The Academy's Final Comprehensive Evaluation was conducted in one of two ways depending on the nature of each department.
Departments directly related to combat, and departments not directly related to combat.
For combat-related departments such as the Department of Swordsmanship, the Department of Spearmanship, the Department of Archery, the Department of Martial Arts, and the Department of Magic, The Hunting Festival held during the final evaluation period served as the standard of assessment.
Since the students were learning combat-related skills, their practical experience itself became the subject of evaluation.
This period also happened to be when the monster population in the Demon Forest surged due to breeding.
For the Academy, it was an efficient method of managing the Demon Forest by making use of student manpower.
Then how were the departments not directly related to combat, such as the Department of Alchemy, the Department of Technology, and the Department of Theology, evaluated?
Just as during the midterm evaluation, they took department-specific examinations.
The evaluation match had merely been replaced by the Hunting Festival. Overall, there was little difference from the midterm evaluation.
Except that around this time of year, the Department of Magic students became desperate to find party members.
“Anyone need the mage who ranked tenth in the Department of Magic last year? I can handle three attributes: fire, water, and arcane!”
“Three-Circle mage for hire! One of only twenty in the entire Department of Magic! Close-range fighters from the Department of Swordsmanship or the Department of Martial Arts are especially welcome!”
“Anyone will do, just take me with you!”
Entering the Demon Forest alone as a Department of Magic student was nothing short of madness.
That was why they appealed so desperately to the close-combat departments, asking them to form parties together.
Those with real ability would receive offers from other departments on favorable terms without needing to make such a commotion.
Even those of middling ability could sometimes join a party through acquaintances in other departments if they were sociable enough.
But due to the nature of the department, most Department of Magic students tended to be introverted or somewhat lacking in social skills.
If they failed to join an established party, what followed was hell.
They were fortunate if they could at least force together a party composed entirely of fellow Department of Magic students.
Those who could not even manage that had no choice but to enter the Demon Forest alone.
At that point, their grades were all but guaranteed to scrape along the bottom.
They might get lucky and kill a lone Goblin that had become separated from its group.
But if they encountered an Orc one-on-one, the best a lone mage could do was cast wind magic on the soles of their feet and run for their life.
So what kind of mage had I been in my previous life?
As the vivid detail of this account suggested, most of it was reality I had experienced firsthand.
Back when my mind had still been inflexible, I had not managed to unlock the Third Circle until the end of my second year at the Academy.
Until then, suffice it to say that no one had any reason to bring a First-Circle mage to the Hunting Festival.
Of course, my circumstances were very different now.
“Conrad! Have you found a party yet? We're both from the Department of Magic, so why don't we go together as an all-mage party this time? You can take the front line!”
“Senior Conrad! This is my first Hunting Festival, so I don't know much about it. Could you take me with you and teach me a little?”
“Our party needs someone to handle firepower. Join us if you're interested. We even have a student from the Department of Theology, so ours will be the safest party here.”
I was receiving invitations from several directions, not only from well-known established Hunting Festival parties but even from fellow Department of Magic students.
My decisive victory against Dike in a one-on-one fight during the Midterm Evaluation Match had probably played a major role.
Word had also spread to some extent that I had recently hunted a Giant Boa.
I was useful as a close-range fighter and excellent as a source of firepower, so offers naturally poured in even when I did nothing.
Even so, I politely declined every proposal.
“I'm sorry, but I already have a party I've agreed to go with.”
That alone was enough to make almost everyone who approached me withdraw. They assumed that someone of my ability must already belong to another famous party.
It was a party with a reputation of sorts.
After all, it would probably become famous starting today, once the Hunting Festival ended.
“Ah, Senior Conrad! What a coinciden....”
“It isn't a coincidence. We arranged to meet because we're participating in the Hunting Festival together today.”
“...That is right. I was so nervous that my verbal habit slipped out.”
If “What a coincidence” had become such a habit, it was obvious how often she had pretended to run into me by chance.
After greeting Stella, the first member of our party, I immediately greeted the remaining member as well.
“You got here early too, Lulu.”
Just like during our previous Giant Boa hunt, the three of us would be participating in this Hunting Festival together.
I had made the two of them become friends in the first place precisely to assemble this party.
Three out of the five members of the Kardia Subjugation Party.
Current circumstances made it impossible to recreate the complete party from the past.
Even so, it was important to gather whatever members I could for now.
Lulu, in particular, had not begun participating seriously in monster hunts until the second semester of her third year.
I wanted to create an opportunity for her to gain practical experience even a little sooner.
Participation in the Hunting Festival was not mandatory for Lulu as a member of the Department of Technology.
But she still had the right to participate.
If she wished, it was possible to substitute the Hunting Festival for her department-specific examination.
Lulu was hardly an exceptional case. Students from the Department of Theology, another noncombat department, occasionally participated in the same manner.
A cleric's role was always important in battle, so the Department of Theology was actually even more popular than the Department of Magic.
“Hmmm....”
When Lulu met my eyes, she still seemed to have something troubling her.
Despite coming all the way here, her expression remained uneasy.
“I came because you told me to, Conrad, but is it really okay for me to participate in the Hunting Festival?”
“You followed along just fine when we hunted the Giant Boa. Why worry about it now?”
“That was because I didn't know we were going to hunt a Giant Boa! I followed because I thought I could kill one or two Goblins or Kobolds with a surprise attack.
In the end, all I did was follow you around. I didn't do anything. Stella even handled retrieving the monster's corpse....”
It was certainly difficult to expect much combat ability from Lulu, a Department of Technology student, at this point.
She handled a dagger fairly well, but it was closer to an everyday tool used for self-defense and dismantling than a true weapon.
She had probably not yet learned how to use it properly in combat.
By the time she graduated from the Academy, Lulu would grow into a full-fledged combatant.
At present, however, she had only learned practical skills such as scouting and dismantling, so her life had remained somewhat removed from battle.
“During the Midterm Evaluation Match, didn't you say you'd help me at the final Hunting Festival? Was that just something you said without meaning it?”
“I only said that because you told me you were going to fight that Mad Dog Dike, and I wanted to stop you! Besides, what am I supposed to do when you're strong enough to beat both Dike and a Giant Boa?”
“Really? I invited you because I thought I absolutely needed you for this Hunting Festival.”
I offered her a few words that might lift her spirits, since she was doing nothing but worry.
“You're serious? You're not just saying that?”
“Whether you think you were useful or not, you definitely helped me last time. Even I still have trouble with high-speed scouting.”
“I suppose that's true, but that alone isn't really enough....”
“There will probably be other ways you'll help me too. So just come along for now.”
“Well, okay. If you're going that far, I guess I have no choice.”
She had always been weak to direct praise, both then and now.
That should do for now.
This was enough minimum strength to kill “that monster,” the most dangerous creature in this Hunting Festival.
A Hunting Festival party could have as many as six members.
But not many people went out of their way to fill every last slot.
The more members a party had, the more heavily its final score was reduced even if it achieved the same results.
Someone who did not work well with the rest could become a hindrance rather than a help.
A party had to be kept as small as possible to earn a good grade in the final evaluation.
My grades were not low enough for me to obsess over them.
Still, being known as a high-performing student meant having one more card that could be used in various ways.
Above all, securing strong grades for Stella, who would become the hero in the future, would remove one more excuse the Imperial Family could use against her.
Since I was participating with members of the Kardia Subjugation Party, I intended to make certain we earned excellent grades as well.
In truth, whether we entered as a party of three or six, defeating the monster that had been our original target would guarantee victory in the Hunting Festival.
But the spectacle presented to the other students would undoubtedly be at least twice as impressive.
“I have enough paralysis antidotes. The staff's output is good. And the Giant Boa venom left over from before.... I brought that too.”
After confirming that I had packed everything else we needed, I urged the other two to perform one final check as well.
“Check that your blades are in good condition and make sure there isn't anything else you need to bring.
We still have about an hour, so there is enough time to prepare again.”
“I am fully prepared, Senior Conrad!”
“I haven't forgotten anything either. I feel good, and my dagger's in fine condition.”
Once I had received firm confirmation that both of them were ready to enter, All that remained was to pass the time talking among ourselves.
We still had an hour before the Hunting Festival began in earnest.
I was about to go over today's plan one final time, even though I had already explained it several times.
“I've already said this before, but let's check it one last time before we enter.
The moment the Hunting Festival begins, Lulu will scan the surroundings with high-speed scouting, while Stella will take the lead and deal with any monsters in our way....”
“...Are you Conrad?”
A voice from behind interrupted me.
“Pardon?”
“Judging by your reaction, I suppose you are.”
The moment I turned toward the vaguely familiar voice, I found a familiar face behind me.
As soon as I saw the face I had grown sick of seeing for years in my previous life, I gave a small exclamation inwardly.
I never expected to meet her this soon.
“Yes, I am.”
“I have an offer for you. It won't be a bad one.”
She had been the top-ranked second-year student in the Academy's Department of Archery last year.
In my previous life, we had also been close enough to entrust our backs to each other without hesitation.
Her green hair and pointed ears brought the memories of the past flooding back at once.
“Join my party. I'll make sure you win the Hunting Festival.”
Sian Rudflica.
The person who would become the archer of the Kardia Subjugation Party.