The Special Talent Admissions Examination (6)

It was around this point that Ismera began entertaining a certain delusion. Could it be that the Imperial Palace was considering Dian as the next Academy Principal? No matter how she turned it over in her mind, there were far too many suspicious points to dismiss as coincidence.

Ismera had already heard, through various channels, that the Imperial Palace was searching for a successor to replace Kirlin. They had put up with the situation for years because of the Emperor, but with the first class of graduates due next year, the prevailing mood was that the Head of the National Security Office could no longer look the other way.

And so Ismera had privately expected that she herself — already serving as Vice Principal — would be the one to become Academy Principal.

And yet. The name on everyone's lips had been Sir Linus, Hero of the Continent... and the one who actually showed up was some unkempt, brown-haired human man she'd never seen in her life, looking every bit a delinquent.

The moment he arrived, he demolished Kirlin's entire approach to running the academy — a style that had remained immovable even under pressure from the Imperial Palace — slapped up a shopping district out of nowhere, and dragged in a herd of wild horses from who-knows-where. And every last one of these moves had come with the Imperial Palace's enthusiastic backing.

On top of all that, he had now produced a plan so flawless it made the one that Ismera — holder of a High Master's Degree — and the Theory Department's most brilliant professors had put their heads together to create look like a child's scribble.

At first, Ismera had assumed Dian was the same type as Kirlin: someone who'd landed the Chief Professor position through connections with important people, one way or another. But looking at him now, this man... his ability was extraordinary.

He wasn't the kind of person Ismera had taken him for. There was definitely... definitely something more to him.

From every angle, Dian was the next Academy Principal the Imperial Palace had prepared. Kirlin enjoyed the Emperor's protection, so an immediate replacement would be politically fraught — hence the plan to assign him as Chief Professor first and let him slowly take over the academy. And if that was the case... then what about me?

The look Ismera leveled at Dian and Kirlin was so venomous it seemed a dragon's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠breath might erupt from her eyes at any second.

Utterly unlike Ismera's smoldering insides, Kirlin was beaming as she adopted Dian's plan as the base template. His proposal already included the Combat Department's detailed content and had the overall framework well established, so all they needed to do was fold in the Theory Department's portion and it would be essentially complete.

They called in the administrative director to discuss the budget and other requirements for implementing the plan, and the meeting wrapped up with preparations set to begin that very afternoon.

"Professor Ismera. You should visit the infirmary. Divine Healing will restore your energy."

As they left the principal's office, Dian spoke up, and Ismera shook her head.

"I appreciate your concern, but I am quite all right. It would be improper for a professor to visit the infirmary during working hours."

"Come on, let's go together. I stayed up late last night myself, so I could use a buff."

"A buff? And what, pray tell, is that? Ah! Unhand me this instant!!"

Dian grabbed her wrist without warning and started pulling. Ismera recoiled in shock and tried to shake him off, but his grip was so strong that she couldn't put up any real resistance and was dragged along helplessly.

"I will walk there myself, so please let go! You're hurting my wrist!"

"Ah, sorry, sorry."

When Dian released her, Ismera rubbed her wrist, glared at him, then strode off toward the infirmary.

Ordinarily she would have worn her mask of composure, but Ismera had pulled an all-nighter and was thoroughly exhausted, and on top of that she was mentally cornered by the suspicion that the Imperial Palace was pushing Dian for principal. As a result, her true nature had slipped out without her realizing it.

But Dian, who had already figured Ismera out completely, wasn't surprised in the least. He just smiled and followed after her.

"Hello, Priestess. Could you give us some Divine Healing?"

"Where are you injured."

When they entered the infirmary, Priestess Maya rose to greet them.

"We're not injured. We both pulled all-nighters, so we were hoping to recover from the fatigue."

Ismera's face said she couldn't believe what she was hearing. And of course she couldn't. Dian had gone home a little past midnight. The one who'd stayed up the entire night was Ismera, all by herself.

"Please lie down here. I will infuse your body with holy power."

Dian and Ismera each claimed a cot in the treatment room and lay down, and Priestess Maya manifested her holy power in turn. The golden light wrapped around their bodies with its distinctive warmth, and sleep crept up on me before I even realized it.

While Priestess Maya turned her back ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to me and applied holy power to Ismera on the opposite side, I started nodding off.

And a short while later.

"Dian. Dian!"

Someone was shaking me awake. I opened my eyes to find something pitch-black staring down at me.

"Principal?"

"I've been looking all over for you. What are you doing in here?"

"I was receiving Divine Healing. Why were you looking for me?"

"Weren't we going to eat cake?"

Only then did I remember that I'd jokingly told Kirlin she should treat me to cake for making such a good plan.

"Hurry up and get up. I'll buy you cake."

"You just wanted cake yourself, didn't you, Principal?"

"I said get up!"

Kirlin didn't answer that. She just grabbed my arm and started yanking. So it was true.

"Ah, uh, Professor Ismera... want to come with us?"

"I do not eat cake ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that contains milk."

"Sorry."

Caught off guard by the uncharacteristically sharp response, Kirlin looked embarrassed and turned to me.

"Professor Ismera is a vegetarian. Let's just go by ourselves."

"Right..."

After Kirlin and I left the infirmary, Ismera, left alone, could no longer contain her rage and started pounding the cot with her fists.

Damn it. Damn it. Damn it!!

"Please maintain silence in the infirmary."

"I apologize, Priestess..."

Having finished treating a student who'd gotten a scrape during practicals, Priestess Maya glided back to her desk and began writing in the Patient Log.

After leaving the infirmary, we headed straight to the dessert café.

"Principal! Welcome! The usual whole cake today?"

"Yes, that's right."

The moment we walked in, the owner recognized Kirlin and greeted her warmly.

"Principal. Is someone else supposed to be joining us?"

"It's just the two of us eating, though?"

"Then why order a whole cake? Planning to take the leftovers home?"

Kirlin's ears fluttered as she looked at me with genuine incomprehension.

"Don't we need a whole cake if the two of us are going to eat?"

"Is that so...? Well, neither of us had lunch, so I suppose a whole cake isn't entirely unreasonable."

The café owner had made it sound like this was what she always ordered, though...

"Thanks for the food!"

When a whole cake was set on the table, Kirlin picked up her fork.

"Mmm! This is so good!"

After taking a huge bite of cake, Kirlin's ears perked up like a rabbit's. Cute.

"Professor Ismera looked pretty angry back there."

Kirlin spoke as she wiped whipped cream from the corner of her mouth with a napkin.

"Was it because I thoughtlessly suggested cake? If I'd said we should go eat salad, maybe she wouldn't have been so upset."

I let out a laugh at Kirlin, who had missed the mark so thoroughly it was almost impressive.

"That's not why. She's upset because you adopted the plan I made."

"Ah, was that it? Well... from Professor Ismera's perspective, I suppose her pride was wounded."

"She looked down on me and the Combat Department, but when she actually saw what we could do, it wasn't what she'd expected."

"That's true. Professor Ismera is a pureblood elf with a High Master's Degree. In her eyes, I'm probably a pathetic excuse for a principal."

"She probably thinks that, yes."

Kirlin nodded, then spoke carefully.

"Professor Ismera wants to be principal."

"I know. But it won't be easy. Politically speaking."

"That's true..."

The reason the Second Princess hadn't been able to dismiss Kirlin all this time was the Emperor. So she'd played her trump card and put Linus forward; when that failed, she'd offered me up as the next best thing. And when even that didn't work out, she'd had no choice but to slot me in as a professor.

As it stood, Kirlin had become politically untouchable whether she wanted to or not, and there was nothing Ismera could do to overcome that. If there had been, the Second Princess would have simply recommended Ismera — who was already right here — instead of going after the Hero or a recluse like me. Ismera's credentials were far too meager to break the Emperor's stubbornness.

"I always feel so sorry toward Ismera, and so grateful... If it weren't for her, I never would have lasted."

"I'll give her that. Whatever she's thinking on the inside, Professor Ismera really does work hard."

Kirlin let out a deep sigh.

"Haa... How did I end up in a position this neither-here-nor-there..."

"That's what they call being stuck between a rock and a hard place."

"I've never heard that one before..."

Dejected, Kirlin drooped her ears and stuffed cake into her mouth.

With the academy's final plan in place, preparations for the Special Talent Student selection picked up speed. They converted one dormitory building into lodging for applicants during the selection period, and prepared everything from a cafeteria to bathhouses and other amenities.

The faculty conducted a final inspection of the examination halls and scoring sheets, while Kirlin drafted letters to send to various territories and cities.

The letters, with the selection plan enclosed, were scattered far and wide by Orendi's magic.

In the midst of all this, Knightly had come looking for me once. I apologized for being too busy and asked her to wait until the selection was over. She looked thoroughly dissatisfied, but given the circumstances, she understood and backed off.

And then a letter arrived from Linus.

Even in this life, newborns had weak immune systems, so they kept outsiders away for a while.

I opened the box that had come with the letter and found a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠bottle of liquor, wrapped in straw, gleaming with a lustrous light.

"Haha, you bastard."

Armand de Brignac. An outrageously expensive wine — the same one Linus had brought as a gift the last time he'd visited Brunswell. To casually gift two bottles of this stuff... just how much was the Empire paying this guy?

I'd save this and share it with the professors later.

And so a week flew by in a blur, and at last, the day of the Special Talent Student selection arrived.