Chapter 11 - We Are One

Chapter 11 - We Are One

Eight hours had passed.

Kinjo Shua.

He saw the instructor perched atop a tree.

The map he had secretly memorized matched perfectly.

If only Mago could keep holding them off, even with his injured leg, he might still secure first place.

He had entrusted his pack to Mago before descending.

"If I don't arrive first, I won't be able to face Mago."

Kinjo looked down at his leg.

"Still... it feels like my leg's about to burst. Just five minutes, just five minutes to rest."

Then, the rustling sound of leaves made him raise his head.

A pitch-black wolf stared at him with glowing eyes.

"What the..."

The wolf took slow, deliberate steps toward him, as though it knew its prey was already wounded.

Soon, more wolves appeared.

One by one, they surrounded Kinjo.

"Five of them."

He drew his wooden sword.

"I could handle one, but the moment I do, the others will pounce on me. This isn't just about the test anymore—my life is at stake..."

He bit down on his lower lip.

"Think."

He kept his eyes fixed on the wolves.

"Think."

Stopping all movement, he focused his mind.

Two seconds of rapid thought concluded.

He acted immediately.

Kinjo ignited his wooden sword, enveloping it in flames.

The flaming weapon forced the wolves to hesitate, preventing them from attacking recklessly.

The tip of the wooden sword began to char and burn away.

His makeshift torch wouldn't last long.

"I won't be a burden again."

Staring into the flames, he resolved himself.

"I'll handle this with my own hands."

Kinjo's blue eyes glowed brighter.

***

I approached the fallen Louis.

"Mago, you're aware of what you're doing to your fellow trainees, right?" Louis muttered with a resentful glare.

"I know. But didn't you throw weapons too? Doesn't that make us the same? Oh, by the way, I'll borrow these for now. Never know when they'll come in handy."

I picked up the spears scattered around him.

Four in total.

I wedged them between my uniform and innerwear.

I looked like a hunter from a tribal village.

Then I took out a matchbox from my pack.

Lighting a match, I spoke.

"Listen closely."

I unfastened my uniform, letting the maps I'd stashed inside spill out.

Twenty-seven in total.

I had taken down twenty-seven teams by myself—more than half the total.

Drawing a line in the dirt with a spear, I declared:

"Cross this line, and I'll burn them all."

The fallen trainees muttered in protest.

"Mago, do you really have to go this far?"

Louis chimed in.

"I do."

I had to excel in the special unit, rapidly climbing the ranks.

This was just the first step.

The difference between barely scraping into the special unit at tenth place and being assigned as the top recruit was enormous.

For the future I envisioned, I had to be the top recruit, no question.

As I resolved from the beginning, I wouldn't hold back.

Even if it meant playing the villain.

"Why are you just lying there...? Are you seriously scared of that guy? Get up, now!"

Amon's shout roused the trainees who had been lying still.

In response, I deliberately lowered the match closer to the pile of maps scattered on the ground.

Maps hard-fought for by the relentless battles between Team A and Team B.

All of them were on the verge of being reduced to ashes.

"As I keep saying, your enemy isn't me."

I pointed toward the other trainees still locked in combat.

"Out of fifty maps, I hold twenty-seven. If I burn all of these, the value of each remaining map will skyrocket."

I nodded toward them and added,

"What are you waiting for? Get moving."

Those who had been aiming for me cursed under their breath and turned away.

Not even Amon's orders could stop them.

Some even seemed to give up entirely.

"Amon, Vel, and Louis all went down at once."

"Is there anyone here who can even beat Mago?"

"He really hid his true abilities well, huh..."

I slowly lifted my head.

The full moon, hidden behind the clouds, came into view.

By now, it must have been time for the rendezvous with Kinjo.

Perhaps more time had passed than expected.

"Why don't we just give first place to Mago and rest here together...?"

"Yeah. If Kinjo isn't around, it's probably because he went down ahead. I didn't realize it at first, but since he's still nowhere to be seen…"

"So we've already lost first place… Then what have we been doing all this time?"

The morale of my peers was wavering.

A few were already preparing to camp near the checkpoint.

Movements and voices gradually fell silent.

"Giving up now would be playing right into that guy's hands!"

At that moment, Louis' piercing shout shattered the stillness.

"Get up, you idiots!"

His words were enough to jolt everyone back to their senses.

Amon was the first to prop himself up with the tip of his wooden sword.

"Yeah, there's strength in numbers."

Glancing at Vel, who was still asleep, Amon added, "We're not at full power since Vel's out, but still."

Louis' voice was enough to awaken the 66th class of trainees.

One by one, they rose and gripped their wooden swords.

Every blade was pointed at me.

Their gazes had completely transformed.

Even if all the maps burned to ashes,

even if everyone here got disqualified,

their sole intent was to drag me down.

My peers advanced slowly toward me.

"This must be what it feels like to be the villain," I muttered, stepping back.

"Attack all at once!" shouted Louis.

At his signal, they surged forward.

Gripping my wooden sword tightly, I said, "I'll step out now."

I turned my back immediately.

"W-What?"

"I've stalled long enough."

The maps I'd laid out on the ground—they weren't just for threats or leverage.

It was all to ensure that as their common enemy, I could say,

"Come down after a bit more squabbling among yourselves."

Aiming to pit them against each other again, I had gathered the maps for this moment.

Teams A and B clashed once more, fighting to reclaim the maps I'd taken.

The loud cries of battle echoed in my ears.

***

"I have to handle this myself," Kinjo vowed, his eyes burning with resolve.

Using clairvoyance magic, he scanned his surroundings.

"Trees. Trees…"

To his eyes, everything appeared as though sliced in half.

The cross-sections glowed faintly blue.

Unlike Mago, who could only distinguish light and dark, Kinjo saw color with overwhelming intensity.

"A climbable tree."

His gaze darted constantly until he found a suitable target.

"There."

Fixing his eyes on the wolves, he began to back away cautiously.

Even as he retreated, he brandished the flaming wooden sword, never letting his guard down.

When he reached the tree he'd set his sights on, he suddenly spun around.

"A branch that extends low…!"

With all his might, he leaped.

He gripped a branch as if it were a horizontal bar and swung himself upward.

Using the momentum, he managed to perch atop a sturdy branch.

Glancing down at the wolves below, he thought,

"Higher. I need to go even higher."

Kinjo didn't stop, extending his hand upward once more.

Biting down on the wooden sword's hilt, he climbed toward the tree's peak.

Only after reaching the top did he allow himself a sigh of relief.

Extinguishing the flame on his wooden sword,

he resolved to rely solely on the moonlight from then on.

He watched the wolves clawing desperately to climb the tree.

One by one, they began attempting to scale it.

"They're not completely incapable, huh."

Gradually, the wolves started figuring out how to climb.

"Well, it'll still buy us some time."

He stared at the half-burned wooden sword.

'Forget resting—I can't even close my eyes...'

Rubbing his overworked legs from climbing the tree, he sighed.

The wolves didn't give up.

They drooled heavily, as if they hadn't eaten in days, their eyes fixed on Kinjo.

At that moment, something flew through the air.

A thin, long object.

It struck one of the wolves square on the head.

'An arrow? No…'

Looking closer, he realized.

'A spear.'

Instinctively, his gaze followed the direction from which the spear had come.

"Mago?"

"Unfortunately, no."

It wasn't white hair.

The man standing there—

"Who are you?"

"You don't even know my name? I've been right next to you this whole time!"

It was a man with gray hair.

"Next to me?"

"Yes, ever since the beginning! You were too distracted by Louis to even notice, weren't you?"

"Louis…?"

"I'm in the same group as Louis! I made this spear and the auxiliary device myself!"

With a smug look, the man launched another spear using the device.

When it struck another wolf, the rest turned tail and ran.

"I've been acting separately from Louis from the start."

"Why would you do that? You're lucky to be paired with Louis. And they say the privileged are worse…"

"I had no choice—it was Louis' order!"

Afterward, the man launched into what he seemed to consider a heroic tale.

"When we arrived at the checkpoint, we took down a member of Group B right away. Lucky for us, they had a map. Louis told me to go on ahead."

He puffed out his chest confidently and declared, "I'm going to take first place before Louis can!"

The man suddenly aimed his spear at Kinjo.

Pulling his arm back, he said, "Now, hand over the map."

"W-wait, I'm at the top of the tree! If I get hit and fall, I'll die...!"

"Throw the map down here, and I'll spare you the spear."

'The map? I don't have it. I didn't take the map—I memorized it secretly. If he finds out…'

The conclusion was clear.

'Disqualification.'

"Now!" the man shouted.

'If he catches on, it's over. I need to pretend I have the map and buy some time.'

"I've already bought us plenty of time," came a familiar voice.

Out of the darkness, white hair emerged.

Mago struck the man on the back of the neck with his hand.

"Urgh…"

The man quickly lost consciousness.

"Kinjo. What are you doing up there?"

"Mago!"

The gray-haired comrade.

Carefully, Kinjo climbed down the tree, watching his footing.

Pointing to the unconscious man on his shoulder, Kinjo asked, "He's in the same group as Louis, right? His name…"

"Oscar. Oscar Cita. He must have gone down before I used the lake."

"Huh? You even remember his name? I didn't have a clue."

"I don't forget the names of my comrades."

Especially the ones who end up dying later.

Shifting Oscar from his shoulder to his arms, Mago noticed something.

An auxiliary device with a 'J' shape had fallen where Oscar had been.

"By the way, he said he made this spear and auxiliary device himself. Quite a talent… He must've had only an emergency dagger as a tool."

"True. The instructors wouldn't know, though. None of the training so far has tested craftsmanship."

Then Kinjo seemed to realize something and grabbed Mago's shoulder urgently.

"More importantly, Mago. Did you bring the map?"

He whispered intensely.

"The map?"

"Yes, the map. One of us in Group A must have it. Otherwise, we'll be disqualified!"

"Disqualified? Oh, right. You memorized it."

"Exactly, so did you bring it or not?"

"If not, we'll have to go back."

"Mago, don't tell me…"

The shock on Kinjo's face was almost entertaining.

"I have it. How else would I have made it here?"

Kinjo finally exhaled in relief.

"How are your legs?"

"They hurt. A lot."

"Then let's rest here."

"Can we afford to? I thought you'd tell me to push through with willpower."

"Maybe I would've. But wolves come out in this forest."

"And you're suggesting we rest?"

"The ones following us will light fires to ward off the wolves. They'll set up camp and keep the flames going."

Mago sat on the ground and continued, "If they want to stay alive, they'll have to band together. Even the comrades who've been fighting each other until now. That's what the instructors wanted. For us to unite when faced with a life-threatening situation."

"What…?"

"Remember the punishment drills before the start?"

We did push-ups in unison with a chant.

We are one.

"Why else would they have us carry daggers we wouldn't use? Why would the instructors be stationed along the route? Without the map, there's no way to reach the destination in time."

"Mago, what are you trying to say?"

"The instructors must've known there would be wolves here. The head instructor even mentioned 'emergencies' when talking about the daggers before we started. They knew."

"So, if what you're saying is true…"

"Yes. After you went ahead, I bought time at the checkpoint."

Kinjo's face broke into a grin.

"Now that I've joined you."

He collapsed to the ground.

"We've already won."

"Yeah, we've won."