[317] One Third (3)
Although retired from active duty, his influence as a first-rank noble was formidable. Perhaps because of that, dozens of parents approached him to offer their greetings.
Shirone led his friends over to Shakora. Taking advantage of a moment when other nobles weren't nearby, he bowed.
"Hello."
"Ah, Shirone, is it? Have you been well?"
"Yes, thanks to you."
Isis approached with a pout.
"Shirone, how about our Amy? Huh? Do you think she can pass?"
"How would I know that? Don't go worrying about other people's children—just stay calm."
Shakora's rebuke made Isis's lower lip jut out.
"Ha ha! It's fine. I met her yesterday and she seemed in good shape."
"Hmm, that's a relief."
A look of relief crossed Shakora's face. No matter how much he pretended otherwise, he was clearly tense—fatherly love showed. Even a first-rank noble was just a parent in front of his child.
Iruki and Nade, who were standing behind Shirone, also greeted them. Shakora showed particular interest when he heard the family name Merkodain.
"So, you're Iruki. How's your father doing?"
"He's... still around."
It was a cheeky thing to say in a setting like this, but Shakora only smiled.
To be honest, Iruki was rather composed—at least compared to his eccentric father.
"Shirone, bring your friends by our house sometime."
"All right. We'll definitely come."
After the greetings, Shakora and Isis headed toward the parents' entrance. Shirone went into the coliseum through the student gate.
Underclassmen and classmates shot scornful looks, but he didn't feel lonely. Kids who cared only about magic, indifferent to rank, gathered around Shirone. If you wanted to critique the match, you had to be on their level, after all.
Dante led the way, followed by Closer and Sabina. Across the way were Canis and Arin, with Voil and Pandora trailing behind. Finally, Mark, who knew how to use senior connections to his advantage, strode confidently into the front seats with Maria.
Except for Mark and Maria, the definite top ten who'd be graduating next year were all gathered in one place. Their classmates frowned merely at the sight of them together; no one expected any of those ten to drop out and make room for someone else.
Dante curled the corner of his mouth and asked, "How does it feel to send your sweetheart off to the battlefield?"
Shirone looked down at the arena.
"Hmm. I'm not sure yet. What do you think?"
Dante also turned to the arena.
"There seems to be a gap in skill among the participants. Objectively, some of them could easily be in the top ten. But that also means the outcome will vary wildly depending on what the test requires. Random contingencies usually arise from asymmetries in strength."
Dante specialized in information processing, so Shirone had no grounds to argue.
While they talked, Sabina waved to Nade.
"Hi."
"Uh, hi."
They weren't close enough to exchange anything more than a perfunctory greeting, so Nade answered formally.
Sabina lingered as if waiting for more conversation, and when Nade showed no interest, she slumped and sat down beside Dante. Pandora snorted.
"Seniors, we're starting."
Thirty students taking the graduation exam stood in a line at the center of the coliseum. All of them wore bracelets marked 2000.
But the audience didn't need those bracelets to watch. By national regulation, the venue for the graduation exam was built to top-tier 2000 standards. The whole coliseum was essentially one massive projection zone.
Arin clasped her hands and prayed for Amy's success. Canis grimaced.
"Does that help? If prayer alone could pass, anyone could become a mage. Besides, you don't even believe, do you?"
"Tch! Still, I'm nervous. Don't you want Amy to pass, Canis?"
"Why should I care who passes? It's not my exam."
Arin glared at Canis, hurt. But his expression was far from indifferent. Propping his chin and watching the arena, Canis's eyes landed on Amy. Seeing her burning with battle readiness, the corner of his mouth twitched.
'Do your best, pumpkin.'
The faculty sat centered around Alpheas and Olivia; parents were seated to the left, scouts and correspondents to the right.
After Alpheas's opening remarks, Olivia explained the evaluation criteria.
The exam was divided into two rounds, with two of six items chosen by roulette. Since you didn't know which would come up, students had to train evenly across all items.
This rule was designed to be fair to non-combat mages and was also a concession from the Mage Association to give repeat examinees slightly more weighting.
A preliminary ceremony ended with the students swearing to compete fairly.
As the thirty participants formed a circle along the coliseum wall, Sade on the podium called out.
"We now begin the Alpheas School of Magic graduation exam!"
A giant circular hologram appeared in the coliseum's sky. Six items were divided into perfect segments, and the central indicator began to spin rapidly.
The participants clenched their fists and performed the alignment ritual.
The moment the indicator stopped, the 2000 bracelets would activate. They would have to move the instant the decision was made.
At last the indicator pointed to the first-round item.
"Waaaah!"
The crowd's roar filled the coliseum.
* * *
Night fell.
People streamed out toward the coliseum exits, faces flushed. Shirone and his group didn't speak until they were well outside.
At the coliseum exit, Nade looked back at Shirone.
"What do you want to do, Shirone? Iruki and I are starving—we should get something to eat."
"Yeah. You two go ahead. I'll go with Amy."
"All right. See you tomorrow."
Having sent his friends off, Shirone blew out a white breath to warm his cold chest. A light from the coliseum caught his eye; he turned and glanced at the scoreboard. The names of the successful candidates flickered up. From first to tenth. Ten students would leave the world as mages.
1st Olt Amira
2nd Ludwig Aconel
3rd Connie Kale
4th Tanto Selena
5th Ekins Sanuel
6th Aresa Depo
7th Fortress Seriel
8th Lala Coril
9th Andres Raul
10th Dolin Rikston
Amy's name was not there.
She had been the third to be eliminated as soon as the first round began.
The first evaluation was combat power measurement. It favored combat mages, so students concentrated their attention on Amy. It was no exaggeration to call it a one-sided lynching. Amy's mental gauge hit zero before she could make a move.
It upended the experts' expectations, but such things were variables in a graduation exam. Amy must have anticipated the risk and prepared accordingly.
Still, it felt wrong.
Collusion in combat can be understood as a natural process—when one side grows strong, the weak band together. But did it feel like the strong had colluded? Or was that just paranoia?
At first it was chaotic. There were others aiming to be combat mages, and with thirty participants the firepower should have been dispersed.
But when Fermi's group started acting, the tide turned dramatically.
They targeted only Amy—and did so while avoiding every other student's attacks.
If the pattern held for about a minute, the students who hadn't noticed at first would realize: siding with Fermi's group made things easier.
Ultimately, everyone except Seriel attacked Amy; in that situation, even the famed Amy had no way to hold out. The tactic would have been impossible unless Fermi's group's combat power exceeded the combined strength of all the other participants.
Could that be called natural collusion?
The truly strange thing was that none of Fermi's group passed the exam. In some clashes with Sanuel, it even felt as if they deliberately threw the fight.
Sanuel—many students had the same inkling. There were moments in the first round when it felt like Fermi's group pushed things in Sanuel's favor. The impression was subtle, though, making it hard to judge.
Could it all be written off as the brutality of the graduation exam? There were too many oddities to chalk it up that easily. Above all, it was unnerving that Fermi—the one who hadn't lost first place in six years—was at the center of every suspicion.
'Maybe it's just my imagination. There's no guarantee something like that never happens on a battlefield. Even if it isn't my imagination, does it change anything?'
Simply put, the stronger side won the combat measurement. Even if that resulted from deliberate collusion, it wouldn't necessarily affect the other evaluation criteria.
'Unless someone was personally paid off—then who knows.'
There might have been some secret agreement between Fermi and Sanuel.
Shirone quickly pushed the thought away. If it weren't true, he'd be making a serious accusation against Sanuel. Besides, if such a thing had happened, the faculty would already have launched an investigation.
'No matter how much I think about it, there's nothing I can do.'
All he could do now was worry about Amy.
Eliminated so early, she would have had time to recover her mental power. But thinking of how she'd had to wait so long in the antechamber to watch the rest of the exam made his chest tighten.
Amy's parents emerged through the parents' exit. Shirone didn't know what expression to make and approached them.
"Shirone…"
Isis greeted him with moist eyes. Shakora's eyes were reddened too. Given their reputations as renowned dancers, they wouldn't have missed oddities in the combat.
"Shirone, how could this happen? Amy being eliminated—this is like..."
"Be careful what you say. How do you think such words would make Amy feel?"
Shakora hushed his wife.
He, too, saw parts worth suspecting—but nothing that crossed into absurdity.
Aside from the fact Fermi's group had all been eliminated, the flow of the battlefield had been rational and reasonable. And since the second round was non-combat, you couldn't insist Fermi's group's elimination was unnatural.
Shirone swallowed as he watched the eliminated students file out. Seeing Amy among the middle group made his mind go blank.
Amy spotted Shirone, walked over to her parents, and stuck her tongue out with a teasing wink.
"Hehe, Dad, Mom. Sorry. I spectacularly failed."
"It's an exam—can't help it. You did your best. So don't be too upset."
"Upset? Nah. I think I just misjudged something. I'll aim for next year."
Shirone felt relief at Amy's bright face, but at the same time he was worried.
There was no way she could be completely fine—she was protecting her family's feelings first.
Now the successful candidates emerged. Seriel, sobbing, ran up to Amy.
"Amy, Amy…"
Amy was genuinely happy for her friend.
How could she not be? Today Seriel would graduate from the School of Magic and take her first step as a mage.
"Congratulations, Seriel. Work hard for both of us. I'll catch up soon."
Seriel shook her head.
Why her and not Amy? It was obvious to anyone that Amy should have been the one to pass.
She should have noticed sooner. If, when Fermi's group lynched Amy, she had quickly sided with Amy, the flow of battle might have been different.
"Amy... I..."
Amy grabbed Seriel's shoulder.
"Seriel, get a grip. You passed the exam. Do you understand? You took your graduation exam, and I took mine. And you passed. Nothing else matters."
Seriel forced herself to swallow her tears.
She mustn't cry. Amy wasn't crying; how could she?