Chapter 32
“Tell me, brother.”
I had made a mistake.
On the way back to the dormitory, I should not have let Lua sleep so comfortably in the carriage.
The next morning, after a full night’s rest, I found Lua yawning and rubbing her sleepy eyes. She sat me down on the seat opposite her and began to question me with her hidden suspicions.
“What on earth did that clerk mean? You were accompanied by a gorgeous woman!”
I deliberately avoided her gaze.
If I met those sharp eyes of hers, I doubted I could hold out any longer.
But when I looked away and stayed silent, Lua did not wait.
“Why can’t you meet my eyes straight on? Look at me!”
She stood up from her seat and stepped directly toward the direction I had been avoiding.
The moment I looked away again, she moved and blocked my path once more.
It was intimidating, yet her behavior was just a little adorable.
“You’re lying.”
“Yes.”
The relentless pressure from Lua caused the honorific to slip out of my mouth on its own.
“If you tell me the truth now, I’ll forgive you.”
“If I tell you, will you believe me?”
“Who else would believe me if I don’t? I swear. I believe every word.”
Since she had gone that far, there was no point in hiding anymore.
Do I even need to hide?
“We had time. The Imperial envoys arrived in Solea right on schedule.”
“That’s right.”
“I went back then. With the help of the helper.”
“The helper? Could it be the gorgeous lady?”
I nodded.
I had shown off the lady’s figure the most, but I could manage various appearances.
“I wanted to confirm it. What kind of place our city would be. That’s why I went back with the helper’s assistance.”
“But that’s impossible. No matter how close Solea and Reichland are, even by carriage it’s quite a distance… how?”
I turned my gaze toward Lua.
There, the teacher was standing.
*Master, would it not be better to reveal myself to Lua?*
“It’s your choice. But remember, once you know of my existence, everything will change from what it was before.”
With such a strong warning, I could not easily reveal the teacher’s presence.
“What are you looking at now!”
To stop me from gazing elsewhere, Lua grabbed my face with both hands.
“Remember? Last time, when you tried to frame the etiquette teacher. That’s when my helper helped you.”
“Yes. How could I forget that?”
“You thought that person couldn’t use space-movement magic?”
After hearing my words, Lua simply nodded obediently.
“I understand. But if all you did was confirm, how does the clerk know brother? And what about the invitation?”
“The proof is already inside your stomach.”
“In my stomach… ah!”
Lua’s snack.
It had been purchased in the Empire on my direct order.
“So, it was all for me, wasn’t it?”
“Of course. Actually, I knew the sightseeing spots, which is why.”
“Now it all makes sense. And…”
Lua stared straight into my eyes.
“It doesn’t seem like a lie.”
“Do you believe me?”
“Brother can’t act. And you promised to tell the truth this time. Since it doesn’t seem like you’re doing anything strange, I’ll let it slide. Still…”
Lua tugged at both of my cheeks.
“Make me a promise. From now on, you won’t lie to me. Because I won’t lie either.”
I found it hard to give an immediate answer to that.
I would be moving a lot in the future, and Lua at only eleven years old was simply too young to handle it.
“It’s not that I have to tell you everything. Rather than saying what I can’t say, I just ask that you don’t lie.”
Understanding my heart, Lua had no choice but to nod.
“Then I have one question for you. Up until now, how have you been able to hear all the things I say in the room?”
“Th-that’s…”
Lua’s expression turned deathly pale after the direct hit.
“I can guess how it’s possible, but I want to know exactly. And why.”
“T-that’s…”
“That’s what?”
The tide had completely reversed.
I deliberately stared at the bewildered Lua.
Her eyes filled more and more with confusion, until finally…
“How am I supposed to explain that?!”
She fled.
* * *
“From now on, we will begin the entrance exam.”
Headmaster Eipman declared.
The very next day after arriving in Reichland, we finally took the Imperial Academy entrance exam.
A three-tiered stage.
At the top tier sat Headmaster Eipman, who would pass final judgment on the exam results.
The middle tier had Vice-Principal Ta Nyeo and Seira.
And at the bottom tier sat seven examiners.
“Prince Erewon von Soleil of the Knight Kingdom Solea, please come forward.”
I stepped forward and slightly bowed my head in respect to the examiners.
The academy operated on a five-year curriculum.
To advance to the next year, one needed achievements recognized by the professors. To graduate, one needed deeds worthy of the academy’s name.
The conditions for promotion and graduation were not objective but extremely subjective.
If the professors were fickle, one might never graduate.
Eipman looked down at me.
The majestic professor’s appearance was there, but I noticed a subtle tremor in his eyes.
“Begin.”
With those words, the exam started.
Just like the conditions for promotion and graduation were unclear, so was the entrance exam.
The entire test was to prove one’s worth to the examiners.
They would be informed in advance of who the examiners were.
Since the information was given just enough, they would do as they pleased.
“I think you already know what I can do. Just this.”
I injected mana into the sword I carried and made the mana around it ripple.
With that alone, I could prove the rumors about me: at fifteen years old, I had reached the 6-Circle level.
In fact, this alone was enough for admission.
Proving talent meant I could enter as a first-year student.
But I knew who was at the academy right now.
In today’s academy, two prodigies who would not turn thirty were already at the 8-Circle level.
They were already above 6-Circle and nearing graduation.
So my level of talent would not stand out to the examiners.
“But the ability to use sword qi is something that happened long ago.”
“Long ago? It hasn’t even been a month.”
“The more circles you have, the harder it is to go above them. So the word ‘long ago’ fits me who has already surpassed 3-Circle.”
The examiners stirred.
“Show us that you have reached a higher realm than that.”
“That’s nothing.”
I injected mana into the sword and raised its density.
The ripples became calmer and steadier.
The examiner watching the mana movement said, “Impressive. You’ve reached the 4-Circle level.”
“It’s not over yet.”
The ripples completely stopped.
And the circulating energy began to cling to the sword.
“That’s!”
Soon the mana stuck to the sword and completely coated its exterior.
“Impossible. That’s sword gang!”
One examiner stood up abruptly.
“At fifteen years old, 5-Circle?!”
The examiners began discussing among themselves.
They spoke in low voices, but to my concentrated senses, I heard everything.
“Unbelievable result. If you’re 5-Circle, you should already be first-rate knight level, right?”
“I don’t know which year they should assign. Two years isn’t enough, maybe three… or even four…”
But the exam was still ongoing.
“I still have more to show you.”
“Showing sword gang alone seems enough. Can you surprise us more?”
“Yes. My greatest strength is not mana manipulation.”
“That’s a skill enough to make sword gang. What’s bigger than that?”
Above all else, I am a swordsman.
Therefore, what I would show you was…
“If it doesn’t bother you, I would like to request a sparring match with Senior Irinid and Senior Talia.”
The two students at the academy nearing graduation.
One was Irinid von Reichland.
The emperor’s distant relative, hailed as the greatest sword genius in the world.
The other was Talia Hulin.
A master of dual-spear techniques from the West.
The two shared two things in common.
They were both promising candidates for 8-Circle in the near future.
But the most important common point between them, and the reason I named their names for the sparring, was that…
As a swordsman, I wanted to teach them.
In my previous life, they had reached the 8-Circle level.
But in this life, that was not enough.
They had to become far stronger than before.