EP.58 Rotten things (1)
Early in the morning on the day of the exam, Resty sipped the tea brewed by Aplia’s maids and covered the test paper.
“Whoa…”
A light mist rises from the sigh I exhale.
Although it is a spring day, Aplia is cool at dawn. Because I studied with the window open to concentrate, the temperature in the room had dropped significantly.
“·····.”
Resty looked out the window in silence.
The sun was already rising. In the end, it looks like he stayed up all night. Still, I didn’t feel too bad.
‘Anyway, I solved it all at least once.’
Basics of Mana Transactions, Midterm Exam.
Resty nodded slightly as he glanced at the test paper that had been handed out in advance.
Number 8 still hasn’t been solved. Still, he made numbers 6 and 7 completely his own.
‘I hope I can solve it within time.’
Because the calculation formula is unusually complex, it is a problem that requires concentration no matter how many times you solve it… but it will be okay. Because I’ve already solved it several times.
Facing the rising morning sunlight, Resty stood up. He briefly washed his face and changed out of his school uniform. He gets ready to go out like that.
I don’t think sleeping here for a few hours will relieve my fatigue. In that case, I was thinking of staying up all night.
Rattling.
Taking her notebook and writing utensils, she left the Central Academic Building. The sleepiness escapes in the cold morning air.
There are only three hours left until the exam.
Resty headed to the reading room near the classroom. He planned to solve the problem at least once more in a test-like atmosphere.
“·····.”
How long did it take to walk like that?
Resty, who was heading to the reading room, suddenly felt a sense of discomfort.
‘···It’s not here?’
This is not the direction of the reading room.
It was a hallway lined with professors’ labs, in the opposite direction of the reading room.
Did you misunderstand the route because you were sleepy?
That wasn’t it. Resty’s mind is clear, and Aplia’s path is difficult to mistake. The sense of discomfort increases with that fact.
‘···Something is strange.’
This is the moment when that sense of discomfort is about to turn into doubt.
“Ashen.”
Someone’s voice rang out.
Resty looked back to where the sound came from.
“Abominable gray.”
The voice gets closer.
Only voices get closer without the sound of footsteps.
“I heard your story. “A child who follows in the footsteps of the abominable gray.”
The voices that got closer were strange.
It sounds eerily low to be a human voice. The voice is distinct enough to be that of an animal.
“Your story is interesting. Even if hundreds of years pass, you do not change. Yes, that’s why gray is the most hateful thing. “It looks like they didn’t learn from the kingdom they came from.”
The voice crawled along the floor. The low voice slowly eats away at Resty from the tips of his feet.
“Even now, hundreds of years have passed, you have not changed one bit. “You are the proof.”
Resty’s consciousness slowly subsides.
“I remember the gray elf. I am just like you, child. “You look like me.”
Piles of bones crawl along the walls.
It is full of unknown things. The eyes do not accept what they do not understand.
The pupil that has become relaxed in this way dilates.
The owner of the voice stretched out his hand in front of Resty’s eyes, which had turned black with the whites pushed out.
“Wouldn’t it be ■■■■■■?”
Beyond the broken voice, you can see the bony bones.
Blood flows from the bones where the skin has been peeled off. That blood is black. What is black blood? Resty remembers in his hazy mind.
Black blood belongs to renegades.
The moment I realized that, my dilated pupils returned to their original state. Resty’s eyes widen.
“Yes, that’s right.”
Some people are actually happy to see that.
He tapped and touched Resty’s forehead.
“I’ll call you when you’re ready.”
Resty’s vision flipped.
* * *
Flash.
Resty opened his eyes. I didn’t fall asleep. When he opened his eyes, he found himself standing still. The note is still held in his hand.
One blink.
Just enough time has passed.
‘···What was it?’
Resty blinked his eyes repeatedly. My eyes were sore without knowing why. Resty stood there blankly.
-···Test.
-······hurry! If this continues, it will be late…
I hear a voice.
——————
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Someone passes by Resty. They are students. At that sight, Lesti tilted his head blankly.
‘Why are you moving around in such a hurry?’
There are still three hours left until the exam.
With that thought in mind, Resty turned his gaze and suddenly looked out the window. The sun is up. Much higher and brighter than before.
“···uh?”
Resty felt something was wrong.
I quickly took out my watch and checked the time. There were only 10 minutes left until entering the exam room.
Three hours have disappeared.
In one blink, the whole thing.
I feel like I’m possessed by a ghost.
Resty took a hurried step forward. Those steps are hasty. Although I’m in a hurry, I don’t have the strength to take each step.
dump.
Resty sat down on the floor.
This is because my legs lost strength.
“Tsk…”
Resty, who was massaging her weak ankle, suddenly looked at her palm.
My palms are red.
“···blood?”
It’s not blood flowing from the palm of your hand.
Blood continues to drip. Where is that blood falling? Resty raised his head.
You can see your face reflected in the glass window.
The face is pale. Blood dripped from her nose, staining her lips red. Her eyes are red and bloodshot.
Anyone could see that it looked far from normal.
2.
Mana trading, basics.
The midterm exam for the subject was held as scheduled. Unlike other subjects, the midterm exam for this class is unique.
The moment students receive the test paper, they do not feel unfamiliar or embarrassed. What takes its place is familiarity. Because it was a test paper that I had been looking at for almost a week.
Even if you’ve only seen it 6, 7, or 8 times, you can’t disguise the familiarity felt from the paper itself.
“The exam lasts 90 minutes.”
Soon, the test began.
Most students start solving from number 6. Numbers 7 and 8 were of no interest in the first place. I studied and took classes for a week, but even problem number 6 was too much for students.
Students write solutions based on what they have memorized. However, even that gets stuck when you get about halfway through.
A few exceptional people reach the end of number 6.
But they also cannot provide an answer. This is because the path to the end is so complicated.
30 minutes have passed since the test started.
Nowadays, it is difficult to find students who can solve problem number 6. Instead of challenging themselves to do something beyond their level, students focus on the remaining problems.
And then I realize.
The remaining problems are not so easy.
‘Number 1 is easy.’
Question 1 really covers only the basics. The students spent less than 1 minute solving question 1.
‘It’s worth doing even twice.’
It took a little more time. However, it is a problem that can be easily solved by applying calculation formula 1.
‘Number 3… is complicated.’
From there, students begin to diverge.
Some people solve problems by stacking up calculations. Move on to the next step. Someone is stopping at number 3.
‘Number 4 is…’
Few students reach number 4.
The solution method is still the same as number 1. However, the number of formulas that must be stacked is on a different level.
Many students start getting stuck at number 4.
Only a few of them write their answer to number 4.
‘Number 5.’
Very few students reach number 5.
A distinction is made in question 5. Number 5 cannot be solved using conventional solving methods.
You have to twist the solution once.
If you just think of the idea, you can quickly find the answer. And, where does that idea come from?
-The circuit is ultimately the sum of the runes.
– Try dismantling the circuit according to its meaning.
It comes from the lessons I have accumulated so far.
Lark gets the idea.
The same goes for Belnoa. They took Professor Rania’s class closest to them.
Use the knowledge gained at that time to solve the problem.
Ayla uses her natural intuition to solve problems. In her eyes, she sees the direction she needs to go. Ayla just walks along that direction.
In this way, each person uses what they have learned to solve the problem in their own way.
Tuk.
Time flies like that.
Patter, patter.
Until I heard that sound.
Patter.
It sounds like water drops falling. Some people look out the window to see if it will rain. It didn’t rain. The sky is clear.
Did someone spill some water?
It is important to focus on the exam now. Everyone heard the sound and pretended not to hear it.
“uh?”
However, I soon heard a sound that I could not ignore.
“P… Le, Lestin you…”
One of the female students pushed back her chair. She stood up. The classroom becomes noisy.
Eventually, several students turned around.
“·····.”
There is a student in the very back seat with his head down.
She is covering her mouth and nose with her hand and moving her pen. The pen trembles slightly.
Eventually, she loses hold of her pen.
The pen rolls on the floor.
“ah.”
She looks blankly at the pen rolling on the floor.
The hand covering his mouth fell.
Her face, revealed in this way, has long traces of blood. Her palms are stained red.
His face is pale.
Her lips trembled.
“Cough.”
Drops of blood spattered with a dry cough.
With that, Resty Eleanor fell to her seat. Chaos came to the classroom.
and.
“·····.”
Raniel, standing on the podium, was looking at everything with cold eyes.
3.
During the test, one student collapsed and vomited blood. That’s not all. Some students have seizures. Most professors are embarrassed by this phenomenon. They are people who have no experience on the battlefield.
Unlike him.
-Where are the knights stationed?
There is a professor who is immediately looking for articles.
Professor McHart said that. Even though he did not perform well, McHart has experience on the battlefield.
-We must immediately contact the drivers and call for reinforcements.
A group of students fainted.
And the symptoms of addiction that appear in their bodies.
‘I’m addicted to magic.’
He recognizes the symptom right away.
When Machart arrived in front of the garrison, he realized that he did not have to step forward.
There are numerous articles lined up.
It seems as if they had expected this incident to happen from the beginning.
And in the center stands the Hound that I met earlier. He gave a brief command and headed somewhere. The place where those steps were headed was the rooftop of Aplia.
* * *
Aplia’s rooftop.
The two sitting there looked at the forest and clicked their tongues briefly. Although it is invisible to ordinary people, their eyes can see the magical energy that fills the forest.
“It seems like it’s starting to take off.”
Tracker Kalt opened his mouth.
“This is why I don’t like altars. “Until it’s completed, we don’t know the location or who we will use as a medium.”
“Tsk,” he clicked his tongue.
“The blind spot is that we still don’t know who the mediator is. “Once that is revealed, work will begin immediately.”
“I can guess.”
“yes?”
The gray wizard answered that question plainly.
“I have an idea, but I’m more upset because I can’t touch it. You know that? “The thing about altars is that once you select an object, you can’t stop it before the ceremony.”
“···I know it very well.”
Kalt shook his head.
Because I had seen that altar on the battlefield.
“I still get goosebumps when I think about what was created by a wrong stimulus from the outside.”
“Yes, even the one selected this time… If I touch him wrong, it will be like creating one more of the Four Heavenly Kings.”
“···Is it that much?”
“You can roughly think of him as a kid with just as much talent as me.”
···A person with as much talent as the Gray Wizard?
Is there someone in Aplia who is worthy of that? I was curious for a moment, but I didn’t ask again.
‘Because it’s not the right atmosphere.’
Sitting on the rooftop, Raniel touched his chin.
“I hope you get through it well.”
“Wouldn’t it be difficult?”
“You don’t seem weak-willed. And, we also took action.”
Saying that, Raniel sighed deeply.
“Anyway, the timing sucks.”
“yes?”
“There was a midterm exam today.”
“···What do you mean?”
Raniel snapped his wrist.
The sound is very scary.
“It sounds like a very elaborate test. I gave up two weeks to do this test properly. “It would be difficult to retake the exam because of the curriculum.”
“yes···?”
“It’s just that it was a f*cking elaborate test, but that damn altar ruined it. Do you think I’m a dick or not?”
“Uh… I’ve never been to an academy before, so…”
Kalt thought for a long time about how to react to his former boss’ words. It seemed like he was angry about something, but the problem was that I couldn’t figure out why he was angry.
‘···In times like this, the answer is usually to hide somewhere.’
Unfortunately, hiding is impossible now. Where is that? Kalt was even in a situation where he had to convey information that would make his superiors angry.
‘···I think this is messed up.’
Kalt took a slow deep breath and looked at Raniel. As he made up his mind and was about to open his mouth, Ran El struck him.
“What.”
“Yes, yes?”
“I have something to say, do it quickly. “Don’t waste time.”
Kalt feels eerie at that gaze. Even though her appearance has changed, that sharp gaze remains the same.
gulp.
Kalt swallowed dry saliva and opened his mouth.
“Well, didn’t I tell you last time that there would be reinforcements?”
“It was like that.”
“Well, I sent you to the direction where the altar opens, so it seems unlikely that you will meet me…”
“Don’t drag your feet and speak politely.”
Kalt closed his eyes tightly and answered.
“Well, the reinforcement is the hero Kyle Torben! There is a high possibility that the saint and the priest will also come to support us!”
He said it as if he was screaming.
Kalt has been assisting both Raniel and Kyle. In other words, he is a person who closely observed the atrocities committed by saints and shrines.
Being that kind of Kalt, when news of Raniel’s retirement came, Kalt guessed.
Ah, something has finally exploded. Called.
‘It looks like they had a huge fight…’
Even if he were a warrior, it was obvious that this wizard would be angry at the fact that the saint and the shrine had joined. Ready to get hit, Kalt closed his eyes tightly and waited for an answer.
“·····.”
However, even after a while, there is no response. Kalt slowly opened his eyes. He had Raniel looking up at him.
“What is that?”
“yes?”
“What is that, dude?”
He had a nonchalant expression.
“At this scale, the warrior party should pop out, but isn’t it even weirder that they don’t?”
“···Uh, right?”
“Are you hiding that as a secret? “Are you afraid I’ll get angry?”
“That’s right.”
Raniel laughed as if it were absurd.
“Kalt.”
“Yes, yes.”
“I distinguish between public life and life. “At least when it’s public, I won’t run into the warrior party asking for my life.”
Kalt sighs at those words.
However, I soon realize something strange.
“…Then what about when it’s private?”
“well.”
Tdu-duk-duk.
Breaking his fingers, Raniel smiled.
“Wouldn’t it be nice to give you at least one slap?”
A word from the author (author review)
I’d like to move things along a little faster.
Recently, I am painfully aware that developments have been too calm and repetitive. Lately, it seems like they’ve focused too much on comedy.
Keep the atmosphere light.
I will try not to write boring stories 😀
There are a lot of materials prepared, so please wait!
