The Strongest Gun Magus: I Cast Bullet!-Chapter 17: The Game Was Rigged From the Start

A week later.

The red leaves of Growlgrove Forest, lit by the rising sun, made the entire forest look as if it were on fire.

Growlgrove wasn’t a kind of forest that any mortal could travel through peacefully: songs of tits and bullfinches were interrupted by frequent calls and roars of magical beasts marking their territory.

It was a sign that the beasts had spawned their cubs, and it was the best time to hunt for them.

Almost every magus from the Blue Bismuth School, around two hundred people, was standing in an open field in front of the forest.

Most of them came only to watch the opening ceremony of the Autumn Beast Hunt and were standing aside.

The actual participants, all forty of them, were standing in the front. Each of them was carrying a bag with travel supplies. Some of them were barely visible under their massive backpacks, while others let their cronies carry supplies for them.

Marien was the only one who was standing without a massive backpack—her only bag was a small belt purse. And she didn’t have any cronies, either, and was glaring at anyone who tried to approach her.

Reynard was one of the people with bags almost as large as his own body. He was standing on the opposite side of the crowd and also surrounded by a circle of emptiness and disdainful glares.

’Cooking pot... Sleeping bag... Hairbrush... Spare underwear... Socks—did I take spare socks? Uh... Right, I have put them on top of an antidote. But did I take bandages? Shit, I can’t remember... I took two spare robes, at least, this should work if worst comes to worst... Water, did I take enough water?.. Oh, I so hope the student I hired to take care of my garden won’t fuck up...’ 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

From the throng of non-participants, Bartholomew walked out to stand in front of his students. The breeze fluttered his hair and robes, making him look even more wise and regal. Compared to the old Magister, the assistant teacher scurrying behind him looked especially puny.

The conversation between students has died down. People raised their heads and listened.

Bartholomew ran a hand over his beard.

"Welcome to the Annual Beast Hunt, students. Today is the greatest challenge of your year. Some of you have done this already, for some of you it’s the first time. Regardless, I expect all of you to perform your best!"

"You will enter the Growlgrove Forest and spend a week there. Your main goal is to search for beast cubs and bring them to the teachers who will wait near the forest entrances. But the Growlgrove is also a place rich with magical plants, rare ores, and Winds of Mana, and this is the only time you can visit it. As you know, we can’t thoughtlessly hunt magical beasts lest we hunt them to extinction."

"Some competition and fighting among students will be inevitable, but any killings are forbidden. If you are found, you will be expelled, and your Inner Athanor will be broken. If you leave the hunting grounds before the end of the week, you will lose your stipend until next year."

Reynard scowled.

’"IF you are found"? Is he intentionally setting us up to kill each other and cover the deeds? I know that at least ten percent of participants don’t return from the Hunts, but now I wonder how many of them died from other students instead of beasts. What kind of social Darwinism bullshit is that? Does he really think that he will get more powerful magi if he lets his students simply DIE?’

"Each magical beast cub or egg you will bring to the Blue Bismuth School will give you points. At the end of the hunt, you will be compensated with a gold coin for each point. Three people with the highest amount of points will get a guaranteed personal apprenticeship. The person with the most points will get the grand prize of this year..."

After a dramatic pause, Bartholomew raised a yellow scroll tube.

"This is a manual for a white-class Albedo spell, Spirit Armor!"

Gasps and murmurs went through the crowd.

Bartholomew’s eyes crinkled with pleasure.

"Yes. A spell of such power is too powerful and complex for any of you to study, but I hope it will motivate the winner to grow. A person who will comprehend this spell will be able to create black spells based on it. Entire magic schools have been founded from just a few white spells, and perhaps, this is what you will do one day."

’And something like that is surely worth a fortune! If I sell it in an auction, I might have enough money to refine my way through half the Albedo stage...’ Reynard thought. ’And the Magister will just give this treasure for free? Something doesn’t add up!’

Bartholomew gestured to his assistant, who raised a large bowl filled with pebbles.

"Now, you will take your entrance token, and a teacher will lead you to the corresponding entrance marking. From there, you will enter the Growlgrove. The token will also show a way back to the entrance. Come up one by one."

All the pebbles looked identical, but in a student’s hands, they would glow with the entrance number. Bartholomew stood with his hands behind his back and watched the bowl of pebbles gradually get emptier.

He was watching out for only two people...

Marien came up and took the pebble without looking. She glared at Bartholomew.

"Just you see, grandpa. If I win this hunt, you will let me travel on my own!" she said.

Bartholomew scowled.

"Mari—this isn’t the time!"

Scoffing, Marien walked away.

Several students later, Reynard took his token as well.

Neither of them noticed that, as they took their pebbles, Bartholomew would make a subtle pass behind his back.

For everybody else, the token distribution was random, but for these two, Bartholomew made sure that they would get the numbers HE wanted!

’Number eight for Mari—the teachers have cleared the zone nearby of most of the beasts. And number sixty-one for Reynard, where a nest of the Singing Spider has been seen!’

As the teachers led the participants through the fields toward the respective entrances, Bartholomew smiled.

’Even First Cycle Albedo can have troubles if a Singing Spider ambushes them. No way Reynard will survive this hunt!’