Chapter 107

How on earth was she supposed to guess that!

Perhaps Riel herself hadn’t expected such a question to appear, as she was slightly flustered.

Even she did not live her life measuring how many seconds she spoke.

…Of course, Riel was naturally thinking of her speaking time in seconds.

‘She seems to be quiet, so is it roughly 15 minutes? Since it’s an average, I can’t really get a feel for it.’

Naturally, Roan had a rough idea.

He had personally measured it when playing because he had been so frustrated.

Joy answered in a lacking-confidence tone.

“15 minutes…?”

At that, the holy power panel turned red.

—

Incorrect! The correct answer is 45 seconds!

—

Joy looked at Riel with astonished eyes.

How could a person spend a day speaking for only 45 seconds?

And Riel, perhaps extremely embarrassed, showed a slight flush on her cheeks.

Straight into the next question.

—

State the name of the dormitory room where Riel Heylick resides, and the names of the classmates belonging to it.

—

Fortunately, this time was an easy question.

“Saint Illania Room, Sion Beatrice, Rafia Kedan.”

…Though it was also a difficult detail for a class assistant to know.

Demona nudged Roan and said.

“Roan, Assistant Joy must be Riel’s stalker.”

“No way.”

Joy had simply studied the personal details of the students under her charge diligently.

Rather than neglecting them like Timothy, paying attention like Joy was much better.

—

State the nickname given to the sword used by Riel Heylick.

—

“Sacred Wings Geirdin.”

“””??!?!???”””

However, when the answer to the next question came out, everyone had no choice but to be shocked.

‘Is she really stalking Riel?’

Even Roan was driven to think this.

Of course, she knew because it was written on the admission application, but normally, an assistant wouldn’t remember a sword’s nickname just to check a student’s personal info.

…Roan didn’t pay much attention to why he knew all these facts himself.

In any case, Riel, whose sword’s nickname was suddenly exposed, grew even redder in the cheeks than before.

In fact, Riel had been hiding what was known as ‘eighth-grader syndrome’ traits!

Even after that, Joy answered the questions about Riel quite well.

—

Challenge Successful!

Result: 10/13

You are wonderful friends, why did you fight?

—

Wonderful? Friends?

Riel wondered if the relationship between Joy and herself warranted hearing such things.

The first time they had seen each other’s faces in their lives was last week, and this was only the second.

On the other hand, Joy let out a sigh of relief and said.

“It helped that I read the admission applications diligently.”

Somehow, it sounded like an excuse.

“””…”””

Roan, Demona, and Riel could not make any reply.

No matter how they looked at it, the questions weren’t at that level.

Just then, Demona said to Roan with a fed-up expression.

“Roan, Assistant Joy seems to be a person like you.”

“…What’s wrong with me?”

Roan glared at Demona.

He was utilizing accumulated knowledge from hundreds and thousands of playthroughs, but.

Wasn’t this life the first for Joy?

Whichever way one looked at it, Joy was the abnormal one, and he was perfectly normal.

…Or so Roan struggled to think once again.

Rrrrrumble—

Meanwhile, once the trials of both pairs were finished, the tightly closed stone gate opened again.

It was the gateway to the next trial.

“Let’s get out quickly.”

This time, Joy took the lead in passing through the door, and the students followed.

In the new room, Harden’s fragment was already waiting.

“Oh, welcome to the Second Trial, ‘Entrust Your Back!'”

Still a terrible naming sense.

“You passed the first trial quite quickly, didn’t you? I made it so that no matter how close you are, you’d have to try again a few times and discuss.”

At the fragment’s slightly surprised voice, the four fell silent in unison.

It was less so for Roan since he already knew such standard strategy methods, but.

“””We weren’t supposed to get it right in one go…?”””

The remaining three found that secret rather surprising.

Demona stared at Roan, and Riel stared at Joy.

The two who had answered the questions let out a dry cough, “Ahem, ahem,” and avoided their gazes.

Disregarding this, Harden’s fragment waved its finger.

Rumble—

The walls on the left and right opened, and dozens of wooden dolls popped out.

Although they looked like ordinary wooden dolls, the power felt within them was extraordinary.

‘Naturally, because they were made from the branches of the Divine Tree.’

The material itself was from the Divine Tree to begin with.

And since Harden had crafted them himself, they were worthy of being called golems rather than dolls.

The fragment continued its explanation.

“This time, it is a trial where you fight together against these dolls. They cannot be neutralized unless two or more attributes attack simultaneously, so do your best.”

In other words, it was a trial to fight back-to-back, relying on each other and building trust.

Just then, Roan quietly raised his hand.

“Why is that?”

Harden’s fragment did not seem very pleased just by the fact that Roan raised his hand.

‘He said he made it and discarded it 1,245 years ago, but did he actually drop by a few times during that period?’

Roan was slightly suspicious.

Unless it knew about him, how could it show the exact same reaction as the current Harden to this extent?

Flash—

“Ugh!”

At that moment, Harden’s fragment emitted a massive light.

Demona made a noisy fuss, while the remaining three endured it resolutely.

Apparently, the Harden of 1,245 years ago had a slightly worse personality than now.

“If you raised your hand, ask a question instead of having cheeky thoughts.”

“…Is it enough to just neutralize them? Are there no other conditions?”

As Roan asked with his eyes slightly cast down, the fragment replied with a cheerful laugh.

“Yeah! But it won’t be easy. Even if it’s non-lethal, it will hurt quite a bit if you get hit! Hahaha!”

Harden’s fragment seemed pleased just thinking about the students getting beaten up by its dolls.

Hummmm—!

Simultaneously, a red glow lit up in the eyes of the dolls lined up behind the fragment.

The momentum of the dolls was so fierce that they seemed ready to pounce on the four at any moment.

“W-What is that!”

Demona backed away hesitantly in fear.

Roan made a cold assessment.

‘He wants us to do it with three people.’

A decision to immediately exclude Demona from the fighting force!

Clang—! Shhhh—

Just as Roan thought, Riel immediately drew her sword and stepped forward, and Joy also prepared to fight.

At that moment, the fragment intervened once again.

“Ah, assistant, do not step forward, and just assist with the attributes when neutralizing them. This is a trial for the students, so the assistant shouldn’t interfere.”

Joy hesitated slightly and backed away.

No matter if it was just a fragment, she could not ignore the spirit’s instructions.

Riel’s cold eyes trembled slightly.

Leaving the unhelpful Demona aside, if even Joy was practically excluded, only Roan and herself would remain.

No matter how strong Roan was, could the two of them handle that many dolls?

Just then.

“Riel, step back.”

“?”

Roan, who hadn’t taken any action so far, stepped forward.

He was even in his usual state, not having prepared holy power like Joy.

While it was true that the actual fighting force was two people as Riel thought.

‘I have no intention of clearing it with two people, though?’

Roan intended to handle it alone in the first place.

The stress accumulated since earlier was gradually testing the limits of Roan’s patience.

He planned to completely vent it this time.

Harden’s fragment twitched an eyebrow.

“Judging by appearances, that person seems to be a knight friend. Wouldn’t it be better to leave the front to her?”

“You said we only need to neutralize them.”

“I did.”

So what?

Although that question was hidden behind the fragment’s words, Roan did not reply otherwise.

Harden wore a look as if seeing a very bizarre fellow, then chuckled.

“Fine, do as you please. If everyone becomes unable to fight, you will retry after 30 minutes.”

“I understand.”

Roan nodded calmly.

Their conversation ended there.

Hummmm—!

The dozens of dolls vibrated for a moment and then began to move at a fairly rapid speed.

To handle them with just four people, they truly had to cooperate perfectly, just as Harden intended.

‘I don’t know why that black mage fellow is so confident, but breaking his pride is also an educator’s duty.’

The fragment inwardly ridiculed Roan while watching the situation.

Since he was so confident, he might neutralize the first few, but he would realize soon.

That against overwhelming numbers, average skills couldn’t even stand a chance.

However.

Boom, crash, bang—!!! Psssssh—!!! Thump, thump, thump—!!!!!!

The fragment had no choice but to watch in horror as the dolls were swept away like blocks of wood in the blink of an eye.

“W-W-What on earth is thiiissss!!!!”

Did the assistant, who was told to stand by, secretly help?

Of course there was no way.

If she secretly helped and was acting so utterly dazed, she was cut out to succeed as a grand actress, not an assistant.

The same went for the Wycronon family rookie who was flat on the ground, or the knight family girl who maintained her expressionless face.

No, actually, although the fragment didn’t know, Riel was wearing the most shocked expression of her life.

In any case, why on earth did all this happen?

‘Blood Fragment, Abyssal Blood Lance.’

The dolls approached him, boasting of immense weight.

Watching them, Roan opened the cap of the water bottle hanging at his waist, then manifested the two spells he had used as his mainstay.

However, this time, in the case of Blood Fragment, he disguised it to look like dark-attributed holy power.

‘Anyway, the attributes are different, so it doesn’t matter!’

Dozens of Blood Fragments tore through the dolls at a speed barely visible to the eye.

To neutralize the dolls, one must attack with one attribute first and then attack again with a second attribute within a short time.

Other students could also use two attributes.

However, simply being able to use them and using them simultaneously were completely different matters.

Normally, they couldn’t even use two attributes simultaneously like Roan, and even if they somehow did, they couldn’t manage it properly due to the limit of their holy power.

In Roan’s case, he possessed an overwhelming amount of mana and talent compared to his peers.

Although the power Roan used was just one type—black mana—the advantage of being able to utilize two attributes simultaneously thanks to False Divinity was decisive.

Psssssh—!!

In any case, a black mark appeared on the surface of the dolls that the Blood Fragments brushed past.

Boom— Boom— Boom— Boom—!

Simultaneously, as if stamping them, blood lances as large as torsos directly struck the chests of the dolls.

The dolls struck by the blood lances couldn’t withstand the impact and flew away, folding in half before embedding into the floor.

It was only natural for their red eye glow to extinguish and neutralize them.

Not even a few minutes had passed like that.

Psssssh—

No movement occurred within the stone chamber that had been swept clean.

There were only dolls sprawled around in a miserable state here and there, and Roan looking down on them haughtily.

Only the fragment with an astonished expression and the remaining three people were left.

Harden’s fragment asked with its mouth wide open as if its jaw were about to drop.

“…Why did a kid like you even enroll?”