An Unexpected Alliance

Agniell, flustered by the short but sharp sound of laughter, shifted his eyes nervously.

“This is, I mean—”

“There is no need to make excuses. It is an exam, after all.”

As Agniell hurriedly tried to scramble for words, Ensi stopped him with a gentle shake of his head. It wasn’t as if he had actually killed a person; the Academy simply encouraged combat under the guise of an examination. It was a justifiable act that required no apology.

“I didn’t expect to meet you here. It seems you were teleported nearby.”

“No. It is more that I have traveled quite a distance.”

“Is that so?”

Ensi lowered his gaze to check Agniell’s trouser hems. He must have been moving quite aggressively, as dust and dirt had climbed up to his calves.

‘It seems he didn’t stop at just one or two eliminations.’

Regardless, the fact that Agniell showed no hostility was enough. Relieved, Ensi placed the pipe back between his lips. Agniell stared blankly as a faint puff of smoke escaped Ensi’s lips and scattered into the air.

Ensi blinked slowly, curious why Agniell was still standing there with his sword hidden behind his back.

“Surely you aren’t planning to fight me too?”

Noticing the lack of focus in Agniell’s eyes, Ensi let his eyes crinkle into a smile and whispered in a teasing tone. As he tilted his head slightly, his hair swayed gently at his waist.

“……That’s impossible.”

At Ensi’s pointed remark, Agniell sheathed his sword with somewhat stiff movements and bowed his head. It was an action that looked very much like he was avoiding eye contact.

“I plan to move and find a place to stay for the night. What about you, Agniell?”

“I will go with you.”

The answer came without a moment’s hesitation. Ensi, who had secretly expected this, stepped aside to make room for him. Sensing the clear invitation, Agniell quickly moved to occupy the space beside him.

“Will you fight if we encounter someone else?”

“I wonder. Extra points aren’t that important to me, so I have no desire to fight. Of course, this is just my opinion, so you may do as you wish, Agniell.”

“No. Extra points aren’t important to me either, so I will ignore others from now on.”

‘That’s a bit rich coming from someone who was ruthlessly driving an opponent to elimination just moments ago.’

Ensi tilted his head in slight doubt after unintentionally witnessing that scene, but he decided to let it slide. Agniell had said he’d traveled a long way; perhaps he had already reached his “quota” of eliminations during that time.

“By the way, where are we headed now?”

“For now, I’m moving to find a valley or a lake to secure drinking water. I haven’t seen any yet—perhaps I have bad luck.”

In truth, Ensi was terrible at directions. There had always been someone moving in his stead, so it was perhaps more natural that he was unskilled at this. Furthermore, Ensi simply didn’t know how to track water sources. It was a regrettable situation.

Hiding his embarrassment, Ensi looked around the surroundings with forced diligence. Of course, doing so didn’t magically make a water source appear as the sun began to descend.

“You won’t find it if you keep moving in the opposite direction.”

“Pardon?”

“I’m not sure about a lake, but if you want to reach the valley, you have to go this way.”

Agniell stopped Ensi by grabbing his shoulder and pointed with his thumb toward the direction where he had seen the valley. Ensi let out a short exclamation of surprise.

“No wonder…… that’s why I couldn’t hear the sound of water.”

If not for Agniell, he might have spent the entire night searching. Vowing to at least learn how to find water later, Ensi naturally followed behind Agniell. As they walked, Ensi adjusted his slightly disheveled clothes and tucked away his pipe. The herbs packed inside had long since burned away, leaving only ash.

“It would be troublesome if it rains, so we should find a place to take shelter, right?”

“That would be ideal, but won’t it be difficult to find?”

“I heard that if you walk along the valley, you can find a suitable place.”

Ensi nodded, glad their destinations overlapped, but then paused. He was surprised by the information Agniell had shared so naturally.

There were rumors that the exam locations hadn’t changed for ten years, so it wasn’t strange for information about overnight spots to circulate. However, this was similar to the “test banks” or “insider tips” one might find in a university back in his previous life. In other words, it was information accessible only to those who were close to seniors or had wide social networks among peers.

Where on earth did Agniell hear such a thing? Agniell’s reception room was famously desolate because he never engaged in social activities. To put it bluntly, he was the textbook definition of an outsider.

Considering Agniell’s background, it was almost more mysterious that he had so few friends, but it seemed he was simply that focused on his sword training.

“Um, Agniell?”

Ensi, who had been pursing his lips, finally couldn’t hold back his curiosity and called out cautiously.

“Yes?”

“From whom did you hear that information?”

Thinking it might be an intrusive question, his voice became instinctively careful. Agniell, unaware of the deeper intent behind the question, answered casually.

“A classmate told me right before he was eliminated.”

“……Ah.”

Guessing the general situation in which the information was obtained, Ensi began to seriously worry if this was a trap. To share such information right before being knocked out—it was a bit too convenient.

Of course, it could have been an attempt to trade information for mercy…… but the phrase “right before elimination” bothered him. It meant Agniell had eliminated the classmate anyway.

“Ensius?”

“Is there any chance it’s a trap?”

“A trap? Do you mean he intentionally gave me information about a campsite as a lure?”

“Agniell, you are the top student. You are the most threatening enemy, so they might have formed an alliance to set a trap…… No, wait, that sounds a bit far-fetched.”

Ensi had voiced the possibility just in case, but it felt absurd even to him. He waved his hand dismissively and told Agniell to forget it. He didn’t think his peers were that dedicated to the exam. Besides, they knew Agniell’s skill level; they would surely conclude that avoiding him was more beneficial than facing him head-on.

“Is that so? I thought it sounded quite plausible.”

“The essence of the exam is survival. No matter how many extra points are on the line, the risk of rushing someone like you, Agniell, is far too high.”

Therefore, it was more logical to assume the classmate had simply shown his hand as a trade proposal. The reason he was eliminated was likely because Agniell had landed the finishing blow before the deal could even be offered.

“Well, we’ll know once we get there. Regardless of the campsite, we were planning to head to the valley anyway, right?”

“That’s true.”

In a situation where they didn’t know if there were other water sources, they couldn’t avoid the only valley they knew the location of. Above all, the valley would be long. The probability of running into the exact spot mentioned by the classmate in such a large area seemed low.

However, less than an hour after Ensi had resolved to just get water and find a campsite elsewhere—

“……Oh, dear.”

He let out a groan of lament as he spotted a group of classmates huddled together by the valley Agniell had led him to. Just then, the group noticed them as well, and their already sharp aura grew even more heavy.

“Ensi!”

“Lily?”

Ensi’s eyes widened at the familiar voice. Why on earth was Lily standing among a group that was clearly hostile toward them?

“What?! Did you really ally with Agniell? That’s cheating!”

“……And you? Why are you with them?”

“I heard you guys formed an alliance, so I formed one too! What of it!”

Ensi pressed his hand to his forehead at Lily’s bold declaration. An alliance? What a grand word for it. They weren’t anything that formal; they had simply intended to travel together until the end of the exam.

“I have no intention of fighting.”

“That’s— wait, really? You said you didn’t want to fight? Then why are you with Agniell?”

“Because Agniell said he wouldn’t fight either.”

“How can you tell such a blatant lie when Agniell has already eliminated so many people!”

Ensi glanced at the classmate who had interrupted his conversation with Lily, then looked at Agniell, who was standing quietly by his side. He wondered just how many people Agniell had knocked out for such a visceral reaction to occur.

Flushing red from embarrassment, Agniell avoided Ensi’s intense gaze and muttered.

“I only dealt with about ten people…….”

“In that short amount of time?”

“It wasn’t that short. Ensius, there were two hours before I met you. That was more than enough time.”

“Oh—! Do you really think it’s okay to say that in front of us? You’re basically calling us losers to our faces right now!”

‘What a jerk.’

Lily, intentionally muttering loud enough for everyone to hear, sharpened her gaze.

“Fine, whatever. This is annoying. Since it’s come to this, I will make sure to eliminate you by any means necessary!”

“Wooooo!”

As Lily pointed the tip of her sharp sword at Agniell and made her grand declaration, those behind her let out a thunderous cheer. It was the moment their morale, which had dampened at the news of Agniell eliminating ten people in such a short time, came roaring back to life.