As her teammates ate, Ilise relaxed in the shade of a tree. She hadn't really thought much about Marten's words, but now that she had the time, Ilise realised just how big of a mistake she'd made by angering both Marten and Ivan. The two of them held the most power in school - not in a magical sense, but in terms of how influential they were.
Marten, as captain of the disciplinary squad, was the second authority on punishment in the school. Ilise didn't see him as the petty sort. She doubted he'd go out of his way to make every second of her life a living hell, and he still had some form of respect for her power. Ivan, on the other hand, was a different case.
He wasn't like Marten, who clung to a warped warrior's code. Ivan was a ball of instinct and unrestrained temper. His treatment of her was living proof - he was like a rabid animal, drooling and slobbering. Ilise's face still tingled a bit every time she thought of how his spittle had gotten all over here. Ivan was frightening for all the wrong reasons. He wasn't like Bianca, whose sheer presence was enough to scare off most people.
Ilise wondered how someone like him had made it on the council, but he wasn't the only one with temper issues there. Bianca had thrown quite a few fits of her own during their time together, but one of them had ever been directed at Ilise. In the end, it all boiled down to upbringing. Bianca was still a Rossweisse, and that meant she was much more spoilt than the average girl her age and tended to have her way with just about anything. Being a magical prodigy didn't help either.
All of the student council appeared to be highly dysfunctional. Alphaeus had more problems with social interaction than Ilise did, and she'd only had Bianca to interact with for the three months in which she'd existed as 'Ilise'. Sephia was overly confrontational and oddly aggressive - Ilise reckoned that wasn't really a dysfunctional trait. Plenty of people hated the Rossweisses. Perhaps Sephia was just one of them. Rita was nice enough, but Ilise got the feeling that she was a sadist.
Well, it wasn't really a feeling. More like complete confirmation that she was a sadist, given how she'd reacted to Siegfried's injury. In any case, Ilise was too tired to be bothered. And it was cool under the shade of the tree, with the wind tickling her and the scent of the school's freshly mowed lawn hovering in the air. She felt herself dozing off when-
"Yoohoo. Ilise? We're ready to go, if you're done with your nap."
"O-oh! Sorry. I must've fallen asleep while thinking." Ilise's eyes snapped wide open. She tried to mask her irritation. She had had an early start that morning, come to think of it. Bianca let her sleep in for the most part, with the exception of trips around the city or visits to Yggdrasil tower. Ilise was unaccustomed to waking up that early in the morning.
"You can have your nap once we're done. I have a sinking feeling that this exam is going to be a really short one." Siegfried said.
"Right you are, Kallen." Ivan strode up the hill, his hands in his coat pockets. Ilise fought the urge to hiss at him.
"I-Ivan! Fancy seeing you here." Siegfried said, his eyebrows raised.
"Ah-ah. That's President Ivan to you, Kallen. You should count yourself lucky that you're getting the opportunity to take part in this exam. You've got a good team, you know; without Ilise here, I doubt you would've made it as far as you did, hmm Kallen? Especially after what went down with that Rozaliya girl."
"Ivan, that's too far. We all played equal parts in the exam. Didn't you watch the feeds? Siegfried shielded Rozaliya and I with his Fortification spell." Ilise protested.
"A boot cannot be bothered with the quarrels of an ant, my dear Ilise." Ivan said.
"Yeah, just like how you need to remove the boot stuck up your rear end," Toby muttered darkly.
"Enough!" Ivan wheeled around to face Toby, his eyes flashing bloody murder. "I did not come here to get insulted by the likes of you. I have come to tell you that your exam will begin in five minutes' time. Be grateful that I took the time out of my schedule."
"Who put you up to it, anyway? Ilise's sister? That psycho maid lady? Captain Mildly-Fascinated-Botanist?" Toby asked mockingly.
"Mildly fascinated botanist?" Ivan cocked his head. "I do not know who you have been consorting with, but we most certainly do not have an aspiring botanist in our ranks. Our secretary has her eccentricities, but she is not above me in the chain of command."
"You still haven't answered his question. Did Bianca send you here?" Ilise said, her arms crossed.
"...Yes. She threatened to bankrupt what's left of my family and rescind my scholarship if I didn't listen, and so here I am. If we're quite done, Bianca and Marten are waiting for you."
"All right, then. C'mon, guys. Let's move." Ilise hopped up, her grogginess gone. Rei, Toby and Siegfried took off with her, leaving Ivan to stare at the mess Siegfried had made.
"Littering on the school grounds is against the rules-"
Ilise didn't pay attention to him. "Ivan, why don't you clear up our trash? If you don't, I'll tell Bianca to, uh, what was it now? Bankrupt what's left of your family and rescind your scholarship?"
As the quartet took off down the hill, they didn't hear Ivan hiss. Or his reply.
"How I spoil you, dear sister."
--
1700
ALPHEIM
COMBAT GROUND BETA
THE FINAL EXAMINATION COMMENCES.
Ground Beta had changed considerably in thirty minutes. Where there was once a sprawling field of green, a giant crater had taken its place. It was the sort of crater one would liken to a meteorite crash site - there was even a scorched patch of earth in the centre. Mistilteinn's landscapers were either on strike, or the student council had seen fit to remodel an entire training ground just for the final exam.
An ornate out-of-place hard-light stage was situated just on the edge of the crater. Most of the other students were already assembled there. Five of the six councillors stood on the stage, with one noticeable gap. Ilise laughed when she realised that Ivan had yet to arrive. She felt the teeniest bit of remorse for making him clean up their trash and threatening him like that, but it all evened out. Especially considering the horrendous first impression he'd made.
Bianca took over the microphone.
"On account of our president's late arrival, we shall have to start without him. I'm not really one for ceremonies, so Rita can take over."
"Gladly, vice-president. I am Rita, the student council's secretary. You have already met Bianca Rossweisse, our esteemed vice-president. She may not show it, but I can assure all of you that she is deeply sorry for pulling a giant sword on you."
"I'm not!" Bianca called out.
The crowd broke out into nervous laughter. Rita soldiered on. "Nevertheless, you are gathered here today because you are the nation's finest. You have endured trial after trial to get to Mistilteinn, and you have come to what will either be the end of your journey here, or the beginning of a new life.
As secretary, it is my duty to obey protocol and read out the rules to you, but we're all students here, aren't we? I'm certain all of you are tired of listening to the same set of rules over and over again. I don't think you'd mind though, if it was with my voice and not Marten's."
This time, there was a genuine round of laughter, followed by a few scattered rounds of applause.
"Please, please. There is no need for applause. I'll run through what this examination entails, and we can be on our way. All of you, with the exception of one team, will be facing the student council in a gauntlet. Five of you will go against us in this order: Alphaeus, Sephia, Marten, myself, Bianca and finally Ivan. To pass, you must either survive for a combined total of five minutes against each councillor. If you manage to defeat a councillor, you will immediately be exempt from the rest of the gauntlet.
In regards to the team that will not be taking part in the traditional gauntlet, they will face three members of the student council at once. They will be subject to the same rules as you are - survive for five minutes, and they will pass. For efficiency's sake, their portion of the examination will begin first. To ensure that none of you have an advantage, this will not be televised. Ilise, Siegfried, Rei and Toby? Would you please step up?"
--