A Month of Study and the Semester Exam
"Hey. Just pretend I'm not here and keep doing what you were doing."
Lorraine finished her introduction just that simply, then took a seat and opened her textbook.
Dick, Meilin, and Camibarez kept stealing glances at her from behind their notes.
*How is she just going to act like she's not here?!*
This was none other than Nephthys's daughter. The air around her was anything but easy to relax in.
The classroom air grew thick and hard to breathe.
*...But still.*
Meilin's gaze darted around.
*How does Simon know Lorraine?*
She harbored the question for a moment, but after a little thought, it made sense. Simon had been admitted as Special Admission No. 1 on Nephthys's personal recommendation. It wouldn't be strange for him to be acquainted with her daughter.
*She's so pretty...*
Camibarez was admiring her with pure, honest awe. Jet-black hair like a spread of night sky, ruby-red eyes, and that unmistakable air of untouchable elegance.
Even among Kizen's students, Lorraine stood in a class entirely her own.
And Dick, who prized connections above all else, desperately wanted to strike up a conversation with Lorraine. But he judged the odds of making a weird slip of the tongue and leaving a terrible impression were far higher than the odds of actually befriending her, so he held himself back.
*Better to just study.*
Scratch, scratch.
Only the sound of quills filled the quiet classroom. The usually rowdy group study had gone silent, and honestly, this atmosphere was far better for actually getting work done. Everyone buried themselves in their books, if only to avoid thinking too hard about Lorraine.
"..."
Then, at some point, Lorraine bit her lip slightly and frowned, as if stuck on something. Simon, catching the look, asked quietly.
"Something not working out?"
"...Yeah."
"Where?"
"Question seven, here."
Simon spoke up loudly, as if he'd been waiting for the chance.
"Oh, really? Meilin's great at Curse Magic problems."
Meilin, who had been bent over her notes in deep concentration, shot her head up, face flushing scarlet. She mouthed *Hey! Keep it down!*—but the moment Lorraine lifted her head, she snapped her mouth shut.
Simon chuckled.
"Meilin, could you explain this one?"
"...Uh, sure."
Meilin awkwardly shuffled over and stood beside Lorraine, beginning to walk her through question seven. It was only natural she couldn't solve it—she simply didn't know the formula yet.
After hearing the explanation, Lorraine nodded.
"Then if you substitute the formula in, it comes out like this."
She'd only been told the formula, but Lorraine was already scribbling out a full solution across her notebook, line after line.
"Yes! That's right! Wow, you're really good at this?"
Meilin's praise wasn't just politeness—she was genuinely impressed. Was this what they meant by knowing ten things once you learned one? Her comprehension was dazzling.
"But why did you cancel out all the values here and solve it this way?"
"It's the only method I know. Is it wrong?"
"No, no! That's not it. Honestly, this approach is pretty impressive. Hold on a second..."
Before long, it was Meilin—the one doing the teaching—who got more and more worked up. Watching her, Simon thought to himself.
*A laid-back genius... is that the vibe?*
There was no disputing Lorraine's ability. People said she was weak on note-taking, but truthfully, it seemed more like she had plenty of ability and simply couldn't muster the motivation or interest. That was Simon's speculation, of course.
Once Meilin had broken the ice, Dick and Camibarez each traded a few words with Lorraine too. Everyone had assumed she'd be terrifyingly serious and intense, but she treated them far more warmly than expected.
*Nom.*
Hungry, perhaps, she sampled the cookies Dick had brought and nodded in approval—the taste suited her.
"What's this?"
"Grain cookies from Rochest."
Dick answered quickly. Lorraine let out a small sound of admiration.
"I didn't know they had things like this."
"Want me to tell you where to get them?"
The atmosphere loosened up bit by bit, and Simon watched them with quiet relief, feeling strangely proud.
Lorraine had said she'd stay an hour or two at most, but the studying had gone so smoothly that she ended up staying much longer, and the other group members, their nervousness set aside, treated her as just one of them.
Time slipped by, and darkness fell. A caretaker came by to say the classroom had to be vacated.
"See you all later!"
"Today's study session was so good!"
They exchanged their goodbyes. A part of them wanted to keep the evening going, but with exams approaching, they agreed to split up and study on their own.
Simon offered to walk Lorraine to Kizen's exit.
"...A month already, huh."
Lorraine murmured that, then looked at Simon.
"Is school life fun?"
"It's the best."
Simon grinned.
"Is this life precious enough to risk everything for?"
"Yes."
Simon answered without a moment's hesitation.
She nodded slowly, draped a robe over her shoulders, and pulled up the hood. Then she spread her arms, a subspace opened in the empty air, and from within it emerged a magnificent skeleton horse.
"Thanks for walking me out. I'll be off."
Pressing her palm against the tall skeleton horse's body, she vaulted up onto its back in a single motion.
Simon gave the skeleton horse's head a light pat, and it let out a rattle-like whinny, nuzzling its skull against his palm.
"Simon."
"Yeah."
Her red eyes gleamed from within the hood.
"Question everything. Trust no one."
"...?"
With those words as her parting gift, she pulled the skeleton horse's reins and rode away.
* * *
The exam period flew by like light itself.
You'd wake up, head to school, and before you knew it, find yourself collapsed face-down on your bed, thoroughly pickled in exhaustion.
With midterms scheduled for the following week, the Duel Evaluation was quietly shelved, and the entire student body threw itself into massive exam preparation. The professors, for their part, seemed pleased that the students' focus—scattered by all the dueling—had snapped back into place.
Simon adopted Meilin's study method: increase the volume of written notes, review for twenty minutes immediately after every class, drill key problems whenever a spare moment presented itself, and work through past exam papers during breaks.
*...At this point, it's honestly a battle of stamina.*
He'd learned a lot preparing for the last Duel Evaluation. He cut back on sleep, but avoided the madness of all-nighters as much as possible, focusing on every single minute he was awake.
Going to the cafe, the library, or the dorm study hall the moment classes ended had become his new normal.
"Haaargh! Come ON!"
While they were studying in the school cafe, Dick suddenly grabbed at his own neck, pantomiming strangulation.
"Hurry up and pass, this week! Ugh! What kind of life is this?!"
Simon, studying in the seat beside him, snorted.
"Hey. You there."
Just then, a girl flipping through a magazine at the window seat in the back glared daggers at Dick.
"You all want to die? Keep it down."
"A-ah, sorry!"
Dick bowed his head quickly. The girl turned away with an irritated snap of her head.
"...Was that really necessary?"
Simon muttered, and Dick immediately pressed a finger to his lips—*shh, shh!*
"That person's a second-year."
One thing had changed starting this week: the second- and third-years had finally returned to Kizen.
The campus where classes were held and the dormitory sections were divided by year, so run-ins during class hours were rare—but after lessons let out, you could occasionally cross paths with them at the school cafe or the library.
Subtle as it was, second-years bore a small red mark on the collar of their Kizen uniform, and third-years a gray one.
Third-years especially were almost never seen, buried as they were in missions and practical training. The Student Council and the clans were run primarily by second-years, as well.
"Better be careful around the upperclassmen."
Dick said in a lowered voice.
"The power and authority a second-year holds versus a first-year is the difference between heaven and earth. Getting on their bad side for no reason wins you nothing."
Even Simon, new to school life altogether, had enough sense to pick up on that much. The two of them buried themselves in exam prep once more.
The next day.
And the day after that.
Whether asleep or slumped over his desk, Simon's head felt like it was spinning constantly with the formulas and knowledge from class. Students nose-bleeding mid-lecture became an everyday occurrence, and some, starved of sleep, went *bang* face-first into their desks.
But no one gave up.
As long as you belonged to Kizen, you couldn't escape the taut, throat-tightening tension. Anyone who couldn't withstand this level of pressure would do well to simply leave the school.
Then, a few days later, in Jane's Introductory Dark Magic class.
"You have sixty minutes for the performance assessment exam."
The week before midterms, the group performance assessment was held.
It was an assessment right before exam period, yet the students raised no complaints. Understandably so—this evaluation was heavily geared toward preparing them for the midterms.
It was a class where group members sat in a circle around a massive exam paper over two meters long and worked through it together. Questions from all eight subjects besides Introductory Dark Magic were packed onto this single sheet.
*So it really is an advantage for all four group members to have different specialty subjects.*
Simon glanced around. Students whose specialties overlapped were still too busy bickering—I'll do this one, no, you do that one—
"Focus!"
Group leader Meilin snapped out instructions with crisp, practiced finger points.
"I've got Curse Magic, Cami takes Hemomancy, Dick takes Jet-Black Mechanics, Simon takes Summoning. If you hit a question you don't know, mark it with a star and move on fast. If something feels shaky or needs double-checking, mark it with a triangle. I'll sweep up from question one and verify everything. Once you finish your own specialty questions, Cami covers Toxicology, Simon covers Magic Combat, and Dick covers Divine Defense. Got it?"
When it came to written exams, Meilin's word was law, so everyone nodded quickly.
"There are quite a lot of Summoning questions. I can trust you with them, right? Simon."
Simon grinned at her.
"Naturally."
Jane glanced at her wristwatch and spoke.
"Right. Begin your exam."
*Swish!*
The sound of all sixteen groups tearing the covers off their exam papers at once filled the room.
Simon quickly found the Summoning questions.
Summoning started at question forty-one.
41. Which of the following undead reproduce through spawning? (2 points)
① Zombie
② Skeleton
③ Specter
④ Ghoul
⑤ Lich
*Four, ghoul. A peculiar case—undead that reproduce asexually. Offspring grow to adulthood in a single month, and there's no maternal instinct from the parent.*
Simon checked number four and moved down to the next question.
42. When converting a standard zombie into a frenzied zombie, which of the following detail formulas CANNOT be added to the magic circle?
① Construction
② Fury
③ Wailing
④ Madness
⑤ Convulsion
*Five, for sure. Standard zombies already have 'convulsion' built in, so there's no reason to use a duplicate formula!*
The corner of Simon's mouth curled upward.
He knew all of it, and it was coming together beautifully! He felt like shouting for joy.
*So this is what studying feels like when it's actually fun?*
It was still vivid in his memory—that vicious helplessness he'd felt during Jane's very first test.
But things were different now.
Simon began carving upward through the paper like a man possessed.
Meilin, working her way down through the Curse Magic formula questions, caught sight of him and smiled faintly.
*...Hmph. Well, I suppose he did put in the work.*
Back when the groups were chosen, Simon had declared that if he didn't beat Meilin's Summoning grade, he'd leave Kizen.
Of course, students had been around to hear it, but it was a statement with no binding force—if Meilin, the injured party, forgave him, the matter could simply pass.
*Not that I'm just going to forgive him.*
By now, Meilin didn't want Simon gone from Kizen. But there was a debt outstanding from the Cyclops assessment, where he'd beaten her. Her plan was to surpass him in Summoning this time and settle that score.
She hadn't told him any of this, of course. She wanted him to study with a proper edge of tension.
"Hey, Meilin! Help! Jet-Black Mechanics, question twenty-five!"
Dick suddenly cut in, shouting.
She, who had been staring at Simon with grave seriousness, whipped around to face him with a dead-eyed expression in a heartbeat.
"If you don't know it, star it and move on, you moron!"
"Nngh, I can't! If I don't resolve this uneasy feeling, it'll ruin my whole approach to the other questions...!"
"LET IT GO!!"