I Can See Evolution Paths

Chapter 68: King Maker End

The white light resolved into the King’s Arena, and the Arena was quiet in the way it gets quiet after something that cost everyone present far more than the previous rounds had.

Students were on the floor. Not sitting, not leaning against walls the deliberate way people do when taking a break. Just on the floor, however their bodies had landed when they stopped moving before their minds caught up.

Leon lay flat on his back, laughing at the ceiling.

Amanda had one forearm across her eyes.

Silver stared upward at nothing in particular.

Arthur breathed heavy, the way someone breathes after doing things that burn a lot of oxygen for a long time.

"We made it," he said.

"Barely," Vedas said, beside him.

Both of them were on the floor.

This seemed correct.

...

The notification arrived before Arthur decided to stand up.

[New Title Acquired]

[Loyal Follower]

He read the description twice, because some things are worth reading twice.

Effects: The more people who genuinely believe in you, the easier it becomes to find solutions that weren’t visible before.

Arthur blinked. "Oh." He looked toward his team. "It changed."

Sun frowned. "What did?"

Arthur smiled. "My title."

"That should be expected after what we just did." Sun chuckled.

"I wonder what yours will be?"

"It better be something amazing."

Ajax walked over, still deciding how to categorize what he’d just watched.

"You’re insane," Ajax said.

Arthur blinked. "Thank you," he said.

Ajax stopped walking. "That wasn’t a compliment," he said.

"Oh," Arthur said. "Sorry."

Ajax folded his arms, clearly juggling several feelings at once. "You reached the gate. You had enough civilians to qualify. The challenge was complete." He looked at Arthur directly, the way a man who’d run difficult expeditions for twenty years looks when he needs a real answer. "Why did you run back?"

Arthur thought about it. "Because people were still there," he said.

"They chose to be there," Ajax said. "They sacrificed themselves willingly."

"I know," Arthur said.

"They wanted you to leave."

"I know," Arthur said.

"So why?"

Arthur thought about it another moment. "Because they were still there," he said.

Ajax frowned. "...That’s it?"

Arthur nodded. "That’s it."

Ajax opened his mouth and then closed it. Then he turned and walked away, which wasn’t the resolution he’d been heading toward.

A second-year nearby said quietly, "That’s actually his entire reason."

Another, just as quiet. "He really is crazy."

Leon, still flat on the floor, laughed louder. "I told you," he said, to no one in particular.

...

Steven laughed and had to compose himself.

"I’ve overseen this tournament for decades," he said, once he’d recovered. He looked at Arthur. "I’ve wondered, since I designed the final phase, what answer someone would eventually give to that question." He paused. "I wasn’t expecting one this simple."

Arthur scratched his cheek. "Was it wrong?"

"No," Steven said. "Not remotely."

He looked over the assembled students, the fifteen teams scattered across the arena floor in various states of exhaustion.

"The simulation was never about saving a city," he said. "It was about learning what kind of expedition leader each of you would become once the situation removed every other option." He let that sit. "Some of you chose efficiency. Some of you chose people." He smiled. "Sometimes they’re the same answer and sometimes they aren’t."

Arthur looked at his team.

Sun sat with his back against the wall, running an inventory of his physical state with mixed results. "Never again," he said.

Kong, beside him, nodded.

"You say that," Mithra said.

"I mean it this time," Sun said.

Everyone with enough energy left laughed.

Athena had her notebook out, apparently kept going through the entire simulation, and studied it like she barely recognized her own handwriting. "I’ve never calculated at that speed before," she said. "Several of them were wrong." She paused. "Fewer than I expected."

Athy chirped from her shoulder.

Athena looked at the owl. "Yes," she said. "You carried the rest. Thank you."

Mithra leaned back against the wall. "Worth it," she said.

Vedas had the spear across his lap, turning it once, running his hand along the shaft, checking the silver veins in the dark metal.

"It survived," he said.

"So did we," Arthur said.

Vedas looked at him with the quiet expression he’d developed over the year, not quite a smile but heading there.

Melo climbed into Arthur’s lap without announcing it.

She sat there and looked away from him, clearly feeling something she wasn’t ready to admit to. Her tail swished once.

Arthur scratched behind her left ear. "Thanks," he said.

Melo huffed. Then curled into a ball anyway.

Amanda walked over and looked at Arthur. "You’re strange," she said.

"I hear that a lot," Arthur said.

Silver, behind her, laughed. "Everyone does. The ones who make the biggest splash in the world just tend to hear it earlier."

"Oh?"

"Well, he isn’t wrong," Amanda sighed.

Leon walked over and stood in front of Arthur, golden eyes brighter than usual, grinning. "Seems I won this round."

Arthur sighed. "You did."

"Oh? Not going to make excuses?"

"Even if I hadn’t gone back for them, I’d have still lost since you were faster. Mephistopheles made it easier, I’m guessing?"

"He swept through everything."

"Of course he did."

But then Leon’s golden eyes flickered. "I’ll admit, you did surprise me by going back."

"Seems that was true for everyone. Was it really that unexpected?"

"For others? Yes. For you? No."

Arthur raised a brow.

Leon nodded once. "I figured you wouldn’t abandon them without at least trying."

He grinned. "Well, it was close."

"But you don’t regret it?"

"Of course not."

Neither of them said anything else about it. There was nothing else that needed saying.

...

Steven stepped forward and the arena’s attention followed.

"The final results," he said.

Exhausted students straightened up. People stopped leaning against walls. The scoreboard above the arena lit up, team names appearing in ranking order, building from the bottom.

Fifth place: Amanda’s team.

Genuine applause, from people who’d watched what she’d managed through the final phase.

Fourth: Silver.

Third: one of the third-year teams, which had finished with the highest civilian count of anyone who hadn’t gone back.

Second.

The name appeared and Arthur smiled before it had even fully resolved on the board.

"I knew it," he said.

Leon, standing a few meters away, looked at the board with no particular expression. "Told you," he said.

The board went quiet for a moment.

Steven looked toward Arthur.

"First..."

Everyone leaned forward with some professors gripping the railing tightly. While the teams down held their hands together tightly.

"Arthur Cronwall."

The silence lasted about two seconds.

Then the arena made the sound arenas make when the result everyone had been expecting arrives exactly right.

Arthur blinked at the board. "Again?" he said.

...

Steven explained the scoring afterward, for the students still wondering how it worked.

"Final performance wasn’t calculated on speed or civilian count alone," he said. A crystal appeared beside him listing the categories in order.

Leadership.

Nobody argued.

Adaptability only made Sun laugh quietly.

Civilian Survival.

Amanda nodded once. "Fair."

"Arthur’s team placed first in those four categories," Steven said.

Silver whistled low.

Amanda folded her arms. "I have to agree," she said, without a trace of resentment.

The third-year team that placed third stayed quiet. One of them said, loud enough for those nearby to hear, "We lost because we left."

"None of the categories measure time," Steven said. "An expedition that ends with everyone home is a successful expedition. An expedition that ends quickly is a fast expedition. Not the same thing."

...

Ajax had recovered his usual expression and stepped forward.

"Five teams are now officially Student Council candidates," he said. "Congratulations to all of them."

Students cheered.

The applause rolled through the arena in waves.

First-years stood first.

Then second-years.

Even students eliminated in the opening rounds joined in.

Several professors applauded too.

Arthur blinked. "...They’re loud."

Sun looked around. "They’re applauding us."

Arthur scratched his cheek. "...That seems excessive."

Mithra laughed. "I don’t think they agree."

Steven raised one hand, and the cheering quieted enough to hear him.

"Additionally," he said, "as first-year students who’ve become student council members, you’re all now allowed to go on expeditions."

Arthur trembled with joy, then looked at his team, at the people who’d just come through six rounds of everything this tournament had thrown at them. At Vedas with the new spear across his lap. At Melo pretending to sleep. At Athy on Athena’s shoulder and Kong on Sun’s. At Mithra, already looking back at him like she knew exactly what he was thinking.

Arthur looked around at everyone again. "...Thanks."

Everyone paused, looking at him.

"I couldn’t have done any of that without you guys."

Vedas looked away. "...Obviously."

Sun scratched the back of his head. "Why are you suddenly saying something embarrassing?"

Arthur blinked. "...Was it embarrassing?"

Mithra laughed. "A little."

Arthur nodded. "...I’ll try to be less embarrassing next time."

Mithra pointed at him immediately. "No."

Arthur blinked. "...No?"

"If you stop saying things like that," Sun said, lips twitching, "you’ll become normal."

Arthur frowned. "...Would that be bad?"

Everyone looked at him, then all four answered together. "Yes."

Melo opened one eye. "Kyu."

Arthur smiled. Then a notification appeared.

[Requirement Progress Updated]

[Requirement: Conquer the Three Great Goblin Tribes: 0/3]

His eyes lit up as the timer dropped sharply. He clenched his fist, then looked toward the Expedition Hall’s direction from the arena entrance. He’d come to Pathfinder Academy wanting to see the world.

He was going to see the world.

He smiled. "Let’s go."