Ch.24Chapter 24. First Exam (1)

Clang-

Elaine took a deep breath, feeling the familiar weight and coldness of armor she hadn’t worn in a long time.

Today was finally the day of the inter-grade competition.

Usually, this was a lighthearted event everyone enjoyed around May when the weather got warmer, not in March. But this year, the nature of the event had completely changed.

‘I have to do well, no matter what.’

Elaine made this promise to herself while thinking of Ryu, who always smiled playfully yet never appeared foolish or frivolous.

This inter-grade competition wasn’t just the usual event where everyone had fun while harboring subtle competitive spirits. It was essentially a test of Ryu’s abilities.

And Elaine didn’t want to see Ryu being disrespected in such a setting.

Honestly, Elaine herself didn’t know why she was so invested in Ryu and why she wanted to look after him so much.

Their first connection began on the day of the entrance exam, when Ryu protected her and Maria from the “Black Crows” who had attacked her.

Elaine immediately recognized that day that there was something unusual about Ryu’s movements.

Not only did he appear out of nowhere without making a sound, but while his takedown of the assailant seemed casual and somewhat haphazard, Ryu had actually subdued the attacker with thoroughly efficient movements.

He hadn’t easily subdued his opponent—he had made it look easy.

Moreover, Ryu, a commoner, gave off a completely different impression from the many strong individuals Elaine had seen throughout her life.

The strongest impression was one of “freedom.”

Though clearly strong, Ryu seemed unbound by any rules or even by the social status dividing commoners and nobles. This inspired Elaine greatly.

Additionally, when talking with Ryu, Elaine felt a comfort she couldn’t experience when speaking with others.

She didn’t know the exact reason.

She just felt at ease when talking with him, and his perpetually playful attitude sometimes made her laugh.

Having lived the rigid life of a knight since childhood, this was a feeling Elaine had never experienced before.

Ryu’s way of treating her the same as everyone else, regardless of titles like being from one of the Six Families, also felt refreshingly new to Elaine.

Thanks to that, Elaine could also treat Ryu more comfortably.

Nod-

After needlessly checking her appearance in the mirror, Elaine gave a small nod and left the dormitory for the lecture building.

Though her thoughts had wandered, her goal was to perform well in today’s inter-grade competition.

Although divided into three tests, the inter-grade competition would still be held over two days as in previous years.

What changed this year was that teams could proceed to the second test immediately after completing the first test, and similarly to the third test after completing the second. The team that finished all three tests first would win.

“Phew.”

Just as Elaine was taking in the morning air with a stretch, determined to do well in today’s competition…

“Oh, let’s go together.”

“Eek!”

“Aack!”

Elaine, startled by the sudden voice behind her that came without any warning, screamed and half-drew her sword.

The person who appeared behind her was Ryu.

As always, with his black hair fluttering, Ryu was screaming with a surprised expression.

“Ah, you scared me…! Where did you suddenly come from!”

“…Oh? Did you just speak informally to me?”

“…Ah, no. I was just startled for a moment.”

“But Elaine.”

“…Yes.”

“Your surprised voice is quite feminine? That scream just now was totally like a young girl’s?”

“…”

Feeling her face flush at Ryu’s words, Elaine quickly turned her head away.

As she resheathed her half-drawn sword, she cleared her throat to hide her embarrassment and quickly started walking.

“Hey? I said let’s go together?”

“…Please follow quickly, then.”

“Wow, but this is the first time I’ve seen that outfit. Is it for combat? It really suits you as a knight.”

“…”

Elaine carefully pressed the back of her hand against her burning cheeks and began walking even faster to avoid showing her face to Ryu by staying ahead of him.

Indeed, Ryu had the ability to change the atmosphere with his mere presence.

Just moments ago, she had been feeling tense and somewhat heavy-hearted thinking about today’s competition, but after exchanging just a few words with Ryu, those feelings had completely disappeared.

‘Does the knight’s uniform… suit me well?’

“Why are you walking so fast today? I said let’s go together!”

Elaine continued walking quickly, secretly glancing down at her clanking outfit, ignoring Ryu’s words.

She couldn’t help but smile faintly at the sound of Ryu grumbling behind her.

**

“Fighting!”

“It’s shameless of me, but please do your best.”

“I’ll… do what I can too!”

As soon as I shouted “Fighting!”, Elaine and Cynthia encouraged Emily in their own ways, and Emily quietly nodded.

The inter-grade competition that had robbed me of my relaxed and happy academy life right after enrollment had finally arrived today.

I’d heard it was a major event, so I expected the usual formalities like an opening ceremony, player introductions, a speech from the principal, words from external guests, and so on, but surprisingly, there was none of that.

Professor Amillion confirmed that all four first-year representatives were present, then immediately moved us to the test location, telling us to start the test as soon as the signal was given.

She mentioned that while the first test wouldn’t be, the second test onwards would be broadcast live to everyone.

With a half—no, completely resigned face, Professor Amillion told us not to give up and to do our best until the end before disappearing.

She had seemed full of enthusiasm at first, but as days passed, her motivation visibly declined, and today she appeared completely detached.

<The first test will begin shortly.>

“Sigh.”

“Ooh, it’s starting!”

“The problems will appear on that bulletin board. If we enter the correct answer, we move on to the next problem, and if we’re wrong, we have to keep trying until we get it right…”

When the floating message “The test will begin shortly” appeared, Emily quietly sighed so that no one could hear, while Elaine was explaining what everyone already knew.

After a brief silence, the bulletin board—larger than the classroom blackboard—began to glow as mana inscribed letters started to appear.

The first test, the “theory” section, was beginning.

“Emily, fighting!”

I had absolutely no intention of solving the problems, of course.

Unlike me, who openly stepped back from the bulletin board and offered Emily words of encouragement, Elaine and Cynthia were staring intently at the board as if trying to help somehow.

Right, the first problem would probably be easy, so if they wanted to help Emily, it would be best to help at the beginning.

Flash-

Finally, all the text was inscribed, and the bulletin board flashed brightly.

“Uh…”

“Hmm…”

Unlike Emily, whose eyes were sparkling as she stared at the bulletin board, Cynthia and Elaine sighed as soon as they saw the problem and slowly backed away.

Seeing this, I almost burst out laughing but managed to hold it in.

“The, the first problem is difficult.”

“This is… I can tell it’s about mana circuit arrangement, but…”

“Ah…ha!”

While Elaine and Cynthia had backed away to stand beside me, Emily stared at the problem quietly before summoning mana in her hand and beginning to work.

As she gestured in the air, visible materialized mana moved accordingly, and something was happening.

‘Mages have it tough.’

Eventually, Emily’s hand stopped, and she entered something incomprehensible in the answer field.

Flash-

The bulletin board flashed again, and the text that had filled it disappeared, replaced by new writing.

“Oh, did you get it right?!”

“The, the first problem was a bit easy…!”

“This, this was easy?”

As Emily was about to respond to Elaine, the second problem appeared on the bulletin board, and Emily closed her mouth and began staring intently at the problem again.

It was the most focused I’d ever seen her.

“…Ah. This one.”

Emily scanned the problem and then muttered to herself before materializing mana again and starting to work.

“…”

The three of us—myself, Elaine, and Cynthia—stood a step back and quietly watched Emily solve the problem.

Emily solved the second problem even faster than the first and confidently entered the answer.

Flash-

It was correct again.

“…Wow! Emily, you’re doing great!”

“A-amazing!”

As the third problem quickly filled the bulletin board, Emily awkwardly smiled at us before her expression hardened again as she focused on the new problem.

From that point on, it was the Emily one-woman show.

No matter how difficult the problem, Emily never took more than 10 minutes to solve it.

“Is, is this right?”

Even Cynthia, who had been quietly watching from behind, exclaimed in genuine surprise.

‘Mages are insane.’

Swish- Swish-

That thought naturally came to mind as I watched Emily gesturing with a concentrated expression.

Is this the level of problem-solving speed required to be a mage?

After Emily had solved several problems on her own, she seemed to be taking longer on one particular problem, so with purely good intentions, I blurted out:

“F-fighting!”

“Ah…!”

When I instinctively offered words of encouragement to the hardworking Emily, she momentarily glared at me with an annoyed sound.

“Ah… s-sorry?”

“…Sigh.”

Emily let out a short sigh before turning her attention back to the problem.

‘What, why so scary?’

When I quietly turned my head to the side, I could see that Elaine and Cynthia seemed to be thinking the same thing.

From that point on, the three of us watched Emily quietly, trying not to disturb her.

How many problems are there anyway?