Is This Right? (2)

A moment later, I was finally able to grasp the situation from the words of a professor who came running breathlessly.

To summarize, there were two perfect scores for the top student in the Magic Department this time, so both were made top students. However, in the midst of this, they sent documents to only one person as usual and failed to send them to the other.

Yes, that’s Mari and me. Good heavens.

“I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry.”

Seeing an adult older than me bowing their head repeatedly was, as expected, more uncomfortable to watch than I had imagined.

“Please raise your head. It’s not your fault, Professor.”

“I’ll accept any punishment gladly. But please, my family…”

Wait, why are you overreacting like this? Am I going to eat you or something?

Of course, I’m not completely clueless about why they’re acting this way. First, if rumors about me being bad-tempered are still circulating like before. Second… because I’m a Walpurgis.

You might think anyone would be like this for a duke, but the Walpurgis family has been favored by the imperial family for generations, so we have quite a bit of influence. If I were to set my mind to it, it wouldn’t be too difficult to do something about a single professor.

But I have no such intention, and I have no feelings about this matter right now.

“Then I’ll just go down with the other students, right? I won’t worry about this incident.”

“Ah, you can’t!”

I tried to hurry away from their desperate attempt to hold me back, but the maid who was watching interjected.

“If we’re not careful, the family’s dignity might be questioned. Please withdraw your anger.”

Come on, it seems like you’re saying everything while pretending not to… By the way, what anger? I’m not angry at all.

“But I didn’t receive any guidance. Even if I go now…”

“I-It’s fine! We always have prepared content for the entrance ceremony speech, so you can just use that! If necessary, you can just match what the other students are doing!”

Is there really a need to go that far? But seeing their desperate appearance, I didn’t have the courage to run away saying it wasn’t my business.

“…Alright, I understand.”

This is all karma, just karma…

And my karma wasn’t over yet. When I arrived at the place where the top entrance students were gathered, guided by the professor, Reinhardt was glaring at me with terrifying eyes. Huh? Why is he looking at me like that? Didn’t we apologize and end things last time?

“Where have you been and what have you been doing to arrive just now?”

“Pardon?”

“Didn’t I tell you to come find me on the day of the entrance ceremony?”

Ah, now that you mention it, that’s right. I had completely forgotten. But wait, am I supposed to find you without knowing where you are? You should say something that makes sense!

Perhaps I unknowingly gave him a look mixed with protest, as Reinhardt shook his head with a sigh, as if giving up. I feel like my image has been damaged in various ways in Reinhardt’s eyes.

This is strange… It should be good if Reinhardt’s favorability drops, but why do I feel bad? It’s like I’m being treated as something beyond just stupid.

“The entrance ceremony will start soon, so please move to your positions.”

I was about to argue, but seeing everyone else stand up, I had no choice but to stand up again. We haven’t even been sitting for 5 minutes… Oh well.

Milano Academy’s entrance ceremony this time was special in many ways. There was a possessor of the rare light attribute, the much-rumored daughter of the Walpurgis family. Additionally, there was Crown Prince Reinhardt and a holy knight called the prodigy of the church. Even just among the top entrance students, it was this impressive, and many other new students were overflowing with talent. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call it a golden generation.

But there was one problem here. Milano Academy’s top student system clearly has one person for each department. And this time, there were two top students in the Magic Department.

This was somehow resolved. It was agreed to announce both as top students, and documents were sent to both parties. But there was still one more problem remaining for the Academy… namely, the position of overall top student.

You might think that an overall top student doesn’t make sense when each subject teaches different things, but it’s not entirely meaningless. When the Academy was founded, the Emperor of that time wanted to make important use of talented individuals and also wanted them to always train with some goal in mind, not just wasting their talents.

So what was established was the department top student and overall top student system. Other students would set goals by looking at the department top students. That’s good. But wouldn’t those department top students become complacent and lazy in their positions?

Of course, those in second place wouldn’t be idle either, but having already beaten their opponents once, they might lack stimulation. It’s not like they can forcibly lower their grades either. Then, the solution is to create a new goal. There should always be something higher above. They target not just a simple department, but the entire year.

That’s how the overall top student system was created. Needless to say, in this case, they receive more scholarship money than department top students and easily form connections with professors, so there are that many more people aiming for it. While department top students end up with just the attention of their department professor, the year’s top student would receive attention from other professors as well.

Anyway, this overall top student or year top student. This is the problem. The department top student issue was somehow dealt with, but now there are two candidates for this overall top student position as well. And it’s the same two from the Magic Department!

[What should we do about this?]

[Indeed. This is troublesome…]

The Academy couldn’t hide its perplexed expression at this happy yet headache-inducing situation. Department top students and overall top students have significantly different roles during the entrance ceremony. Department top students just give a brief comment and that’s it, but the overall top student has to come out and take an oath. But how can two people do that?

[We can’t just drop one of them…]

Both got perfect scores in theory and practice. Even the Crown Prince made a mistake in theory and got a slight deduction, but how did these two manage to get perfect scores together?

[There’s no choice. We’ll have to send both up.]

[What? But…]

[Dropping either one would go against the Academy’s policy that His Majesty spoke of. It’s better to send both up even if we face some criticism.]

The two top students were quite contrasting. A duke’s daughter from a huge family whose name everyone would know, and a commoner whose name no one would recognize. Because of this, some professors cautiously thought it might be better to drop the commoner and elevate the duke’s daughter, but when the Emperor’s policy was brought up, they couldn’t say anything.

And so, Milano Academy set an unprecedented record of having two top students for the first time since its establishment.

[Next, we will introduce the representatives of each department.]

The boring and tedious entrance ceremony proceeded, and finally that moment arrived. The time to introduce the top students of each department. Although they were called representatives, no one here was unaware of why they had become representatives.

The gazes of other entering students flew towards the students who stood up according to the guidance. Some admired, some envied, some looked with aspiration.

“Reinhardt von Farnia from the Swordsmanship Department. As per His Majesty’s policy, I too will be here as a student, not a Crown Prince, so I hope you’ll treat me without burden.”

After Reinhardt, who left a short but strong impression, the next to come out was a boy with a warm smile.

“I’m Johann from the Holy Department. Although I’m inadequate, I look forward to working with you all.”

Holy Knight Johann. He was the pride of the church, already active as a member of the Holy Knight Order at an age before becoming an adult. Johann finished his greeting without losing his smile until the end and immediately stepped back.

Next was the turn of the Magic Department. But those who came out were not one, but two people. One was a young lady who gave the impression of nobility to anyone who saw her, and the other was a girl who somehow seemed intimidated.

As it had been communicated in advance that there were two top students in the Magic Department, there wasn’t a big commotion, but noises started to come out here and there. While one could be accepted, the existence of the other was too out of place. It was hard to accept that a girl who seemed to openly claim to be a commoner had beaten other formidable talents to become the top student of the Magic Department.

“Ariel Walpurgis from the Magic Department.”

What silenced the commotion at once was Ariel’s single sentence quietly introducing herself.

“There must be various thoughts about the fact that there are two top students in the Magic Department this time.”

Mari, standing side by side, flinched without realizing it.

“However.”

At some point, everyone’s attention was focused on Ariel. The way she focused everyone in the audience in a single moment could be called a kind of charisma. Reinhardt, sitting in the back, tilted his head slightly as if interested.

“I have no intention of staying like this forever. Although it can’t be helped now, I will do my best to become the sole top student in the future.”

In a way, it was like a declaration of war. But conversely, those words were no different from acknowledging the existence of another top student.

Ariel, who bowed gracefully, took two steps back. By now, the atmosphere of the entrance ceremony had changed to silence.

“I-I’m Mari from the Magic Department! I’ll do my best!”

With Mari’s greeting that followed, thunderous applause echoed throughout the audience.