The story goes back to before the exam began. I had handed out several dandelions to everyone and began explaining.
"I plan to produce fake flags using compression magic. I want everyone to use these tufts of fluff as the seeds for that."
"Fake flags...? Bauer-kun, what do you mean?"
"Exactly what it sounds like. But you see, there's a trap."
"A trap?"
"I'll rig them so that fire magic detonates the moment someone grabs the flagpole. That way, they won't be able to easily clear them away."
Hearing my explanation, everyone seemed slightly bewildered. They probably wanted to say, "Then won't we end up suffering the same fate?"
"Ah, don't worry. I'll teach you all the safe way to hold them."
"What do you mean?"
"They're designed so that as long as you grab only the tip of the triangular flag, they won't explode. Normally, no one grabs a flag by a spot like that when trying to hold it."
Hearing that explanation, everyone seemed more or less convinced. When someone tries to grab a flag, the first thing they reach for is the pole. In other words, we just had to turn that psychology to our advantage.
In this way, we successfully scattered the fake flags across the area—
"Hey, they're coming from over there!"
"Don't touch the flags! They're all fakes!"
"They ran off in that direction! After them!"
Ever since a massive number of fake flags appeared, Squad One and Squad Two had been fighting in a state of sheer chaos. Friendly fire broke out, people carelessly touched flags, others exhausted their mana... No one was able to accurately grasp the current situation.
"This is Number 1. Number 31, do you read me?"
"This is... Number 31, Hermann..."
Every conceivable kind of magic seemed to be flying around the area to the point where even communication magic was being disrupted. We had succeeded in creating confusion with the fake flags. However, unless we found the crucial real one, the battle would never end. At this rate, we wouldn't get anywhere, so it seemed necessary to change our approach.
"Currently, I'm hiding in the shadow of a tree. Hermann, can you manage to pull back?"
"I can, but... what's the objective...?"
"I want to search for the real flag. If I find it, I'll let you have it."
"I'd love that, but... why me...?"
"If we run into Elena, I want you to handle her."
"I see, so that's it...!"
I had consumed a considerable amount of mana, so fighting Elena might prove difficult. Hermann likely knew a lot about how she operated, making him the optimal partner to move with. In exchange for putting him in harm's way, handing over the flag as a reward should leave no room for complaints.
"All right, the attacks stopped! Bauer-kun, which way should I go?"
"Head back west. I want Number 5 and Number 13 to switch places with us and head toward the center."
"Understood!"
Ending the communication, I secretly left the spot and made my way toward the west...
"All right, you made it back."
I managed to return to our initial starting point and regrouped with Hermann. Hermann seemed to have consumed a fair amount of mana, but he still appeared to have more leeway than I did.
"So, Bauer-kun, what are you planning to do?"
"I want to change our search policy for the flag. A good deal of time has passed already, so I think the ground has been almost entirely searched."
"When you say regarding the ground... is there anywhere else to place a flag?"
"For instance, what about... up in the trees?"
"Up in the trees..."
Hermann placed a hand to his chin, lost in thought. Earlier, in order to escape from Elena, I had used wind magic to fly through the air. Looking down on the forest from above, a thought had struck me: if a flag were set atop a tree, wouldn't it be difficult to spot from the ground?
"Even if that's true, how do we search?"
"I think our only choice is to climb a tree and look around from above. I'll climb, so I need you to stay on alert down below, Hermann."
"Understood. Got it."
To be honest, back when I lived in the countryside, I was never particularly good at climbing trees... but I was probably still better at it than a city boy like Hermann. Besides, even if I stayed on the ground, I didn't think I could fight Elena. And tree climbing didn't require any mana.
"Hup, there we go..."
"Bauer-kun, are you all right...?"
Watched over by an anxious Hermann, I began climbing the tallest nearby tree. It helped that there were plenty of branches. Even so, I wondered if my climbing really looked that precarious...
"Hermann, how's the perimeter?"
"No one's around. But... there's a chance the young lady or someone else might be lurking."
"I was ambushed from behind earlier, so be careful."
While warning Hermann, before I knew it, I had climbed up quite high. Clinging to the gradually tapering trunk, I carefully scanned the surroundings.
"Bauer-kuun, is there a flag!?"
"Let's see..."
The idea that it might be in a tree was just a baseless hunch. If I didn't find anything, it couldn't be helped, but—
"...Hm? What's that?"
In the canopy of a tree fairly close by, I thought I saw a red flag swaying. Squinting my eyes to look closer, I saw a flag tied securely to the treetop. There was no way dandelion fluff could have drifted all the way up there....Which meant that had to be the real one!
"Found it! Just as expected, it's up in a tree!"
"Oh, amazing! As expected of you, Bauer-kun!"
It was naturally out of arm's reach, so it seemed best to climb down once and then climb that tree instead. Alternatively, we could just fell the tree with a suitable spell. Either way, as long as we obtained that, victory belonged to Squad One.
"Hermann, I'm coming down to your position for now!"
"Understood, be careful!"
Thank goodness, this settled the match. All that remained was to hand the flag over to Hermann. With this, Hermann would advance to the final exam. I didn't know how I would be evaluated, but surely contributing this closely to the search for the flag would be enough—
"Gwaaah!!"
"...Huh?"
Hearing Hermann's scream, I reflexively looked down. There, thrusting her staff near Hermann's waist as she leaned out from a bush, stood Elena. Scattered nearby were the shattered fragments of a magic stone.
"Young lady, why...?"
"Even without magic, taking someone like you down is child's play."
Elena stood up smoothly, brushing away the leaves clinging to her clothes. Don't tell me she defeated Hermann by physically shattering his magic stone? That was completely absurd—
"Found you...!"
"What!?"
As I stared in stunned silence, Elena snapped her glare up at me. With staff in hand, she began climbing the very tree I was in. I see—since Elena couldn't tell which tree held the flag, she intended to eliminate me first!
"Prepare yourself, Keegan...!"
"Guh...!"
I brought forth the Phantom Staff in my right hand and fired off fire magic. However, it was blocked by Elena's solid defense magic, failing to land a direct hit. This was bad; there was barely any mana left in my magic stone. In that case, I had to take a gamble—
"Haah!"
"Where are you aiming—kyaah!?"
Firing the fire magic so that it grazed past Elena's side, I struck the base of the tree directly. The thick trunk Elena and I were clinging to began to snap, slowly tilting over. I thought we would be slammed straight into the ground... but fortunately, the trunk caught on another tree nearby.
"Whoa!?"
I was nearly thrown off by the impact, but I managed to hold on. The trunk was left propped up at a sharp angle, leaving me dangling from a branch by my left hand alone. Though I held the Phantom Staff in my right hand... what good was it in this state?
"—A schemer drowning in his own schemes, I see."
"!"
At that moment, someone stood atop the trunk, looking down at me. That person was, of course, Elena.
"...What do you want?"
"If you stay like that, you're going to fall. Broken bones might be the least of your worries."
"What are you trying to say?"
"I want to negotiate. If you wish, I can lend you a hand and save you. So—"
Elena let out a scoff through her nose. And then, as if claiming complete victory, she uttered a single sentence:
"Tell me which tree the flag is in."