“This has never happened before.”
Tane Academy.
The academy’s name, formed by taking one character from the name of each founding hero, was bestowed by the Empire’s first emperor.
More than 500 years had passed since that emperor ascended the throne, and Tane’s history likewise stretched back over five centuries.
“In those 500 years, it’s been over a hundred years since evaluations using magical devices were introduced. And in all that time, nothing like this has ever occurred.”
Alkain, the head professor of the Knight Department, spoke with an expression of utter disbelief.
Was he referring to the recent abnormal measurement results?
Or was it his shock at the situation, so clearly the result of someone’s tampering?
“And yet… a perfect 500 points?”
“We’ve checked multiple times. We even verified it with other students, but they all said the same thing. She truly completed the exam flawlessly.”
They were mistaken. Of course, the mystery of a sixty-first record appearing despite a quota of sixty students was strange enough, but something even more serious had happened.
A perfect score of 500.
A result that had never existed in history.
“…What were your scores when you were second-year students?”
“I had 285 points.”
“I scored 320, first overall in the department.”
“I remember getting 290 and placing in the top ten.”
A perfect score in magic-counter swordsmanship.
At first glance, one might think that getting full marks in a single category wasn’t such a big deal. But in reality, it was.
This was a world shaped by magic. Though demons had vanished from the world, there were still plenty of mages outside the Empire who wished to resurrect them. And that wasn’t all.
Techniques for countering magic also implied the possibility of dismantling existing spells.
In other words, magic-counter techniques were an extraordinary asset in this world.
Some mage families would purchase such methods, secretly destroy them, or even send assassins to kill their creators.
That was how seriously this field was regarded.
The magic-counter evaluation conducted in the first semester of the Knight Department’s second year was, in truth, closer to a “get a feel for it” exercise.
It wasn’t an exam meant to yield real results. It was more of an opportunity for students to experience the concept.
In modern terms, it was like asking undergraduates to try their hand at unsolved academic problems that were never meant for them.
And yet…
A perfect score had suddenly appeared.
A score that hadn’t surfaced even once in nearly a hundred years.
This meant that Camilla Bliss’s talent in the field of magic countermeasures was the greatest among all knights produced over the past hundred years.
Faced with such an unbelievable result, most of the professors responded with admiration.
“I propose awarding her the ‘Sword and Shield’ emblem.”
“I agree. Such talent deserves an appropriate distinction.”
“Then I suppose… I will as well.”
Of course, not everyone felt the same way.
As expected, there were dissenting voices.
“Aren’t three too many? Opportunities should be equal!”
“Opportunities? Since when was the Sword and Shield emblem an opportunity? It’s an honor bestowed upon outstanding students.”
“Precisely. Any benefits that come with it are merely incidental. It’s not something meant to be distributed evenly.”
Supported by multiple voices in her favor, Camilla Bliss was on the verge of earning three departmental emblems.
A result that surpassed even what Adel Bliss of the Magic Department had once achieved by earning two emblems at once.
It was unbelievable for something like this to happen within a single subject.
Still, the conferral of the departmental emblems was not yet finalized.
Because Tane’s departmental insignia were considered important credentials even by the Imperial Court, there were those who believed caution was necessary.
“Wait a moment. We still don’t know who that mysterious entity that keeps ranking first actually is, do we?”
“That’s a separate issue, isn’t it?”
“Separate? What if someone truly took the exams and consistently outperformed Camilla Bliss?”
The faint possibility that someone superior to Camilla existed among the undergraduates.
“Well…”
“And what if that person is one of the students hiding their identity? Even if the margin is slim, it would be wrong to grant three emblems to Camilla Bliss while a superior student exists.”
“That’s true, but there’s no way that’s the case.”
“No…there’s always a chance. You never know.”
A clash of opinions.
Even the head professor of the Knight Department fell silent, stroking his chin in deep thought.
The cautious stance was admittedly reasonable.
Although the likelihood of it being true was vanishingly small… it was still a valid point, and thus awarding the emblems hastily would be inappropriate.
They needed more time. The decision had to be postponed.
“Then we’ll wait through tonight’s duty shift. Either we catch that ‘???’ fellow in the act, or we send the magical tools for reinspection… It’s a matter for tomorrow.”
The card they played was night watch duty.
They would decide after seeing whether the mysterious “???” updated the records again from some unseen place.
It was, indeed, a decision befitting the Knight Department.
***
A perfect score of 500 in the Magic Countermeasures.
That unprecedented record quickly became a subject of controversy among the students as well.
“Does that even make sense? She’s an external admission without any family sword style, right?”
“So she’s the real deal… a genuine genius?”
Completely at odds with the usually quiet, tense exam period, the rumors spread like wildfire.
“Was that even an exam you could get full marks on?”
“Neutralizing fifty-two different fourth-level spells fired at random?”
“Barrier severance? Spell cutting? All of it? Seriously?”
All across the campus, countless students were talking about it.
The rumors spread so fast that they reached even the fourth-year students, those who had moved on to free attendance after completing the formal curriculum.
Fourth-years.
Students in title only, most of them already attached to knight orders and serving in trainee positions.
They were practically active knights, so they were the quickest to verify the truth of the rumor…
“The first perfect scorer ever… Is it real?”
“Apparently so.”
“……If that’s true, we must recruit her into our order.”
“A once-in-a-century genius, then. Bliss family, was it?”
“Yes.”
“Given their long-standing magical lineage, it might make sense. Against mages, she’d be a living nightmare. We should request an increase to the recruitment budget.”
From there, the news gradually began spreading to organizations across the continent.
Naturally, even groups that operated in secrecy started to take notice.
From the great demon-worshiping organization known as the White Ship to other cult factions.
What began as nothing more than an attempt to prod Camilla Bliss’s pride—
Ended up producing an achievement that wouldn’t have existed otherwise, thanks to her limitless potential.
Even better.
Watching the situation unfold, I smiled from the shadows.
I’d long since abandoned any notion of controlling events according to the original storyline.
And that wasn’t all. The higher Camilla’s value rose, the more valuable a friendly relationship with her became as well.
In the end, my own contributions would swell, allowing me to draw closer to the heart of Harunsdel at a rapid pace.
To begin with, Camilla’s “Trajectory Analysis” is lethal to mages. Even in the original story, she probably scored very high…if not a perfect score.
The real problem wasn’t that.
It was that security had tightened to the point where further manipulation of the records would be difficult.
This much is enough to provoke Camilla. She’s clearly surpassed her limits.
The records I manipulated were never results earned through actual evaluations.
They were simply fabricated numbers.
Unfortunately, the opponent who fueled Camilla’s fighting spirit didn’t exist anywhere.
There was no master capable of deliberately updating records down to the 0.01-second mark.
They were all imaginary figures I had created.
Still… that fact can’t be allowed to come out. If anything, I’ll have to turn the imaginary into reality and give her a sense of true achievement.
Night fell.
I pulled up a chair and watched the professor from the Knight Department who was guarding the training grounds.
The professor stood there with his arms crossed, keeping watch of his surroundings. His forearms looked like logs.
Which made sense. He was a professor of the Knight Department, one who taught the most talented elites among the Tane Academy students.
He was probably stronger than most active-duty knights.
Perhaps he had already gone beyond the swordsman’s supreme realm, the “Color of Mana”, and even manifested “Form”.
Breaking through that to tamper with the records. Normally, I wouldn’t have even dared to try.
I tied a rope around my head.
Then, in the meantime, I slipped a sheet of paper into place.
It was made from a material coated with a magical substance, using the same method I’d used before when attaching it to Quinoron’s back.
On the paper, magical engravings were drawn in the shape of letters.
My face was concealed behind a sheet covered in magic script.
Dressed in uniform.
At a glance, it looked like I was about to perform some kind of ritual.
Step—
Just like that, I revealed myself in the training grounds.
“……!!”
The professor, who had been dozing with his arms crossed, flinched and drew his sword.
“…To think you’d actually show yourself. Who are you!”
I didn’t answer. The burly professor’s eyebrows twitched.
“What is your objective in doing this? What do you intend to accomplish by overwriting the records?”
Silence.
Without responding, I rummaged through my pocket and tossed a marble I’d prepared onto the ground.
A signal orb used at Tane to regulate students’ outings and overnight stays.
I’d gotten my hands on an item managed by the maids.
“…A signal orb? I see. So the culprit wasn’t acting alone. But this is inside Tane. Which side do you think will get reinforcements faster!”
“Step aside. It’ll only take a moment.”
“Try and make me move by force, you brat!!”
The professor smashed his orb. That one was an emergency signal orb as well.
It was only natural. There was no way a professor on Tane’s staff wouldn’t be issued one when even students received them.
“It’s useless.”
Seeing that, I let out a small chuckle and spoke quietly.
“…Hmm? What is this… a barrier? Piercing through the academy’s mana barrier…?”
What I threw wasn’t an ordinary orb.
Using one of the spells I’d discovered in the Snowfield Subjugation Log, I learned “Reinforced Engraving” and recreated the orb anew.
Magical Energy Wave Interference Barrier – “Blackout Barrier”
A faint gray veil slowly spread, enveloping the training grounds.
Pop—pop—pop—pop—
Amid the flickering of the magic lamps,
“It’ll only take a moment, Professor. I’m not here to hurt anyone. I’m just here to add a single record.”
“……”
There was no reply.
If anything, it seemed I had only heightened his wariness.
Without taking my eyes off him, I slowly activated my ability.
Crackle—
◆ [Total Magical Structure Analysis] activated.
◆ A fully analyzed magical artifact has been detected.
◆ Special-grade magical artifact – “Leviathan”.
The magical artifact Leviathan. The one carried by the captain of the Special Operations Knight Order.
I couldn’t use it the way she did, covering her entire body, since I didn’t possess a mana core…but,
Paired with Magical Structure Analysis, an ability with outrageously broken performance when it came to magical artifacts, limited use became possible.
◆ “Leviathan” is entering standby mode!
Clack—
The ring on my right middle finger instantly transformed into an iron arm that covered my entire right hand.
Then, I subtly overlaid the form of the “Demon of Justice Execution”, transforming my right arm into the shape of a blade.
◆ [Shape Transformation Specialization] activated.
◆ Partial manifestation (5%) – Demon of Execution.
Outwardly, it looked like nothing more than a sword attached to a gauntlet.
When that strangely overwhelming sight stole the professor’s attention,
I began to lie.
“I have no malicious intent. I am merely an agent affiliated with the ‘White Ship’. You’ve likely heard of us.”
“…The White Ship… I have heard of it. An anti-demon organization, was it?”
“We are in need of new blood. Camilla Bliss, who lost her younger sibling to a demon, is the very talent we’ve been waiting for. She will become one of us.”
“…If this is recruitment, then go through the proper channels!! You claim to oppose demon worshippers, yet you resort to methods like this…!”
I’m sorry, Mr. Henry. You even found me lodging under the Magic Tower’s authority, and here I am dragging down your reputation….
As for Sally… regrettably, I don’t feel all that sorry.
“We are neither evil nor good. Do not interfere with our cause, Professor.”
“What cause justifies forcing a sense of defeat onto an innocent student?!”
Calmly, I delivered my line.
“It’s necessary.”
Leave a Reply