Please, Just Read It

Please read this!

Chapter 26

Selection Test (1)

“… You met Rebecca Duncan?”

This was during a meal.

Garon Theobalt showed a somewhat surprised expression when he learned that it was Becky who recommended “Sky Whale’s Rest” to Riley.

“So you know her.”

“Of course. It would be strange if I didn’t.”

While quietly continuing his meal, he warned in a low voice.

“Be careful around her.”

“…”

“Do you remember what I told you last time? Many magicians flock to the Selection Test. Among them are some crazies who think of the test as a legitimate hunting ground.”

Right. I remember.

Garon Theobalt had given us such a warning when we were on the carriage heading to Wilhelm.

Back then, I thought it was just senseless nagging and brushed it off.

“Rebecca Duncan is one such magician.”

“…”

“She sees the Selection Test as her playground, treating other participants like mere toys.”

After that, Garon Theobalt explained just how ruthless Rebecca Duncan was.

A villain who shocked the magical community.

Last year, she was disqualified from the test due to excessive slaughter, and the year before that, she even killed an administrator supervising the test.

Someone who usually suppresses her madness but unleashes her desires fully during the Selection Test once a year, and so on…

It wasn’t for nothing that Rebecca Duncan was called a killing spree artist by the public.

Her infamy had already spread widely throughout the Empire.

Even ordinary people who didn’t understand the meaning of “magic” knew her name.

‘So why does the Five Great Towers let Becky be?’

[Huh?]

‘If she’s such a dangerous person, wouldn’t they just block her at the application stage?’

[Ah, about that… ]

Riley’s question made sense.

If Becky was indeed that dangerous, why did the Towers allow her to take the test?

They could add her name to the blacklist and prevent her from participating in the exam at all.

[Well, it’s simple.]

In fact, the motives of the Five Great Towers were straightforward.

They simply intended to use the figure of Rebecca Duncan as a tool within the test.

Oh no!

We’ve run into a famous killing spree artist in the middle of the exam!

Hehe, so how will you act now?

It worked more or less like that.

Quite cruel, but such was the style of the Five Great Towers in their testing methods.

“One thing is certain.”

“…”

“There’s nothing good about getting involved with that lunatic.”

Garon Theobalt continued speaking while still keeping his gaze fixed on the steak. As he skillfully cut the meat, the blood that flowed out soaked the plate.

“If you by any chance encounter her during the test tomorrow, just run away without looking back.”

“…”

“That killing spree artist is quite difficult even for me to deal with…”

As Garon Theobalt kept talking, he suddenly caught sight of Riley’s expression and fell silent.

Riley was staring at him with a stiff face.

“Phew…”

Seeing that, Garon Theobalt let out a quiet sigh and shook his head.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have mentioned such things the day before the test.”

“…”

“Don’t be too scared. A person of your caliber should be able to handle Rebecca Duncan just fine.”

It seemed that seeing Riley’s tense face led him to think that she was frightened.

Of course, that was a serious misunderstanding.

[… How could he think she was scared?]

Even after spending the whole day with Riley, did he still not grasp her personality?

From the beginning, Riley was not someone who would be frightened by such things.

The reason her expression was stiff was simply that she was frustrated about being deceived by Becky.

[What are you going to do? That old man told us not to fight Becky.]

‘What can we do?’

Riley viciously severed the sinews of the steak with the knife she held.

Thud! Chomp!

Every motion she made while cutting the meat was filled with resentment.

‘At the very least, I’ll make her pay for deceiving me.’

[….]

‘How could she shamelessly lie about “Sky Whale’s Rest” being the best while leaving such delicious food behind?’

Yeah, well.

I expected her to say something like that.

After all, Riley was the kind of person who would even bite down on a joke I threw her way.

Despite it being six months ago, it felt like just yesterday when she had tricked me through her imaginary friend Michael.

[There’s no helping it.]

Sorry to Garon Theobalt, but it seemed that a clash with Becky was unavoidable tomorrow.

[Riley.]

‘Yes?’

[I’m asking just in case, but you still believe that thought is valid, right?]

‘What thought?’

[That we can defeat Becky.]

Riley chuckled.

Her golden eyes had already turned toward me.

With a faint smile, she whispered with conviction.

“Of course.”

Yeah.

That answer hadn’t changed a bit since the last time.

*

5 AM the next morning.

It was still dark in the sky.

Blink blink—

Suddenly, one of the points of the pentagram engraved on Riley’s left hand began to glow softly.

[Hey, wake up.]

“… I was already awake.”

Riley, who had felt the flow of magic from the back of her hand, got up and sat on the bed.

With sleepy eyes, she quietly stared at the pattern.

“… It’s a call from the Management Office.”

[Seems like it.]

Through the magic circle on her hand, the Administration Office was summoning the applicants who passed the first test.

“I think we should head to this point that’s flickering.”

[Okay.]

Considering that the intersections of the pentagram were the locations of the Management Office, locating the test site wasn’t that difficult.

She took out a map to check the location.

Fortunately, the testing site was relatively close to where we were staying.

Knock knock—

[Huh…?]

At that moment, someone knocked on our room’s door.

I quickly recognized who it was on the other side based on the magic flowing through.

[It’s old man Theobalt.]

He must have felt the call from the Management Office and woken up as well.

Since the clothes had already been worn before going to bed, Riley simply packed a few items into her spatial backpack and opened the room’s door immediately.

“Oh, you’re awake.”

“…”

Standing at the door was Theobalt, looking dashing in a robe and holding a staff.

The magic circle engraved on his hand was also shimmering, the flickering point matching Riley’s.

Thus, it became certain that the place we were headed was the location of the test site.

“Did you rest well?”

“Thanks to you.”

“Well then, let’s head out right away.”

The testing site was about nine blocks away from our accommodation.

It couldn’t be called close, but considering the overall size of Wilhelm, it was a relatively decent distance.

‘It’s cold.’

It seemed snow had fallen during the night as the city was covered in white.

The early morning streets, which had few people.

I could see a few magicians draped in robes, some of whom also had markings on the back of their hands like us. They were all applicants for the Selection Test.

“Huff…”

As Riley exhaled, white mist flowed from her mouth.

I couldn’t help but feel relieved that Riley had worn a thick robe. Perhaps because it was cold, the nine blocks felt farther than expected.

Step step—

After walking through the snow-covered streets for a while longer, we finally arrived at our destination.

“So this is it.”

“…”

A two-story white building.

It had the same appearance as the Selection Test Management Office we had seen last time.

“Let’s go in.”

Garon Theobalt opened the firmly shut door without hesitation.

Creeeak—

With the sound of an old hinge, the door opened.

At that moment, a rush of magic surged through.

My vision darkened, and I felt like my body was floating. It was a strange buoyancy with the sensation of rapidly moving toward somewhere.

[This is…]

It was an occurrence I had already experienced thousands of times.

[… Teleportation.]

Right.

The Management Office was attempting to move the applicants to a space that wasn’t Wilhelm.

Woosh──!

“…”

“…”

[……]

After a brief moment, as the surging magic began to subside, my darkened vision slowly started to return.

Murmurs—

I could hear the voices of many people. They were also other applicants who had been teleported to the testing facility just like us.

‘Where is this…?’

As I looked around, I was greeted by a space I had never seen before.

A pure white interior finished with marble.

A large chandelier hanging from the ceiling softly illuminated the inside, and everywhere were adorned with jewels on pillars and walls.

It felt as if I were viewing the interior of a splendid imperial palace.

[…Huh?]

No.

On closer inspection, it was indeed a palace.

At the end of the red carpet lay a grand throne.

[……]

The problem was that this place was not the imperial palace I remembered.

From the outset, the overall structure was different from the Great Hall of the Litas Empire.

‘… The interior looks quite old.’

As Riley cautiously scanned the surroundings, she muttered.

Just as she said, the interior of the building was indeed quite worn out.

Cracked floors and columns, dusty chandeliers and jewels, and even a throne that had lost its owner.

Everything seemed dulled, worn down by the passage of time.

As if having been left untouched for many years.

Using the fragments of that information as clues, Riley and I quickly figured out where we were.

‘It’s ruins.’

[Yeah.]

Ruins.

The remnants left behind by ancient kingdoms of the past, a type of dungeon where various artifacts, treasures, and books lay dormant.

[So this is what the Selection Test is about… ]

Typically, such ruins are filled with traps and guardians designed to protect the artifacts, making them some of the highest difficulty locations among dungeons.

Choosing such a dangerous place for the testing site truly demonstrated the character of the Five Great Towers.

“Hmm…”

It was then.

Perhaps feeling some déjà vu, Riley suddenly frowned and began to slowly look around.

‘Garon Theobalt seems to be missing.’

[He’s right over there.]

I could spot Garon Theobalt at the far end of the hall.

It seemed that he was teleported to a different coordinate, having landed on the opposite side from us.

Just as Riley was about to move toward him—

Bump—

A magician passing by suddenly bumped against her shoulder.

“Ow…!”

The magician, having collided with Riley, clutched her shoulder and screamed.

[What’s this?]

Though it looked like an accidental mishap, it was quite an intentional collision.

And no wonder; this person had been walking straight toward us since we were teleported to the ruins.

“Hey? Huh? Oh my! Who is this!”

[Ah.]

It was a familiar high-pitched voice.

The magician removed her hood and smiled widely.

Her waist-length black hair and matching purple eyes sparkled as they were revealed.

“Nice to see you, Riley! What a coincidental meeting!”

“… Becky.”

As Becky extended her hand for a handshake, Riley, with a displeased expression, reluctantly grasped her hand and gave it a slight shake.

Becky, chuckling, asked with a mischievous tone.

“How have you been? Did you enjoy your rest at Sky Whale’s Rest?”

“No.”

“Why? Was it not as good as you thought?”

Becky asked with a teasing voice.

It seemed she truly had recommended Sky Whale’s Rest just to mess with us.

If that was the case, there was only one answer we could give.

“I never even went to Sky Whale’s Rest in the first place.”

“… What?”

“I just stayed at another accommodation. It was called ‘Stingwood Grand Hotel’ or something? Anyway, I had a delightful three days there.”

“…”

Of course, that was a lie. We had spent two nights at Sky Whale’s Rest because we were deceived by Becky.

“Ah…”

But there was no way for Becky to find that out.

She frowned. Was Riley upset knowing that she hadn’t gone to Sky Whale’s Inn? Either way, what a devious person.

“You really…”

Becky seemed about to say something to Riley with a frustrated expression.

Murmurs—

At that moment, the hall suddenly got noisy.

Wondering what was happening, I turned my head toward where everyone was looking and saw a magician stepping up onto the platform.

She looked to be no older than 30.

With long gray hair down to her ankles and a naturally gentle smile, she exuded aura from her high-tier magical power, walking leisurely step by step.

[That’s that magician we saw last time.]

She was the administrator we had seen at the Management Office for the Selection Test.

Step by step—

She wasn’t the only one to appear in the hall.

High-ranking magicians who had been hiding at the corners began to step forward one by one.

They all wore white robes and sported a unified badge on their chests. It seemed they had come here as administrators.

Just when the hall was about to burst into excitement due to the sudden appearance of the administrators.

“Hmm.”

The magician on the platform whispered as she cleared her throat with a smile.

At that, the applicants quieted down in an instant.

“…”

The atmosphere felt as though the announcements about the test would begin immediately.

Recognizing the situation, Becky turned to Riley with a discontent expression and whispered menacingly.

“Just wait. When the test starts, I’ll be the first to come after you.”

“Sure.”

“I’ll make you regret that cheeky provocation from last time. Hah, how could someone like you beat me? Seriously.”

“Sure, I’ll be looking forward to it.”

“Ah, for real…”

Seeing Riley’s infuriating reaction, Becky gritted her teeth and turned her head away.

“… You’ll see.”

With that, she walked off somewhere.

[See?]

If you want to see, you can just look now, but why do these types always promise to get back at you later?

*

“The second test is a team battle. A total of 42 applicants will form teams of three and compete with other teams.”

The administrator began to explain.

To summarise her words roughly…

The second test is a team battle where the applicants must cooperate with their predetermined team members and navigate through the ‘test’s gate.’

[……]

That ‘test gate’ likely means tackling the ruins.

It sounded quite challenging.

It was a high-difficulty exam that could assess both cooperation and individual skills.

“Now then, we’ll take 30 minutes for you to greet your team members.”

Murmurs—

As soon as the administrator finished speaking, the surrounding area became noisy once more.

The applicants began to greet their team members assigned by the Management Office.

Of course, as in all matters, there were exceptions.

Not every team was bustling with excitement.

“…”

“…”

Silence persisted.

“Haah…”

Unable to bear it any longer, Riley let out a deep sigh and turned her head to the side.

“You heard that too, right, Becky?”

“…”

“It seems we’ll have to save our fight for another opportunity.”

Upon hearing Riley, Becky shut her mouth tightly, her face crinkled as if she were chewing on something unpleasant.

Seeing her like that, I couldn’t help but let out a complicated sigh.

How did things turn out this way?

[… I can’t take it anymore.]

Yes.

It turned out that Becky and Riley were on the same team.

The test hadn’t even started yet, and I was already feeling dizzy.

[This must be a dream, right?]

‘Not a chance.’

[……]

No.

It shouldn’t be this way.

Please.