Twenty minutes had passed since they entered the labyrinth.
Ex's group had advanced while defeating golems made to resemble all sorts of monsters, including goblins and kobolds.
The fighting itself had been fairly easy.
When they first spotted the monsters, the three new teammates hadn't quite worked smoothly together. But that had lasted only a moment.
All they had to do was stay in their assigned positions and carry out their own duties, just as they had been taught.
"Let's all take a short rest."
At Ex's words, each of them set up warning equipment around the perimeter and prepared a place to rest.
They hadn't yet fought hard enough to need a break.
Ex simply needed a little time to put his thoughts in order.
"Ex, hold on. Something's strange."
By the time Circe spoke, Ex had detected something unusual as well.
"There is something wrong with this labyrinth, isn't there?"
"Leaving aside the fact that it's larger than we expected, the enemies we've encountered are much too strong. These aren't opponents freshmen should be facing."
Ex agreed with her.
When he considered the types and numbers of monsters they had encountered so far, it did feel excessive to a degree that was downright strange.
They had faced more than ten goblins or kobolds in a single encounter.
They had also encountered an orc that would be difficult for even an experienced adventurer to fight.
If Ex or Circe chose to do so, either of them could defeat these monsters. The same was certainly not true of the other students.
Ex's suspicions naturally turned toward their professor, Reder.
"Do you think he's trying to give us all the lowest possible grade because we're Class F?"
"Surely he isn't that insane. He's a professor."
"It's not as though we've only met one or two insane people."
"…"
Ex thought back to the events of the original novel.
There had been scenes in which Leon took assessments, too.
But nothing unusual like this had happened in any of those scenes.
Andras, possessing Beatrice's body, had pulled all sorts of tricks to become close to Leon's group. Those incidents, however, belonged much later in the story.
It felt a little too early for anything like that to happen now.
If something was happening anyway, it was probably because of Ex….
Ex considered attaching one of his spare Observer Viewpoints to Reder and reading his Synopsis. Then he shook his head.
Attaching an Observer Viewpoint again would also consume Editing Points. Ex hadn't even unlocked System Level 3 yet. To him, spending those points on something that was still nothing more than a suspicion felt like a waste.
Professor Reder's head was out of his reach for the moment, so Ex brought the discussion to an end there.
"We'll have to investigate after we get out of the labyrinth. Perhaps it's just a feeling, but something about the situation seems troubling."
"I don't want to be stuck cleaning up after the kids, either. Let's get out of here quickly. It's not as though we're going to get a low grade."
"Then let's hurry before anything happens."
Just as they were about to set off, the warning equipment they had placed around them gave a jingle, then several more in quick succession. It was warning them of an intrusion.
"Everyone, to your positions."
The teammates moved quickly at Ex's command.
They immediately put out the light, received the Cat Eye spell, and finished preparing for combat.
While they were in this labyrinth, they would assume that anyone they encountered was an enemy. The moment someone came into view, they would attack.
As they all watched tensely for the intruder, a voice reached them.
"W-wait! Don't attack! I'm a student from Class F!"
It was the voice of a boy trembling with fear.
It was a voice Ex remembered hearing before.
"Jeffrey Reine?"
"Ah, that voice…. Could it be Prince Ex? Yes, that's right. I'm Jeffrey Reine."
Ex could tell that it was a person rather than a monster. That didn't mean he was going to lower his guard.
"Atel, Ames. Don't drop your guard. We haven't established whether he's a friend or an enemy yet."
"Y-yes!"
"Yes, sir…!"
Ex shot a glare at Atel and Ames, who had been about to lower their weapons, and made them regain their vigilance.
Circe and Lola were watching the opposite direction together. They weren't going to be caught off guard by a sudden ambush.
"Jeffrey. Where's the rest of your group, and why are you moving around alone? If you intend to ambush us, you'd better get on with it."
"W-wait, Prince Ex! Something terrible has happened! It's dangerous in here! My teammates have been attacked, too!"
"Get to the point. What happened to them?"
"The safety devices aren't working! Everyone's been badly injured, but the return function still didn't activate! They could be in danger if they don't get treatment quickly!"
What they had been worrying about had now become reality.
No one in Ex's group had been injured so far, so they had had no way to discover a malfunction in the safety devices. All they had noticed was that the monsters were abnormally strong.
"We have to go and save them, quickly!"
At Jeffrey's tearful words, Ames shouted urgently.
"The assessment doesn't matter anymore! We have to save those people first! If they've been badly hurt…."
"Calm down. I never said we weren't going to save them. Of course we have to rescue them."
Ex looked ahead again and spoke to Jeffrey.
"Lead the way. But keep this distance between us."
"W-wait! It'll be dangerous if monsters appear while we're like this. Can't I join your group?"
"We can handle a situation like that. Stop complaining and lead the way. Lady Lola, would you come here for a moment?"
Ex quietly whispered something to Lola.
Lola's expression grew serious. After they exchanged a few words, she nodded quietly.
"Th-then please follow me."
Once Lola returned to her position, the group followed Jeffrey.
Their leader, Ex, was still making his wariness plain. Seeing that, the others kept their tension and vigilance as well.
As the group followed Jeffrey, he spoke again.
"We'll be arriving where my teammates are soon."
He looked back cautiously to speak to them.
"Could you please put away your weapons? They're already frightened by what happened so suddenly. Seeing weapons will only scare them more. It'll be difficult to keep the situation under control, too."
"Has the area been secured?"
"Yes. Someone who's still unharmed is keeping watch around here. So please put away your weapons for the sake of the injured."
"…All right."
Ex immediately slid his sword into its sheath.
The other teammates saw him do it and put away their own weapons as well, even as they felt uneasy about doing so.
They had come running because they'd heard that people were hurt. Even so, there were quite a few things about the situation that seemed suspicious to them.
They wondered whether they really needed to put their weapons away, too. But since Ex had done it, they didn't question it too closely.
Just as Ex was about to step forward, he spoke.
"There's one thing I'd like to ask."
Ex stopped and put a question to Jeffrey.
"How did you know where we were?"
"…Pardon?"
"You're the one who knew where we were and came to find us. I didn't think we'd given our position away."
"No, I definitely saw your light. That's why…."
"And you could even see that we were holding weapons? In those conditions?"
"…"
Jeffrey closed his mouth.
As the others were trying to work out what that meant, he shouted.
"…He knows! Attack!"
Jeffrey drew his sword and suddenly launched an ambush.
"You said we wouldn't get caught…!"
"That idiot Jeffrey…!"
At the same moment, two hidden figures emerged behind them, their weapons aimed at Circe and Lola.
So it had been a trap after all.
Attacking the mages first, because they were vulnerable in close combat, was the very model of how to carry out an ambush.
At the same time, arrows and spells came hurtling out of the darkness behind Jeffrey.
Ex's group had put their weapons away. That brief moment of defenselessness should have made them pay a heavy price for the ambush.
It had worked…!
Jeffrey, the leader of the opposing group, had often directed ambushes like this. From that experience, he felt certain that this time he had successfully deceived Ex.
Ambushing an Imperial Prince to fulfill a deal with a noble did make him fear the consequences that might follow later. Still, it was happening during an assessment, after all.
If it caused trouble, that noble had promised to take care of it. For now, Jeffrey only needed to carry out the job he'd been given. There were safety devices in place, so no one would be badly hurt.
This would be his own entry into the political world…!
There was just one problem. He'd chosen the wrong opponent.
The ambushing blades struck a barrier with a clang. Arrows thudded into it, and spells burst against it.
The rainbow-colored protective shield was large enough to cover Ex's entire group. It was so strong that the ambush hadn't left so much as a scratch on it.
Lola's Iris shield had been prepared long before the attack.
"Everyone, prepare to fight."
The shield bought Ex's group a moment of breathing room. With that time, they were able to get themselves ready to fight.
When the ambush failed, shock spread across the faces of Jeffrey and his attackers.
Ex, by contrast, looked at Jeffrey with a cold, expressionless face and let out a sigh.
"Let's find out what kind of bullshit you're pulling first."
Ex tightened his grip on his sword. Four swords of white light appeared and rushed forward.
In the middle of the labyrinth, a one-sided act of violence began.
* * *
"So you pulled this stunt to get on my good side? While you ambushed me, Gausolt, Count Burghelm's son, was supposed to rescue me and win my favor?"
"Yes…."
"Unbelievable. I don't even know what to say…."
Five people were kneeling in front of Ex.
They had been beaten to within a hair of triggering their safety devices.
Ex's group had revealed its full strength, and against that strength, the five of them had been utterly powerless.
When circumstances allowed, Ex tried to adjust his own level of fighting to suit the people he was facing. But in the current situation, there was no room for that.
He hadn't disqualified them because there were still things he needed to establish.
"So where is Gausolt?"
"Lord Gausolt should definitely be nearby…."
"He hasn't come even after things turned out like this. You must have been communicating with him. Use whatever you used before and call him now."
"Y-yes…!"
Jeffrey hurriedly took out his Mana Phone and contacted someone.
But they waited a long time, and for some reason, the call wouldn't connect.
"H-huh…. It was working just a little while ago…."
"You can't get through?"
"N-no, sir…."
Ex drew his brows together as he considered the situation.
The first thought that came to him was that Gausolt might have abandoned Jeffrey.
When trouble broke out, cutting off the accomplice who could implicate him was certainly the sort of thing a noble would do. If that noble was steeped in vanity, he would be all the more inclined to discard such a person.
But now that everything had been exposed, it was strange for Gausolt to remain silent.
"For now, show me your safety devices. Go back from here and tell the professor what's happened. This isn't a situation where an assessment can continue."
"What's happened…?"
"Didn't you notice? The monsters in the labyrinth are abnormally strong. It's not that we can't defeat them, but they're well beyond what students like us should be facing."
"Uh…. I did think they were a little strong…."
"If you understand, hand over your safety devices. Unless you want me to beat you until you're sent back."
With dark expressions, Jeffrey and his group held out the safety devices on their wrists.
Without hesitating, Ex dealt a hard blow to Jeffrey's wrist to activate the device's return function.
Now they would go to the professor and report the anomaly, and the assessment would be put on hold for a while.
"…It's not working?"
That had been Ex's expectation. Instead, a new problem had presented itself.
"Jeffrey, was what you said earlier about the safety devices being broken actually true?"
"N-no! I only made that up to lure you here…."
"This one really does seem to be broken."
"I don't know anything about it!"
Ex tried striking the safety devices worn by the other members of Jeffrey's group as well. Then he struck the devices belonging to his own group, but the result was exactly the same.
Every safety device was broken.
"Miss Circe. Can you fix them?"
"No, I can't. For something like this, I'd need a design diagram, at the very least…."
While they were still trying to work out what to do about this unexpected failure, a scream of agony rang out from somewhere in the labyrinth. Another followed it.
The safety devices were broken.
The training monsters had been set to an abnormal level.
With things as they were, there was one problem they would face if they encountered monsters they couldn't handle.
"Let's hurry."
Ex didn't know what lunatic had arranged all this. But one thing was certain.
"Our first priority is to get out of here."
This place was dangerous.
There was no one here who didn't know that now.
–TL Notes–
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