Grade Evaluation Ceremony (1)
Grade Evaluation Ceremony (1)
The Knights' Department's private training hall.
Seated in lotus position on the wooden floor that connected to the outdoor training grounds, Sharon Pierce was deep in meditation.
"......."
The sound of footsteps approaching from afar.
At the uninvited intrusion, Sharon's brow lifted a fraction.
"Sharon! I brought a letter that came for you."
The intruder was a girl from her class.
Having come all this way for something so trivial, the girl held out an envelope.
Sharon accepted it without a word.
An envelope stamped with the seal of House Pierce.
The periodic letter the family head sent to all his children.
Sharon's hand trembled ever so slightly—but not enough for her classmate to notice.
Sharon Pierce read through the letter.
Her outward demeanor was as cold as ever, but her inner state was another matter entirely.
The stiff handwriting conveyed encouragement, but in essence the letter reproached her for her stalled growth.
"........"
Her mouth went dry.
A faint furrow creased brows that were always expressionless.
Sharon lifted her head from the letter.
The student was still standing there, staring at her with an eager grin.
Coldly, Sharon's lips parted.
"Do you still have business here?"
"Um, well, Sharon, would you like to have lunch together?"
"Not necessary."
"B-but. I just wanted to get a little closer to you...."
"I'm busy. That will be all."
A clear dismissal.
The girl withdrew.
"Hoo."
Sharon let out a soft sigh.
She had no need for anything that interfered with her training.
Friends were a prime example.
They smiled and acted friendly to her face, but if you turned away and listened closely—
— "Honestly, if she doesn't even have the skills... she's just a woman with a bad attitude, really."
— "Hey. She might hear you, lower your voice...."
— "Heehee! But Sharon's just overflowing with ability right now, isn't she? How can someone be that impressive? Ahh, if only I could hold those elegant hands just once...."
— "You're seriously a pervert, a total pervert...."
Those fading voices drifted back to her.
But Sharon Pierce paid them no mind.
The sword.
Nothing but the sword.
For the sake of that path, she could accept anything—and discard anything.
Just as she had accepted Ian Blackangus, and discarded him without a shred of mercy.
Even though she had received his help, the moment he revealed his romantic interest in her, she had no choice but to cut him off with finality.
And yet he had risen again and entangled himself with her once more.
In that case, she simply had to place him upon the disciplinary committee's judgment seat and await the verdict.
Emilia. And Aria.
With them at her side, it would not be difficult.
As for Rina Rosewell—she would need to verify her condition at least once.
"...Focus."
Why was it that the mere thought of Ian Blackangus uniquely unsettled her composure?
Sharon shook her head.
The grade assessment.
If she failed to produce a favorable result this time, the family head would not remain idle.
The family head desired nothing from her but her talent alone.
She had not forgotten what he had told her when he summoned her in private.
— Sharon Pierce. You have ripened nicely.
— Thank you, my lord.
— Do not disappoint me as your mother did. I expect you to carry her share as well.
— Yes.
She had to satisfy him.
The grade assessment would begin in earnest that afternoon.
She had to produce a result.
Late 4-Star.
If she reached that point, the family head would at last acknowledge her.
A blue light flickered in Sharon's eyes.
— Shaaang!
The training dummy split into two pieces and collapsed to the floor.
A cut that, by all rights, should have been flawlessly clean.
"......."
But now, it was rougher than it had any excuse to be.
◆
The first day of the Grade Assessment Ceremony.
About an hour remained until the students' star-rank evaluation, but the assessment hall was already swarming with personnel.
The long, grueling preparations for the assessment were at last in their final stages.
"Whew."
The chief of the Grade Assessment Department let out a sigh.
It was a job he had done for years, but it was an event that never once went smoothly.
As a department chief, he could simply receive reports from the comfort of a cool office—but he genuinely enjoyed this work.
Watching as many students as possible discover their own rank and then strive toward the next one.
The ceremony was not merely an act of "measuring" grades; it became the students' goal, their driving force for improvement.
Naturally, the ceremony's significance extended further still.
"Chief. The outside guests are arriving."
"Right. I'll handle them."
From a broader perspective, the Grade Assessment Ceremony was a showcase for the students.
Scouts dispatched from various guilds, magic towers, government bodies, and other institutions would carefully observe and document the prospects' conditions.
The students would not formally enter society until after passing their graduation examinations, but the assessment ceremony held great weight as the venue where they made their first impression on these stakeholders.
A low murmur began to fill the hall.
If the main entrance served as the door for students, the rear entrance was the door for outside guests.
At the main entrance, his subordinates had already rushed out to manage the throng of students that would soon gather.
The chief took his place at the rear entrance.
One of his duties was greeting external figures.
'The crowd is exceptionally large today.'
Journalists and magazine staff, scouts dispatched from guilds, and representatives from various organizations.
So many observers had gathered that he could scarcely recall the last time an assessment had drawn this many attendees.
They were, in a sense, the ceremony's other main characters.
The chief's role was to ensure that these people took even a little more interest in the students.
For instance—a benevolent-looking clergyman approaching at a leisurely pace. Figures like this required careful handling.
"Bishop Bacon! What an honor that you have made the journey all this way once again."
"Hoho. Chief, it has been too long. I believe we last met at the previous graduation examination. As a servant of God, I must personally confirm the condition of our Order's Saintess Candidate."
"Lady Aria, the Saintess Candidate—with her talent, how could there be any room for doubt? I would be grateful if you would also keep a warm eye on the other students."
"Hohoho! I can see that our Assessment Department Chief truly has a deep-hearted concern for these children. You would have made a fine clergyman yourself. For the sake of your earnest face alone, I shall observe them closely."
Employment with the Order was stable, if somewhat strict in discipline.
A fine career path for mid-to-lower-ranked students.
In this way, a simple exchange of greetings could lead to just one more student receiving extra attention and scrutiny.
Ensuring that even one more child earned a better evaluation.
That was the quiet reward of holding the title of chief at this ceremony.
Some individuals fell outside his reach.
Two women who stood out at a single glance—one with strikingly fluorescent hair, the other with vivid orange hair.
They approached while bickering with one another.
"Aren't you just a little excited about this cohort? We need to recruit some mages for our guild this time."
"Hmph. A mere guild, daring to poach talent from the Magic Tower—you're a hundred years, a thousand years too early for that!"
"The Magic Tower? Who goes to the Magic Tower these days? Only dumb kids like our poor little Broccoli over here get duped into working for the Tower. Terrible treatment, terrible working conditions."
"It's not Broccoli, it's Curly! Curly! And the Magic Tower has honor!"
"Does honor put food on the table? Why don't you come join your big sister at Event Horizon? I'll make sure you're well taken care of."
"Hmph. Some things can't be bought with money. For instance—there's no way you're ever recruiting Miss Emilia into that 'Horizon' guild of yours."
Before the chief could even offer a greeting, the two women chattered their way past him and into the assessment hall.
Mages were inherently difficult to deal with, so this was, if anything, a stroke of luck.
He had no time even to sigh.
This time, the sound of metal scraping against metal reached his ears.
A tall knight in relatively light plate armor.
The plate, engraved with the lily that symbolized the Empire, marked him as a knight of the Imperial Guard—the Order of the White Lily.
The chief gave a brief military-style nod, and the other man responded with appropriate courtesy.
"I have come to observe Sharon Pierce."
"You will not regret the long journey."
"My thanks."
And so, after exchanging greetings with the key figures.
"Hoo."
Just as the chief was about to catch his breath, a woman appeared before him as if out of thin air.
Hair as white as if spun from the starlight of the night sky. Deep navy-blue eyes, and features so youthful that she might briefly be mistaken for a student.
"I want to see something... unusual."
She spoke in a slow, dreamlike voice, as if talking to herself.
He had never seen her before, but the gold-rimmed nameplate hanging at her neck signified that she was someone of considerable stature.
The moment she glided past him—
'...Hk!'
A crushing presence that squeezed his heart in an instant—then vanished.
The chief had met countless masters in his time, but he had only experienced a sensation like this once before: from the headmaster of Lichten.
Which meant that this youthful-looking woman was at least on par with the master of Lichten Academy.
Occasionally—very occasionally—an unknown heavyweight would visit without warning, just like this.
'...This assessment is going to be on a much larger scale than I thought.'
The chief swallowed dryly before he knew it.
Looking back over recent years, there had never been a ceremony with this many outside observers.
Just then, the announcer's voice rang out.
"The very first evaluation item for today's ceremony iiiiis~~! Mana measurement!"
Amid tremendous fervor, the ceremony began.