Ambition (1)
Tick-tock── Tick-tock──
Time is passing. Droplets of water cling to my body, and the biting wind instantly freezes them.
A cold so severe that even with a magic body, it’s hard to endure. In reality, not many people are left.
“There’s no reward for passing today’s lesson, nor is there any loss. After all, cadets at the national university shouldn’t aim for grades. What’s important is the ability and will to progress on one’s own.”
It means it’s really just a simple test of patience.
“......It’s so cold I could die.”
It’s bearable enough.
Besides, there will definitely be a reward. Someday, someone will look at the record of my participation in the class.
“20 minutes have passed.”
Professor Zed said. At that moment, the environment changed dramatically.
Now it was a heatwave.
The temperature difference is really dramatic.
“......Heugh.”
Suddenly, there was the sound of someone gasping for breath next to me. It was Soliette.
She melted down like ice cream in just a minute. I grabbed her shoulder and pulled her up.
“Just hang in there a little longer.”
“Shion...... I...... was wrong......”
Thud-
She fainted just like that.
“......”
As expected, the direct descendants of Arkne were weak to the heat, and the medics rushed over and carried Soliette away on a stretcher.
I was doing better than in the cold. At least it wasn’t painful.
I maintained a steady breathing rhythm and let time pass.
Tick-tock──. Tick-tock──.
The minute hand of the clock in the middle of the magic space touched ‘6’.
Finally, 30 minutes had passed.
Professor Zed looked around with a pleased expression.
“This batch seems quite promising.”
I looked around at them too. Besides me, there were about a dozen others left, including Gerkhen, Mel, Brown, and so on.
“From now on, you may come to my lectures or not. I won’t take attendance. Only those who have the will to progress as knights should attend.”
It’s a radical statement to say attendance is optional, but then again, there aren’t many people left.
“Good work.”
Snap─
The professor snapped his fingers. Then the environment returned to normal.
“Wow......”
“Phew......”
The dozen or so who had endured lay down and let out sighs of relief. I too took deep breaths to calm my heated body.
“Let’s go quickly. I’m going to die.”
Mel and Brown ran out. Gerkhen did the same.
I was about to take a step too...... but hesitated.
Tick-tock── Tick-tock──
The clock was still ticking.
Tick-tock── Tick-tock──
The minute hand was moving forward.
I looked at my palm. I clenched it and then opened it again.
The sensation was strange.
“......”
I stood there alone. I quietly watched Zed. Zed raised his eyebrows.
And then, at some moment.
Ding───!
A loud sound rang from the clock.
“......Haha.”
Zed laughed and clapped his hands. Then the magic space changed again.
Everyone had left, but Gerkhen was standing right next to me.
“Are there four of us who stayed till the end?”
*Clap, clap, clap* – Zed applauded.
“Just now, I deceived your senses and cognition itself.”
It was a method often used in interrogations.
For example, what if you put someone in a magic space to weaken their mental strength, and then pretend to be an ally to rescue the interrogation subject?
The subject spills all their information, completely fooled.
“This kind of ‘illusion’ is the most tricky and dangerous enemy for a knight. You get deceived even when you know about it. There are many monsters and strange plants that use illusions in dangerous territories.”
I looked around inside. Not only Gerkhen, but Kain had also managed to endure, and some dried-up man who looked like a repeater was still there.The origin of this chapter's debut can be traced to N0v3l--B1n.
“Now it’s really over. Get out.”
Gerkhen went outside. I followed him and said,
“You held up well, didn’t you?”
Gerkhen glanced at me with a calm face.
“...You too.”
* * *
After leaving Zia’s office, Johanna returned to her room and was watching TV.
[World Series of Poker WSOP: Golden Ticket]
A poker table appears on screen. It was the world’s top poker tournament hosted by Johanna and various casino figures.
Of course, all magical elements were excluded. It was a fierce competition purely based on one’s luck and skill, held in a ‘no-mana room’ that had been thoroughly secured.
[The winner of the Golden Ticket 5th round is ‘Gelly del Tom’!]
“Damn it. Is it another bastard sponsored by Atkins?!”
Bang!
Johanna involuntarily slammed the table.
The ‘Golden Ticket’ is the top tier in the WSOP, a format that determines the world’s best among renowned poker players.
The format consists of ‘6 rounds’ and a ‘final’.
Thousands of poker players go through the preliminaries to advance to each round, and the winner of the round earns the right to compete in the final. Thus, the winners of rounds 1 to 6 gather to play in the ‘Golden Ticket Final’.
The prize money for winning a round is 10 million Ren.
The total prize money for the overall winner is 60 million Ren.
Johanna, a gambling fanatic, wanted to compete as a player, but unfortunately, as a casino official, she was not allowed to participate.
So, like other nobles, she was in the midst of ‘sponsoring’ players—
“...Worthless bastards.”
The results were somewhat unsatisfactory.
There were a total of 15 players sponsored by Johanna.
11 of them kept getting eliminated in the preliminaries, and the remaining 4 were last in their rounds and got eliminated.
“They take the money and what... should I cut off their hands?”
Now only the last 6th round remained, but no matter how she thought about it, her players had no chance of advancing.
It’s so damn embarrassing.
That Atkins bastard has already sent two to the final.
“...Looks like I’ll take a loss after a long time.”
This isn’t just about the sponsorship costs.
Johanna had made a bet with the big shots of the casino.
The bet was that she could definitely send one of her players to the Golden Ticket final.
The stake was 300 million Ren.
Knock, knock-
In contrast, Riley responded stiffly without an answer.
“Did you really find that evidence all by yourself?”
Bell Moore’s nose wrinkled at the question.
“...What are you talking about? Of course, I found it myself.”
“...I see.”
“What do you want to say?”
“It’s nothing. Shall we get going?”
“No.”
Bell Moore brushed back his hair.
“He said to be kind, right? Give her some time. We need to prepare in advance. If we rush in, she might run away.”
Riley looked at Bell Moore without a word, her face still full of suspicion.
Bell Moore let out a hollow laugh.
“What? Should I call that bastard Shion Ascal? Work in a trio? He’s got a pretty face, tall and handsome. You liked him a lot, didn’t you?”
“...”
Riley clicked her tongue and shook her head in disapproval.
“Stop talking trash and explain the plan. I’m here to help you with your work.”
* * *
The next morning.
I woke up.
“Ha-aaah...”
I yawned and woke from sleep, but the ceiling looked a bit unfamiliar.
Of course, it wasn’t the residence of the Endex’s old building.
This place was a single room in the dormitory. The rent was free, but it was a comfortable dwelling of no less than 50 square meters, complete with a luxury bed, sofa, TV, and a clean shower room...
I got up.
“...?”
I was about to head to the shower when suddenly, my thoughts froze.
I glanced around the inside of the dormitory.
There was someone here.
At first, I thought I saw something wrong and just stood there blankly tilting my head.
“...”
It wasn’t a mistake.
It was a real person.
Some person was sitting demurely on the sofa in my dormitory.
To me, the sight was more chilling than a phantom, more sudden than a horror movie.
“...”
Blink blink.
The person was staring at me intently, blinking like a light bulb.
She was Zia Celsien Libra Rain.
“...This is unexpected.”
It was such an unforeseen situation, but I still maintained my composure.
“...Hello.”
She raised her hand.
“My name is... Zia.”
She introduced herself too calmly, but her presence was too confusing.
“I know.”
I had no idea how to react.
Is this perhaps a dream?
“What brings you here-”
“You said... you would serve me...?”
“...”
I just looked at her silently. For quite a long time.
Then Zia tilted her head with a slightly perplexed look.
“Is that not the case...? Brother Jade told me...”
“That’s correct. I wish to become the sword for Miss Zia.”
I was still a bit dazed, but I straightened up as much as I could, like a knight ready to serve.
It’s a bit embarrassing to be seen in my pajamas, but I can’t just change clothes in front of her.
“However...”
Zia asked with a tone of curiosity.
“What do you... desire?”
What I want from Zia is not important.
Honestly, I still can’t believe the current situation, but if this is Zia’s way of casting, then it’s understandable.
If a person who has never shown themselves to the outside world comes to you personally, it would feel like a kind of baptism.
Therefore, I must maintain the image that ‘Zia expects of me’.
Always calm, cool, and stable...
“I wish to serve.”
“To serve...?”
“Yes. No matter what Miss Zia does, I wish to be the knight that guards her side.”
“...”
Zia became silent for a moment. She seemed to be pondering something in her head.
Then, she tentatively asked again.
“Is it simply... because of the Orphanage...?”
There was a faint suspicion in her voice.
Zia is full of doubts. Not just a little, but a lot. She constantly doubts and questions all her people.
Therefore, a certain level of assurance is necessary.
“Miss may not remember, but I have seen you before.”
It’s true.
I happened to see Zia when I was entering elementary school.
“It was when I was a child. When I, as the son of a Libra knight, was entering Libra Elementary School... Miss Zia was there.”
Zia had appeared there.
I don’t know why.
“At that time, my father who was beside me said this.”
Looking at Zia on the stage, who was ‘more Libra than anyone else’, my father said,
‘Take a good look.’
“Take a good look.”
Zia looked into my eyes. I met her gaze as well.
‘...That person is the direct line of Libra.’
“That person... will be the one you serve in the future.”
I changed what my father had said.
Suddenly, Zia’s eyes wavered.
“My father fell in battle the following week.”
She seemed to be trying to discern the truth of my words, but my expression would have been utterly sincere.
“Therefore, my father’s words remained with me like a final will...”
Even Zia wouldn’t be able to see through me.
She can’t penetrate my inner thoughts.
“It now feels like a destiny to me.”
After all, that day is unknown to everyone else.
It’s a story that remains only in my memory.
To you all, my father such an existence...