D-6

[Jessica's Pov]

All the teachers were currently gathered to take part in the sophomores' combat assessments, or at least to see what they were capable of.

After the second year at Ainu, most students wouldn't spend much time at the academy anymore, so it had almost become an unspoken tradition for us to do this, to stand on the other side of the huge glass panel, looking down on the students who tried their best in the testing room.

So far, they had all been quite impressive.

From Brad and Bradley who had shown how potent they would become on a battlefield, to the great range of utility that Anna could provide to the dominating Sebastian.

Unfortunately, no matter how impressive they were, it was still hard for me to fully appreciate how far they had come, as my mind could only continuously go back to the memory of a certain girl approaching me this morning.

'-I want to change my courses, Ms. Turner.'

Though there was no doubt that she was having an extremely hard time after her father passed, I still didn't see it coming at all. Even more so as she was adamant about changing to courses that were meant for mages and spellslingers.

If it weren't for the fact that I did feel bad about her, I would have dismissed her immediately. It was nothing less than folly to believe the academy of Ainu to be so easy that you could just change your specializations after almost half a year.

Yet, I didn't. For some reason, I couldn't just deny her. So I gave her a chance, a chance to prove herself tomorrow during the assessment of the freshmen.

Unlike the sophomore's combat assessment, the freshmen only had to show us the skills and spells that they had learned during their stay here. Thus, I gave her the opportunity to show us something that would convince us to allow her to switch her courses.

'Stella... what are you doing...'

I wasn't sure how to act around her either. If it wasn't for the fact that I was swamped with work, to the point where I could barely even meet up with Nana, I would have absolutely found some time to talk with her. But now, we were in a time where it was hard to say that even Ainu was safe anymore.

So all of the teachers were continuously going through crisis plans, rearranging our schedules and even starting to patrol the vicinity with the guards. And even then, it probably wasn't enough.

Because a certain man had shown us that he was able to infiltrate the academy with ease, even going as far as to live here for several months without us suspecting a thing.

Granted, the way he did it was so incredibly mind-boggling that it would be hard to believe it to be true in the first place. Disguising himself was one thing, but to somehow manage to fool the entirety of the church, the king, the principal, and... me...

'No... that wasn't it... There is no way he would have spent so much time as Zero just for that. Even more so as he didn't even do anything.'

There had to be more to it, something that I couldn't understand, something that I was missing.

Sadly, that wasn't something I could use my time to find out either anymore.

"Next up is Sophie Red!"

Then, Oliver called for a girl that was in many ways quite similar to the boy who disappeared, a girl who seemingly refused to conform to the unwritten laws of Mensch, and also one of our prime suspects of being an accomplice to James.

It couldn't be helped that we suspected her to have somehow helped him. Even before Zero came around, everyone knew she was a good friend of James, even going so far as being the only one who believed him to be innocent until the end.

Adding on the fact that she was seemingly quite close to Zero as well, it was inevitable that she was on our list of suspects. Now, that didn't mean we would immediately persecute her, but she was currently monitored and supervised for most of her days.

"Hmm? Did something good happen, Ms. Turner?"

Accidentally revealing a smile when thinking about what we had seen from her behavior, I quickly waved my hand to the uncannily receptive Mrs. Bright. Because she had done nothing but try to improve herself for these last couple of weeks.

"Ah, it's nothing. I'm just excited about what we are going to get to see from Sophie. Though I heard that she was in a bit of a slump, I've also heard that she was improving quite quickly as of late."

"Hmm... I see. Shall we see if that's the truth then?"

The pink-haired and extremely tall girl had entered the room below us, honoring her academy by wearing our black uniform. Though it had to be said, it seemed to be quite a snug fit on her large, womanly body.

Talking into the microphone on the control panel, Oliver went through the motions.

"Red, are you ready?"

Looking up at the glass panel that we knew she couldn't see through, she just nodded at us, her face already glowing with expectations to perform well.

"Then, we shall have you undergo close combat assessment, level D-6. Prepare yourself."

As soon as his finger left the press-to-talk button, Sir. Aylward, the man responsible for the swordsmanship classes, couldn't keep his silence.

"What are you doing, Mr. Brown?! D-6 is a level for seniors, not sophomores! How will we be able to determine her capabilities if she is just going to get beaten down?"

Contrasting his usually cool mood, the traditionally handsome man wasn't happy about the decision that Mr. Brown had made.

As every student was different, it was obvious to have challenges that differed in difficulty, and it was always up to the teacher responsible for the student to choose what level they would be tested on.

However, despite the harsh words coming from the brown-haired Sir. Aylward, Oliver just stood with his arms crossed, his eyes intent on not missing a single second of the student he had trained care of for more than a year now.

"Just watch."

Following his words, the countdown to start the test started.

[Test starting in:]

[5]

[4]

[3]

[2]

[1]

[Start!]

As soon as the timer reached zero, four circles on the floor and four circles on the roof opened up. Out of these holes, a total of eight dummies were expelled, their metallic luster glistening under the white LEDs on the roof.

Eight dummies all simulating the combat capabilities of high [D]-rank to low [C]-rank. A challenge that should be impossible for all freshmen at Ainu, not to mention almost all seniors. Because it was rare even for seniors to reach [B]-rank before graduating, and this was a challenge suited for students that had reached those heights.

And it showed.

Even though she had instantly transformed her body into that what looked like a half-draconian, she was struggling to fend off the dummies that kept dashing forward, kept launching their attacks in combination with each other to make sure she wasn't allowed to rest.

*BAM!*

Just as soon as one of the dummies was blown away, it was quickly replaced by another, swinging his fist toward the pretty face that just barely managed to dodge. However, instead of opting to take a hit to the face, she was quickly kicked in the back, sending her rolling across the room.

Still, it had to be said, she was fighting extremely well. As she stood up yet again, her legs didn't tremble. No, looking at her again, it almost looked like she was smiling. As if this was something she thought to be fun. And as if to confirm my thoughts that she had merely been playing around, she showed us what she was truly capable of.

*FWOOSH!*

In a surge of blue fire, two scaly wings emerged on her back. In the next second, she dashed forward, successfully catching one of the dummies off guard, and sending it flying with her fist into the wall on the opposite side. And after that, it didn't move anymore.

Not wanting their unliving brethren to have fallen for nothing, six of the dummies had quickly circled the woman, now jumping forward to end the fight once and for all.

"Hupp!"

Yet, what the dummies didn't expect was for her to retreat. No, what they didn't expect was the direction in which she would retreat. Because she jumped upwards, almost looking like she was floating in the air above them thanks to her wings.

"Disappear! [Beam of Fire]!"

Taking a deep breath, it didn't take long until we had to cover our eyes to not get blinded by the extreme light that exited her mouth. From it, an incredibly compressed beam of energy came out, quickly pulverizing the dummies below her who had gotten caught in her trap.

*Tap!*

Landing elegantly on the floor, the girl turned her face to the last standing dummy, a dummy that now looked like it was pale with sweat.

*Crack!*

Similar to a delinquent, Sophie cracked her knuckles as she walked forward with a very devious grin on her face.