I’m Just an Ordinary Clown at the Academy chapter 87

87 – Midterm Exam 7

“Oops! My hand slipped.”

“W-what is this…?”

Gashline, unable to grasp the situation he was in, looked at Rocky with wavering eyes.

‘Can someone who’s already been eliminated eliminate someone else?’

Even after being eliminated by Rocky, Gashline failed to realize that the news of Rocky’s elimination spread earlier was false.

“I’ll specially explain the situation to Gashline. Be grateful for this special favor as a friend~.”

Rocky erased the illusion of Elysia that he had created.

If it were any other student from a different class, he wouldn’t have explained, but Gashline was a friend from the same class.

There was no sign of anyone else around, and that was the truth.

“Ta-da! Look at this.”

Rocky produced a doll and a magic tool from the void and whispered.

[Rocky eliminated]

“…………So that’s what happened. Thank you for letting me know.”

Gashulin, who had been lost in thought for a moment, finally nodded as if realizing what had happened.

“Aren’t you angry?”

To Loki’s surprise, Gashulin’s response was much calmer than expected.

I thought he would at least show some disappointment, even if not annoyance, if I told him. But he’s taking it so lightly?

“It’s all my fault. How can I blame my friend?”

Loki scratched his head.

This makes me feel like such a trash.

“Earlier, the way you took down Renci was impressive.”

“How? There was no one around…..”

“Didn’t I tell you before the exam started? I will always be watching.”

Gashulin recalled Loki’s words from earlier.

‘No matter how far apart you are, I will always be watching over you.’

He had thought it was just nonsense as usual. Could it have been real?

“hahahahaha! Of course, I thought it was just a joke. Now that it’s come to this, go ahead and win.”

“Of course! We’ll all support you by Gashulin’s side.”

“Don’t talk as if I’m dead.”

* * *

The situation room where all the professors were gathered.

“In the end, that crazy bird, no, the student Loki, brought down Gashrin.”

“To be honest, wouldn’t anyone fall for that?”

“Indeed.”

As the professors discussed Loki’s takedown of Gashrin, one professor, who had been looking at a different screen, spoke up.

“Huh? So, it finally happened?”

Not all the professors were looking at Loki.

To be precise, even if they wanted to, they couldn’t see another student.

They had to assess other students’ scores.

Of course, the screen currently displaying the forest had a save function, but that would make grading take too long.

The professors had one criterion for evaluation.

How well did the students utilize their abilities?

“That student is wasting mana too much.”

“This one fell into the trap they created themselves.”

“That student is good at catching artificial mana flows, but using more power than necessary.”

“Clara keeps using mana, but considering it’s Clara, maybe she’s actually using it well.”

If another mage used as much mana as Clara, they wouldn’t score high.

But Clara was different.

Clara’s hallmark was mana that seemed limitless.

Comparing her mana to other mages was impossible.

Elysia, too, admired Clara right after Loki.

She surpasses herself as a dragon in terms of mana.

“Sephia student is also using spirits well.”

“Using inconspicuous wind and earth spirits to find other students or demons is the best method.”

“To scout with two spirits and protect oneself with fire and water spirits, she really excels in using all four elemental spirits.”

The professors continued swiftly evaluating the other students.

“…..So, how should we evaluate Loki?”

“””………………”””

The other professors fell silent after one professor carefully spoke.

“Her ability utilization is extremely excellent…….though, right?”

“That cannot be denied.”

Before the practical exam, the professors predicted how the students would behave in the test.

Most of the students did not deviate significantly from those expectations.

Loki, however, deviated from all the predictions.

And it happened shortly after Loki entered this place to start the exam. All the professors’ predictions went astray.

-Thump, thump.

The sound of someone approaching could be heard.

Although they didn’t confirm who it was, there was only one person who could come here now.

“I have arrived! It’s still chilly outside. As expected, home is the best! Professors, please try not to go out of your homes too much.”

The professors were starting to dislike how they were getting used to hearing such nonsense.

They shouldn’t get accustomed to that kind of stuff.

Returning home, Rocky greeted the professors and compared his and other students’ scores through the screen.

“As expected, within the top ranks.”

Gashelin had always had a high score, but before Rocky could catch up, Ren took the lead.

Ren also had a substantial score, but all of it got absorbed by Gashelin.

Rocky absorbed Gashelin’s scores like that.

Honestly, staying put here ensures a high position anyway.

“My goal is first place.”

Rocky shifted his gaze to another screen to check the remaining students.

“There are no other students left now, except for me and three special class students. It’s surprising how many have already been eliminated. It’s because the others lack perseverance, isn’t it?”

It’s all because of you.

As Rocky returned, the professors began to feel uneasy again.

Should they just send him away and pretend they don’t know anything, or should they seriously consider the situation?

Rocky pulled out a chair from the void and sat down, pointing his finger.

“Oh! Sepa and Lucas are starting to compete right now! Professors, why don’t you sit next to me and watch together? Ah! Should I offer you some popcorn?”

It felt like someone else had taken charge here, but for now, even the professors looked at the screen Rocky pointed at.

* * *

[Lucas Leonhart eliminated.]

“Now, who’s left?”

Upon hearing the broadcast about Lucas’ elimination, Clara wondered who remained.

When a student is eliminated, it’s announced through a broadcast, but Clara only knows the names of the special class students; she doesn’t know the names of the other students.

So, with Lucas just eliminated, Clara knew that all the students from the special class, excluding herself, had been eliminated.

However, she couldn’t tell how many first-year students, not in the special class, were still in the game.

Since the professor had mentioned 30 minutes remaining in the broadcast a while ago. By now…

-Woosh.

Calculating the remaining time, Clara, with her right hand, gently touched her left shoulder, feeling the pain.

If Lucas hadn’t been exhausted, it could have been her collapsing instead.

[10 minutes left until the end of the exam.]

Hearing the announcement, Clara thought, ‘Maybe I can stay still and still secure the first place.’

Just a moment ago, by eliminating Sepia and the fatigued Lucas, Clara had gained an incredible number of points.

From Noble mtl dot com

At that moment, deciding to take a break for the remaining 10 minutes.

“Yikes!”

Someone jumped out from the forest, screaming.

It was a face she hadn’t seen before.

Thinking he was from another class, Clara quickly cast a spell to throw a fireball at him to catch a break.

Sizzle. Thud!

However, the man swiftly dodged the fireball with considerable speed.

“Tsk.”

This time, Clara created dozens of flaming arrows and shot them at the man.

‘What kind of movement is that?’

However, the man avoided dozens of arrows flying towards him with an unusual movement.

It was a movement she had seen somewhere before.

At that moment when Clara was pondering where she had seen it.

Swish!

A dagger flew towards her, hitting the shield she had activated, and bounced off.

Clara gazed intently at the dagger that had fallen to the ground.

It was a familiar dagger.

It was the dagger thrown by someone every morning in the special class, aimed at Elysia.

“…Why are you still here?”

Clara spoke, her delicate eyebrows furrowed.

“Well, well, well, looks like I’ve been caught. By the way, it doesn’t seem like my shield was activated in response to my dagger. Are you maintaining the shield continuously?”

The ordinary appearance of the man vanished, and the familiar man who always playfully spoke emerged.

Clara remained silent and quietly cast a spell.

“Most people only use the shield spell temporarily when they are being attacked. Isn’t it too cowardly to maintain it while fighting?”

Once again, Clara didn’t respond and fled with a flying spell.

‘She clearly said she was eliminated in the broadcast earlier.’

Clara’s judgment was quick. She couldn’t understand why Loki was still here.

But one thing was certain: with her current condition, she couldn’t defeat Loki.

‘Even if I’m eliminated, I have to endure it from Masu.’

If she’s eliminated by Loki, he would gain her points, but if it’s by Masu, Loki wouldn’t gain any points from her.

* * *

Bang! Kwang! Kuqwaaang!! Kwang!

Clara cast spells in the air as she flew with flight magic, aiming her magic at the pursuing Loki.

“I can’t see the targets.”

Clara tried to find the targets while avoiding Loki, but she couldn’t spot a single one.

“Surely, Clara, you’re not deliberately trying to fail against the targets to deny me points, right?”

Kaang! Bang! Kuqwang!

Clara responded with her own magic blasts instead.

“Unfortunately, Clara, before heading your way, I took care of all the targets nearby.”

However, Loki managed to block or evade every magic coming his way.

[1 minute remaining until the end of the test.]

“Time flies when you’re on a date with Clara, but continuing like this might lead to my defeat.”

So said several Lokis.

“”””Now, please stop catching me.””””

Clara clicked her tongue as she saw Loki’s doppelgängers rushing toward her.

“Tsk.”

Even if she accidentally hit one with her magic, if it turned out to be a fake, she would surely be attacked by the real one.

In a situation where she couldn’t do this or that, Clara ceased her flight magic and descended to the ground.

“Now give up. There’s no more hope for you. Ah! Didn’t I just sound like a villain?”

Ignoring the nonsense, Clara silently focused on her spellcasting.

This magic, learned from Master Matapju, was still insufficiently mastered to maintain flight while conjuring.

“I’m not your average third-rate villain who waits while a magical girl transforms.”

Bang! Bang! Bang! Swoosh!

As Rocky dashed to interrupt Clara’s conjuration, he suddenly jumped backward to evade flames plummeting from the sky.

“hahahahaha, looks like this is a bust.”

Rocky glanced at Clara, who was engulfed in a mass of flames, cradled in her hands.

If it were just ordinary flames, he would have charged straight in.

The mass of flames Clara held was dark and massive enough to require a raised gaze.

“Don’t worry. I have no intention of throwing this at you.”

Clara hurled the magic toward the ground.

Kwaaang!!!!!!!!

A tremendous explosion echoed, announcing the end of the test.

[Test concluded.]

“Haah… Haah…….”

-Jigeun.

Clara felt she might pass out any moment.

But lying on the ground was something her pride wouldn’t allow.

She even deactivated the shield she’d kept around herself, probably drawing on the ground deliberately to ensure the creature wasn’t hurt.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

The dusty air concealed the figure walking and clapping somewhere unseen.

“Could it be that at the end, they unleashed magic on the ground to obstruct our vision? Truly remarkable.”

Too tired to turn her head and look at the owner of the mischievous voice, Clara could only stare ahead.

“Miss Clara, you’ve worked hard.”

Because of this, she didn’t notice Loki brandishing his sword at her back.

“The test is already over…………”

Just as Clara was about to express her displeasure towards Loki, who was holding a sword to her back despite the test being over.

[Clara Adelian disqualified. Time remaining until test ends: 2 hours 33 minutes. However, since Loki is the only one remaining, the practical exam will end.]