"AAGH!!"
Haruo sprang upward from his resting position and immediately clasped his chest.
Heavy breathing escaped his lips; only when his blurred view cleared did his breathing slowly ease.
A sharp pain in his head made him tug at his face slightly. With his hand, he reluctantly massaged his head. From there, his rationality steadily returned, and that's when he saw himself in an unfamiliar yet familiar area.
He looked under the bedsheets and sighed in relief; his body remained as it had been when he first entered the test, still in the exact same clothes.
Siiiiippp!
Despite hearing a foreign sound, Haruo didn't overreact. Instead, he turned his head gently with a clear idea of where he was now.
"Eight hours of sleep is usually the standard for rest. Although I don't quite see any change in you."
There sat a man cross-legged, with a cup of tea in his hand.
"How'd you like it? This will be your new room from today onwards."
Sunlight pierced the room from his side, where a transparent door led to a balcony. Other than the bed he was currently resting on, it was practically no different from an empty room.
"It looks okay."
"Actually, back in my younger days, I wanted this room to be my play lounge, but as I got older, I realized having fun like that isn't cutting it anymore," Kilian said before taking a sip. "Sigh… who knew killing someone here would ruin the fun."
"What?"
Before Haruo could question Kilian, the loud sip of his tea stopped him.
"Now, let's move on to the important parts. I have multiple pieces of good news and a minor piece of bad news."
"Define minor."
As if the wind passed through his ear and exited the other, Kilian hummed while multiple glowing texts swirled around the room until they clogged Haruo's vision.
[Personal Assessment:]
Second half:
Decision-making: 9.2/10
Prioritization: 10/10
Survivability: 7/10
Teamwork: 8.9/10
Overall: 8.7/10
Overall Assessment (First & Second half)
Points collected: 10/10
Survivability: 10/10
Initiation: 10/10
Points accumulated: 134,500 + 269,232 = 403,732.
Overall: 10+/10
"For one, Ena managed to survive to the later stages. Surviving one of the best teams. Sadly, you two were just shy of the top 10." Kilian's voice rang out.
Haruo looked at the scores that defined his overall characteristics in the test. Although he was satisfied, a quiet sense of disappointment still lingered when he realized he had nearly made it to the prize pool.
"But…" Kilian paused.
[You have been assigned to a division.]
"Even better news is that there's a division that perfectly suits you and that brat."
[Would you like to view the details regarding your division?]
[Yes/No]
Kilian slit his eyes into a sharp stare as he continued to gulp his tea. Even behind the cup, Haruo could clearly see the unmistakable grin forming on Kilian's face. And because of that, he couldn't help but feel a quiet, shrill feeling envelop his entire being.
Hesitantly, Haruo prepared himself. Slowly guiding his finger onto the "Yes" button.
And without missing a beat, the system instantly responded to his answer. The user interface quickly transformed into a new page, and he saw…
Nothing.
Not exaggerated, not understated, but literally.
The only thing he saw was the "No information" header and "No description" in the description.
So, in a sense, it was blank.
The only text that appeared on the blank screen was an arrow button labeled "Reveal Division Name…"
Haruo's eyes dropped halfway before glancing towards Kilian. As they made eye contact, Kilian only shrugged, his grin now fully visible even without the cup blocking his mouth.
The white-haired boy could only sigh as he quickly clicked the button.
[Artifact Restoration Division.]
"… What is this?" Haruo reluctantly opened his mouth.
"Congrats on officially becoming a citizen of the Marion Kingdom!" Kilian celebrated, trying to hide his chuckle with his words. "They say the apple doesn't fall from the tree."
"Okay, thanks, I guess. So I was saying… what is this? And what do you mean by that?"
"What else? You joined the exact same division that Seiji and I joined! Surprising, isn't it?"
Haruo looked at him with pure disbelief as he said. "You were the one who assigned me here, hadn't you?"
"How'd you guess?" Kilian chuckled. "You should be happy! This is the division that practically made Seiji who he was. Plus, it's a division that directly gets orders from me—the Main-Branch leader."
'Was that a threat?'
Kilian chuckled slightly; with a snap of his fingers, the blue hue that clouded his vision dissipated, and the holographic screens were completely out of sight.
Now, only after the screens disappeared did he actually face Kilian with a serious expression. However, almost immediately, his words choked down as distant screams arose.
Voices that belonged to people he knew.
Haruo turned his head toward the window. Yet, looking out, the skies remained clear, with distant buildings remaining neutral, devoid of dangers that threatened the peace.
And yet, foul screams of destruction continued to seep into Haruo's ears. Out of curiosity, he slid his blanket aside and made his way to the window.
"…!"
CRAAASSSHH!!
"Son of a…!" exclaimed Ena.
"How are you friends with Haruo if you're like that? You guys are way too different!"
Walls of flame devoured the surrounding greenery as two figures fought catastrophically around the yard. Ena tried to use her abilities, but they did not land as she had expected.
Ena fired a projectile out of blood, and this time, the figure didn't dodge. Instead, it went right through him and landed on the dead grass.
"Oh, come on, how did you not expect that? That happened like three times already!" Leo laughed right as he was about to drive his blade into Ena from her side.
'It's him!?'
Haruo's eyes widened at his sudden presence, but that wasn't the only thing that surprised him. Amidst Leo's attack, a spear intercepted his path, momentarily freezing him in place.
Leo stood still before slightly frowning. "Aw, come on, Theo, if you hadn't done that, we could've gotten rid of her! She's literally the most annoying one in the field!"
Theodor looked at Leo, his eyes lowered, as if to say, "You're not the one to talk."
Leo sighed. He wanted to say another word, but before he could even open his mouth, his entire body jolted to the side; his own sudden movement confused him, so much so that he didn't notice the poking edge of a sword aimed at his earlier position.
At the sight of the blade, Leo realized instantly that he had acted on instinct. His gaze began to drift to the blade's owner, and soon it reached the handle where familiar slender hands caught his attention.
"Tia, you two?!" Leo scowled. "Why are you all targeting me?! What about Isaac?!"
"At least use your brain. Aren't you confused why Ena hasn't attacked you yet?"
Enlightened by her words, Leo quickly darted his eyes around the field and saw Isaac struggling to dodge all of Ena's attacks.
Haruo observed the scene of their fight from above, staring from his room. He had not expected to see Isaac and the three semi-pures gathered in an all-out brawl in Kilian's yard.
"Why are they here?" said Haruo.
Kilian walked to Haruo's side, his hands no longer holding the cup of tea he had held before the test. The curl of his smirk only seemed to grow at the sight of those figures below them.
"Don't like them? That's rather harsh for your future colleagues."
"… You plan to group four semi-pures in a single division?" Haruo asked, his face contorting at the absurdity of his words. "This is enough evidence to create multiple political conflicts. It's weird enough that they are joining a division rather than working on their own status and political power."
"What's with all this political talk? Whatever problem you guys have, trust that I'll fix it. So you just have to tolerate it for now. Do I have to remind you that you're in a contract?"
"Do you even know what this means?" Haruo sighed, simultaneously pinching the bridge of his nose—unable to lower the rising cortisol. "Put dozens of fish in a small pond, and it becomes easier to catch one. People always have a grudge against Semi-pures—even Semi-pures themselves! You're inviting trouble!"
Kilian chuckled. "I believe you can handle your responsibilities; I'll be right here cheering on the sidelines."
On the battlefield, Ena's eyes darted everywhere, expectant of Isaac's next attack. Amidst her wandering gaze, her eyes seemed to linger on the two figures that stood behind the glass of Haruo's balcony.
Her sharp eyes softened at the sight. The only thing that didn't soften was the brutal kick launched at her side.
Although Theodor did have the intent of kicking her, he didn't expect that it would land that easily on her—especially with no counterattack.
The force had knocked her down several meters onto the grass. By this point, she would've already stood, using the momentum to sprawl back onto her feet. And yet, she had remained glued to the ground, rolling awkwardly.
The sight of Ena taking the fall stunned everyone within the field.
Only after the momentum had halted did she quickly stand up and quicken her steps towards the two figures on the balcony. In one leap, she landed on the railing and dropped onto the porch.
Despite her messy look, she hadn't bothered to fix herself up and had only invited herself into the room. With each step, more debris and dirt trailed around the room.
"Must've been nice hugging those sheets, knowing I was still alive to continue the test," Ena said.
"Good morning to you, too."
"At least apologize for giving me so much work!"
Haruo didn't bother to reply to her tantrums. Besides, it was a way to get back at her for causing so much trouble during their travels, and if he recalled, she hadn't apologized for those either.
It was only fair. "Mhmm, sure."
So rather than focusing on her tantrums, his gaze landed on the figures who followed her.
"Targeting someone who just woke up? Never knew you'd stoop that low," Leo teased. "Also, hey Haru! Probably didn't expect to see me here, did you?"
'Yes, or ever, in fact,' the pale boy thought.
Then another one arrived. "Excuse my intrusion," Isaac bowed.
Finally, the two siblings. Both remained silent, with Tatiana bowing her head as a slight gesture of greeting, while her brother didn't bother.
Haruo kept his eyes off theirs and remained focused on the ground as more dirt gathered. The sight made him sigh internally.
"Eyes on me," a whisper flowed with the wind.
Instantly, every head in the room turned, instinctively focused on Kilian. Naturally, confused by their sudden action, everyone fell silent.
Kilian raised a hand to snap his fingers, removing all the dirt that had accumulated on their feet and clothes. For a moment, everyone just paused awkwardly.
"Okay, now that I've explained everything to Haruo, it's about time we chat about this division."
"… You still haven't told me what the bad news was," questioned Haruo.
"Oh, that? Nothing that big. Your brother is only dying, anyway."