I Broke Off My Engagement and Got a Job at the Academy

42 – 42. Knowing and Jumping In

Zigael recited spells until his breath ran out. Even if it was just a basic 1st-circle magic, without it, the entire front line would crumble.

The monsters continued to push forward relentlessly, as if the fear of death had been erased. Watching this, the students couldn’t help but shudder.

“Keep holding on!”

Zigael urged the students on. The moment even one of them lost their will, it meant the death of all the others.

As they held on, it gradually became clear that the number of monsters was decreasing.

“All right, keep it up! We’re almost there! If we keep holding on like this, we can survive!”

At her words, the students continued to maintain their formation and launched attacks against the monsters.

In that moment, a warrior who had been fighting at the front line was pierced by an arrow through his throat.

“What…!”

Zigael exclaimed in shock.

In front of them, a group of other students could be seen.

“What are you doing now?”

Zigael shouted, and they chuckled.

…Something was strange.

They were clearly standing before Jiselle and the students she led. In other words, they were in the midst of a battlefield of monsters. However… they were not under attack.

“…They used some trickery!”

Jiselle shot flames towards them. However, the woman standing in the center of the group of students split the flames in half and calmly spoke.

“That won’t do. You shouldn’t cast magic at humans.”

“Damn it…!”

The group charged towards Jiselle’s group along with the monsters.

“Why are humans forming an alliance with monsters…!”

Instinctively, Jiselle concluded that the people in front of her were the ones responsible for creating this situation.

She gritted her teeth and continued to cast spells.

Despite the alliance of humans being attacked by the monsters, the students, arranged solidly around her, maintained a strong formation.

As the situation stabilized, the woman in the center, giving orders to others, spoke.

“…Ah, it’s taking longer than I thought. I thought it would be over quickly.”

Hearing this, Jiselle grimaced and said, “You dare talk like that after killing people!”

The woman chuckled and said, “Such things don’t really matter, do they? Well, anyway, it’s getting boring, so shall we start negotiating?”

“There’s no negotiation with the likes of you!”

When Jiselle shouted fiercely, the woman shrugged and said, “Well, even if the lady doesn’t want to negotiate, others might, right?”

Smiling, she continued, “As you may have anticipated, we’re the ones behind this incident. We neutralized the bracelets and unleashed the monsters, controlling them. Playing with you is getting a bit tiresome, so we’re thinking of summoning the monsters to kill you all.”

Hearing this, the students instantly forgot to breathe. They were already at their limits. Facing more monsters, it was obvious they wouldn’t be able to endure.

“However, for your sake, we’ll give you a special chance. If the young lady from the noble family over there is handed over to us, we’ll spare the rest of you.”

Upon hearing this, all eyes turned towards Jiselle.

“The noble lady wouldn’t… by any chance, refuse to help the poor ones, right?”

Jizel heard those words and swallowed.

“Stop. Don’t look at me. It’s obvious that words like that are a trap. Why are even the knights in the front lines turning around to look at me? Do they think I’ll be caught off guard?”

… Anyway, that’s why things like stupidity and incompetence are meaningless.

Jizel opened his mouth.

“Nonsense.”

“Hmm? Is our noble lady really willing to sacrifice her own life for all these people?”

Eyes pleading for sacrifice for their sake locked onto Jizel. However, in such a situation, Jizel just smirked.

“Smiling?”

The woman standing in the midst of the crowd furrowed her brows and spoke. Jizel replied to her.

“It’s too bland to be called humor, and too clumsy to be considered a threat. If you could really control monsters, wouldn’t you have called them here and said your piece?”

The woman spoke after hearing those words.

“We just didn’t use our abilities. We can summon monsters right now. However… if we do, all of you will be torn apart.”

“Amusing. You guys kept monsters inefficiently behaving during the battle. There was no coordinated attack with monsters or anything. Instead, you stumbled over each other’s movements.”

Jizel’s smile became chillingly intense.

“If you really had the ability to control monsters, it wouldn’t be like that.”

After hearing that, one by one, the examinees began to turn their eyes away from the crowd in front of them. Jizel continued speaking.

“If you really have the power to control monsters, and my assumptions are all wrong—go ahead. Call the monsters now.”

“…”

Jizel looked at the woman who had become silent with a honeyed tongue.

“You probably have some means to avoid monsters’ perception. As evidence, you continuously flinched to avoid contact with monsters, despite being quite skilled in your movements.”

Silence persisted. Jizel tightened his grip on the staff and continued speaking.

“Well, if we keep this up, it seems advantageous for us… but even if we continue like this, I don’t mind.”

After hearing that, the woman started laughing hysterically.

“Ha, hahaha, hahaha! Yes, you’re right. Surprising. The young lady of the Iercalli Duchy is… much smarter than I thought.”

The woman who spoke like that opened her eyes with a glint.

“The young lady of the Delphius family, although it may not seem so.”

What did you say?

Jizel’s face twisted in disbelief.

The probability of it being a lie was high. Even for seasoned individuals, experts are not easily deceived. But… for once in a long while, if Vanessa Delphius fell victim?

No, let’s not dwell on that. Perhaps even this is a means for them to steer the situation in their favor.

Jizel looked at the woman with a cold gaze. The woman spoke.

“We couldn’t handle it as smoothly as we thought on this side, but… well, in other places, the number of examinees is still decreasing, so it doesn’t really matter.”

“…!”

Jizel bit his lip.

“Even if you endure like this, the incidents in the exam zone haven’t been widely known. The Academy finding out about the situation will take quite some time. You all might be able to endure, but… well, it seems quite interesting.”

A murmur spread gradually. The woman turned away and said,

“I should go now. Staying here seems like a waste of time.”

“Who said you can just leave…!”

Jizel cast a spell, but the monsters, enraged, absorbed his magic with their bodies.

As the crowd of humans began to leave, Jizel shouted,

“We need to chase them!”

Looking at Jizel like that, other examinees said,

“Um, it might be dangerous, but wouldn’t it be better to stay here and wait for the professors’ support?”

Hearing those words, Jizel narrowed his eyes.

Stay quiet? For the sake of their safety? What if support doesn’t come, and the damage keeps increasing? Can they take responsibility for that?

Of course, that statement could also be a lie. However, if that woman’s words are true, the only way to save numerous lives is to follow them.

Jizel looked around at the faces. Everyone, without exception, was silently pleading through their eyes to stay here in fear.

…I don’t like it.

Jizel gripped his staff tightly.

If you think rationally, it would be better for her too to continue waiting here and hope for support from the Academy.

…However, even as she entertained such thoughts—on one hand, the value of lives that could be lost by her staying still continued to surface.

Could she truly remain still and not regret it?

The likelihood of it being a trap was high. She could sustain significant injuries or, perhaps, even face death. No, the probability of death was even higher.

But to give up just because of that—such a decision was completely out of character for her.

“Fine.”

She sharply turned her head away from the others. The actions of those who closed their ears and eyes to protect only themselves, what were they compared to the duties of a leader?

Yeah, anyway, she never had high expectations of others. Those who only thought of their own safety were nothing more than trash. So, with her own abilities, she had to handle things alone.

“I’ll go alone, so the rest of you better take care of yourselves.”

Giselle began to move, clutching her staff tightly.