Chapter 25 - I Became the Daughter of the Academy’s Villain

Chapter 25 25 - The One Who Breaks Common Sense <25 - The One Who Breaks Common Sense> Truly, she's a lady lacking in tension. Between score farming and hunting down humans, as if those were not challenging enough, one should also juggle resupplying provisions and tracking down proctors. Faced with such a herculean multitasking challenge, yet she worries about bugs. "Aren't you scared? Besides bugs, that is." "Me? Why would I be?" A sly smirk flickered across Oknodie's puzzled face. "Ah, Giselle is afraid, isn't he? Scared of running in the forest? Or is it that he's worried about failing to farm? Chicken, scaredy-cat, so weak... Ouch!" "That's what you get for poking fun—a taste of your own medicine." His hand moved before he realized it, but he did not harbor much resentment. He had come to understand that the tension had somehow eased. Such a mature child. She calms the nerves of adults around her with preemptive consideration. Perhaps she just wanted to tease, but who can tell? Either way, fear was nowhere in her. It wasn't for no reason that she was top in the first trial. 'I'm not sure if that's a good thing though...' The foundation of confidence is skill. Her skills were honed by an aristocratic 'early education' that bordered on child abuse. Fed hundreds of poisons, taught to dodge and hide from attacks—she was devoid of common sense regarding the life of a child, a human, or even an aristocrat. Yet, therein lies her innocence, which, by remaining intact, pierces the heart of those who look upon her. Teaming up with such a child for the tests actually gives me strength. 'Unless I were just selling tickets, I've never taken the exam myself... but I've got the gist of it.' Advanced tests are a bloody checkpoint where even gold ticket holders get swept away one after another. The other examinees will have a much harder time than Oknodie. "Ugh, the injury I got in the first trial..." "My vision is getting blurry. I've lost sight of the advance party!" While some fall behind and form a group of stragglers, others effortlessly keep pace with the proctor, forming a leading group. 'I suppose the issue lies with that group.' Approximately thirty stragglers, another thirty in the lead. Between them, a middle group of a hundred. Out of 185 examinees, 25 remain. A detachment group emerges that acts independently, aiming solely for resupplying supplies or additional task score. "Aren't they worried about becoming prey?" "They must be confident. Maybe they think they have reliable allies." "Or they're certain of their own skills." Isabel and Son Ocheon are right. Unless it's for resupplying food, you wouldn't go for the score without having something to trust. “Then let’s go too!” "Did you even listen to what we’ve been discussing?" Real concern about becoming prey. "Do you not have confidence?" After all, she's a lady trained to be an assassin. Is there any reason for her to fear a mere exam? It doesn't make sense to worry about protecting such a lady. “I only worried about the little lady.” “That's good. I hate mosquitoes, but if we finish quickly, we’ll get bitten less. Let’s go break those secondary tasks first!” Following the resolute young lady, Isabel reluctantly laughs in the face of challenge, while Son Ocheon chuckles heartily, having anticipated this. Giselle follows them, with a face free of any shadows. After all, he has confidence in himself. * * Supporting characters have their own personalities. This may seem obvious, but the story here refers to the game "Graduating from Luck Academy." Characters with cautious personalities would search for a stick to test the water before crossing a stone bridge. Characters with impulsive personalities would dash across the stone bridge without second thought. Malicious characters not only cross the stone bridge first but might even destroy it afterward. 'Those malicious characters pose a problem.' At first glance, the test might seem open to anyone willing to take on secondary tasks, but those who actually go for it soon realize. Characters with malign tendencies can wreak havoc if they wish. <First come, first served: 10 people> <Catch a White-Tailed Mongoose and submit it to base camp.> If you come late, there’s nothing left for you. Someone may have exchanged the white-tailed mongoose for ten points disguised, or just secured their own and killed the rest to move on. Fortunately, there’s still some leeway before that kind of chaos unfolds. “Everyone must have seen the sign, right?” “We are the instructors stationed at this base camp. The first ten to bring a white-tailed mongoose will each receive ten points.” “The scoring method is simple. The moment one of us instructors takes the white-tailed mongoose, points will be awarded to the submitter’s ticket-watch.” As soon as the instructors finish explaining, the independant examinees spring into action. “What’s a white-tailed mongoose?” “Shouldn’t a monkey-like beastman know about animals?” “I couldn’t possibly know. That kind of thing didn’t live in the forest I grew up in.” At Son Ocheon’s words, Isabel explains with an exasperated look. “They’re like a mix of weasel and rat. Fierce creatures that can even kill snakes, but usually they live in groups to avoid being eaten by monsters.” “Are they strong?” “If we're comparing to a monkey-like beastman over 2 meters tall, are they strong? These little guys are less than 1 meter, really weak.” “I’m not excited.” “Don’t be so disappointed too soon, hmm? White-tailed mongooses are especially elusive and are regarded as the leaders among their group. They are extremely agile.” Ah, she's an adventurer for sure! Her description is spot on. “Oh, is that mongoose over there the one we’re supposed to catch?” “Right.” Just then, an examinee catches a mongoose that was climbing a nearby tree. “Kyaaak!” “Haha, so weak and feeble. Pathetic little creature!” An examinee grabs the mongoose with his hand and bashes it against a tree, knocking it out. Noticing the color of the mongoose's tail, he unmistakably shows his disappointment. “Tsk. Useless.” With a flick, he throws the mongoose aside. I dash over and catch it. “Eh? All that effort for nothing, kid. That’s a brown-tailed mongoose.” “I know!” “Why bother catching it if it’s not white-tailed? And you are... the top scorer, weren’t you?” Examinees around me, who had hunted the brown-tailed mongooses, all looked at me with suspicious eyes. Eek. Did I inadvertently attract too much attention? As I worried about how to deflect their scrutiny, Son Ocheon placed a hand on my head and declared confidently. "Our little Bell-ringer is in the midst of growing up. She'll eat anything that's meat, right?" "Indeed. It's for food then." "Are you treating me like a glutton?!" "What about the glutton who managed to devour a hundred dishes at the buffet in just ten days? Who was it that lived there?" "Ugh. I... I had no choice since there were only ten days!" The examinees join in. "What a glutton." "A big eater." "A food fighter, isn’t she?" "She’s going to get fat for sure. That one will definitely put on weight." Hey, have any of you contributed even one item to my food encyclopedia collection? Why the fuss if you haven't filled a single page in my catalog? "So did you really catch them to eat?" As the uninterested examinees drifted away, I cautiously looked around and replied. "I didn't intend to eat them, but it wouldn't be bad to catch a few more for food while I'm at it." "Oh? Our little lady seems to have a plan." "Please catch more then. If we will use them as a meal replacement, why not generously catch about eight in total?" Mongooses may well assume the role of predators amongst other small wild animals, but to evade humans with buffed stats, they are simply not enough. In an instant, eight mongooses were either dead or knocked out in a row. "I can cook, but isn’t eight a bit too much even for that?" "Don't worry, Isabel. I caught half of them to submit for the test." "For the test? But they’re not white-tailed." "If they're not white-tailed, we'll just have to make them white." "Is that allowed?!" "Why not? Son Ocheon, please smash this tree bark with your spear." When Son Ocheon exerted light force to break the tree bark, white sap started to ooze out. "Wow. You’re a genius?" "I could tell during the ticket exam, but your cleverness is truly exceptional, Oknodie." "Bell-ringer, your resourcefulness is something else." After smearing the brown tails with sap until they were white and bringing them to base camp, the instructors exchanged bewildered glances. "Should we accept this as a white-tailed mongoose?" "This isn’t for us to decide. We should ask the proctor directly." Second trial proctor Minerva. With her Ranger class, she valued quick wits and adaptability in the wilderness. The outcome was as clear as day. "The proctor said she liked the witty attempt. All four of you pass. Award them ten points each." "Heheh." "We did it, Bell-ringer!" "We've caught a break." "Don't relax yet. This is just the beginning." Though we've cleared this by gaming the system, the real problem starts now. How to shake off other examinees aiming for points, especially those with malevolent supporting roles. "Could you step aside briefly? I wish to submit this mongoose." "Ah, yes." While I resorted to a loophole, another examinee who had genuinely caught a white-tailed mongoose exchanged it for points with the instructor. "Then, I'll excuse myself first." "There he is!" "When did he even find and snag a white-tailed mongoose? Forget that, just nab him!" Unlike our group of four, the single examinee working alone became the target of other enthusiastic examinees. The solitary examinee glanced behind briefly and then kicked off a nearby tree, quickly ascending and darting through the branches, disappearing from sight. "Ah, come on..." "What was that..." The examinees with eyes full of frustration, as if dogs who lost their chicken watched it climb onto the roof, turned to look at us. Especially, the most eyes were on Son Ocheon, the monkey-like beastman. "What the hell, you guys. Just because I’m a monkey-like beastman, I have to be able to climb trees?" "Wow. Can’t you climb?" "Of course, I can climb." “……” This guy; he's really insufferable. Author’s note (Afterword) Thank you, Mr. Meerkat, for the donation of 50 coins. I really want a white-tailed sap mongoose plushie.