Early Graduation
The man's eyes narrowed. His faintly revealed crimson pupils tracked the light.
"Indeed."
He murmured under his breath.
She was one of the most celebrated beauties in the capital. Even when a woman of that caliber clung to him with a professional seduction technique, his expression never so much as flickered. He reacted with the flat indifference of a man who had suddenly turned to wood and stone.
Then again, there were already plenty of peerless beauties around him who openly showed their affection. His standards might simply have climbed too high. He was also deeply suspicious and sharp-eyed. He had sensed something off in an instant, made his judgment, and found his way to the man himself. Perhaps he had felt the dissonance from the very first moment.
All of it considered—
"Looks like the honey trap is a no-go."
A melody as smooth as silk wrapped around their ears. Round and round — the background spun in a continuous, gentle rotation.
Leon guided Celia's rigid body through the steps and spoke quietly.
"Why are you so tense?"
Unlike you. He swallowed the rest of the sentence back down his throat.
"…Well."
Celia had not been able to meet Leon's eyes since they started.
Tap. Taktak.
Foot crossed foot. They stepped in time with the beat. Leon extended his arm. Celia, who had drawn back a half-step, took his hand and spun in a graceful circle.
The dances favored by the nobility here closely resembled a waltz. And Leon was executing every motion of the ballroom with effortless ease. From the fundamentals to the advanced figures, there were fewer than thirty in total. He had learned them thoroughly in the early days of his reincarnation, when he was being drilled in aristocratic etiquette. He had long since reached a level of mastery when it came to anything involving the body.
A stumble—
Leon sidestepped Celia's heel as it came down toward the top of his foot. That made three times already.
"?"
He tilted his head. She was a martial artist herself; a light dance like this should not have been difficult for her.
"If something's bothering you, just say it."
Celia shook her head sharply.
"No, no. Ah… why do I keep doing this?"
"I'm kidding. Let's slow it down a little."
Leon began taking his steps a full tempo slower. The left hand clasped in hers was damp — she must have been nervous enough to sweat. Embarrassed, Celia wrapped the contact in mana and dried it at once.
Then the texture of her hand came through in full. It was hard to believe those palms belonged to someone who whirled a long spear with such force; they were almost dainty. But her fingers were long enough that it suited her. Calluses were set into the skin here and there, as befit a warrior.
He kneaded them absently.
Is it because they're a woman's hands?
Even so, the softness of them struck Leon as genuinely remarkable.
Celia's face flushed.
"W-why do you keep squeezing my hand?"
"Ah."
Thump. Thump.
The beat of her heart reached him through the skin — as fast and strong as if she had been sprinting. The floral scent circling his nose was impossibly sweet, a fragrance like a proud rose. For some reason, Leon found himself preferring it to even Shardiah's expensive perfume.
At last she seemed ready to meet his eyes. Celia slowly lifted her head.
Red lips. A high, clean bridge of nose. Above them, deep violet eyes. An expression both lofty and coolly chic.
Tap. Taktak.
Their bodies swayed like waves. Their breath met in the air between them. Celia's eyelids trembled, but she did not look away again. The look she gave him was unmistakable.
"…"
Leon felt a ripple of impulse rise through him — nothing violent, nothing sharp. It was unfamiliar, but not unpleasant. A laugh slipped free of its own accord…
So he simply laughed.
Celia, looking as though a laugh of her own was about to break free, said,
"Why are you suddenly laughing?"
"No reason. I don't know either."
As Leon kept grinning, Celia could no longer hold it in and let a laugh of her own escape. There are many kinds of laughter, of course — but theirs was the simple, essential kind.
They laughed because they were simply happy.
And so the night of the ball passed.
Dawn, before the sun had even begun to rise.
On the bed, a woman's closed eyelids twitched.
"Ugh… nnngh…"
Her entire body, nightclothes included, was soaked through with cold sweat. Between clenched lips, strained moans kept leaking out without pause. Her furrowed brow would not smooth. Her complexion grew steadily paler. Her limbs curled in and stretched out again, over and over.
Until at last—
"…Hhh!"
Her eyes flew open and she snapped upright as if flung. Her outstretched hand seized the hilt of the sword lying beside her in a crushing grip.
"Hah… hah…"
Pulled free of sleep, the woman peeled the sky-blue hair plastered to her face away with trembling fingers. Her ragged breathing steadied with surprising speed.
"Huu…"
She exhaled a long breath. She set the sword hilt down, picked up a water glass instead, and drained it in greedy gulps.
"…"
As if the earlier turmoil had never existed, no emotion remained on her face once the water was gone. Only a cold emptiness, like midwinter snow.
She rose from the bed with mechanical precision. The way she packed her feelings away in an instant was painfully familiar — so familiar that even the sense of being sick of it had long since worn thin.
Because she had lived through nights like this, mornings like this, more times than she could count. For more than half her life. From the year she turned ten, without missing a single day, every single day.
So of course she had grown used to it.
The two-day banquet was over. The guests who had come to the imperial palace had all gone their separate ways.
Leon was no exception. He was having breakfast at the Asonia household, where he always stayed.
"Honestly, this won't mean much to you."
Cheren, dining with him, spoke in a calm, even tone.
"Expert Upper. Leon, you've reached the stage where you have to walk your own path entirely alone. Other people's advice and instruction won't be of much use. You entered that phase a while ago — around Expert Mid-Upper — so it goes without saying now."
"You're right."
Leon agreed.
Today was the day of the Academy's observation schedule. One of the Imperial Knight Commanders would come and conduct a lecture. But Cheren was saying that for someone of Leon's level, the session would be a waste of time — something Leon already understood perfectly well.
Carotin, chewing on toast, suddenly asked,
"Expert Mid-Upper? Instructor, doesn't that put me in a similar situation?"
"No."
"Ah. Yes, ma'am."
Cheren cut him down without hesitation, then drove the point home.
"Carotin, you still have a great deal left to learn. The gap between you and Leon is so wide that comparison is meaningless, and you're calling it similar? If you fought Leon right now, do you think you'd last longer than the opponents from the banquet sparring?"
"…No, ma'am."
Still better than a bastard like Aion, though.
Leon muttered to himself. Carotin was talented in his own right. Under normal circumstances, he was not the kind of person who would lose face anywhere he went.
"But Billy's about the same as me, right?"
At Leon's words, everyone turned to look at Billy at the far end of the table.
"…"
Billy chewed his food, staring back at them as if to ask what they were looking at.
Celia tossed out,
"Oh. Right. He's Expert Upper too."
This time Cheren nodded.
"Correct. Billy doesn't particularly need the lecture either."
"Two out of five don't need it."
Leon muttered, and Cheren answered,
"It's certainly not normal. This cohort is a rather unusual case."
She continued.
"Which is why Leon and Billy will likely be graduating early. There's a high chance they'll complete the Academy at this year's commencement ceremony."
Everyone except Leon and Billy went wide-eyed.
"It's not common, but there are precedents. Cadets who achieve early breakthroughs are encouraged to graduate early whenever possible. Having outstanding talent tied up at the Academy learning things that no longer matter does no one any good. I myself graduated from Elprime Academy after only a year and a half."
"…"
"And these two reached Expert Upper in the first half of the year. That's the level of most of the martial arts instructors at Elprime. The push to graduate them early is inevitable."
Leon asked,
"So if we take the exam and hit the scores, they just let us graduate?"
"That's right. You'll sit the same graduation exam as the third-years."
"Hmm."
Leon nodded without any particular excitement. At his current level, no cadet could even come close. There was nothing to look forward to and nothing to be nervous about. Without exaggeration, he was confident he could take the top rank even among the third-years.
"Of course the practical exam is nothing to worry about. Leon especially could handle even the Owl Knights without trouble, so a third-year wouldn't last ten seconds against him. However."
"?"
Cheren fixed Leon with a pointed look.
"The written exam is the problem. The higher the year, the greater the weight of the written portion. So Leon — if you botch the written the way you did last semester, it won't matter how well you do on the practical. There's a cutoff. And unlike first year, there are no multiple-choice questions to guess on. Everything is essay format."
Oh, for fuck's sake.
Leon's face twisted into something thoroughly miserable.
"It won't be that hard. It's still an exam for martial artists, and the basics are enough. Anyone with the will to do it can handle the workload."
"…Yes, ma'am."
Leon needlessly picked on Billy, who had been sitting quietly.
"Billy, you heard that. You need to start studying too, you bastard."
"I'm not particularly worried about Billy. Looking at his grades, he seems to handle book learning just fine on his own."
"…"
There was no hope.
"Instructor."
Celia, who had been listening in silence until then, spoke up. A mix of dismay and urgency was beginning to color her expression.
"This early graduation — is it something anyone can do if they have the skill?"
"Strictly speaking, you qualify when the Academy's combat and martial training are judged to no longer hold any meaning for the cadet."
"Th-then… might I qualify as well?"
Cheren took a sip of water before answering.
"I said earlier that this cohort is special. Frankly, I believe all three of the remaining of you have potential — not just Leon and Billy. Every one of you possesses enormous talent and promise."
"So that means…"
"But as of now, it's too soon."
"…"
Celia's eyes sank heavily.
Cheren spoke as evenly as ever.
"Whether early graduates appear at the end of this year — or an entire early graduation class — is a matter that rests entirely with all of you."