“It’s about time... Let’s tighten the noose. Leo, send the signal,” Coco whispered. Leo immediately cast three small fireballs directly overhead.
They’d made use of both the natural terrain and some well-disguised barricades—mostly boulders and logs—to block off any escape paths along their assigned route, funneling the spy straight toward the dead end where the others lay in wait.
Just seconds after Leo’s signal, the “spy” (who, unlike a legitimate spy, was wearing a cloth bib with the number “3” on it) raised his hands in surrender.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Those reports we got about some kind of large-scale military operation along the Darley border... It’s just a bunch of kids,” the man said with a sneer, surveying the valley. With their mottled green outfits, he and his two comrades were barely discernible from the foliage that surrounded them.
“Still, they’re pretty good for a bunch of kids—especially that one with the shield,” one of the others replied.
Far below them, in a narrow but deep valley that split the landscape in two, around twenty kids were fighting their way through a swarm of formidable undead-type monsters. Particularly noteworthy among them was a girl bearing a large shield that made her already diminutive build look even smaller. In spite of the shield’s size, she wielded it masterfully, calmly repelling any attacks from the rear until one of the other kids could finish the monsters off. One glance was all it took to understand that what she had wasn’t just power, but skill.
The third man frowned. “They must be from that famous Academy... The land around here belongs to Godolphen the Indomitable, and he’s just taken a position there, right? He must be letting them use it for their training.”
“Royal Academy students, huh... So basically, we’re looking at Yugria’s future leaders right now. This might be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, you know?”
“What do you think, Zetz? At the end of the day, we’re still just scouts. We’ve got nothing on those kids. If things go badly, we’ve got no chance of fighting our way out of it—and we can’t let ourselves be captured now.”
Zetz—the leader of the trio—remained silent at first, instead listening carefully to the distant echoes that would have been inaudible to most. A few minutes passed before he replied. “They’re first-years, from Class D. Doing training like this at their age... It’s impressive, I’ll admit.” He frowned. “All the Academy’s first-years are here, which means Leo Seizinger and that other boy must be nearby too. It’s hard to pass up a chance like this... We can’t risk it, though. They wouldn’t leave all these noble kids unsupervised, so there’s probably knights—maybe even Order knights—keeping an eye on them just in case. We need to keep moving. We won’t be safe until we’ve crossed the border.”
“They’re only first-years?! And in Class D?! Little freaks... Where do we go from here then?”
“It’s too dangerous to turn back now, but we can’t risk crossing paths with them either...” Zetz frowned. “We’ll have to go west, over Mount Rodria. That’s probably the safest option. We’ll take the old Demon’s Path—no one’s used that route for years,” he said, and his two companions nodded.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Kate Sancalpar’s team has just caught the fourth spy... It doesn’t make any sense, Sage. They must have acquired the scenario details in advance,” a visibly shocked Tim declared.
Godolphen shook his head. “The scenarios were classified as clearance level 4, Tim—barely below that of Yugria’s most critical secrets. Surely you understand why? The scenarios are designed to test the specific skill sets of each student. The children’s capabilities, their growth, and our evaluations thereof must remain hidden, lest we find ourselves at a disadvantage in the battles which unfortunately may come. It would have been impossible for any student—no matter how skilled they might be—to acquire those details by any means. Furthermore, no student of mine would be so foolish, considering the punishment that would befall them were they caught. I cannot imagine that any of the concerned faculty would be so careless as to have let the information slip either.”
“Be that as it may, Sage, it’s still implausible,” Tim replied. “They began to move just minutes after you announced the scenario, without any significant discussion or planning. They sent advance scouts directly toward the three predetermined routes, and when the others followed, each group immediately began building similar fortifications to corner the spies as needed. There were some differences in construction and placement, but not enough for this to be merely a case of ‘great minds thinking alike,’ Sage... It must have been preplanned,” Tim argued.
Godolphen’s expression darkened. “And what of Rovene? You mentioned he seemed to be lazing about while I was observing the third scenario team, but has he made any progress toward reinforcing the stronghold now?”
“When I last saw him, he was trudging toward the old Demon’s Path. I assume he’s been tasked with blocking it off as an escape route—a reasonable decision by the Sancalpar girl, considering his abilities. As for the stronghold... They constructed a log fence around the ruins before they left, but that was the only evidence of any reinforcement I saw. They don’t seem particularly concerned about the second scenario at all, in truth.”
“Hmph. Those children aren’t foolishly optimistic enough to mistake the second scenario as some kind of optional bonus challenge, which can only mean one of two things. Either they’re struggling in a way we didn’t predict...” Godolphen trailed off, his mouth twisting into an unpleasant smirk. “Or they’ve got something up their sleeves, and we’re the ones about to find ourselves struggling beyond our wildest predictions... I wonder which it will be?”
There was something in the Sage’s eyes that made Tim feel as though he was once again on the battlefield, watching the fearless warrior prepare for the battle ahead. A chill ran down his spine.