Chapter 110
Chapter 110
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 110
Chapter Title: End-of-Term Report Card (2)
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“Yes. How are you two doing? Must be tough now that the break is over.”
Nade's face immediately crumpled.
“I'm going crazy. I have to get over 80 in every single subject for the rest of the term. It's killing me.”
“Haha! Trying to get promoted this time around?”
The only way to advance from Class Five to Class Four was to score 80 or higher in every subject. Not an average of 80, which made the difficulty immense.
“Of course. Isn't that what every student thinks about?”
“I suppose that's true. Well, do your best.”
Nade, who had been expecting a word of encouragement, looked dumbfounded. But Alpheas's educational philosophy was firm. Students were not racehorses. If left to roam in the meadow, they would eventually realize their own worth.
“Should we give you a hand?”
Shirone rolled up his sleeves and approached to help with the weeding.
“Ho ho, I can't let you take away an old man's only pleasure. I'll pull the weeds, so you all go do what you want.”
A look of disappointment filled Nade's eyes. His plan to use weeding as an excuse to escape reality, even for a moment, had been thwarted.
“Yes, sir. Well, take care.”
As Shirone's group headed back to their dorms, their faces were filled with worry. The other students were the same. The academy was still in disarray after Arcane's attack, and it wasn't easy to focus on studying like before.
Frustrated, Nade burst out.
“Ah, I'm going crazy. I need to study. Study! Study! I just can't focus.”
“It's always hard to get back to work after a big event. It was the same after the presentation.”
At Iruki's words, Shirone let out a deep sigh.
“Still, you're better off than me. I have twice as many subjects I need to raise above 80. I don't know if it's even possible.”
“I only have an advantage in math. I'm a total failure in the humanities. In that sense, Nade has the best chance.”
“What are you talking about? I don't have any particularly strong subjects. You and Shirone will definitely aim for the top in the practical exams, but I can't even do that, so I'm at the biggest disadvantage.”
The practical exams for Class Five focused more on Spirit Zone management than magic. With his Immortal Function, Shirone, and with his Servant Syndrome, Iruki, could place high in any practical exam. Nade, on the other hand, had to compete with the same Spirit Zone as every other student.
“Thinking about all this is giving me a headache. How about we just take today off and start tomorrow?”
The other two neither agreed nor disagreed with Nade's suggestion. Seeing even the model student Shirone remain silent, it seemed their motivation had truly been crushed.
“Huh? Guys, look over there…”
Shirone pointed toward the central park, and Nade and Iruki turned their heads, their eyes widening.
“What? How are they here?”
Canis and Arin were wandering the campus. When they made eye contact with Shirone's group, they started walking over. Canis raised a hand in greeting.
“Yo. Classes over already? The facilities and environment are decent, but they seem to be too soft on the kids here.”
“You! What the hell are you planning?”
Nade stepped in front of them. Of course, he'd heard from Thadd that the two had been acquitted, but he thought their connection had ended there. No, it *should* have ended. So why were they strolling through the academy?
Shirone asked.
“What's going on? Do you have business at the academy?”
Canis looked back at Shirone without answering. The person who concerned him most at the academy wasn't Alpheas or any of the teachers, but Shirone. The one who had handed him his first defeat. If he couldn't surpass him, no matter how strong he became, he would just be running in place.
“Listen carefully. If we face off again, the result will be the complete opposite of last time.”
Before Shirone could reply, Nade shot back.
“This bastard still hasn't learned his lesson. You've got another ten years before you can beat Shirone.”
“And you? I doubt even ten years would be enough for you to face me.”
Nade's face twisted. The emotions from when Shirone was hovering between life and death resurfaced, and a flash of killing intent crossed his mind. Not wanting to cause an unnecessary scene, Iruki stepped in to defuse the situation.
“Stop it. Never mind that, why are you here?”
“Why else? I'm checking out the place I'll be living from now on.”
“What?”
At the unexpected words, Shirone's group stared wide-eyed.
“It's just as I said. I figured it might be good to experience this magic academy or whatever it is.”
Nade rolled up his sleeves and snapped.
“There's a limit to looking down on a magic academy! Who would accept someone like you?”
Canis raised a finger and pointed.
“Senior.”
“What?”
“Call me senior. I looked into it, and you're all in Class Five. I'm in Class Four.”
Shirone's group was dumbstruck. It must have been Alpheas who accepted the two of them. But to be placed in Class Four immediately upon enrollment… It wasn't completely unheard of, but it was certainly rare.
“What's so surprising? We are the disciples of a great mage. We've learned all the fundamentals of magic. It would be ridiculous to treat us the same as idle guys like you.”
Shirone's group felt a surge of anger but kept their mouths shut. After spending more than ten years with Arcane, mastering magic, it was true that even Class Four might not be high enough for them.
“So from now on, I expect you to address me respectfully as 'senior'.”
“That's hilarious! You're starting next semester anyway, right? By then, we'll have been promoted to Class Four too!”
“Really? Your grades are surprisingly terrible. Honestly, I'm disappointed. To think I struggled against such pathetic losers.”
The first thing Canis had investigated at the academy was the grades and social circles of Shirone's group. He had expected them to be competing for the top spot, so he was shocked to find they were in Class Five, and in the middle ranks at that.
However, no one in the advanced classes underestimated them. He had heard time and again that they could climb the ranks anytime they set their minds to it.
As Shirone's group gritted their teeth, unable to retort, Canis turned away with a satisfied look.
“Anyway, work hard. If you end up as my juniors, I'll be sure to take good care of you. Hahaha!”
Canis's retreating shadow stretched out toward Shirone's group, and then Harvest raised both arms and flipped them off with both hands. Thoroughly provoked, the three boys' shoulders trembled with rage.
Shirone broke the heavy silence.
“Taking today off is canceled.”
“Yeah. Canis as our senior? I'd rather drop out of school than see that happen.”
“Hmph, why drop out? We'll get promoted right in front of him and knock him down a peg.”
The only thing on their minds was promotion. But how? The end-of-term evaluations were on a different level from overcoming a single obstacle. It was the culmination of a half-year's worth of work, so even if they started something now, success wasn't guaranteed.
“I've thought about this before…”
Shirone began, his expression serious.
“At my current level, the probability of me getting promoted was about 30 percent. And that's if I studied my absolute hardest.”
It wasn't a mathematical analysis like Iruki's, but Shirone's insight was also highly reliable, so his friends believed him. Nade's expression darkened again.
“Honestly, even though I talked big, this isn't going to be easy. If Shirone is at 30 percent, am I maybe around 50? And Iruki's probably around 60.”
“No. I'm at about 58.7 percent. Of course, promotion is based mainly on end-of-term grades, but honestly, I haven't attended a single class.”
The three of them sighed. At this rate, they would have no choice but to bow their heads to Canis and Arin starting next semester.
“So… what about this?”
At Shirone's suggestion, Nade turned to him, his eyes shining.
“What is it? Do you have a good idea?”
“Honestly, if we study the way we have been, the probability of success is too low. So we need to change our strategy.”
Iruki said.
“You mean change our methods? But how?”
“That 30 percent I mentioned is based on the premise of studying hard. But if we aim just for the exams, not for learning, I think I can get it over 50 percent. Which means for you guys, it could be 70 or even 80 percent.”
“Hmm. Aim for the exams? I get it. You mean we should pick and choose what to focus on.”
“Exactly. We only need to get over 80. There's no need to invest time in subjects we're already good at. And we don't need to study topics that won't be on the exams. The sixteen subjects can be broadly divided into four categories: humanities, mathematics, sciences, and practical skills.”
Shirone continued his explanation, counting on his fingers.
“The good thing is, we can each easily pass at least one category. And most importantly, our strengths don't overlap. I've got the humanities, Iruki has math, and Nade has science. The practical skills are something we can't really help each other with anyway.”
Iruki nodded in understanding.
“In short, you're proposing we form a study group. Since we don't need to study our respective strong suits, we can use that time to help each other with our weaknesses.”
“Right. If we focus on teaching each other the core tricks to get over 80 on the exams, our chances will be much higher. With this, I think I can raise my probability to 50 percent.”
The corners of Iruki's mouth lifted. Seeing Shirone this desperate, it seemed the thought of having Canis and Arin as his seniors really did bother him.
In any case, it was a good idea. And if all three of them could be promoted at the same time, there could be no better outcome.
“I'm in. In that case, let's go to the society room right now and make a plan. What do you say?”
“Let's do it!”
Burning with fighting spirit, the three boys ran toward the Istas.
* * *
Shirone devoted himself to studying day and night.
One had to know how to manage time. For someone who wasn't conscious of it, an hour could pass in a flash, but for someone who broke that hour down into ten-minute increments, it was a considerable amount of time.
Shirone broke down all the remaining time until the end-of-term exams into one-hour blocks. It was a strategy to prevent time from slipping away by always keeping it at the forefront of his mind.
He would use the powerful efficiency gained from this to target the exams.
Rather than understanding the process, he focused on conquering problem types and analyzing the intent behind the questions and their solutions. In that respect, the study group was effective. Thanks to them complementing each other's weaknesses, Shirone was also able to raise his average mock exam score to over 70.
Of course, it wasn't all smooth sailing. Once they actually started studying, they realized the reason they were weak in certain subjects wasn't laziness, but a genuine lack of aptitude.
Iruki, in particular, had a stark difference between his humanities and math skills. He would furiously work through the practice sheets Shirone made, only to put down his pen and stretch after a mere thirty minutes.
“All done.”
“Let me see.”
Shirone went through Iruki's answers one by one. The more he checked, the more his hands trembled. He could now understand why the humanities teachers winced at the mere sight of Iruki's face.
Shirone pointed at the test paper with a look of disbelief.
“Hey, how does ‘You eat pasta, I will eat pasta.’ make any sense? I explained conjunctions and sentence structure to you!”
“Why doesn't it? 'You eat pasta!' 'I will eat pasta!' It's perfectly logical. It's a sentence that emphasizes each of us as an independent subject.”
“Huh? Ah, well…”
Shirone, finding it strangely plausible, was momentarily flustered. But he quickly came to his senses and shouted.
“That's not it. Language isn't math. It's a tool for expression, not for proof! So you have to read between the lines, not just separate the sentences!”
“Damn it, what the hell is that? Math is the best!”
“Shut up! I know you're just being stubborn! You know it sounds weird too, don't you?”