So hard to choose!
At that moment, caught dead in the middle of three girls, Linen involuntarily furrowed his brows.
But it wasn't that he wanted to choose both sides—he didn't want to choose either side.
On one side stood his "study group" partners—the ones who had sworn never to betray each other until graduation, even if separated. If he didn't choose them, he'd be simultaneously backstabbing two heroines. Wouldn't the rewards from that pile into his lap like rain?
But on the other side was his childhood "raise-and-train" project—his one and only playmate back then, the Black Stockings Maid Corps' little captain, his imperial foster sister Noraviel.
And the key point was: because of Noraviel's special status, Empress Mother had never been as strict with her as with Linen. She'd showered her with affection and tenderness instead.
If he backstabbed her, she'd absolutely go crying to Empress Mother. Wouldn't that make Empress Mother's wrath shoot sky-high?
And Empress Mother was a hidden heroine herself. Linen had already tasted the high brought by Dragonification—the way his spiritual power spiked instantly, the dizzying rush that was nothing like the slow, steady grind of Arcana training. Once you'd sampled that raw, brutal pleasure, you couldn't go back.
Yet the scene before him was clearly a single-choice question.
Backstab one side, and the other side's affection would skyrocket.
Damn!
Wasn't there any way to offend both sides at once?
Come to think of it, he'd already abandoned all "honorable" methods and run a straight-line speedrun, and yet these three little girls had still reached the castle ahead of him.
Sure, a protagonist running cheats was standard. But what kind of drive—what kind of obsession—was pushing them to go this hard?
No choice left. If he didn't want either option, he'd have to strike first.
"Choose?"
Linen crossed his arms, looking down at the three of them with open disdain.
"You haven't even figured out who the real enemy is, and you want to team up with me? You're teaching me how to act?"
His words made all three of them pause in unison.
Each of them had spent some time around Linen. They might have seen him as a little tsundere—cold outside, warm within—but he'd never been this openly angry before.
Had their actions actually angered him?
Embarrassing him like this at the Spring Cup, in front of so many eyes… maybe they really had gone too far.
But what did he mean by "real enemy"?
Seeing the hostile tension between them ease, even slightly, Linen exhaled a silent breath of relief.
But not enough. Right now these three were only stunned, only their immediate aggression defused. Just moments ago the wind had carried him voices from afar—why hadn't those people arrived yet?
Just then, a cyan Wind Blade sliced out of the forest behind Linen. He twisted aside to dodge it, retreating smoothly to stand by the three girls.
"Quick reflexes, kouhai."
A tall, long-legged female student stepped out onto the spot Linen had just been standing. She wore a sexy cropped top and short skirt. Behind her, several more students emerged from the forest one after another, gathering at her side. Each wore Golden Court uniforms, their mana flaring visibly—all of them at least Tier-2.
"Isn't that Vanya-senpai? And all those Golden Court elites!"
"How are they here? Isn't that way too coincidental?"
In truth, Vanya and her crew had simply followed the very path Linen had blasted open.
At first, Linen's huge explosions had startled Vanya's team; instinctively they'd wanted to avoid the area.
But as the detonations kept coming, Vanya and her people couldn't sit still any longer.
That was the difference between elite students and ordinary ones. Normal students would see such blasts as a danger zone, fleeing to find safer routes or other treasures.
But after a short discussion, Vanya's group—aware that the event was run by Headmaster Sorgana, who never played by normal rules—quickly reached a consensus. They decided to head toward the explosion site to see what was happening.
And, as though the gods favored the brave, they'd scored an incredible surprise: they'd found a secret shortcut straight to the castle!
Though they'd glimpsed Linen's back standing at the end of the passageway when they arrived, none of them believed this freshman from Newbie Court had created the passage himself.
What a joke—how could a first-year repeatedly cause explosions powerful enough to reshape terrain? They might as well claim those three girls over there had flown or used space magic to reach the castle. Vanya assumed Linen had triggered some mechanism, or simply been luckier than them and found the path first.
Seeing three people already waiting at the castle gates had indeed surprised Vanya. But her eyes quickly turned scornful.
Four of them? So what. Judging by their ages, at best they were freshmen. Not only that—two from the most worthless Newbie Court and Knight Court. Meanwhile, her side had seven elite upperclassmen from Golden Court.
Nothing to fear.
The advantage was hers.
"This Spring Cup victory—I, Vanya, will graciously accept on behalf of Golden Court! Ah, what a shame for you four. Perhaps if you'd made it into the castle before we arrived, you might've had a minuscule chance at victory. But unfortunately, it seems we've come at a rather inconvenient time."
Vanya raised a brow arrogantly, the excitement plain in her voice. Clearly, she already saw the Spring Cup firmly in her grasp.
Yet, to everyone's surprise, Linen, standing below, didn't show the slightest panic or anger at losing the prize. Instead, he lowered his head, chuckling softly.
Then, he looked up again, lifting a single finger and wagging it lightly in denial.
"No, senpai. You've arrived at exactly the right time."
His finger suddenly pointed toward the seven people on the cliff, as Linen addressed the three girls beside him with calm authority:
"You wanted to become my companions, right? You want my approval? Well then—whoever takes down those fools first will earn the privilege. How about it?"
Upon hearing Linen's outrageous declaration, the spectators watching through the magical screens gasped in shock.
They'd seen Linen's luxurious bombardment-style method of clearing the path, but there was no way he alone could defeat the entire Golden Court elite team. Those opponents weren't motionless trees—they'd strike back.
If those three girls protected Linen, letting him bombard the enemy from safety—that was the only possible path to avoid elimination in most people's minds.
As for the three girls themselves—the knight-girl had killed many beasts and seemed reasonably strong, but after prolonged fighting, would she still have stamina left to deal with Golden Court elites?
Elena and Hysteria, meanwhile, were considered pure rookies, entirely dismissed by most.
After all, since the start, they'd done exactly two things: picking up treasures, and teleporting directly to the castle.
Their luck was absurd—but luck was all they seemed to have going for them.
Yet, while outside observers speculated, the elite students of Golden Court present on the scene had already reached their limit, shaking with outrage at Linen's arrogance.
A seductive-looking, red-haired female student giggled softly, turning to Vanya: "Vanya, perhaps our deal needs adjustment. You said earlier you'd claim the Spring Cup, while we'd get all other rewards. But that was based on us clearing the whole forest normally. Now, since we've taken this shortcut, we've missed quite a few treasures, haven't we~?"
"And what exactly are you suggesting?" Vanya shot her a cold look.
"Oh dear, you make it sound as if I'm some greedy traitor," the red-haired girl laughed, her generous curves nearly bursting from her outfit as she suddenly pointed downward. "That cocky little hottie down there—I want him for myself. You don't mind, do you?"
"Fine, he's all yours," Vanya nodded dismissively. But just as she prepared to give the attack order, a loud shout echoed up from below:
"Take this—[Fireball]!"
Vanya almost burst out laughing. Only complete rookies would actually use low-level Arcana like Fireball in combat. But just as she began weaving a counterspell to extinguish it, she watched in shock as her teammates—originally posed confidently—abruptly scattered in all directions, suddenly panicked, grace completely abandoned.
Realizing something was terribly wrong, Vanya spun around. Instantly, blistering heat struck her, causing her face to distort grotesquely in shock.
What the hell! Who taught you to call this thing a fireball?!
It was over two meters wide—this was clearly an Explosive Flame spell!
And it was cast by a freshman?!
Confusion and disbelief filled her mind as Vanya, the elite number-two of Golden Court, was instantly forced out of the Spring Cup before the battle had even properly begun.
"Heh! First victory goes to me!" Hysteria bared her little fangs, her face filled with smug pride.
It wasn't like she actually wanted to be on that idiot Norton's team! She was simply irritated by anyone daring to talk down to her from above!
The remaining six Golden Court elites erupted in anger:
"You chose not to run—fine—but now you dare ambush us?!"
"You started this fight—now don't even think about walking away!"
Yet, the moment they began chanting Arcana, one elite suddenly shouted in panic: "Watch out!"
Too late!
Before his confused teammate could even react, an invisible sword—faster than Arcana itself—shattered his protective spell, piercing straight through his chest. Teleportation magic instantly flashed, marking him out of the competition, though his life was spared.
Novie gracefully withdrew her sword, shaking away the blood and pointing it coldly at the remaining elites.
She had zero interest in the Spring Cup itself.
These fools had only one crime worthy of death: daring to attack Linen right in front of her!
Since that woman from earlier had already been eliminated, her teammates would have to pay the price instead.
In mere moments, Golden Court's elite force was down two members—now, it was three against five.
But the seniors were no longer taking these freshman girls lightly. Arcana spells and sword clashes rang out fiercely, yet Hysteria and Novie, despite having absolutely zero coordination, astonishingly held a clear advantage against the five elites from the start!
As the fight continued, the older students' hearts gradually sank in despair.
Initially, they'd believed these two freshmen had simply gotten lucky with a surprise attack. Stabilizing the situation would surely lead them to victory—but reality brutally contradicted their assumptions.
That fiery little girl was like some endless-mana bombing specialist, relentlessly hurling fireballs twice the size of human heads, laughing maniacally and sending chills down their spines.
The knight girl was even worse—not only did she wield an invisible weapon, but her blade could literally "slice" through Arcana!
Wind Blades, fire spells—all Arcana were effortlessly cut in two. Spells that managed to reach her simply bounced off her enchanted skirt.
If the two weren't splitting their attention between multiple opponents, the pressure would be unbearable.
"Why are both of them targeting only me!?"
As the red-haired girl who'd boldly declared Linen hers fell under the combined assault of Hysteria and Novie, the few survivors exchanged tense glances, fixing their gazes on a slim male student behind them. Their plan was clear:
At least take down one enemy before withdrawing!
That male student nodded grimly, pulling out a dagger coated in venom. His figure became blurred and indistinct—he was clearly an Illusion Arcana user.
His target was Elena, who had stood quietly aside all this time!
Observers were always the weakest, right?
In an instant, he appeared beside Elena, thrusting his emerald dagger forward—
Poof!
Instead of being wrapped in elimination magic, the girl vanished like smoke.
"An illusionist too?!" the young man cursed inwardly. No wonder his team's earlier attacks against the flame-crazed girl kept distorting—an illusionist had been intervening from the shadows.
Still, not a big deal. Everyone knew illusionists lacked real attack power. He fought using this expensive magic-piercing dagger covered in poison—could this freshman possibly afford anything more?
Rip!
The crisp sound of a scroll tearing reached his ears. Glancing down, he saw Elena standing apologetically before him, tearing a yellow scroll into pieces.
"Sorry…"
A Tier-3 Arcana Scroll!
His pupils contracted sharply in panic, frantically searching for where the attack might come from. Then, an intense, indescribable agony exploded from behind, wrenching a scream from his throat before teleportation magic claimed him—third to fall.
The remaining upperclassmen stared in despair at their teammate impaled by a stone spear. Outside, the audience was equally stunned. They'd expected a one-sided fight—but certainly not this one-sided!
These three freshman girls had actually reversed the situation, utterly crushing Golden Court's elites?!
...
"Headmaster…was this also part of your calculation?" Gust glanced at Sorgana, who was nervously biting her nails beside him. When Golden Court's elites first caught up with Linen, she'd practically danced with joy.
"What? Ah, yes…of course. Why else would I be headmaster?" Sorgana stammered, sweating profusely as she chewed her thumb.
She'd thought Linen was done for—but who'd have guessed these "elite" Golden Court fools would collapse before Linen could even lift a finger?
Pathetic academy! Cheating and illegally grouping up, yet still utterly defeated?!
Wait—I'm the headmaster. Ah, then it's fine.
"But that's merely the beginning," she cackled darkly. "Let's see how you little brats handle the castle's gatekeeper!"
That puzzle was Sorgana's masterpiece, after all…
...
Meanwhile, on the battlefield, as the last elite fell, Hysteria and Novie glared at each other, each refusing to concede superiority.
Since they'd jointly killed the red-haired girl, the final score was an embarrassing 3.5 to 3.5. Neither had won.
"Hmph! If not for my spells, you'd have died countless times already!" Hysteria snapped.
"If I hadn't drawn their fire, I'd love to see which Arcana spell would've shredded you first," Novie retorted icily.
But Elena, looking around, suddenly noticed Linen had vanished from the group.
"I'm over here."
Everyone turned to find Linen standing before the castle's massive gate, contemplating two gargoyle guardians. One gargoyle lay shattered at his feet; the other stared at Linen with eerie crimson eyes.
"Linen-kun, is there a problem with opening the gate?" Elena asked gently.
"Sort of," Linen sighed. "These gargoyles are Tier-5. Attack head-on, and they'll retaliate. Troublesome."
"Tier-5?!" the three exclaimed together, shocked.
"Yeah. But there's another way in—answering their riddles correctly. That one asked three, and after I got them right, it self-destructed."
Another puzzle?! Could all these Riddlers just leave Eden forever?
Hysteria scowled, relieved to see Novie also looking troubled. So she wasn't the only fool?
"Then why aren't you answering the second one's riddles, idiot? Don't tell me even you're stumped?"
"That's not it," Linen shrugged helplessly, knocking the gargoyle's head gently.
"This one's questions…are kind of embarrassing."
The gargoyle slowly turned toward the group, stone jaws creaking open ominously:
"Welcome to Earl Mist's castle. But he hates dishonesty. Therefore, each of you must share your most embarrassing secret—as the price to enter."
Elena tilted her head in confusion; Novie's pretty face stiffened.
"Just like that," Linen sighed.
But suddenly, Hysteria strode forward confidently, hands on hips, laughing proudly:
"Ha! If it's a question like this, leave it to me—the most honest genius princess—to show you commoners how it's done! I'm going first!"
A mere embarrassing secret? This could never stop her!