LMSAH – 18

I won.

And I crushed them with a perfect score of 30 wins, 0 draws, and 0 losses.

Having tasted the bitterness of defeat one by one to little ol’ me, they were curious as to how I kept winning so easily, and they challenged me one by one in turn.

Before long they were saying I wasn’t using foresight at all but must be an Abiliter with superhuman eyesight, and they escalated to rock–paper–scissors with moves pre-written on slips of paper.

“So it was true—the closer the future, the higher your accuracy……”

They acknowledged defeat cleanly and started scribbling things down in the evaluation fields.

“The ability rating assessment is complete. Please proceed to the next exam as instructed.”

“Thank you.”

I was just turning to leave the testing room when—

“We’ll see you at House Papiope later.”

From the proctor’s loaded expression and almost giddy tone, I was sure.

Even if I botched the remaining two exams, they’d force me through into the Elite Ability Training Academy.

But I pretended to be a clueless child, bowed politely, and left Test Site 1.

The moment I stepped out, an attendant latched onto me as if she’d been waiting.

“Miss Tania, you may enter Test Site 2.”

“Okay.”

I knew it would roll straight on, but I figured everyone else must be reeling from this relentless barrage of tests.

Which, of course, was exactly what the Elite Ability Training Academy was aiming for.

In a stiff yet smooth businesslike voice, the attendant briefed me on the procedure.

“Abilities are prohibited inside the test area; you must proceed solely with your own judgment. Also, the exam begins the instant you enter, and your time will be recorded.”

“Got it.”

I’d already taken this exam several times to brief the twins on it, so I set my hand on the doorknob without a hint of nerves.

[Overwriting Time Slot 2 with current point.]

I opened the door, and a sprawling maze unfurled before my eyes.

It should’ve been an ordinary room.

It was illusion magic—or an Abiliter that projected illusions.

Creak—!

Thud.

The attendant waiting outside shut the door mercilessly, and I was left alone in the dim maze.

From here on out, no matter how much I moved, my body in reality would just be standing still.

Laid out in front of me—as if to say take them—sat an oil lamp and a wooden practice sword.

I grabbed only the oil lamp and took off at a sprint.

I intended to ace every test so my name would reach Duke Papiope’s ears.

Which meant a measly maze like this needed to be cleared in record time.

Left, right, right, left, right…….

I barreled along the route I’d memorized.

From behind—where there’d definitely been nothing—a monster suddenly lunged out.

Scree-eeech—!

Checkpoint 1: Random Demonic Beast Spawns.

This time, it was a demonic beast that vented poisonous gas from its entire body.

Fortunately, once you knew how to handle it, it was easy enough.

Because the gas the demonic beast emitted was volatile.

I kicked up my speed.

The moment I rounded a corner, I whipped the oil lamp back behind me.

Boom—!

Heat flushed up my back. Any closer and I would’ve been caught in the blast.

“Well, as long as I’m not hurt.”

Using the explosion as background noise, I went tap-tap-tapping along.

Gunning for the fastest clear, I had no time to waste on small fry like that.

Tap tap tap—!

In the endless maze, I never once wavered, striding on with confidence.

With the lamp gone my vision was extremely limited, but with nothing cumbersome in my hands, my feet flew faster.

An oil lantern is a bit heavy to lug around in a kid’s body.

Who knows how long I ran like that.

It had been just me, alone—then, at some point, a second set of footsteps joined.

Looked like Checkpoint 2 had started.

The footsteps drew closer and closer until they were right by me. I felt a presence at my side.

“Hi.”

A voice exactly like mine—creepily so—greeted me.

A doppelgänger.

A demonic beast said to take the form of someone it takes a liking to, only to kill the actual person, and then live life on in their place.

Without sparing so much as a glance at the doppelgänger running alongside me, I answered.

“Oh. Hi.”

“…Wh-what the? Are you stupid? Someone who wasn’t here a second ago shows up by your side and you’re not surprised?”

“Could you shut up a sec? You’re making me mix up left and right.”

I’m doing a maze time-attack here. The doppelgänger squawked, flustered.

“H-hey, are you even going to look me in the face when you talk?!”

“Do I need to?”

“If I say look, then look!”

Too annoyed to argue, I flicked my head and looked at it.

It was my face, beyond a doubt.

“Yep, pretty. But you’ve got chili flakes stuck in your teeth.”

“What? Where?”

Startled, it pawed around its mouth.

I shrugged, thinking lazily, ‘Even demonic beasts fall for jokes.’

Dealing with a doppelgänger was both simple and hard.

Don’t feel fear.

The more fear its target feels, the stronger it becomes.

In short, as long as you don’t freak the hell out just because it’s a demonic beast, it’s harmless.

If you were going strictly by the book, you’re supposed to beat it with the wooden sword and then escape, but there was no need to fight.

It had no power to harm me anyway.

So Raspie, a demonic beast tamer, and Rosemary—who’d often dealt with demonic beasts following him around—would both get past this part easily.

Why don’t I fear demonic beasts?

People who have survived countless near-death experiences with demonic beasts become one of two things.

They either develop trauma and become extremely terrified of demonic beasts, or they become indifferent and stop being afraid.

I belonged to the latter category.

What if you kill me? Well, I’ll just come back to life.

The doppelgänger, annoyed by my indifference, started yammering at my side.

“You’re not scared of me? When I look exactly like you? Huh? I’m going to kill you and take over your life—still not scared?”

“I already feel like I’m being stabbed to death by your endless questions.”

How many question marks can you cram into a single sentence? You’re going to make me forget where I am in the route.

But the doppelgänger kept chattering on beside me. Until I finally…

Halted.

I skidded to a stop. The doppelgänger cackled with glee.

“What’s wrong, hit a dead end and getting scared now?”

“No.”

It wasn’t a dead end. I quietly pointed at the door ahead.

I’d reached the end of the maze.

Only then did the doppelgänger realize its role was over and scrunch up its face.

“…You’re a weird human!”

Ignoring its outburst, I turned the knob and moved into the next room.

Without that noisy chatterbox at my elbow, my ears finally had some peace.

Final Checkpoint 3.

Reaching this room was basically the end of the exam.

What I saw first upon opening the door were two boxes with transparent fronts.

Inside, one box held a single pregnant rabbit; the other, five old and sick rabbits, all peacefully nibbling grass.

Before them, two lengths of rope lay side by side, as if telling me to choose one.

My gaze followed where the ropes led—to a massive water tank.

More than enough to flood a box to the brim.

I was being told to choose: drown the one pregnant rabbit, or drown the five old and sick ones.

The trolley dilemma.

A situation that refers to ‘a problem setup that forces you to judge whether you can sacrifice the few to save the many.’

In a previous timeline I had already chosen one of the two.

Sacrificing one thing to gain another isn’t my style, but I was pressed for time.

Ironically, whenever I made up my mind to choose, a voice would echo from the air.

If I went to choose killing the pregnant rabbit…

‘What if the pregnant rabbit is carrying five kits?’

—that kind of add-on would pop up.

If I went to choose killing the old and sick rabbits…

‘What if it’s not five old and sick rabbits but fifty?’

‘Would you still choose that?’-type question would be added.

They test you endlessly, making you choose, and in the process they force unconditional sacrifice.

So this time I decided on a completely different choice.

Flop—!

I sprawled, full-starfish, on the floor. Then, looking at the blank space where the voice had emanated from last time, I declared:

“I’m not choosing.”