— "Can you hear me, Ash?"
— "Yes, I can hear you, big sister. I still find it hard to believe that, despite the distance between us, I can hear your voice."
— "You must now understand why I'm interested in Anna Fort De Rush?"
— "At first, I admit, I had some doubts, but now it's clear that this Anna is an asset we absolutely must not lose. Do you know what she submitted during the first trial? A complete report. And her work is simply stunning."
— "I told you you wouldn't be bored with her."
— "Are you sure you want to entrust me with the empire's most guarded secret?"
— "Of course I am. You know very well that you're the only one in our circle I can trust. Please, let's win this Rush."
— "Your wishes are commands, Your Highness."
Zyon hangs up the enchanted piece of wood, now called a 'telephone'. A woman with the Quaser clan's earpieces and a tattooed forehead stands before the door. She addresses her mistress.
— "Your Highness! You really shouldn't stay up too late. Tomorrow's exam is the most important, and it's also the most dangerous for you."
— "And I'm fully aware of that, don't worry. Don't stop me. I wish I were at the Eastern Academy so I could chat with Anna. There's so much to learn from that girl."
— "Be careful, Your Highness. Your fascination with Anna could blow her cover."
— "Don't worry. I'll be careful."
Zyon takes a moment to reflect.
— "Prepare our team for tomorrow's trial. It's going to be a rough one."
And then, the next day arrived as promised. This final trial takes place away from the school. Where exactly remains to be seen, because the contestants must first solve riddles that lead to the location and provide participation keys.
To speed through the riddles, or simply to steal the credit from others, there's nothing better than forming alliances. For some contestants, alliances have been in place since the first trial. While for others, it's here that they decide who to ally with. Sure, you can always go solo, but that would be madness. Zyon has been leading her own team from the very start. The same Quaser woman from the day before serves as her close guard. Another girl with an orange-hued appearance gathers information in the city using her summoning magic. Yet another, with violet hair, scouts the forests.
Meanwhile, Zyon stays in the middle of the road, waiting for her informants to return. Up until now, she had been completely overshadowed by Anna, but Zyon is also a well-known master strategist. And Anna's merits during the war are shared between her and Diamond for the sake of the empire and, above all, to protect Anna.
— "Still using your vassals for your own ends? Even if you do have a war heroine, you're still just a girl who takes advantage of her title."
It's one of the competitors striking Zyon with words.
— "You're speaking to Her Imperial Highness, how dare you...!", Zyon's guard shouts, but she stops her short. She cannot stand anyone disrespecting her mistress.
— "Wisa!! Zyon yells to silence her."
— "There you go. Always using titles to impress. Haha... we've solved the riddle. We'll leave you maybe a few type-A golems. Haha..."
And the girl and her crew leave with those words. Zyon is red with anger next to her vassal.
— "Wisa, you've disappointed me. How could you forget that titles are the very things we must never bring up at the academy? Now, I've lost a good deal of my legitimacy because of you."
— "Forgive my incompetence, Your Highness. I will make sure this never happens again."
— "Make sure instead that I win against that idiot Granui. What about the information?"
— "Wait, Your Highness, I sense Thel's magna coming this way... And I believe it's a carrier pigeon."
…
Meanwhile, at the imperial palace — specifically, in the office of the Imperial Guard Directorate — Majiid is tackling all sorts of paperwork. She looks calm and composed, more severe than her usual demeanor, bathed in a soft sunlight filter that caresses half of her smooth, velvet-like face.
The door to her office rings.
— "Come in."
The door opens silently. A woman dressed entirely in black enters the room. She first bows before Majiid, then begins to speak.
— "Commander, we have finally found the origin of the girl with lightning magic. Her name is Kirao. She is a commoner from the city of Luminance. She was trained at the Imperial Academy for a time, and then..."
— "Go on."
— "Like most Commoners, her existence becomes blurred in the academy's records."
— "And yet she is a lightning mage. That alone should make her remarkable."
Majiid stands up. She paces lightly toward the window. She gazes out at the city. She thinks.
— "I hate it when assets like that turn against us. And I seriously doubt there's only one like her among the enemy ranks. That gives us a good view of the extent of this 'Reference's' power."
Majiid turns back to her informant.
— "Make sure the recruitment in the espionage guild progresses well and quickly. This step is crucial for the survival of our nation."
— "I understand, Commander. However, finding capable people without them being known is a real challenge."
— "Come on, haven't you understood yet? Look into the commoners as well."
— "But ma'am..."
Majiid stops her dead with a menacing glare.
— "Your orders are not up for debate."
— "... Also dig up news from the academy girls. Even if we manage to defeat this 'Reference', we must eradicate the evil at its source."
— "Understood, ma'am."
The young woman leaves on those final words, and Majiid returns to her paperwork. Pensive, she recalls the advice Anna had given her.
"Anna was right again about that girl's origins. I wonder how far her predictions can go.
According to her, espionage is the best weapon we can acquire because information is our greatest asset. And look how far we've come in such a short time, simply by considering that one sentence.
If the census and tax collection systems devised by her family are finally applied to the rest of the country, we will surely find this 'Reference' soon enough.
No matter who the hell this woman is, I will not see her plans come to fruition."
Four teams are now at the site of the final exam for the Imperial Academy. The grounds are a vast, wild forest, far from the noises of the capital, covering a mountain range.
The first team to arrive, led by a certain Siraper De Krispet, had already arrived right after the second trial. That team already has a significant head start on the others by collecting A-rank golems. The second team arrived just one day after them. The third and fourth arrive on the third day. And without a doubt, more competitors will keep arriving from now on.
This final trial consists of collecting summoning scrolls that power golems. These scrolls also serve as summoning tools for the golems, so to obtain them, you must destroy the golems. However, there are different types of golems:
+ A-rank golems: These are soldier-level golems. They are therefore the easiest to kill. They can be found everywhere on the arena. You can count up to 1,000, even 2,000 of this type, each worth 1 point.
+ B-rank golems: These are captain-level golems. They are therefore more difficult to kill. Their numbers are fewer, but each B-rank golem is worth 20 points. Even a team of ten normal knight-mages can have some difficulty taking down just one.
+ And finally, C-rank golems: These are general-level golems. They are the most difficult to find. They are very rare, so defeating one of these golems is worth 1,000 points, which almost certainly guarantees entry into the academy for 10 people.
However, these golems are not easy to defeat. Because these C-rank golems even use some master-level magic.
It should be noted that the role of these golems is to mark a contestant's elimination with a circle. Encountering a C-rank golem can spell death for an entire troop. That's why arriving first isn't necessarily a good idea. Arriving too late is even worse. Fatigue must be taken into account. Adversity too, because other students might very well steal your scroll. Even within a team, some members might betray others for points.
In short, this trial is an almost real simulation of war.
Zyon's team decides to arrive just early enough before everyone else to gather some points before going after the bigger catches like the B-rank golems.