Chapter 4: 4

In front of the new students gathered in the lecture hall, the voice of the Principal echoes confidently.

“Let’s begin the spring [event]. As you all know, this is an opportunity for mutual self-introduction. From now on, you new students will be transferred to various locations within the Academy with second and third-year students. Some students will be sent to the roof, some to the lake, and some to the kitchen. Each person can only bring one item. Second and third-year students can use Phantom Beasts.

There is a goal somewhere in the Academy. There are hints about where it is.

There are imposters mixed in among the students. Some of the teachers have copied the appearance of one of you new students. They will either help or hinder you depending on whether they like you or not. If you can identify the imposter, there will be a reward.

The deadline is 9 hours until sunset. Be sure to figure out whether the person you meet is trustworthy, cooperate or sometimes part ways, and aim for the goal faster than anyone else.”

Sounds of swallowing saliva can be heard from all around. Suddenly, a magic circle appeared at my feet, shining and distorting space and time, cutting and connecting it.

In the midst of being surprised, the Principal’s face was wrinkled with a smile.

“Well, do your best.”

That’s right, I’ll put a defensive spell on myself so I won’t get hurt. To make you feel at ease.

With the Principal’s final words, I closed my eyes tightly, unable to endure the rapidly changing world around me.

***

When I opened my eyes, I found myself in a forest. The sensation was only one second, but I couldn’t help being amazed at the size.

“…huh. Where is this place… could it be the [Herb Forest]?”

As far as I could see, there didn’t seem to be anyone around. Since I didn’t know where I would be sent, I had memorized the map of the academy. The forest was gloomy, with tall trees and many low-lying plants. It looked like it was the eastern area.

In fact, the strategy book didn’t mention what I was doing during the [spring]. The villainess Rebecca doesn’t appear until after [spring] is over. So I didn’t know where I would be sent.

But, I knew where the goal was. I wanted to head there first, but before that, I focused my eyes on my own body.

“…Ah!”

I could faintly see something other than defensive magic on my body.

This is bad!

As soon as I realized the situation, I began running through the forest in the direction of the slope without making too much noise, but quickly.

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This is one of the [hints] that the principal mentioned. It’s about the magic that was randomly applied to a few of the new students.”

There are three ways to find out the content of these hints. One is to make the person who is under the spell unable to fight. Another is to make them surrender. And the third is to take them to a completely dark place. Only one person who has achieved any of these for each hint-giving person can check the hint.

Out of these, the existence of the third method is not recognized by most people. The content changes every year, and this year it happens to be [darkness]. It doesn’t matter if it’s a storage room, a cave, or a cloak, as long as it’s dark, the characters will appear and the hint can be obtained peacefully. It seems that people with deep knowledge of magic can read the magic formation, and there have been patterns such as [in water] or [making a specific pose], depending on the year.

However, the third method, which has low recognition, is that the hint-giving person is basically chased by other students and falls into a fate of being unable to fight.

In addition, I don’t have much talent for magic, so I can barely make out the characters by staring hard, but it seems that if you have strong magic power, you can feel the hints more easily. Even from a distance, you can sense that [there is a hint over there].

Oh, what bad luck! Now that it’s come to this, it’s dangerous to stay in one place. It’s better to move constantly. Maybe it’s fortunate that I was sent to this place, because if I had been sent to an open place, I might have been found out right away.

I grasped my only possession, a short sword, tightly. Each player is only allowed one tool. I chose this one.

The game’s Rebecca isn’t particularly strong in magic or physical abilities, but I think I can at least protect myself. It’s because my mother taught me from a young age. In the past, it was unusual for a noble lady to learn knife techniques instead of magic or swordsmanship, but now it makes sense. My mother saw that this was the most suitable for my nature.

As I run down the slope, I think that the information I obtained from the strategy book is really useful. Of course, it’s just cheating, but I had decided to use it without hesitation in order to survive and resist the scenario.

And now, there’s one more thing I know. In this event, [enemy character] Ouka will appear.

Ouka is a noble young man who was sealed by the Principal about 20 years ago. He was apparently a student at this Academy. He’s a man who was interested in developing forbidden magic as a hobby and was like an incarnation of evil. The seal has weakened and he appears as a spiritual body throughout the year to cause trouble.

He’s probably going to be interested in the protagonist’s rare magic power in the [spring] and try to contact them. There’s no harm in letting him be, and there’s no guilt. The protagonist is probably here at this Academy, and he’ll probably think, “Oh, that guy, I wonder what she was” in a suspicious way.

So if you ask why Ouka did such a thing, it’s pointless to ask for any other motivation than that it seemed interesting.

By the way, don’t be surprised, he’s a target for conquest. He’s apparently a [hidden character]. It’s possible to revive him with healing magic after he fell in love with the main character and changed for the better. You can do as you please. Even in that route, my downfall as someone who was causing trouble for the main character would not change. Of course, all of this is confidential information that should be discovered around the end of the story, around winter. The strategy book is the best! Thank you, Mother!

That was when it happened. It was bad that I lacked concentration. My leg got tangled in the grass, and my body floated in the air. In that unique sensation of floating, blood drained away quickly.

My foolishness, oh, I’m falling!

“Kyah!”

“Huh?”

“Whoa, watch out!”

Two bodies caught me. Two male students suddenly appeared and caught me in a dangerous place, just staring at me with wide eyes.

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