Chapter 26: Admission? (1)

Inside the rattling carriage.

The destination of this carriage was the Academy’s entrance ceremony venue.

As if to prove it, carriages of various colors stretched along the road.

Some people used magic to travel on foot, but most preferred carriages to conserve their energy.

“Are you also an incoming student at the Academy, miss?”

“That’s right.”

“Haha, youth is enviable.”

The coachman, seemingly bored by the congested road due to the influx of carriages, struck up a conversation.

He simply laughed and replied, even to my somewhat curt response.

“I heard a rumor that the Hero and Saint are entering the Academy this year. You’ll meet them if you’re entering this time, won’t you?”

“The Hero and the Saint… I suppose I will.”

I’m already entangled with them, to the point that they’re the ones approaching me.

Especially Lucia. For some reason, she seems to have already noticed my true identity.

I wish she’d just give up…

“Looks like we’ve arrived. You can get off now.”

“Yes, thank you for your service.”

The coachman took the payment I offered, turned his horse around, and disappeared.

The uniform was primarily white with gold accents.

The bottom half consisted of pants for men and a long skirt that reached the knees for women.

Lastly, each uniform had a differently colored brooch on the chest.

These brooches, awarded based on academic performance, were divided into red, yellow, green, blue, and white.

Twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, and sixty of each were distributed, respectively.

Among them, I received a red brooch, awarded to only twenty students each year, male and female combined.

In other words, my academic standing was within the top twenty.

The red brooch, shining just like the ruby necklace around my neck, reflected the sunlight.

As I was looking for my designated spot, someone ran up to me from behind.

I roughly guessed their identity, so there was no need to turn around.

“It’s been a while, Lena.”

“Huh? How did you know?”

“Because you’re the only person I know who would approach me like this.”

“I-is that so?”

As I was talking with her, the Hero’s party approached.

“You’re here too, Aria?”

“Well, I have to be here since I was accepted.”

Looking at their brooches, as expected, everyone except Lena had a red one.

“Aria, you have a red brooch too?”

“Amazing! I heard only twenty are awarded each year!”

“The same goes for all of you, doesn’t it?”

As we were chatting, Elena looked around and spoke with a puzzled expression.

“Come to think of it, there are a lot of people besides us, aren’t there?”

“Oh? You’re right!”

She’s more perceptive than I thought.

The Academy admits two hundred students each year.

However, the number of people gathered here was easily more than double that.

“Maybe they came to watch the entrance ceremony? It’s a once-a-year event.”

“But they all seem to be armed.”

Lucia offered a guess, but for spectators, most of them were armed with their own weapons.

An attack during the Academy’s entrance ceremony was unlikely.

However, it was hard to believe they had good intentions.

“Do you know why, Aria?”

“Who knows? Perhaps those who failed the exam came to watch?”

Well, that’s half-correct.

“Ah, I do see some familiar faces.”

Elena nodded at my words.

As we continued our conversation, a man and a woman stepped onto the platform.

Their presence was perfectly concealed, imperceptible to most students.

Less than thirty people, including myself, noticed and looked towards the platform.

“Ah, greetings, incoming students.”

The students finally looked towards the platform as the voice, amplified by a magical tool, echoed around.

A man with brown hair, looking like he was in his twenties despite being middle-aged.

“I am Lian Anderson, the host of this glorious entrance ceremony and the new swordsmanship instructor.”

“Lian… Could he be the former Knight Commander of the Empire?”

Murmurs spread among those who recognized the man.

The surroundings became briefly noisy, but the woman who took the magical tool from him quickly silenced everyone.

An icy voice and stiff manner of speaking.

At the same time, with her blue hair and eyes, her identity was…

“I am Glesia White, and I’ll be the homeroom teacher for Class A.”

“Haha, Professor Glesia, isn’t the atmosphere a bit too stiff?”

The eldest daughter of the White family, one of the Five Great Families.

‘G-Glesia? Could she be one of the ‘Heroes’ of the front lines?’

‘The one who earned the title of Hero at the youngest age ever…’

And one of the Heroes of the Empire.

Unlike Lian, who appeared gentle,

Glesia’s predatory aura instantly froze the atmosphere. Lian quickly took the magical tool back.

“Hahaha, the atmosphere seems to have become a little tense.”

“…”

“Anyway, let me explain the final entrance exam.”

Professor Lian tried to lighten the mood with an awkward laugh.

But realizing that the already frozen atmosphere wouldn’t thaw easily, he seemed to give up.

“Excuse me, but I think I heard ‘final’ exam?”

“You heard correctly.”

“Wasn’t the entrance exam already over?”

The students asked, bewildered by his words.

But as if he had anticipated this, he spoke with a smile.

“As you all know, the ‘entrance’ exam is over. We have selected the two hundred of you sitting here as the finalists.”

“Then what…”

“The exam from now on should be considered a final ‘demonstration’ rather than a test.”

“Demonstration?”

I glanced sideways and saw Alicia’s expression stiffen.

She probably hadn’t heard about this final stage.

Because Beatrice had placed a non-disclosure clause on the graduates regarding this exam.

“You all have the brooches we distributed, correct?”

The students took out their brooches.

“From now on, you must protect these brooches until you reach the main Academy building after passing through the forest behind me.”

At first glance, it seemed like a simple rule: just keep the brooch safe until you reach the destination.

“However.”

But what exponentially increased the difficulty of this exam was…

“If your brooch is taken or stolen by those who failed the first round, and they pass in your stead, you will be automatically disqualified.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the rejected applicants began drawing their weapons one by one.

The accepted students, sensing this, also started to draw their weapons.

“Could this be why they were gathered here?”

Elena muttered in disbelief.

They probably received letters around the same time we received our acceptance notices.

However, unlike ours, their letters contained the details of the game that was about to begin.

The final exam, a battle between two hundred accepted students and roughly eighteen hundred rejected applicants.

“Then, I hope to see you as glorious students of the Academy.”

As Professor Lian finished his words,

“Let the final exam begin.”

Waaaaaaaah!

Hundreds of people charged forward all at once.