The blind villain of the academy

Chapter 195: Last exam [2]

Chapter 194

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Episode 47 - Last exam [2]

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The fifth day ended rather quickly; I managed to complete a little over half of the tasks.

Afterward, we returned to the Tower, where the other members of the Field Exploration Squad had already gathered.

Noelle handed in the complete report on the areas explored that day.

After that, I left the Tower and headed toward the Central Tower. I walked into the main hall.

My stomach growled at the thought of the new sandwiches they would be serving today, along with finally having a cup of coffee I hadn’t tasted in a long time.

Once inside the main hall, I took a seat and leaned back in my chair.

Then I let out a tired sigh.

’I confirmed it today. Although only faintly, someone has been wandering through the mountains.’

Throughout the different mountain regions we explored, I noticed a common pattern.

In certain places, mineral veins were exposed in plain sight.

Although it was subtle enough to go unnoticed, some of the mineral veins were incomplete, as if someone had taken part of them away.

On top of that, I’m extremely sensitive to Mana, so I naturally noticed something unusual in those areas where traces of someone’s presence still remained.

’Because of the density of the Mana, I can’t determine exactly what it is, but I’m certain that an energy different from Mana or the Power of Chaos caused a slight disturbance.’

No one can see Mana, or at least not completely.

Perhaps it was because of my True Sight Trait, but I could see Mana in different colors.

To me, it looked like gusts of wind or gentle ocean waves.

However, in the areas where someone had been active, that strange energy disturbed the waves of Mana in the air.

’Only the Ice Queen can do something like that with another type of energy.’

I thought about it for a moment, but nothing concrete came to mind.

At the very least, this confirms that the Ice Queen has been moving throughout the entire mountain.

’The places she visited belong to the outer ring. Afterward, she moved to the inner ring, and, coincidentally, my memories place her in the central area of the ring.’

At last, I sighed and pulled myself out of my thoughts.

Only then did I realize that, at some point, the main hall had filled with numerous cadets.

Maids and butlers moved back and forth without pause.

At that moment, a maid approached me and asked what I wanted to eat.

I ordered the sandwiches I had come for, a few dishes that caught my attention, and, of course, a cup of coffee.

Shortly afterward, the maid left.

Clank!

I turned my head as the hall doors opened, and I instantly knew who it was.

Lumina’s eyes fell on me, and I gestured for her to come over with my hand.

’If we want to ensure the Ice Queen’s subjugation, it’s only natural for us to work together, isn’t it?’

Lumina looked at me, blinked, and then walked over.

She sat down beside me and kept staring at the empty plates in front of her without looking at me.

"Ehm... Tomorrow, I need you to meet me at a specific place at a specific time..."

I began explaining some of the reasons for the meeting, what we were going to do, and who we were going to fight.

I had already come up with a plan to subdue the Ice Queen, so I explained everything I had in mind to Lumina.

She simply listened in silence, but then I realized something.

’Why isn’t she suspicious of me?’

For some unknown reason, Lumina showed no reaction whenever I talked about things I really shouldn’t know.

I deliberately mentioned the weaknesses that, according to my memories, the Ice Queen possessed.

It was information that I—someone who was supposedly had known the Ice Queen for only a couple of days—shouldn’t have known about her various weaknesses.

Anyone else would have stared at me and asked, "How do you know all that?" Yet Lumina seemed to accept it far too easily.

’What’s even stranger is that she’s a regressor. Shouldn’t that make her even more suspicious?’

I tilted my head slightly, and as if she had noticed my sudden silence, Lumina stared straight at me.

I pressed my lips together, and suddenly, a question slipped out.

"The two of us... we already knew each other long before the Academy."

At first, nothing seemed out of place, but in less than a second, Lumina’s expression twitched, and her emotions reflected something like, ’How did he find out?’ At least, that’s how it seemed to me.

Lumina shook her head with a resolute expression.

"No, of course not."

"But why are you denying it so firmly?"

"I... No, that’s not what you think."

I tilted my head even further and brought a hand to my chin. Maybe it was my imagination, but Lumina seemed to be sweating.

She stared directly at me with an intense gaze while pressing her lips together.

Then a smile spread across my face, and I said,

"You know? I can tell when someone is lying with surprising ease. Even if they use a Trait. I may be blind, but my senses are truly exceptional. I can ’see’ and interpret emotions with remarkable accuracy."

"And I don’t think anyone knows this, but I can also see Mana. Mana reacts in a rather unique way to each person’s thoughts and actions."

"That can reveal many different things, such as distinguishing lies from the truth."

"And if I concentrate even more, I can tell far too easily whether someone is lying."

"In short, I can read a person like an open book."

Lumina stared at me. Her expression remained calm, but a slight twitch appeared on her face.

’Got you.’

The corner of my lips curled up even further.

"Then tell me why you’re lying to me, and I’ll ask you again. Did you already know me before the Academy...?"

Lumina looked at me without saying a word, pressing her lips together as if she had decided not to speak.

I waited for a few seconds; those seconds turned into minutes.

But Lumina never opened her mouth. She simply looked at me in silence.

’So you really did know me before the Academy, huh...?’

But at that exact moment, Lumina’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts.

"No, we met on the first day of the Academy."

"That’s a lie."

"It isn’t."

"Yes, it is."

"No..."

"You’re lying so shamelessly that your nose would be incredibly long by now."

"No, I’m really telling you the truth."

"Mmm, lying is wrong. Haven’t you ever heard that lies only lead to ruin?"

"I don’t think so, and I’m not lying."

"...."

"...."

Silence settled between us. The time around me seemed to slow down.

As if the hands of a clock barely moved an inch every two seconds.

Lumina looked at me, but this time with a smile that seemed to say, ’I’m being honest.’ That only made a vein bulge on my forehead.

I even wondered if this was the first time Lumina had genuinely started to annoy me.

While the silence between us continued, it was finally broken by the same maid from earlier, who had brought everything I had ordered.

"Here are your sandwiches, your chocolate coffee, and everything else you ordered."

I gave a slight nod, and the maid left shortly afterward. I picked up a sandwich and took a bite.

I chewed and swallowed. Then I took a sip of the chocolate coffee, but for some reason, it didn’t really taste like chocolate coffee.

Then I turned to Lumina and said,

"Don’t be late to the meeting point, but if you see her, attack immediately."

Lumina nodded.

"Understood."

***

The following day, the Field Exploration Squad left the Tower and split up.

Just like yesterday, I followed Noelle while completing the assigned tasks, only this time much faster.

After seven hours, I finally finished every task.

I could have gone to Professor Ashly right then, handed her the task list, and asked Noelle to confirm everything I had done.

But I had something else to do, so while we were taking a short break to recover our mana, I pursed my lips and said,

"I think we can split up now. I’ve finished the exam, and..."

I paused.

"And I’ve been wanting to try doing the Field Exploration Squad’s work on my own. I just want to gain some experience."

At my words, Noelle looked at me in surprise, but I kept making up one excuse after another until I finally convinced her.

At last, I was able to separate from her and move on my own.

Lumina had probably done the same, so without wasting any time, I headed toward the meeting point.

As I hurried along, I suddenly sensed something and came to a stop.

"....!"

I activated my senses and expanded them across a fifty-kilometer radius.

A wave of exhaustion struck my head; it felt as though my mind were being torn apart.

Blood trickled from my nose, but I gritted my teeth and accepted the flood of information pouring through my senses.

Then I turned my head in a specific direction.

"So that’s where she is."

Mana surged through my body, and a pair of wings appeared on my back. The wings beat once, and in the blink of an eye, I was already in the sky.

Without wasting a second, I flew at full speed and soon arrived at a field filled with ice statues. They were monsters frozen solid by the area’s extreme cold.

At the same time, a figure dressed in loose robes walked calmly through the frozen field. Suddenly, the figure stopped, turned her head, and looked at me.

Surprise and shock flashed across the Ice Queen’s face, and without wasting a single second, a black sphere formed in the palm of my hand.

Then, with a single thought, the sphere shot toward the Ice Queen.