Gray Winter (2)
Gibraltar Margrave Household, Caroline Castle.
"How disappointing, Noir Gibraltar."
In the margrave's office at Caroline Castle, the margrave's low voice echoed heavily.
"Is your resolve really only this much?"
"N-No... it's not."
In front of the margrave seated on the sofa, Noir Gibraltar hung his head low, his posture weighed down.
"You claim to be a full-fledged adult now."
The boy, who was 14—soon to turn 15 in just a few days—had shot up to nearly 170 centimeters tall.
"But to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with adults, your mind still hasn't fully matured."
If only the last traces of baby fat left his face, he'd look like a proper adult in at least two years.
"If you have something to say, speak up. Yes, you made a promise before the exam, didn't you? You're not going to claim you've forgotten that too, are you?"
"...I said I would pass the exam with honor, proving myself through my own strength."
"Indeed. So what is this result before us now?"
The margrave pointed to the gray paper on his desk, marked with countless red lines.
"Failure. Noir Gibraltar."
"......."
68/100
"With a score like this, you can't even beat the commoners who've been preparing for a year already."
"B-But...!"
"Gibraltar will pass, but not Noir."
"Kuh...!"
Noir clenched his fists, his face flushing with frustration.
"Do you feel wronged? I gave you plenty of time. Lady Mirdin Viscountess even set the exam scope herself, and I didn't stop her from subtly hinting at the content."
"......."
The room held Marchioness Charlotte and all the younger sisters from Letar on down, but none could utter a word to Noir.
"Even Letar scored over 90."
Noir flinched and ground his teeth. Letar, munching cookies on the sofa, just glanced around nervously and kept chewing.
"Yet your score barely scrapes 70."
"......."
"Lady Mirdin left after a serious talk. She suggested maybe bringing your brother to the academy instead."
"Th-That's...!"
Noir jerked his head up.
"Yes, she said it out of ignorance. She's far too kind a person to summon Grey."
"......."
"But that's a separate matter from this."
The margrave pointed at the 68/100 on the exam paper with his finger.
"Give it up. Quietly aim to pass with your sword instead. With this score, dreaming of top honors admission is impossible."
"......."
"Among intermediate knights, you're top-tier. In skill, you can claim one win out of ten spars against an advanced knight. If the exam were pure swordsmanship, you'd take top honors for sure. But Orosol Academy tests something else. This place examines intelligence."
Intelligence.
Noir ground his teeth once more.
"No. I will claim it. Must someone else stand above a Gibraltar?"
Noir clenched his fists again and replied.
"Cut my training time. I'll use two hours for study instead. And prove it with results."
"......Noir."
The margrave frowned and tapped the desk with his finger.
"Your brother would have cut sleep time to study."
"Brother...!"
"Your brother—what?"
"...Brother isn't a normal person."
"Noir...."
Marchioness Charlotte called to him worriedly, but Noir just bit his lower lip, his body trembling.
"I gave it my all too. I aced every subject required. This is pure nonsense."
"What's that? The score?"
"Not the score...!"
Noir took a breath, then exploded.
"...This exam was in the Imperial tongue!"
"And it even mixed in problems I aced with perfect scores half a year ago!"
"They were in the kingdom's language. Though the passages and choices were altered."
To an outsider, it might seem unfair to Noir.
"If it had been in the kingdom tongue, I'd have gotten 100% for sure!"
"That's true."
"Orosol Academy offers Imperial language as one course, but I didn't think we'd need to master it from the entrance exam! From the start...!"
Noir pounded his chest and gnashed his teeth.
"It's an entrance exam, yet they pulled graduation-level problems! That's suspicious too!"
"For a Gibraltar, it has to be."
"I could ace kingdom-language problems at 100%!"
"But you've already scored 68 on the Imperial one."
"Kuh...!"
The margrave neatly folded the exam paper.
"Boldness is good. A man should voice his thoughts proudly."
The margrave rubbed his chin and closed his eyes.
"If you'd studied Imperial ahead and answered with even surer results, it would have been perfect."
"Why should a Gibraltar learn the Imperial tongue? Just keep someone fluent nearby!"
"Grey Gibraltar called that the 'typical Nostrum noble mindset.'"
"Kuh...!"
"Remember this, Noir. Among those entering the academy, some will already know Imperial... Haah. I didn't want to say this."
The margrave opened a drawer and glanced inside.
"...If there's a girl among the Imperial exchange students you fancy, how do you think she'll feel hearing you speak Imperial?"
"......."
Noir's flushed face paled as he unclenched his fists.
"Those girls studied hard to learn Nostrum's tongue for their stay here. You won't even make that effort?"
"...I've never even thought of it."
Noir nodded blankly.
"Would that really work?"
"It will. Absolutely. From the start...."
The margrave glanced at the two white-haired maids standing behind Marchioness Charlotte.
"...If you won't even make that effort, winning her heart is impossible."
"......I'll make the effort."
"Good. Study until you can express yourself freely in Imperial. I'm not telling you to learn it for nothing...."
Knock knock knock.
"Enter."
"Pardon the intrusion, Margrave."
The door opened, and a guard in gray armor, helmet included, entered holding a parchment.
"I've obtained it."
"Good. Report from there."
The gray-armored soldier handed over the parchment and froze as he turned to leave.
"What are you doing? I said report."
"...We've secured the criteria for Orosol Academy's scholarship selections and future exam standards."
Understanding of Kingdom History.
Basics of Magic.
Swordsmanship.
Nobility and Titles.
And Imperial Language.
From a total of 35 subjects, top performers in these 5 will be selected for the Gorge Scholarship.
"Swordsmanship made the cut, fortunately. The rest are trouble, Noir."
"Kuh...!"
"Gibraltar poured massive funds into creating that slot. What does it mean if Noir Gibraltar isn't among the candidates?"
"......."
"If you truly want the academy—if you want to be Gibraltar's heir in earnest—you must show results worthy of it."
The margrave unbuckled the sword at his waist and placed it sheathed on the desk.
"I graduated top of the academy. Your mother never lost first place in academics throughout her years."
"......."
"Of course, our subjects differed, and it's been 20 years...."
"I will."
Noir snapped to attention like a knight and replied.
"I will prove it. Mastering even Imperial, I'll enter top honors in February's exam next year!"
"Good. That's the spirit."
The margrave rose and clapped Noir's shoulder.
"If you covet it, deliver results to match."
"Yes...!"
"Go now. Afternoon training's suspended for the time being."
"......!!"
Noir's eyes widened, a bright smile spreading as he nodded vigorously.
"I'll get 100% for sure!!"
"......."
After Noir dashed out,
"A report, sir."
The gray-armored soldier placed a hand on his chest and bowed.
"He won't take top honors. Go easy so he doesn't get discouraged later."
"......."
"With Naria Geo Nostrum around, how could Noir?"
"...The princess is aiming for special admission, not general?"
"Yes."
The gray soldier eyed the door Noir had left through and pulled something from inside his armor.
"Picked up cream donuts from Iferia Outlet on the way. Want one?"
As the sweet scent of cream donuts filled the office, rumors spread that Noir Gibraltar was sprinting to his room with an excited grin.
Capital City, Geo Nostrum.
"Orosol Academy, huh. Fittingly flashy for Nostrum Kingdom."
In a sector somewhat removed from the capital's center, a man perched on a windowsill gazed at the white castle blending marble and gold.
"Did they really sink billions into buildings so innocently? Honest, or just naive?"
Empire's crown prince, Hapsburg von Tersian, chuckled while swigging kingdom wine straight from the bottle.
"Truly exciting."
The crown prince pulled something from his trouser pocket.
A brick-thick slab. Blunt as a sliced loaf of bread, it began glimmering with mana as he gripped it.
Beep, bleep, beep.
Pressing the 12 mana stone buttons below, the square mana stone atop flickered anew.
A cascade of incomprehensible numbers.
The crown prince scanned them blankly, then punched buttons in a pattern—like cracking a complex cipher.
As if communicating with someone.
"Heh."
Did the secret message please him?
"Exactly. If it were that easy to breach, it wouldn't have held for 500 years."
The crown prince set down the crude magitech device and looked down at Orosol Academy.
"Once the academy activates, bidirectional comms between kingdom and empire could open. Via magic or these signals."
Was it the alcohol?
"Ahh, such a pity. No Batori, so here I am, pathetically chatting with the moonlight."
Face flushed deep red, the crown prince kept swigging wine.
"Come all the way to the capital's heart, yet no one to share the joy. Nothing but the moon for company in my revelry."
The crown prince raised the wine bottle to the moon.
"Father. Do you see? Your son drinks here in Nostrum's very heart. Not with iron and blood, but diplomacy, trade, and now education—I've pried open the gorge's gate."
If he had a glass, it might've been a memorial rite. He gulped it down relentlessly.
"Now all that's left is...."
Knock, knock knock.
At the knock, the crown prince extended a finger toward the window, scraping his nail along it.
"Enter."
Whoosh.
Red mist billowed from his fingertip out the window, followed by roaring flames.
"Y-Your Highness...."
"What is it, Twelve?"
The white-haired maid who entered pointed behind her, face ashen.
"A, a guest...."
"Out of the way."
Pushing past the blocking maid, a man in silk robes strode into the crown prince's bedroom.
"...What brings you here in the dead of night?"
His face utterly sober—no trace of prior drunkenness—the crown prince greeted the late visitor.
"Hey. Hapsburg von Tersian."
Addressing the crown prince by name, the intruder smirked.
"Long time no see?"
"...I see His Majesty Saint Geo Nostrum."
The Nostrum king, golden-haired with gleaming red eyes, shook the wine bottle with a sly grin.
"Long time no see, huh?"
"Ah, ignore it. Not important anyway."
"......."
"What? Did I lack manners? What'll you do if I did? Huh?"
"......."
"Heh heh. From that mug, you're worried? Huh? Wanna kill me? Dying to?"
In the hall, royal Golden Dawn Knights faced off against imperial knights—a powder keg ready to blow.
"Here for peace, and talk of killing? Such terrifying words."
"Yeah? That kill-crazy face says otherwise. Ah, if you kill me, three years... no, three years and a month of continental chaos worries you? Heh heh."
"You've had much to drink."
"Three years, one month. Wait it out."
Saint Geo Nostrum jabbed a finger at the crown prince and turned.
"Thrashing about all you want in that time. Heh heh heh...."
"...Take care."
"Hmph...!"
Watching Saint Geo storm out, the crown prince closed his eyes and drew a deep breath.
"Three years and one month... The day Naria Geo Nostrum turns exactly 20."
The crown prince set the half-empty bottle on the sill and gazed at the night sky.
"Pot calling the kettle black."
The crown prince was still smiling.
"...Even so."
His smile gradually turned bitter.
"It'd be nice to have at least one friend to share a drink and bare my soul to."
"Pffft."
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing. Just got chills suddenly."
"You're naked—that's why. Hurry and dress."
"......."