With the two sword masters down, the bandits who were left were either killed or subdued. Although these bandits were of a much higher level than those you'd usually find on the road, they still weren't able to stand up to Serah and the remaining students.

In the end though, many students had still died and the result of the test was unknown. Considering that the process had been interrupted by an outside process, none of the students could be sure whether the results would be valid.

…

…

Serah lies on her bed, her mind groggy and unwilling to get up. Her eyes were half-open and she could hear Nickie making lunch. Serah lets out a breath. I think all this killing is getting to me… She thinks, feeling somewhat depressed. Her victims usually don’t get a moment to grieve in front of her, so she was able to ignore it until now. But that sight hit deep to her. It’s just work… Serah thinks before letting out another sigh and deciding to get up. She wanted to see Nickie.

…

…

“Did you pass?” Serah asks before taking a drink. She was currently at the bar with Nickie and Carter, hoping to relieve some stress.

Carter smiles. “Of course!” He says as if it was never in doubt.

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Serah smiles. “Surprising. Which team were you on?” She asks, curious.

Carter lets out a bitter smile. “The attackers.” He admits.

Serah smiles again. “So you finally got that precious fruit. Congratulations.” She says, amused.

Carter looks at Serah, unsure what to say. “It’s not exactly the fruit I’m looking for.” Carter says bitterly.

Nickie pulls Serah’s body closer in self defense. “She’s mine, buddy. Find your own.” She says selfishly.

Carter could only continue to smile bitterly.

…

…

“Is everyone here? Alright, I guess we’ll start.” The black-robed man says as he looks down at the relatively smaller group of people. “The college has thought it over, and we’re going to call it a fail for everyone.” He says with a smile.

Immediately, complaints resounded in the room. The students were clearly dissatisfied with this result, especially the attackers.

The black-robed man doesn’t care and simply raises a hand to respond. “First of all, the defenders crushed their own fruit, so that’s an obvious fail. Second of all, the attackers clearly failed to prioritize what was important, so it’s also clearly a fail. I mean, damn, did you guys want their innocence that bad?” He asks before letting out a laugh.

The black-robed man ignores the various emotions that flashed on the students faces. “Anyways, on to the redemption quest. A few of our previous students, dissatisfied with the way we did things, had rebelled against the college and left, taking away the knowledge we offered them and various stolen books and artifacts. Up till now, no one wanted to bother with going through the effort of destroying these students, so the task will fall to you. Kill the students and take back what you can find. If you fail, you might as well join them because the college will not take you back.” The black-robed man says without a care.

“This will be a task for all of you, and you may recruit who you need to complete it. The college doesn’t care if you ask for help as we’re prioritizing the completion over the method; something the attackers should take note of. Remember attackers, there’s no fruit to steal over there so there’s no need to be so aggressive; this is a redemption quest not a stress relief quest.” The black-robed man says with a smile.

…

…

“You’ll come?” Serah asks with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah, why not.” Carter says. Now that he passed the exam, he could relax for a while. He might as well help out with this quest to pass the time.

“And of course, I can’t let you go alone.” Nickie says with a smile.

Serah smiles. “Sure, let’s go together.” She says, satisfied.