The Most Arbitrary Wizard

'Charge, my ass!'

'Why don't you go yourself?'

Hearing the other Wizards egging him on as if they couldn't wait for him to die, Tony's face went beet red.

Sean's knowing gaze, in particular, made him wish he could dive through the hole in the center of the Table of Truth to keep the Male Wizard company.

...Yes, he had once wanted to defeat Sean to satisfy a man's strange, competitive urge.

'But who the hell knew Sean would be so brutal!'

In terms of Truth Techniques, Sean was a Judge, and even Mr. Scholar felt inadequate in comparison.

In terms of Magic Tier, Sean had slapped a Grand Mage into the ground with a single blow.

'What could he possibly use to compete with Sean?'

'His looks?'

'The key is, he's not even as handsome as Sean!'

"Damn it..."

At that moment, Tony was both mortified and furious. On one hand, he was utterly ashamed of his previous ignorance. On the other, he was silently cursing Sean for toying with him. 'If you're so damn strong, why didn't you say so earlier!'

'If he'd known Sean was this formidable, would he have provoked him?'

'Would he have declared that he was going to be the biggest star at the Table of Truth this year?'

'Well, this is just great.'

Facing Sean's question, Tony felt like a clown for the third time.

'No, it wasn't that he *felt* like a clown. He *was* a clown!'

'The only thing to do now... was to pull out my ace in the hole.'

And so, under the watchful eyes of the crowd—all of whom were enjoying the drama and hoping it would escalate—Tony gritted his teeth, jerked his head up, and stared directly at Sean.

Just as everyone thought he was about to stubbornly dig his own grave just to save face, the expression on Tony's face suddenly became dazed and confused. A hint of innocent cluelessness crept in, and his eyes turned clear and pure, filled with a trace of sincerity.

"Teacher Sean, what are you talking about?"

Tony said with utmost sincerity, "You know I've always looked up to you as a role model and my most respected teacher. How could I possibly question you?"

"Teacher Sean, you must be mistaken, right?"

"I even bring you lunch every day! The one who wanted to challenge you was Kave!"

Kave: "???"

'He's pinning this on me??'

'I should fucking deck him!'

The other Wizards, however, looked perplexed.

"Kave?"

"Who's this audacious fool?"

Sean stifled a laugh. "Oh," he said. "I guess I remembered it wrong."

"Ah well, it's not important."

"Since you respect me so much, let's just get on with the test."

He'd said it before—he wasn't one to hold a grudge.

As long as someone was willing to back down, he'd let it go. He might even give Teacher Tony a hand later.

Diana, meanwhile, watched all of this unfold in silence.

It wasn't until Sean glanced her way, his eyes tinged with a playful challenge as if to ask her how he did, that she reacted.

Diana pursed her lips.

'It was just okay.'

'True, Sean's performance had completely convinced most of the Wizards on the scene, earning him a great deal of prestige. But no one knew about their relationship, so it was *his* prestige to gain, not hers. So...'

'It was whatever.'

At a signal from Diana, Catherine started organizing everyone to continue the test.

But by this point, there was really no need to continue. The questions that could be answered had been, and more time wouldn't help those who were stuck. Besides, time was nearly up anyway. Before long, Laelando, in his capacity as chief Judge, rang the Bell of Truth, signaling the end of the test.

At the Table of Truth, tests were graded on the spot, so every Wizard found out their score right away.

After a brief discussion, the Judges, including Sean, decided to uniformly assign negative points for the final, show-stopping "3=8" problem. That way, it was fair to everyone.

Soon, the results of the first round were tallied, and Catherine announced them publicly.

Credit where credit is due, Teacher Tony was actually quite skilled.

Out of 13 total questions, Tony answered 10 correctly, 2 incorrectly, and left 1 blank. He ended up with a score of 8, putting him in first place.

Dozens of people tied for second place, including the Male Wizard who was, at that very moment, still struggling to climb out of his pit. They had answered 10 correctly and 3 incorrectly, for a final score of 7.

This revealed that aside from Sean's question, which no one answered correctly, a question from the Lady was also incredibly difficult. It involved aspects of spatial theory and had a success rate of less than 1%. Many Wizards had the right general idea and approach, but their answers had minor flaws in the details. These flaws didn't escape the sharp eyes of Sean and the other Judges, causing them to fail at the final hurdle.

In truth, most of them knew it was best not to answer a question if they weren't sure.

But they just had to tempt fate.

'What's the most important quality a person can have?'

'Confidence!'

'A confident Wizard is the most charming!'

They were convinced that Her Highness the Saintess would be more impressed by those who dared to try.

So, if they had even the slightest inkling of an idea, they put pen to paper.

One person went even further, answering all thirteen questions, including Sean's "3=8." Sean graded that test himself. He really wanted to give the guy a high score—his courage was commendable, after all—but as a Judge, he had to be fair and impartial. After carefully reviewing the test several times, Sean had no choice but to give it the lowest score of the day.

-13.

'He didn't get a single fucking one right!'

And there were quite a few Wizards like him.

This directly caused Ryan, who hadn't answered a single question, to "skyrocket" up the rankings, landing him the fine achievement of 897th place.

When the results were announced, Ryan himself was left speechless.

According to the rules of the Table of Truth, the first round would eliminate half of the participants. 897th place was right on the cutoff line.

He advanced.

Ryan: "..."

'That actually worked?'

However, "eliminated" wasn't entirely accurate. In truth, this bottom half wasn't completely out of the running, but they would lose priority speaking rights. This was a fatal disadvantage, and in some ways, no different from being knocked out of the competition entirely.

Because the second round was a "Philosophical Debate."

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