DING!
DING!
DING!
The academy’s bells and speakers were louder than usual, enough that they could even be heard from within the city itself.
The results of the test weren’t just isolated to the academy itself after all, whatever happens here, it could affect the entire continent in its entirety.
Future rulers, prominent figures—everyone in the academy was powerful, and all of them would be taking the examination, and if a popular heir proved to be incompetent by the exam’s standards...
It was enough to doom that specific heir’s entire noble lineage.
In other words... this was life or death.
[All students head to their assigned rooms for the academic assessnt. We wish you all the best.]
But that announcent wasn’t enough to make leave my dorm room yet; there was one more thing I was waiting for before I departed.
And that was...
click!
Evelina herself.
The mont I heard the door of her room open was the mont I left, and it looked like I wasn’t the only one expecting it.
"Shall we?" Evelina tilted her head in question. This was the last mont we got before we t as opponents during the exam.
It was best we savour the ti we had to be friendly...
I say that... but in all likelihood, if we do et in battle, we’d probably just bat an eye and pretend we didn’t see each other.
*** Academy Hallway
"Crap, crap, crap! I completely missed this page!"
"What was that stupid term again!?"
"Shit, I left my pen back at my dorm!"
The entire hallway was an absolute ss...
Scratch that, pure chaos more like it.
Students were sprinting in every direction like headless chickens, papers flapping, books half-open, half-forgotten.
Soone skidded past us, clutching three different notebooks. "I studied the wrong Chapter! I SWEAR it wasn’t on the syllabus!"
Another student was on the verge of tears, shaking a friend by the shoulders. "Explain the fire brigade spell formula to in thirty seconds. Thirty. Seconds."
Evelina paused beside , watching the scene with mild curiosity, like she was observing wildlife.
"...How pathetic, after all that ti, none of them even managed to prepare fully?" she laughed.
"They prepared," I replied with a shrug. "But it looks like their preparation didn’t account for stress managent."
That earned a small huff of amusent from her.
We walked side by side through the crowd, and despite the ss, people instinctively parted. So recognized Evelina imdiately and stiffened. Others noticed and did the opposite, either staring too long or very pointedly looked away.
Rumours travel fast.
A group of female students whispered as we passed.
"Is that him...?"
"Vivianne was right, he does resemble Prince Thorn!"
"Shush! Lady D’Arclight will hear you!"
I ignored them.
"So," Evelina said casually, hands behind her back, "Enjoying your newfound popularity?"
"If it doesn’t co from you, I don’t care. They just sound like background noise to ." I replied.
She smiled dangerously; she was still holding back from murdering any admirer in the vicinity. "Good, I hate to do sothing rash."
"I’d do the sa."
"I know you will."
We stopped at a branching hallway where our assigned rooms split in opposite directions.
This was it. The last normal mont before everything turned competitive.
"Well," she said, turning to face , "don’t embarrass yourself."
I raised a brow. "I would never. Embarrassing myself would an embarrassing you too. I’d die before I let that happen."
She leaned in slightly, voice lowering just enough that only I could hear. "Then try not to hold back too much. I’d hate to let them think I let a weakling beco one of my closest servants."
I chuckled. "Not going to happen."
She straightened, crimson eyes glinting with sothing sharp and excited.
"Good," she said simply, but not before planting a light touch on my hand, enough to hold contact for one second.
And definitely enough for her magic to work.
’I’ll miss you.’
Then she turned and walked off, disappearing into the sea of students headed toward her assigned room.
I watched her go for a second longer than necessary before exhaling, a blush appearing on my cheeks before I shook it away.
"...Alright," I muttered, adjusting my coat. "Let’s get this over with."
I headed the opposite way, toward my own examination hall.
The mont I stepped into my assigned room, the noise from outside vanished as if it had never existed.
Soundproofing magic.
Of course.
Rows of desks stretched neatly across the room, each spaced far enough apart to kill any hope of cheating. Thick magic circles were carved into the floor, faintly glowing—anti-interference, anti-communication, anti-everything.
They really weren’t taking chances.
I took my seat, resting my chin on my hand as I scanned the room.
So students were already seated, stiff-backed and pale. Others looked way too calm, which usually ant either confidence... or delusion.
A few glanced at , then quickly looked away.
Yeah. I was a local celebrity at this point.
I leaned back, letting my chair creak slightly.
"So this is it," I muttered under my breath.
The academic portion.
On paper, this should’ve been easy. I’d read the novel, have a perfect mory of the material, and lived a life worth two lifetis. Situational problems felt more like common sense than a barrier.
Especially if one of those lifetis included adapting multiple identities to get close to my target.
Still... exams had a way of being annoying in very specific ways.
Couldn’t be too complacent.
And that’s when the proctor entered without ceremony.
Old. Scarred. Calm.
The kind of person who’d seen enough prodigies crumble to not be impressed by reputation alone.
"Welco," he said flatly, voice magically amplified just enough to fill the hall. "You will find your test papers sealed in front of you. You will not open them until instructed."
A collective swallow echoed through the room.
"Any attempt to cheat will result in imdiate disqualification," he continued. "Any attempt to harm another student will result in imdiate containnt."
Containnt. Not punishnt.
Those words alone told everything I needed to know. Any attempt to cheat on the exam wasn’t just breaking academy rules; it was treated as an act of terrorism.
He raised a hand.
"Begin."
The seals dissolved.
I flipped the paper over.
...Huh.
I blinked once.
Then twice.
"This is... surprisingly reasonable."
Hypothetical formulas, moral applications, economic diagrams, situational judgnts. So trick questions, sure, but nothing outrageous. No obscure items or century-old footnotes pulled just to screw people over.
Even without photographic mory, this was a breeze.
I started writing.
Ti flowed strangely after that.
Scratch of quills. Pages turning. The occasional sharp inhale when soone realized they ssed up.
I moved steadily, not rushing, not stalling. When I finished one section, I moved on. When sothing tried to trip up, I paused, thought it through, and wrote anyway.
Halfway through, I noticed a student two rows ahead trembling so badly their desk was shaking.
Stress really did ruin people.
By the ti I reached the final page, my hand didn’t even hurt.
I set my quill down and leaned back, staring at the ceiling.
"...Yeah," I sighed quietly. "The real fun’s later."
The proctor’s gaze flicked toward , lingering for a second longer than the others.
Probably noting how early I finished.
Probably filing my face away.
Minutes later, the bell rang again.
DING!
"Put your quills down."
I complied, sliding the paper forward as instructed.
As we were dismissed one by one, the tension crept back in, not panic this ti, but anticipation.
Because everyone here knew the truth.
This part?
This was just the warm-up.
Well... for the confident ones at least.
Most of them just stord off, screaming and whining, as soon as they realized their answers were wrong, the mont they handed them in...
"Poor bastards..."
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