica and found a seat. There was a tablet-like device on each desk.
I was about to ask Iris about her cryptic message when the bell rang.
“The exam will now begin. There is a tablet on each desk. It is an artifact that displays images using mana. Answer the questions in order.”
I knew what kind of exam this was from the very first sentence. Exams always followed the original story. But there might be some changes to the rules, so I listened carefully.
“One question will be presented at a time. You can move on to the next question after answering, or skip a question, but you cannot return to a skipped question. The total score is 99 points. Sharing answers or looking at another student’s tablet will result in disqualification.”
Murmurs rippled through the students. They’d expected unusual rules for an exam using artifacts, but it seemed fairly standard.
Aside from not being able to return to skipped questions, it was identical to a regular exam. But there was a secret to this exam.
“The exam will now begin. You have one hour.”
The tablets lit up at Ludwig’s signal. Question 1. 4 points.
The difficulty level…
‘Oh god. What is this?’
It made my head spin just glancing at it. I immediately skipped it. A warning message popped up.
I clicked again, and Question 2 appeared. 5 points. Easier than Question 1. I could solve it in 10 minutes with some focus.
The secret was, the point value increased and the difficulty decreased with each subsequent question.
The rule about not being able to go back usually made students reluctant to skip questions. But if you were bold enough to skip the incredibly difficult Question 1, you’d quickly notice the pattern.
Then, it became a matter of judgment, deciding how many questions to skip to maximize your score within the one-hour time limit. Ludwig was testing their judgment and decisiveness.
‘Skip all the way to the end? Why?’
Iris’s instructions made even less sense now that I remembered the original exam. The last question, Question 11, was worth 14 points.
Could I get top marks with just 14 points? Impossible. Questions 1 and 2 were difficult, but a genius like Erica could solve them within the time limit.
In the original story, both Hertlocker and Erica had answered all the questions. Then what…?
‘Whatever.’
It would be foolish to doubt Iris. She’d implied something urgent was happening.
I couldn’t waste time agonizing over it. I ignored all the warning messages and continued skipping questions.
– Question 6. 9 points.
– Question 7. 10 points.
I’d skipped a total of 49 points. And then, the next question appeared.
– Final Question. Question 8. 50 points.
‘Huh?’
I froze.
50 points for a single question. More than the combined value of all the previous questions.
And the question itself—
– Disarm this spell.
—was ridiculously difficult.
A chaotic jumble of interwoven spells. It would take more than an hour to solve under normal circumstances. But for me, it was the easiest question on the exam.
‘Selection and Concentration. One second on Computational Ability.’
I activated my ability without hesitation. I rarely used Selection and Concentration on Computational Ability.
I seldom encountered problems that required a Computational Ability stat higher than 48. My stat jumped to 147. One second was more than enough.
The spell on the display had already been disarmed.
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Click… Click…
The minute hand on his pocket watch ticked past 20 seconds. Ludwig surveyed the exam hall, the students’ faces a mixture of concentration, frustration, and surprise.
Some were struggling with Question 1, others had realized the pattern of the exam. Ludwig suppressed a smile. He was eager to see their expressions when they reached the final question.
‘I’ve made a slight adjustment to the original exam.’
If the pattern of increasing point values held true, the total value of all 11 questions would be 99 points, the total score for the exam. But Ludwig had never stated there were 11 questions, nor had he explained the pattern.
So, there was nothing wrong with Question 8 being the final question, worth 50 points. It was a trap for those who blindly skipped questions.
They’d think they could easily secure 50 points by skipping to the easier Question 8.
But what would their faces look like when they encountered its unexpected difficulty? How would they react to scoring zero after trying to take the easy way out?
Ludwig was looking forward to it.
‘That boy…’
His gaze landed on Schlus. He was tapping the tablet with an indifferent expression. He’d be among the first to experience the despair.
Schlus’s fingers stopped, and he froze. He’d reached the final question.
‘How boring.’
He hadn’t even flinched.
Ludwig felt a twinge of disappointment, but also a thrill at the thought of giving Schlus a zero—
“…”
Ludwig’s eyes widened as Schlus stood up. His expression remained impassive as he walked down the stairs, carrying the tablet. He stopped in front of Ludwig and presented the device.
– _Total Score: 50/99_
“I’ll be going now.”
“…”
Schlus Hainkel turned and walked away. Ludwig stared at the tablet, dumbfounded. The sound of the door slamming shut snapped him out of his trance.
He’d forgotten his instructions. He rushed out of the room and saw Schlus heading towards the exit.
“Schlus Hainkel. Return to your seat.”
“I’ve already submitted the exam artifact.”
“I know. Return to your seat.”
“May I ask why?”
“No.”
“I see…”
He’d been ordered to prevent Schlus Hainkel from leaving the university grounds. He stepped in front of Schlus, and their eyes met.
Ludwig shuddered at the emptiness in Schlus’s gaze. He was radiating hostility.
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