"...That makes four."
I placed the fourth golden orb in my pocket and began making my way for the fifth.
'It's really great... my physique is far better now.'
Previously, I would have been huffing and puffing after running around for half an hour straight.
Not only that, my cursed physique would cause me to feel great pain.
But right now, I was barely breaking a sweat.
The last orb was in a lake, underwater.
It was slightly troublesome, but I was alright with it.
----------
After finishing my dive, I put back on my shirt, pants, and blazer.
It would be awkward if anyone saw me right now, but luckily the Ashwood forest's late was far from the center of the forest, where most people would be right now.
With five gold orbs, and twenty two silver orbs, and a couple bronze orbs I had robbed from the earlier idiot, it was impossible for me to lose.
All I had to do now was hide until the exam ended.
Honestly, I had learnt absolutely nothing from this exam.
The whole point was to test the student's mana sensing capabilities, as well as observing their combat skills against other students, their pragmatism in avoiding or picking fights, and other such decision making.
But I simply had the locations memorized.
...Whatever.
---------------
"Hoho, he's gotten all five golden orbs."
"Didn't I tell, ya? The kid is a genius. But to be honest, I ain't expect this much either."
Professor Alvera had dropped her tone as the Vice Principal had left the vicinity.
The vice principal was currently in his office... well, not his office, but the former principal's office.
'Ugh... This is becoming troublesome... I should have just killed him myself instead of using the death knight.'
He was pacing around the room, thinking of what to do.
'Fuck... Fuck..... That damn divine revelation!'
He thought at that moment that it may have been a better decision if he had just not interfered with the student at all.
Ataraxis was not sure why, but the student in question, Ares, was wary of him.
He did not display malice or any killing intent, but whenever he passed Ares, the boy became slightly tense.
It was not the type of tension one would feel when an figure of authority was present, no, it was the tension one would feel around an enemy.
'And that damn bastard... He let the divine blood fall into the kid's hands!'
Ataraxis's magic aura was leaking, causing the room to shake.
The demonic forces had truly taken notice of Ares after the incident at the Vepar Auction.
Naturally, as the one in closest proximity to the boy, expectations were placed on the vice principal to take care of him.
'Those fools... they don't realize how hard it is for me to touch the son of a duke...'
The poor standing of Ares von Castellan was public knowledge amongst the circles of high society, but he was still the firstborn son of a duke.
If he were to die, especially in the academy, a massive investigation would be launched.
Just the fact that Ataraxis had summoned a death knight alone had already caused an investigation that was still ongoing.
Taking any more risky movements would be like offering his head to the empire's secret service.
After a while, the vice principal had stopped pacing and went to his desk.
Opening his drawer, there was a small enchanted safe.
He opened it after manipulating his death magic in a very specific way.
A blood red stone lined with silver was inside.
He injected the stone with mana, and began speaking.
"...Listen. There's no way I can kill him. Not in the academy, no way. You'll have to get him during the vacation, somehow. I did not join the demon king's side just to commit suicide like this!"
The message went through the stone, and shortly after, a voice came back.
"....We understand that the circumstances are not exactly ideal for you. But, I would like to remind you that if you are successful in killing him, we will immediately send a corpse of a commander class demon..."
Ataraxis held his breath.
The only reason he had made the idiotic decision of summoning a death knight on the campus was because of the promise the demons had made.
He would be given the corpse of a commander class demon in exchange for the life of Ares.
"...No.. What good is having such a corpse if by the time it arrives I'm already dead? Either the church will have incinerated me or the secret service will have me locked up in the empire's deepest and darkest dungeons."
He held in his desire for the corpse.
It was possible to make other contributions to the demon army, and eventually, he would receive the corpse.
'Hell.. Those bastards are probably hoping I give into my greed and kill the kid. If I do that, I'll most likely end up dead, and then the demons will not have to send me a corpse.'
Overall, killing Ares was a no-go, not until the demonic forces had fully revealed themselves to the world.
The stone vibrated.
"...Alright. We understand. But.... at the very least, can you give us information on the time he exits the academy and the possible route he will take?"
'Finally, a reasonable request.'
"Of course, that's easily doable."
------------------------------------
After a while, fireworks burst in the sky, signifying that the exam had ended.
I made my way through the forest quickly towards the assembly point.
"You."
I turned around.
"You... lied.... you didn't fight me! I searched everywhere!"
"I uh.. I ate a poisonous mushroom because I was hungry and I got knocked out."
"W- That's an obvious lie, wait, hey!"
I sprinted towards the assembly point as soon as I finished my bullshit excuse.
She could not openly attack me where a hundred students were gathered.
She was much faster than me, so it would be easy for her to catch up, but the sheer idiocy of my excuse and actions left her dumbfounded.
The scheduled extra chapters will be published over the next couple of hours.
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