Chapter 33
Erna couldn’t understand Lanze’s attitude.
When she first met Lennart, Lanze was so overly friendly it bordered on clingy, but with Heine, who was far more polite, she kept her distance.
As Erna puzzled over the different treatment, she came to a distasteful conclusion.
‘Could it be… because of his face?’
Though Heine was considered handsome, he wasn’t jaw-droppingly so. If Lanze had particularly high standards, maybe he simply didn’t find Heine appealing.
Erna began to feel increasingly uneasy.
‘I really should keep them apart.’
She had been thinking of giving up, thinking her efforts were pointless, but now the idea that Lanze might actually start dating Lennart scared her.
She didn’t particularly hate Lennart, but as an older sister, she couldn’t help but dislike any man hovering around her younger sibling.
So deep in ominous thoughts, Erna completely forgot about the upcoming test.
Meanwhile, Lanze was busy racking her memory.
She hadn’t cared much back then and had always been on poor terms with her peers, so she couldn’t remember much about Heine now.
There had been too many classmates with bad reputations to brush it off lightly.
There was one guy who insulted Ludea—whom she believed was her mother at the time—so she beat him up, and another idiot who got expelled after causing trouble.
If Heine was one of that kind, she needed to be careful not to get too close.
‘I should’ve memorized at least a few names.’
She had lived ignoring those around her to save brain power, and now it was causing her problems.
As the sisters were lost in their thoughts, the time for the test approached.
“Applicants, please gather over here!”
At the examiner’s call, the two snapped back to reality.
“Is everyone here? Once we finish the final check, the test will begin. Let me go over the instructions one more time…”
Unusually, the examiner wasn’t military personnel but from an external scholarly organization invited for this test.
The applicants were still full of anxiety and doubt, but since they’d resolved to go through with the test, they followed the instructions.
They received a tracking spell for assessment, were handed rifles, and entered the barrier zone.
Beyond the isolated field was a small forest. The boundary between the test area and the outside world was clearly visible. Thin rays of light from a central point in the sky formed a dome around the field like a giant birdcage.
“This test site includes both a field and a portion of the forest. The barrier will not be lifted until all summoned beasts have been defeated.”
After reiterating what had been said outside, the examiner led the applicants to their assigned positions. Lanze was the first to follow.
“They’re even handing out live rounds… something’s off.”
Erna, standing close beside her, whispered nervously.
“You’ve practiced shooting before. If you’re scared, just stay still. I’ll protect you.”
“But this is a test. What if I get disqualified for doing nothing?”
“As long as you don’t do anything obviously stupid, you’ll pass. If they grade too harshly, they won’t fill their quota.”
Though the role of battle mages had always been ambiguous, they served a vital function in special operations. The army needed to train a set number each year.
Even though they kept their voices low, the applicants were close enough that many overheard the conversation. Lanze’s reasoning seemed sound, and most hoped everything would go as she said.
But things took a very different turn from Lanze’s expectations.
Bang!
It started with a single gunshot—absurd and abrupt.
“<Shield of Yanis!>”
Lanze chanted just a half-second earlier.
Though she’d become a bit rusty, she hadn’t missed the subtle sound of a bolt sliding into place.
Right before the trigger was pulled, her spell activated, and a solid barrier blocked the bullet.
The shooter was one of the applicants.
“What are you doing?!”
Someone shouted in horror. The others were equally stunned.
Shielding Erna behind her, Lanze quickly located the examiner.
‘Did he know about this?’
Though visibly tense, the examiner’s face remained composed—as if he had expected this.
Could this be the source of the unease both Erna and she had sensed?
Lanze rapidly assessed the situation.
One clear enemy. One person who likely foresaw this. The rest—unclear.
But she couldn’t maintain her focus for long.
Boom. The ground trembled beneath her.
Everyone else felt it too.
“Ahhh…!”
A scream rang out faintly amid the violent tremors.
In a moment that defied human comprehension, reality warped repeatedly—flipping upside down and then returning to normal.
Lanze forced herself to move. As the shaking ceased, she realized:
The applicants, the examiner, Erna, and the shooter were all scattered in disarray. It was as if someone unfamiliar with chess had tried and failed to reset the board.
‘No way…’
Her instincts leapt ahead of logic.
Between her and the shooter, the sky cracked open softly. Beyond the tear was pitch-black darkness.
The proof of an unwelcome conclusion.
“This can’t be happening…”
The examiner, too, had realized it. His face went pale.
The spatial distortion and tremors were side effects of a summoning ritual. But the creature meant for this test shouldn’t have caused such a reaction.
A powerful magical beast was forcing its way into the barrier.
Lanze quickly grasped the situation, unlike the stunned examiner. The shooter, however, dismissed the change—he prioritized completing his mission, believing it would fix everything.
He pointed the gun at Lanze—who stood directly in front of him.
What he didn’t realize was that Erna was right behind him.
The spatial shift had scattered them without intent, but it created an unexpected outcome.
After months of training, Erna had developed enough strength to put her arms and shoulders to proper use.
Thwack!
She grabbed the rifle barrel and struck the back of the man’s neck. Not a single sound of warning.
And she didn’t stop there.
She kicked the back of his knee, and as he stumbled, she slammed the rifle stock into his exposed head.
“Ah.”
Heine, standing nearby, let out a small sound of admiration.
For a brief moment, silence fell across the area.
Lanze, who had been preparing a spell without chanting; the examiner, dazed by the chaos; and the stunned applicants—none could find words.
Even Erna was speechless. Not from regret.
Though she was gentler than her sister, she wasn’t naïve enough to feel guilty for attacking someone who fired first. She could leave that guilt for later.
For now, she was simply stunned. She hadn’t expected this kind of strength.
“Erna!”
Lanze rushed over, leaping over the groaning man and grabbed her sister by the shoulders. Her tone was a mix of praise, gratitude, and warning.
“The summoned beast is coming.”
“What?”
“We have to move!”
The ground began trembling again.
Erna tossed aside the damaged rifle to lighten her load.
“W-Where should we go?”
Escape was impossible with the barrier in place. And judging by the examiner’s condition, they couldn’t expect help.
“To the forest!”
Lanze shouted loud enough for everyone to hear, then took the lead. The forest was the furthest from their current location and offered cover.
However, the sight of the examiner sprinting ahead of everyone was beyond belief. A few students couldn’t hold back their curses.
“That bastard!”
He was the only official there, and safety was supposed to be part of his responsibilities.
Despite the cursing and resentment, the applicants followed and ran toward the forest.
Lanze turned back briefly while pulling Erna forward.
From the rift, long white strands—like paper or cloth—slithered out.
They moved gently, more like tentacles than arms, and coiled around the fallen shooter.
From afar, the movement looked graceful, but the grip was terrifyingly strong—it lifted the man easily into the air.
“Ugh… aaaaagh!”
The whimpers turned into screams as nerves snapped.
As the wound in the sky widened and the main body emerged, Lanze turned her head away. It wasn’t something she wanted to see.
The beast swam leisurely over the open field, seemingly satisfied with its prey. The rift had sealed, and the summoning was now stable.
“At least… it doesn’t seem to be heading for the forest.”
Peeking out from behind a tree, Heine reported.
“We don’t know how long that’ll last.”
Lanze answered flatly while counting heads.
“Ten, eleven, twelve… okay, aside from the one who got eaten, everyone made it.”
Technically, checking attendance was the examiner’s job, but he was still stuck in a state of shock.
“Why… why me…”
The examiner was curled up between the roots of a tree, unmoving.
“Explain yourself!”
Suddenly, one of the applicants grabbed him by the collar and shouted.
“You’re the examiner! You must’ve been in on it with that bastard! Tell us what the hell is going on!”
Another student pulled the angry one’s arm down—not out of concern for the examiner, but because she was being too loud.
“Calm down, Ribe. Don’t yell.”
“Why not?!”
“If you’re loud, that thing might come here.”
Though they didn’t know much about the summoned beast, assuming it responded to sound was only logical. Ribe—who looked no older than seventeen—relented but didn’t release the examiner.
Now forced to come to his senses, the examiner glanced around wildly and then pointed accusingly at Lanze and Erna.
“This is all their fault!”
No one, including the sisters, took his words seriously.
Sensing that his explanation was lacking, he hurried to elaborate.
“We were told to make sure those two didn’t pass! Our academy needed a test field, so we just… cooperated! The assassin wasn’t my doing—it was another group…!”
No one redirected their anger over such a pathetic excuse. The applicants were sixteen or seventeen at most, but their maturity far surpassed that of the examiner.
“So you’re saying… you knew someone dangerous would be among us. And that a monster like that could appear.”
Ribe growled in a low, threatening voice.
The examiner, likely only in his early twenties, shrank under the pressure of a teenage girl. He shook his head furiously, scrambling for excuses.
Time for the power of impromptu friendship and teamwork!