Memoirs of the Returnee

Team Without a Team (2)

Inside the Endex dormitory. The clicking of a mouse and the clattering of a laptop keyboard echoed in Soliette’s single room.

[College Board says the most promising class in nearly 20 years, Endex’s promising list]

[Scouter Jack Varian’s Knights Mock Draft]

Soliette was surfing the community. Pressing the mouse with one hand, moving her eyeballs incessantly.

[Why Endgame topped the box office.jpg]

[I made a rocket with a stick.]

This was Soliette’s routine and an important task. She visits about 30 sites a day. Articles, wizards, magic users, universities, general, girls’ schools, boys’ schools, blind, open communities, marriage information companies, etc… She examines the posts with the most comments and recommendations, and spends more than 6 hours a day trying to understand the issues that attract public attention.

The internet world, which she happened to encounter while reducing her sleep time due to nightmares, has become a very important hobby for her.

Among them, the community that Soliette mainly lurks in is ‘ED’, where users can operate anonymously regardless of their status, rank, ability, position, and wealth.

She sorted the posts there by recommendation.

[HOT. These days, the Endex Nomana Jump Draft Record is a hot topic ㄷㄷ]

Jump height 687 cm.

This record has been a hot topic in many communities since the Endex campus newspaper bit the bullet. After all, it’s a figure close to the draft record in the ‘strong body’ category.

Soliette scrolled down quickly.

[HOT. College Board survivor list, and Jack Benish’s predicted ranking (2nd week revised version)]

Another post caught her eye.

It’s the predicted ranking of the famous scout, Jack Benish. He himself doesn’t have much talent, but he’s a top-level analyst who is extremely focused on observation in 「Spectrum」.

Click- She clicked.

1. Gerkhen Kal Doon Kal Doon (↑1)

1. Elise Petra (↑1)

1. Soliette Arkne (↓2)

Soliette, who was in 1st place last year, has dropped to 3rd place, and Gerkhen Kal Doon and Elise have risen to 1st and 2nd place, respectively.

She didn’t care.

She pressed Control F and searched for someone else’s name.

[Shion Ascal]

[No search results.]

As expected, there’s nothing. This person is a piece of trash whose existence is infinitely light, who can’t even be evaluated by anyone. Even the dog next door would sneer at him for being so insignificant.

Sometimes when she’s browsing the community, she thinks he’s no different from a spammer who sends spam messages or a scammer who induces courier transactions in the second-hand market.

There’s no need to worry about him.

Ding—

Then a private message rang.

「ㄴㄱ : Team leader. I brought the car, should I pick you up later?」

Who is it?

She looked at the profile picture and it was Kielli.

Jack Benish’s predicted ranking is 16th.

Soliette usually doesn’t care about gossip, but she’s honestly curious about this person.

Is Kielli really the owner of the button? The person who jumped 687 cm?

As she was thinking, she moved her fingers three times.

「OK」

* * *

Thursday evening. Before leaving for Parascale, I visited [Thrice Manaology].

Why, the same Artifact store that I memorized the SZX-9500 the other day.

“Do you think you can achieve anything by just touching it?”

The goal was the same as that day.

“Well… I’m just looking at the Artifacts I want to buy.”

There are three Artifacts to Memorize. A ‘Portable Mana Analyzer’, a ‘Magic Hygrometer’, and a ‘Compass’.

The cylindrical Portable Spectrometer disperses mana like a spectroscope, revealing its properties and characteristics. The Magic Hygrometer measures the concentration of mana in the area like a hygrometer. The Compass is just a compass.

[98 / 103 (-1)]

Capacity history within the last 24 hours: +6

Perhaps because they are all less advanced Artifacts compared to the SZX-9500, they were Memorized quite leisurely.

“But do you actually sell anything here?”

I asked, putting the item back down. This antique shop was filled with cutting-edge Artifacts, but the actual sales status remained the same as last week.

The shopkeeper asked back with a smile.

“Are you worried about the Hilton family now?”

“……”

I had nothing to say.

The wealth of the Hilton family has ‘officially’ not been revealed.

Whether before or after the regression, it’s all just an estimate, but the underworld guys say it’s more than you can imagine.

The wealth that the world has managed to grasp is only 10%, and the rest is said to be assets that are difficult or impossible to liquidate.

“Well, that’s true. Anyway, thank you. I’ll just buy this today. How much is it?”

I picked up an item. It was a long stick that split into two from the middle, an Artifact that looked like a tuning fork, to put it simply.

“The Magic Tuning Fork? You?”

“Yes.”

The shopkeeper had a puzzled look on his face.

The Magic Tuning Fork is made by mixing magic stone and steel in a certain ratio, and it’s very easy to conduct mana, so it’s mainly used by ‘beginners’. It’s a kind of aid that people who have difficulty discharging or controlling their magic power use, so it doesn’t suit an Endex student.

“I have a use for it.”

“Hmm. 1,000 Ren.”

I handed over the bloodly 1,000 Ren. The shopkeeper took out another Magic Tuning Fork from the counter drawer and said.

“Buy one get one.”

“Oh. Thank you.”

I gratefully accepted it.

I should sell it at the second-hand market.

I left the Mana Distillery for the third time and returned to my temporary residence. I packed my stuff into the duffel bag I got from the mining class. I also packed a wristwatch and equipment for mandrake gathering.

After making all the preparations, I caught a taxi on Endex Street.

“To Edsilla Train Station.”

I arrived at the first stopover, Edsilla Train Station, in 20 minutes.

Despite being night, [Edsilla Station], one of the largest train stations on the continent, was crowded with people. Everything from skin color, hair color, eye color to language was diverse.

I crossed the main hall and bought a ticket.

“One way to Parascale.”

I don’t know how the other team will get to Parascale. However, according to the news I ‘heard’ in the future, they were supposed to come in droves. Of course, I still haven’t solved the Key Magic Formula, but I do have a plan of sorts.

[“The train is arriving at the platform. Please board the train after the doors have fully opened.”]

The ML high-speed train of Edsilla, with its pointed face, tore through the night sky of the platform.

I looked at my wristwatch.

It was 10 PM.

It would take about 2 hours to reach Parascale, so I had a good 10 hours until the assembly time.

“……I shouldn’t be late.”

Scratching the back of my neck, I boarded the stationary high-speed train.

Friday, 6 AM.

Soliette’s team arrived in Parascale. Their mode of transportation was Kielli’s 9-seater van, and they were now walking down a mountain path after getting out of the car.

“That magic formula is really amazing. We thought it was a map spell.”

One of the team members muttered. A paper bird was flying in front of them.

The team members all thought it was a magic formula related to maps, but when Soliette completed the magic formula, a paper bird like this popped out.

「Spirit Magic: Guide」.

The guide leading the team to the exploration site was this paper bird.

They had seen the paper bird magic formula in the previous class, but because this paper bird had a specific ‘purpose’, it was much more complex and difficult.

“It’s good not to have preconceived notions when it comes to magic formulas.”

Kielli said, as if giving some fatal advice.

“It means you need to broaden your horizons.”

Soliette, who had actually implemented the magic formula alone, was walking without saying a word.

From the beginning, she didn’t care about her team members. She didn’t speak unless necessary, showed no slight change in expression, and only occasionally stared intently at her smartphone.

“Ah! It stopped over there.”

Then a team member pointed somewhere. A large rock buried in the middle of the mountain. The paper bird was sitting there, chirping.

“……That’s right. So, team leader, what’s the password?”

Another team member asked. In this group assignment, the team members’ task was to segment the magic formula, and from then on, Soliette took on everything herself.

“Password……”

Kielli muttered, looking at Soliette’s face. Soliette shook her head.

“It’s not a password.”

Kielli chimed in at the right timing.

“It’s not a password.”

“Really? Then what?”

“……The team leader will show you from now on. Because that’s the team leader’s job.”

Kielli pointed at Soliette. She had closed her eyes as if warming up her Magic Core.

Everyone held their breath, worried they might disturb her.

Not long after, when she opened her eyes again, her retinas were dyed red. A burst of mana sprouted from her body, gathering in her palms.

The strands that were flickering chaotically like flames soon began to form a spell under Soliette’s control. Numerous circuits intertwined in the air, and a magic core was drawn.

“Wow, wow—”

“Hey, shush. Shush.”

Countless lines and shapes intricately fit together like gears in a magic formula. Into the brightly shining circular formula, Soliette suddenly thrust her hand. She grasped something and pulled it out with a swish.

It was a key of magic.

Showing the key, which was burning red like her hair, Soliette said,

“It’s a key.”

“Uh… Uh. Yes.”

“……It’s amazing. As expected of the team leader.”

The team members admired her. She had implemented a spell that would take four average seniors several hours to gather magic power for, and she did it alone, and so easily at that.

“Let’s go.”

Soliette inserted the key into the rock. With a clunk, a part of the stone opened like an entrance. Soliette went in first.

Kielli gestured to the dumbfounded team members.

“What are you doing? Come in.”

“Ah, yes.”

“Let’s go, let’s go.”

A passage like a cave, deep, damp, and dark. When the team members showed discomfort, Soliette at the front lit up the surroundings like a flame with her magic.

“She’s really carrying the team.”

“……Exactly. Who said Gerkhen Kal Doon was number one?”

At that moment, as the team members were walking, each admiring her so reliable, steady, and dependable figure,

“We’re here~”

A familiar voice flowed from the other side.

“Nice to see you~ You came through entrance number 3.”

The person in charge, Asillen, was holding a torch in one hand. She had somewhat expected it since the paper bird appeared.

As the Soliette team approached, she flipped through a file and said,

“Looking at your faces, you seem like Endex… Are you a regular team?

“Huh?”

“You’re not a dropout team, right?”

A dropout team? Kielli answered as if it was absurd.

“Of course. We’re a regular team.”

Then Asillen tilted her head.

“Why are there six of you? There should be five in a team.”

Six people? What a nonsensical thing to say.

Kielli furrowed her brows.

Anyway, it’s certain that a regular team has five people. Because one team leader picked four people each. As for the dropouts, they could form a team of six or even ten on their own.

“There are five of us……”

As Kielli said that, she counted the number of people.

At the front, Soliette, one person.

Next, me, Kielli, two people.

Behind me, Cellon, three people.

Behind Cellon, Karius, four people.

Behind Karius, Aryen, five people.

And lastly, at the very back, someone in a hood… six people?

Chills ran down Kielli’s entire body. It felt as if a spider was crawling up the back of her neck.

“Ahh!”

He let out a belated scream. The team members were also startled and quickly scattered.

“Wh-who are you!”

Everyone, except for Soliette, was panting and staring at the ‘sixth’ person at the very back.

Whether a ghost or a spirit, the sixth person quietly raised their hand.

“I’m not from a regular team.”

“Then?”

“I’m from a dropout team.”

At that moment, Soliette’s mana was directed at him. The heat, red like a bonfire, illuminated his face.

A sharp and white face. Short, cropped blonde hair, and as always, rotten golden eyes.

He introduced himself.

“I’m Shion Ascal.”

Asillen peeked over his shoulder.

“And the other team members?”

“I don’t have any.”

“You’re a team by yourself?”

“Yes.”

“But why did you come with us?”

At this point, it seemed like Soliette’s team had realized the situation, and their expressions soured.

Shion Ascal shrugged his shoulders and answered.

“I just happened to be at the right place at the right time.”

“……”

Soliette let out a faint sigh. Kielli felt as if his hair was standing on end.

On the other hand, Asillen smiled.

“Good. The task was to get in here by any means. In the college board’s view, it’s the fault of the one who got cheated, right? Follow me~”

Saying so, Asillen went inside, but Soliette’s team didn’t move. They glared fiercely at Shion Ascal.

“Yes. I’ll follow.”

But the actual cheater walked ahead.

How could he be so shameless, as if he had a face of steel.

As he passed by her, Soliette asked him.

“Did you follow us?”

“……”

Shion nodded silently.

A tiny spark ignited in her hollow eyes.