Book 6: Chapter 4: War Simulation (1/2)

There is an all-purpose excuse that is always used when one wants to escape from certain situations.

———Which is, ‘I need to go to the bathroom.'

However, not everyone is comfortable with this all-purpose excuse. For those who are extremely shy, even speaking out in public is a hurdle.

So Monica remained rigid in her seat, trying to say this all-purpose excuse, only end with her mouth shut, and then open it again, and then close it all over again.

I'll say it this time, I'll say it next time, I'll say it when there's good timing in the conversation, I wonder when good timing is, I'll say it anyway, I'll say it, I'll say it this time, this time… In the meantime, the mana measuring tool slowly came closer and closer to Monica. Currently, it was Casey's and Neil's turn to put their hands on the crystal.

If she touches that thing, it will be the end for Monica. And they'll know she's not an ordinary person.

”Hmm, my strongest attribute is fire, and my magic power is 52… not so great.”

”It is said that the more magic you use in your youth, the more your mana will grow, and it may grow in the future.”

After Casey, it was Neil's turn to touch the crystal. Neil's results showed that his strongest attribute was earth, and his mana was 96, which was not a bad number.

Felix admiringly remarked Neil.

”Young Maywood, you've never used magic before, have you?”

”Yes, I've only learned a little bit in my class. I heard that my father can use it quite well.”

”Well, the Maywood family has been good at earth magic for many generations.”

Now! Now is the time to say, ” I need to go to the bathroom…” But, with this timing, won't they think I'm interrupting His Highness' speech?

”It's my turn now!” said Glenn cheerfully and took off his gloves.

Waaaah, once Glenn's done with his turn, I'll be next… I have to get out of here before that happens…

As she was holding her head and sweating heavily, she heard a snapping sound right next to her.

Why a creaking sound?

The sound came from the mana measuring tool in Glenn's hand. A portion of the crystal ball where Glenn's hand was touching was glowing red, revealing a small crack in it.

”Oh no,” Glen exclaimed, and the next moment, a large crack appeared in the crystal ball. Glenn hurriedly took his hand away from the measuring tool.

”Professor! This thing's broken!”

”No way. How much do chuu think that thing costs?”

”No, no, it's not my fault! It must be defective! It's defective!”

The glowing red in the crystal indicated that Glenn's strongest attribute was fire. The problem was the amount of his mana. The scale indicating his mana was completely overflowing to the very end.

The maximum value of that instrument was 250, which meant that Glenn's mana exceeded 250… but how's that possible?

Within the kingdom, there were only a handful of people whose mana exceeds 250. Even among the Seven Sages, only two people have that much mana.

If Glenn's mana is more than 250, that would be great, but…

Everyone in the room seemed to think it was a malfunction of the measuring tool. It was the same for Monica.

Glenn gingerly lifted the cracked measuring instrument and said, ‘This won't explode, will it? It's going to be okay, right?' and was fussing over it.

The other students were also watching Glenn, as they were buzzing around—now was her chance to get out.

”Um, I… I need to go to the restroom.”

”Oh, sure.”

Casey nodded easily, without questioning Monica. Relieved by this, Monica sneaked out of the classroom.

T-That was close…

Haaaaaa… puffing out a long breath, Monica leaned against the wall.

Her heart was beating fast.

However, she could not rest assured here. There was still plenty of time left for the observation of the elective courses. If she didn't go back to the practical magic course, Casey and Felix might get suspicious.

As she trudged down the hallway, Monica pondered over what excuse she should give.

Perhaps she should just pretend that she had been in the bathroom for the whole time because she had a stomachache… As she was thinking of some crude excuse, she caught sight of the classroom of another elective course ahead of her. Since the classroom door was filled with glass, she could see what was going on in there.

Is that… chess…?

Inside the classroom, the students were quietly playing chess. Monica had never played chess before and didn't know the rules, but she knew that such tabletop games were popular among the nobles.

So chess is also one of the subjects at this academy…

Pulling the handout out of her pocket, she saw that chess was indeed one of the courses on the elective list. Judging from the number of students in the classroom, the course seemed to be reasonably popular.