Chapter 248: Recap (1)
The long, long college league is over.
<University League Rankings
1. Dolores L Quovadis
2. Merlini Lovegood
3. Juragio Bakiraga
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.
.
Dolores and Lovegood, who were expected to finish in the top three, finished first and second, respectively, and Hohenheim, the ace representative of Magic Tower, performed surprisingly poorly.
... But even these were not the biggest issues.
<University League Rankings
4. Highbro Les Baskervilles
5. Midbro Les Baskerville
6. Lowbro Les Baskerville
7. Vikir
8. Sinclair
9. Grenouille
10. Hohenheim
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.
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The fact that there were first-year students in the top 10, and that there were as many as 6 of them, caused a great stir.
Up until now, the perception of first-years was that they were there for the experience and not really for the purpose of paving the way for upperclassmen, but this has completely shattered that stereotype.
The group that included Vikir fought hard and combined with Dolores to finish in the top 10.
Meanwhile, Grenouille was blamed for Hohenheim's elimination and was relentlessly pursued by Hohenheim's followers, eventually becoming the first member of the group to be eliminated.
(Grenouille was quite resentful, but he was also proud of himself for eliminating Hohenheim).
Then there's the first-year who surprisingly single-handedly carried the team to a high score.
Sinclair, a commoner with no family name.
Her entire background is shrouded in mystery, and she managed to place 8th on her own, completely unrelated to Vikir.
Considering that her teammates Tudor, Sancho, Piggy, and Bianca were all outside the top 20 (which is actually quite a feat for a first-year!), it was truly an amazing achievement.
Colosseo's first and second years rode this momentum to a number of high rankings, beating out third years from other schools, with Dolores also taking the top spot.
Meanwhile, despite the tournament being hosted by Magic Tower, none of their students made it into the top 10 except for their top ace, Hohenheim.
And Hohenheim barely made it to the top 10.
He was eliminated quickly, but only because his previous battle performance was so good.
However, there was no way that such results would be noticeable to Hohenheim, who were aiming for the championship.
Moreover, following the tradition of recording the scene at the time of elimination on video and permanently recording it in the video box, Hohenheim's final appearance was forever preserved in the tournament's Hall of Fame.
'Shit.'
Hohenheim would suffer forever even after the tournament was over.
* * *
After the first round of the tournament, there was a brief after-party at the inn.
The students of Varangian had been relocated because the water pipes in the inn they had originally booked had been repaired, so it was only the students of the Colosseo Academy who were celebrating.
"Cheers to President Dolores, the number one ranked student this time!"
"Cheers!"
"Cheers!"
All the students raised their glasses high in celebration.
Amidst all the noise, Tudor raised his glass and looked over at Vikir next to him.
"Congratulations, buddy, I can't believe you're seventh in the first year, It's amazing that there's a guy like this among my friends!"
"That's the hundredth time you've said that, Tudor."
Sancho, next to him, smirked.
Piggy, who was in the front, continued.
"By the way, Vikir. How did you end up in the same group as the Baskerville triplets this time?"
It was a question everyone wanted to know.
But Vikir's answer was simple.
"We teamed up once before for a Naphtali game and the midterm exam, and it worked out surprisingly well. After that, they often asked me to lend them a hand."
Hearing that, Bianca said nonchalantly.
"And since you're a commoner, they might have felt there was no pressure."
"Hey, Bianca!"
"Huh? No, I'm not saying that! I guess that's what they would do. Sorry if it sounded bad, I didn't mean to...."
Bianca was slightly taken aback by Tudor's point, but Vikir waved it off.
"You're right. I suppose children of high ranking noble families can get on each other's nerves."
Being from a commoner's family isn't really a flaw, so who cares.
But Vikir isn't the only commoner in the group.
Sinclair, an honor student who finished eighth in her freshman year despite being a commoner.
"...."
For some reason, this girl, who usually joins in whenever there's a topic about Vikir, is quiet today.
With her personality, it would be natural for her to say something cheerful like, 'What! Why do you look down on commoners? You're better than them!' or 'Brother Vikir, let's support each other like us commoners!'
So, while everyone was thinking something strange.
"Come on."
Vikir was the first to say something encouraging.
"Uh, uh... ... huh. Go for it! Go for it!"
Sinclair seemed to come to her senses and waved both her fists at Vikir.
His friends were quick to change the subject, as Sinclair tends to be a little less talkative when the subject of his origins comes up.
"Well, that concludes the first round. The second round is only for those who finished in the top 10 in the first round."
Piggy explained the rest of the competition.
Survival of the first round. From there, the top 10 will be assigned individual tasks for the second round.
If you successfully solve the 'quest' given here, you will finally be awarded a peerless artifact jointly managed by Colosseo, Magic Tower, Varangian, and Themiscyra.
Tudor, Sancho, Piggy, and Bianca explained the rules and format of the second round for Vikir and Sinclair, who advanced to the second round.
"The second round is about adapting to the apprenticeship system."
Everyone nodded as Piggy explained.
The 10 people who survived the first round will each go outside the school and visit higher-ranking working groups to fulfill their requests.
The working groups are the seven great families of the empire and the imperial family, and the idea is that the students at the academy will be working for them after graduation, so they should get some hands-on experience beforehand.
In other words, the ten survivors of the first round will each go to Baskerville, the Iron Blood Swordsman, Morg, the Mage Sect, Qoavadis, the Faithful, Usher, the Divine Archer, Don Quixote, the Creative Spear, Leviathan, the Extremely Poisonous, Bourgeois, the Tycoon, and the Imperial Family to receive different quests from each of these Houses, solve them, and receive a certificate with the seal of the House stamped on it to show that they were actually helpful, and their work is done.
The content and difficulty of the quests varied from house to house, ranging from the basic quests, such as hunting down a dangerous high-ranking monster or collecting a specific object, to the abstract, such as solving poverty in a particular region, answering a deep philosophical question, or designing a political system or method of diplomacy.
"If the student undertaking the quest is a member of a certain house, it is customary to avoid them. It's not a rule that must be followed, but still."
Everyone nodded at Piggy's words.
For example, Dolores, who would be taking on the second round of quests this time, would not be able to take on the quests of the Faithful Quovadis.
It would raise questions of objectivity.
Piggy continued.
"As for Vikir and Sinclair, neither of them belong to any of the Houses, so it shouldn't matter, but if they do, they'd better take the easy quests from the Seven Houses, as they all have their own difficulty levels."
For example, quests from the Faithful Quovadis family are generally rated at three and a half stars (★★★☆).
This means it's an average difficulty level.
However, quests from the House of Morg the Mage are typically rated four and a half stars (★★★★☆).
This is because, on average, tasks of that difficulty are required.
Soon, the friends were debating which House's quests would be most advantageous.
"I think you should avoid House Morg's quests, they're really tough now that they've had a change of leadership."
"Personally, I don't mind the Don Quixote quest, as long as you like the sea and adventure!"
"I think your family will give you a task like 'found a desert island'."
"Well, if you look at the tasks in the second round of the tournament so far, the task from the Bourgeois family was the easiest."
"That's right, I think it's a good idea to pick a bourgeois task."
"Hmm, that's going to be competitive."
Just then, Sinclair shyly raised her hand.
"You know, I already have a family in mind."
Everyone's eyes widened. It was rare for Sinclair to state his opinion so clearly.
"Personally, I'm thinking of taking a quest from either the Imperials or the Faithful Quovadis."
Puzzlement flashed across her friends' faces.
This was because both the Imperials and the Quovadis had relatively difficult tasks compared to the other houses.
"Why the Imperials and the Quovadis?"
Bianca asked, scratching her head, and Sinclair smirked.
"Because ...."
While her friends' eyes were glued to Sinclair.
With a swipe-
Vikir stood up from his seat.
He made his way to the terrace, away from the crowds.
'It's a task for the second round.'
All that remains is to cross the final gateway and retrieve the artifact from a treasure trove shared by the four universities.
The Seventh Corpse Decarabia, which will finally allow him to eliminate the fourth Tenth Corpse.
Vikir is sitting on the railing of a terrace in the dusk, contemplating what to do next.
From out of nowhere, he hears a voice calling his name in a calm, even tone.
"Vikir."
In the midst of the noisy party lights, the ghost-like curtain is lifted and a blank face is revealed.
Dolores.
The winner of the first round of the University League had come to visit Vikir.
Quite secretly.
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