While Frondier was facing Binkis alone, after sending Aten and Quinie away,
The atmosphere on Aster's side was unfolding quite differently.
"…Where is the 'victim' role?"
Aster was covertly observing the area where Teacher Jane was located.
Thanks to Elodie, they had found the location of the teacher playing the 'monster' role, but the student playing the 'victim' role was nowhere to be seen.
Jane stood quietly, looking around with a relaxed expression on her face.
"We need to attack."
Aster made up his mind.
If this were a real situation.
Aster had discovered the monster, and the monster had not yet noticed Aster.
Surrounding and dealing with the monster at once was the right move.
Even if the 'victim' role somewhere around here were taken hostage, Aster would be faster at this distance.
Elodie and Theo were surrounding Jane from different positions. It had been decided beforehand that Aster would lead the charge.
"Okay, it's too flashy, so I'll have to give up on hiding."
Divine Power Release
Guardian of Radiance and Justice
Baldur
Aster charged forward the moment he released his divine power.
Aster, enveloped in white light, resembled a charging lion.
However.
"Stop, Aster."
That voice wasn't Jane's. It came from Aster's right.
Of course, Aster wasn't the type to stop just because someone said so. But curious about who had spoken, he glanced sideways.
And that made Aster stop.
"…What is this?"
Aster truly couldn't comprehend and asked that question.
In front of him was Azier.
A mission that was already difficult with just Jane, now had Azier as well.
Moreover, Azier was holding Theo in his arms.
Theo, who was on the same team as Aster, had become a hostage in an instant.
"Why so?"
Azier said with indifferent eyes.
"Just one more monster to deal with."
Aster listened to Azier's words,
And truly thought it was nonsense.
* * *
"So, it was calculated from the start?"
"Exactly. The teachers clearly know where each team is located."
Eden Hamelot's question. The one who answered was Ellen.
After Eden took Ellen as an intern, the two had formed a relationship similar to that of a master and disciple, acting together.
"So, the teachers are intentionally placed near each team. The teacher who would be the most challenging for that team takes on the role of the 'monster.' In other words, the students are each facing their own 'imagined natural enemy.'"
"That's why the alarms go off simultaneously. It naturally distances the first-year teams from each other."
"Right. Anyway, since it's a competition, it's unlikely for the first-years to suddenly form alliances. They'd aim to tackle the nearest alarm and move on to the next. That must have been what the first-years were thinking."
"......But the reality is, They won't be able to solve even a single mission."
Hearing Ellen's explanation, Eden was both amazed and disgusted by Constel's malicious nature.
It's set up so that the team resolving the most alarms scores the highest, but in reality, the tasks assigned to the students are impossible to complete.
In essence, this practical exam is designed for the students to fail.
The original purpose was to teach them 'failure.'
"How do you know all this?"
"I experienced it myself. Last year."
"So, you also failed the practical task you were given?"
"Nobody succeeded. The purpose was to make it impossible from the start."
Ellen said this calmly. Aten asked, puzzled by her tranquility.
"Aren't you angry? The teachers deceived the students and forced them into defeat."
"But thanks to that, I became stronger."
Indeed. Was this the nature of Ellen Evans?
Ellen says she became stronger thanks to Constel, but perhaps the greatest force that made her strong was herself.
Yet, this raises an intriguing question. Eden asked,
"So, do the upperclassmen who were scouted for this year's first-year teams also know about this?"
"Yes. Both the scouted upperclassmen and those in hostage roles are aware. The only ones who don't know are the first-years who are about to taste defeat."
"…That's cruel."
“…No matter how cruel it is.”
“Even so, the upperclassmen will do their best to help the first years. Like you have said, there are quite a few upperclassmen who are trying to break down what happened then, and from their perspective, 'scouting' is another word for 'revenge'”
It's just that they're strictly forbidden from revealing that the mission is designed for the first years to fail.
As long as they keep that a secret, the upperclassmen can help the first years in any way they can.
“Then it's for that reason that Azier and Jane are in a team to compete against the Aster team?”
“Yes. Of course, Miss Jane would be capable of doing it on her own. However, as you said, those two have the potential to cause quite a stir, so they prepared one more person.”
That's why Azier and Jane are in a team.
At this point, it's not even a matter of difficulty. Eden said with a wry smile.
“It's just that, to put it lightly, the person who was added seems way too strong.”
“Because the goal is to make the students despair.”
Just as she said, the situation of the Aster team shown on the screen wasn't looking good.
Theo was caught off guard by Azier and taken hostage, and Elodie cannot use her full power when there's a hostage.
Even for Aster, it won't be easy to take on both Azier and Jane by himself. Moreover, Azier is holding a hostage.
“That means that they figured that this level of investment was necessary in order to ensure Aster's certain defeat.”
“That's right. However, thanks to that, there's something that the teachers of Constel overlooked.”
“They overlooked something?”
“There's one first year over there who is still hiding his true strength.”
“…Oh.”
The two of them focused their attention on the screen.
Right now, the camera is focused on the tense standoff between Aster and Azier.
However, somewhere out of view of the screen, something extraordinary and unexpected is happening—a variable that the teachers didn't anticipate, even more so than Aster and Elodie teaming up.
