For Sale. Fallen Lady. Never Used.

Chapter 24: This Entrance Exam Is Safe (2)

Elisha pressured me to torment Carla, but… there was no reason for me to comply.

It wasn’t because I trusted my own growing strength amid the Academy’s rules or a world facing the brink of destruction within five years.

Elisha would fall on her own.

…You might ask what that meant, but it was the truth.

Just as Carla’s Lindelheit family fell from grace due to charges of social misconduct, Elisha’s Sylvan Magic Tower crumbled for becoming a public enemy of the continent by conducting forbidden research.

By the way, the charges against the Sylvan Magic Tower weren’t false.

The tower’s master and high-ranking magicians really did engage in forbidden research, and as a result, its effects spread beyond the tower, eventually leading to its downfall.

Was it somewhat fortunate that, unlike social misconduct charges, no joint liability applied to forbidden research?

Thanks to this, Elisha, who was at the Academy, could be released without charges after a thorough investigation.

But everything was already burnt to ashes for her.

In the end, Elisha was left in a situation where she couldn’t even afford food, let alone tuition.

The route to recruiting Elisha in H&A was to help her out in this situation.

It didn’t require a lengthy process to build up affection or accomplish special achievements.

You could recruit her from the early stages just by buying her a meal and cheering her on a few times, and even her abilities were good.

She was a companion designed for newcomers!

…However, by now, you might start to get curious.

What was the forbidden magic that the Sylvan Magic Tower conducted? What did they do to cause an entire tower to fall?

It wasn’t difficult to find out, as it was a key event in the game. Surprisingly, it was Spirit Summoning.

“It’s a joke. All the magicians at the Sylvan Magic Tower are composed solely of elves.”

“Right? So be careful, Master. Elves have a strong sense of comradeship, so if Glenchiel asks for help, they won’t refuse. Even if that means harming a complete stranger.”

I found myself muttering, and Carla looked seriously worried.

Gently stroking her platinum-colored hair, Carla’s once rigid face instantly relaxed.

“Hehe…”

Seeing Carla’s relieved expression, I couldn’t help but give a small smile and asked,

“Carla.”

“Yes?”

“What do you think about Spirit Summoning?”

Just like a rabbit that had a carrot taken away after just having a bite, Carla’s face changed abruptly.

“It’s an absolute taboo that cannot be permitted.”

Exactly.

This was the world’s perception of Spirit Summoning.

“S-Surely you, Master, aren’t interested in spirits? You absolutely can’t! Absolutely! If you disappear, I can’t live!”

“Calm down. That’s not it. I was just curious. Besides, look at my ears. Why would I mess with spirit magic when I have perfectly good magic of my own?”

“Phew… That’s a relief. I’ll teach you everything I know about magic, so please don’t even glance at such dangerous things, Master.”

As soon as I showed her my round ears, Carla finally exhaled as if she were relieved.

The reason Carla was easily convinced was simple.

Unless you had elf blood, using regular magic or aura was much more efficient than summoning spirits.

Anyone with a basic magical aptitude could summon spirits, but communicating and controlling them was an entirely different matter.

In practice, spirit magic could be considered the exclusive domain of elves.

… Yes. This knowledge was widespread enough to suggest that spirit magic was a major skill.

Up until 300 years ago.

The War of the Gods.

The core lore of the H&A world. The long and brutal war between the good Gods and the evil Gods.

However, the evil Gods weren’t originally present on the Eurelia Continent.

Some crazed archmage was researching other dimensions and accidentally summoned a foreign God. And they settled in this world, becoming known as evil Gods.

After it was revealed that the root cause of the war, which almost led to the world’s destruction, came from an ‘outsider,’ all forms of summoning magic were deemed taboo.

Spirit Summoning was no exception.

After all, the Spirit Realm was another world; who was to say it wouldn’t accidentally bring calamity just like the evil Gods?

With the prohibition of Spirit Summoning, the existing spirit summoners either terminated their contracts or died refusing to do so.

Since then, elves have focused solely on archery and magic, and the Sylvan Magic Towers were one of the towers born out of that focus.

While it was against an elf’s nature not to summon spirits, it was better this way.

In a world that already fears spirits so much, what would happen if it were known that I came from Earth?

Death penalty. No questions asked.

Even if I claimed to have killed all the evil Gods and prevented the world’s destruction, that fact wouldn’t change.

They’d hang me solely because I came from outside.

…Perhaps even Carla would.

With a bitter feeling, I pinched Carla’s nose for no reason.

“Peong!”

Carla made a strange noise and blinked her eyes in confusion multiple times.

Well…it was only natural for her to be puzzled since her concern for her master was rewarded with a pinch.

However, I had no intention of explaining. This was something that I alone should know, even after witnessing this world’s ending.

With no explanation coming, Carla probably thought she was pinched for no reason.

A touch of injustice and sadness filled her ruby-colored eyes, but what could I do? Such was the life of a slave.

…Still, it felt wrong to only torment her, so I decided to give her another carrot.

“Carla.”

“Yeah.”

With her lips protruding and making a snorting sound, I pointed towards the front.

“Once the test is over, shall we go eat something delicious?”

“…Yes?”

Carla, who had been holding my hand, widened her eyes in surprise.

“Well, why not? You’ve been teaching me magic along the way, and although we got sidetracked by the guard, you did make a good core. So I promised to buy you something delicious, remember?”

“……”

“You know the area around the academy better than I do, Carla. So start thinking now about where you’d like to eat. Don’t worry about the cost.”

Upon hearing my words, Carla stared blankly at me for a moment, then broke into a wide smile and hugged me.

“Master!”

As if that wasn’t enough, she even rubbed her face against the side of my neck.

“Master! Master! Master!”

Her voice overflowed with affection.

Elisha had just been here, drawing a lot of attention our way. Carla hugging me like this only made us stand out even more.

Most of these people would probably fail the entrance exam, so I didn’t really care, but still.

“Master is so shy!”

“Me? Shy?”

What was she talking about?

“Exactly! You’re saying you don’t want to punish Glenchiel, but you’re going around it by giving a reward instead.”

“……?”

That wasn’t my intention. What did Carla seem to think of me?

“Hehe… how merciful my Master is. You don’t know how fortunate I feel to have you as my Master.”

Carla laughed softly, as if she were the happiest person in the world.

Seeing her like that, I couldn’t resist the growing urge to play a prank on her, so I gently pushed her away.

With sparkling eyes, Carla looked up at me, and I raised the corners of my lips.

“Actually, not really.”

“…Huh?”

“A reward is a reward, and a punishment is a punishment. Be prepared for tonight.”

“……!”

Carla’s focus shook as if there had been an earthquake.

Just as I was about to add that it was a joke, I saw her look like she had been betrayed by something she had trusted.

“Next applicant! Yandel, please come to the examination area!”

“Ah, yes!”

Since it was my turn, I decided to go take the exam first.

For some reason, Carla, who had a forlorn look in her eyes as if she had lost her nation, accompanied me to the examination area.

Perhaps they were waiting in advance, but the examiner holding a stack of documents muttered something and then spoke up.

“The test will take place up there, so you have to wait here… Carla?”

“Ah… Professor Meikin, long time no see…”

“Carla, how did you end up back at the Academy? And why do you look so… Ah, I see.”

The middle-aged woman, who was the examiner and apparently a professor, nodded as she alternated her gaze between the slave mark engraved on Carla’s neck and me.

I didn’t expect the examiner to be someone Carla knew.

“Carla? You know this person?”

“Yes, Master. When I was a student at the academy, she was the professor of the Enchantments Department, which I took as a minor.”

“Ah, I see?”

Somehow, judging by the atmosphere, this wasn’t just a casual acquaintance. It seemed like a fairly deep relationship.

Ah, so she was a former teacher.

But I’d never heard the name Meikin before.

If it were some unnamed extra character, that would be one thing, but how could there be a named professor that I didn’t know?

Ah, could it be?

The tutorial… I mean, if this was related to the chaotic incident of the fusion test site attack, where people either died or suffered serious injuries and had to withdraw from the front lines, then it made sense that I wouldn’t know about her.

As I was nodding, considering that it was much more plausible than the idea that I forgot about a professor, an awkward tension still hung between Carla and Meikin.

“……”

“……”

Meikin looked at Carla with a complex expression for a while.

Meanwhile, Carla hung her head as if she had done something wrong.

…I didn’t like it.

I had told her not to worry about how other people would react, and yet she was acting like this.

It couldn’t be helped with Elisha since she picked a fight, but this wasn’t like that.

So I lightly slapped Carla’s behind.

Smack!

“Yelp!”

“What are you spacing out for? I have to go to the exam area alone, so you sit there, Carla.”

“Ah, yes! Understood, Master.”

“Don’t follow anyone who offers to buy you tasty food.”

“I only eat food that my Master allows. Because my body and soul belong to you, Master.”

“What if someone claiming to be my friend asks you to come with them?”

“You don’t have friends, Master. It’s definitely a lie, so I’ll keep waiting for you here as you ordered.”

“Good. Well done.”

“Hehe….”

When I tickled her chin as a sign of praise, Carla beamed as if she had never been gloomy.

She had become considerably more obsequious since she said she wanted to look good in my eyes.

Once I saw Carla return to her usual mood and sit in a nearby chair, I turned my head.

“Examiner? Do I just go up there?”

Pointing to the small stage in front of me, Meikin nodded.

Then, with a look as if she were staring at some indescribable garbage, she explained how the test works.

“…Yes, that’s correct. As soon as you go up, the test will begin. You just have to defeat the illusory monsters that appear. We evaluate the applicant’s talent in various ways, so it’s okay if you don’t defeat the monsters. Of course, you’ll get extra points if you do.”

She emphasized the word ‘defeat’ strangely.

Too much, really. I was a good Master, after all.

Well, the earlier scene could lead to some misunderstandings.

I couldn’t explain every detail, so I shrugged it off and went up to the examination area.

The opponent might not be a real monster, but this was my first battle after learning magic.

This was part of H&A’s main storyline despite being a tutorial.

Because of the damn unskippable parts, I looped through this tutorial several times… Surely, I won’t be disqualified in one go, right?

“Let’s do it.”

The higher the class I was assigned to, the better.