Retest (3)
The empire had only three Swordmasters. One of them was Leona Blade, the runner-up of the Knight Department. Then there was Levia Gloria, the runner-up of the Magic Department and someone who could already be considered to have reached the realm of an Archmage. As the second-place holders of their respective departments, both of them possessed power on a completely different level from me, who was nothing more than third place.
And right now, those two were locked in a fierce exchange of blows.
—KWAaaaang!
—Puffff!
—Kwaaajijik!
“Those crazy bitches…!”
As expected, the forest prepared for the exam was getting completely demolished. I wondered if it was really okay to wreck the Imperial Forest like this, but when had a romance fantasy novel ever cared about that kind of thing?
If I get caught in the crossfire, I’m dead.
I could easily swat away trees or rocks flying in from the aftershock of their battle. But if sword qi or magic came flying my way, the odds of instant death were extremely high. Well, since it was an exam, the academy had spent a fortune engraving return magic into our necklaces that would activate before any student actually died… but it would still mean immediate disqualification.
That was why—
“What the hell is that sou—kyaaaaaah!”
“Why! What’s going o—kyeeek!”
I watched my fellow students getting hit by flying debris from behind and dropping out one after another, but I didn’t even look back. I just kept running.
“I’m going to survive!!”
The living must live. Sorry, but I had zero intention of throwing myself in front of competitors in a battlefield where instant-death flags were flying everywhere. Let the protagonist do that kind of thing.
The three-day survival exam had finally come to an end. Of course, from the middle onward the content had shifted from “survival” to “just try not to die in the fight between the two second-placers,” but if you thought about it, that was still a form of survival. Plus, I’d managed to sneak in some points during the chaos, so overall it hadn’t been a bad test.
Anyway, I had survived, hadn’t I?
I wonder if Louis saw that.
She seemed to have recovered quite a bit, but mental issues like trauma could flare up anytime, anywhere.
On the way back after finishing the exam, I scanned the crowd of returning students, searching for short dark-blue hair.
“Oh, there she is.”
“Ah! Ashen!”
Louis spotted me too and immediately came running over.
“So, how did the test go? Think you did well?”
“Well… not really.”
“Yeah?”
That made sense. Even though Louis was trying her best to double-major by following me, neither of us exactly had stellar grades.
“After I beat about five people… the world suddenly flipped upside down.”
“Huh? What do you mean—”
“They said Loxia used magic.”
“Ah.”
Poor guy. Of all the people to run into, it had to be the top student of the Magic Department…
Feeling a surge of sympathy, I patted him on the back. That really had been a natural disaster.
“Still, it’s good you managed to beat five… If you hadn’t met anyone and got eliminated…”
“Aigoo.”
Now that I thought about it, he was actually pretty lucky.
“Haa… But I still don’t think I’ll get a good score.”
“You don’t have to push yourself too hard. You’re only double-majoring because you’re following me.”
No matter how much Louis was my servant, everyone had their own talents and preferences. It was normal to focus on one field. The weird one was me, taking all four majors.
“…No. The Serdis family has done so much for me. I have to show results.”
“Well… if that’s how you feel, I won’t stop you. But seriously, don’t overdo it, okay?”
“It’s weird hearing you say that.”
“Why?”
I had never pushed myself too hard in my entire life. Swordsmanship, magic, magic engineering, economics—every single one of them had been perfectly manageable, so I just did them all.
While Louis and I were talking about the exam, I suddenly noticed something.
“Oh.”
In the distance, I saw Levia talking one-sidedly while Loxia listened with complete indifference. The moment our eyes met, Loxia vanished in an instant and reappeared right in front of me.
“Mad… Ashen.”
“…Hey, you were about to call me a madman again, weren’t you.”
“Did you do well on the test?”
“Changing the subject again… Sigh, whatever. I think I did decently.”
“I see.”
“What about you?”
“It would be unfair if I took the test seriously… So I just cast one large-scale spell in a random area and called it a day.”
“Oh, is that so.”
At least she had some conscience.
…But if she only used one spell, maybe my score could actually end up higher?
Nah… forget it. What I wanted was to win with pure skill, not by taking advantage of a handicap.
I wouldn’t even feel good about getting first place that way.
There was nothing more uncomfortable than beating an opponent who wasn’t even trying their best.
“…Anyway, I’m glad you look completely fine.”
“About what?”
“You know, during the last test you couldn’t use magic and almost died because of that wyvern. Since you’re the top student of the Magic Department, it must have been terrifying not being able to use magic. I was worried it might leave you with some trauma.”
You know how in fantasy stories there are always characters who used to be strong but can’t use their full power anymore because of trauma, or refuse to use their strength? I’d been anxious that every time Loxia tried to use magic, the memory of the wyvern would come back and freeze her up, or that she might start avoiding magic altogether.
As I always said, the first place I wanted was one earned purely by my own ability, not one handed to me because my rival retired.
But thankfully, contrary to my worries—
“No problem. It’s more efficient to store more knowledge than useless emotions and memories.”
“Yeah, I guess you need to be that cold to stay first in the Magic Department.”
Loxia was eerily unfazed. Maybe because she was the type who didn’t even bother remembering people’s names if she deemed them unimportant, there simply wasn’t any room in her head for something like trauma.
“That’s a relief. If you had to step down from first place for such a ridiculous reason, then not only me but—”
The moment I said that, something happened.
“…”
“Uh…”
My eyes suddenly met Levia’s, who was standing motionless in the distance. She had been talking to Loxia over there, but now that Loxia had come over here, she was left standing alone. Her usual sharp, venomous gaze that also looked perpetually annoyed was hard to read. I waited quietly in case she had something to say, but—
—Whoosh.
She simply turned her head and walked away.
What was that about?
Leona, the second place of the Knight Department, was so simple that her emotions showed clearly on her face. But the second place of the Magic Department was completely impossible to read.
Levia Gloria.
The second daughter of Duke Gloria and the girl who ‘was’ supposed to become the greatest mage in all of history. The reason it was in past tense was obvious if you looked at her current ranking in the Magic Department—there was a genius who had surpassed her.
Loxia Astra.
Unlike Levia, who had a fierce personality, Loxia was cold and indifferent. Unlike Levia’s petite frame, Loxia was tall for a woman and well-endowed. She was the woman Levia hated most in the world.
Ever since she was young, Levia had been able to use advanced magic as easily as eating meals. She had been praised as a once-in-a-generation genius, and everyone around her had showered her with compliments. Her father, Duke Gloria, had poured endless resources into nurturing her talent.
The combination of genius talent and capital capable of changing the world had created the strongest mage. She had surpassed the tower masters and even succeeded in learning celestial magic, which only the mage of the legendary hero’s party had been able to use in the distant past.
Everyone praised her. Everyone looked up to her. That had been Levia.
But the one who appeared before her as she grew bored with it all and her personality worsened was—
“Loxia Astra…”
The genius who surpassed her. Loxia Astra.
Born just one day earlier than Levia in the Astra ducal family, she was a genius who surpassed even Levia’s genius. A week before Levia began learning celestial magic, Loxia had already stepped into it. Even now, while Levia still couldn’t perfectly control celestial magic, Loxia used it without any difficulty.
Another genius who had taken the spot above the head of the girl who had always been number one. Just her existence alone made Levia uncomfortable, so Levia picked fights with Loxia at every opportunity.
But Loxia, whose personality was as cold as her appearance, didn’t let any of Levia’s attacks land. Even though Levia was second place, the way Loxia didn’t even pay attention to her only piled on more and more inferiority complex.
She had gritted her teeth, vowing that one day she would definitely make Loxia notice her. And then—
“Mad… Ashen.”
“………?”
An anomaly occurred.
Loxia, who had either ignored Levia’s words or given only the shortest possible replies, had spoken first.
“What is it?”
It was a male student Levia didn’t remember seeing before. And Loxia was reacting to him like that?
Levia stared at the young man standing across from Loxia with deeply suspicious eyes. For what reason? What was so special about him that Loxia would show interest?
Even after Loxia and the male student parted ways, Levia’s sharp gaze never left him.
“…Who the hell is that guy?”
In Levia’s mind, the image of the young man with ashen hair was permanently etched.