The Entrance Ceremony (1)
Early that morning, I arrived at Stellarium Academia with Sonia.
“Where was the entrance ceremony venue again?” Sonia sighed. “It is the open-air theater.”
“Oh, right.”
“Did you forget already?”
“Sorry. I was lost in thought.”
When I dive too deep into theory, I sometimes feel as if I’ve become detached from the world itself.
“Let us hurry. At this rate there will be no seats left.”
“Seats won’t be a problem.”
I had the privilege that came with being an outstanding scholarship student. Those who entered through that route were assigned the foremost row—the seat of honor, in other words.
We located the prime seats without difficulty.
“Please wait a moment.”
Just as I was about to sit down at leisure, Sonia’s hand slipped into my collar.
“What?”
“You have tied your necktie incorrectly.”
She let out a string of tiny sighs while straightening my clothes. Her movements were swift and precise, exactly what one would expect from an android.
“The uniform is the symbol of a Stellarium student. Please refrain from wrinkling it carelessly or wearing it in a slovenly manner.”
“Ah, yes.”
My mind belonged to a fully grown adult, yet wearing the uniform gave me an oddly delicate feeling.
“Hey, hey.”
It was then. Seti, who had arrived earlier, poked my shoulder insistently.
“Dad’s here.”
Arnold had never been the warm, affectionate type of family head. His primary duties left him far too busy to lavish time and emotion on his household. Even so, he was not so cold that he would skip his own child’s entrance ceremony at a prestigious academy.
“Father!”
Far ahead, the daughter of his second wife waved her hand. His stride quickened.
“It has been a while.”
“You have been well?”
“Indeed.”
They exchanged the sort of stiff, ceremonial greetings that felt too formal for blood relatives.
“I knew you would pass.”
Branch family or not, an Adelbein was still an Adelbein. Her intelligence, inherited from her mother, was undeniable. It came as no great surprise.
Yet he had not come today merely to see Seti. The reason Arnold had cleared his entire morning to visit Stellarium was his third son.
“……Idel.”
Arnold narrowed his eyes as he spoke his son’s name. This was the child born after devouring the woman he had loved his entire life. He had every reason to hate him, to loathe him, to keep him at a distance.
But the boy had still been born from the person he loved. He was still Arnold’s own child.
In the beginning he could not openly despise him. Yet for some reason Idel grew more and more twisted with each passing day. In the end Arnold chose neglect. He left the child-rearing to the androids and returned to the front lines.
The youngest son, starved of attention, had become warped—crossing every line by a wide margin. That was why Arnold had delivered an ultimatum.
“Do you remember what I told you before?”
“I remember.”
Repay the fortune squandered on gambling, enlist in the military, or gain admission to Stellarium Academia.
“If I failed to do even one of the three, I was to leave the house.”
Idel raised his watch and projected a screen. On the small display floated the freshman representative’s oath.
Arnold’s eyes flew wide.
“…That is.”
“Father.”
Idel spoke in a low, heavy voice.
“I am the top student.”
A single, weighty statement. Being chosen to recite the oath as student representative meant he had entered as the highest-ranked freshman—an achievement neither Arnold nor his two older brothers, the ones destined to inherit the family enterprise, had ever accomplished.
Hearing it through Sonia’s DM had been one thing; seeing it with his own eyes was another shock entirely. How on earth had he managed it? Not his other two sons, but this Idel. Arnold had never imagined the boy could even pass the entrance exam, let alone take first place. It should have been impossible unless his mind had broken. Had Servant Syndrome somehow manifested without his knowledge?
Arnold fell into confusion.
“Father, did Mother not come?”
Seti, who had been glancing around, asked.
“We did not travel together.”
“I see……”
Energy drained from Seti’s voice. Arnold and Seti’s mother maintained a relationship of mutual indifference despite living under the same roof. Their marriage had been a contractual union meant to bolster the family’s influence, arranged by the Council of Elders that even Arnold was forced to obey.
In any case, Seti—born from such circumstances—could not have received much love. Fortunately, unlike Idel, she had grown up relatively unscarred. Arnold had given her exactly the amount of warmth he had planned to give. That had been the best he could manage.
He could not, of course, explain any of this in detail. Arnold swallowed his true feelings behind a sigh.
“Your mother is extremely busy caring for patients at the moment.”
“……”
“Enjoy your entrance ceremony. I must be going.”
“You’re leaving already?”
Seti asked, disappointment clear in her tone. Arnold nodded. Watching his child’s entrance ceremony was important, but something far more urgent awaited.
“Leaving the front lines vacant for long invites disaster.”
Far away, monstrous entities born from black holes were approaching. Every time the beasts dispatched by the Outer Deities reached inhabited planets, the Federation suffered catastrophic losses. A single war claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, and many more lost limbs. Even the deployment of countless medical androids could not meet demand. A single doctor was an invaluable asset.
“Your mother and I must be there if we are to save even one more person. You are intelligent, Seti. You understand.”
“……I understand.”
Seti bowed her head deeply and nodded. She always insisted she was fine without her parents’ care, that she could live bravely on her own. Even so, a corner of her heart still felt hollow. In truth, she wished her mother and father would show her just a little more interest.
After finishing his conversation with Seti, Arnold glanced at Idel. Their golden eyes met.
“……”
“……”
With that, Arnold confirmed with his own eyes that his son had indeed entered as the top student.
“Then the talk of expelling me from the family is over, correct?”
Idel’s question stopped Arnold, who had been about to leave with complicated feelings.
“Mm.”
With his back still turned, Arnold waved his hand. A promise was a promise. Breaking it would erode trust with everyone else.
Yet at this point, allowing Idel to remain in the family had created an entirely different problem. It was not mere admission—it was admission as the top student.
“……This is trouble.”
What if Idel continued to produce such results? What if the delinquent stopped his misbehavior and began living diligently? What if he surpassed both older brothers in achievement? The entire succession structure could collapse.
The Rheinland family did not pass its legacy to the eldest son, but to the most outstanding child. That was the iron rule of House Rheinland.
It had become inconvenient. Arnold let out yet another sigh and left the ceremony grounds.
And so my father vanished abruptly before the ceremony even began.
“Huh.”
I now roughly understood why Idel had become so twisted. To be the family head yet fail to care for one’s own blood.
Soon the entrance ceremony commenced. Or rather, what began was the greatest head-bowing competition in the universe, thinly disguised as an entrance ceremony.
“Regarding the incident that occurred during the practical exam, we offer our deepest apologies and compensation……”
First contestant: a bald middle-aged man. Every time he bowed, the side hair flopping forward was strangely hypnotic.
Second contestant: an elderly man so wrinkled he looked like crumpled paper. He barely seemed strong enough to hold the microphone, which stirred unwanted pity.
Third contestant: a female instructor. The dark circles under her eyes suggested she also served as head of academic affairs.
Once the contestants had taken their positions, the evaluation panel—composed of parents—began their critique.
“Have you lost your minds?”
“Can we truly entrust our children to you?”
“My daughter nearly died! How exactly do you intend to take responsibility?”
Yeah. Total disaster. This was no entrance ceremony.
I scanned my surroundings with that thought in mind.
“What’s wrong?”
Seti asked worriedly, perhaps because my restlessness had been obvious.
I answered.
“Where did Rustilla go?”
Seti’s expression clouded over at once.
“She’s probably over there. She said she was sorry she couldn’t sit with us……”
Her face alone told the whole story. Rustilla was being kept on a very short leash.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m bringing Rustilla over.”
“Bring her for what? This section is reserved exclusively for outstanding scholarship students……!”
“Exactly. Which means I, an outstanding scholarship student, can seat whomever I wish.”
“What are you even saying?”
“An outstanding scholarship student may invite another student to their exclusive seat.”
After asking Seti to watch my place, I set off on my primary mission.
I soon located Rustilla. She was surrounded by androids, under heavy “protection.”
“Whoa.”
The sight alone was suffocating.
“Rustilla!”
I waved and walked toward her. Her eyes widened like twin lanterns.
“……Idel!”
“What are you doing here?”
The moment I tried to close the distance, the nearest android stepped into my path.
“I am sorry, but you may not approach this area—ugh…!”
Thud.
I pulled out my caliper and gave the robot a light tap between the legs. The android shuddered violently as though struck by electricity and collapsed on the spot.
“Impossible!”
As the Azure Dragon of the East scored first blood, the remaining Four Gods rose in outrage.
“We cannot permit you to approach the young lady! Uuuugh!”
Double kill.
“Wait, who are you? That Rheinland delin—gahk!”
Triple kill.
“Quickly, inform the master—kyaa!”
Quadra kill.
The apostle of the God of Wisdom and Curiosity is rampaging!
You have acquired 400 Fron as reward!
The Idel priest who had disciplined the innocent muggles with his magic wand arrived at the spot where Princess Rustilla waited.
“Wh-what are you doing here…?”
Rustilla’s voice trembled.
When asked a question, one should answer. Common courtesy.
“Come sit with us over there.”
“There? But that’s the seat of honor. Only outstanding scholarship students can sit……”
“You qualify.”
I spoke with complete confidence.
Rustilla stared at me, dazed.
It was then that a rather sharp voice cut through the air.
“Who dares approach my daughter?”
At the sound of that voice, Rustilla instinctively shrank. Her blue eyes quivered with unease.
“Father… Mother……”
“Rustilla, who is this boy? Do you know him?”
“H-he’s a friend.”
Rustilla’s answer was barely louder than a whisper.
The pair blocking my path was a middle-aged couple dressed in formal attire. The aura they radiated made their high social standing obvious.
So these were Rustilla’s parents.
“Student, what exactly did you do to our household androids?”
The husband growled.
“I didn’t touch them. They stood up the moment I approached, then collapsed one after another.”
I pushed the fallen androids aside and offered my most amiable smile.
What? I had spoken politely—why was the atmosphere turning hostile?
“What?”
“It’s the truth.”
“You expect us to believe such nonsense?”
Before the Kersil couple could look, I had already pocketed the caliper. A perfect crime. No evidence, no case. Any lawyer worth their salt knew that.
“Student, who are you exactly?”
“I’m Rustilla’s friend.”
I sat in the seat so kindly vacated by the android and extended my hand toward Rustilla.
“I’ve come to rescue Rustilla so we can enjoy the entrance ceremony together.”
Rustilla’s face flashed with surprise, then she lowered her head slightly. Her sapphire eyes darted left and right.
“Student!”
Slap!
Rustilla’s father struck my hand away in open displeasure.
“Do not touch my daughter so freely.”
His fierce gaze bored into me. It seemed I had earned his thorough dislike. This was slightly awkward. I had acted first and thought later, but now I needed a way out. I could hardly resort to violence against her parents.
They were not the sort of opponents to be swayed by words…… Yet if I withdrew now, Rustilla would be devastated.
While I wrestled with the dilemma, Rustilla took my hand.