chapter01 · 015-ep15

Episode 15: "The Rigged Exam"

The directive didn't even take the form of a meeting.

Clan Genbu operations headquarters, a small conference room one floor below the top. Across from the head of training sat Iizumi Seiji, a man who'd been seconded to the Association's examination department for three years. He was set to return to Genbu in next month's personnel reshuffle, where a department head's chair was waiting for him. —That was the kind of man he was.

"You're going to be special exam supervisor for Amaha Hina's B-rank promotion exam."

"...The student from that course."

"The public's watching this exam. If it's too easy, it'll only undermine the Association's authority. I'm counting on you. —Make it a practical exam."

Practical. Nothing more was said, all the way to the end. The things left unsaid were the language of that room.

The practical assessment for B-rank promotion took place in an Association-managed dungeon. The venue was the Fourth Managed Labyrinth, a rocky-cavern type. The exam area extended as far as the third layer. Monsters in the designated section were regulated by "culling" before the exam, leaving only specimens up to upper-tier C-rank—or so the regulations said.

The regulations also said: "The area and interval of culling shall be at the discretion of the special exam supervisor."

Iizumi wrote one line in his notebook. 【Third layer, eastern section — culling interval: minimum permitted by regulations】. Every number fell within the regulations. If anyone investigated later, he would need only one answer: "I endeavored to make the exam practical."

In the corridor on his way out, he stopped once. He'd watched a few episodes of that course himself. He'd watched and reached a conclusion. It was a good course, thorough in its teaching of fundamentals. But—fundamentals were tools for surviving what you expected. They couldn't stop what came from outside those expectations.

"Sorry, young lady."

That was the "practical exam" adults made.

◇

In the end, it took me three days to write back to Mio-chan. Not that it was long. Ninety percent was thanks for the material; the last line was what took time.

"Thank you for telling me. From here on, it's the adults' job."

I hadn't told Hina-chan about the rumor. Putting noise into a student's head before an exam isn't a coach's job. I hadn't changed her preparation, either. Fundamentals only. There was nothing left to add for her.

Instead, I went to the Association twice.

The first time, I went of my own accord. I submitted three forms: a request for complete preservation of the exam area's environmental logs, sensor recordings, and culling records. In the reason field, I wrote, "To review as teaching material after the exam." It wasn't a lie. The staffer at the counter told me, "I've never seen a recommender file this much before."

"There's only so much a recommender can do."

The second time, they called me in. According to Association PR, "The exam will be broadcast live on our official channel, and we'd be delighted if you would join us in the commentary booth." The industry had said it had no use for this middle-aged man until last month, and now it wanted to put me on the air. Funny how that works.

I thought about it, then agreed. I attached just one condition: "Keep the entire broadcast and all the records unedited, and release them in full."

And this wasn't my doing, but apparently the Dungeon Agency's Safety Statistics Division had been invited to observe. Something about wanting to see one of the course's students take a promotion exam firsthand as an example of "prevention through education." It seemed there was someone at that agency who didn't miss a turn in the numbers.

The two lines I'd written two weeks ago were still there in my notebook.

【Amaha Hina — B-rank exam. No change in preparation. Fundamentals only.】

【But—the "outside" of the exam is my job.】

I'd covered the outside as thoroughly as I could. Now—well, business as usual. Cook rice and get some sleep.

◇

Exam day. The viewing building at the Association's Fourth Managed Labyrinth was packed before the doors opened.

Unlike a mock bout, you couldn't see a practical exam in a rocky cavern with your own eyes. Spectators watched a large monitor piecing together footage from the hundred and twenty sensors in the exam area. They came anyway. And even with the crowd there, concurrent viewers of the official broadcast passed 【600,000】 before the start.

"Now, let us introduce our commentator: the examinee's recommender, Hiiragi Shinichi-san."

"Hiiragi here, your commentator. ...Um, if anyone's new, here's the usual: today's exam will probably be dull. Probably shockingly dull. But that's a good thing."

【We know】

【He said the usual thing even on the official broadcast】

【That "dull" stuff took down an upper-tier C-rank, though】

【It's so reassuring to have Sensei in the commentary booth】

A petite figure stood at the entrance gate. Amaha Hina, seventeen. It had been less than a month since her promotion to C-rank.

"She looks nervous," the play-by-play announcer said. Her face certainly looked stiff. But I enlarged the image on the screen in front of me. Her toes pointed outward, her shoulders were relaxed, and inside her shoes—probably—her toes were gripping the floor.

"I think she'll be fine. She's nervous, but nerves and fear are different things."

The exam began.

First layer, second layer. Hina-chan explored so perfectly by the book it was impressive. At each fork, she stopped to record the time, direction, and a landmark. Once every forty minutes, she sat to count her light, her pulse, and her remaining medicine. She encountered monsters three times. Each time, she observed first, ended the fight with the shortest possible move, and didn't pursue.

【She's drawing a map! She's actually drawing a map!】

【Is this a recap of the whole course?】

【Apparently an examiner said he's never seen such a careful examinee】

Honestly, I didn't have much to say from the commentary booth. "Good footwork there." "Yes, this is where she sits down. Good job." The comments laughed that I sounded like a proud owner at a pet show. I couldn't deny it.

—The anomaly appeared in the eastern section of the third layer.

The analysis crowd noticed it first.

【Hey, behind that rock just now】

【Isn't it huge?】

【Pull the camera back. ...Whoa, it's huge】

At the edge of the monitor, a shadow slowly pushed out from beyond a narrow passage between the rocks. A large specimen of a rocky-cavern species. But its outline was different. Its carapace was too thick. And most of all, its horns—third-layer specimens didn't have horns like that.

【Checked the published list. This exam's expected specimens go up to upper-tier C-rank】

【No way that's upper-tier C-rank!? That's a fifth-layer boss-class monster!】

【Why is a specimen that even B-ranks are advised to fight in a party in the exam area!?】

"W-we've just received information in the commentary booth. The control room's ruling is... 'Within the bounds of natural upward migration; exam to continue.' ...It's continuing!"

A murmur swept through the viewing building. At the edge of the broadcast, Chief Examiner Sakuma, there to observe from the control room, could be seen confronting the special exam supervisor. There was no audio. But it was plain to see that the documents he'd slammed on the desk were the "culling records."

The comment section was a waterfall now.

【Stop the exam!】

【What are you making a seventeen-year-old do!?】

【Sensei! Sensei, this isn't right, is it!?】

"H-Hiiragi-san? Your thoughts on this...?"

The play-by-play announcer looked at me as if pleading. The camera turned to me, too. Six hundred thousand people were probably waiting for the same thing: for the recommender to shout, turn pale, or stand up and demand the exam be stopped.

Without taking my eyes off the monitor, I said:

"—It's all right."

My voice came out quieter than even I'd expected.

"It's all right. I've spent more time teaching that girl how to deal with the unexpected than anything else. Not after the fundamentals. ...As the final part of them."

【Sensei...】

【We can trust you on that, right?】

"And everyone, arrangements have been made to keep every second of this exam's records. Every decision made at anyone's discretion, too. —So for now, instead of making noise, please watch her. Watch what she does next. I think it'll end up in the textbooks."

◇

It felt as though the temperature in the passage dropped two degrees.

Beyond the narrow passage between the rocks, a shadow darker than the darkness slowly lowered its body. Amaha Hina's heart gave one hard thump.

(...It's big.)

She knew the answer before she had to think. That wasn't upper-tier C-rank. As for whether she could beat it—she couldn't. Not head-on. Ten times out of ten.

Her hands trembled. The same trembling she'd had when she was failing those four exams. The difference was that she now knew where to put it.

Hina took one deep breath.

—A riverside at dusk came to mind. The day of their last practice session before the exam. Sensei had bought two cans of coffee and handed her one, speaking as if they were making small talk.

"Hina-chan. Last thing before your exam—the most important thing. —When you encounter something unexpected, pull back first."

"Pull back... You mean run away?"

"It's different from running away. Pull back while you observe. And here's the important part. —Don't mix up winning with surviving. That's how people die. Decide on 'don't die' first. You can think about 'winning' with whatever room you have left once you're done observing."

"Whatever room I have left..."

"Yeah. It's okay. You should know this already: as long as you can observe, your exam is still going."

She exhaled.

The trembling hadn't gone. It didn't need to. Inside her shoes, her toes gripped the floor. Toes pointed outward. Heels kept down. Gaze kept up.

The higher-tier specimen charged with a roar.

Amaha Hina didn't run away.

Half a step back. Another half-step while she observed. The way its weight shifted onto its right foreleg before it swept its horns up. The way its neck always dropped at the end of a charge. The way the passage was three centimeters too narrow for that carapace—

As she pulled back, the girl was already counting what room she had left.

It was the beginning of a way of fighting no one in the control room—not even special exam supervisor Iizumi—had ever seen.