#023 Three-Colored Ring (1)
Istel on the podium finally started to speak.
[Hmm, where did I leave off? Ah, it’s time to explain the rules.]
With a gesture of her hand, soldiers appeared carrying a large box.
[The name of the exam you’re about to take is “Three-Colored Ring”! I won’t explain it multiple times, so please pay attention.]
She pulled out three rings—red, blue, and white—from the box.
[The passing condition is simple! From now on, one of these three rings will be randomly assigned to each of you. You pass when you either steal someone else’s ring or collect all three types of rings by defeating the summoned monsters present in the test area.]
However, she added with a sly smile,
[There is a hierarchy among the rings. Red is strong against blue, blue is strong against white, and white is strong against red. What that specifically means, well, you’ll find out when you experience it firsthand.]
After subtly brushing off the important details, she continued.
[The starting point will be guided by the examiners here, so just follow them. Oh, if you plan to withdraw, there’s no need to formally declare it. Just throw away your ring and conveniently lie down. We’ll pick it up. Good luck to everyone on passing!]
As she waved goodbye from the podium, my party members started speaking in sequence.
“She’s a lunatic.”
“Definitely not an ordinary person.”
“Wait, did she just say to lie down if we’re going to withdraw? What the heck?”
I shrugged my shoulders.
“If we pretend to be dead, should be fine. Want me to give you a sleeping potion?”
Roto’s face went pale, and just then, a nearby examiner shouted.
“We will now distribute the rings! The rings must be worn on one of your wrists, and touching another participant’s ring before the signal is a violation of the rules, so please be careful!”
Ligret got the red ring.
Fiore received the white one.
Roto and I got the blue ones.
The examiners classified the participants by the color of their rings before moving them, leaving Roto and me separated from the other two.
“You’ll need to wait here until the starting signal resonates,” one examiner said.
In the vast park-like examination area, Roto, who was wearing the same blue ring as me, asked,
“The reason for splitting us into groups of ten is clearly to prevent chaos if we all gather in one place. But why are we only grouped by color?”
Before I could answer, another participant chimed in.
“That’s obviously so we can form teams. After all, to pass, you need rings of different colors from your own, right? We don’t need to fight among ourselves since we have the same color.”
Another participant added,
“Oh, I see. So that’s the meaning behind it. Please take care of me, everyone. Let’s team up to pass together!”
Amidst the chatter of encouragement and “just believe in yourself” from the contestants with blue rings, I found myself pondering.
‘But really, do we not need to fight amongst those of the same color?’
While everyone laughed and chatted, I noticed a few exchanging secretive glances, and I became certain.
I whispered to Roto.
“-When the starting signal goes off, lie down and hold your breath.”
“Eh?”
I didn’t elaborate on my reasoning behind the advice, leaving Roto confused.
If he didn’t heed my advice, that was on him. I wasn’t obligated to look out for him that much.
[- The exam is commencing!]
As the signal rang, I held my breath and hurled the pouch I had taken out in advance from “Tot’s Large Backpack” into the air.
As the rope binding the entrance was released, the powder inside burst into the air, and screams erupted among the other participants.
“Cough…!”
“Gasp, you, you bastard!”
“Alright!”
“Fools, did you really believe that?”
Among the ten blue ring holders here, three—including the one who initially claimed we wouldn’t have to fight those of the same color—attacked other participants nearby with their weapons.
Perhaps due to the element of surprise, the three fell embarrassingly easily, leaving only four of us, including myself.
But just after that, something strange happened with their movements.
Coughing, they suddenly grasped their necks and began convulsing uncontrollably.
Without hesitation, I shot a paralysis poison arrow at their legs.
The airborne powder-type medicine had a rapid effect, but it also faded quickly.
Rather than giving them a chance to recover, it was wiser to finish them off swiftly.
‘As I felt during the preliminary exam, poison is indeed more effective when amateurs fight against each other.’
By the time we faced serious magic users later on, even a decent level of poison would barely be itchy, but at least in the early stages, it was a highly useful means.
In fact, poison this effective isn’t something you can easily acquire, but conversely, if you look for it, you can usually find it.
I still had plenty left from the stash I’d spent two years accumulating.
‘And I have plans to use it later as well.’
With my focus on passing first, I turned to Roto, who was holding his face and struggling to breathe.
“You can get up now. The powder I scattered must have blown away in the wind.”
“Gasp! Ha! Hah! Cough!”
I readied myself to aim my weapon at any moment and asked the remaining two.
“So, what about you two? Do you want to continue?”
The girl with the dark green hair removed her sleeve that was covering her mouth and replied.
“I’ll pass. It’s not worth attracting the attention of House Midas. I don’t want to end up eliminated like those poor people over there due to a wrong choice. Oh, but just to replace it, could I take one of the blue rings from the six that have fallen?”
I shrugged.
“What do I gain by giving you that?”
The girl answered, “How about the reputation that even a notorious brat from a wealthy family has the mercy to let a delicate girl pass?”
“Not a bad deal.”
I then looked at the other person.
He was a young man wrapped in clothes reminiscent of an academic robe.
He was quite tall, and his muscular arms were visible from the ample sleeves.
With gray curly hair and tan skin, he was frowning as he focused intently on the book he was holding.
“So, what about you?”
“……”
“Excuse me? Can you hear me?”
“……”
Nope. The guy was utterly absorbed in his book, seemingly oblivious to the battle that had just unfolded around him.
As I hesitated on whether to attack or not, the green-haired girl had already approached and tugged at his arm.
“Hey, can you hear me? What are you so focused on that you can’t even respond?”
The gray-haired young man looked at the girl who was tugging at his arm with a serious expression.
In a moment filled with tension for all of us, as if he were pondering a profound dilemma, he finally uttered,
“…Yes.”
“What?”
“I can’t make sense of this sentence no matter how hard I try.”
“…Hang on, let me see that. ‘This statement is false’? What does that even mean? Trying to answer something that has no answer is just nonsense.”
“So, does that mean it’s normal not to know? That I’m not just ignorant?”
“How many things in this world have definite answers? Just let it be and move on.”
“Oh, right! You can’t answer something that has no answer. Little sage! You’ve bestowed a great teaching upon me!”
“Eek! What’s wrong with this person!?”
I looked at the green-haired girl, who suddenly grabbed the young man’s hand and kept bowing his head, and then spoke to Roto.
“Let’s just leave him be and take the ring.”
“Sure.”
It was something I expected, but indeed, there were plenty of lunatics among those involved with the academy.
Swoosh!
Ligret didn’t bother to accept the heavy sword strike falling right in front of her.
As she moved forward, she stepped sideways, and the thrust coming from behind her was deflected by the wall of the great sword.
In that gap, Ligret’s dagger swept past the heavy man’s knee.
Immediately, Ligret twisted her body to dodge the spear that lunged at her heart and wrapped her arm firmly around the spear shaft.
The man who thrust the spear chuckled.
He was certain he wouldn’t be overpowered by someone smaller than him, and attempting to wrestle the spear away with just one arm and her upper body was a foolish endeavor.
‘I’ll just slam you to the ground!’
The man tried to swing the spear he was holding, using all his weight. Just then, he felt the sensation of his body swinging upward, still clinging to the spear.
‘What kind of strength—’
It was already too late for him to realize he had to let go of the spear.
His body, dangling at the end of the spear like a flag fluttering from a flagpole, collided with the two attackers who had been preparing to follow up the attack, and they all fell in a heap to the ground.
A whistling sound echoed.
In the chaotic melee that erupted right after the exam began, Ligret swiftly subdued the four attackers, and the dual blade master offered his compliments, as if in awe.
“Impressive skills, miss. It seems you didn’t even enhance yourself with magic, so how does such immense strength come from that slender body?”
Ligret tossed a glance at the other four participants who were sprawled out on the ground and replied.
“Proper nutrition, intense training, and regular rest. That’s what a notorious employer told me.”
“Hmm, that’s certainly important. But doesn’t that not really help in development? Your face is to my liking, but your chest leaves something to be desired.”
“Not needed. It would only hinder me in slicing up perverts like you.”
“Hahaha! Well, it’s good to have no hindrances in that regard!”
The man drew two swords from his sheath, while Ligret sheathed her dagger back into her thigh pouch and pulled out her spear, which was folded into three sections at her waist, straightening it out.
“This is Crow Bain. What’s yours?”
“Ligret.”
On the plain where eight eliminated participants lay sprawled, the only two shadows still standing were fiercely clashing, wielding silver weapons.
It wasn’t just the wild personality of the administrator, Istel.
Regardless of the color of rings or rules, those with a fiery spirit were ready to cut down anything obstructing their path, and it didn’t take long for brawls to break out all over the testing ground.
