Friday afternoon.
As the appointed time approached, the third-year students of the Magic Department began gathering at the train station.
"Wow, it's cold. Freezing."
"I'm worried. How can we endure two nights and three days in this cold?"
Everyone was dressed as if they were going to the battlefield, carrying large backpacks or expandable bags and wearing thick fur coats.
Their appearance resembled a group of baby bears huddling together.
And among them was Dianae Alben, who was no different from the others.
"Hahaha!"
"Why are you laughing? You're just like us."
"Well, well. But still, I don't look the same as you. Who would believe that Dianae Alben, the noblest of them all, would look like this?"
"Yurie, stop teasing me with nice words."
As the noise of the Magic Department students grew louder, Professor Tolman appeared.
He was dressed simply, unlike the students, and had an unaffected expression even in the cold.
"Is everyone here? Let me take attendance for a moment."
Tolman called out the students one by one and confirmed their presence.
As the students answered when their names were called, everyone burst into laughter, drawn to them for a brief moment.
"Hey! Daniel! Seriously, wasn't that too much?"
"Hahaha! Hey, look at this bag. It's about to burst!"
"Phyrinus, I can't tell if you're a person or a bear. Won't you be hunted later?"
Amidst the laughter, Dianae was finally called.
"Dianae Alben?"
"Yes."
All eyes naturally turned to Dianae.
Like the other students, she was dressed in fur clothing, but she couldn't hide her distinctive noble aura.
"As expected, Dianae. Even dressed like that, your dignity remains intact."
"To be honest, I was expecting a slightly funny sight, but this is just...."
"Well, wait a minute! Isn't this funny?"
Yurie reacted as if having a fit, but everyone just shook their heads and admired Dianae.
Yurie forced a fake laugh with a disappointed expression, but no one responded to it.
"Quiet, quiet. Next! Adrius Cromwell."
"Yes."
Adrius Cromwell, who had earned the nickname "Professor Slayer" among the students due to his recent expulsion of Bervan Fernandez, was called.
Although he was given a somewhat playful nickname, a certain level of recognition had formed among the students within the academy.
It was understandable considering that he woke up early every morning to engage in rigorous training comparable to the Knight Department, never missing a day to borrow books from the library, and even found time to read books in his spare time. When you saw him like that, it was impossible not to acknowledge him.
Of course, separate from that, it was a well-known fact that his magical abilities were still lacking.
When Adrius Cromwell, who had been called, appeared, the students' voices suddenly stopped.
Adrius was calmly reading a book, holding it in one hand. Although he had dressed up more than usual, he still seemed inadequate, and most importantly, he didn't seem to have any bags with him.
"Uh, Adrius?"
Someone called out to him, and Adrius looked up.
"Yeah. What's up?"
"Well, did you not bring anything with you?"
"Me? Uh, it doesn't matter anyway."
"What do you mean?"
"I thought the professor would confiscate all our belongings for the survival evaluation."
The student who spoke nodded in agreement with Adrius.
Of course, unless the students were idiots, everyone had thought the same thing.
But maybe they were wrong.
If there was a chance to bring their belongings, those who didn't bring anything like Adrius would be at a disadvantage in the competition.
"Oh, really? I see. Do your best."
"You too."
However, the student who spoke just nodded without saying anything and stepped back.
Most of them knew that if they picked a fight with Adrius, they would only end up on the losing side.
Moreover, he was the famous creator of the Everlast Potion.
There was no male student who wanted to get on his bad side for no reason.
But unlike the others, Adrius seemed foolish to Dianae.
"Why bother reading books every day? I think he's just a guy who lives immersed in books."
Adrius, who appeared to be a useless bookworm in Dianae's eyes, looked pitiful for not preparing for the unexpected.
Thus, after the attendance check was completed, the third-year students of the Magic Department boarded the train under the guidance of Tolman and set off for their destination.
"Now, return all the luggage you brought to the stewards here. We'll return them to you on the day of departure."
"Ugh."
"Just as I suspected. It was the case after all."
Upon reaching the front of the destination, Professor Tolman immediately began confiscating our luggage.
Other students reluctantly returned their belongings and stood in the cold, wearing only their bulky fur coats.
A steward approached me as well, but all they took from me was a single book and a sword at my waist.
With a strange look in his eyes as if he had seen every oddity, the steward who took the book and sword from me glanced at me and passed by.
"It seems too harsh to take away our clothes, so we will only confiscate the luggage. Now, let's go into the detailed explanation of this evaluation."
Tolman gestured with his baton, indicating the makeshift blackboard that the assistant had prepared.
There, a map was drawn, with various unknown markings along with the map.
"You don't have to memorize this map. Each of you will be provided with a personal map anyway."
A map...
It may seem like anyone can use it if they have one, but unless you have knowledge of cartography, the map is difficult to use.
I wondered if the magic students, who had only learned magic so far, had learned cartography. But for me, it was fortunate.
Tolman began explaining the evaluation.
"This place is the 'Bilbore Mountain' in the Magna Marquisate, as you all know. You must now endure for two nights and three days within the designated area and collect the points marked on the map."
He pointed to the circles drawn on the map.
So, survival means more than just enduring.
"In addition to the points marked on the map, there are many hidden points throughout the area. However, the points marked on the map provide a much greater number of points. So, be careful when collecting the points marked on the map, as others will be aiming for them as well."
Surviving for two nights and three days was already difficult, and now we had to collect points. That's what he meant.
"During your time on the mountain, actions such as murder, serious injury, non-consensual sexual contact, and contact with disqualified students are not allowed. You can form teams and betray each other to monopolize points. You can exchange food for points, engage in battles to seize points, and more."
As he said that, Tolman glanced at the stewards.
Then the stewards came forward and handed each of us a bracelet and a small bag.
"If the bracelet breaks, you will be disqualified. At that moment, the assistant professors from the Knight Department will come to rescue you. So if you feel that you are in distress or find survival impossible, immediately break the bracelet. However, even if you are disqualified, your accumulated points will be calculated as one-third. Now, let's proceed with the evaluation."
I put on the bracelet on my wrist and looked into the bag.
Inside the bag, there was only a map.
"I just wanted a relatively safe evaluation."
I quietly lifted my head and looked at the mountain where the evaluation was to take place.
"Maybe I can be a little ambitious."
The Bilbore Mountain in the Magna Marquisate referred to a peak in a wide mountain range located in the central-western part of the Empire.
It wasn't particularly high or noteworthy, but it was relatively large in terms of area.
"Phew."
A white breath rose and disappeared into the gap between the snowflakes.
The woman, who was floating halfway in the air, paused for a moment and leaned against a tree, sitting down.
Despite the freezing weather, she seemed to be in good condition.
A semi-transparent barrier formed around her.
"So, this is...?"
Her physical and magical stamina were still abundant.
The real problem was finding the way.
Even though she looked at the map, she couldn't tell where she was in the vast mountain with no known starting point.
"If only I had a compass or something."
She had nothing left except for magic.
However, wasting mana without thinking during the two nights and three days of endurance was not efficient.
"For now, let's go a little further."
Since I had already climbed up and luckily obtained some points, there was no rush.
Looking at the points written on the bracelet, I felt the need to find a place to spend the night.
As I moved forward a little more, I arrived at a snowy field with a basin-shaped terrain.
There were a total of six places that showed the characteristics of the basin as indicated on the map.
At least one of these six places must be it, I thought as I prepared to move forward.
"Alben Dianae?"
Suddenly, I heard a voice and turned to the side in surprise.
There stood Adrius Cromwell, holding branches and firewood.
"Adrius."
"I didn't expect to see you here."
As Adrius spoke, Dianae prepared herself to use magic and remained on guard.
However, Adrius lowered the firewood he was holding and raised his hand.
"I have no intention of fighting."
"Even if you don't want to, what if I want to fight?"
In response to Dianae's question, Adrius calmly changed his words.
"Do you have a place to stay?"
"A place to stay?"
Suddenly, he mentioned a place to stay.
Could it be that he discovered a cave?
Dianae had doubts about Adrius's words.
Come to think of it, Adrius, unlike herself, was not wearing thick clothing, although he was dressed for the cold. He didn't seem cold at all.
"Yes. I've made a temporary shelter here."
Adrius tapped the ground with his foot.
Then, a lid covered with snow and debris was revealed.
"If you don't mind, why don't you take a rest here for a while?"
Diane hesitated for a moment at Adrius's suggestion.
She definitely needed a place to rest.
But how could she know if it was a trap or not and whether she should follow him?
Maybe it would be better to eliminate Adrius and find out the identity of that lid...
However, Dianae's thoughts didn't last long.
Adrius, who had opened the lid, entered the ground and soon gestured to Dianae.
"Will you stay there?"
His gesture hurt her pride for no reason.
Adrius Cromwell, not afraid of her?
And she, who was on guard against him, felt ridiculous herself.
If it was a trap, then let it be a trap.
I'll break it neatly.
Dianae decided to act with the confidence that she could disqualify Adrius at any time.
"Be careful when you come down."
In the end, Dianae followed Adrius through the opened lid and descended.
The inside of the lid was deeper and wider than she had thought.
Although she could create such an underground passage using magic, her mind was stuck in the drastically changed environment, and she couldn't come up with the idea.
"You had the thought of making something like this."
"It's nothing much. I'm sure you could have done it with your magic."
"Hmm..."
Adrius pointed out the sweat on Dianae's forehead.
"Even though you were wearing thick fur clothing and using magic, you probably sweated a little. If you become dehydrated, your brain function will decrease, followed by kidney failure, and finally, your heart will stop."
"Got it. I just need to drink."
How does he know all this?
Lately, he has been reading books every day, so he seems to know everything, Dianae thought. She received the wooden cup that Adrius offered without realizing it.
Even if it was a trap set by Adrius, she was confident that she could easily overcome it, so she drank without much concern.
Even though she thought her throat wasn't dry, the water went down smoothly.
Adrius had been organizing firewood in one corner, and his actions were truly fascinating.
Certainly, he would be far behind in terms of magical abilities compared to herself, but while she was lost on the way, he had set up everything skillfully, from various household items and firewood to a rabbit.
"When did we enter the mountain?"
During that time, he had not only prepared a shelter but also gathered all kinds of tools, firewood, and even a rabbit...
Adrius's activities that gradually shattered common sense left Dianae dumbfounded.
Whether he knew or not about Dianae's thoughts, Adrius smashed the charred object he took out.
Now that she saw it, it was a slice of rabbit meat covered in mud.
"It may not taste that good without spices."
Adrius spoke as if assuming that Dianae would eat it, and without realizing it, Dianae hugged her hungry stomach.
Come to think of it, it was already much past dinner time.
The rabbit was much bigger than she had expected.
Adrius cut the rabbit's leg and handed it to Dianae.
"Be careful not to burn your mouth since it's still hot."
Dianae cautiously accepted it and blew on it before taking a bite.
And to her surprise, the meat was more delicious than she had anticipated.
Maybe it was because it was considered a side dish at the market.
Although it was a bit bland, the juicy meat provided a rich taste.
The two of them remained silent for a while, eating the whole rabbit and leaning against the wall for a rest.
"What am I doing right now?"
That thought briefly crossed Dianae's mind, but soon the unfamiliar experience of facing extreme cold, getting lost, and contrasting it with the warm shelter and filled stomach gradually made her eyelids droop.
"Adrius."
Adrius, sitting opposite her, carving something out of a piece of wood, seemed to overlap with the little Adrius she had seen when she was young.
She embraced the flickering little Adrius and drifted off to dreamland.