"Aaargh..."
With unsteady steps, a humanoid monster zombie, its entire body rotting into mush, shambled closer.
A zombie's teeth and fangs were imbued with a potent curse. Left unpurified, a single bite meant certain death, and the resulting corpse would wander the world anew as another zombie. Such was the extreme peril posed by the undead creature.
Closing the distance into the zombie's reach—
"Hah!"
Somni Barrel severed its neck with the longsword in his right hand. Its head lopped off, the zombie collapsed to the ground and melted into sludge.
Next, aiming his right palm toward another zombie slowly trudging toward him, he unleashed the fire magic he had been chanting.
"Fireball!"
A sphere of flame collided with the creature, instantly engulfing it in pale orange flames and reducing it to ash.
"As expected of you, Lord Somni! Taking down two zombies in a single strike—you truly live up to your title as Prince Gilbert's youngest Guardian Knight!"
Clapping his hands enthusiastically in praise was the well-built, black-haired youth, Egg. Egg was a classmate from the Royal Knight Academy. He, too, was taking the Babel exam and had ended up on the same team purely by coincidence.
"Well, to be frank, there's no real challenge here."
Their movements were sluggish; so long as one was careful when closing in, they posed no significant threat. Was this truly the notoriously grueling Babel exam? He had braced himself to see what impossible trial would be thrust upon the examinees, but it had turned out to be an utter letdown.
"I can't use fire magic, so it takes everything I've got just to defeat them one by one. Slaying them in a single blow like you do, Lord Somni, is totally out of my league."
Egg shook his head vigorously. While not on Somni's level, Egg was quite a capable swordsman. His Gift was specialized entirely in swordsmanship, however, leaving him completely devoid of magical talent.
Indeed, for Somni—who possessed advanced swordplay and could wield magic alike—the arduous Babel exam was not even an obstacle. His enrollment into the Tower was practically guaranteed.
"More importantly, isn't that girl pretty fine?"
Egg leaned in and whispered into Somni's ear, his gaze locked on Laila Helner, the striking beauty with long, wavy blonde hair who was their teammate for this exam.
"Well, I suppose she's quite attractive, but..."
She was undeniably a beauty. Unlike other women, however, she had treated Somni with cold indifference from the very start. Above all, she seemed to be a friend of that Kai Heinemann.
Kai Heinemann—a fellow contender in the final tournament of the Sacred Martial Arts Tournament. The public widely dismissed him as a cowardly incompetent. Yet among a select circle of swordsmen, his reputation could not have been more different.
When Somni had asked the swordsman who defeated him about his future ambitions after their match, the man had passionately declared that one day, he wanted to become strong enough to face Kai Heinemann, just like Zack. Somni, with whom he had just crossed blades, had not registered in his mind in the slightest.
Nor was he an isolated case. One of Somni's noble companions, a regular partner on nights out on the town, had broken down in tears after watching Kai Heinemann's match with Zack. Afterward, he had retreated to his hometown, silently swinging his sword day in and day out. That man had been hailed as a once-in-a-decade prodigy of their generation. A person who had never once practiced seriously was now pouring his heart and soul into the sword with single-minded devotion. There was no doubt that the match between Kai Heinemann and Zack was the sole reason.
Kai Heinemann's Gift was 'The Most Incompetent in the World.' There was no possible way he could be genuinely strong. It was obvious, just as Somni's father Lumpa Barrel had pointed out, that he had advanced through foul play alone.
What a hopeless bunch of fools, incapable of evaluating true strength. In the end, they were mere commoners, fundamentally different from a chosen elite like Somni.
Kai Heinemann was a massive apostate who had cheated his way up. He deserved far harsher condemnation from everyone.
That was precisely why Somni found no charm in fools like Laila who acted pointlessly affectionate toward Kai Heinemann, no matter how beautiful she might be. If anything, her utter lack of discernment evoked pity rather than desire.
"Right? So how about it—why don't we invite her out after the test? If you ask her, Lord Somni, it's a sure thing, right?"
Glancing at Egg, who was eyeing Laila with leering intent, Somni rejected him flatly.
"Forget it. You just want to use me as bait so you can spend the night with her, don't you?"
Egg's womanizing was infamous; he went through a revolving door of female companions. Vicious rumors even claimed he would get women dead drunk just to force himself upon them. Somni assumed those were malicious falsehoods, but as a Guardian Knight serving Prince Gilbert, he could not afford to indulge in behavior that invited misunderstanding.
Above all, even if begged, he had no desire to share a drink with a woman who favored Kai Heinemann.
"Is that so? Guess I'll just have to make a move myself, then."
As though expecting the refusal, Egg showed no disappointment, his face still dripping with raw desire. He was likely already planning how to lure her into the entertainment district.
"Egg, just make sure you don't do anything that goes against chivalry."
"Yeah, yeah, I got it, I got it."
Egg gave a flippant wave of his right hand with a carefree grin.
From that point on, Egg persistently pestered Laila, trying to convince her to go drinking with him once the exam was over.
Though she had declined politely at first, even Somni could tell she was growing intensely irritated. Just as Somni decided that any further harassment would jeopardize their teamwork and moved to rein Egg in—
"Will you please cease this at once?!"
Laila shouted, seizing Egg's right arm and wrenching it upward to effortlessly pin him in place.
"Ow-ow-ow! That hurts! Let go of me!"
The moment Laila let go, Egg tumbled awkwardly to the ground.
"You damn bitch...!"
Scrambling to his feet, he lunged to grab Laila by the collar, only to be thrown flat on his back once more.
"This is your final warning. Please behave yourself."
Cowed entirely by Laila's chilling glare, Egg could only grit his teeth in bitter frustration. From then on, he kept his distance.
A short while later, spotting a team of women surrounded by several zombies, they stepped in to assist at Egg's suggestion.
A zombie died once decapitated. On top of that, they were vulnerable to fire, making them trivial prey for Somni, whose forte lay in flame magic.
As he flicked the lingering bits of zombie flesh from his blade—
"Lord Somni, thank you so much for saving us!"
The girls they had rescued let out shrill squeals, their faces flushing with excitement as they rushed over, showering him with praise.
"Ah, I'm just glad you're all unharmed."
When he flashed his practiced, radiant smile to soothe their nerves, the girls squealed even louder. Yes, this was how people were meant to treat Somni.
"Lord Somni, there don't seem to be any rules against teams cooperating. Why don't we let them travel with us?"
At Egg's suggestion, the girls leaned in eagerly.
"Wait, really? Are you serious? Lord Somni is going to team up with us?!"
"Please, we'd be so grateful!"
"We were just so terribly frightened..."
Indeed, the practical test allowed teams to eliminate one another. In other words, forming alliances was equally permissible.
The undead roaming the area were specially treated specimens prepared by the academy. As their battles had made clear, slaying an undead creature automatically added points to the slayer's personal badge. Though framed as a team trial, it was an exam at heart, functioning in practice as an individual competition.
Under such a scoring system, joining forces posed no disadvantage. If anything, greater numbers offered greater safety.
"I have no objections. Are you all right with this as well, Laila?"
"Yes."
She offered a curt nod of assent.
"Well, that makes things simple! Hey, hey, where are you girls from?"
Egg sidled up to the three female examinees and immediately resumed his usual overly familiar charm.
In that moment, Somni had forgotten. Though an exam, this was real combat. Their enemies were merciless beings who would grant them neither pity nor restraint. And above all, the undead were far from the only threat lurking in the field.
Yet, in their lighthearted, picnic-like complacency, Somni and the others failed to realize this in the slightest—and they were about to be plunged headlong into the depths of despair.