Chapter 17

Aidrin Telne muttered, "What on earth is going ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠on...?"

"Why only those three? What could they possibly be talking about...?"

Four of the eleven people in the testing hall had left. Yet, the hall had only grown noisier. The remaining applicants were engaged in a heated discussion about the office they had entered, wondering what was happening behind those closed doors.

"..." Aidrin stepped back from the commotion, lost in her own thoughts. 'I'm in deep trouble...!'

Now that the situation had settled and her excitement had cooled, reality set in. A tidal wave of regret washed over her, making her head spin. 'Did I overstep my bounds?'

Thinking it was her duty to protect the honor of Drin and Kasha... 'I must have been insane!' Looking back on it now with a clear head, nothing could have been more presumptuous. Who was she to defend their honor?

'Did they think that way too...?' At the time, Aidrin had assumed they were looking at her favorably. She had interpreted their stares as: 'How impressive of her to step forward for our honor.' But replaying the scene in her mind now, her interpretation completely flipped. It felt more like: 'Who does this Telne girl think she is, acting so self-important?'

In fact, even when she had passionately defended them, their reactions had been lukewarm at best. Drin Libringer had even defended her opponent, Number 348, instead of her.

"Come to think of it, that commoner, Number 348... he seemed to know Lady Drin. What's their deal?"

What made it worse was the possibility that Drin had defended Number 348 because of a personal connection. If that were true, Aidrin had just publicly made an enemy of Drin Libringer's acquaintance in front of everyone.

"..." At that realization, Aidrin's face drained of color. 'Am I... in Lady Drin's bad graces now...?'

If Drin and Kasha were geniuses, Aidrin was a prodigy. She wasn't someone who had to worry about whether she would pass the Academy entrance exam; her only concern was how high her rank would be. She had been confident in securing a top spot. Before the exam, her envisioned future at the Academy had been dazzling. But now, that future looked pitch-black, without a single ray of light.

Whisper, whisper. The other applicants couldn't care less about Aidrin right now. Everyone was staring at the office, gossiping about the four who had gone inside. But to Aidrin's ears, their whispers sounded like mockery directed at her. She felt as if they were stealing glances at her, judging her.

'It's over...' At this very moment, Aidrin felt her Academy life was finished before it even began. It was only natural, considering she had offended the great Drin Libringer.

'No, wait.' It was too early to give up. 'She defended me...' While Drin Libringer had sided with Number 348, Kasha Hanahan had taken her side.

'But... can I really call that defending me?' On second thought, Kasha hadn't so much taken her side as she had simply raised an objection against Number 348. Kasha Hanahan probably didn't care about her at all. In fact, knowing Kasha's personality, someone like Aidrin wouldn't even register on her radar.

"Ughhhhh...!" She ran her hands through her hair in frustration, turning her glossy, voluminous orange locks into a messy nest. She looked like a startled fox with its fur standing on end.

'Why on earth do I have to go through this?' Why did she have to suffer this agonizing anxiety of being hated by both Drin Libringer and Kasha Hanahan?

'It's all his fault!' Number 348. If that squinty-eyed idiot hadn't been so ridiculously stubborn, none of this would have happened.

'How could a nobody like him even dream of taking first place over Lady Drin and Lady Kasha!' She recalled Number 348's exam record. His movements had been utterly ordinary, completely mismatched with a fifty-second record. On the other hand, the Mana Golem he had faced was highly unusual. Unusually pathetic, that is. His record wasn't a result of his skill, but rather a malfunction in the golem. Anyone would think so. Absolutely anyone—

"..." Then, another person came to Aidrin's mind. Instructor Sinia. Aidrin remembered the expression on Instructor Sinia's face when she reviewed Number 348's record. In the eyes of the woman who usually looked ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠at the applicants as if they were mere chicks, interest and intrigue had sparked for the first time. It was the same for Drin and Kasha. Both had worn incredibly serious expressions while looking over his record, as if they had witnessed something extraordinary.

"Man, the more I think about it, the funnier that commoner is."

"Right? The golem was moving as dumb as a rock, and instead of thinking something was wrong with it, he actually thought he was amazing."

"Well, technically, it is a rock. The golem, I mean. And that commoner's head, too."

"Pfft, haha."

Normally, she would have reacted just like those applicants. Aidrin had shared their thoughts. That absurd record was, quite literally, absurd. It wasn't because of the man's skill, but because of a glitch in the golem. Yet, the reactions of Drin, Kasha, and Sinia kept nagging at her. What on earth did those reactions mean?

'...Is there really something to him? What if the golem wasn't the problem? What if he really is that incredible?' Aidrin tried to picture him to make a judgment. In her imagination, he spoke with his signature, goofy expression.

—Wow~ The more I think about it, don't you think I'm kind of amazing?

Aidrin shook her head violently. 'No way.' There was no way that idiot possessed some special talent that caught the eyes of those three. She couldn't believe it. She didn't want to believe it.

'But...' What she believed didn't matter right now. Her opinion was utterly worthless compared to theirs.

'Ugh...' Another terrifying scenario flashed through her mind. What if, as she feared, he truly possessed a talent remarkable enough to impress those three? What if he climbed to a height she could never hope to reach, and then turned his grudge upon her?

—I certainly haven't forgotten the grudge from the entrance exam, you know? he would say, wearing a deeply sinister smile.

"..." Aidrin felt a shiver run down her spine. 'I can't let this happen.' To put it nicely, Aidrin was socially adept. To put it bluntly, she was hyper-sensitive to what others thought of her. She had a tendency to walk on eggshells around those in higher positions. To an excessive degree.

'That guy—' At that moment, Aidrin's evaluation of Number 348 shifted. He went from a harmless idiot to a person of interest who required extreme caution. This made the situation infinitely worse. The person she had just publicly crossed had evolved from a simpleton acquainted with Drin into a highly dangerous figure acquainted with Drin.

*Click.* Just then, Drin Libringer stepped out of the office. The noisy waiting room instantly fell silent as the applicants held their breath, watching her.

'Huh?' Aidrin, who was also scrutinizing Drin, noticed something off. "..." At a glance, Drin looked as cold and composed as ever. But to Aidrin, whose life's work was reading people's moods, Drin seemed slightly displeased.

'Did something happen inside...?' Just then, a group of three applicants approached her. They seemed to have entered the exam together, as they had been the loudest talkers in the hall.

"Lady Drin, you mentioned earlier that you were acquainted with Number 348. What is the nature of your relationship?"

Perhaps they had gotten swept up in their own chatter. It was a tactless, clueless, and completely inappropriate question. It was a classic case of curiosity overriding common sense. Drin's calm eyes shifted toward the man who had spoken on behalf of the group.

"We have no relationship whatsoever."

"Ah, I-I see. Thank you for answering!" Sensing the chilly atmosphere radiating from Drin, they finally came to their senses and scrambled back to their seats, shutting their mouths for good.

'Idiots.' Aidrin found them pathetic, but she was also secretly grateful. They had asked the very question she had been too terrified to ask herself.

'They have no relationship?' In an instant, the weight crushing Aidrin's chest vanished. She no longer had to worry about offending Drin by targeting her acquaintance. According to Drin's answer, she and Number 348 were mere acquaintances with no real connection. Her defense of him earlier hadn't been out of personal bias, but simply because she believed it was the right thing to do.

"Phew..." Aidrin let out a massive sigh of relief, looking like someone who had just escaped the jaws of death.

"Everyone~ The results are in~" Instructor Sinia's voice, as she stepped out of the office, brought even more wonderful news for Aidrin.

"After reviewing Number 348's exam record, I determined there was an anomaly during his test and conducted a retest under the exact same conditions. The result of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the retest... Number 348's record is three minutes and forty-three seconds—which is still a pass!"

Number 348 was not Drin's close acquaintance. Nor was he a dangerous prodigy whose skills had captivated the three powerhouses. At this moment, every single problem plaguing Aidrin was resolved.

"Ahhh..." Aidrin barely kept her knees from buckling as the tension drained from her body. A smile naturally spread across her face.

'Still...' Aidrin looked at Number 348. She had held two wildly contrasting, extreme impressions of him. A dangerous figure with talent noticed by three powerhouses, or a pathetic idiot who would fail the second exam miserably. Aidrin had been certain he would fail the retest. Yet, contrary to her expectations, he had passed with flying colors. Though his new record was nothing compared to his first, three minutes and forty-three seconds was quite respectable by average standards. According to her memory of their group's scores, that put him in sixth place.

'How unexpected.' She saw him in a new light. His goofy expression and casual demeanor still made him look like an idiot, but at least he didn't seem as pathetic as before. Since he had passed the second exam, he was no longer a clueless fool who didn't know his place.

'If he could do that well, why did he—huh?' Just then, the man looked toward Drin.

"..." In response, Drin coldly turned her head away, clearly showing her displeasure.

'What's that about...?' Drin had defended his stance on keeping his original record. But that record had been invalidated. Come to think of it, this situation damaged not only his reputation but also the pride of the one who had defended him. Drin was likely displeased by that.

"..." Next, he looked at Kasha. Kasha, too, turned her head away just as Drin had. Given Kasha's personality, she probably despised him for clinging to a record he didn't deserve. There was a slight hint of embarrassment in Kasha's reaction, but that was surely just Aidrin's imagination.

"I knew it would turn out like this."

"Tsk, tsk. Shameless commoner."

"Greedy fool didn't know his place."

"As expected, he's nothing special." The insults of the other applicants buzzed in Aidrin's ears.

"..." The man was now an object of disappointment to Drin, contempt to Kasha, and scorn to everyone else. It was the worst-case scenario. He was facing a nightmare far worse than anything Aidrin had feared for herself. Aidrin stared in shock, a sudden realization hitting her.

'Is this... because of me?' Was his ruinous situation the result of her publicly questioning his record? In truth, even if she hadn't stepped forward, everyone would have doubted his score. Someone else would have eventually raised an objection. She had simply been the one to do what was inevitable. But right now, Aidrin's panicked mind couldn't reach that logical conclusion.

"Oh my god..." Her face contorted with guilt.

'Ah, sweet.' Having safely passed the second exam, I entered the 3rd Exam Waiting Room.

The quest was cleared. In my empty inventory, a random box that could yield up to a Hero-grade item had appeared as a reward. At this rate, I could confidently say: today's forecast was sweet as honey.

For some reason, Kasha's quest was already complete, meaning I no longer had to obsess over taking first place in the entrance exam. There was no need to force myself to use Assassination Arts and get dragged into annoying trouble; I just had to pass the exam smoothly.

The fact that the quest cleared even though Kasha still didn't seem to acknowledge me, and Drin sulking for some unknown reason... There were a few nagging details, but all in all, this was smooth sailing.

"If things keep going like this, I'll have no regrets."

Now, if I could just get a good gacha pull, it would be perfect. The cherry on top. To wrap up this delightful moment, I prepared to open the box.

"Excuse me..."

"Hm?" Right before I could open it, someone spoke to me. I closed my inventory and looked up. Standing there was a girl who looked like a startled fox with its fur standing on end.

'Oh, it's you.' Aidrin Telne. While she wasn't a main character like Drin or Kasha in the game, she still had a decent amount of screen time. And above all, she was the one who had led the charge in questioning my record earlier.

'What is it? Did she come to teabag me?' Was she ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠going to give me a smug look and say, "I knew it"? But looking at her, something seemed off.

"Are... are you okay...?" she asked, looking at me with extreme caution. 'What's with her? Why is she acting like this?'