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Chapter 7
“I’m not interested.”
“Oh, come on.”
“Make whatever silly bets you want among yourselves. The prize isn’t worth anything to begin with.”
The boys wanted to drag Belkiers into their bet, but his response left absolutely no room for negotiation.
“I’ve never even used body regeneration during a mock battle.”
“……”
“……”
That was true.
With Belkiers’s abilities, there was no need for him to worry about injuries in the first place. He could easily defeat every child here.
Even now, despite wearing a bored expression as though everything were terribly dull, he was displaying astonishingly overwhelming magic.
Twelve magic circles had begun forming around Belkiers’s magic stone, taking shape with such speed and precision that they were enough to make anyone watching shake their head in amazement.
‘Magic Circle Dispel’ looked like an extremely peaceful and simple test on the surface.
The problem was the ridiculously short time limit and the excessively complicated ancient magic circles.
Each magic circle had been designed like a labyrinth, and even the slightest mistake while deciphering one was certain to produce disastrous results.
Yet it took only two minutes.
That was all the time it took for every magic circle to be completely dispelled and for the now-purified magic stone to fall into Belkiers’s hand.
Despite having spent the entire time looking distracted, Belkiers had been the first to pass the test, beating even the children who had been sweating blood over their work from the beginning.
At that exact moment, the expressions of Evangeline and Leo, who had been discussing their bet, twisted.
Even their magic circles, which had remained stable while they chatted, wavered faintly in response to their shaken emotions.
The first to regain control of his was Leo, who was skilled at hiding his true feelings.
“Well, then. I guess we’ll just make the bet without Belkiers.”
As though he had never frowned in the first place, he immediately returned to his usual grin and casually slung an arm around the broad-shouldered blond boy sitting nearby.
“Hey, Ska. You’re the one who’s going to be assigned as a Selector in the Outer Tower this time, right? Which one of us are you planning to help win, me or Erin?”
“What? Ska is the one in charge of managing this year’s newcomers?”
Evangeline also turned his attention toward the blond boy.
The Magic Tower had an unofficial system known as the ‘Selector.’
Also known as ‘culling the newcomers.’
When someone entered the Outer Tower as a Selector, they were allowed to assist or interfere with the newcomers’ tests at their own discretion.
It was a role assigned to the Tower Master’s adopted children every year, and one of the few sources of entertainment in the otherwise dreary life of the Magic Tower.
Naturally, everyone eagerly counted down the days until their turn came.
“Ska? Think carefully. If you’re planning to help Leo, I’ll make sure you regret it for the rest of your life.”
“Oooh, are you threatening our precious little Ska? How low, Erin.”
Since this was obviously a crucial variable that could determine the winner of their bet, the two boys pressured the boy who had been chosen as this year’s Selector from opposite sides.
So it was only natural that the blond boy, Ska, who had been desperately concentrating on his test until then, finally snapped.
“Ah, shut up already…! There’s less than ten minutes left in the test, and I can’t concentrate with you two around! Get lost!”
“Ah, Erin. You made Ska angry.”
Crash!
At that very moment, Ska’s magic stone exploded with a deafening noise.
“AAAH…! M-my eye!”
Flap!
A huge red wing suddenly sprouted from Ska’s eye, which had been pierced by a fragment of the shattered magic stone.
It was a backlash from the magic.
Amid Ska’s agonized screams, Leo casually clicked his tongue.
“Oh dear, Ska. You should have been more careful.”
“Y-you fucking bastard! You broke my magic stone on purpose, didn’t you?! This is cheating! I’m reporting you to the supervisor!”
“Aw, come on. It was an accident. Just an accident. There wasn’t much time left, so I hurried and the spell accidentally went astray.”
“You call that an excuse…?!”
“How are you going to prove that I did it on purpose? Hmm?”
The smug grin on his face was shameless enough to be infuriating.
That was why they always kept protective magic active in preparation for interference from their competitors.
But against such an overwhelming difference in talent, even that was useless.
“You despicable bastard! I wasn’t even your opponent to begin with, so why did you interfere with my test?!”
At his indignant shout, Leo generously explained.
“Hmm, well, you see. Our Ska just happened to ruin his test today, didn’t he? Then he’ll probably be busy being punished for a while, right? Which means this year’s Selector position will have to be postponed until the next person in line. Oh my, now that I think about it… that happens to be me!”
Leo exaggerated his surprise in a theatrical tone before breaking into a sly smile.
Only then did Evangeline understand what was going on.
He let out an incredulous sigh from beside them.
“What? So you caused all this just to win some stupid little bet?”
His red eyes were filled with blatant contempt and disgust.
“You really will stoop to anything, Leo. That’s disgusting and utterly pathetic.”
“Haha! Then why don’t you admit that you’ve lost and end this bet with someone so pathetic?”
“I lost? Who decided that? You could end up just like Ska before the test is over.”
“Oh? What’s this? Are you saying you want to fight me?”
“Why not?”
Dark magical energy filled with killing intent began to surge around them.
The tense atmosphere swelled to the point where it seemed as though it might explode at any moment.
And then—
[Beep—.]
Flash!
A piercing sound suddenly rang through the room, sending chills down everyone’s spine.
At the same time, ominous black magic circles appeared beneath the feet of the children who had not yet finished their tests.
“Huh?!”
“W-what? There are still five minutes left!”
The boys and girls who had been absorbed in their tests raised their heads in shock.
“What is this? Why is the test-ending signal going off now?”
Leo muttered in disbelief before hurriedly turning his wide eyes to the side.
The other children did the same.
Everyone’s attention focused on the enormous hourglass floating in the center of the room.
As though deliberately mocking them, the last remaining grain of golden sand disappeared like smoke.
“An illusion spell? That’s impossible. No one noticed anything until now. When did this even…?”
“Everyone, quiet!”
At that moment, two mages entered the room through the opened door.
The mages, whose robes bore six pairs of wings, swept their cold gazes over the children before them—gazes so merciless that they were almost frightening.
“The test is over. Your results this time are all pathetic.”
The boys who sensed what awaited them let out heavy groans or bit their lips.
“There are only two passers. Belkiers and Evangeline. The two of you may leave.”
The instant those words were spoken, red chains crawled out from the magic circles beneath the floor and tightly bound the bodies of the boys who had failed the test.
“Guh… Ngh, hhh…”
At that moment, Evangeline’s bowed body began to tremble.
“Pfft…! Hahahahahahaha! Kyahahahahaha!”
A shrill burst of laughter tore through the air.
No one could stop him as he doubled over, clutching his stomach and laughing until his waist bent almost in half.
“You were spouting all that bullshit while acting so superior, and look at you now! If it were me, I’d be so fucking ashamed I’d bury my face in a dog’s bowl and die! The shame of Bellegoth! You fucking pest!”
Faced with the unabashed insults that poured out as though Evangeline had been waiting for this exact moment, Leo could do nothing but contort his face in fury.
“Shut up, Erin.”
“Ahahaha! Oh, sorry, Belkiers. That idiot over there looked so fucking ridiculous that I couldn’t help myself. He isn’t even worth dealing with anymore, so let’s just leave. Pfft!”
Belkiers, looking utterly uninterested as though he were completely detached from the entire situation, left the room first.
Evangeline followed behind him.
Leo glared viciously at Evangeline’s retreating back, even as the boy continued to mock him until the very last moment.
But soon, the black magic beneath his feet pulled him down like a swamp, and his furious cries were swallowed by the darkness.
“Belkiers, what exactly are you thinking?”
Even after they had entered the hallway, Evangeline continued to snicker as he caught up with Belkiers, who was walking ahead.
His gaze was quite meaningful as he carefully studied Belkiers’s face, seemingly trying to probe his thoughts.
“The hourglass. You were the one who did that, weren’t you?”
