Chapter 10
Chapter 10
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: Delaiten Entrance Ceremony
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“Not top admittee? Isn’t something seriously wrong here?!”
In the Ludwig family mansion, Bellwin.
Elin Ludwig slammed the desk while venting her anger at the admission notice that had flown in from the Magic Capital.
As a professor at <Delaiten>, she too needed to head back to school soon, so she was fully dressed in her traveling attire.
“This reeks of the Page family pulling strings! They’re jealous of Rain’s genius!”
It was incomprehensible.
Rain had applied through the general admissions track. So why was he listed as a supplemental exam qualifier?
“Why would the Page family be jealous of Rain, miss? Wouldn’t it benefit them to admit a talented student?”
Rain’s mother, Brim, tilted her head and asked, prompting Elin to snort derisively.
“Well, that human’s daughter ended up a cripple—”
“—Elin.”
But Kevn coldly cut her off, and she immediately shut her mouth.
“If there had been any issues, the Page Marquess would have notified me. Or Rain would have reached out.”
It was certainly baffling, but not something to worry over. The important thing was that he’d been admitted.
‘Admitted, admitted, huh...’
You should feel a little tense, Rain.
That school draws the empire’s top prospects from all corners. From fellow magic house scions like you to disciples of the Eight Great Academies...
‘No, knowing you, you’d say there won’t be a dull moment rather than feeling tense?’
Kevn smiled fondly.
You were born with a fiercer thirst for knowledge than anyone else in this world.
* * *
The pinnacle of human intellect in the Holy Human Empire, the foremost magic university.
<Delaiten>.
The grounds of <Delaiten> were vast beyond measure. Rumors even swirled that the empire’s fifth-largest city, [Golden Rose], had been built solely to support this school’s operations.
‘A school, huh...’
Gazing up briefly at the main school building where the entrance ceremony was about to begin, I found myself lost in strange musings.
The main building of <Delaiten>, called the Dragon Wheel Hall, was literally wrapped in the majestic form of a stone true dragon statue.
‘I’ve never really been tied to a school.’
Neither in my past life nor this one.
Even when I worked as a teaching assistant at Ribarden Magic School, it was just occasionally solving problems on the blackboard and fielding questions.
Was that why a faint tremor stirred in my heart?
‘In my past life, I was raised by the dean lady at Osarius Academy, and in this life, I only learned magic from my family...’
I didn’t particularly feel the need to learn from anyone now, but at the end of this path, she was waiting.
Rista Alter Shyrfang.
You, who entered my monochrome world of numbers, parchment, and ink—a world of dull black and white—and led me into one bursting with vibrant colors.
- Only the top graduate of <Delaiten> will earn the chance to behold Lin’s remains.
I smiled quietly.
When that day comes that I meet you again, I’ll need to have at least my past life’s magic prowess to avoid shame, right?
“Ah, there you are!”
Just then, a shrill voice shattered my pleasant reverie mercilessly.
A girl in a pristine white mage’s robe, neatly topped with an academic cap. A brooch pinned primly at her chest bore the emblem of a sleeping dragon.
This girl, appearing before me in <Delaiten>’s first-year uniform with her straight brown bob fluttering in the spring breeze, had a familiar face, so I waved first.
“Hey.”
“The rematch I couldn’t get last time... Huh? Oh, hey.”
Was she bad at greetings? She started chattering something, then froze with a choked expression and waved back awkwardly.
“Hey, look at that.”
“It’s Christa Warden.”
“The recommended admittee for this class...”
Seeing Christa Warden shrug haughtily amid the murmurs, I couldn’t help but smirk.
“You’re more popular than I thought.”
“No one in our generation doesn’t know me—they even say guys who don’t are Dragonkin Republic spies. And you’re the rival I’ve acknowledged.”
She nodded repeatedly in satisfaction, then suddenly remembered something she’d forgotten, leaped back from me, and assumed a battle stance.
“Now I remember—what’s with the friendly act? We’re rivals! We’re supposed to shed blood against each other! Come on, let’s settle it! The rematch from before!”
Settle it, huh... Did I go too easy on her following Fride’s teachings? Back in the day, 300 years ago, one show of the power gap was enough to crush any further challenges.
“Ah, my stomach suddenly hurts. Later.”
I clutched my belly theatrically and turned away. We’re both admitted now—honestly, no business left. And dueling this girl in magic would just stir up annoying fallout.
“Don’t brush off someone coming at you seriously like it’s a hassle!”
Before I could even talk her down, a magic circle spun into existence above her palm. Lightning-fast computation.
The moment the circle activated, a sand whirlwind raged ferociously at the main gate.
“Ugh, argh, what the—?”
“Gah, cough cough!”
“My eyes sting!”
Thanks to that, the other students heading into the ceremony hall hacked in agony, while Christa shot me a triumphant glance.
“Heh heh, now you get my true power? Ready to get serious yet?”
Yeah, this is why.
Exactly this.
My pent-up frustration exploded.
“Are you kidding me right now? Last time, my throat hurt so bad I was spitting phlegm for two days straight, thought I was dying!”
“Hmph...! Isn’t that your fault for not blocking it properly?”
I couldn’t even smack her—just...
Sighing at her arrogant crossed arms.
“Putting on quite the show, aren’t you.”
At that moment, a mocking voice rang out from behind, accompanied by cold laughter.
“One’s a genius young master admitted via supplemental exam, the other’s top admittee. Extreme opposites for a comparison experience, huh?”
Unlike Rain, who felt nothing, Christa’s eyes fixed coldly on the voice’s owner, filled with icy contempt.
‘Weiber and his gang...’
Weiber. A later disciple of Rohwinen Academy, one of the Eight Great Academies, and runner-up graduate of <Delaiten>’s middle school division.
With his brown curly hair and long, slit-like eyes, he always looked punchable.
We’d been at odds over every little thing since middle school. Well, mostly. With anyone from the Eight Great Academies, really.
“......”
As Rain stared silently at Weiber, a subtle tension hung in the air. Weiber lifted his chin and taunted again.
“What’re you looking at? Did some part of what I said rub you the wrong way?”
His cronies snickered on either side. Rain tilted his head.
“Rub wrong? More like... who the hell are you to act like we know each other?”
“......?”
“You any good at magic? If you’re seriously picking a fight, you better bring some real spells.”
In that instant, everyone watching felt a chill and fell silent.
‘He’s insane.’
Common sense dictated no one in this generation didn’t know Weiber. The unbeaten runner-up of <Delaiten>’s middle school, a genius.
‘Later disciple of Rohwinen Academy.’
‘Top scorer in general admissions.’
A genius incomparable even to the disaster-genius young master Rain Ludwig, admitted via supplemental exam.
“Right now...”
As Weiber clenched his fist, Christa burst into clear laughter.
“Pfft, hahaha...!”
Her face flushing red and purple, she said loud enough for Weiber to hear.
“Ha, aren’t you embarrassed enough to crawl into a hole? Some idiot struts up to a guy who doesn’t even know his face and gets shot down.”
“What? You little...?!”
The escalating tension peaked and shattered thanks to a teaching assistant guiding new students.
“What’s going on here? Get inside, quick. Ceremony’s starting soon. And Cadet Christa? You’re the freshman rep—what are you doing? You need to prep your oath!”
Christa ignored Weiber completely, jabbed a finger sharply at Rain’s eyes, and declared.
“No time this round, so I’ll back off—but next time, no mercy! We’ll settle it for sure!”
Her words made the onlookers doubt their ears once more.
“Settle it? Christa and Rain?”
“They’re not even in the same league.”
“Not in the same league? Hilarious. Watch the young master once, and you won’t say that crap anywhere.”
A few Ribarden alumni smirked knowingly as they headed into the main hall.
‘Those bastards...’
Amid the murmurs, cold rage burned in Weiber’s veins. His cronies held their breath, gauging the mood.
‘I’ll crush him.’
Make him beg and sob for forgiveness.
Plenty of chances ahead—and soon. <Delaiten>’s policy was cutthroat competition, after all.
A venomous smile curled on Weiber’s lips.
* * *
“We will now commence the 1388th <Delaiten> Entrance Ceremony. Freshmen, please stand.”
More boring than expected... As various school-like events dragged on, the boy couldn’t stifle a yawn.
The others seemed different, though—the hall buzzed with pride and arrogance over entering the empire’s top magic university.
But the atmosphere shifted the moment the announcer said this.
“The Chancellor has a few words of encouragement and welcome for the freshmen.”
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Oppressive military boots echoed on the stage. With each refined step, leather robes billowed elegantly.
The freshmen whispered in hushed awe.
“Whoa...”
“The empire’s top mage right now...”
“Madelia Page...”
Her presence alone sent shivers... A stunning woman with pale purple hair appeared, overwhelming all the freshmen in an instant.
Madelia Page.
The empire’s number-one mage, head of the Magic Alliance. Direct descendant of magic’s progenitor, Emitas Page, and head of the Page Marquess house—the empire’s premier magic family that had always led <Delaiten>.
‘Ah... Even in this era, that hair color’s still the Page family mark.’
The boy raised an eyebrow in interest.
Ulan Page, whom Lin had met in his era, had the same shade. A hereditary trait from Emitas Page’s direct line.
Same principle as Rain and Seri’s black hair and red eyes.
“Pleased to meet you, freshmen. I am Madelia Page, your university chancellor.”
Even the top-scoring admits, who’d been acting superior up front, straightened unconsciously.
“There are 233 freshmen here today. Half of you won’t make it to second year—held back or expelled.”
What... did she just say?
Most freshmen, buzzing with excitement, went pale.
“Of the surviving 117, half will barely reach third year. And half of those will even enter graduation track. Fewer than 30 graduate each year.”
“......!”
“That is <Delaiten>, the place you’ve entered. In that sense, it’s like a jeweler. To sort raw stones into gems or trash, it will impose endless trials under the name of polishing.”
Suddenly, Madelia pointed at the freshmen—every last one.
“Hone yourselves here! Until unremarkable ore becomes a gem with your unique brilliance!”
Not exhortation or persuasion—an order.
The top admits reacted variously to the command. Runner-up Weiber snorted.
‘<Delaiten>’s policy: infinite competition. The defeated get no diploma.’
Perfect. A fair system judging solely by skill, not status.
“Three years from now, let’s meet here again. Not student versus chancellor, but mage versus mage. Good luck to you all.”
As Madelia swept off the stage, robes fluttering, the freshmen erupted in applause without prompting.
‘Maybe...’
A faint smile played on Rain’s lips as he clapped halfheartedly.
‘College life might be more fun than I thought?’