Arus points at a map as he says, "This area here should do."
The Director is at a loss by his disinterested tone. "Eh?"
He slides his finger across the map as he adds, "This spot is a bit far, but it"s best one since only the lowest ranked mamono infest it. B-rank mamono hardly ever appear. Granted, I"m not claiming this area is actually safe."
The director nods in understanding as she recalls some bitter memories. It would be different if only humans existed[1].
Unantic.i.p.ated events beyond what was predicted are routine in the outside world. Claiming that strange developments always happen isn"t an exaggeration. Contingencies for dealing with the worst case scenario are in constant demand.
The silver lining is that high ranking mamono can be detected dozens of kilometers away from the defensive line. However, the further away the mamono, the less likely the installed detection magic will detect it. The system isn"t perfect, but it can promptly sense disaster grade mamono.
Arus says, "Since there"s still a chance for a B rank mamono to slip past detection, supervision should be dispatched as planned. Also, it"s needless to say this, but whoever you a.s.sign shouldn"t just be a regular magician."
"This is going to be difficult."
Valuable magicians must remain on standby and be ready to mobilize at all times. That the military would lend one for a lesson is hard to imagine.
Arus says, "Well, I suppose there"s no choice but to grant direct control to the highest ranked teachers within the Academy. You could also a.s.sign two or more teachers at a time or give them a.s.sistants. Is management of this operation being completely entrusted to the Academy?"
The Director gets a headache as she says, "Groups of 5 people + at least one supervisor might work."
Arus says, "In that case, please do your best after this," and turns to leave. He is finished with giving advice.
The director is so taken aback, she releases a fl.u.s.tered, "Ehh!!"
Arus"s nature isn"t one where he"ll cater to the Witch"s expression. His annoyance surfaces as he says, "What now?"
She says, "I forgot to serve tea," while hurrying to rectify the mistake.
Arus hesitates on whether he should ignore her and return home. From his change of expression, it"s due to a mental health check.[2]
Arus and the Director immerse themselves in exploring solutions until well into the night. She, at a point where she no longer being able to endure the situation, even comments about him lending a hand. A disdainful expression crosses her faces as she says, "The intention seems to be that if they overcome this trial, they"ll mature into excellent magicians."
On the other hand, the situation also provides an opportunity for evaluating the apt.i.tudes of Tesfia and Alice as magicians. Granted, the desire is for the mamono to be brought to their knees before reaching that point.
Thus the detailed discussion between a Singles magician and former Singles magician concludes.
Every night, after watching over the Tesfia and Alice on their training, Arus is called to the Director"s office. He comes to even lack the strength needed to criticize how his valuable time is being is being wasted. He maintains his mental balance only by forcibly reminding himself that what he"s doing benefits him.
Regardless, they have a limited number of days to solve their problem. Such is the reoccurring danger posed by those who never experienced the true horrors of actual combat. This new supervisor isn"t the least bit reliable.
–Fist of the Beast King–
Up until the first day of the freshmen examination Arus has rarely been attending cla.s.s. Missing the examination would lead to a re-evaluation and a lower score. Furthermore, if his grades drop too much, he might have to repeat the year. Tesfia and Alice, fearing this outcome, stop by Arus"s lab before cla.s.ses begin in order to make sure he attends.
Arus complexion upon opening the door is horrible. The dark bags under his eyes instantly draws their attention. They can tell at a glance that he hasn"t slept in days.
Tesfia says, "You said you were going to rest, but you didn"t sleep at all."
Arus says, "It"s my time. You have no business in telling me how to use it."
"Al, did you forget? Today"s the examination!"
With an absentminded expression, he begins thinking back on something he wasn"t supposed to forget. Then, after some time, says, "Oh yeah."
Tesfia glances at the clock displayed on the digital screen inside Arus"s residency. She then spin him around and gives his back a strong push while saying, "Hurry and wash your face!"
For the first time, Arus, Tesfia, and Alice come to school together. Arus covers his mouth in order to smother a large yawn, "Haa~"
The Academy designated bag he should be carrying isn"t with him. Bringing it is pointless since he doesn"t even take his textbooks to cla.s.s.
Tesfia side glances at Arus while saying, "Alice, were you able to prepare[3] for the exam?"
"More or less, but I"d like to go over it once more."
As the two glance at the textbooks they carry, Arus speaks a doubt that makes their efforts meaningless. He says, "This is a practical exam. Isn"t it too late to do that now?"
Alice stops walking and her mouth opens without closing it as she says, "Ehh!!"
Tesfia strikes with a roundhouse kick towards Arus while saying, "If you know that, then say it sooner!" He"s still half asleep, but easily catches the attack with one hand.
While the skirts of the Academy"s uniform can"t be considered short, Tesfia kicked high enough for it to slide up her leg. A contrast forms between the transparency of her thin, silk, slip and white thighs as they come into view.
Tesfia stiffens, but Arus doesn"t express any interest in her secret garden. Regardless, a blush forms on her face in an instant.
"#%&[email protected]!!" Her mana coils around her fist as she lashes out to punch Arus. While her power doesn"t double, the unconscious movement of mana is an indication of her true feelings.
Arus pushes the leg he"s holding aside. The overall poor management of the situation truly makes it all look like a magical illusion.[4]
Tesfia glares at Arus with, damp, upturned eyes as she clutches the hem of her skirt. She says, "Did you see it?"
"Saw it!"[5] In truth, Arus didn"t see it. At this angle, the kick wasn"t high enough for anything to be seen. However, if he voiced those thoughts, Tesfia would lash out with magic.
Harmony? That was Arus"s expectation when he first enrolled. It"s late.
Cla.s.ses are canceled due to the examinations. Those are all that will occur today. The morning"s main menu consists of having students emit mana by wielding all the spells they have learned[6].
Multiple faculty members supervise the training ground, making detailed recordings of the data. Furthermore, magical investigations aren"t possible within the training ground. By keeping the examination vague, cheating is prevented.
With each cla.s.s entering the training ground one at a time, the morning can"t help but be crushed. Arus enters after changing into his training clothes and waits for his name to be called. Tesfia and Alice are also waiting. Tesfia doesn"t look like she can sit still during times like these.
Arus distracts himself by observing the manipulation of mana in the air. The tension he feels is a bit different from the others. If I recall, these two girls are aristocrats. In short, they need a rank that doesn"t shame their households. Even if their IDs show that they"re four digits, they"re nervous the faculty members will say something like, "Since the ranks determine during the admission exam are inaccurate…"
He can"t imagine that their ranks will change by a great amount. Regardless, he can only keep his mouth closed. Even if he tries to rea.s.sure them, he doubts they"d be able to hear him.
Alice pours mana into her lent AWR for a maintenance check. That action is a prevalent one within the training ground.
Arus, from upon entering the training ground, is the first to have his name called. Neither Tesfia nor Alice wish him luck. They understand doing so is pointless. Instead, they focus their attention on their AWR. They too are called soon afterwards.
Arus drags his feet to the ninth zone. The entire way there, he wishes he could be immobilized. He is the only examinee not carrying an AWR even though they are being lent for the occasion. The stares he receives while walking have taken a strange flip from when the year first started. As expected, the hostility is gone, but their as presumptuous as always.
Today"s stares mostly hold curiosity towards his missing book. I forgot to bring it.
He enters a suspicious, black covered, section of the training ground and, as was arranged, meets the Director. She says, "Ara, you didn"t bring an AWR?"
Arus never cared about his rank and refuses to start now. He says, "I need one?"
She adjusts the machine with a few quick movements and crosses her arms in order to tell him off, "Naturally."
"I"ll be fine without an AWR."
The Director says, "I see, then let"s start…" and points at a nearby box. It is the right size for a person to enter. The military uses that piece of equipment to measure the amount of mana individuals possess. "Stand there."
Once Arus is inside and the magic detecting iron plates surround him from all sides except the front[7], she adds, "Release your mana."
The mana he lets out is detected by the iron plates and is measured. Just a trace amount is enough.
The Director says, "OK, got it." She then sets her attention onto the terminal"s screen. The projected percentage leads to her saying, "— —!! Ehh!"
What a familiar reaction. It"s enough to give me an idea of the number. Doing it over would be a pain though.
Arus says, "It isn"t broken."
"But…"
Anyone other than the Director would have probably kept insisting for a redo.[8]
Arus says, "Shall we move onto the next test?"
"Ye- yeah…"
What a weak response.
Arus brags about himself in order to help the Director cope with his score. "I was always on the front lines."
In line with his claim, he never faced a difficult battle despite being there. The innate mana he was born with is just that much. That"s probably one of the reasons the military took custody of me.
The Director says, "Th-that"s right. Um, next is…"
I guess she"s still shocked.
She adds, "I want you to demonstrate all the magic you"ve learned, except…"
Arus equips various devices onto his limbs. "This is how the military carries it examinations."
The Director tilts her head as she"s filled with curiosity. "How come?"
"The gauge sometimes flies off due to the output of the magic wielded."
"N~… Wait, that"s bad."
Arus points at the expensive machinery in order to emphasis the point as he says, "The meter breaks."
The Director"s eyes shine with an uncontainable curiosity. She"s more interested in that event than damaging the equipment.
Arus is fed up with the Director who also happens to be a magician. He says, "I can"t imagine there are hundreds of spares lying around, so let"s settle for just this one."
She says, "Yeah," and then steps away from the screen where the data will be sent. She adds, "If you"re going to use attack magic, please aim for that spot there."
A hollow, cone shaped, piece of machinery rest before Arus. It"s something he"s quite familiar with. The objective is to launch magic down the cone. A material with high magic affinity will then absorb the spell. Should the absorbing power be exceeded, the excess magic escapes towards the blocked off end of the cone where it can continue to slowly be absorbed.
A horror story unfolds as Arus reacquaints himself with the device.
–Fist of Faith–
Alice"s name is called while Arus is undergoing his examination.
Tesfia says, "Go for it, Alice," and resumes focusing on her preparations as she waits for her turn.
Alice says, "Same to you, Tesfia," as she proceeds for the second examination zone. She then stops as a low rumbling shakes the training ground. A thought leads her to tilt her head. At first, it"s a suspicion, but she soon accepts it with confidence as the trembling strengthens.
Earthquakes are familiar occurrences to humanity. Large shifts began occurring within the Earth"s crust at the same time the mamono appeared. As such, no student would be caught unaware of how to respond to one. Therefore, Alice"s conviction towards the tremor"s ident.i.ty solidified while she was following the evacuation procedure.
An explosion echoes throughout the training ground and stirs up a commotion. "Eh—!!" Everyone stops evacuating to stare at the ninth examination zone. Black smoke leaks out from within and whirls around.
Faculty members gather from the other examination zones. Before they can do anything, a person steps out from within the ninth examination zone. Mana coils around Director Cisty as she says, "What happened wasn"t that big of a deal. Please resume the examinations as normal."
Many question why the Director is acting as an examiner, but their voices fade as she lifts a finger. She then chants something and lightly circles her finger around. The black smoke drifting around above the Director gets sucked into a vortex.
No one is able to turn their eyes away from the Director. With everyone nailed in place, her desire of continuing the examination doesn"t happen. It remains so until she gathers up and expels all of the black smoke.
Alice returns to Tesfia"s side while everyone is still glued in place out of admiration[9].
Tesfia says, "What the heck just happened?"
Alice"s thoughts jumble her voice. "That, well over there…" She then rushes into the ninth examination zone where she says, "Al, are you alright!?"
Arus stands overlooking the broken and dispersed pieces of equipment with regret. He says, "Alice…?" He picks up some of the pieces while continuing, "I messed up.[10]"
Tesfia says, "What did you do?"
"You both seriously came here? How much further are you going to keep pushing these violations?" The Director re-enters with a twitching cheek. Having reached the pinnacle of magic, not a single spot of soot stains her. Tesfia and Alice go wide eyed and step aside to let her through. "This is the middle of an examination."
Once the Director confirms that Tesfia and Alice have left, she says, "At any rate, that spell just now… it made me think of spatial manipulation magic."
Arus just stares at the Director.
As to be expected from a former Singles magician. Despite being the Director, she observes the tacit understanding between magicians of not delving into the workings of original magic.
Arus reflexively responds to the question that strikes at his spell"s core of as thanks. He says, "You are correct."
"Then, even though it was heated, I wonder if it"s actually melting."
The explosion wasn"t caused by magic, it was caused by the equipment due to an increase of energy.
Arus lets her infer his answer by casting his eyes downward. This method of communicating is more convenient for him.
Even though spatial manipulation magic was used, that isn"t information that has the permission to be recognized, not even by the Director. To begin with, magic that directly interferes with a s.p.a.ce does not exist. Spatial manipulation magic is an umbrella term that was established as a reference for various systems of magic.
That s.p.a.ce can be interfered with is a phenomenon that has been proven. Arus just did so again by creating a mess of melted and displaced machinery. That he interfered with s.p.a.ce is a fortunate turn of events since the phenomena of melting is the essence of that spell.[11]
Revealing this much is probably fine.
Only the governor-general with whom Arus has close connections, Belick Sarebian, knows more. Overwhelming power is often feared. Likewise, many would want to utilize it. However—
"You being able to wield that sort of strength makes me curious to the type of nature you"ll have it develop."[12] The Director casually ponders a thought while resting a finger against her chin.
Melting is a difficult type of magic that falls under the system of fire magic. It being cla.s.sified as fire magic should be a straight forward deduction, yet the former Singles magician thinks otherwise.
Magic is cla.s.sified by several natures. Individuals have ranging compatibilities with those natures; Tesfia is compatible with ice magic while Alice is compatible with light magic. Magicians aren"t unable to wield magic outside their compatibilities, but the strength of their spells will be greatly affected. That said, any system of magic can be wielded at a high level.
Arus"s compatible nature is nothing. Saying he isn"t compatible with any system of magic would be more accurate, but the current phrasing is more fitting. Right now, he can even be said to have thrust the compatible nature of his magic into being disposed towards spatial manipulation magic.
That"s also something that can"t be recognized.
Arus says, "Director!"
"Mnn—……!!" His eyes and tone remain unchanged, but the mana he wears around himself doesn"t. His entire ambiance is different. "…Right."
Arus resumes his examination with that shift. "So, what about the examination?"
"This outcome didn"t result from an error. Since your spell is something that is impossible to measure, it will be interpreted as having the highest score possible."
"I see."
"With this, the morning section of your exam is finished, but is there something you"d like to ask?"
"Not in particular."
The Director regains control of the examination. The earlier outburst appears to have never happened. She says, "Thank you for your hard work."
Once Director Cisty sees Arus out of the examination room, she releases her regret, "Haa~……" She acknowledges her careless blunder and mocks herself for it.
T/N: Please remember to thank M4L4DD1CT10N for this release~
Okay, this was totally removed from the manga. I won"t say much to avoid spoiling what happens, but I thought that character was going to be introduced at the end. I"m looking forward to how his score is going to be handled. Is the Director going to give him an actual score and a public score that reaches the minimal pa.s.sing grade?? That said, 2 more chapters to complete the volume~
That said, this chapter was super hard to translate. I couldn"t get more than half a page without getting stuck again and again >.> Urghh, every time I feel as though my j.a.panese levels up, these translations shoot me down. Sure, I can say I"ve reach level 21, but that"s out of 100. Also, 100 isn"t the limit either. That number is when I"ll be able to just get by on an everyday level… x_x
~Gandire Alea
[1] 現場の人間だっただけあるということだろう。
[2]それでも明らかに表情を変えたのは精神衛生上の措置だ。
[3] The litteral translation is "make countermeasures for the exam".
[4] I"m not certain, but I think the action"s p.o.v. switches to Arus here:
[5] I"m not sure if this actually a confirmation, or asking for a clarification: 見るか！
[6] The literal translation is, "All the magic that has been acquired."
[7]中に入ると、正面以外を感知に適した鉄板が覆っている。
[8] 理事長でなければ、この程度では済まなかっただろう。
[9] 我に返ったアリスが何があったのかテスフィアに問うまで一同は憧れの魔法師に釘付けとなっていた。
[10] Could also be interpreted as, "I was wasteful."
[11] 融解という現象が魔法の本質であり、空間に干渉したのは福次的なものとして。
[12] 「となるとあれだけの威力があるのだから、あなたの性質は何になるのかしら」
2.6 Ambushed Partner Candidate>