The Grim Test Period Begins
The academy's time had passed so quickly since I first stepped through its gates.
The knowledge I had absorbed was steadily piling up, forming a surprisingly thick stack of pages.
As teaching materials, the pages I had once casually flipped through now felt heavy enough to withstand wind without fluttering.
What did that mean?
For any student, it meant the nightmare of exams had arrived—twice at minimum per semester, four times a year.
Moreover, Farnike Academy was the place that produced the kingdom's elite.
Every class had a clear purpose, and it taught students through proper curricula.
In other words, the exam scope was lethal.
The thick pages had already begun to crush the students' hearts, and the difficulty of the subjects squeezed their brains just as hard.
But that wasn't all.
Students were constantly burdened with assignments.
After a day's classes, how much time one had to invest each day in homework.
Combined with exam preparation, it became unbearable.
"Those guys look pitiful. I've never seen Ferdan with dark circles under his eyes."
How could a knight faculty student say such a thing when he saw Ferdan's state?
At this time of year, even the knight and mage faculties—usually bickering—had no time to spare for each other, let alone pitying his exhausted appearance.
***
The knight faculty rest room.
Students with time on their hands gathered in the large courtyard-like lounge.
Nearly a hundred of them were there, yet the place was quiet, not noisy.
Most sat with their faces buried in their arms, asleep, or finished the assignments with days left until submission, keeping the interior peaceful.
And Lir Ostrein was the same.
Not even a snooze, but passed out with a face so drained it was almost comical, her head buried on the desk.
Around her sat the entire A-class.
Given the environment, A-class students had no choice but to get close, so most of them hung out together.
"Lir-nim, this is the first time I've seen you sleeping so defenselessly."
"I was doing the 'Sign Report' assignment all night. I heard one of my arms is still hurting, so I couldn't secure the papers properly and it took forever."
"You really started on the first day you got the assignment, huh?"
Serpin tilted her head toward the sleeping Lir and shook her hand in front of her eyes, flicking them with her fingers. Dalek's tired look was obvious.
Altro had his usual insane diligence and had finished the assignment right away.
"Fflavio, you must have it easier, right? Serpin must have found it more manageable?"
"Eh? It's not about difficulty—it's the quantity, isn't it?"
The A-class's number one, Flavio, looked at everyone and spoke. Not Lir, of course.
Flavio's family had always served as knights. Dalek, who knew that, naturally asked about the Sign since he knew it well.
"Yes, drawing the runes, writing the report, analyzing. The quantity was the problem, yes."
"I guess I asked a bad question."
Even at the general student level, the difficulty wasn't that high.
The real issue was the monstrous quantity.
It wasn't a standard report; it had a thickness and weight that set it apart.
If it hadn't been Professor Remediela—the one with high student popularity and who rarely gave assignments—the complaints about the professor would have echoed through the room several times.
After a few students rubbed their eyes awake and packed their bags, they headed out the rest room door.
As other students stood one by one, it was clearly time to leave.
"Lir-nim, Lir-nim. Wake up."
"Uu, uuuuh..."
Serpin grabbed her shoulder and gently shook her.
Lir's upper body slowly rose, accompanied by a groan from her lips.
Rubbing her blurry eyes, Lir sat up.
"This... class... what was it again..."
"Ecology."
Ugh. The moment she heard it, Lir frowned.
Her sleepy head got a proper jolt from the sudden stimulant, but her mood was worse than the grogginess.
Every class at Farnike Academy had a clear purpose and taught students through proper curricula.
...but there was one subject she couldn't agree with.
Ecology.
The second she heard the name, Lir sighed.
"...I hate it. Just sleeping would be better."
"Still have to go. Lir-nim, wake up."
"Got it, got it. I barely got three hours of sleep."
Stumbling, Lir gripped Serpin's arm and stood up. Despite her displeasure, she had no choice but to move her feet.
***
Ecology.
In the dictionary, it was the study of the interaction between organisms and their surrounding environment.
But in the knight faculty, it was essentially a course on monsters.
What they liked, what they hated.
Where they lived, what to watch out for.
Weak points, what not to do when facing them.
It was an incredibly important subject.
Because stepping onto a battlefield as a stranger required essential knowledge of monsters.
The students knew how important it was, of course.
"Hmm, hnnng!"
Every time a humming tune sounded, the students' spirits sank.
In reality, by now, there was nothing left to be discouraged about.
The ecology professor walked among the students gathered in the lecture hall.
Professor Jeremi Hyasmah's appearance was quite different from the others.
Shorter than Lir, with a somewhat plump build, she wore a practical green skirt and short coat—something the other professors wouldn't touch.
It was because she was neither a knight nor a mage, but a scholar.
"As I mentioned, Prexitons are individually weak but live in groups. They have a rabbit-like appearance, but when you get close, they suddenly start biting everything off. And..."
Her teaching method was simple.
She simply placed the thick textbook in front of her and slowly read it down.
She accepted no questions and posed no questions to draw student responses.
She only read the content in the textbook, one by one.
Of course, the students found it uninteresting and boring.
*When will it end?*
Even students trying to stay motivated had long given up.
Everyone didn't want to, but as they listened, they inevitably nodded off or their minds wandered elsewhere.
But there was one person who found motivation in a different way.
"Ssshhheeeep..."
*Lir-nim...*
Lir Ostrein.
Every time she entered this class, her anger surged to the point where suppressing it was a torment.
Around her, Serpin secretly watched Lir's eyes with veins popping on her forehead.
*The professor should be a proper professor.*
Professor Jeremi Hyasmah was not a proper professor.
Or, perhaps the academy had granted her the title, but I couldn't accept it as one.
If she kept reading books day and night and eating salary, I would have quit being a knight and become a professor.
Reading such an important subject only in theory? How could it possibly sink in?
And it wasn't like the academy lacked environments for practical work.
They were even raising captured monsters in the backyard, yet Jeremi only droned on about theory.
Previously, Lir couldn't take it and stood up to complain.
"Professor, if you only use theory, it won't make sense. Aren't you planning to do practical work? It's a bit different from what I know."
She hadn't been rude at the time.
But Jeremi's forehead wrinkled, her face turned red, and she approached Lir with a gentle tone, though clearly full of emotion.
"Practical. Theory. Foundation. That's how it's done."
"Ecology is a body of knowledge that takes over ten years to study deeply. But you only need to skim the surface, so you've shortened the academy years to just a few. Yet you call it boring? How absurd."
After hearing that, Lir had given up on the quality of the class.
She was discouraged and decided to study alone.
But now, there was one more thing that was unbearable.
"Prexitons hate beans the most. If you run into a Prexiton group, just throw some beans and they'll leave on their own."
*What a load of nonsense.*
The thing they went crazy for and ate the most was canned black beans.
It was still fresh in my eyes. When I scouted, the Prexitons covering the camp broke the glass bottles and happily ate the beans.
There were more mistakes than one or two.
Everything came from blindly trusting only the outdated, error-filled textbook.
How important was it to know a monster's ecology on the battlefield?
Since the main enemy was almost monsters, it was essential to know their tactics well.
Lir, sensitive to life and death, could never just overlook it.
"Lir student, any questions?"
"No."
"I hope you have none in the future either."
Right then, with a sinister smile, Jeremi casually poked Lir and looked at her before turning back to start reading the textbook again.
Crack, crack.
Serpin saw the pen in Lir's hand break into pieces beside her.
Lir barely, barely managed to calm her urge to stand up right then.
Calm down. Calm down.
The world didn't work according to her will.
*I should listen while pretending and tell the kids properly after class. Entering a monster habitat after listening to this garbage class will get them killed.*
After a long time of anger management, I glanced at the clock on the wall and waited for the class to end.
"Today's lesson ends here."
Whoosh! As the book closed, the students' souls returned.
But unlike usual, Professor Jeremi continued speaking.
"Next week, there's an exam. Since there's a class in between, we plan to do one practical you all wanted..."
Jeremi looked directly at Lir and continued.
"Lir, would you help? You seemed very enthusiastic in class."
"..."
"Thought we should show you all how useful the content in the book is."
In other words, she planned to throw Lir to the monsters under the guise of practical and humiliate her while boosting herself.
Looking at that sinister smile.
"Yes, I understand."
Lir nodded, accepting the offer.
Her expression was blank, but beneath that face, her usual confidence was rising again.