That day, Anna was walking through one of the corridors of the marquisate. She was tired of studying and decided to get some fresh air in the estate's gardens. As she passed by, she caught sight of Rias in the family's music room. Idris was teaching him how to dance.
His steps followed one another timidly—or rather, awkwardly—to the rhythm of the music their father was playing. He was far from skilled, yet Anna found him incredibly adorable. His long skirt did its best to conceal his small legs, but despite that, a certain grace still shone through his clumsy movements. Rias was trying his hardest to overcome this challenge, unaware that his constant memorization of the steps and calculation of timing were precisely what made him such a poor dancer. Yet it did not seem as though he had a choice. Thinking was what he did best. So he tried to measure everything, shape everything, dismantle everything, without ever grasping anything tangible.
Anna could read it plainly on his face: he was endlessly walking through a void. As for Rias, he no longer seemed to know what was right or wrong in anything he undertook. He always felt destined to be the fool, the victim of everyone's schemes. Watching him, Anna could not shake the impression that Rias genuinely believed the entire world was conspiring against him—and that no matter what he did, nothing ever worked out.
The reason for this escaped Anna completely, because to her, Rias had already accomplished miracles. He was adorable like this: shy, fragile, insecure, a genius without meaning to be one.
And yet, he seemed to be suffering from it to the point of breaking.
...
— "Anna... Anna... Lady Anna."
— "... Ah... What is it?"
— "It's already morning. We need to go collect parchments. Come on, it's the last day."
— "Sorry, girls. You had to wake me up again."
— "It's nothing. Staying alert from morning until evening isn't easy for you at all. You're very intelligent, that's true, but you still seem a little too young to me. You'll never have the same endurance as we do."
And Anna gets up, managing a faint smile.
It is true, after all. She is still young compared to her girls. Those three to five years of difference mean a lot when it comes to physical ability. This examination is very difficult for her. Every day throughout this week, the participants have had to keep track of the golems, watch out for opposing participants who might try to steal scrolls, find a safe place to sleep, and somehow secure food at the same time.
Within Anna's team, she has been assigned the role of strategist and therefore the supreme leader of the group. However, the others have not allowed her to deal with the golems so far. As for everything else, they are veterans. Hunting, fishing... survival is part of their daily lives. They believe Anna is still too young for combat.
And for Anna, that is perfectly fine, since she wishes to keep a low profile.
Even so, while her friends are not nearly as good at defeating golems, she must dig as deep as she can into her own mind and bring out the very best in everyone. So that no one on the team ends up failing.
And I swear to you, that is a hundred times more exhausting than simply drawing your weapon, crushing the golems, hunting for food, and protecting your allies at the same time.
But Anna would much rather see everyone shine during this trial.
Anna now finds herself alone by a river flowing along the mountainside. She arrives there out of breath.
She is about to wash her face, but instead she first catches some fish swimming peacefully near the riverbank. She uses water magic to simply lift them out of the water. Before long, she gathers enough to fill an entire basket. And that makes her quite happy.
Then suddenly, noises emerge from the forest.
A girl in terrible condition stumbles out of it. She probably wants to scream, but her voice is so weak that only a whisper remains.
— "Help me... Help me... The golems..."
Before she can collapse, Anna is already holding her in her arms, despite there being at least ten meters between them.
Anna analyzes her.
"Her pulse is very weak. She's lost a lot of blood, and she has exhausted her magna by reinforcing her body just to make it this far. That was the right decision. In any case, her magna can no longer ensure her survival.
I'll transfer some magna to her so that the healing spell can work at its full potential."
Anna places her hand over the girl's heart. Her hand glows.
Then, once the girl's breathing returns to normal, Anna casts the healing spell.
Finally, she lets her rest until she regains consciousness.
As for Anna, driven by curiosity, she walks toward the forest, toward the place where the girl came from. She is intrigued by the situation.
But the girl stops her.
It must be said that she never truly loses consciousness.
— "Don't go there, little one. There's an abnormal C-rank golem over there. Instead of capturing participants, it's trying to kill them. Our captain, Sheyes, is in terrible condition after trying to save us. Dijiid and Kristal are being assisted by several Tower Mages from their team to contain it, but even they don't believe they can disable it. They're only holding it back long enough for the injured to be evacuated. That's all."
— "I see. Thank you for your concern."
The girl says nothing more. Still lying on the ground, her blurry vision gradually clears as Anna calmly walks toward the site of the confrontation.
Calm.
Composed.
Unhurried.
Until she completely disappears into the forest.
— "I don't see even the slightest trace of fear in that little girl. Is she overestimating her abilities, or is she..."
She pauses as realization strikes her, patting herself all over.
— "...Wait. I don't feel any pain anymore..."
She checks herself again.
— "And my magna has recovered... as if nothing ever happened. Yet I was certain I was going to die."
She looks toward the forest once more. Then she looks around and spots Anna's bag in the distance, filled with freshly caught fish.
— "Who in the world was that girl? I don't think even an Imperial Physician could perform such a feat...
I never even got to see her face."
Anna continues to move through the forest, slowly but surely, her eyes scanning from left to right in case someone launches a surprise attack.
"I still find it incredible that such a sophisticated circle can cover such a large area.
... Hmm.
The communication magic signals are different here. Barely noticeable, but the tampering is obvious. Whatever the Exterminators are receiving right now is most likely nothing but signals being repeated in a loop.
Those signals would probably seem perfectly normal among the thousands they process over there. I'd like to correct them, but with the amount of magna I have, it's a lost cause.
I just wonder who the target is.
In any case, this has to be stopped before it's too late."
Anna raises a hand.
A fireball emerges from her palm and rises to a reasonably high altitude where everyone can see it.
Then, the small fireball explodes three times like a firework.
The sudden noise and shockwave alert the fighters on site.
Kristal:
— "What was that?... A Master-level spell?"
Dijiid:
—"It's a signal for the examiners... Watch out! The golem is charging at you."
—"Fourth Body Reinforcement Technique: Phoenix's Embrace."
Kristal moves rapidly to the side, narrowly avoiding the golem's attack.
—"Nicely done, Kristal. I thought you were more of a Tower Mage, but it turns out you're quite good with body reinforcement magic as well."
— "You have to be capable of everything if you want to be the best. We need to focus now."
...
At headquarters, Mariane moves through her subordinates, issuing instructions regarding the signal Anna has just sent.
— "It's a distress signal. Send an intervention team over there."
— "We're ready, Headmistress."
— "Good. Go, and be quick."
Then she turns toward her secretary.
— "Notify the other academies. They must be experiencing a related problem."
Then another thought crosses her mind.
"Who among those girls besides Anna can cast Master-level spells? I have a bad feeling about this. Perhaps I should assist the intervention team..."
And Mariane follows the intervention team as she said she would.
As Anna continues on her way:
"Good. Let's add this to create a bit of confusion in the enemy ranks. Now, I need to stop that golem."
And Anna runs toward the location in question.