Selection Test

 

First attempts often end in failure.

And not just for those who take on the challenge—

—it goes for those who make others try as well.

 

"Isn't this… practically everyone?"

Seeing the crowd gathered in the courtyard, I couldn't help but let that slip out.

I had sent around a notice: we were starting new research on spirits, so anyone willing to help should gather. In response, quite a number of students had assembled before me.

Right now, twenty-two magi are enrolled at my university and pursuing their research. Each works on their own theme, and some have even taken on apprentices and tackle those themes as a group; strictly speaking, they may be closer to professors than students.

So I figured even if I called for helpers I'd get at most a handful, but when I counted there were nineteen… no, including Yuuka, who was grinning beside me, that made twenty. I had miscalculated completely.

On my other side, Rin, at loose ends and tagging along, was looking the crowd over with interest.I didn't include her in the count since she was no longer enrolled, though.

"See? I told you no one would pass up a chance to work directly with you, big bro."

Yuuka, for some reason, sounded proud of that.

"I'm more curious about the ones who didn't show up."

As always, Rin's perspective was unique.

"The ones not here are, let's see… Innis the Sloth, and Mel, the half-human half-sheep."

"Ah, that figures…"

At my murmur, Yuuka nodded as if convinced. It's rude, but I couldn't exactly blame them; that's just the kind they are. Both are excellent magi, so it's a shame.

"Ahem… everyone, thank you for gathering."

I cleared my throat, looked around at them, and began.

"As I notified you beforehand, lately we've seen a gradual rise in accidents involving rampaging spirits in this village. Against that, we fundamentally lack the means to counter spirits. Therefore, we need to urgently research anti-spirit magic."

I paused to gauge their reactions. A few nodded; the rest seemed to be listening earnestly. Ugh. It weighed on me…

"However, each of your individual projects is also indispensable to the advancement and development of Scarlet. I'm very grateful you gathered like this, but having all of you devote yourselves to this study would be a great loss… So I'd like to ask a select few of you to help."

When I said that, murmurs ran through the group. It was true, but the simple fact was that if there were too many of them, I wouldn't be able to look after them all.

"How will those few be chosen?!"

The one who stepped forward and raised his voice was a young half-wolf man named Ara. He's Luca's nephew, but aside from his silver coat and golden eyes, they don't resemble each other much. His body is lean yet tall, standing around one hundred and ninety centimeters.

With a dignified wolf's lower half to match that height and piercing eyes that could make the faint of heart quake, he could be intimidating. To be honest, for the first few years after we met, I found him a little scary myself. In reality, though, he's a good-natured youth and not violent in the least.

"The judge will be this guy."

Before I could answer, Yuuka spoke a spell. Wind gathered in a whirling vortex, turning white as snow and ice drew together into the shape of a small snowman.

"The primordial spirit — Jack Frost…!"

Gasps rippled through the crowd at the sight. Anyone living in Scarlet knew of Jack Frost, the legendary spirit. He was born long before spirit magic was ever established in this world and has guarded the village icehouse for nearly a thousand years.

These days, magitech devices have become common enough that every household can keep food cold, so the icehouse is no longer used. Even so, Jack Frost still lives there, a favorite playmate of the village children.

"I see."

Ara's rugged features tightened further as he nodded.

"So whoever can defeat Jack Frost gets to receive your instruction directly, Mentor."

Eh? Is that how it works?

"That's right."

Yuuka nodded with absolute confidence. So that was the plan… Though even if they couldn't defeat him, I would have been satisfied if they found some approach that seemed effective…

At present, the only effective countermeasures we knew to work against spirits were: to eat them, to rename them, or to master the sword. Yuuka's view is that all three are "beyond ordinary people."

Honestly, I had no idea what to do, so my thought was that it would be enough if we could at least see some kind of direction. But seeing Ara's burning eagerness, it was too late to say that now.

"Alright, then — let's go in syllabary order. Ara, want to give it a try?"

"Yes, Mentor. I will meet your expectations!"

Ara clenched his fist and nodded, then leaned forward like a dog about to spring and faced Jack Frost.

"Ready… begin!"

Once everyone had stepped back to the walls to clear a space to fight, Yuuka swung her arm down.

"O red and hot, fierce flame that burns all — come to my hand and strike that one!"

Ara made the first move. A straight lance of fire shot from his outstretched palm.

Jack Frost watched it with emotionless, jet-black eyes, then calmly opened his mouth. A furious blizzard roared forth, engulfing Ara in an instant. His flames had been quite hot, but it meant nothing; he and the fire were frozen over together. It was over in a heartbeat.

"Yeah. Fire is actually a bad move against Jack Frost. Okay, next."

Yuuka hefted the frozen Ara and set him beside me. Rin created a large volume of water and held it aloft, and I heated it into hot water to thaw Ara out.

"I… lost, didn't I…"

"There, there. Round two will come right away."

As Ara muttered in frustration and hung his head, Rin patted his shoulder to console him.

"… Round two?"

Ara looked up suspiciously — and beheld a scene you could almost call a massacre.

"… Brutal."

"Even so, looks like he's holding back a lot."

I grumbled as I kept producing more hot water, while Yuuka ferried one frozen student after another. I finally felt, viscerally, what she meant when she said humans can't beat spirits.

Humans need to chant when using magic. Of course you can cast without a chant, but the power is on a different level. Spirits, meanwhile, can create phenomena far stronger than human magic with chants — without any chanting or movement at all. It's like my fire breath when I'm in dragon form. Before you even get to the question of whether your attacks are effective, you're lacking in both power and speed. As I watched, the line of those waiting for their turn dwindled away, replaced by a row of students turned into ice statues.

"Huh? What are you all doing?"

"Wow, Ara, you're soaked!"

We turned at the voices that reached us just as the first round finished to see a conspicuous duo.

Lounging sloppily on a single-seat sofa floating lazily in midair was Innis, who fully lived up to the epithet "Witch of Sloth." Petite like a child, she wore her hair so long it exceeded her own height, making her look like some kind of plant.

Beside her stood Mel, a half-human half-sheep girl with a sheep's lower body and a human upper body — long, fluffy white hair and a chest so large it drew the eye regardless of gender.

They were the two students who hadn't come. Like the others, they each had their own rooms in the school building, so either they happened to pass by, or they heard the commotion and came to take a look.

"If I defeat that, I earn the honor of researching alongside Mentor. Don't stop me, Mel!"

"Eeh, but you'll catch a cold if you stay like that."

Shaking off Mel's attempt to stop him, Ara headed out for his second bout.

"Ahhh… There was a notice posted, right? Something about spirits… So that was today."

Innis rolled over on the sofa and watched Ara's fighting with a disinterested air.

"Huh? What's that? There was something like that?"

Tilting her head, Mel apparently hadn't even noticed the posted notice.

"You two want to give it a try as well? I'm curious how you'd handle it."

"No. Too much trouble."

When I tried to bring them in, Innis answered immediately with a yawn and rolled over again.

"If you'll help with my research, I'll exempt you from the quarterly reports."

"… Really?"

I tried it on the off-chance, and Innis lifted her face without shifting from her sprawling posture. I have the students compile and present their results in a report four times a year. Hypocritical as it is of me to say, it's a very tedious task. Innis seemed to particularly hate it and always ended up turning hers in right at the last minute. But if I'm in a position to directly check their research step by step, we can do without such reports.

"If you can beat that one."

Yuuka pointed at Jack Frost as she said it.

"That's easy."

Innis gave the spirit of snow and ice a sidelong glance and said it just like that.