The Broken System Chose the Antagonist
Chapter 34: Almost Guessed It?

Chapter 34: Almost Guessed It?

’No fighting? No plundering? No running away?’

Seraphine followed behind Elias’s squad alongside the others. She had expected that she wouldn’t have to do anything with Hilda around... but she didn’t think it would go this peacefully.

Even if she was a bit squeamish around blood, she wanted Hilda to put those people in their place!

’Although... she kinda did put them in their place with that Spell...’

In this world, to be able to use a Talisman and cast a Spell, you needed to get your hands on a Spiritual Manual. And the Spell Hilda had cast, {Lightning Bolt}, derived from the Spiritual Manual of Lightning.

’For a low-class Spell, it’s really scary...’ Seraphine reflected, still remembering the intense flash of light — along with the thunderclap ringing inside her eardrums.

She then shook her head, trying to clear her mind of the fear she felt at the time.

Then she glanced at Callum, who had been rather quiet since Hilda’s Spell, and found his gaze fully situated on Hilda. But because of where they were positioned, it looked more like he was staring into Nadia’s back.

Sensing Seraphine’s gaze, Callum turned to her with an excited smile — his eyes sparkling with thrill.

"Isn’t Miss Hertel amazing? In one attack, she took down a Predicament like it was nothing more than a clay doll!"

Unlike Nadia, who had witnessed Hilda take down several Predicaments all on her own, or Seraphine, with her meta-knowledge, this was the first time Callum had seen Hilda in action. And his expectations about Hilda’s strength were more than satisfied.

"Y-yeah..." Seraphine chuckled nervously, "P-people from the LRM really aren’t pushovers, huh?"

Callum nodded passionately.

"They really aren’t. At first, I was wondering why the LRM would send one of their own into this entrance exam, especially someone like Hilda, whose abilities should already merit a spot."

Callum pumped his fist into the air as he looked back at Hilda, his eyes lit with proud realisation.

"But I think I figured it out! They must’ve sent Hilda as some kind of protector for us! Obviously, though, they didn’t want to make this exam too easy by having Hilda constantly protect us, so they made her be some kind of hidden supervisor!

"And if we think of her like that, don’t you think there’s also the possibility of a different kind of hidden test, besides just living out here for three days? Like a competency-based one that only Miss Hertel knows?" Callum looked back at Seraphine with an inquisitive look, "What do you think? Do you think my theory is plausible, Miss Halloway?"

Seraphine stared blankly at Callum before blinking awake, shock flashing across her face.

’HOLY CRAP, HE ALMOST GUESSED IT!’

Although he was wrong about Hilda being a supervisor, he did get some things right, even if partially; for example, about the LRM sending Hilda to protect the examinees, which was only half correct.

But his suspicion about there being another type of "test" was spot on!

She gulped.

’He barely had anything to go off of...’

"Haha, you might be right, Callum... but I feel like there might be more to it. Albeit I don’t know what, though..."

"Hmm, is that so?" Callum held his chin as he went deep into thought, pondering on Seraphine’s words. What else could there be that he hadn’t considered yet? Or was there any at all, considering he wasn’t even sure if his theory was correct?

As Callum continued to contemplate his theory, another thought crossed his mind when he locked eyes with someone from Elias’ group.

"Do you think these people are trustworthy, Miss Halloway? They’ve been giving us these strange looks for the past ten minutes..." Callum commented with a glance at his watch.

’It’s already been 10 minutes?’ Seraphine thought.

She then laughed stiffly.

"Hahaha, absolutely! Didn’t you hear their captain swear on his Heart? It would be shameless of them to take it back."

"Hmm... I guess you’re right..."

Seeing the tension in Callum’s shoulders relax, Seraphine smiled. ’He trusts me.’

In truth, she didn’t trust these bastards at all!

’Surely those other guys are surveying the area around here, right...?’ Seraphine thought anxiously as she glanced around them, trying to detect the presence of another group that might be hanging around them.

And when she failed to find them, she came up with a plan to try to convince Hilda to hold back on joining Elias’ group before the one she was looking for arrived.

’I can do this!’ Seraphine pumped herself up.

She approached Hilda from behind, leaving Callum behind confused, and raised a hand out to grab the woman’s shoulder. But flinched when the German already detected her presence.

Hilda twisted her head to look back at her.

"Miss Halloway? Is there something you needed?"

"O-oh, uhm... nothing much..." Seraphine stammered, the confident look on her face vanishing instantly, "S-so, uhm... do you need help carrying Miss Nadia? I-I’ll be happy to assist you—"

"It’s fine." Hilda interrupted her, then smiled warmly, "She’s safe with me, but thank you for asking~"

"Ah, it’s alright..."

She then fell behind the woman, returning back to walk alongside Callum, who was still giving her a questioning look. And when she did, she planted her face in her hands, groaning in frustration.

’I got cold feet!’

Seraphine later tried to gather the courage to ask, but consistently failed to do what she wanted. The scene of Hilda one-shotting the Predicament, which was much healthier than the one she fought yesterday, still continued to replay inside her mind.

’I guess I’m more scared of her than I thought...’ Seraphine reflected.

Eventually, though, before she could gather enough courage to go through with her plans...

"We’ve arrived." Elias declared.