Special Talent Admissions Examination (4)
Once the Academy decided to admit special talent students from outside for the first time, the faculty found itself extraordinarily busy.
Posting announcements and preparing the examination grounds were the administrative office's job, but actually conducting the exam fell to the professors. Had this been a yearly routine, they could have simply pulled last year's plan and made a few adjustments. This being the first attempt, however, they had to start from nothing.
"Don't worry too much, you two. I'll go consult with the principals of the other academies. If we're lucky, I might even come back with a copy of their plans."
Kirlin made this bold promise to me and Ismera, then climbed into a carriage and set off on her official trip.
"The Principal is certainly throwing herself into this for a change. Hoho."
Ismera praised Kirlin with a look that said anything but, covering her mouth as she laughed.
"Given that it's been so long since she's had any exchange with the other academy principals, even a modest result would carry considerable meaning."
What Ismera actually meant, of course, was that Kirlin would obviously come back empty-handed. And I couldn't really argue with that.
The Empire was home to countless academies, most of them dedicated primarily to academic instruction, much like the universities of my previous life. Among them, however, were institutions founded for more specialized purposes — ours, the Imperial Military Academy, and others of that kind. There was even the Special Warfare Training Center, a quasi-military facility whose entire curriculum consisted of nothing but combat-related subjects.
All of them were scrambling to attract the Empire's finest talent, competing fiercely with one another, and most already ran programs similar to the Special Talent Admissions Examination we were now trying to implement. So even if Kirlin went around meeting the other principals, why would any of them simply hand over their know-how or related materials? They were civilized people, so they wouldn't slam the door in her face — but they'd almost certainly needle her with the same kind of polite, roundabout sniping Ismera specialized in.
"For now, let's at least get some preparations done ourselves while the Principal is out of the city."
Ismera and I sat at an outdoor table at the dessert café and started selecting the examination subjects. Every time I took a bite of dessert, Ismera's expression curdled into something deeply displeased — only to melt into a smile the instant our eyes met.
"You're not having any, Professor? It's really good."
I nudged the plate of cake toward her, and Ismera recoiled, leaning her whole upper body away in disgust.
"I'm quite all right. As you well know, elves tend toward a vegetarian diet."
Did you not even know that?
"Is that so? There's no meat in this, though."
"Not many people realize that milk goes into making whipped cream."
"Ah. Well, if it's that, then yeah — you couldn't eat it."
I pulled the plate back and scooped up another bite of cake. Ismera grimaced again, then immediately covered it with a captivating smile.
That elf really did live an exhausting life.
That evening, just as the Combat Department professors and I were heading home, Professor Lina pointed ahead.
"Isn't that the Principal coming this way?"
Kirlin was just stepping down from a carriage that had stopped in front of the main building. Her ears drooped, and her expression was thoroughly dejected. You didn't even need to ask how the trip had gone. It was written all over her face.
"Welcome back. You must be tired."
"Everyone's heading home, I see... Get some rest..."
The professors offered their greetings, and Kirlin returned them weakly before shuffling, limp and listless, into the main building.
"The Principal looks like she's in a really bad mood today. Do you know why?"
"She went to meet the other academy principals hoping to get some information on special talent admissions, and it looks like she came up empty."
"That was definitely a long shot."
Psychological warfare professor Pelemiya adjusted her glasses and spoke up.
"Every academy is trying to secure the best talent. Why would any of them go out of their way to do a favor for an academy that answers directly to the Imperial Palace?"
"Hmm, I see..."
Lina thought for a moment, then whispered to me.
"Chief Professor. I've just had a rather good idea. The other professors should hear this too."
Lina quietly laid out the idea she'd just come up with to me and the other professors. Her "good idea" was infiltration and acquisition: sneak into one of the academies that already ran special talent admissions as an annual event, quietly lift a copy of their plan, duplicate it, and put it back.
"Now that's a fine idea!"
Kazadar bellowed with a booming laugh.
"No point takin' the hard road when the easy one's sittin' right there!"
"Are you justifying theft right now?"
Morton, who had been listening in silence from the back, threw down the challenge. Professor Waiver jumped in with a grin.
"You did plenty of that yourself back when you were still in active service, Professor Morton."
"You cannot put a military operation carried out under orders on the same level as this."
"Do you think the other side saw it that way at the time, Professor Morton?"
"Hmph."
Waiver shut Morton down in a single stroke, and Anna chimed in with her usual gloomy drawl.
"I'm in favor too... I've already got more horses to look after, so I'm busy as it is... I can't afford to spend too much time writing up a plan..."
"As long as we don't leave any traces or evidence, it never happened in the first place."
Pelemiya adjusted her glasses as she said this, and Lina turned to me.
"What do you think, Chief Professor?"
Honestly, it wasn't a bad idea. Borrow it for a bit, copy it, put it back. That should work, right? It was a pretty shameless thing to do, but as Pelemiya said — if nobody knew, it never happened. Worrying about legality and conscience was the kind of thing a guy like Linus did. If we'd always operated that way, neither of us would have survived this long.
"I think it's a good idea too. Think you could do it tonight?"
"Of course. But which academy should we hit?"
I thought for a moment, then a good target came to mind.
"The Imperial Military Academy. They're similar to us, so let's lift it from them."
There were plenty of academies, but not many that had a Combat Department. And among those, the ones that struck a balance between combat and theory could be counted on one hand. The most representative of them was the Imperial Military Academy.
It trained the Empire's elite officers, and from what I knew, a fair number of imperial family members had graduated from there — our superior, the Second Princess, being a notable example. Which meant it was in a completely different league from our Academy, a relatively young institution created to supply new personnel to the organizations under the Imperial Security Office.
There was also the Special Warfare Training Center, but that place trained active-duty soldiers for special operations, so its character was a bit different from ours. Even if they carried out the same missions, the difference between a soldier and an operative was enormous. In that regard, the Imperial Military Academy — which produced officers versed in both letters and arms — was the perfect fit for us.
And if we happened to get caught and a dispute broke out, it was better to be fighting among fellow Imperial Palace institutions than with a private academy. Private academies were mostly backed by noble patrons, and getting tangled up with that crowd wouldn't do us any good.
"The Military Academy...? Isn't the difficulty a bit high?"
Orendi responded with some concern, and Lina laughed as she poked him in the forehead with her finger.
"Just what do you take me for? I can handle it just fine. If nobody knows, it never happened."
Orendi scratched his head, then, as usual, his face brightened right up.
"Now that you mention it, you're right. All right! Let's go steal it right now!"
"We're not stealing it. We're borrowing it, reading it, and putting it back. Let's be clear on that."
Morton, who had apparently been more burdened by the prospect of writing a plan from scratch than he'd let on, seemed to be compromising from his earlier hard-line stance. Waiver and Lina, who always backed whatever I said, were already discussing how to infiltrate. Kazadar and Brog were delighted that there'd be less paperwork. Timid Anna muttered that she was a little worried, but that saving time to look after the horses was a plus. Pelemiya just adjusted her glasses, and Genev, as always, didn't open his mouth. I really wondered what that guy was always thinking about.
At midnight, Lina appeared in the department office wearing the black infiltration gear typically used for these kinds of operations.
"I'll be heading out now."
"It's still cold out... Have some of this before you go..."
Anna held out the warm tea she'd been drinking, but Lina shook her head.
"I'll drink it when I get back. It'd be a problem if I needed the bathroom in the middle of things."
"But then it'll go cold and won't taste good..."
"We can just reheat it. I'll be back."
Masked Lina vanished through Orendi's dimensional gate, and Anna set the teacup down on the desk, muttering.
"I hope she'll be all right... The Military Academy might be a bit much..."
"You think the infiltration professor is going to fail at infiltrating? Come on, let's not worry and have some late-night snacks instead!"
Waiver called out cheerfully, pulling a cloth-covered basket from under the desk. Inside was a bounty of jerky, bottled fermented milk like yogurt, smoked meat, and more — all homemade, he said.
The preserved rations made by Quiranna hunters were so delicious and high-quality that they sold for steep prices to major trading companies and noble houses. With a whole basket of such precious food sitting there, the professors lit up and started grabbing pieces, competing to get theirs first.
"Mmm. This is really good. That's a Quiranna hunter for you."
"Right? No matter how much you eat, you never get tired of it."
"Waiver. Isn't it about time for a hunting trip? Take me along when you go."
"We should. The weather's warmed up, and I've run through all the meat I had stored at the dorm."
"Hey, Brog wants to come too!"
We were chatting and snacking when Lina suddenly burst out of the dimensional gate. Why was she back so fast? Had she been caught midway? That was my first thought — except the bundle of documents in her hands was far too clearly visible for that.
"Here you go, Chief Professor."
Lina handed me the stack of papers.
"Take a look, and if it's the right one, I'll copy it right away and put it back."
I looked over the documents. They were definitely the Imperial Military Academy's plan for special talent admissions.
"Well done, Lina. You're the best."
"Ta-da."
Lina made a V-sign with both hands, her eyes crinkling in a smile above the mask.
"This hasn't gone cold yet, has it?"
Then she pulled off her mask, picked up Anna's teacup — still steaming — and slurped it down.
That was genuinely impressive. She wasn't Guan Yu slaying a general before his wine could cool, and yet she'd infiltrated the Imperial Military Academy in the dead of night and brought back exactly the documents we needed — all before the tea even had time to go cold. I'd heard she used to be a special task force operative, but I hadn't imagined she was this good.
Anyway, great. Now we could adapt it to our Academy and finish the plan.
