Chapter 20: The Entrance Exam Begins

The entrance exam day has arrived.

The preparation time was short if it was short and long if it was long, but today was the day to prove all the hard work.

That’s why Rubia and Peri were moving around frantically since the morning breeze.

They were busy fixing Lucy’s dress, fixing her hair, and applying various creams (moisturizing cosmetics) to her skin.

As a result, Lucy was sitting at the dressing table with a headache.

She had been doing this for a full two hours.

For her, who usually didn’t even take 10 minutes to get ready to go out, it was a difficult time to get used to dressing up.

I wondered if it was really necessary to do this, but I couldn’t help it when Rubia yelled, “This is your first time going to an official event!”

Her appearance in the mirror changed every moment.

The back of her hair was neatly tied up, her pure white skin was shiny, and various jewels were hanging from her dress.

The decoration ceremony that had started at 4 in the morning could finally come to an end.

The palace carriage.

Two Vitals with pitch-black horns were waiting in front of the carriage painted in gold.

The carriage, armed with all kinds of defensive magic, was a specially made means of transportation for today.

‘Lucy’, ‘Rubia’, and ‘Perry’ boarded it in that order and soon began to head towards the examination hall.

The streets of Helgen were busier than usual.

It was because of the entrance exam for Edem Academy.

The roads seemed to be slightly blocked because of that, but that was only for a moment.

Soon, the carriages that had been blocking the road moved to the side of the road one by one and made way for them.

“Hey, that pattern… isn’t it the royal seal?”

“What are you doing, get out of the way quickly!”

It was because of the royal seal stamped on the carriage.

As a result, the road that had been blocked opened up as if by some miracle of Moses.

Is this the sweetness of power?

Thanks to that, they were able to head to the testing site without any trouble.

“Oops! The knot here is a little loose.”

Rubia was busy fixing Lucy’s outfit even in the carriage.

She carefully stroked her hair and observed her closely to see if there was anything messed up.

Meanwhile, Perry, who was sitting across from her, was looking at his textbook and asking questions about the exam questions.

Lucy snorted, thinking that she was the only one taking the test, but somehow the two of them seemed nervous.

In the meantime, the carriage arrived at the testing site.

The location was Edem Academy, located in the center of the capital.

Edem Academy.

As befitting its prestigious name, the building itself gave off an elegant atmosphere.

The entrance was bustling with students who had come to take the entrance exam.

“I’m the smallest.”

Most of them were 13 or 14 years old, all in middle school.

The youngest of them all was Lucy.

At that moment, several noble-looking demons began to gather around Lucy who had come out of the carriage.

“Isn’t this Princess Lucy?”

“Nice to meet you, I am…”

“My child is also coming this time.”

They were all parents who had come to accompany their children to their entrance exams.

From the looks of it, they seemed to have come after seeing the seal on the carriage, but there were quite a few of them.

Rubia stopped them.

“I’m sorry, but I’m in a hurry due to time constraints, so please wait until next time to say hello.”

“But I appreciate your kindness in waiting until dawn..”

At first, they didn’t back down easily, but soon, the nobles who were frightened by Rubia’s cold gaze retreated one by one.

‘Living..?’

Rubia, who had dismissed all the nobles, looked back at Lucy with a gentle face.

“Princess, you can go in this way.”

“Yes.”

“Peri and I will wait in the carriage.”

“Good luck on your exam.”

Leaving Peri and Rubia behind as they saw her off, Lucy headed to the examination room.

From here on, due to fairness issues, even princesses were not allowed to bring their entourage.

The first examination room.

The first examination was a written exam.

Around 600 examinees were preparing to take the exam in the stepped lecture hall.

Most of the students taking the exam were nobles, but there were also children dressed in commoner clothing here and there.

This symbolized Edem’s ethical ideology that doors are open to anyone with talent.

Soon after, the examiners wearing robes handed out answer sheets.

The questions were about basic academic subjects such as ‘Magic’, ‘History’, and ‘Magic Ethics’.

As soon as the answer sheets were handed over, the sound of pens could be heard everywhere.

Lucy also quickly solved the problems.

The difficulty of the test was no more or less than the previous questions that she had solved before coming here.

About two hours later, the first test, the written test, was over.

The results were smooth.

Considering that there were no difficult questions, it must have been a high score.

All that was left were the practical tests, ‘Magic Measurement’, ‘Magic Management’, ‘Herbivorous Magic’, and the last, ‘Ordeal’.

In order to proceed, the examiners divided the examinees into groups and began to guide them.

Second Test Site.

The practical test was conducted in a room, face to face with the interviewer.

As she waited in line in one of the dozens of rooms, it was Lucy’s turn.

Clank.

The room looked just like a courtroom.

A man who appeared to be an examiner was looking down at Lucy from a high wooden table.

“I am Lucy Deviluke.”

“I am Andreyan, an examiner at this testing center. It is an honor that the princess has come to take the test in person this time, but.”

The examiner with an impressive mustache glared at Lucy with sharp eyes.

“That doesn’t mean I can give you any special treatment in the test, so I ask for your understanding in advance.”

“Of course, I already know that that is the philosophy of this place.”

“Huh.. Okay, then let’s start the test right away.”

The examiner, who was stroking his mustache as if it was interesting, asked Lucy to touch the crystal ball in front of her.

The first practical test was to measure magic power, and also to use it to manage magic power.

Just like last time, Lucy touched the crystal ball with her hand.

Then, the crystal ball turned pitch black.

At the same time, the pan the tester was holding rolled down.

“Pitch black..?”

‘What else is wrong..?’

Just in case, Lucy increased the magical power output.

Then, the crystal ball began to crack, and soon it crumbled like shards of glass.

The crystal ball shattered.

The tester, who had been remaining silent the whole time, opened his mouth wide at this fact.

“What!? The magical power measurement crystal ball broke!?”

“What happens in this case?”

Andreyan was unable to hide his confusion for a moment, but soon regained his composure.

“Hmm! Regarding this matter.. I think we need to have a separate meeting. For now, we will put the magical power measurement and magical power release tests on hold, and only test the magical herbivore.”

Although she didn’t know what it was, Lucy demonstrated the magic she had prepared as requested by the tester.

Whirl-!

***

Observation room.

As the exam entered its final ‘trial’, the seven examiners, including Andreyan, gathered in one place.

The examiners sat in front of a large round table.

Above them was a magical item called ‘scales’ that broadcasted the exam room in real time.

The scales showed the students taking the final test, the ‘trial’.

“Tsk, tsk, how could you be so scared?”

Peregrine, who was in charge of the herbal medicine class, clicked his tongue as he watched the students running away during the exam.

The score sheet in his hand was marked with a deduction mark as expected.

“As the number of examinees has increased, the difficulty of the exam has also increased.”

The content of the trial was simple.

All you had to do was get through the simple underground maze.

The only difficulty was the gatekeeper at the end.

At the end of the maze, a special summoned beast called ‘Dragon’ was guarding the exit.

An undead dragon.

Just looking at it made them feel like they were going to vomit, so many examinees were busy giving up on the exam with shouts of “How can I catch that thing!”

Andreyan sighed.

“The content of the exam is not about defeating the demon dragon, but with such narrow-mindedness, your research ability will probably also be poor.”

The ultimate content of the exam is to endure the evil magic that the demon dragon spits out with your mental strength and move forward.

In other words, you can pass by simply passing the demon dragon.

The Academy’s management was not crazy enough to tell the young examinees to defeat the “special summoned beast.”

This exam was simply to test their courage and enthusiasm for magical exploration.

“The Academy’s summoned beasts cannot harm them, so they are not aware of such an obvious fact in the face of fear.”

“Let’s see, then who will be the next examinee…”

The examiners who were checking the list of examinees all became solemn.

It couldn’t be otherwise.

Lucy Deviluke.

The child of the most powerful man in the country, and the only princess of Helatos.

When her application for admission was first sent to the Academy, there was quite a fuss.

Due to the unprecedented admission problem of a powerful person, some faculty members even suggested that she should be admitted without question.

However, it was naturally rejected because it would break the Academy’s ethical principles that had been in place for hundreds of years.

That’s why she came to take the exam.

“There you go.”

The examiners silently watched her take the exam through the scales.

3. The final exam, the ordeal.

Lucy, who had easily escaped the underground maze, encountered a giant demon dragon at the end.

-Krrrrr..

The demon dragon wearing pitch-black leather was exposing its vicious gums and emitting an intimidating presence.

Lucy, who had been feeling bored the whole time, finally began to relax with a smile on her lips.

‘That thing, it must have been made to be caught’.