Chapter 48: Trouble Emerges

This is…

Aresia felt something touch her fingertips, and based on what she feel, it was clear that it was a mission note.

But before that, Aresia was certain she had not touched it, rather the note fell from above to her hand.

“Are you done?”

The teachers standing nearby didn’t understand the situation why Aresia is standing stil and one of them urged Aresia impatiently.

Aresia glanced at the teacher’s impatience, quickly looked at the content, and carefully examined the suspicious note in her hand.

There were two mission notes, neatly folded and squared. After taking the mission note, Aresia discreetly glanced at the two notes, kept one hidden, and go to the teacher responsible for registration to register their mission. Only then did she return to the team.

“What happened?”

Karina was one of the few who understood Aresia well, so she wondered why Aresia acted like that while picking the mission note.

Aresia answered and showed the content of the registered note to them.

On the palm-sized note, there was a single word – Colaklara Grass.

Everyone looked at each other in confusion. Wasn’t this the magical plant marked incorrectly on the trial map? How coincidental that they drew it?

“It’s not a coincidence.”

Aresia took out another note with different contents. In the note, it is written a Level three beast that has a high probability of being difficult to draw.

As the expressions of the others changed, Aresia continued, “When I drew lots earlier, there was a faint magical wave in the box. This note has been enchanted, and someone wants us to find this.”

“And it should be related to one of the teachers.”

Aresia specifically pointed out the teacher who urged her earlier. After drawing lots, the teacher directly took the box urging her to hurry up and hand it to the waiting students. It seemed like he was impatient or had some ulterior motive. This seemed a bit too coincidental to Aresia. Perhaps he was taking advantage of the opportunity to restore the mechanism in the mission box.

Karina squinted her eyes, carefully observing the man, and confirmed that he wasn’t someone they had seen in the magic department. “He’s not from the warrior department, is he?”

Her warrior groupmates carefully examined his appearance and shook their heads. “No, our warrior department doesn’t have this person.”

Aresia said, “He has a magical wave on him, so he should be a mage.”

He was a mage, but not a member of the magic department. He was probably not their teacher.

Karina suggested, “He should be from the maintenance department, responsible for maintaining the trial grounds.”

“What does he want us to do? Doesn’t he know that we know that our map is wrong?”

“He probably doesn’t know. Isn’t this secret information? We should keep calm.”

The group moved to a hidden spot to discuss, so others thought they were discussing the mission.

“If he doesn’t know, why did he give us this mission? Is it just to make us fail the trial?”

The trial was crucial, and the score from the mission accounted for a high percentage. If they failed the mission, they wouldn’t pass. Unless they accumulated enough points by defeating other magical beasts, it would be impossible within the limited time. If there were really hidden traps in the map or if the instructions led them to Colaklara Grass, it would be an automatic failure.

Vic angrily muttered, “It must be the people who are jealous of Chief Aresia. They can’t match her strength, so they’re resorting to these schemes.”

If the trial failed, Jorgus wouldn’t continue as the chief, and in that case, someone would take over the position as the next highest-ranking warrior. This made Aresia suspect that someone was trying to drive a wedge between Jorgus and herself.

If the trial failed, Jorgus would be replaced, and it seemed that Aresia was the one to blame. When it came to the public, how could the Duke’s daughter not be a target? Moreover, considering the few outstanding mages in the magic department, including Wendy, it was too obvious. If Aresia lost her position as the chief, who would replace her? Unless the person behind this was confident enough to replace her, they wouldn’t do it so blatantly.

Although Aresia had concerns, she realized that Jorgus wasn’t worried. His position as the chief of the warrior department was secure. Moreover, the other magic department students couldn’t catch up to her achievements, including a few outstanding individuals like Wendy. The target was too obvious. If Aresia lost her chief position, who would replace her? It was unlikely that the person behind this plot had someone ready to take her place. In other words, they didn’t plan to replace her but had other intentions.

Aresia understood that there shouldn’t be anyone from the magic department involved – at least, not Wendy. Aside from the being a Duke’s daughter, due to their hostile relationship, the others initially didn’t accept her position and were trying to catch up. This was the current situation.

Karina expressed her concerns, “If they were more ruthless, they could just clear out the Colaklara Grass from the trial grounds. No matter how hard we try, we won’t be able to find the required item, and we’ll definitely fail the trial.”

“It’s not that simple. Colaklara Grass isn’t just any magical plant we can find. If it was included as an option in the lottery, it means the teachers prepared something for us in the trial grounds. Once the mission is over, they will collect it. During the mission, mages will be monitoring us. If we can’t find the Colaklara Grass, it means we failed. The school will definitely investigate.”

In addition to the investigation, not only would their scores be recalculated, but there would also be trouble for those involved. They wouldn’t dare take such a risk.

“And there are several tasks they could assign us. There’s no guarantee which one we’ll draw. Perhaps someone is handling the task assigned to them secretly?”

If that was the case, then they were underestimating us.

They didn’t even realize that their plan had been exposed, so they weren’t particularly skilled.

Aresia’s gaze turned cold as she glanced at the teacher who had already been exposed. “I’ll have someone investigate that person. Let’s see who he’s been in contact with.”

If they dared to target her, then they must be prepared for retaliation.

The others had no objections, and they were glad that Aresia had taken care of it.

After registering their tasks, the teachers led them towards the entrance of the trial grounds.

As they reached the entrance, Aresia spotted a familiar figure.

Karina noticed it too.

She grabbed Aresia’s arm and exclaimed, “Aresia, isn’t that your brother? What is he doing here?”

Aresia wasn’t sure, but the person was wearing armor with a weapon hanging from his waist. There were also several soldiers from the Gryphon Legion nearby. It was easy to guess why they were here.

“He’s probably here to help guard the trial grounds.”

Although the teachers from the Royal Academy were powerful, their numbers were limited. That’s why the trials didn’t strictly follow the rankings. Because they couldn’t spare enough people, having one high-ranking warrior was already considered good. In this trial, there were fifty teams, which meant there were fifty warriors. To be on the safe side, the school requested external assistance.

In the city of Holy Lotean, there were enough strong individuals and troops stationed there, so the school didn’t need to pay for external help. That’s why they asked the Gryphon Legion for assistance. And now, because of Aresia’s relationship, the Gryphon Legion had been contacted to help. The legion couldn’t refuse.

Today was Aresia’s trial, and Amos had come to support her. If it wasn’t for the inappropriate timing, Duke Rogest would have come as well.

With that in mind, the siblings didn’t speak to each other and exchanged a glance.

Upon entering the trial grounds, the school provided each participant with a magic distress flare. Although the trial grounds had already been cleared, they were given the flares just in case.

“Make sure you understand. Once the magic distress flare is activated, and you haven’t obtained the required item, it means you forfeit the trial.”

The school was quite lenient in this regard. If they activated the flare after completing the mission, they would still receive points.

Apart from the flare, the teachers also gave them a map.

The map was similar to the one they had bought, but it was more detailed. It didn’t have any markings for magical beasts or plants.