Episode 37 – Team Without a Team (3)

Team Without a Team (3)

In fact, I didn’t plan to cheat from the beginning. The original plan was to ‘watch’ the magic formula with the 「SZX-9500」, ‘Memorize’ it as is, and ‘Manifest’ it in the magic bending.

It was imprudent.

It was overly optimistic.

Once I tried it myself, I was short of magic. The capacity of the 「Notepad」 was also insufficient. I almost burst my eyeballs while watching Soliette’s magic formula.

So, I had no choice but to switch to Plan B, which was much more direct and efficient.

The trick— I used ‘walk behind them’.

“Did you follow us?”

The price is an angry Soliette. Of course, she doesn’t care about my grades, but she hates such tricks because she grew up in a knight’s family.

“……”

I nodded silently and walked away.

Inside the cave, there were quite a few stone chairs and blackboards. If there was a school in the Stone Age, it would look like this.

Asillen looked at the watch and said.

“It’s 6:30 now, so I’ll wait until 9 o’clock~”

There were about 2 hours and 30 minutes left.

I sat in a chair and yawned. My buttocks and back were hard, and the stares of Soliette’s team stuck in the back of my head were hot, but it seemed to be well made.

……

“Focus~ Concentrate! Concentrate~!”

I opened my eyes at the sound of applause. I wiped my half-drooling saliva and looked around.

There were a lot of people. Much more than I thought. The noise was louder than the main hall of Edsilla Station.

“Nice to meet you~ Are there about 200 people gathered here?”

Looking closely, most of them had different uniforms. Not only Endex but also Devon, Sudme, Otali, etc… It seemed that seniors from magic high schools all over Edsilla had gathered.

“Well, don’t worry about who came early or late, it’s not in the evaluation items~”

Asillen said.

“Let me introduce myself. I’m Asillen, the person in charge of the college board. I was in charge of the fog mountain of the exploration area A, Parascale.”

She continued with a tired face.

“Today’s task is simple. Write everything you see, hear, and feel in this ‘fog mountain’ in an exploration report. The grade will be given according to the quality of the report, and there are only two evaluation criteria.”

The ‘core elements of the exploration report’ were already written on the blackboard.

1. Mana

1. Ecosystem

“How well and accurately you observe and write about mana and the ecosystem. We’ll only look at these two. Smartphones won’t work, so it’s useless to bring them~ It’s a team play, but make sure to keep track of what and how you investigated! There are individual grades too~”

That’s when it happened. Someone in front of me raised his hand.

“Yes. What is it?”

Then the guy in front looked back at me for some reason. It was Kielli. There was a faint hostility in his eyes.

“Can we fight while exploring?”

“Pfft.”

Asillen chuckled.

“Of course~ When has the college board ever not fought? Just don’t kill~”

Just don’t kill. That’s quite cruel.

“Yes.”

Kielli, who nodded his head, buried his body in the chair with satisfaction. I scratched my forehead.

“Then let’s start the task now~ The deadline is midnight, and we’ll go out every 5 minutes in the order we arrived~”

Asillen pushed the large blackboard aside. Behind it, there were about five passages.

“Through this entrance, you’ll reach the Fog Mountain~ Soliette’s team first!”

He pointed at Soliette. Her team of five rose to their feet.

“Which passage will you choose~?”

Soliette strode towards the far right. Her four teammates followed her.

______________________________________________________________________

At the entrance of the Fog Mountain. Soliette and her four teammates surveyed the area.

The surroundings were shrouded in fog. Visibility was barely 3 meters, and everything beyond was obscured.

“…The fog is insane.”

“Isn’t it obviously water-elemental mana?”

The fog was so thick it was astonishing, but it made guessing the mana attribute easy. Of course, fog is water.

Kielli spoke.

“Let’s start by taking out the tools.”

“Okay.”

A teammate pulled out a portable diluter from their bag.

Click-

“…Huh?”

Click- Click-click-click-

No matter how much they flipped the switch, it wouldn’t turn on.

“It’s not turning on?”

Kielli furrowed his brow.

“What? Why? Did you bring a defective-”

“Let me see.”

Soliette extended her hand. The teammate handed over the diluter with a deflated expression.

Click-click- Click-click-click-

It was dead.

“It’s not defective. It’s probably due to the mana density.”

“Mana, mana density?”

“Yes.”

This was expected.

In places where the mana density is too high or too low compared to the continental average, Artifacts may not work. So, in such dangerous places, one must feel the properties of mana with their body or infer it from the environment.

If the mana is water-elemental, the place might be shrouded in thick fog like this, or the humidity could be so high that you get soaked just standing still, or it might rain like hell, and so on.

Therefore, the mana of this Fog Mountain is likely water-elemental, but one should not jump to conclusions hastily.

“Put it away.”

“Ah, okay.”

The teammate put the diluter back into the exploration bag.

“Let’s split up now.”

The exploration method Soliette’s team had decided on was ‘individual investigation’. The five of them would scatter in different directions to explore the area, then regroup at an appropriate time to compile information and write a report.

“Okay. Then, everyone take one.”

Kielli handed out four paper cups to his teammates.

“They’re connected, so you can communicate through these.”

Paper cup telephones. Yes, it’s the same principle as the paper cup telephones we used to play with as kids, but the string here is magical power, which makes it quite different.

This is Kielli’s 「Spectrum」.

He can draw out magical power as thin as a thread. Normally, the limit is about 2~3 km, but in a place dense with mana like this, it can be maintained up to 10 km.

“Contact me immediately if anything happens. I’ll come.”

All the teammates attached the paper cups to their belts.

“You guys go ahead. I have something to discuss with the team leader. That’s okay, right, team leader?”

Kielli looked at Soliette. Soliette, who was about to start exploring, paused.

“We’ll be back.”

“Phew. It’s nerve-wracking.”

“We’re meeting at 4, right?”

The team of three quickly dispersed in different directions, and Kielli spoke to Soliette, who was tilting her head.

“Team leader. What are we going to do about him?”

“Who?”

“That yellow prick.”

“……You mean Shion Ascal?”

“Yeah. Are we just going to leave him be?”

Soliette responded calmly.

“Yes. Shit is shit because it’s dirty. There’s no need to go out of our way to step in it.”

A very Soliette-like answer. Kielli smiled, showing the right side of his face. He was more confident on that side.

“Haha. Right. Then I’ll do the same.”

“Yes. See you later.”

Soliette started walking into the fog, then suddenly stopped as if she remembered something. She turned back to Kielli.

“But, I’m curious about something.”

“Huh? What is it? Ask anything.”

To Kielli, who was naturally smiling, Soliette asked in a dry tone.

“High jump. Did you do it?”

“……What?”

High jump, 687 cm.

Kielli’s sleeve still lacked a button.

“Um……”

Was he startled by the sudden question? He stuttered and scratched the back of his neck.

“That…… Let’s talk about it later. After the task.”

“……Yes.”

Then Soliette silently climbed up the mountain path.

Just as her back was swallowed by the fog, Kielli clenched his fist.

“Woohoo!”

Somehow, everything was going according to plan.

After all, 687 cm would be the act of the person in charge. There’s no one capable of reaching 687 cm except Gerkhen Kal Doon. As long as he doesn’t go back to the No Mana Zone, there’s no chance of getting caught, and it’s not even that big of a lie, is it?

It’s not that I can’t, I can reach around 550 cm. I’m confident in my physical strength.

Let’s use this as an excuse to get a little closer and live without worrying about money for the rest of my life.

“Huhu…… Ah, besides that.”

Kielli, who had been grinning all along, suddenly turned serious and raised his finger. There were five threads attached to his index finger.

Four were connected to his teammates, and the other one……

“That son of a bitch.”

He had secretly connected it to Shion Ascal while he was asleep.

A lowlife who cheats. A real loser, certified by Endex.

Even such a guy will do the exploration. He will also write a report.

“Just wait.”

Kielli planned to rob him when he thought he had written enough of the report.

Of course, the quality would be shoddy, but it bothered him that such a guy was still on the college board.

Ziiing-

Just then, the blue line connected to Shion Ascal vibrated. It meant that the guy was moving.

“You’re too late.”

Kielli twisted his mouth as he saw it.

______________________________________________________________________

“……The environment is really fucked up.”

I muttered as soon as I entered the foggy mountain.

It felt like being trapped in a cloud. I couldn’t see an inch ahead with the naked eye, so even though I was walking, I doubted whether I was really moving.

At this point, there’s no point in walking.

I stood still for a moment and took out my magic fork. When I let the magic flow into the handle, a transparent film like a soap bubble appeared between the prongs of the fork. I summoned the “Magic Hygrometer” into it. The film turned colorless and spat out numbers.

[9,000ppm]

It’s a function of the Magic Hygrometer. A ‘catalyst’ that reduces magic consumption and facilitates the easy summoning of Memory.

“9,000… 0.09%?”

That’s more than three times the continental average, which is incredibly intense. No wonder there’s a magical phenomenon.

I wrote a line in the report.

[◆ Mana Concentration

The mana concentration in the air of Mist Mountain is estimated to be more than three times the continental average.]

This time, I loaded the 「Mana Analyzer」 on the Magic Fork. The screen, which had been colorless until now, became transparent again.

Actually, there doesn’t seem to be a need to test it. With this level of fog, it’s obviously going to be water attribute.

In any region, the attribute of mana is typically ‘elemental’. The well-known water, wind, earth, and fire. There is mana with non-elemental attributes, but such cases are very rare.

I infused the Magic Fork with man and activated the ‘Mana Analyzer’.

“…It’s not working.”

There’s no particular reaction. It’s supposed to disperse mana and emit a specific attribute Spectrum.

It’s probably because of the mana concentration.

The limit of the portable Mana Analyzer is usually 7~8,000ppm. If the concentration goes above that, it doesn’t work.

“Hmm…”

Of course, I could just guess it’s water attribute, but there’s no need to leave it to chance.

I gently looked at the Magic Fork. Clenching it tightly, I infused ‘Perion’.

Whiiiiing——!

At that moment, the two strands of the horseshoe resonated with each other. The transparent screen flickered roughly. It was evidence of an upgrade.

I swung it in the air. Fizz—! The mana in the fog dispersed like sparks between the horseshoe, and a Spectrum bearing an attribute was emitted.

It was purple.

“…It’s not a water attribute.”

Fog is a phenomenon where condensed water vapor clings close to the ground. Simply put, it’s a cloud that has come down to the surface. It’s ‘water’.

But this fog is purple. Purple is not one of the four elements. It’s ‘spirit’. Usually seen in places like communal graves.

I added a line to the report.

[◆ Attribute: It is presumed to contain a spiritual energy.]

Now that I know the attribute, I turned on the 「SZX-9500」. The fog that had been blinding washed away from my retina.

It’s a kind of mana vision filter. A function to properly analyze a specific magic formula when multiple mana attributes are mixed, it works here too.

“Let’s see.”

First, I’m thinking of finding a highland. If I go up high, I should be able to see a wider view.

“…Hmm?”

As I was climbing the mountain path, I suddenly detected some ‘current’ near the top of Fog Mountain.

Thin mana streams were tangled together, rising into the sky, a strange scene.

It’s a precursor to a magical phenomenon.

“Do I have 8~9 hours left?”

Today, Friday at 9 PM, a natural magical phenomenon will occur.

The type is a 5th grade Dispel.

A Dispel, a fairly common magical phenomenon that occurs 2~3 times a year even in Edsilla, its effect is—’it extinguishes the mana in the area for a not-so-short period of time’.

In other words, the entire Mist Mountain will become a no-mana-zone.