'Ah, this isn't right....'
Unexpectedly standing on stage first on the final day of the semester evaluation, he trembled.
But the dice had already been cast, and this was an examination he could not turn back from.
'Let's do this, I can do it.'
As if casting self-hypnosis, he gritted his teeth.
While doing so, he stroked the two silver coins kept in his breast pocket.
Grace bestowed upon him by someone he respected, and two silver coins that had recently become like talismans to him.
Number 11, Bear Cub.
No—Barry Copps, first-year student of the Swordsmanship Department, shook off his terror along with the presence of the silver coins and swung his spear.
Swoosh!
Thrust!!
[GRR?]
"Hup!"
However, it didn't prove very effective against the rock monster, and Barry Copps hastily evaded.
He had already learned exhaustively at Valkan how to fight opponents larger than himself.
Evasion maneuvers were crucial for hunting.
'How many wild boars have I caught! I can do this!'
...Ah, come to think of it, not that many.
Almost all of them were caught jointly or by the instructor.
Just as Barry was reflecting that he shouldn't be too overconfident—
[GRRR!!]
At some point the rock monster took offense at him and charged.
"Heueup!!"
Barry Copps concentrated 'Gyeong' in his legs and kicked off the ground.
Not to attack the opponent, but solely to evade the monster's strike.
One might ask why he dodged when he could just attack.
Flaaash!
"Kugh!?"
This is exactly why he ended up dodging.
The area where the rock monster—no, the rock troll—had passed was completely torn up.
The heaviness from its massive body and its reckless charge, not caring whether its own body broke or not.
If he had tried to face it head-on without dodging, he would have become twisted jerky on the spot.
"Huu...."
But Barry did not despair.
In the past, his legs would have trembled so much he couldn't even face such a monster.
Even if it wasn't a real troll, a rock troll was a monster that ordinary humans couldn't even resist.
But what about now?
'Still, I can dodge, I can fight back!'
Joyously, there he was, fighting, wasn't he?
Thus Barry was not disappointed, and steadying his stance, he prepared to evade once more.
...However, even if he didn't despair.
'...It really is an absurd monster, this thing called a troll.'
Crunch crack!
[GRRR!!]
Seeing the creature regenerate, it was inevitable he would lose color in his face.
The rock troll had crashed into the wall due to its powerful charge, but its shattered body was gradually reassembling.
Being an artificial magical creature created by sprinkling troll blood, it possessed some degree of regeneration.
It was dizzying.
'Is this an exam they expect us to pass? Does the Academy have any conscience?!'
Barry was dumbfounded by the absurd difficulty of the exam.
"Barry! Do better!"
"Give it your all, your all!"
"Show some grit, Barry."
"We have to send that thing back to Valkan."
"...Hey, you might as well curse his parents instead."
"Ah, that was a bit much."
Midway through, the cheers of 17 people could be heard.
Still, comrades were comrades—even if mixed with curses, they did cheer for him.
"Senior, you can do it!"
...And so did the goddess of victory who symbolized the Bear Cubs.
'I'll win, absolutely—!'
Barry Copps charged at the rock troll once more, if only to repay his comrades' cheers.
Fiercely—!
—And watching the fierceness Barry Copps displayed, the three people evaluated honestly.
"He lost."
"He lost, didn't he."
"He can't win that."
The Swordsmanship Department's trio.
At some point called thus, the three watched Barry Copps charge in and divined the outcome of the battle as if certain of where victory would fall.
"S-Senior lost?" Levi Folt asked, and Arno shook his head saying it was obvious.
"It would be different if he had waited for an opportunity to throw 'Spear Gyeong' at the right timing to decide the match, but fighting like this will only drain his stamina. It's regrettable that Barry lacks composure right now and fights emotionally, unable to move strategically. If he had a wider field of view, he could have at least put up a good fight."
Originally, the Bear Cubs' current skill couldn't defeat a rock troll.
Even if they had highly destructive means like Spear Gyeong, it was a poor match against an opponent with such superior regeneration.
What was needed was not a single-burst method, but a continuous one.
Since the Bear Cubs only had single-burst techniques, defeat was naturally a foregone conclusion.
Sure enough.
Kaboom!
"Gwaaagh!?!"
Barry Copps deployed Spear Gyeong with all his might and pierced the rock troll's shoulder, but unfortunately, the rock troll charged without caring whether its shoulder was ruined or not.
Barry tried to swing his sword again, but his stamina was already depleted, and the rock troll didn't miss the opportunity.
[GRR!!]
With a thud, it rammed into Barry Copps.
It was over.
Everyone looked at Barry Copps with pale faces and shook their heads.
A defeat that was overwhelmingly one-sided from start to finish.
It couldn't be anything but regrettable.
"Stupid guy, he should've swung his sword more instead of studying debate or whatever."
"Still, his debate scores are decent enough, so he probably won't be expelled."
"Ah, that's true."
His comrades delivered merciless evaluations of his defeat, but their mouths tasted bitter too.
Knowing Barry's effort, and knowing they could also lose in similar fashion, their mouths turned sour.
They were already worrying about what would happen if they were defeated so miserably.
...However, unlike them who delivered such harsh evaluations, the spectators—
"Wow, how can he charge at a monster like that?"
"How brave! As expected of the Swordsmanship Department! Worthy of knight aspirants."
"I heard that person is a commoner?"
"...A commoner wounded a rock troll? What? Is that troll corroded or something...?"
Admiration.
It was admiration.
In his comrades' eyes, it was nothing but a disastrous defeat, but in the general spectators' eyes, he appeared as an incredibly fierce warrior.
It would be strange not to feel admiration for such ferocity—charging at a monster, no different from rushing at a giant with nothing but a club.
Moreover, for a devastating defeat, Barry Copps's match content was good.
Evading the rock troll's violent attacks like a matador, striking appropriately, and even inflicting wounds, showing a close match (at least in ordinary people's eyes)—the spectators gave generous applause to Barry Copps's skill and passion.
Pendragon was a kingdom of knights that revered combat and bravery.
It meant they weren't so narrow as to give stingy evaluations of the fighting spirit he displayed.
"They value the content over the result of the duel? The kingdom has so many incomprehensible cultures."
"A culture created by the previous king, sire. That warriors who fought splendid battles deserve generous honor."
"...What a romantic fellow."
Thus was the colosseum where flower petals drifted, and as everyone clapped, Levi Folt—
"Um, is no one worried about the senior?"
[……Ah.]
The sole normal girl raised the obvious question of why no one was worrying about Barry's life or death after being sent flying by the rock troll, and only then did his comrades rush to tend to him.
...A futile comradeship.
* * *
Thankfully, Barry Copps did not die.
"It hurts like hell..."
"Stop being a baby."
"Does a broken limb look like being a baby to you?"
He simply didn't die, but it was true he suffered tremendous injuries.
Yet strangely, he only felt pain; nothing seemed seriously wrong.
It was an injury that should have given him a concussion, but fortunately in this colosseum—
"Long live Holy Law, seriously."
"You won't die from this."
Holy Law.
A mystery that only priests following the one god
And that mysterious power spread throughout this entire colosseum, thanks to which even those who sustained major injuries did not die.
Barry Copps's injuries too, having occurred within the domain of Holy Law, would heal before long.
A truly safe combat space where one could neither die nor be seriously injured.
A miracle that revealed the existence of God.
And greatly impressed by this was a warrior of a certain mysterious race.
"Kunta wants Holy Law! With this, Kunta's tribe will have no injured people!"
A warrior of the barbarian tribe, who always suffered damage from magical creatures, sparkled his eyes upon experiencing the mystery of Holy Law.
Like a child who found a toy he desperately wanted.
But Arno had no choice but to shatter that pure expectation.
"I wouldn't really recommend it."
"Why not?"
"It doesn't work on actual magical creatures, this."
"...Huh?"
"In the case of controllable artificial magical creatures like that, it's fine, but when real magical creatures run rampant, Holy Law is easily torn apart. Right now it's somewhat acceptable because real-time management is happening in this safe situation, but otherwise... well."
"Also, it requires quite a lot of sacrifices for something so useless, right? If your tribe installed this, you'd probably have to eat nothing but dirt for the rest of your lives?"
"......Kunta doesn't want Holy Law anymore."
Kunta was disappointed.
He thought he'd found a good method, but it was nothing of the sort.
Just as he was about to slump in disappointment—
"Don't be disappointed, lift your head. Our department's greatest prospect seems like he's about to swing his sword properly."
"......Uoh!"
The barbarian raised his head as if he had never been disappointed, his eyes gleaming.
Even if Holy Law was disappointing—
"—Loen Dremit de Lionel. I swear to the dragon, the lion, and the fairy that I shall conduct a duel without shame."
That one would not disappoint him.
Shring!
The young lion drew his sword.
* * *
An endless procession of carriages.
And not just ordinary carriages, but luxurious ones lined up in rows.
Carriages of vain nobles and the merchant alliance flaunting their wealth.
Even carriages bearing the mark of the Guild Combine, not luxurious but impossible to ignore.
There had been people who flocked to curry favor with the princess during the war game, but unlike then, it wasn't a hasty gathering of rabble.
It was a gathering of those with heavy bottoms—important figures.
After the semester evaluation ended, academy cadets would have a week of rest, and because of this, many came personally to pick up their children.
No matter how high-ranking a noble or the head of a great merchant guild, a parent was still a parent, one might think.
However, their movement wasn't driven purely by parental love.
"Lord Jeremy, how long has it been!"
"Master Aisol? Ho, does your child attend here as well?"
"Haha, they enrolled this year."
"You should have told me beforehand."
"How could I bother a busy man like yourself with such a trivial matter?"
"Is it not you who is busy?"
"Of course not!"
"Aha ha!"
A pretext.
Since it served as a good pretext for heavyweights in hard-to-meet or awkward relationships to meet under the guise of 'coincidence,' it was worth coming all the way to the academy.
Thus, for various power struggles, carriages gradually gathered at the academy's main gate, and a massive crowd surged toward the colosseum that would mark the grand finale of the semester evaluation.
Each with their own goals, schemes, and hidden intentions.
And on one side, watching such people—
"—Nothing but filthy pigs gathered in droves."
Someone delivered an evaluation full of contempt.
In the flow of the crowd.
A man in priest robes frowned and spat out merciless contempt.
Perhaps frowning was a habit, for his brow lines were deep.
And where the man's contemptuous gaze landed, those who could be called men of power were gathered, looking as if they would cause trouble at any moment—
"If you put it that way, aren't we pigs too?"
"...I won't deny it, but don't remind me on purpose."
"Hehe, sorry, captain."
"You rascal."
At his comrade's rebuttal beside him, the man calmed down.
Right, now was a time to endure...?
The man muttered softly to himself, and his comrade playfully raised the corner of his mouth—
"Even without the captain stepping in, those scheduled for slaughter will all be slaughtered. We prepared thoroughly."
"Are you certain?"
"I'm not sure if Aura users or skilled fighters move, but that won't happen, right? I checked today's roster and there don't seem to be any experts."
"That's true."
"Then let's just watch. It's a fun festival after all, isn't it? Haha!"
"It's not a festival, it's the semester evaluation period. Speak properly. The cadets are working hard, risking their lives."
"Goodness, I've heard it all now."
He shrugged.
What the man was saying right now was very strange.
For good reason.
"You're the one trying to kill all those hardworking cadets."
Despite having no intention of sparing anyone gathered here today, speaking so normally was bound to feel bizarre.
But the man was unapologetic.
"Kill? Don't say such things."
Click.
"It's not death but a glorious blessing. Where else is such honor? They will surely be satisfied too."
Holding a cross, the man quietly made the sign of the holy cross.
"I couldn't be more envious."
Saying he was infinitely envious of the lambs about to become sacrifices.
The man revealed his envy in earnest.