Episode 19 The Road to Graduation (3)
After the explanation at the dance hall, the students moved to the exam hall.
The last match was held on a rocky island above the lake, but the first test is held outside the lake.
A large mountain rising by the lake was the testing ground.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been outside the lake, Ernas-sama.”
As we got off the boat, Chloe spoke to me.
“I got out of the lake at most, but it’s a pity that I have to go back to the island soon.”
“Then why don’t you have some more?”
“Fufu, then you will fail the exam.”
The first test is pass as long as you find the instructor at the test center and hit the attack, but there is a time limit.
If you do not receive your pass within 24 hours, you will be disqualified.
Although the instructors look after them to some extent, there are still a considerable number of dropouts every year.
“I just want to be close to Ernas-sama and move, but… It’s impossible, so there’s nothing I can do about it.”
“Being in a group is against the law.”
No rushing is allowed in this test.
Surrounding the found instructors as a group and attacking them will result in immediate elimination.
Since the principle is to find and attack alone, if two or more instructors are discovered at the same time by chance, students may fight.
‘The mountain is so big, it’s not easy.’
It was set up by myself for the development of the novel, but… It was a really heartbreaking test.
If you do not pass this, you will be expelled.
‘In the novel, Ernas bought an instructor in advance and passed first place.’
Recalling the contents of the novel, I headed to the starting position with the other students.
Soon the whistle sounded, and the first test began.
“I’ll go first, Ernas-sama!”
In the Black 6th class, Schmidt took the lead and jumped in.
Then Serine, Chloe, and Viola went into the mountains, and I followed.
‘Actually, it is inefficient to run hard from the beginning.’
As I walked through the trees, I was lost in thought.
‘Because of the rules prohibiting pincer attacks, there are frequent situations where the instructor finds the instructor and quarrels with other students. In the meantime, the instructor can run away.’
In the novel, Akandel, the main character, encounters these situations one after another.
Others pass the test one step ahead, but alone in the mountains wanders for a long time.
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Meanwhile… Lester’s attack.‘Leicester was wary of Acandel, who was not even a master of the 6th swordsmanship. They tried to expel him from school by using his hands early.’
However, in this world now, Acandel does not exist.
Instead, I was targeted by Lester.
‘It’s good at dawn to fight Lester. In the meantime, there is no need to useless power.’
I found a small cave.
In the novel, it is the place where Akandel satisfies his hunger while roasting and eating rabbits with Viola.
‘Shall we take a break here?’
Using a rock of an appropriate size as a pillow, he lay down in the cave.
Until the time comes, I intend to rest here.
* * *
‘Ernas, this child… … !’
As he walked through the woods, Lester sharpened his teeth.
The thing that was pointed out at the gymnasium a while ago still hadn’t left my mind.
‘In all likelihood, to Calleon Ignias… … !’
One of the six master swordsmen, the head of the Ignias family, ‘Yellow Jade Sword’ Calleon.
As soon as he got up on the stage, he shouted, ‘Go back to your place now!’
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My face went red because I was so scolded by the head of a competing family.‘This is all because of Ernas! He’s been shaking hands for so long… … !’
Ernas released Lester’s hand almost at the same time as Calleon’s shouting.
But Ernas did not seem to care at all when he heard Calleon’s shouts.
‘What the hell are you thinking, Ernas Landsstein!’
As I was moving forward with rough steps, I heard a girl’s voice from behind.
“Lester, calm down.”
“Youser, you dare… … !”
It was Youser, a girl who usually served Leicester.
She was a long-time entourage who followed Lester to the academy.
“If you get excited here, you will fall into Ernas’ trap.’
“… … !”
At Youser’s words, Lester stopped.
“A trap?”
“Why would Ernas do such a handshake there? You’re digging a trap to excite Lester.”
“no way… Did you expect Caleon to come up on the podium and shout?”
“It is very likely.”
Ernas must have bought some of the faculty members as well.
If the advisor for this exam had known in advance that he was a fiery Caleon… … .
“Ernas is also planning to attack Lester-sama in this test. therefore… … .”
“stop.”
Lester interrupted Youser.
“You don’t have to say any more.”
“Lester… … .”
“Hey Ernas… I guess he’s more cunning than I expected.”
hard.
Lester sharpened his teeth.
“After exciting me, he must be planning an unexpected surprise attack somewhere in the mountains.”
“Yes, it is very likely.”
“But, as I have already noticed, that won’t be the case.”
Lester said with his eyes wide open.
“Youser, you must have brought my sword?”
“I brought it.”
Youser put his hand on the sword around his waist.
Although it is disguised as a wooden sword, it contains a true sword brought by Lester.
If caught by the instructor, he could be punished, so it was usually carried by Youser, not Lester.
“Continue scouting around me. If Ernas comes by surprise… … .”
“After I attack Ernas in the reverse direction, I will look at the situation and hand over the sword to Lester-sama.”
Lester nodded as he listened to the loyal reply.
“great. get off now If the instructor finds out that you are crowding, you will get a warning.”
“Okay, Lester.”
Youser bowed his head and disappeared immediately.
She came from a family that trained in stealth from generation to generation, so it was difficult to find Lester if she hid herself like this.
‘This is my trap, Ernas.’
If Ernas approaches without knowing anything, Yuser will move.
No matter how good Ernas’s charge attack is, it will inevitably fail if Youser surprises him from the blind spot.
If Lester uses that gap to attack, it will be enough to defeat Ernas.
‘And, using my sword… … .’
Lester decided to cut off one or two of Ernas’ tendons this time.
‘The punishment for humiliating me with a handshake… I’ll make sure to pay it.’
With that promise, Lester clenched his fists.
* * *
“Huh? Ernas-sama, what are you doing here?”
“viola… … ?”
When I opened my eyes at the familiar voice, I saw Viola Aurius staring at me.
It was as if they had found this cave just like the unfolding in the novel.
“It’s good to be here. I was really hungry.”
“yes?”
Viola hurriedly hid the rabbit she was holding in her hand.
“Hey, this is my dinner… … .”
“I didn’t even have dinner.”
“Ernas-sama’s dinner must be prepared by Ernas-sama yourself!”
“You took all the steaks I was going to eat last time and ate them.”
“You know that the debt was paid off by acupressure?!”
“Did you think you paid it all off? Now the interest is accumulating a lot.”
“Oh, usurers?”
While grumbling, Viola sank to the bottom of the cave.
“Eh, I see. I will give you some.”
“Yeah, get ready.”
I yawned as I watched Viola light the bonfire.
Viola is also from a baron family, so she is a noble girl.
However, the Auritius family made a living by hunting monsters in the northern snowfields, so they were also good at these things.
“Come on, it’s done.”
Viola held out a leg of a rabbit roasted over a campfire.
When I cut the flesh, it tasted like chicken.
“It’s delicious.”
“Hey, do you need more?”
“No, it’s okay. You eat the rest.”
“Ehehe… thank god.”
Viola ate the rabbit meat with a relieved expression on her face.
He’s always a good eater.
“Well, why are you looking at me like that? Maybe I have a dark heart… … .”
“I don’t have a black heart at all, so don’t expect anything.”
“Too much.”
When I spoke coldly, Viola cried.
“Hey, you really don’t have a black heart, are you? Is it a fortnight? Even then, you touched my body.”
“Don’t be weird. You corrected my swordsmanship posture.”
“Still, you were holding my wrist for close to a minute. To be honest, I was very nervous.”
“You had a black heart.”
To be honest, it is true that I had a different mind.
But that’s all… It was to copy the ability from Viola.
“viola.”
“yes?”
“Your family’s hunting art is… Is it useful for finding prey hiding in the woods?”
Suddenly, Viola blinked at my question.
“Yes, yes, but… It won’t help much in finding the instructors. It is used to find hidden monsters using the terrain.”
“I know that. I just checked.”
“… … ?”
As I said with a smile, Viola tilted her head.
* * *
It was early morning.
‘Damn, Ernas, where the hell did you go?’
Lester looked around as he walked through the mountains.
So far, he has encountered several students, but Ernas did not even show his nose.
I’ve been preparing for Ernas’ surprise with Youser for over 10 hours already… there was nothing.
‘Maybe Ernas already passed the test… No, I can’t.’
When a person who has passed the exam comes out, the instructor calls out loudly.
Until now, Ernas’ name had never been heard.
‘I’ve given up on catching the instructor, and I’m preparing for his attack… What happened?’
Besides, raindrops were falling little by little.
Looking at the dark clouds in the sky, it looked like it was going to rain soon.
It was the worst situation for Lester, who hated being in the rain.
‘Damn it, I need to avoid the rain somewhere first.’
Is there any suitable cave somewhere?
Lester called Youser.
“Youser, come with me for a moment.”
I was thinking of summoning Youser, who was hiding in stealth, and telling him to find a place to hide from the rain.
However, no answer came back.
“Youser?”
Lester looked around.
But even Lester didn’t know where Youser was.
Without professional training, it is impossible to see through Yuser’s stealth skills.
“… … !”
dump!
Hearing the sound of something falling from the tree, Lester hurriedly turned around.
and opened his eyes wide.
“Youser!”
Youser was lying unconscious.
furthermore… … .
“Eh, Ernas?!”
Ernas came down from the tree with light movements.
Under the circumstances, it appears that Ernas had stunned Youser.
“Yeah, your boy, how… … !”
It was unbelievable.
Even Lester can’t understand Yuser’s stealth skills, so how did Ernas do it?
“How did you find Youser? Not even a professionally trained hunter!”
“Well, he may have mastered the skills of a hunter.”
“Are you kidding me again, Ernas… … !”
In front of Lester who raised his voice, Ernas bowed down.
and… Youser picked up the wooden sword he was wearing around his waist.
“… … !”
Did you know from the beginning?
Ernas took out the true sword that was hidden inside the wooden sword.
“Ernas! Get your hands off that sword right now… … .”
However, that didn’t end there.
From Leicester’s point of view, an unbelievable scene unfolded before his eyes.
“Your man, your man… … !”
Soon it was pouring rain.
Lester hates rain, but he wasn’t in a situation to care about that.
“That attitude… Dude, where the hell did you steal it from?!”
Lancaster Shortsword.
The posture of the short sword fighting technique handed down from generation to generation through the Lancaster family… Ernas was perfectly presenting it.