164. Final Exams
164. Final Exams
Midsummer, in the middle of July.
The final exams, spanning a total of fifteen days, had begun.
No one knew what they would involve.
The only explanations given were that hints were hidden in the written questions from the midterm, along with the duration and the starting location. There were no other instructions.
Apparently, the exams are the same for both second-years and third-years. The final exam is a practical exam based on hints hidden in the midterm.
The duration is said to vary depending on the type of exam.
Looking through past records in the library, some exams ended in less than a single day, so the exam we're about to take falls on the longer side.
Fifteen days.
That's a span of time where you die if you don't eat or drink.
Because of that, students can be seen carrying food and various daily necessities to last those fifteen days.
Students lugging huge backpacks with grunts of effort.
Students who've loaded massive amounts of luggage onto something like a familiar, as if they'd brought every item from their homes, and students who've packed only the bare minimum of food and supplies.
Most of them are commoners.
The students who clearly look like nobles are traveling light. That's only natural, since they've brought their things in subspace pouches.
Of course, even among those nobles, there are differences.
Starting from slightly larger backpacks, to handbags like Silina's that have both design and performance covered.
Even so, there's a vast gap between them and the commoners.
There will be differences in the supplies they've brought, too.
Naturally, they would have packed better, more plentiful, and more convenient supplies. Commoners, on the other hand, had no choice but to rely on less dependable goods.
I'm not saying this to boast about being a ducal daughter. I'm only stating facts.
In fact, 400 years ago, I was a ragged pickpocket rolling around the streets, and those memories and feelings remain fully intact.
So I have no desire to entertain such pathetic thoughts of showing off or flaunting authority.
The academy proclaims that there should be no distinctions based on status, so why don't they regulate things like that? Even as I thought that, I didn't dwell on it deeply.
Because I'd packed my things in a subspace pouch too.
I'd packed a whopping three months' worth. And even that wasn't enough, so I'd crammed in all the luggage that the three girls—Eurasia, Stella, and Pina—had brought as well.
And, well... I figure the academy has its own ideas. Since I enrolled, I've never seen any discrimination based on status at the academy.
Of course, among humans like professors and students, it seems impossible for it to disappear entirely, but still, it's at a level where you could say it practically doesn't exist.
So they must have something in mind.
The cleanest approach would probably be to make it so we can't use the things we brought.
That's likely what will happen.
To prepare for that, I've hidden things like the weapons Eurasia will use and Potions for unexpected situations separately. I don't intend to use them during the exam.
Even without cheating, I'll get a perfect score.
Well, that's that.
For now...
"Gailan."
I called out to Gailan, who was standing with two friends. Gailan is the student I wandered through Adelia's illusion magic with on the first day of the entrance exam.
Now she's our class representative, and she's ranked third in the academy. First is Eurasia, second is Stella, third is Gailan. That means she's an incredibly smart model student.
I gestured to Gailan.
"...Uh, huh? Me? Yo?"
She's smart, but that stupid way of speaking that's neither casual nor polite still hasn't been fixed.
"Yeah. I'm talking to you. Isn't your luggage heavy?"
"I-it's not heav—"
"Don't lie."
"I-it's, it's... it's so, so heavy. I feel like my body's going to sink into the ground...!"
"Give it here. I'll put it in mine."
Gailan's eyes darted around.
She was checking her friends' reactions.
"Don't worry about them. I'll put your friends' stuff in too, so bring it all over."
"R-really...? Yo?"
"Yeah. What, you think I'm gonna steal it or something? If you're worried, just carry it yourselves. And talk properly."
"What?! No! I never thought that! I just... I just thought it might be... a bother for Eliarnes."
"What's bothersome about putting stuff in and taking it out? Don't waste your sweat under the blazing sun. Hurry up and bring it over. Before I change my mind."
Gailan and her friends exchanged glances, then slowly began approaching me.
Watching that, Stella muttered.
"Why do you have to talk so rough?"
"How is saying I'll help them rough?"
"Can't you say it a little more kindly? Anyone watching would think you're shaking them down."
"And what are they gonna do about it if they think that?"
"...Well, that's true, but... still, it feels bad if people badmouth you behind your back."
"That's how it is at your age. Just wait until time passes. You won't care at all about other people's eyes or gossip."
"You're the same age as me. Ugh, boomer."
Stella pouted.
"...I don't like it."
She muttered something else, but it was drowned out by Gailan and her friends chattering away with thanks.
Once they set their bags down, their bodies felt light. For a moment, they felt like they were floating in the air. No, you really are floating in the air. Get your Mana under control. Be careful. It was exactly the kind of chattering you'd expect from girls that age.
"Th-thank you so much...!"
And Gailan, standing at the center of it all, bowed deeply and smiled brightly.
Kids really do look best when they're smiling.
"If you're grateful, don't stab me in the back during the exam."
"Stab you in the back? The exam? Do you know what the final is, Eliarnes?"
"Of course not. I don't know, but I have a rough idea. Why, you gonna tell me?"
"Huh...? No, no. You've helped me so much, asking for that too would be... too shameless, and I'd feel bad, so it's fine."
Shaking her head and adjusting her glasses, Gailan reached out with both hands and gently clasped mine.
"But still... I'll definitely keep what you said. No, if you're ever in danger, I'll help you!"
Gailan's finger hooked around my pinky.
It felt strange.
"Help me, my ass. Just do well on your exam."
Feeling oddly itchy, I waved my hand dismissively.
Gailan, who had been beaming at that gesture, drifted away.
"Huh... her way of talking is definitely rude, but she's strangely kind."
"Stella. The young lady is just embarrassed."
"Hmm... now that you mention it, it does seem that way... wait. That really is it! Her ears are red!"
"What, have you two been learning martial arts somewhere? You saying that because you think you can beat me in a fight?"
At my words, Pina tilted her head.
[Eurasia is learning swordsmanship, and Stella is learning magic! But do we really have to learn martial arts to beat Eliarnes?]
"That martial arts isn't that martial arts... no, forget it. Pina, just eat this."
I fed the clueless Pina a dacquoise.
One dacquoise erased Pina's question.
Nom-nom— Pina thinks dacquoise is delicious.
Meanwhile, the carriage that would take us to the exam site, the Anketin Mountains, arrived.
*****
Stella ended up riding in a different carriage because she's in a different class. That doesn't mean my entire class rode in the same carriage, though.
Five people per carriage, with each class split into two carriages. That's how the first-years ended up divided among four carriages total.
Not just Signia—Hurnt was also split into groups of five. So an enormous number of carriages are parading through the Imperial Capital.
However, each is heading in a different direction.
All the carriages are scattering toward the east, west, south, and north—toward the gates of the Imperial Capital.
Well, we'll find out why soon enough.
I also ended up riding with four other people.
[Yes! Beastkin like me don't get motion sickness!]
Pina, bursting with excitement as if going on a picnic.
"That's good. I don't get carriage sickness either."
Eurasia, getting excited right along with her.
"Ugh... I'm jealous... I'm, blegh, ha... not used to carriages... it's so hard."
Gailan, separated from both her friends because they're in different classes.
"If you feel like throwing up, don't be stubborn. Tell the coachman."
And Silina, sitting beside me with a cynical face, staring out the window.
It's the exact same group that wandered through the illusion on the first day of enrollment. This wasn't a coincidence. Choosing who to ride with was up to us.
Pina and Eurasia, of course, had no intention of being separated from me.
Gailan, whether because she'd entrusted me with her luggage or because we'd wandered the illusion together, sidled up to me as soon as the carriage arrived.
And Silina.
She's an outcast. Before Silina got on, the other carriage's passengers had already been decided, so she naturally ended up here.
She's pretending she had no choice, but she seems pretty satisfied.
Well, she's bullied in class, so she probably wanted to be with me, her only friend.
Cute little thing.
"My lady, my lady."
"Hm?"
"How do you think this exam will be conducted?"
At Eurasia's question, Gailan's and Pina's eyes sparkled. Silina, who had been staring out the window, also kept glancing at me.
I opened my mouth casually.
"They'll probably dump us somewhere deserted and tell us to survive. The starting location is the Anketin Mountains, after all. A place full of Monsters and wild beasts."
The three of them, excluding Silina, tilted their heads.
"Survival?"
"Yeah. Remember, a lot of the midterm questions were about survival methods in Ge Vihenum."
"Uh... didn't more questions focus on combat techniques for fighting people or hunting Monsters? Most students predicted it would be something like that."
"Whether it's a remote island or the mountains, or even, in the extreme, Ge Vihenum—if you spend a long time there, you'll inevitably end up fighting people and hunting Monsters more. Battles against Demons are basically a rough mix of fighting people and hunting Monsters."
"You really do know a lot."
While the three of them quietly marveled, the outcast who had kept her mouth shut until now spoke up.
But her tone was different from the one she'd used with Gailan.
A slightly softer, gentler tone.
For Silina, whose pride pierces the heavens, this was the result of tremendous effort.
And also an expression of gratitude toward me.
Cute little thing.
"It's because I read a lot of books."
"Your way with words is impressive too. You speak so vividly, as if you'd experienced it yourself."
"If you read a lot of books, you learn to speak well too."
Silina clicked her tongue quietly and didn't ask further.
Ever since I brought the Flame Emperor back—no, maybe even before that—she seems to imagine me in strange ways, but I have no intention of answering that.
Naturally, I won't make any slips of the tongue in the process.
"By the way, my lady."
"Yeah."
"You didn't bring your bandages today?"
Eurasia tilted her head, staring at my fair hands.
"I brought them, but I don't think I'll wrap them."
"Is it all right not to wrap them now?"
"Yeah. I'm strong now even without that."
They're no longer necessary.
What I'd intended to do with those bandages has already been accomplished.
On the night after the Tier 6 celebration party ended, I 'used' those bandages.
When I injected Mana—Mana infused with Intent—into the bandages, an image of the place where Luna was entered my mind. It was a place I knew as well. That's how I pinpointed Luna's location.
Luna Pnasensia.
Luna, who was my comrade and friend.
She is sealed somewhere beneath the Holy Kingdom.