Proof of Skills (3)

2 PM. After lunch, ninety seniors gathered in the main hall of Baramil Stadium, where the stage was divided like a concert hall.

"We will now start the mini draft."

Chedric, the person in charge, said as he looked around at them.

"Team leaders, please come up to the stage."

Ten team leaders, including Gerkhen Kal Doon, Soliette, and Elise, ascended the stage and took their seats.

"Starting with overall first place, Gerkhen Kal Doon."

The first pick of the first round went to Gerkhen Kal Doon.

At first glance, it might seem fair for the tenth place to have the first pick, and indeed it is, but the college board prioritizes skill over fairness.

"I choose Berrick."

Without hesitation, Gerkhen Kal Doon chose Berrick. Berrick walked out to applause.

He was a man with long hair.

His Prism score was 13th. In ten years, he'd be among the elite, holding a key position in one of Edsilla's big mana-tech companies.

Anyway, if I know his name, he's a competent guy.

"Berrick. Come up to the stage and sit in the chair behind Gerkhen Kal Doon."

"Yes!"

Berrick took his place on Gerkhen Kal Doon's team. He looked quite proud.

"Next, Soliette."

The second pick of the first round was Soliette's.

I suddenly felt nervous. My hands were shaking so much that I quickly put them in my pockets.

"Hoo."

I took a deep breath.

Whether then or now, she's a woman who disturbs my peace.

Just then, she glanced at me. I didn't avoid her gaze. I told her with my eyes that I was confident.

"I choose..."

Soliette opened her mouth.

I had an inexplicable intuition. It felt like she was going to pick me.

It might just be a simple expectation. But-

"Kielli."

"Huu."

Suddenly, I coughed.

...

The mini draft was over.

First round, second round, third round, fourth round.

The draft went around four times in total.

Ten people were picked in each round.

My name wasn't even called as a joke.

-Let's do well. Really.

-I'll work my ass off.

The guys who were picked were full of pride on the stage, and those who weren't picked, like me, just scratched the back of their necks and gave awkward smiles.

-Ah. My condition wasn't good today.

-I was born in the No-Magic Zone. Honestly, isn't the No-Magic Zone useless?

-I don't know. They say it's important.

I didn't feel particularly frustrated or anything. There were 40 people who weren't picked.

Of course, I was a loser among those 40.

"Those seniors who weren't picked will also be given 15 minutes to form teams."

No one looks at me. They avoid my eyes. They even subtly back away when I try to approach.

It's probably because of some network.

Elise.

In fact, the moment she marked me, my school life was pretty much over. Not just in Endex, but in a year or two, the social circles of Edsilla's capital will fall into her hands, so my social reputation is already fucked.

—So, we're a team of six?

—Sounds good, right? Our balance is just right. What's your GPA?

—Hey, hey. We're just average among the 40. Let's just do it with the four of us.

—Shouldn't we push with our side numbers?

—That's overkill. Let's just pick about 20.

The outcasts were chattering among themselves, but I was alone. It didn't seem like anything would come from forcing myself into their conversations.

"15 minutes have passed. Submit your teams."

Time was up, and Chedric spoke. The outcasts all tried to ascend to the stage—

"Choose a team leader and only they should come up."

Chedric stopped them. The ones on the stage snickered, and the outcasts below resumed their discussion.

—Hey, then you be the team leader.

—No, why?

—Just do it. There might be bonus points.

Having no choice, I stepped forward first. I ascended the stage and looked at Chedric. Behind Chedric, the eyes of the 'regular teams' selected through the draft focused on me.

Chedric asked, "Shion Ascal. Your team?"

"I submit."

"Are you alone?"

"Yes."

Pfft—

Someone snickered at that moment. It was Layla. She twisted her hair and avoided my gaze.

Chedric wrote my name on the file.

"Team number 11, Shion Ascal confirmed. Go down."

______________________________________________________________________

A total of eighteen teams were confirmed. Ten regular teams, eight outcast teams. Most of the outcast teams consisted of 4-6 members, and of course, I was alone.

Is this… the loneliness of a one-man army?

"I will announce the group assignment."

Clap—! Chedric clapped his hands. Ninety pairs of eyes focused on him. The sound of swallowing was loud.

Chedric spoke without hesitation.

"It's an exploration."

Exploration. At the same time, groans erupted here and there.

Quite an annoying assignment.

"Somewhere in Edsilla, there are several regions with different characteristics artificially created by the university association. You have to explore there and write an 'exploration report'."

Correction.

It's not just quite annoying, but incredibly annoying. Exploration are annoying enough, but what's with the report?

"There are a total of 10 exploration sites."

Chedric projected ten landscape photos into the air. They were labeled [A], [B], [C], [D], [E]… in alphabetical order.

A was a foggy mountain, B was a deserted island, C was a jungle, D was a desert, E was a swamp, and so on.

"Also."

Snap—! Chedric flicked his finger. Then, thick envelopes floated up and were delivered to the team leaders, ten per team.

Ten envelopes also landed on my arms. The letters A, B, C, etc., were written on the surface.

"Inside envelope A, there are two magic formulas related to exploration area A. One is a magic formula that will tell you the coordinates of the exploration area, and the other is a magic formula containing the key to enter there. The same goes for envelopes B, C, and so on. You have to choose an exploration area, decipher the magic formula, and find the exploration site yourself."

It seems like 'finding the assignment area is also part of the assignment' is a cliché.

"Meet up by 9 a.m. on Friday. If you can't find it, you fail."

I suppressed a sigh that was rising to my chin.

"My Magic skills are still at middle school level, how am I supposed to solve this?

—…Soliette. What should we do?

Suddenly, a name pierces my eardrums. A voice calling Soliette as if they were close friends.

My eyes turned in that direction.

It was 'Kielli'.

First round, second pick. In other words, Soliette's first choice.

It's not like that was supposed to be my spot.

But it bothers me for some reason.

Jealousy… perhaps.

I admired her, and loved her.

Of course, the Soliette of the future and the Soliette of now are completely different people. They shouldn't be the same.

—I'll take care of it.

—Hey. You still need to gather with your team members.

Soliette is talented in almost every field. Swordsmanship, magic, magic formulas, even finance including stocks and real estate.

—Yes. After we gather, I'll take care of it.

Because of this, she has a habit of trying to do everything on her own.

"Today ends with team selection. Since the assignment starts on Friday, there will be no assignments on Wednesday."

It's a relief to hear that. The unexpected break brought a strange smile to the other seniors.

Chedric said as he put files into his document bag.

"Let's start the group assignment."

Whoosh——!

At that moment, all the teams rushed out of the stadium. A few glanced at me, alone, with a mix of pity and amusement, but only for a moment. In just one minute, all 89 of them disappeared.

Only Chedric and I remained in the stadium.

"..."

I looked at Chedric without a word. Chedric seemed slightly conscious of me, but soon packed his bag and left.

I let out a pointless yell.

"Ah——"

——Ah.

The echo reverberated in the stadium.

In such a vast place, there's only me.

Just me.

A group assignment without group members.

It starts today.

______________________________________________________________________

Back at my temporary residence, I'm studying. It's the last chapter of [Magic for Mages, Middle School-Level Magic Comprehension].

Fortunately, the discipline of Magic can be learned. At least I won't forget a formula I've seen once, thanks to the 「Notepad」.

Ah, don't get me wrong.

It doesn't mean I'll never forget something I've seen once.

It means I can 'Load' it by consuming magic power.

Just like how I can bring in a Memory like Perion with the 「Notepad」, I can also recall a pure Memory.

Can't remember a formula you've definitely studied?

Just bring in that Memory with the 「Notepad」.

My 「Notepad」 keeps a Memory of all the experiences I've had.

"This is doable."

As a result, I successfully finished reading [Magic for Mages, Middle School-Level Magic Comprehension].

I guess I'm at least at middle school level now.

Hmm.

I took out the magic formulas from the envelope I received today. One pair of magic formulas per exploration site, a total of 20 magic formulas.

I have to choose one of these ten places.

"...I don't understand any of it."

All the magic formulas are still foreign languages to me. No, they're not even a language, they're just patterns. Damn complicated patterns.

He gave up after staring intently.

After all, he was only at the level of a middle school student. He could barely interpret magic formulas, let alone magic spells. This was even a group project's magic spell, a problem of almost college level that could only be solved by putting several heads together.

"Ugh."

Having tossed aside the magic spell, he picked up a landscape photo of the exploration area.

Of course, he couldn't tell anything from such a landscape. If he could, that would be a problem error.

"…Wait. This."

But, this exploration area [A].

A mountain covered in fog.

Looking at the fog and the mountain here, he felt a growing sense of incongruity. Something seemed to be on the tip of his tongue, and his chest felt heavy.

Was it a memory from before his regression? But at this time, he had been lying in a hospital bed. There was no way he could have any meaningful memory.

Therefore, he didn't know what caused this sense of incongruity.

Instead, the 「Notepad」 might know.

"…"

He closed his eyes quietly. Slowly, he summoned the memory of the 「Notepad」. As if searching for a file in a folder, he limited the period to 'March 2013', just before his regression.

There would probably be no or faint memories of having 'seen' something directly around that time. He had been lying blankly, looking out the window for three months after being diagnosed with Cancer of the Magic's Core. He had been a corpse since then.

…However.

[Last night, there was news of a 'magic phenomenon' occurring during the college board process.]

Apparently, the sense of memory that the 「Notepad」 has is not only 'sight'.

[We have a reporter on the scene. Reporter Elaine, please tell us the situation.]

The anchor's voice playing in his ears.

The memory of 'sound'.

Hearing.

[Yes. This is the artificial fog mountain in the Parascale region, where the college board project was carried out. Yesterday at 9 PM, there was a commotion when a level 5 magic phenomenon, Dispel, occurred during the college board process…]

He had 'heard' news related to this college board.

[The beasts in the caves and underground couldn't accept the sudden change in the atmosphere and jumped out, threatening not only the seniors who were in the middle of the project, but also the residents of the city…]

[Fortunately, it was resolved without any casualties and remained at the level of a happening, but a mandrake was found during the suppression operation…]

[Next news. A monster was found near the fog mountain of Parascale and was killed…]

At that moment, his eyes popped open.

Mandrake.

Forget about the monster or the fact that there were no casualties, mandrake.

A crazy plant that screams like a madman when pulled out, resembling a human.

"Insane."

Contrary to popular belief, mandrake is not a elixir. It's more akin to poison, or even a drug.

It's expensive.

And it makes money.

"You're mine, damn it."

Mandrake.

Depending on the quality, the price is around 20,000 Ren per 100g on average, but the mandrake of the fog mountain is a whopping 500g.

Even after deducting commission, labor costs, and taxes, it's over 40,000 to 50,000 Ren.

"You're mine, damn it."

I absolutely have to get it.