Chapter 101
#Chapter 101: Demonic Sword Forte (3) - The Value of a Small Kindness
“An illusion showing the same thing to more than several hundred people at once?”
“But I couldn't sense even the slightest magical reaction.”
“Dispel doesn't work either. What on earth is its structure?”
Those who were thrown into confusion by the sudden message were people with some prior knowledge of magic.
That was because, according to their common sense, the phenomenon that had just occurred was utterly impossible to understand.
“Hmm… Is it some kind of magic? Impressive!”
“Oh-ho, I see. It seems the claim that this is the greatest academy in the central region isn't empty boasting.”
“Anyway, we're supposed to climb up, right? It's pretty high, but three days should be enough.”
In this respect, the actions of those without knowledge were actually much quicker.
Because they knew little about magic, they failed to understand how extraordinary the phenomenon was and simply took it in stride.
It was just as Pina was about to follow the people climbing the stairs one by one.
《Wait a moment. There is something we need to check before climbing.》
“Yes?”
At the magic sword's warning, Pina tilted her head.
When Pina suddenly stopped walking, the man behind her spoke in a sharp voice.
“If you're not going up, move aside.”
“Ah! Yes. I'm sorry….”
Pina quickly shrank back and moved to the edge, where she wouldn't obstruct the flow of people. Ignoring her, everyone began climbing the stairs one after another.
After watching them, Pina asked the magic sword again.
“Um, what is it we need to check?”
《Read the contents of the quest window again. I can't see it from my side.》
“Hmm. Just a moment.”
Pina read through the contents written on the translucent panel before her, and after confirming it, the magic sword spoke.
《The time limit is three days. Contract holder, even a rough estimate will do, so go outside and look at the tower. Is that really a height that should take three days to climb?》
“Huh.”
Pina briefly stepped outside the tower and examined its height.
The tower was certainly tall. If she imagined climbing it normally by way of the stairs, it was even somewhat daunting.
But even so, its end was still visible from the ground with the naked eye.
Even at a fairly leisurely pace, it shouldn't take more than a day.
And yet, if the time limit was three days, then the conclusion was….
“…Are the people at Sky Academy very kind?”
《Hmm.》
Magic Sword Forte was at a loss for a moment.
It seemed the partners taught or guided by the predecessors(?) had usually caught on immediately by this point, but this time things weren't going smoothly.
《It means that simply climbing the tower isn't all there is to it. There is probably some kind of trap or special gimmick hidden inside.》
“Ohh, Magic Sword! You're so smart!”
Pina clapped her hands and exclaimed in admiration.
Several people gave her puzzled looks at the strange sight, but Pina didn't notice at all.
《In any case, climbing straight up like this wouldn't be very wise. There happens to be a city nearby, so it would be best to pick up a few supplies there.》
The city was more than an hour away on foot.
“Yes, sir.”
Someone could have argued that, considering the time needed for the round trip and for buying supplies, it would waste more than three hours, but Pina readily nodded.
Her complete lack of hesitation was enough to slightly fluster Forte, who had made the suggestion in the first place.
As befitted the descendant of a fairly well-off family, Pina had plenty of money, so she bought a large-capacity bag with a compression spell cast on it and a water flask.
After buying high-calorie convenience foods such as sugar and chocolate, along with various other supplies, she returned to the tower.
Contrary to expectations, there were still crowds of people around the tower, even though Pina had expected everyone to have already climbed to the top.
And every one of them had a dark expression on their face.
“Damn it, how are we supposed to climb that thing?”
“There's no way we can do it empty-handed. We'll have to prepare thoroughly.”
Some people were only now heading toward the city. They seemed to be pondering something when they saw Pina, who appeared to have come from that direction, but since her luggage wasn't particularly large, they soon looked away and hurried on.
《Good thing you bought the compression bag. There's nothing to gain from revealing that you have a lot of supplies.》
“R-right. I was a little scared they might try to talk to me.”
《…It would be best to hurry inside the tower. Since attacking first gets you forcibly expelled, it should be safer than outside.》
“Yes, sir.”
Pina trotted into the tower and soon stepped toward the stairs.
After she had been steadily climbing the tower's stairs for some time, an abnormal phenomenon occurred.
At first, the stairs had been wide enough for three people to climb side by side.
Then they began to grow wider and wider from side to side.
At first, one could just barely insist that it was some kind of architectural technique, but once the stairs became wider than the entire diameter of the tower, even that explanation became meaningless.
Even the scenery had changed. The wooden walls had vanished without anyone noticing, revealing wide fields on either side, and the stairs had transformed into a gently sloping uphill road.
Terrifying sunlight beat down from the sky, draining the participants of their stamina and patience, while they struggled up the slope, drenched in sweat.
“Whoa. Just like you said, Magic Sword, climbing itself isn't easy.”
Pina muttered with a slightly weary look.
After climbing stairs and uphill roads for more than two hours, a thin sheen of sweat had formed on her forehead.
In Pina's case, at least, she had plenty of water, so although she was a little tired, moving itself posed no particular problem. But those who had taken the tower lightly were all panting with faces that looked as though they were about to die of thirst.
And people tend to think less clearly when pushed into extreme situations.
“Hey, you. Hand over that water!”
“What? Quit talking nonsense and get lost.”
“I said hand it over!”
“W-wait! Don't come any closer! I said don't come closer! Gack!”
One of the entrance-exam candidates lunged at another, casually punching him in the face before stealing both his water pouch and his bag.
It was savagery reminiscent of bandits, but considering that quite a few people who were physically strong enough to fight lacked patience and self-control, it wasn't all that strange.
However, the candidate who had been celebrating with the water pouch soon had to pay the price for ignoring the warning message.
Before he could even lift the water pouch in his hand to his mouth, the ground beneath his feet seemed to open wide, and his body fell straight toward the ground below.
With a short scream, the candidate vanished, and the ground returned to its original state as if it had never been opened.
The problem was that the water pouch and bag he had stolen had fallen with him as well.
“Ah, no! If you were going to leave, you should've gone alone!”
Watching the young man despair after losing every last one of his belongings in an instant, Forte calmly muttered,
《Hmm. There is more of a delay than expected between initiating an attack and being expelled. Contract holder, be careful of surprise attacks.》
“Yes.”
The young man stared blankly at the spot where the hole had appeared for a moment, but soon gritted his teeth and started climbing the path again.
Pina, who had been watching him from the corner of her eye, also continued forward.
The path grew wider and rougher, and more and more people appeared.
Some seemed to have climbed high in a short time by reinforcing their bodies with mana, but that was a method with clear limitations.
Normally, the level at which mana could reinforce the body was around the 3rd tier, and the physical abilities enhanced in that way were limited to roughly the level of a wild animal.
Although it provided an overwhelming advantage over ordinary people in combat or short-distance movement, it was subject to certain limitations when it came to steadily traveling long distances as they were now.
In the end, they still had to replenish their energy through rest and food.
Even the blazing sky darkened and an eerie wind began to blow, so people could no longer think about climbing higher and started resting in makeshift shelters of their own.
Naturally, the quality of those shelters wasn't particularly high.
Few people in the world would think to bring camping gear to an academy entrance exam.
Conversely, that meant a few did.
Pina blinked as she looked over the tents set up here and there.
“There are a lot of people who prepared very thoroughly!”
《The exam is basically held every year, though there are sometimes gaps. Surely some people have gathered information from previous applicants or successful candidates. No matter how much the academy changes the professors to add randomness, there are limits.》
“I see.”
《You should rest soon, too. You still have more than two days left, so there's no need to overdo it from the start.》
“But what if it's a height that requires us to climb without resting for all three days?”
《If that were the case, far too few people would pass at the beginning. It would undermine the meaning of the first exam.》
“Ah-ha. I suppose that's true.”
Pina nodded, then took a caterpillar-shaped sleeping bag and a suitably sized broad sheet of cloth from her backpack and prepared to go to sleep.
A proper tent would have stood out too much, and setting one up would have been cumbersome as well.
She chose a flat area with almost no incline, spread out the cloth, and placed the sleeping bag on top. Just as she was about to fall asleep,
another candidate suddenly came into Pina's view.
“Huff, huff….”
The other person was someone Pina remembered.
The young man who had lost his belongings because of another candidate earlier.
Because he had continued walking without proper hydration or rest, the young man's face had grown haggard enough to tell at a glance, and even from a distance it was clear that his arms and legs were trembling.
He was about to lie down on the roadside without so much as proper bedding or a scrap of cloth to cover himself. Pina had the feeling that something truly serious might happen if he fell asleep in that condition.
Of course, none of this had anything to do with Pina or Forte.
The young man's misfortune, losing his belongings because of someone else's interference, was unfortunate, but surely even that was part of this entrance exam.
But why was it that
Pina looked strangely restless after seeing him?
“Um, Magic Sword?”
《Why is it?》
“If I help that person, could something go wrong?”
《If trouble is going to happen, it will. For starters, you're helping a potential competitor, and more importantly, just because someone receives help doesn't mean they'll necessarily repay it. They might even shamelessly demand more, acting as if you're in the wrong.》
“R-right.”
Even as she nodded, Pina looked distinctly disappointed.
Forte grew curious and asked her a question.
《Is there some reason you particularly want to help? A sense of duty as the hero's descendant?》
“It's not anything that grand.”
Pina rolled her eyes this way and that, then let out an airy little laugh.
“It's just that it's dark now, so no one will see, and I thought I could quietly hand over a little water and food without making things awkward.”
It was an answer that did and didn't answer the question.
She said she wanted to help, but spoke about the surrounding circumstances rather than her motivation, so it couldn't be helped.
《Well, there should be no harm in it. In the short term, you're helping a competitor, but in the long term, you're making a potentially friendly ally who may attend the academy with you. Besides, whether you'll be repaid for helping is uncertain, but it's certain that you won't be repaid for not helping.》
“Right? Then it'll be okay, won't it?”
With her eyes lighting up, Pina rummaged through her bag and took out a spare water pouch, some food, and a blanket before approaching the young man.
The young man seemed wary when he sensed Pina's presence, but before he could say anything, Pina declared unilaterally.
“Here, if you can use them, please do! If you don't want them, you don't have to!”
Thud.
Scurry!
After setting the supplies down in front of the young man, Pina turned around and hurried away.
The young man looked dumbfounded, as if wondering what this was all about, but soon realized that Pina had disappeared and cautiously reached for the water pouch.
His face remained uncertain only for a moment.
After eagerly gulping down the water, the young man let out a satisfied “Ah!” a little while later.
It was the reaction of someone who could finally breathe again.
The young man bowed his head to thank Pina, who had been sneaking glances at him from afar. Pina awkwardly scratched her cheek, then moved farther away from him and established a new base camp.
《Hmm.》
Forte silently watched the scene.
Then he evaluated it.
Not bad.
Not bad.