"I'd have to carefully consider it. But right now, since you are higher ranked the decision is yours, Executioner Ryker," said Miss Leywin respectfully. 'I have to be careful so that they don't suspect any affiliation between me and Seth.'
Ryker remained silent for a couple of seconds, seemingly evaluating Miss Leywin's answer.
"What about you, Delta?" he asked.
"I was hoping, if it's not too much to ask, that you would help with the decision," Delta said while bowing a little his head. Ryker remained silent another couple of seconds while looking at Delta before speaking again.
"You said the participant did meet the point requirement to pass the exam, am I right?"
"Yes he did, sir."
"As I see it, the rules are pretty clear, the one who gets to the point mark before the end of the week, qualifies. Then, what is making you doubt?" Ryker said to Delta in the same cold tone he had been using since the beginning.
"Even though the participant met the point requirement, if he was left in the test area some more hours he would have bled to death."
"You have already said that. However, it makes no sense for various reasons. First of all, you already know that in case of doubt, the standard protocol before even bothering your official in command is to stick to the rules as much as possible."
"I-" Delta didn't know how to answer.
"Secondly, what makes you think that the participant didn't take the risks that caused him those injuries just because he knew he would be extracted before he got to a critical state?"
"I- I just didn't want to make a mistake."
"Is that so? But don't you think that if a participant wasn't able to pass the first phase it would be impossible for him to pass the next one? So what would be the consequences of letting him qualify, since like the first phase, the second won't be broadcasted and the participant would be inevitably disqualified? In the end, it would lead to the same result as if he had been disqualified during the first phase and your 'mistake' would have been negligible."
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"B-but" Delta tried to answer.
"I've read your file, Delta, and I saw something that particularly caught my attention," Ryker said, his tone seemingly getting more and more threatening. "Unlike the rest of the cities where the tournament has taken place for the past years, each year, the city where you are in charge of the supervision of the phases seems to have an unusual death toll of non-awakened espers. Anything to say about that?"
Delta froze in place.
"Had Delta already tried to do something concerning this esper?" Ryker asked Miss Leywin.
"The second day of the first phase, I caught Delta trying to go see him for himself after receiving the report about his exceptional performance," Miss Leywin stated and Ryker looked at Delta again.
No matter how much he tried to hide it, Delta's nervousness was starting to show on the outside. Ryker evaluated him for some seconds before speaking again.
"The participant is qualified for the second phase. As for you, think about what you have been told. You will be given no more chances," Ryker said to Delta in a threatening tone. He hadn't even used his ability and yet Delta couldn't breathe, feeling like he was being strangled.
"Kill him at the first small mistake he makes," Ryker whispered to Miss Leywin before leaving the room.
Once Ryker was gone Delta fell to the ground while breathing heavily and grabbing his throat. Miss Leywin coldly looked at him, then she also left the room, leaving Delta alone.
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"How are you feeling?" a nurse asked Seth as she got to his bed.
For the past two days, different nurses had been checking on Seth's injuries and changing some bandages.
"I already told the other nurses that I was feeling completely good. Can I go?"
"Not yet," she said while checking the serum connected to Seth and taking some notes. She also checked Seth's bandages before leaving.
Seth sighed in exasperation then turned around and continue to watch the TV.
Bzzz Bzzz Bzzz
Suddenly Seth's ID card that was on the nightstand next to his bed started vibrating and a hologram popped out.
[1 New Notification]
Seth took the ID card and opened the interaction menu.
[Congratulations Participant!
You have qualified for the next phase of the tournament.
The second phase will begin tomorrow at 10 am in Hall K.
Any participant who isn't present in the respective hall before the deadline will be automatically disqualified]
'That's a relief, though I still wonder why wasn't I qualified from the beginning,' he thought as he read the message in the hologram. 'Anyway, it's no use thinking of that right now. I wonder what the second phase is going to be about,' he thought a little excited.
He continued watching TV for some more minutes before falling asleep again. When he woke up it was 8 am and a nurse was next to him, she was just changing his bandages.
"Good, you are awake. The injury in your right leg has almost completely healed, however, you might still experiment a little bit of pain when walking," she said as she examined Seth's injuries, then she took a spray and sprayed Seth's injuries with it. "This will prevent your injuries from opening again until they've completely healed as long as you don't move too much. Lucky for you, the next phase won't be involving any physical abilities," she said, then she grabbed 3 pills from her pocket and handed them to Seth. "These will help with the pain and will accelerate your healing factor, take one of them per day," she said before turning around and leaving the room.
'Physical abilities won't be involved…' he thought as he stared at the pills in his hand.