Final Exam (2)
“W-wa…wawa…Your Maj—”
The moment Rachel appeared, Rosaria—who knew her true identity—shot up from her seat and tried to drop to one knee before her.
“Yes, ‘senior.’ Rachel is the ‘junior,’ you know.”
“Ah…yes…no, uh…Rachel…”
Rachel caught Rosaria’s shoulder before she could fully kneel, stressing the words senior and junior with deliberate force. Rosaria caught her meaning at once, awkwardly straightened up, and switched to casual speech.
Why did Rachel suddenly show up? Don’t tell me…she still has something left over from last night?
“I stop by the library pretty often anyway. Then I spotted a familiar face, so I thought I’d say hello.”
“Ah…is that so…?”
She read my mind?! How did she know?
“And senior, your thoughts are written all over your face. Makes you easy to read.”
“Ah…”
Rachel followed up by reading every last thought straight off Rosaria’s expression and offered a gentle smile. A faint chill ran down Rosaria’s spine.
“So, is studying hard for you?”
How does she keep figuring it out?!
“How did you kn—”
“That’s enough of that.”
“Ah, right.”
“Anyway, I think I can help you with that part.”
“…Huh?”
“Uh…so…”
“The gluteus maximus of the femoral region.”
“Ah. Femoral…gluteus maxi—?”
“Maximus.”
“Ah.”
Alongside her sudden appearance, Rachel had somehow taken the seat right beside Rosaria and begun helping her study.
“Why do I even need to know terms like this in the first place?! I’m not a doctor!”
“I’m not in the combat department either, but I heard that since we use our bodies so much, we learn the muscles and bones that make them up so we can judge and move more efficiently.”
“I move just fine without any of that…”
Rosaria was clutching her head over the major textbook packed solid with detailed descriptions and names of every human muscle she was expected to memorize. The names themselves were confusing enough that the moment she thought she’d locked one in, it slipped right back out again.
“But…is it really okay for you to help me study? No—is it okay?”
“The exam questions are simple, after all. Honestly, I barely feel any need to study for them.”
“…….”
Just as annoying as that guy.
“Shall I guess what you’re thinking right now?”
“Ah, haha! And where was the next one again? Semitendinosus? Semiten—? You freeloading little—!”
“What on earth are you saying?”
Worried whether it was truly fine for Rachel to help her (and, more honestly, feeling burdened and uncomfortable just sitting together), Rosaria had asked—only for the answer to come back sounding far too much like Felix. She twisted her face, then hurriedly muttered the next term under her breath.
Rosaria Evergarden…
Rachel watched Rosaria mutter to herself while staring so hard at the textbook that steam practically rose from her head.
Unlike the eldest son Felix Evergarden, her intellectual ability looks lacking. But her physical ability is rock-solid.
Where Felix excelled at magic, quick thinking, deduction, and smooth negotiation, Rosaria fell far short in those areas. Yet the skill Rosaria had shown during the joint exam was nothing short of outstanding talent.
Last night she let the bodyguards’ swords through, but even if she’d struck back afterward, dealing a fatal wound would have been difficult.
With her exceptional physique and combat sense, Rosaria already held the unofficial number-one spot in the combat department (grades kept her from the official ranking). In a different sense from Felix, she was talent Rachel wanted close at hand.
And she never even drew on her true strength.
Rachel especially recalled the weapon Rosaria had pulled out against the assailant during the joint exam and casually shifted her gaze toward Rosaria’s back.
Has the appearance changed? Did she improve the weapon she used then? Or does she already have multiple prepared?
It was the sniper rifle hanging from her chair.
A single use of that weapon had instantly rendered combat-incapable the assailant who had been pressing Rachel hard. Speed, destructive power, and penetration went without saying—and unlike an arrow that was finished once fired, it even carried guidance functions meant to guarantee suppression or a kill.
Calling it magic feels wrong. The mana flow wasn’t that of ordinary magic. In that case—
—Mom. What’s this?
—This is called a book.
—What’s a book?
—You don’t even know that? You’re a dummy. It’s what humans look at.
—What’s a dummy?
—Well, you see! …Actually…what is a dummy?
—I’m hungry.
—Me too.
“Kids…Mommy needs to concentrate, so can you keep it down a little?”
It must be the power of those spirits.
Rachel next looked at the two spirits perched side by side on Rosaria’s shoulders, tilting their heads. Spirits were normally hard to see unless one shared affinity with them, yet to Rachel—who possessed exceptional mana sight—the spirits that should have been invisible stood out clearly (Felix recognized them the same way).
A fire spirit and a wind spirit…casually keeping beings I’ve only ever seen in books right beside her. In a way, she might be even more special than Felix Evergarden.
Magic was a kind of technique. Aptitude differed from person to person, but anyone who worked hard enough could awaken mana and cast spells. Spirit mages, however, were essentially decided by fate from birth. Communicating with spirits—nature itself—and winning their hearts was nearly impossible for ordinary people.
And Rosaria was already walking around with two of them.
Rachel judged that the firearms Rosaria used likely involved not only magic but spirit power as well.
She’s a little short on the knowledge side, but she’s still outstanding talent. And now that we’ve decided on a sort of alliance with the Evergarden family, it would be wise to keep an eye on her too.
Having become entangled with the Evergarden family, Rachel decided she needed to grow closer to Rosaria as a member of that house. Her eyes gleamed.
…And that expression she wore while sleeping on my lap back then was…quite…quite…? Wait? Why am I remembering that right now?
Suddenly recalling Rosaria’s face as she had collapsed into Rachel’s arms, covered in blood after taking down the assailant, and slept so soundly, Rachel found herself smiling faintly—then her pupils dilated.
…Don’t tell me, could it be…?
“Piriformis, superior gemellus…gemellus? I wanted to do active duty too…damn Military Manpower Administration…!”
……No. That’s not it. Not with that vacant look on her face. Must have been a misunderstanding.
Rachel, cheeks faintly flushed without her noticing, turned her gaze back to Rosaria—only for her expression to freeze solid at the sight of Rosaria rubbing her cheek against the book and muttering nonsense.
“…Study faster.”
“M-my head’s…completely full of major knowledge…! Ah…memorizationnn…?!”
“Stop making weird noises.”
…Maybe I should just go do research instead.
Was that person really the same person from back then?
That thought kept bubbling up unbidden for Rachel.
“Before we distribute the exam papers, I will restate the precautions.”
The noisy exam hall fell silent in an instant, leaving only the voice of the proctor standing at the front.
“Exam time is one hour total. Leaving your seat during the exam is prohibited. This should go without saying, but even if you submit your answer sheet early, you may not leave the hall.”
“Of course, anyone who commits an obvious violation—and anyone who abets it—will be failed on the spot and forced into retakes plus supplementary classes during the end-of-term period.”
“…Well, from my perspective I’d actually recommend giving it a try. I’m the one in charge of supplementary classes this time.”
The proctor’s attitude while listing the rules was thoroughly half-hearted, yet the overwhelming presence made it perfectly clear what would happen if you got caught cheating.
If this had been the old Rosaria, she would have been sweating cold bullets, fretting over how to sneak a look at the cheat sheet she’d smuggled in—
“…Heh.”
The Rosaria of now simply spun the pen in her hand with easy confidence and smiled.
Nine Principles. Polarized Light. The Crow and the Declaration. The Gap Between Surface and Depth.
I hate no one.
“I will now distribute the exam papers. Upon receiving yours, keep it face-down and do not open it until the signal.”
Right now, this moment is simply endlessly delightful.
Heaven above, earth below. I alone am supreme.
When the exam paper finally reached her seat, Rosaria stopped the spinning quill and gripped it properly.
“Begin!”
With the proctor’s declaration, the frozen clock hands began to tick.
—Are you going to lose?
The memory of her weaker self, clutching her head and crying that it was impossible, flashed through her mind.
How am I supposed to memorize all this? Just quit everything—those endless mutterings of her frail former self flickered past like a lantern show.
She had thought she was about to collapse, that she had reached her absolute limit.
But she had overcome it.
And now.
Win.
Her face held nothing but a confident smile.