Chapter 116
“Hup!”
“Whoa!”
The Guardians were focusing on their training, sweat beading and flying off them.
In truth, they were about to set out soon to capture the disaster, so there was no real need to expend energy on training right now.
But,
“Ooh! Amazing!”
“Wow, how is he swinging the sword without a single tremor?”
With fresh young sprouts watching with sparkling eyes, how could they half-ass it……?
The Guardians were training through gritted teeth, though a few among them felt a touch of pride.
‘These kids. They know we’re good.’
‘We’re pretty impressive, huh?’
Those puffing up with pride were the new Guardians who had been constantly scolded and rolled around by their senior Guardians.
Having been berated all this time without any notable achievements, how low must their self-esteem have fallen?
It was only natural for them to strut and show off in front of the children like this.
“Hup!”
One of the new Guardians raised his sword to the sky.
A sharp sword aura flowed from the trembling tip.
Normally they didn’t manifest sword aura during training, but since it was in front of the children, he wanted to show off a cool side.
‘They’ll be impressed, right?’
The Guardian who had manifested sword aura smiled proudly and turned to look at the children.
But……
“Hey, isn’t that what Joshua did? Sword aura?”
“Wasn’t Joshua’s color prettier?”
“Joshua really is a genius.”
……What are they talking about? Not marveling at me?
The Guardian’s eyes wavered.
“Haaah!”
At that moment, another new Guardian unleashed an even larger sword aura.
The red-gleaming sword aura soon dyed the blade red, and the sword body turned bright crimson as if holding fire.
‘They’ve never seen anything like this!’
The Guardian grinned and swung his sword.
But,
“Was that something Daphne did?”
“Daphne’s was magic, that’s sword aura.”
“Ah. So that’s why Daphne’s looked prettier.”
……What are these kids?
Talking about sword aura and magic so casually?
“Hmm. Not that interesting. Right?”
“Yeah. I thought it would be more impressive.”
Manifesting sword aura itself is plenty impressive!
What the hell……
The shocked Guardians opened and closed their mouths, then abruptly turned their gazes toward Kenrick and the other instructors.
What exactly are you raising?
They glared at the instructors, but the instructors avoided their eyes with expressions that said “don’t ask me.”
It was an absurd situation.
***
“I’ll explain again for you all.”
Kenrick, standing on the platform, spoke to the children.
“There are certain ‘items’ hidden inside the building. A total of thirty. Your exam ranking will be determined by how many ‘items’ you possess by the time limit. It means you may take items from each other. Understood?”
“Understood!”
Kenrick smiled at the children’s vigorous reply and nodded toward Rachel, who had raised her hand.
“Trainee Rachel, ask your question.”
“How can we recognize the ‘items’?”
“All ‘items’ have a mark that you can identify. Just confirm that mark.”
“Understood!”
Kenrick nodded and scanned the children once around.
They had become incomparably more mature compared to when education first began in this dormitory.
When these children grow up, the empire will grow stronger accordingly.
Kenrick smiled contentedly.
“Hey hey. This time, kids like us might actually win? Can’t we just overwhelm Daphne and Joshua types with sheer numbers?”
“Right. Wouldn’t it be better to deal with them first, then slowly search and share the rest?”
“How do we deal with them?”
“Just lock them up! Tie them up and lock them away!”
Mature…… right?
It should be fine……?
Kenrick pretended not to hear the children’s burning schemes.
***
The time limit was three hours.
Until before midnight, the children had to find and bring back the ‘items’ inside the dormitory building.
Three hours could be considered short, but in a confined space, it could also be considered plenty of time to search for something.
So Daphne entered the dormitory building rather leisurely……
“Move! Move out of the way!”
“Hey! Get lost! Get lost!”
……or tried to.
“Ah! Don’t block the front! Get out of the way!”
These little punks.
Daphne clenched her small, cute fist.
Then she smiled brightly at the children and waved her fist.
“Anyone who comes to my side gets one hit, anyone who goes in front of me gets two hits, and anyone who annoys me gets five hits. Understood?”
“…….”
Then what are we supposed to do?
The words rose to their throats, but the opponent was Daphne.
She was skilled enough that even if they all rushed her at once, they might barely stand a chance.
The children exchanged quick glances.
‘When Daphne lets her guard down, we strike!’
‘Lock her up! Lock her away!’
Hehehe. This time for sure, we’ll beat Daphne.
The children steeled their resolve and glared at the back of Daphne’s head.
And Daphne,
‘I’ll just go in and beat up everyone holding an item.’
And if no one has any items?
‘I’ll beat them until they bring me some.’
She was making such wicked plans.
Was there ever a simpler exam than this?
They should have made exams this easy from the beginning.
Daphne snickered as she entered the building.
Some children had already gone inside ahead of her.
Quite a few were still searching the first floor, so Daphne leisurely clasped her hands behind her back, stretched her neck, and looked around.
She wanted to see what kind of thing had the “mark” Kenrick had mentioned.
“Hm?”
At that moment, something caught Daphne’s eye.
A single sheet of paper lying on the floor.
But it gave off a strange feeling.
Upon closer look, white wings made of mana sprouted from both sides of the paper.
Those white wings must be the mark.
“Seriously, wasting power on pointless things.”
Daphne clicked her tongue and bent down to pick up the paper.
But the paper vanished right before her eyes.
“Uhahaha! I got it! I snatched it!”
Teppy, who had rushed over at some point, had taken the paper.
“I knew you’d spot it right away, Daphne! I couldn’t find it myself! So I kept watching you! Waiting to snatch it the moment you found one! Uhahaha!”
“You crazy bastard……!”
“What? Gonna catch me? You can’t. You’re slower than me, right?”
Kekekeke!
Teppy clutched his stomach and laughed, thinking he had finally gotten one over on Daphne for the first time.
Daphne’s face crumpled.
“Okay, let’s take a look. What is this?”
Teppy snickered while examining the paper.
He read the text covering the entire sheet.
“This letter originated in the kingdom and has been passed around once a year, bringing luck to each recipient, and now it has come to you. This letter must leave your side within 4 days, and you must send seven copies of the same letter…… If you do not send them…… misfortune will come…… What is this!”
It was a bizarre chain letter of luck.
Teppy furrowed his brow sharply.
“Do kids these days still believe in this stuff? Just burn it and throw it aw—”
“That’s black magic.”
“Seven copies? It says I have to write seven?”
Teppy, suddenly frantic, anxiously looked around for a pen.
Daphne clicked her tongue and approached Teppy.
“Looking closely, quite a few items here are laced with black magic. They’re probably trying to build our resistance to black magic. So, Teppy. Hand it over. Keeping it will only harm y—”
Thud!
Teppy collapsed while still holding the paper.
“……It’s already harmed him.”
Tsk tsk, Daphne took the paper from Teppy’s hand and looked around.
Thud, thud!
The sound of children collapsing came one after another.
They must all have been hit by black magic like Teppy and lost consciousness.
“Hmm.”
Daphne narrowed her eyes and thought for a moment.
On the surface, one could think this was all part of the exam set by the instructors.
Using mana detection to find the marks, and testing the ability to dispel the black magic clinging to the items.
But there was a problem.
“But could the instructors handle black magic?”
They had never dealt with black magic before.
“Something…… feels off.”
Daphne smacked her lips and spread her senses wide.
Thinking that there might be a rat hiding somewhere in this building.
And not long after, something caught in Daphne’s senses with a thud.
The corner of Daphne’s mouth curved into a wicked smile.
“I found my lunchbox.”
