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“Hiiik.. a monster..”

“That’s quite rude, you know. I am, after all, a proper lady.”

In an instant, multiple assailants collapsed in a heap.

Some of them seemed to have wet themselves.

It must have been from the illusion that Shia had shown them.

Shia, who could manifest a god within her body, could project that divine form for others to see.

Those with mental attributes or those whose skills were overwhelmingly superior were immune, but for lowly goons, she could easily knock them out.

As her skills grew, she borrowed more and more of the god’s power.

That’s Shia’s unique ability, Divine Descent.

“Are you okay?”

Having easily dispatched the thugs, Shia approached the trembling woman and kindly extended her hand.

“Y-Yes! Thank you so much, Sister…”

“…I’m not a sister… but let’s get out of here first. We need to take this lady somewhere safe.”

“Uh, that sounds good, but aren’t we forgetting something?”

“Huh? What do you mean— Ah! The exam time…! But what about this lady…”

“I’ll take her to a safe place. You, Priestess, go ahead to the examination venue first.”

“N-No, I can’t…”

“Hurry up! At this rate you both will be late.”

“Um… okay. Please don’t be late, and thank you so much.”

Shia nodded gratefully, offering a quick bow before turning back.

“Yeah~ yeah, take care!”

“Wait a second!”

“Stop right there!”

As the woman reached out toward Shia as she was leaving, I drew my sword and pointed it at her neck.

“You’re an organization member of Akandis, aren’t you?”

As I aimed the blade, the woman froze, momentarily startled.

“W-What are you talking about? I don’t know anything about that…”

“Playing dumb won’t work. I’ve smelled that rotten stench too often.

If a civilian were to catch a whiff of your drug, they’d lose their sanity. You’re too coherent.”

As I finished my sentence, the tone of the woman’s voice shifted from feeble to aggressive.

“…Tch, so you’re with the organization?”

“What were you trying to do to that girl? Speak!”

With that, I pressed the blade harder against her neck.

“…Black hair and red eyes! So you’re the one that person mentioned!”

The woman unleashed a black aura, slashing at me with her palm.

“Are your eyes just for show?”

I didn’t hesitate and swiftly slashed her neck.

Even after losing her head, her wrist shot toward me.

—

Copyable Target

1. Wind Cutter (Source: Stella)

…

8. Magic Shield (Source: Leonard) > Use

Clank!

The sacrificial attack was, unfortunately, blocked by the shield.

“Even with a severed head, you still move? Now you’re not even human.”

Slaughter!

The woman’s body was quickly shredded into pieces.

“Ha. This is just ridiculous.”

She lunged at me, disregarding her own life.

That’s the nature of the crazy group, bound together by loyalty and madness for their leader, fueled by the drug saturated with their magical power.

It’s an understatement to say this organization has infiltrated the entire continent after over seven years of existence.

Their boss, Ned, recently slaughtered one of the top ten factions on the continent.

That incident greatly impacted their notoriety.

Now, they’re the largest crime organization in the world.

For seven years, I’ve been caught in a relentless chase with that wretched organization.

“Should I wake the remaining ones and burn the hideout down? No, I really have no time left…”

Having cut the Achilles’ heels of the unconscious thugs, I hurriedly dashed out of the alley and onto the rooftops.

“Center… if I head to the center… Ah! Found it!”

After running for quite some time, I finally reached the central plaza.

“Phew… Looks like I’m not too late.”

“Oh! It’s you!”

I turned to the source of the voice and saw Shia approaching me cheerfully.

“You arrived safely and on time, Sir Knight. Thank you for earlier.”

“Ah, yes, you made it on time too.”

“Speaking of which, we didn’t even introduce ourselves. I’m Shia. May I ask your name?”

“I’m Nova.”

“Thank you once again. I got lost and almost ended up late.”

“Not a big deal. By the way, since you’re a new student, we should be the same age, so feel free to speak casually with me.”

“Oh no, it’s just a habit. If it makes you uncomfortable, you can just treat me casually, Nova.”

“Really? Then I appreciate it, and it’s nice to meet you, Shia.”

“Fufu, nice to meet you too, Nova.”

“Candidates for this year’s Academy entrance exam, please proceed to enter now.”

Just as we finished introducing ourselves, someone who looked like an Academy official used amplification magic to call out.

“Ah, it seems the exam is about to start. Let’s go in together, Nova!”

“Uh…”

As Shia grabbed my wrist, preparing to enter the exam venue, a sudden alarm rang in my head.

‘What’s this? And this freezing cold sensation?’

I scanned my surroundings through my intuition, but nothing seemed amiss.

“…Am I imagining things?”

Ultimately, having found nothing, I followed Shia into the exam venue.

*

Upon entering the examination hall, I found many people gathered to take the entrance exam.

‘Stella… there’s no way she’d be here.’

After all, Stella is not a student; she’s coming into the Academy as a teaching assistant.

But I still wondered if I might run into her…

No need to rush; I just need to pass, and I’ll eventually meet her.

“There are quite a few candidates this year.”

“Well, the Demon King is about to be resurrected, so they probably gathered the cream of the crop from across the nation.”

The Demon King, who appears every century, but that official cycle has been breaking recently.

Initially emerging every hundred years, the intervals have been shortening to eighty, forty, twenty, and now even down to ten years.

And it’s set in the game that the characters become third-years at the time of the Demon King’s resurrection.

“Is what the Magic Tower announced really true? That the Demon King is about to show up?”

“The Golden Magic Tower and the Silver Magic Tower jointly investigated and made that announcement, so it must be accurate.”

“I see… the Demon King really…”

“But I’m curious about something.”

“What is it?”

“If the Demon King launches an invasion from the Demon World, the East won’t be safe either. Why enroll in the Academy at a time like this?”

“Ah! It’s fine. We have powerful individuals in the East, much like the top ten.”

Definitely, if you ride the Shia route, you would be invited to the East where you can train with various martial arts masters and receive powerful weapons.

Once I have the time, I’ll have to go there and absorb all that power.

“The reason I’ve come to this distant Academy is that I’m following my family’s command to gain knowledge.”

“Family?”

“Our country is currently in a complete isolation state. We’ve entirely cut off exchanges with other nations and are locked in a world of our own. At this rate, we will have no future in Miyako.”

“So how did you manage to get out during this isolation?”

“Our family is among the core families in Miyako…”

Certainly, when choosing a route other than Shia’s, the country of Miyako, without outside aid, fell to the invasion of the Demon World the quickest even in the original story.

“So your goal is to lift the isolation decree through exchanges with the Empire.”

“Exactly, you understand quickly. That’s why I’m at the Academy.”

If that’s the case, choosing the Empire’s foremost Academy is indeed a good decision.

This year, nobles like the princess and other esteemed guests will gather together, making it easier to establish connections.

“Then I’ll wish you good luck in achieving your goal.”

“Thank you. I feel like we could become good friends.”

Friends… Friends? Honestly, while I have little interest in heroines besides Stella, having some good relations can’t hurt.

Considering the power and abilities I could gain through the heroines, even if I’m not interested, establishing some connections is essential.

I’ll use whatever I can.

That’s my gameplay style.

—

“Candidates numbered 301 to 310 may now enter.”

“Oh! I think my number is up. I’ll go in first.”

“Ah, okay. See you at the Academy later.”

After sending Shia off, I recalled the exam details.

‘The first test is an attack exam on a scarecrow reinforced with magic, and the second test is a direct duel with the Academy examiners.’

The strategy is perfect.

I’m well prepared to execute it.

“Let’s give it a shot!”

As I stood there, filled with an inexplicable tension and excitement for reaching this point, I suddenly felt a chill run down my neck again.

‘What is it this time?’

The chill in my neck persisted.

I felt someone continuously staring at me, but despite glancing around multiple times, I couldn’t find anyone who seemed to be watching me.

“Am I imagining it…?”

I muttered to myself, scratching my head.

—

“Candidates numbered 321 to 330, please come out.”

“Finally, it’s my turn.”

I confidently stepped forward, following the person ahead of me.

As I entered the examiner’s area, three examiners sat keeping their distance.

The central examiner, who appeared to be quite imposing, spoke up first.

“Welcome. Everyone, please find your seats and stand by.”

On each spot, there was a scarecrow enhanced with magic.

“The first exam is a power measurement. You can use any means to break the scarecrow. Now, I’d like the candidate numbered 321 to come forward.”

Being the first one summoned, I stepped forward confidently.

“Alright! Let’s see what I can do,”

I thought as I prepared to execute my first strategy for the exam.

—

Power B-: (-> S) [Copy Target: Ned]

[Quest Reward: You can copy the corresponding ability for 10 seconds.]

“Then let’s begin!”

BOOM!

I directly smashed down with sheer strength!

 

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