Second

The freshmen skill test has concluded.

Excluding the faculty, the one who undoubtedly suffered the most during this test was Frondier.

Due to the frequent rule changes that occurred midway, the largest number of students had to retake the test on his stage.

Needless to say, all that hardship was meaningless.

“In the end, even after retaking the test, everyone failed...!”

Frondier muttered to himself in lament after sending off the last team.

Only one team passed the second stage, which Frondier was in charge of. It was truly a wall of wailing.

[Frondier.]

At that moment, a voice came from the speaker again. It was Ellen, the student council president.

“What is it?”

[All the students who took your test failed the skill test.]

“That's not my fault.”

It was Frondier's fault.

If he failed everyone, there would be no way to know about the freshmen's skills, regardless of the test.

[So, as a temporary measure, you'll have to do what Aster and Elodie did.]

“What is that?”

[I hear you boast quite a memory.]

He never boasted.

And it wasn't memory.

None of it was true, but Frondier listened in silence for now.

[Give your own scores to all the students who have taken the test so far.]

“All of them?”

[Yes. It's your own doing.]

“It's not my doing.”

It was his doing.

Frondier deactivated the chair he had created with the Obsidian. The black liquid flowed back into the Black Lotus, and Frondier lay sprawled on the floor.

Despite maintaining the Obsidian for such a long time while simultaneously fighting the students, there was still no burden on his Mana. It was a tremendous improvement.

Frondier lay down and thought about Ellen's words for a moment. Evaluate all the students who have taken the test so far. Recall them all without missing a single one.

[Just kidding. We recorded it with Wizard view, so,]

“Understood.”

[Huh?]

“I will recall them all and give them scores.”

Just in case, Frondier had analyzed all the students who participated in his test and saved them in the workshop. He had written down specific details in the workshop after each test. In fact, he had already finished scoring.

[……You're really going to do that?]

“You asked me to.”

Frondier replied as if it were obvious.

After a moment of silence, a cautious voice flowed from the speaker.

[Frondier, do you know? Belphegor, the demon in charge of sloth, kept a subordinate by his side to record all his memories in order to deal with his laziness,]

“Senior, don't get swept up in strange rumors. I'm not a demon.”

[Of course you're not. I was just saying.]

Her voice sounded quite serious for that.

Plus, it kind of pissed him off since it felt a bit true.

* * *

The freshman ability test was finally over.

The highest-rated team was Dier's team. They were the only team that passed Frondier’s second stage and managed to reach the fifth stage.

However, the member who received the highest evaluation among them was not Dier, but Pielott.

Frondier and Elodie gave Pielott a slightly stingy score, but generally speaking, the other test administrators gave him a high score.

While Dier was the one who used the team's abilities to solve the mission, the administrators saw Pielott, who currently has high ability stats, as excellent.

The general consensus was that Dier had been able to use his intelligence because he had the strong card such as Pielott.

Frondier also didn’t think that Pielott’s abilities themselves were lacking, so he didn’t feel particularly bothered by such evaluations.

The only one who was dissatisfied was Pielott himself.

“Damn it…”

Pielott swore inwardly on his way to the dormitory. He was angry with himself.

He had entered the academy brimming with confidence, as the most anticipated rising star, and yet he had been defeated by Frondier without being able to properly use his powers.

He had also lost to Élodie, but that was fine. He had never thought that he could defeat Constel’s best and brightest from the beginning. Although he was a little resentful that he hadn’t even been able to touch her.

However, Frondier was different. He wasn’t the strongest individual in Constellation, and compared to Aster or Élodie, he was far inferior. He was just famous. And that fame wasn’t built on strength.

‘Last year at this time, he was definitely ‘just a human being’.’

After being miserably defeated in the ability test, Pielott had looked into Frondier. Up until last year, Frondier had definitely been just a human being.

That meant that Frondier had achieved ridiculous growth in just one year.

‘That’s impossible. There’s no way he could become that strong just by training.’

Pielott grumbled as he entered his room in the dormitory.

“Hey, you’re back?”

His roommate waved at him from his bed.

Coincidentally, Pielott’s roommate was Dier.

Whether it was a twist of fate or something more than that, Dier had become Pielott’s roommate after the ability test. Pielott took a quick look at Dier, who was calmly reading a book on his bed.

“......”

“What’s with that expression? Are you still mad because I stepped on you? I apologized, didn’t I?”

“No.”

Pielott sighed and shook his head.

In truth, Pielott didn’t feel any particular way about Dier stepping on his head.

Of course, he had been a little hot-headed at the time, but after some time had passed, he had come to reflect on his actions.

Dier had predicted that Pielott would do something ‘stupid.’ That meant that his impatience had been noticeable enough for others to pick up on.

If anything, he should be grateful to Dier for making him realize that.

…Of course, due to his pride, he would never say something like that, even if he were dying.

“Dier.”

“What?”

“Why do you think Frondier is so strong?”

“What is that? A philosophical question?”

“It’s a realistic question.”

Dier looked away from his book and gazed at the ceiling for a moment. He didn’t take long to think.

“Well, it’s gotta be that black stuff.”

“……I see.”

The black liquid that had given them such a hard time throughout the test. They had learned from Homas that it was called ‘obsidian.’

“I don’t think it’s just that, though.”

“What if he didn’t have obsidian?”

Seeing the ominous aura in Pielott's words, Dier frowned. His gaze, which had been fixed on the ceiling, turned back to Pielott. That was the light of caution.

"Hey, what are you thinking?"

"You are good at hiding your presence. And you're smart. Haven't you thought about it? That he could be strong even without the Obsidian."

"And what does that matter to you?"

"……"

It's nothing.

Pielott just wanted to make sure.

Can a person become that strong in just a year? Was it really not because of the artifact?

Pielott always wanted proof of his own strength. That was why he deeply imprinted upon his mind the fact that he was the most promising freshman, why he picked a fight with Frondier, ignoring his other teammates, and why he never broke his stubbornness.

In other words, he was always anxious without confirmation. Because he was strongly hungry for his own abilities, he also had inferiority complex.

He just couldn't believe that someone other than him had achieved such ridiculous growth in a year.