The next day.From morning, we put our heads together and discussed the direction this exam should take.Whether to keep proceeding with the exam as is and head for the flag at the mountain peak, or to give up and withdraw to base camp.It was no longer a situation one could consider a normal exam in progress.A strong monster ill-suited to the exam setting, the dire wolf, had appeared in a pack, and there wasn’t even contact—much less help—from the faculty who should be responding to such anomalies.Continuing the exam in this state could be dangerous.However.“Even so…… we can’t just give up the exam like this.”As a result of the discussion, opinions gathered on continuing the exam for now.Yulina particularly insisted on this strongly, and her teammates also added that they felt a bit guilty about making us give up and go back because of them.In other words, try going as far as we can.I think there was also the calculation that as long as that out-of-spec existence Freya was with us, no monster would be dangerous. They had witnessed Freya’s power with their own eyes when she hewed down that pack of dire wolves in an instant.Furthermore, with the teams joining up, our numbers had gone from five to ten, making it safer.And if we gave up and returned, only to find other teams proceeding normally without incident?Then only we would suffer a loss, ruin the exam, and potentially gain nothing at all.Showing the dire wolves’ corpses and explaining what happened would earn consideration, but it would by no means guarantee a high ranking.I also added my opinion to continue the exam for now.But there was a more important issue for me than clearing the exam.'……I need to analyze this abnormal situation closely.'I narrowed my eyes as I looked at the thicker-than-usual fog.It’s safer to give up and go back, but then we wouldn’t obtain information about the new variable that occurred this time.There’s a need to find out why such an anomaly—absent in the original work—occurred, and if there is a prime mover, who it is.'Information is power, and unforeseen variables are obstacles.'In the end, opinions gathered to continue the exam, and Freya did not particularly oppose it either.“Understood. We will proceed with the exam for now.”Having made the decision, our team once more began pushing through the forest.“But where do we go? Do you know the way?”“Shall we drive off the monsters first~?”“How about heading for the peak for now? If we follow the river, it’ll be easier to find the path.”Watching the team flounder about where to go without a clear objective, I fell into thought.“…….”Originally, I had planned to keep my head down and quietly ride along in this exam, but with things like this, it can’t be helped.We can’t give up the exam, and we have to prepare for unforeseen variables. Here, I step up.Decision made, I spoke calmly to the teammates who were floundering.“Everyone, focus.”“?”With everyone’s eyes gathered, I declared confidently.“From here on, I’ll decide the team’s movement route. And follow my orders for the progression of battles and pursuit of monsters as well.”Then Yulina looked at me with doubtful eyes and asked,“I don’t really care who leads, but…… do you know something?”It sounded less like she disliked me leading and more like she was asking whether I had the qualities and ability to lead the team in a situation like this.The other teammates also seemed to agree with her words.Which is reasonable; though my reputation has improved a bit lately, my image is still that of Loen the complete reprobate.It’s only natural they don’t trust me; at times like this, I have to show it with skill.“Yeah. I know a lot. For example.”I nudged some monster droppings on the ground with my foot as I spoke.“An owlbear has the habit of spitting out hairballs nearby. Because it can’t digest fur and bone, it spits them out. Also, after hunting, it has the habit of going to a brook to drink water. If we track it, we can probably find a water source as well.”Since I had most of the information and settings about monsters appearing in the Miruellin Saga memorized, it wasn’t difficult.“How about it? I can provide this level of information. Will you follow my orders?”“Mm…… Gaurrel, Hakone. What do you think?”To verify whether I was right, Yulina asked for the opinions of Gaurrel, who was from the mountain range, and Hakone, who was from the great forest.After thinking for a moment, both nodded.“Pretty detailed? Seems like you know better than me. I was a warrior, not a hunter.”“I’ve never hunted an owlbear, but if you know monster habits well, that’s no bad thing. How about we follow Loen’s word once, then judge by the results~?”Hearing the two, Yulina seemed to think it a reasonable method and readily agreed.“All right. Let’s try tracking the owlbear for now. Lead the way.”“Right.”Following my orders, our team began to track the owlbear by its droppings and traces.***Before too much time had passed.“Ah, there, there! A bear with an owl’s head!”Sent out as scout, Hakone found one drinking water at a brook.An owlbear pecking at the pebbles of the brook with its beak as it drank.Staring blankly at it, Yulina murmured in admiration.“It really…… was true.”“Of course. Would I come all the way to the exam site to spout nonsense.”“……You really can’t leave a single line alone.”Snapping once like she found me obnoxious, Yulina vented by firing a spell at the owlbear.“Magic Arrow!”Thwack-“Bbeaek!”Struck by the magical arrow in the body, the owlbear let out an owl-like cry and charged at us.And then—Slash-In an instant, its head flew from Freya’s sword, granting it a death without pain.When we searched its corpse, we found a Magic Stone about the size of five or six lower-grade stones’ worth.Handing me the stone, Garfield spoke to the teammates.“Just as Lord Loen said. Well then? Will you follow his guidance from now on?”“I’m fine with it~”“Not bad.”The others no longer doubted my ability and accepted me as leader without particular resistance.From the rear, Karon and Yulina seemed to grumble a bit, but it had no effect.“Very well, Loen. We will move according to your orders.”Having obtained permission from Freya, the de facto head of the team, I had nothing to hesitate over.I nodded, looked down at the decapitated owlbear, and spoke.“In its stomach there’s a gremlin’s corpse. It was drinking at the brook to wet its throat after the hunt. If we backtrack its movement line, we can also catch the gremlin pack. They live in groups.”“Oh-ho, I see.”“Then let’s move. It came down from upstream, so we follow the river up.”“Okay~”After that, our team moved steadily according to my orders.“Gremlin footprints. Advance as is.”When I tracked the monsters’ movement line and told them the direction—“There, there it is!”Hakone and Gaurrel, who were out as scouts, would find the monsters. Then battles proceeded with Freya and the other combat members rushing in to take them down.When a monster fell, the non-combat members harvested the Magic Stones and handled the cleanup of the corpses.With such a division-of-labor system and steady movement under my orders, the Magic Stones quickly piled up.Before long, my pouch was bulging with stones.Even though we hadn’t taken down any high-scoring monsters like golems, we had already gathered over a hundred stones today alone.With things proceeding so smoothly, Hakone returned from reconnaissance and asked me,“Amazing~ How do you know monster ecology better than me? I may not look it, but I’m a hunter’s daughter.”“It’s not strange. The vegetation and monsters living in your great forest and this undeveloped zone are different, so it makes sense you wouldn’t know. By contrast, I need monsters’ byproducts as alchemy materials, so I can’t help but be well-versed in this.”In truth, they’re unrelated.What does alchemy materials have to do with monster habits. As long as the answer sounds plausible.At my answer, Jimi, the paladin on Yulina’s team, showed interest in me.“Hooh, Lord Loen. You possess quite the ability? Seems rumors aren’t to be trusted.”“It’s nothing much. But regarding today’s matters, don’t spread them outside. It’ll get annoying.”Among the information I’d given today were things not yet known to the academic world.If someone asks the source later and comes looking, it’ll be a nuisance, so I issued a gag order in advance.I’ll sell such information dearly later.“Okay~”As we were pushing through the forest in a merry mood with pouches full of stones, Gaurrel, who was up front, stopped as if he had found something.“Hey, come look at this.”When we went to check, we found traces of crude tools, small footprints similar to human ones, and leaves smeared with sticky saliva.Goblin traces.“Goblins~? Do goblins live here too?”As Hakone said, there might be a goblin settlement nearby.“…….”A goblin settlement in a place like this.Feeling a slight puzzlement, I instinctively judged this could be a clue to grasping the situation.I stood up and spoke to the teammates.“If we follow these traces, we’ll arrive at a goblin settlement. Goblins are weak, but because there are many of them, there are various variables and dangers. Will you go?”No matter how trash-tier goblins are, if their number is over several dozen, it’s somewhat dangerous.If you get careless and let even one slip by, a stray blade or arrow could injure you badly.“How many lower-grade stones for goblins?”“About one per head. There’ll be at least thirty in a settlement, so dozens of stones is a given.”Then Jimi and Gaurrel confidently said to go.“Goblins are easy enough to sweep.”“Let’s just go smash ’em.”Freya also didn’t look strongly opposed.“If it’s goblins, even in numbers they aren’t that threatening. And our team can respond to poisons and traps as well.”Traps dug by goblins could be discovered early and dismantled by Hakone, who came from a hunter family.The poisons goblins use could be detoxified by the female students in Yulina’s team from the Department of Pharmacology.If need be, we can use the Stamina Potions or Antidote Potions I have, so it shouldn’t be very dangerous.And Jimi, being a paladin, can also use healing magic.Garfield and Karon also agreed with the team’s opinion.“If that is your lordships’ will.”“Doesn’t matter to me. Let’s go.”***Base camp at the entrance to the Howling Mountain Range.For some reason, the complexions of Professor Verdandi, the instructors, and the TAs were not good.Not only the camp, but all the students participating in the exam were currently in a very troubling and dangerous situation.A TA ran to Verdandi and relayed news.“Professor, we still can’t contact the outside. Even if we change channels, it’s the same.”“……What’s the status of the golems?”“Seventeen units have been destroyed so far. The rest also have unstable communications. Someone is destroying the golems at a very fast pace.”“Who on earth…….”Verdandi gripped her sword and clenched her teeth quietly.About a day ago from now.All connections with the outside were suddenly cut.It was because the thick fog covering the Howling Mountain Range exhibited [N O V E L I G H T] abnormal phenomena.Neither communications nor mana signals could pass out beyond the fog.Even if you physically pushed through the fog, you would lose your way and return to the same place or go missing.'This is clearly a magical barrier.'Someone had deployed a powerful barrier in this exam site using the fog as a medium.A barrier that could block communications and mana transmission, and physically confine individuals of professor-level skill.What’s more, this barrier was vast enough to cover the entire mountain range.Truly an absurd, artificial mana working. Artificial, and yet at this scale of mana working, it was practically no different from a natural disaster.To dispel or destroy this barrier would require at least two or three archmage-level mages on the level of Tower Lords, master-upper-tier existences.But there was no one of that caliber in this base camp.With an anxious expression, Verdandi clenched her fist.'At this rate, the students…….'The base camp itself was in danger right now, but the most worrisome point was that the students in the mountains were in danger.And among them was her younger sister, Freya.After deliberation, Verdandi rose from her seat again and was about to leave the base camp.The other instructors and TAs hastily stopped her.“Professor, if even you disappear into the fog, the entire command structure will be paralyzed!”“…….”As the TA said, they had already sent several instructors and TAs to rescue the students, but there had been no word.In such a situation, if even Verdandi disappeared into the fog, no one would be able to clean up what followed.But Verdandi could no longer endure it.Firming her resolve, she lifted the tent flap.“……Sitting here won’t solve anything. I’ll go myself and bring the students back. Don’t try to stop me.”“Professor!”Shaking off the others’ hands, she took up her sword and pushed through the fog, going forward.

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