Chapter 137: Final Evaluation (2)

I already knew that Ivan had finished the exam and came outside.

Of course, I knew he was standing behind me.

I intentionally provoked him.

I was curious.

How confident was he in himself?

‘He said he would surpass me in half a year.’

I happened to overhear the conversation between Ivan and Pirion while I was training [Stealth].

There, in response to Pirion’s question, Ivan had answered confidently.

It was funny, but also absurd.

Why?

Because it meant he saw me as a hill he could ‘try to climb’.

A sense of competition?

A rival?

Fine, that’s okay.

I think it’s a feeling that cadets who take the same class, even if they’re not in the same year, can sufficiently harbor.

However, I had done far more off-campus activities than the protagonist, Ivan and had also accumulated a considerable amount of fame and achievements.

To be frank, among them were things that Ivan would not have been able to solve and by solving such things, I also had a desire for Ivan to realize it himself.

‘Ah. That senior is someone I can’t dare to mess with.’

Like this.

But well, I guess I was mistaken.

Because it seems that Ivan still sees me as a hill he can try to climb.

And from my perspective, that was quite a blow to my pride.

‘And personally, I’m also curious.’

How much stronger Ivan has become by attaching his growth trait, [Competitive Spirit], to me.

I’ve been hearing that he’s been training hard, but it was about time I needed to see it with my own eyes.

‘Since he’s a guy who’s directly involved in my death flag. I should find out his level right now.’

In a way, it was a good opportunity.

“……Then I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Ivan, who had been glaring at me with a burning sense of competition, turned his body after leaving a meaningful remark.

As Ivan left, Yuria, who was next to me, stuck to me and asked.

“Are you okay, senior?”

“Huh? What about?”

“Ivan. He was being arrogant, wasn’t he.”

……I almost burst out laughing.

“Why?”

“No, ahem. It’s nothing.”

Yuria looked in the direction Ivan had disappeared as if she didn’t like it, and then turned her gaze to me.

“Still, I guess I’ll finally get to see you and Ivan have a showdown tomorrow.”

“Hmm. I guess so. But why’s that?”

“The kids are all buzzing about who will be the 1st place in this final evaluation. Didn’t you know?”

Of course, I know.

The terror that broke out during the mid-term evaluation.

With the mid-term evaluation ending ambiguously, the importance of this final evaluation had completely risen.

It would probably account for a significant portion in determining the semester grades.

It was safe to say that the 1st place in the final evaluation would directly lead to being the top of the semester.

And being at the top of the semester was a glorious achievement, enough to be featured in the Royal Dream, so it was natural for it to be a hot topic among the kids.

‘And the names mentioned the most are me and Ivan.’

The written evaluation, the only one where the scores remained from the mid-term evaluation.

If you tally the scores from the performance evaluations during the semester, the candidates for the top of the semester are roughly narrowed down.

And among them, the two people closest to the top of the semester.

It’s me and Ivan.

“Who do you think it will be?”

At my question, Yuria shook her head.

“I don’t know. Whenever I see Ivan, he’s always swinging his sword. Of course, you are too senior and Department Head Pirion is with Ivan……”

I scratched my chin.

If even Yuria, who sees it directly and sometimes crosses swords with him as a training partner, says so, then there must be something to it.

I can’t leave out Department Head Pirion’s teachings either.

Still, I thought Yuria would take my side, even if it was just empty words.

I had also received a special lecture from Allen for a month.

──It was the moment I was feeling disappointed.

“But I want you to be the top of the semester, senior.”

My mood improved, as if the disappointment had never been there.

***

The second day dawned.

I met Luis early in the morning and Luis gave me his regular report.

As expected, he did not mention any requests.

Just in case, I asked about the cult’s movements, but he said nothing had changed.

The Sewer District, the base of the Death Council and the Ladrier Hotel, the base of the Darkness Council.

All were quiet.

‘Then has the death flag really disappeared?’

It was good news for me, but it was too early to celebrate.

Because there was still one day left.

I could only confirm that I had overcome the death flag after tomorrow passed.

And so, I parted with Luis.

After returning to my dorm, I spent my time checking my equipment and then went outside.

“Senior!”

Yuria, who was already out and waiting for me.

“How’s your condition?”

“Good. How about you, senior?”

“Me, well.”

“Always the same?”

“Oh. You know me well.”

“Your answer is the same every day.”

We exchanged unremarkable greetings and headed to the main building with Yuria.

Murmur murmer!

A considerable number of cadets were already gathered at the main building.

The 890th class kids who would be taking the final evaluation with me.

“Oh? It’s Gerard-Senior!”

“Hello, Gerard-Senior!”

“Good morning, Senior!”

I exchanged brief greetings with the kids and sat on a bench.

As I was waiting for the professor to come, the sound of a certain group’s conversation caught my ear.

“Hey hey. But did you guys hear? That Gerard-senior and Ivan are going to fight.”

“Ah, of course! They said they’re going to face off in this evaluation.”

Huh?

What is this nonsense?

Just in case, I looked at Yuria sitting next to me, but Yuria, with her characteristic stoic face, asserted her innocence.

“It wasn’t me.”

“……Uh. Sorry.”

If it wasn’t Yuria, then there was only one person who would spread this story.

‘Ivan.’

But why would Ivan?

For what reason?

“Who do you think will win?”

I stopped thinking and pricked up my ears.

“I bet on Ivan.”

“Why?”

“He’s more handsome. Hehe.”

I lifted my eyes to check the bastard’s face.

You little shit.

I’ve memorized you.

“Just kidding. But he’s been crazy lately. You know I’m in the room right next to Ivan, right? He doesn’t sleep.”

“True, the way he was hitting the scarecrow last time was brutal.”

“I think he’s getting private lessons from Department Head Pirion……”

I nodded my head.

For those reasons, it’s quite possible to think that way.

‘But why do I feel like shit?’

Normally, I would have just let it go and easily ignored it, but thinking that Ivan was orchestrating this situation, it strangely didn’t sit right with me and was annoying.

‘I really don’t know what his scheme is.’

Except for his excessive hatred and hostility toward evil, Ivan had a well-rounded personality, to the point where he could be called the protagonist himself.

Gentle, warm, and with a strong sense of justice.

He had all these good qualities.

At the very least, he wasn’t the type of guy to pull such a childish stunt to get attention.

‘Don’t tell me this change was also caused by me?’

It’s good that Ivan’s growth is accelerating because of me.

But I don’t want his personality to change because of me.

Because this could turn into a big problem.

‘Personality is character, after all.’

The character of the protagonist with a mission to save the world is changing……?

It was a premise I strongly wanted to refuse.

‘I hope this ends as a light, momentary deviation.’

“Senior. Is something wrong? You don’t look well.”

It was then.

Yuria, who was watching me from the side, asked with a worried look.

Darn.

I must have been making a serious face without realizing it.

I quickly changed my expression to a smiling one and shook my head.

“It’s nothing. I guess I was just a little nervous.”

“That’s a lie.”

“……Huh?”

“I can’t believe that you’d be nervous, senior.”

I’m a person too, can’t I be a little nervous?

I was suddenly curious about how Yuria saw me, but I didn’t ask.

Because the professor I was waiting for had arrived.

The supervising professor with charming, small, slanted eyes, Chaser Idna.

He was the proctor for this evaluation.

Chaser, whose cool and friendly personality, and even more so, his looks, were popular elements among the cadets, despite his renowned reputation, so as he went up to the podium as the evaluation professor, a considerable number of kids screamed.

“Alright, alright. That’s right, kids. I’m the proctor this time too.”

Chaser gestures for them to calm down.

Come to think of it, Chaser was the general proctor for the mid-term evaluation too.

He couldn’t prevent the terror that happened at the time, but perhaps because there were no casualties, he was in charge of being the proctor again this time.

‘It’s different from the original work.’

Putting that part in my head, I lifted my eyes and looked at Chaser.

“Alright, so quiet down. I know you’ve already reached the second final evaluation, but for those of you who messed up the written evaluation yesterday, don’t be too discouraged. You can just aim for a comeback here. Huh?”

“Yeees!”

“Alright, good. You’ve received a preliminary notice about today’s evaluation. Right? Ah? You didn’t check it? Then it can’t be helped. It just means you weren’t that interested. It’s your fault.”

Puhaha, a round of laughter erupts.

Chaser, who had thus lightened the mood and focused the attention on himself, went on to explain the rules and precautions for the exam.

The exam task, collecting Ferdon feathers.

The grade 4 magical beast Ferdon was not large, was timid, and had poor combat abilities, so it was one of the magical beasts evaluated as the weakest.

They were so cowardly that they would flee at the sight of soldiers holding shiny blades.

Honestly, it was to the point where I couldn’t understand how they were even classified as magical beasts, but they were like grim reapers to goblins.

In any case.

The task for this exam was to pluck the feathers growing on their heads and of course, the more you collected, the higher the score you were allocated.

In a way, it seems easy.

But this is a delusion that can only be had because you don’t know the characteristics of the magical beast Ferdon.

The Ferdon’s legs were incredibly fast.

Instantaneous speed and directional changes due to flexible movements and on top of that, tireless endurance.

On top of that, they live unaffected by the environment, whether it’s water or trees, so you have to assume that you can’t catch them if you make eye contact.

You could say they were beasts with exceptional footwork.

So, the biggest concern among the cadets right now was how to catch this Ferdon.

After Chaser’s explanation ended.

As we were waiting to receive the scroll to move to the ‘Ferdon Habitat’, I heard the kids talking.

“Hey. How are you going to catch it?”

“A Ferdon?”

“Yeah.”

“Are you crazy? Why would I tell you that?”

“Aah. Tell meee! I’ll tell you too!”

No matter how many talented kids the 890th class was called the golden generation for, only a few of them could catch up to a Ferdon in a speed battle.

So various methods were employed.

The most common methods were to team up and hunt them down, like those guys, or to set traps.

Of course, unlike the mid-term evaluation, the use of artifacts and items was also allowed.

So, not a few of them had investigated the habits of the Ferdon and prepared goblin meat, their favorite food.

Also, this was an evaluation, but also a competition.

So, for this time, confrontation between cadets was also allowed.

Of course, the purpose was limited to ‘snatching feathers’.

Anyway, the reason the kids were showing such keen interest, even using the provocative wording of ‘me and Ivan will have a showdown’, was precisely because of this.

Will the two of them fight over the feathers?

It seemed highly probable.

Judging by the fact that he went so far as to spread rumors like this and set the stage.

‘Well, I’ll naturally find out when I get in.’

For now, I was planning to focus on my own work.

“Alright, did you all receive the [Spatial Leap] scroll!?”

“Yeees!”

“Good! Then listen up from now on. When the second hand of the clock tower up there points to 12, we’ll all move to the ‘Ferdon Habitat’ together. The evaluation starts as soon as you move, and you have six hours.”

“……!”

“The person with the most feathers within six hours is 1st place. Now. I’ll start the count. 5…… 4……”

……3, 2, 1.

Buuk, I heard the sound of a scroll being torn, and my vision flashed.

The chirping of mountain birds tickling my ears.

Before I knew it, I was standing in the middle of a forest.

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