160 – Survival (1)
“Everyone, the fall survival test that was announced a while ago is just around the corner. Everyone is working hard to prepare, right?”
Autumn’s Survival Test is a survival test conducted in the forest, which is common in all academy novels.
This is a test to survive in the forest for about four days, and is supposed to be training to survive when forced to march or when left alone in the event of war. To be honest, I didn’t think this test would be of much help in such a situation.
‘It is absurd to think that there would be food and all the necessary tools in such a situation in the first place.’
Food and tools are inspected in advance, and if there is too much food, all but one day’s worth of food is confiscated, and any tools that are similar to strange magic tools are confiscated.
There was a description that the difficulty of the test was quite low, perhaps because the people taking the test were nobles who had never had their hands dirty.
Marina said it out loud, as if it was not a secret but a public fact.
“To be honest, it is not a very difficult test. “The forest where we will take the test has been created in an environment where it is easy to obtain food, and the monsters that appear are not difficult to deal with if you are alone, but if you are in a group, you will not have much difficulty dealing with them.”
However, he said that this does not allow you to let down your guard and asked everyone to take the exam with sincerity.
This exam is not only taken by the swordsmanship department, but also by other departments except the alchemy department.
So, although she is temporary, Marina, who is in charge of the knight department, will lose her reputation if even one person fails in the knight department.
“Well, since I’ve delivered everything, I’ll end today’s class with this. Oh, Ian, I have something to tell you about the exam, so please come to the dean’s office after you finish.”
“Me?”
For a moment, she remembered an incident not long ago when she almost burned a teacher while baking sweet potatoes, but she said it was about a test, so it couldn’t have been that.
She didn’t know what was going on, but without thinking that she had to go anyway, she left the classroom to go to the dean’s office.
“Then I’ll stop by for a moment, so go first.”
“Don’t go the other way and come right away.”
As always, she lightly ignored Jessica, who treated me like a five-year-old child, and walked towards the dean’s office, where Marina, who had arrived earlier using transfer magic, greeted me.
“What’s going on? “You probably didn’t call me to tell me that you don’t have to take the test again, right?”
“Similar but different. “The reason I said that before was because it wasn’t fair for Ian to be stuck with another student, but this time it’s for safety reasons.”
If you only look at the result, you should not go out anyway, so I stayed still wondering what the difference was, and Marina continued.
“Ian, we should do something else instead of taking the test.”
“Is it something else?”
“Before you talk about that, let’s look at this first.”
Marina waved her hand lightly toward the wide desk in front of her, and trees grew densely on the empty desk, turning it into a forest in an instant.
The forest resembled a maze, with complicated and twisted paths, but it seemed to have been created artificially rather than naturally.
“Is this the stage for this exam?”
“Yes, the exam is held outside the academy premises, so it is quite wide. “Up to now, we have been able to manage the situation with just the Academy’s manpower, but starting this year, things have become a bit more difficult.”
“… “I guess it’s because of those guys.”
In normal times, even outside the academy premises, it would not have been that dangerous because there would not have been a madman targeting the students guarded by the archmage.
But what we were dealing with was not a being bound by such common sense.
“Although their target is student Ian, there is no guarantee that they will not attack even if student Ian does not participate. “They might take someone close to Ian hostage and threaten them.”
As far as I know, they aren’t the kind of people who would use such drugs, but even so, you can’t let down your guard.
Furthermore, there is something inside Euclid that could turn into an unexpected trick if you make a mistake, so there was no harm in being prepared.
“So what do you want to ask me for?”
“Student Ian will act as a security guard and stand by at the exam venue so that if anything happens, she will respond quickly.”
“I don’t mind doing it, but if the forest is this wide, won’t the guards be scattered all over the place? “I can’t cover this wide area.”
“I also thought about that and prepared countermeasures.”
When Marina appeared on the desk and pointed, the dense forest wriggled like a snake and created a path.
“The forest is a structure I created. Of course, building a road like this and guiding people to one place is no big deal.”
Also, if you use the magical beasts created by Marina to greet the students in the forest, you will be able to more easily guide them in the desired direction.
“And although I am not a student either, I am planning to go into the forest with Your Highness on that day in the name of Your Highness’s escort.”
It is against the rules for Nana to meddle and change course, so it cannot be used very conveniently, but if Nana is there, it can be used to buy time in case a situation arises.
In addition, in the forest, various surveillance and detection magics are woven like a spider’s web and spread throughout the forest.
This is all linked to Marina, so if someone breaks in, she can quickly figure it out even if her level is higher than Marina’s.
“If they come, this is the time to catch them… !! Certainly!!”
Marina’s eyes, contrary to her cold appearance, were full of enthusiasm, and it seems that she has become quite excited so far.
“I don’t know if it’s possible, but we have to try.”
“What is that listless answer!! “I know it’s hard, but we have to do it!!”
“… ….”
Seeing Marina suddenly become as hot as the passionate teacher in her old cartoon, I suddenly missed the Marina who pretended to be cool when she entered school.
Even back then, she was vague and funny, but it wasn’t as bad as it is now.
“So is this the end? Unlike the Dean, there is someone waiting at home….”
“No, not yet. Now, I will show you where in the forest there are traps and things that can be used as food.”
“Do I really need to memorize it?”
“You never know when they will attack for four days. Ian must always be in top condition. Ian has excellent memorization skills, so she will definitely be able to memorize it.”
Because the forest was quite large and complex, there was a lot to memorize, but since the route was set, it was enough to memorize only what was within that route.
“I think I can memorize everything by today or tomorrow. Well then, I would like to go to the exam center at least once….”
“The test site is ready. “I still have some fine tuning to do, so let’s go together.”
*****
From noble mtl dot com
When I returned to the academy after taking a cursory tour of the exam room, the sun had already set and it was quite late.
At this time, I thought everyone would be sleeping, even if it was the maid on night shift, so I quietly walked in and noticed a single candle shining alone in the darkness.
There is light, but the face cannot be seen because it is far away.
I thought she might be a maid working in the mansion, so I approached her without much thought, and Jessica’s face appeared in the darkness, looking very tired but also angry.
“Surprise…. “Is she not sleeping and has been waiting for you?”
“…… “I told her to come in right away and not distract her, but she came right away.”
“It got a little long as I talked. “I’m a little tired from going all the way to the forest.”
“Forest?”
It wasn’t something she had to hide, and Jessica didn’t seem like she would make a fuss to those around her, so she told the truth about what happened today.
Then Jessica made a shocked expression and let out a sigh.
“Because she was short on staff, she asked for help from students, even skipping exams…. This academy is so pathetic that I can’t stand watching it. “This is the best educational institution in the kingdom.”
“Don’t talk like that. “If we want to stop those guys, we have to bring in a swordsman, not a swordsman, so it’s barely possible, so it’s inevitable.”
I can’t even imagine how strong the magician who fought with Ganryu or Marina would be if he came back in person.
So even if the royal family sends a knight corps to her, it probably won’t be of much help.
“So you’re not going to take this exam?”
“Yeah, honestly, I didn’t really want to go out. “This test is like a child’s joke.”
This test is about surviving in a rugged environment when isolated from your allies.
But does it make sense for humans in such a situation to have both food and the tools necessary for survival?
If I were the dean, I would have given the students a katana and replaced it with a test where they had to endure a week in a demonic gymnasium bare-chested.
“There is no way such a ridiculous test would be taken in this academy full of noble children.”
“So, it’s not fun. Ah, I wish they would really come.”