episode_0031

“Um… That’s…”

Elios’ question about what he thinks of Katlena.

To this, Zeros quickly began to think, realizing that he had to give a very good answer here.

‘First of all, as a servant… it is absolutely forbidden to curse the master who has shown such kindness. If possible, you should say something good, and at the same time, you should leave room for a subtle change of course. On top of that, it would be even better if you could appeal to him that you are a capable person. In that case…’

After gathering his thoughts for a moment, Zeros spoke to her in a cautious voice.

“Princess Katlena is so beautiful and intelligent.. and she is my precious master who has given me so much grace. But..”

“But?”

Elios shows a slight interest in Zeros’ words.

Then, Zeros calmly picked at the cotton and spoke to her in a worried voice.

“Honestly.. I personally have a lot of worries when I see the princess. Not about her herself.. but in relation to the princess’s surroundings.”

“Oh.. About that child’s surroundings. What are you talking about specifically?”

Princess Elios reacts as if she finds it quite amusing.

At this, Zeros felt that his opponent had taken the bait and spoke cautiously.

“As Princess Ellios knows, Lady Katlena is the one who receives the most affection from the Duke among the princesses. I guess it’s because she resembles the Duke the most compared to the others. And when you consider the Princess’s maternal side, I often think that the Princess is receiving too much attention and expectations. To the point where I worry that someday, problems will arise. Something that could have a negative impact on this country… the Duchy of Dragona.’

“Um..”

Princess Elios quietly nodded at Zeros’ words.

Although this was a fact that she was somewhat aware of, it was also something she was a little wary of.

However, the fact that a 9-year-old boy would say something like this, regardless of what she knew, was quite remarkable to her.

Princess Elios said this while looking at Zeros with a smile on her lips.

“I think I know why Katlena took you in.”

“… Thank you, my lady.”

Elios’ words filled with praise.

At this, Zeros smiled inwardly in victory.

Through the story he had just told, he had proven his competence to some extent, while also subtly hinting that if Katlena were to receive something more than she deserved, he might make a different choice out of concern for the ‘safety of the nation’.

And, Elios reacted quite positively to this.

In this way, Zeros was able to experience deep joy for the first time in a long time, by achieving the result he had wanted.

*

Academy Adelan.

Established shortly after the founding of the Duchy of Dragona, this place has a history of over 20 years and was not originally established as an institution for the education of nobles.

Its origins were as an educational institution for training beings who could use magic in this land, namely witches and magicians. Regardless of their social status, it was aimed at taking in children with special talents and training them to become magic users who could be considered the main force of the nation.

However, as time passed and the national system of the Duchy of Dragona was established, the need to train not only witches and magicians, but also children of nobles and talented people through a certain educational process increased.

Accordingly, following the advice of Rosetta, who invested the most in the establishment of the academy, Adelan was transformed into a more comprehensive talent training institution, and as a result, Adelan has become a higher-level educational institution that produces the most outstanding talent in each field not only in the Duchy of Dragona, but also in the Empire.

in result.

Students currently attending Academy Adelan are divided into two categories.

The first group included the so-called noble princes and princesses who had wealth and power. These included children who would later become active in various fields based on their family’s fame and personal abilities.

The second group was another group that competed with them, the so-called talented commoners, children who had achieved a certain level of grades in the exams held annually by the Academy and had been recognized for their talents.

In their case, unlike the children of nobles, they are basically given free tuition, but are required to write a pledge to contribute to the future development of the academy.

The entrance exam that Zeros is about to take falls into this second case.

Immediately after parting ways with Elios at the entrance to the academy, he saw quite a few students around him who had come from all over the country to take the exam, most of whom were accompanied by their parents.

‘What should I say? This feels like watching an elementary school entrance information session..’

The test itself was an absolute evaluation, but it was quite difficult. In addition, since the age limit for admission was 11, I noticed that some of the students looked a bit like teenagers.

Zeros looks around and follows the instructions to head to the testing center.

Although there were many tense students around him, Zeros felt much more at ease now than when he was learning from Katlane.

No matter how difficult the test is, this is only limited to young boys and girls.

To be blunt, at Zero’s current level, even taking into account any possible mistakes, he could freely adjust his test score from 0 to 90 points.

However, while he had initially intended to completely ruin the test itself, Zeros had now decided to change his mind a little.

‘No matter what… I guess it wouldn’t be good for Princess Elios to completely ruin it, since she has to do image making for him. In this case, it would be best to stay within the line of caution.’

Zeros made excuses to himself, saying that it wasn’t because he felt sorry towards Princess Katlena, and he made up his mind about the test scores he would get.

“Then, the test begins.”

The entrance exam started like that.

The young students gathered there did their best to tackle the problem.

Zeros began to solve the problem moderately while maintaining a tight cut line.

‘As expected… there’s not a single problem I don’t know. Math is at the level of simple arithmetic operations, and history is at a level where you can’t make a mistake if you read the original content carefully.’

Zeros, who solves problems so quickly and gets them wrong so quickly.

As children around him started to cry one by one, Zeros was checking again to see if he had accidentally gotten one more question right.

‘With this score… at least Princess Katlena won’t be too sad.’

As the test ended and he thought about that, Zeros slowly put down the fan.

The score he produced was just slightly below the passing mark, as expected.

This was indeed the case.

Basically two problems.

A situation where even if you made a mistake, you would fail by one question.

Satisfied with this, Zeros handed in his answer sheet and left the testing room.

*

“… Is that what you mean by fell?”

“Yes, unfortunately there is just one problem missing. I have the test paper here, so you can check it out.”

“Hmm..”

The academy vice principal hands over the test paper along with those words.

Although he is a vice principal, the student council president Elios in front of you is the daughter of the Duchess of Rosetta, the founder of this school.

As he was a figure equivalent to a school director in modern times, he was automatically taking a humble stance.

Elios slowly looks over the test paper in front of such sympathy.

And after a while, she spoke to the principal in a quiet voice.

“This… I think there’s one problem wrong.”

“Yes?”

“Here, isn’t this a story that could be a bit controversial in terms of expression? Although it is part of the Empire, the Duchy of Dragona is an independent nation that retains sovereignty. Since this is something that the Padishah acknowledged in the early days of the nation’s founding, it seems incorrect to use the expression “vassal state” for this.”

“That’s… that’s right, but at least according to the customs so far…”

A sympathetic expression that expresses difficulty.

Princess Elios then spoke to the teacher in a calm tone.

“Conventions are conventions, and wouldn’t it be better to avoid controversial expressions in this type of test? Expressions like this… I don’t like them, and neither does my mother.”

“Um..”

“If you plan on being in the position of a teacher for a long time, I dare say it would be better not to make noise like this.”

Princess Elios’s words were practically a threat.

At this, the principal finally let out a heavy sigh.

“… Haa.. I understand, Your Majesty. I will delete the question and give everyone the correct answer.”

With those words, Zeros drew another line to mark the wrong problem, making an X, while Elios showed a refreshing smile on his lips.

‘We can’t send away talented people with proven skills like this.’

And the result is…