Chapter 6
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: The Mage of the Entrance Exam (1)
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“Won't you finally tell me the reason?”
Beyond his soft smile, the vice-captain's curious gaze fixed on me.
“Why you changed your mind and decided to come to the academy.”
“There's no big reason. Even if I turned down your offer, someone else would just pester me about it.”
I let out a quiet sigh of resignation.
If I could've gotten out of it, I would've held out to the bitter end.
But what can I do? This damn original story is holding the world hostage and blackmailing me.
~If you don't go to the academy, everyone dies~.
“After thinking it over, the academy seemed like the best option.”
It was tragic that there was only one choice on the table.
“Haha, you're absolutely right.”
The vice-captain burst into laughter at my half-hearted excuse.
I propped my chin on one hand and gazed out the window.
Beyond the glass, sunlit fields sparkled warmly, peaceful villages slipping by.
“Miss Lunaris, how much do you know about Elterion Academy?”
“Just the name, really.”
In truth, I knew it all too well.
Too well, in fact—that was the problem.
“Is that so? Well, no helping it then. Allow me to give you a brief rundown of what the academy is like, for your sake.”
Ah, no, you don't have to—
But before I could get the words out, the vice-captain launched into his dull, pedantic explanation.
“His late Majesty ensured that talents from all walks of life could shine, even providing opportunities to commoners...”
Each sentence seeped in like a lullaby.
I covered a yawn with the back of my hand and bowed my head.
The sunlight pouring through the window began warming my head to a pleasant crisp.
“...Economics Department, Diplomacy Department, a total of five departments...”
...Ah, I can't take any more.
My whole body grew languid, the vice-captain's voice fading into the distance.
My eyelids drooped...
on their own...
“...Excluding the Swordsmanship Department, the rest require a written exam and interview... followed by a practical exam...”
Just bury my head in a pillow like this... hmnya...
“A moment, Miss Lunaris. Are you listening to me?”
...Ah.
“Uh, yeah... I wasn't sleeping... I'm listening...”
I really wasn't asleep.
Just closed my eyes for a tiny, tiny moment.
“Is that true? Then, could you explain what I was just saying?”
“Well... something about there being five departments and the entrance exam, right?”
“You heard everything even while dozing off.”
That's because I already know it all.
I sighed and grumbled.
“But you're saying I have to take the entrance exam too?”
“Of course. Did you think you'd get in without taking the test?”
His incredulous expression only made me more incredulous.
“I'm only going because I'm being forced to escort the princess. Making me take the exam on top of that is a bit much...”
“Forced? You came of your own accord. And strictly speaking, you're not even an escort.”
“You could call it a choice I had no choice but to make...”
“More importantly, isn't the entrance exam child's play for you?”
Honestly, it was a little daunting.
Last time I studied magic properly was so long ago, it was fuzzy.
After mastering telekinesis magic, I'd sold off every proper magic book I had.
I mumbled in a deliberately bored tone.
“What if I fail? Can I just go back to the village?”
The air turned icy in an instant.
The vice-captain narrowed his eyes and stared me down.
“Are you serious right now?”
“Just kidding.”
I'd do my best, of course. I had to get into Elterion Academy somehow.
But truthfully, I wasn't confident.
If it were just the Swordsmanship Department's practical like that, I could've cheated with telekinesis or something.
...Eh, it'll work out somehow.
Worrying wouldn't make the impossible possible.
*
It had been several days since we arrived at the imperial capital.
And what had I done since getting here?
Slept.
Slept like a rock.
Man, the bed quality was beyond imagination.
The moment I lay down, I was out cold.
By the time I came to...
“We will now begin the entrance exam.”
...it was exam day, and I was seated at a desk in the testing hall.
Time had melted away oh-so-slowly.
A quick glance around showed solemn faces everywhere.
Students biting their lips, murmuring prayers with eyes shut, souls seemingly fled leaving them pale as ghosts.
Everyone waited tensely for the exam papers.
I propped my chin and let out a big hwaaaawn.
I had no exam nerves; the problem was that I was sleepy no matter how much I slept.
“Exam papers will now be distributed.”
The proctor raised a hand lightly.
Bundles of papers floated up on a breeze, settling gently onto each desk.
I examined the trick curiously: a magic circle etched in the upper right corner.
Without meaning to, my head analyzed it automatically.
Anti-theft placement enforcement, timed collection...
Enchanting every single sheet like this—talk about throwing money around.
They could've just scattered them with telekinesis.
Suppressing the urge to tamper with the magic circle, I looked over the problems.
The gray parchment had surprisingly little text.
Meant to make full use of the space, I supposed.
The ink smelled unusually thick.
I took a quick breath and eyed the first question.
“...Huh?”
The moment I read the opening line, sleepiness vanished.
This sentence that should feel unfamiliar, this problem I'd never seen—why did it feel so familiar?
Why...
Did the answers just appear right in front of me?
Soon, my head started calculating them on its own.
The quill in my hand began to tremble unconsciously.
When I snapped to, my hand was scrawling numbers and letters wildly.
The tactile feedback of ink hitting paper, the sound.
A bizarre immersion, like being sucked into the page.
Half-dreaming, I blackened the blank sheet.
*
After the exam ended.
The faculty office buzzed more than ever.
“I heard this year's written exam was pretty tough.”
Howard, chief professor of the Political Department and overall exam overseer, loosened his tie as he spoke.
“Yes. The general sections were average overall, but the magic section was especially hard this year.”
“Makes sense, after all the complaints about lack of selectivity last year.”
“I had my research assistants try just the magic section, and not a single one finished in time.”
“Then... how did this student finish the whole thing on time?”
The professors' eyes locked on the thick stack of papers.
It was crammed with tiny handwriting.
“Any signs of cheating?”
A Magic Engineering Department professor who'd set up the exam hall chuckled and waved it off.
“No way. Each hall has dozens of surveillance devices. The papers are enchanted too.”
Anyone bypassing all that wouldn't need to cheat in the first place.
It'd already prove top-tier status.
“More importantly, look at this student's answers for magic questions 9 and 10. This solution could be submitted to the Mage Tower as a research paper.”
Magic and Magic Engineering professors had already printed out the answers, passing them around amid endless exclamations.
“True, no one could copy something like this.”
Even Howard, no magic expert, found the solution ‘beautiful.’ That said it all.
“Even more shocking is that her general section scores are top-tier too.”
“What?”
“Right below the perfect scorers.”
“Huh, that's the real surprise.”
Magic perfect scorers were usually eccentric geniuses lacking common sense.
Magic study left no room for anything else.
And the one who'd pulled off this impossibility was none other than Lunaris Evermoon.
“If she'd gotten general question 1 right, we'd have the first-ever perfect across all sections.”
“She missed the easiest one?”
“Technically, drool smeared the ink—we couldn't read what she wrote.”
Silence fell over the office.
“...Drool?”
“Looks like she dozed off mid-exam.”
“Good lord, sleeping during the entrance exam. Must've been exhausted.”
“Probably researched magic all night. A hardworking genius—ha! What a gem...”
Even the drool stain started seeming like some profound student philosophy.
“Setting magic talent aside, her general answers alone make her a prime recruit.”
“Saw her answer for general 7? Such a fresh perspective—I was shocked.”
“If there were no score caps, I'd have given bonus points.”
Howard smacked his lips regretfully.
“I'd love to drag her to my personal lab. Kidnap her if I had to.”
“Tough sell, Chief Professor Howard. This applicant’s already caught the Magic Department's eye...”
Then—BAM—a loud crash, followed by a high-pitched voice.
“O~ ho ho hot!! I hear there's an amazing freshman candidate this year?”
Raymond Cloud, Magic Department head, flung open the door dramatically.
Most professors bowed their heads at the academy's rumored next chairman.
To fresh assistant professors, she was an untouchable giant.
“Heh heh~ Mind if I see that student's answers?”
Raymond snatched Lunaris's original answer sheet from the pile.
“Hmm~ Oh ho? This solving method is quite novel... Needs verification, but it'd drastically cut calculation time...”
Her lips curved higher with each page turn.
By the last magic question, her face beamed with a huge grin.
“This is the greatest freshman in Magic Department history!”
Her hand-over-mouth cackle was infuriatingly smug.
“Raymond Department Head. Lunaris Evermoon hasn't been assigned to Magic yet.”
“Oh, but she has, Chief Professor Howard. I checked—this one's sponsored by the Imperial Mage Corps vice-captain. And she's already an upper mage.”
Already handling upper magic at her age? Impossible!
The office buzzed anew.
If true, her skills rivaled the academy's chief professors already.
“What could Magic even teach her? She'd learn more in another department.”
Howard sniped out of sour grapes.
Raymond didn't bat an eye.
“We have plenty to teach. I'll carve out time to instruct her personally.”
“Huh! You, who always complains about no time?”
“For the youngest archmage candidate, I'll make time. By graduation at latest, she'll be an archmage student—watch and see.”
No other professor dared argue.
Raymond Cloud—one of the empire's rarest top mages and Magic head—could pull it off.
“See you all at freshman interviews then. O ho ho ho!!”
Leaving Howard's frustrated coughs and the Economics professor's heavy sighs behind, Raymond neatly folded Lunaris's sheet and tucked it away.
“Oh, and I'll handle Lunaris student's interview myself. No need to tell your boss to make time, Chief Professor Howard.”
“Grrgh...!”
Howard ground his teeth, glaring at Raymond's departing back and her wicked laugh.