HTACS 90

Chapter 90

The next day, unusually, Ayla, Nephti, Rudika, and Mille-feuille all gathered at the convenience store.

Among them, Mille-feuille made a rather shocking announcement with a serious expression.

“You’re challenging the grade top student exam?”

“Yes.”

“It’s not an easy exam. Both written and practical, right?”

“Yes, Senior.”

“If you need help, just say so. I’ll help as much as I can.”

The grade top student exam.

Since Kelterus was the top student from the start, he doesn’t take it in the first semester of first year.

However, from the second semester onward, Gale Strike applies for the exam depending on the route, and Kelterus must take the reciprocal exam.

“Is that really okay?”

“You mean receiving help?”

“Yes… It feels like it wouldn’t be fair.”

“That’s a misconception.”

“…Pardon?”

The exam is divided into written and practical sections, and how well you use your main weapon is also a criterion.

But by the time you reach the top student exam, the help of your connections also falls within the exam’s scope.

To be precise, the equipment and accessories you wear, and other magical items—their origins are not questioned.

Of course, if your base stats are poor, equipment won’t make that much of a difference—but here again, Zefflin’s—or rather, D/Z SAGA’s—vicious side emerges.

**【This magic sword contains the bond I share with my senior!】**

They sincerely say things like that.

What this means is that if you take Isolde the Jewel Sword as a companion, raise her affection past a certain point, and take the top student exam in second year, she’ll lend you a magic sword—and it’s no joke.

And against Gale Strike’s criticism—”That sword is overpowered!”—the response is Kelterus, apparently gone mad, retorting “It’s a symbol of my senior’s bond!”

I wonder what was going through the developers’ heads when they made the villain cry out for fairness while the protagonist wields a magic sword and shouts about bonds—but that’s also part of D/Z SAGA’s charm.

Anyway.

“Connections are also your weapon.”

“…Yes!”

If we’re going to do this, we might as well go all in.

“I’ve never heard of this, but it’s rebellious!”

“Yes! I’ll do my best!”

At Ayla’s encouragement, Mille-feuille steeled herself and reaffirmed her resolve.

And the next announcement came from Nephti.

“Ah, I also applied for the Royal Guard classes. Apparently, I’ll start learning clerical duties from tomorrow.”

“Is that so.”

“Yes, Senior. I’m sorry. I should be asking for the recommendation letter with the certainty that I’ll walk the Royal Guard path…”

“Don’t worry about it. I know. Focus on learning first, Nephti. That suits you.”

“…Yes!”

At my words, Nephti smiled brightly.

“…Nephti, you’re becoming a Royal Guard? I’ve never heard of it, but do your best!”

“Yes! I’ll do my best!”

At Ayla’s somewhat awkward but sincere encouragement, Nephti steeled herself and reaffirmed her resolve.

“Wolfram. Thank you for what you said at the beach last time.”

“Hmm. Is that so.”

“Rudika has decided to get a little closer to her sister now. …Thanks to you, I think things will gradually improve.”

“Hmm. Seems like it helped.”

“……Rudika, did you go to the beach with Wolfram?”

“The sea was truly thrilling. Thanks to Wolfram’s words there, Rudika was able to take another step forward.”

“…………I’ve never heard of this.”

“Thanks to Wolfram, Rudika can move forward a little more.”

“………I see. Good for you. Do your best…?”

“I will!”

At Ayla’s encouragement, given with a truly subtle expression, Rudika smiled brightly and nodded.

“I’ll definitely claim the top spot!”

“I don’t fully understand the Royal Guard dream… but I’m going to try to learn!”

“Rudika is also trying to walk forward with a smile!”

“Hmm. Do your best.”

We all shared a warm laugh.

“I’ve never heard of any of this…”

Except for Ayla, who quietly muttered that.

—

That day, Ayla’s condition was strange.

She just sat there blankly, occasionally muttering as if lost in thought, so I left her alone.

“Ayla. Are you okay on time to head back?”

“…Ah. It’s already this late.”

“Hmm. If it gets late, you’ll start nodding off. Take Patrasche’s regular service back. I’ll tell him to drop you off in front of your dorm.”

“…Thank you, Wolfram. I have a question.”

“What?”

“…It seems like everyone’s working incredibly hard somewhere I don’t know about—am I right?”

“Hmm.”

Mille-feuille is aiming for the grade top. That’s a definite challenge.

Nephti—rather than just aiming for Royal Guard—is keeping her future open and aiming for broader choices. That’s also a challenge.

Rudika is… inner growth? I’m not sure. Does she even have any external challenges left? Fighting Eve?

“Rudika isn’t really—”

“Yes, that’s right. All three of them are taking on big challenges.”

“…No.”

“That’s a challenge toward the future—breaking their own limits. I saw that future in their eyes!”

“……Hmm.”

“And I felt my own shortcomings too.”

Wrong.

Whatever I say, she’s not going to listen.

“I see. Shortcomings.”

“Yes! My shortcomings. …I should be grateful to the three of them.”

“……Hmm. Yes. Gratitude.”

“Yes! Great gratitude. As expected, I can’t lose either.”

“Is that so. You can’t lose.”

“Yes! Of course! If I lose here, the name of Ayla Trista—one seat of the Five Stars—would be disgraced! From now on, I need to challenge myself!”

“…Hmm. Challenge. Challenge, you say. Yes. The challenge passed down from ancient times. That challenge…”

“Yes! As expected, Wolfram understands! I’ve been holding back. Yes!”

“……Hmm. Of course I understand.”

“So… I’m lacking. Wolfram, you understand, right? What am I lacking?”

When Ayla talks like this, the best thing to do is just echo the end of her sentences and throw in interjections.

I have no idea what triggers her or why she reacts this way.

The problem is that she ended with a question.

She asked what she’s lacking, right? If I answer wrong, will a black crystal spear end up in my gut?

Ah.

But compared to usual, one key word didn’t come out directly.

That can’t be right.

Hmm.

So…

“The key is… that thing, you know. Rebellion.”

“Exactly!!”

Wow, that startled me.

“As expected, Wolfram. You, the most brilliant star among the Five Stars of Rebellion who knows me best! The center of us all! Right now, I lack rebellion!”

“Is that so. Rebelling again.”

“Yes! Then I’ll find something to rebel against and come back by tomorrow! Wolfram! See you tomorrow!”

With that, Ayla took the last regular service Patrasche drove and headed home.

“…It’s not a homework assignment—she’s going to think about it by tomorrow?”

—

On the way home riding the regular service Patrasche drove,

Ayla Trista repeatedly patted her own cheeks with both hands, focusing her mind.

“I’ve been holding back. I thought I had nothing left to rebel against.”

Ayla Trista acknowledged all the talented people who gathered around Wolfram.

Mille-feuille von Sabre, who always worked with earnest eyes to surpass her limits.

Nepheterian, a talented top junior who was cheerful and lively but held serious passion within.

Rudika Hassan Shadow—honestly, someone she felt she’d have a 50% win rate against in a one-on-one fight.

And besides them, Peep-peep’s friends and Wolfram’s younger sister Eve von Lohengrin.

In her eyes, everyone gathering around Wolfram possessed ‘sparkle’—what she called ‘the heart of rebellion.’

Ayla could numerically measure someone’s rebellion index through ‘Rebellion Check,’ and could self-assess whose rebellion had diminished through ‘Rebellion Eye’… or so she claimed.

That’s how serious she was about rebellion.

To her, rebellion meant not following, not staying still. Breaking down the old system and moving forward, outward, toward the future.

“But… I’ve already reached the sky.”

She had defeated that detestable Regina Sierra. The grade top position was Ayla Trista’s.

So there were no more stairs to climb at Zefflin.

She had reached the peak far too early…!

This was already on a world level, no exaggeration!

“But this is merely the perspective of a bird in a narrow cage! I forgot that beyond the sky lies another sky!”

Wolfram aims outside the world.

She had sworn to become the person standing right beside the main protagonist of that rebellion.

But what about now?

Had she thought about rebellion even once more a day? No.

That was clear just from the rebellion score revealed by ‘Rebellion Check.’

“Peep-peep’s rebellion index is 97. Nephti’s is 86. Rudika’s is 81. Unfortunately, I can’t see my own rebellion score, but I can still tell what I’m lacking!”

So Ayla Trista couldn’t lose either.

From now on, she’d rebel more than anyone.

“But why is Peep-peep the highest? Peep-peep as my ‘rebellion rival’… doesn’t quite feel right, does it?”

Ayla tilted her head.

In the end, that question remained unanswered.

“Hmm. Well… it means she’s that serious about aiming for the top spot, right?”

Her Rebellion Check was, in another sense, exactly accurate.

—

The next day, Ayla barged in again.

“I found a rebellion!”

“……Hmm. Is that so. Good work.”

She stammered, waved her hands in the air, and finally ended with a sigh.

Ayla. Don’t say things like that when you enter society later, okay?

In a monarchy world, if you suddenly say you found a rebellion, how surprised would everyone be?

If you get your whole family executed, Wolfram won’t be able to help you.

“Wolfram. I want to raise my mana stat.”

And Ayla’s next words were extremely enticing to me.

“Your mana stat?”

“Yes. Isn’t 19 too ambiguous?”

“Do you know my mana is 3?”

“Ah. Sorry…”

“……”

“A-hem! But that’s precisely why Wolfram’s rebellion shines the most brilliantly!”

Yes. In your mind, it does.

Anyway, setting aside comparisons to my own stats, 19 is on the higher side in the original.

However, it can never reach the peak. At 19… honestly, she’s rarely recruited as a pure mage.

If 17 is the human limit,

18 is a monster beyond that limit,

19 can be called a genius,

20 is talent worthy of being recorded in history books,

21 is spoken of as legend,

and at 22, you enter the realm of myth.

In other words, even at her current level, Ayla is a mage worthy of being called a genius.

But that’s why—not even mythology or legend—she falls short of being recorded in history.

“Mana is impossible to raise.”

“I know. But isn’t that precisely why it’s a rebellion worth staking a lifetime on?”

“Hmm. That’s also true. But…”

“And I can’t forgive that detestable Regina Sierra having 21 mana! I’ll aim for 22. No, 23!”

For mages, even a single point of mana determines their worth.

The biggest reason graduate student Zolf could survive reporting his advisor professor for overwork was that his mana had reached the human limit of 17.

“You can pull strings by saying, ‘He only caused that much trouble—it’d be a waste to dispose of a mana 17 talent. We might lose a decent professor candidate to the guild. Let’s reconsider, thinking of nurturing the next generation.'”

In the original Act 3, Ayla was eventually expelled—but that was inevitable since she opposed an imperial family member. Where does a 19 dare go against a mana 22 student council president?

Anyway. That’s how difficult it is to raise even 1 point of mana.

Is it completely impossible? Not quite—there are a few quests.

“…To be honest, I’m not confident alone. But I want to try.”

“Hmm.”

“I was content with 19. My Agility is 17 too. I know my own combat style well. Black crystal suits wide-area space control and projectiles. I make barriers with black crystal, cut with it like blades in the air, bind, launch, and sometimes wrap it around my fists to fight…”

All of that was Act 3 boss Ayla Trista’s combat style.

A vicious newbie crusher—the Wall of Lamentation—combining a genius-level 19 mana with a human-limit 17 agility.

But that’s ultimately strength as a boss.

Every boss is always defeated by the protagonist.

The Light Hero Kelterus. Mana 22 Eve. Mana 21 Regina.

She was born into this world to be defeated by true monsters far surpassing the genius Ayla Trista.

“So I don’t want to compromise. I want to stand above the sky as a mage! I want to raise my mana!”

But Ayla Trista, having become real, is saying she wants to break that wall.

“I might not be able to help much at all.”

“…Even so, I want to do it with you. I want to show you my path of rebellion first.”

“……Ha.”

Insane.

Really, don’t look at me with those eyes.

Ayla Trista, with eyes that sparkled brighter than anyone’s yet couldn’t hide her anxiety,

is saying she wants to walk a path no one has ever seen—a path even the veteran Lee Young-jin hasn’t seen.

That made my heart race.

“I don’t know how much I can help… but yes. I understand. I’ll help as much as I can.”

“…Really?”

“Yes. I’ll help you.”

“Thank you, Wolfram. Watch my rebellion to the end. I’ll show you! Let’s go see it together!”

“……Yes. I understand.”

Yes.

Let’s go.

I’m curious too—how far we can go.