"Alright, the clone's completely defenseless now. Frieren-sama, you can finish her off," Fern said happily.
"You do it. I'm not in the mood." Frieren turned away, not wanting to look any longer.
The clone's blissed-out expression felt way too embarrassing.
It was like looking in a mirror.
So that was what she looked like when Shichen patted her head?
"You can't, Frieren-sama." Fern stopped her.
"Our magic might not be enough to one-shot the clone. It'd be safer if you did it."
"Sigh… I really don't want to look at it anymore." Frieren turned back reluctantly and looked at the clone again, still smiling sweetly in enjoyment.
"It's fine. I'm already used to seeing it," Fern said, twisting the knife.
"...Let's just get this over with."
Frieren gathered her mana, pointed her staff at the clone, and fired off a blast of magical energy that swallowed it whole and left nothing behind.
Honestly, beating herself felt pretty good.
Shichen's phantom was still there, and at that moment it even turned toward Frieren and smiled at her, like it was praising her.
"Fern…" Frieren's voice turned a little cold.
"Sorry!" Fern immediately dispelled the spell.
"That's it? It's over already?" Übel looked like she couldn't believe it.
There had been a whole crowd of helpless mages outside, and this ended so easily.
It didn't even feel real.
"Well, Shichen-sama hard-counters Frieren-sama," Fern said proudly.
"Then maybe your weakness is Shichen too?" Übel asked.
"That… honestly, maybe," Fern admitted.
"By the way, I have a question." Übel changed the subject.
"What?"
"That transparency spell of yours—is it real?" Übel asked carefully.
"Yeah. I can prove it to you."
"No! No need!" Übel hurriedly stopped her.
"Why are you reacting so strongly? It's not like I'd look at you for no reason. I'm not interested in you."
"That's good." Übel didn't mind at all. She actually looked relieved.
"As long as you don't secretly peek at me."
"You're overthinking it."
"Then have you ever secretly looked at Shichen?"
"Would I need to?" Fern shot back provocatively.
"So that means you and Shichen already…" Übel finally got it.
"So you should just give up," Fern said, trying to discourage her.
"Give up what?" Übel asked.
"You…"
"And besides, Shichen is probably with Serie-sama right now, and who knows, maybe they…" Übel trailed off meaningfully.
"That's none of your business." Fern's voice turned cold.
"Hehe, I don't mind."
"Hmph! Don't even think about it!"
"Girls with too much possessiveness aren't very cute, you know~" Übel teased with a smile.
She was honestly tempted to just expose the fact that she'd been getting cozy with Shichen, but it still didn't feel like enough—especially now that she knew Fern and Shichen had already gone all the way.
Compared to that, her little bit of flirting with him was nothing.
She'd have to take the final step.
Then, when it all came out, Fern's reaction would definitely be fun to watch.
How dare she say Übel had no charm.
"Don't bother reminding me," Fern said flatly, then turned and headed for the door.
The final boss was down. She was going to go tell everyone.
The moment she opened the door, everyone outside understood what had happened and rushed in excitedly.
There was another room deeper inside, but the boss was gone, and all that remained was the treasure in the labyrinth.
The mages weren't interested in treasure. They only cared about passing the exam.
And honestly, they shouldn't be interested. Who knew if grabbing gold and jewels might count against them somehow? What if greed got them disqualified?
Then they'd fail the exam and get nothing at all.
They'd already worked so hard to get here.
"Congratulations to everyone for passing the second round. In three days, we'll announce the final round. You may all return and rest for now," the examiner who came in with them said.
"That's great!"
"The final round!"
"I'm definitely passing!"
Everyone was thrilled, laughing with their teammates as they left.
The examiner watched them with a blank expression.
She knew perfectly well how difficult the third round was.
These people were all talented—most of them were already at a first-class mage level.
But the number who would actually pass the final round definitely wouldn't exceed one hand.
She almost felt sorry for them.
This was probably the hardest exam of all, because it depended entirely on that person's mood.
Speaking of which, why hadn't Serie-sama sent any instructions at all?
Serie, of course, couldn't answer.
She was sound asleep, and there was no way she was waking up anytime soon.
Shichen tucked the blanket around her, put up a barrier to keep anyone from disturbing her, and left.
He waited for a while in the main hall of the Magic Association, and before long Frieren and the others came out.
"Shichen-sama!" Fern threw herself at him excitedly.
Shichen caught her and rubbed her head. "Smart girl. You actually figured out Frieren's weakness."
He'd watched the whole thing clearly himself, and even he hadn't expected that he'd be Frieren's natural enemy.
"Hehe~ It's because Shichen-sama is amazing."
"Hmph." Frieren walked over, looking displeased.
"And who upset you?" Shichen let go of Fern and picked Frieren up.
"Who else but you?" Frieren shot him a look.
"You can't blame me for that. That one was on you," Shichen said, already knowing what she meant.
"And whose fault is that?" Frieren blamed him anyway.
"You're the one who can't handle it," Shichen shamelessly shifted the blame.
"I don't care!" Frieren whined, shaking her head.
"Alright, alright. My fault." Shichen patted her head and admitted defeat.
"That's more like it." Frieren was satisfied.
"Come on, let's get you something good to eat and celebrate." Shichen glanced at Übel.
The two of them understood each other without saying a word.
They found a random restaurant, called Stark over too, had a meal together, and then headed back to the inn.
Frieren and the others needed some real rest.
Though "rest" didn't necessarily mean sleeping.
After dropping Stark off to keep training and chase his dream of becoming a horn-breaking maniac, Shichen flopped down with the girls and watched a movie together.
Übel was there too.
There were fruits and snacks set out by the bed.
This was what counted as "rest."
"Oh right, Shichen-sama, what's the third round of the exam?" Fern suddenly asked.
Frieren and Übel both looked over too.
"The third round is easy. It'll be over in a minute."
"That fast?" Übel sounded surprised.
"It's just an interview. Of course it's fast," Shichen explained.
"An interview?"
"Yep. Serie interviews you personally and decides whether you pass."
"Serie-sama personally…? Seriously?" Fern couldn't believe it.
"Why would I lie to you?"
"Then I have no chance," Frieren said immediately.
"Frieren-sama?"
"Serie is petty. There's no way she'd let me pass."
"Petty… then wouldn't that mean I'm doomed too?" Fern suddenly realized.
"That's the part you don't need to worry about." Shichen smiled and reassured them.
"She won't treat you unfairly. As long as Serie is fair and impartial, I'll be there supervising."
"So if you're there, doesn't that basically count as pulling strings?" Übel asked.
"I'm not going to let you cheat your way through. As long as Serie keeps things fair, that's all."
"I see."
"Then how exactly is Serie-sama going to evaluate us? If it only takes a minute, what even happens?"
"A minute is plenty for her to see your aptitude. Honestly, one second would be enough."
"Aptitude…"
"So relax. Your aptitude definitely won't be a problem."
~~~
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