Entrance Ceremony
“Heh heh…”
What a bold attitude. The girl before his eyes, Ruen, brazenly spat out one word after another.
Oswald. He had only just crossed the age of 100.
In those long years, he had met countless mages.
Among them, only two or three had reached great heights while keeping a normal mindset.
That was why he had pierced through a truth that bordered on prejudice.
“A truly selfish answer.”
Brilliant mages were all selfish. That preconception was almost always true.
Tsk tsk. Oswald chuckled as he gazed ahead. Ruen blinked her brilliant iridescent eyes, seemingly oblivious to what the problem was.
At that sight, another certainty dawned on him. Oswald parted his lips.
“Very well. This concludes the interview.”
“Huh? Already?”
Ruen asked in surprise.
Unlike her earlier confident demeanor, a faint unease flickered in her eyes.
“…Why is that?”
It wasn’t easy to guess the reason.
Oswald himself was an exceptional mage, but after long years, he had learned ordinary thinking.
Ruen pointed at her own face with a bewildered expression.
“D-Did… I fail?”
A chuckle escaped Oswald’s lips.
“Ah ha. Were you worried you’d been rejected?”
Ruen nodded.
That expression and gesture were a complete 180 from how she had calmly handled the mana flow earlier.
All her previous answers had shown utter disinterest in passing or failing…
“Crazy bitch…”
Kaira muttered to herself, eyes wide open.
It was pure admiration, without a hint of insult. To a mage, it might even be a compliment.
Oswald gazed quietly at Ruen, who was fidgeting with her fingers.
“What do you think?”
“Uh… she didn’t pass…?”
“Tsk tsk…”
Oswald removed his glasses again and nodded.
“The new semester’s entrance ceremony is in two weeks. We’ll meet again then.”
Oswald announced the decision without prior discussion. Yet no objections arose.
In other words, it was unanimous.
“……Huh.”
Ruen sat still for a moment, silent. Perhaps pondering the meaning of Oswald’s words.
Soon after, she raised both arms and shot up from her seat.
“Yesssss—!!”
It was a mighty cheer, hard to believe came from such a small mouth.
Following the cheer, Ruen kicked open the interview room door and dashed out.
“Heh heh heh heh.”
The quiet interview room filled with cheerful laughter leaking in from outside.
Kaira wiped the corner of her eye at the sound, letting out a sigh.
“Seriously… crazy bitch…”
“Heh heh. High praise indeed.”
“……Chancellor, are you sure about entrusting this year’s Golden Generation to that wild thing?”
Kaira asked, glancing once more at Ruen’s documents, who had already left.
Instead of answering, Oswald abruptly stood.
“Of course. It’ll work out somehow, won’t it?”
With that, Oswald left the room the same way Ruen had gone.
Now, only Kaira, sighing repeatedly, and Belias, staring blankly into space, remained.
A seasonal breeze wafted through the room.
Two weeks after the interview day, the roadside trees were already blooming with spring flowers.
“Ahem.”
I’d worried about causing a scene right there if I failed.
Fortunately, my hand now held the semester schedule instead of a magic circle of rejection.
A stroke of luck for both me and the academy.
My steps toward the academy were as light as feathers.
Vibrant flowers peeking through the branches, new greenery sprouting. Spring. The season of new beginnings.
The capital’s climate was worlds apart from the harsh north.
I wore short shorts and a short-sleeved top.
A warm breeze from afar tickled my hair.
Having lived only in cold places and not minding the chill anyway, my outfit was much lighter than the passersby’s.
“Turn right… here!”
After a couple visits, I could finally find my way without flying.
Soon, the familiar wrought-iron gate came into view.
The massive gate buzzed with freshmen and onlookers.
“Excuse me.”
Of course, I had no intention of joining their line.
I was an academy instructor, different from these green kids!
Build my career steadily, and becoming a full professor wouldn’t be far off.
By then, no one would question Kian calling me “Professor.”
Further up: department head, then chancellor! Next… hmm. Emperor?
…Nah, that sounds like a hassle.
I shook my head at the random thought.
Just imagining myself as emperor brought a flood of annoyances.
Chancellor would do just fine.
“Heh heh heh…”
As I wove through the crowd, pleased with my plan—
“Hm?”
I felt myself floating. My busy legs sliced through the air.
Someone had lifted my body.
I whipped my head around to size up the rude culprit.
Tanned skin. Red hair, blue eyes, exotic desert garb. A young man.
Kassel wasn’t from the empire.
Azran. A western desert nation where 70% of the land was sand seas.
Azran’s second prince, Kassel, had set foot on imperial soil.
For exchange between nations and better learning opportunities.
“This is…”
Kassel felt his heart pounding fiercely.
Fear was there, of course, but anticipation was the main driver.
He stared intently at the massive academy gate.
An enormous crowd.
To Kassel, raised in the palace, such a tangle of diverse people was a first.
He was a freshman, but also an envoy.
Thus, before coming, he’d memorized the list of key figures.
Including his fellow freshmen, of course.
The names he’d diligently committed to memory naturally entered his vision.
Rufus, the duke’s second son. A water mage said to rival genius Kian in talent.
Sylvia Beljerion, the knight commander’s only daughter. Though not from a mage family, she’d carved her own path with honest swordsmanship and irregular magic—the top entrant.
Eugene, one of the academy’s rare commoners.
A genius who’d already penned dozens of theoretical magic papers despite being Kassel’s age.
All future powerhouses.
“As dazzling as expected…”
Confirming their faces, Kassel felt intimidated. Still, he squared his shoulders proudly.
He too was a prince of a nation and a warrior trained systematically.
Kassel steeled himself and took a step forward.
“Excuse me.”
That instant. A small voice and a silver afterimage flashed.
Kassel narrowed his eyes. His warrior-honed dynamic vision from Azran caught it.
A silver-haired girl.
A tiny girl.
Her vibrant colors suggested nobility, but her outfit was too light for that.
Like a loach, she slithered between people’s legs.
“Danger…!”
Kassel spotted hulking men blocking her path.
In desert tribes, children were precious beyond all.
Seeds of the future, to be protected first and foremost.
As Azran’s prince and a warrior, his body moved before his mind.
Kassel’s legs slammed the ground full force.
Using Azran’s springy physique, he closed the gap in an instant.
Before the girl could react, his large hands scooped her sides and hoisted her up.
—Whoosh!
“Hm?”
The girl turned. Kassel saw bewilderment—or irritation—in her eyes.
“You nearly got trampled. Little one, where are your parents?”
Kassel assumed she was one of the crowd’s lost kids.
A natural conclusion.
So he moved her to safety, away from the throng.
“This should be safe.”
Kassel set her down with a bright smile.
“Sigh……”
What came back wasn’t thanks or a child’s grin.
The girl scowled fiercely instead.
The next moment, she vanished from his sight at a speed even his dynamic vision couldn’t track.
“……A mirage?”
Kassel wondered. Yet it had felt too real.
He searched for the vanished girl awhile longer.
But she was nowhere on the street.
—Dong.
Then, a bell tolled.
Probably signaling the entrance ceremony’s start.
“Oops.”
Kassel turned reluctantly and headed inside.
The vast auditorium was filled with freshmen rows like waves.
Hope she made it home safe…
Kassel worried about the girl he’d just seen. To avoid seeming late, he slipped into the freshmen ranks.
Lining up, he looked up at the podium.
“……Huh?”
Then it happened. His desert-tanned skin paled, and a shrill yelp escaped.
The reason: the girl he’d just fretted over entered his view.
Not in the distance, nor among the freshmen.
But on the podium, with the professors.