1.20.

{Hunters remaining: 6

Hunters won: 65

Total left on field: 200}

/

"W-Wha-wha.."

"Oh, looks like it counts us for the price of one. Nice. Good job, miss mage. I thought I would've been done for..?"

The elf mage who had been targeting Sequencee since earlier saw Leticia fall on her knees.

"Hey, hey?! Are you okay?"

"Haha.. ha.." Leticia muttered indecipherably.

"I see. You got caught up in the mood huh? Surely, that guy was a hard chap to beat. Too bad he didn't join the rest of the defenders, otherwise I wouldn't have had easy prey– well I wouldn't say he was easy.."

"Sorry.. I'm sorry.. I'm sorry.." tears spilt from her eyes.

"Heeh??! What's wrong?! You didn't do anything wrong?! We won right?!" The elf mage panicked and quickly got down to her knees to placate her.

"Those whose badge is now green are the winners of today's appraisal. Everyone, please give them a round of applause!!"

===

'Where is this?'

Sequencee opened his eyes, feeling a prickly sensation all over his body as a gentle green light bathed him.

"Hold on, don't move," the sound of the priestess echoed beside him.

He froze up.

"Don't tense your muscles, please relax."

Sequcencee felt the ground on his back, a cushion supporting his neck.

"Those whose badge is now green are the winners of today's appraisal. Everyone, please give them a round of applause!!" the emcee roared through the speaker.

"Hm.. you have a weird constitution. Your wounds are already healed, are you a half beastkin?" the priestess asked.

"I'm not a beastkin."

While the distant sound of applause rang, the jeers of defeat reverberated amongst the people inside this camp of losers.

"A demi-human then?" the priestess, as if hearing nothing asked Sequencee.

"..."

"Don't worry. It's a common thing around here… there. All patched up. Well.. I don't think I needed to do much healing anyways, here's a temporary shirt. There's a blinder there you can go and change at, I'll go attend to the next patient.."

"..."

"I'm sorry you couldn't make it. Try harder next time is.. the most I can say," the priestess said with a bitter smile.

Sequencee sat up and checked his body. Besides his tattered cloak and shirt, the rest was alright.

He looked towards the chaos of the ring. The ground had been gouged into inexplicable forms, smoke was still rising from some parts of the field, a multitude of forts and obelisks riddled everywhere and the scent of sweat and blood mixed in the air.

'Leticia got in.. right?'

Sequencee got up holding the white shirt that was provided and headed to the partition. This was a makeshift medic bay, and most people here looked incredibly downcast.

He replaced the burnt-tattered shirt with the new one and donned his clock back. Fortunately, it was only burnt at the edges and he could still use it.

'Leticia probably got in. I don't see her inside the med bay.'

He walked to the exit of the tent and saw a staff member there.

"Hand," he said.

'Damn..'

Seuquencee permitted the staff to draw a mark on top of his palm.

He looked back towards the ring and saw the winners standing in lines of 5. Leticia's green hair stood out, she was standing at the front line, some row in the middle.

"So I am to leave now?" Sequencee asked.

"Yes. You are to leave now."

"What about those that won? I have an acquaintance there, so how long will it take for the procedures to be completed?"

"An acquaintance? That depends. Normally it'll take until the evening because several documents need to be signed."

"When can I meet her?"

"After the organizer finishes his speech, you can go talk to her. Don't do anything hurtful," the staff warned.

"I know."

"You can wait up there."

The staff directed Sequencee to the stairs which led to the viewing seats of the Colosseum. It seems Sequencee wasn't the only one who had acquaintances part of the winning group. There were a few people that were also waiting for their friends or comrade who won a spot.

He took a seat further from the rest of them.

'What to do now..'

Gazing towards the field, a sour frown formed on his face.

===

"So the procession ceremony will begin at the end of this week?" Sequencee asked a staff member.

"Yes. So until then, your party member, Leticia, will be staying at the designated dorm provided by the academy," the staff said.

'Okay. That's weird, it's a little different from what the other staff said. Maybe there's some discrepancy in knowledge.'

After the third round, Sequencee was moved out of the colosseum into the academy's first building to wait for Leticia to finish up the final formalities. During the wait, he approached a staff member to clarify a few inquiries he had.

"Thank you for the information."

"My condolences."

"Huh?"

"No I mean.. you weren't able to attain the scholarship with your party member."

'That's what he meant huh?'

"Can I ask how much the normal fee for a full course for Riestallia Academy?"

"I don't have a clear figure. Though I believe it is somewhere around 60,000 G per semester including accommodation. If you don't mind, could I find a representative to answer in detail?"

"Does the academy accept other valuables instead of gold?"

"By other valuables, you are implying?"

"Nevermind. I'll ask the representative about it when I have it prepared. Where can I find a representative if I wish to enrol in the coming days?"

"You can go to the academy office. Ask around the students, they should be able to guide you there."

"I see. Thank you then."

"You're welcome."

"By the way. You're a teacher of this academy, right?"

"Yes, I'm Ryan. Ryan Tnye."

"Right. Thank you Sir Ryan."

'Ryan Tyne. So he's a noble.'

Most commoners don't have family names attached to them. So it was quite surprising to see how Sequencee was being treated with such courtesy.

The doors of the hall flung open.

The people flowed out chattering in a happy tone.

Those that were also waiting for their party members stood up from the lobby and approached their friends.

"Thank you for the talk. I'll be going now," Sequencee told Ryan.

"It's my pleasure. I wish you the best."

Sequencee scanned the crowd when he noticed a shrunken girl with green hair beside that elf mage who tried to kill him– actually, she didn't kill him.

"Ah, it's you," the mage greeted first.

"Congratulations Leticia," Sequencee said.

"..." Leticia kept her eyes down at the red carpet.

"Come on, don't be sad," the mage patted Leticia's shoulders.

"Thanks for taking care of her," Sequencee said.

"Oh, I thought you would be mad because you lost to me?"

"Of course I'm mad."

Leticia flinched at those words.

"How old are you?" The mage asked.

"Is that an appropriate question to ask?"

"Right. Self-introductions first. The name is Nynim Trine, a runaway from home mercenary stuck in C-rank for the past five years. As for my age.. you know it's not polite to know so I'll keep that to myself, hehe."

'She's quite the oddball elf there.'

"I'm Sequencee."

"Oh, that's quite something."

"What was that you used during the fight? How did it slip past my barrier?"

"Oh, you don't know? It's magic coated with antimagic."

'I guessed it. Can't believe I went up against an albino mage– curse my luck.'

"She wants to go to the academy with you, you know? She even thought to reject it just now, so I stopped her of course."

"Leticia, I'm sorry I wasn't able to make it," Sequencee sighed.

'Sorry for being weak.'

"No, it's.. it's not your fault it's mine.." she croaked.

"There, there. Your boyfriend isn't mad at you so there's no big issue right.. hold on. What are your plans now? You just lost a chance of a lifetime. Don't tell me you're just going to let her join the academy while you go off adventuring somewhere?"

"About that. I think I have some idea of how I'm going to join.. I just need to confirm a few things."

"Huh?" Leticia blurted. Her head shot up at Sequencee. "Y-You do?"

"As a last resort. I do."

"H-How?"

"Oh, I'm interested. Are you perhaps rich?"

"I'm not. Well, just call it a whim."

"Ara.. how secretive. Then I'll leave her to you. Till we meet next time Leticia," Nynim waved and then left following the crowd.

Sequencee and Leticia watched her off.

"Well, we better get going. You need to come back here tomorrow morning right?" Sequencee said.

"Un.."

"Let's go back and tell Ro and Lilian the news."

"..."

"It's alright. I'm proud you managed to win a spot okay?"

"..."

'I don't even know how I should feel about this.'