Reader Mage-Stubbing August 10! Chapter 22: 22-This Is Our Party

Read chapter 22 of Reader Mage-Stubbing August 10! by A_Random_Turtle on NovelPedia.

The auditorium broke into something of a mess as every examinee queried one another in an attempt to each form the strongest party they could. Which, of course, was anything but easy. Everyone wanted an S-Class Mage in their party, but there were only two. Which was not exactly surprising. If anything was to be surprising, it was the fact that there were even S-Class Mages present for the exam to begin with. But they’d been given only thirty minutes to form parties, so the examinees didn’t have the time to be amazed. And then, coming in close second to the S-Class Mages, were the A-Class Mages. There were only five of those, Nora included. And they too were the talk of the auditorium. Everyone wanted a piece of them. Which was only normal. Calls rang out in the auditorium asking who was who, and they were mostly done by the B-Class, C-Class, and D-Class Mages that made up the majority of the examinees. The S-Class and A-Class Mages didn’t seek parties, parties came to them. And that was why Merlin was feeling rather uneasy about what Nora had said. He couldn’t let her force whoever ended up being in her party to accommodate him; what if they all failed because of him? He would have to live the rest of his life carrying that burden. He couldn’t. “I don’t want that,” started Merlin, his voice low. Nora, who had been throwing her gaze around, surveying the rest of her peers to seek who could complement their team, turned to him then. “I don’t want anyone to have to accommodate me.” Nora clicked her tongue. “Just shut up and focus on getting through the exam. This is not the time for all that nonsense.” Merlin pressed his lips together in frustration. “You don’t get it. If anything happens, it’ll most likely be pinned on me. I don’t want that.” “Merlin…” He pulled his arm away from her hand. “Just…go find a party for yourself. I’ll be fine. There are four hundred of us here. Right now no one is focusing on me, but when everyone has formed parties, there’ll be one left that won’t be complete. I’ll just join them and do what I can.” Nora would surely pass if she had a good enough party, and Merlin didn’t want to be a hindrance to her. He had to push her away from his side quickly, because the longer she stayed here the harder it would be for her to find a good enough party. And, most of all, he didn’t want to be pitied. “You know, you’ve said a lot of nonsense over the years, but this takes the cake,” Nora started with a sigh. Merlin frowned. “What are you talking about?” “Do you think I’m saying we should form a party because I think you’ll fail without me? Are you nuts? No one in this auditorium understands me besides you. That’s why I’m asking you to form a party with me, dumbass.” Merlin’s breath hitched at that revelation, a dazed look painting his face. There was no way that was truly the reason. She was only lying to make him feel better, as she always did. But… There was really nothing he could say to that. He did know that he was the only one here who knew her capabilities, and most likely the only one who could complement her the best, so he could not argue against that point. Though, he still tried, but when he opened his mouth to say something, it went shut just as quickly. Nora gave a half smile, noticing this. “Good. You’ve come to your senses.” “Uhm…” Chima’s voice came at that moment, drawing their attention his way. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but I overheard your discussion, and I was wondering if I could join your party.” Merlin’s expression crumpled so much one would think he was disgusted. No, it wasn’t that. It was just that his shock had skyrocketed. If Chima had heard their discussion like he had claimed, then he knew that Merlin was the Deficient Mage. In fact, he didn’t need to have heard their discussion to know that. They had introduced themselves earlier. Who in their right senses would want to team up with a Deficient Mage? “What are you saying?” asked Nora. It seemed that she was just as co