Grade Evaluation Ceremony (2)
Grade Evaluation Ceremony (2)
Lichten Academy boasted grounds as vast as its reputation.
Because of that, it housed some considerably large buildings.
The academy's grade assessment hall was one of them.
A hall rivaling a soccer field in size. The spectator stands surrounding it were reminiscent of a stadium.
Though the wide space was still terribly crowded now that the entire first-year student body had flooded in.
'Wouldn't it be more efficient to split us into groups by day if it was going to be like this?'
Ian sighed lightly.
He knew his grumbling was pointless. The outside figures sitting in the stands—if their time carried a price tag, a few pouches of gold wouldn't cover it.
Even so, assessing an entire grade year's rankings all at once was undeniably inefficient.
The only silver lining was that today's first assessment was the mana measurement.
Since it was done with simple mana-engineering equipment, each student's turn would pass quickly.
While he was walking and grumbling to himself—
"Ian! Over here!"
Ian looked around and spotted a pair of perked cat ears.
"This way!"
Danya was bouncing in place.
Her desperate movements, as if she was afraid he might not spot her short self, drew an amused chuckle from him.
Familiar faces were gathered around her, so that seemed to be the assembly point for the Mezai class.
"You came early."
Ian approached Danya and greeted her.
"Hmph!"
Danya immediately crossed her arms and snorted.
Where had the bouncing Danya from a moment ago gone? She was in full-on sullen cat mode now.
But she didn't seem completely angry.
When he got closer, instead of putting distance between them, she actually stuck closer to him.
As if demanding his attention.
'What's this?'
Looking at her slightly puffed-up cheeks, she definitely seemed upset about something...
'Did she get mad because I left her alone at the dorm last time?'
Ian recalled a recent incident.
He had invited Danya to his dorm. But then a sudden idea about a transporter came to mind, and he had left her behind.
Calling someone over because you need help, only for the host to leave first—that was pretty rude.
"Sorry for leaving you alone last time."
An apology immediately flowed from Ian's lips.
Danya was rather startled by this.
Because that wasn't what she intended at all.
In fact, Danya was very happy that Ian had invited her to his place.
"No, that's not it! I was actually grateful that time!"
"I mean... you gave me that elixir and everything. I was really grateful, meow. I ate it well."
Danya lowered her head and muttered, as if embarrassed to be expressing gratitude.
"That was nothing."
"But let's talk about the gratitude thing a bit later..."
Danya narrowed her eyes into thin slits.
She asked,
"We're comrades, right?"
"Yeah."
"W-well...! W-well..."
She hemmed and hawed for a moment, then glanced up at him, her cheeks puffing out. It was a proper sulky expression, but the sight was incredibly cute, even if he didn't know why she was pouting.
She fidgeted for a while before finally asking.
"Has... has anyone else besides me ever been in your room... meow?"
"...What?"
"I said, have you brought a-another girl, no, another person in?"
What kind of question was that?
Being a feline-type beastman, maybe she had a cat's unique territorial instinct.
Well. These racial differences were something they needed to work out gradually as comrades.
Had he brought anyone else into his room?
Probably not before the possession. And not even after possessing this body. Before he needed Danya's help, there had been no reason or need for it.
"I don't think so."
"Really?"
"I don't really see a reason to bring anyone else besides you."
Danya's expression cleared up instantly at those words.
"H-heh. Really? Not even Sylvia?"
"Yeah. Wait, why Sylvia?"
"I-it's nothing, meow."
Now she was even grinning.
Was she that happy about expanding her territory?
'I definitely need to learn more about these racial differences in the future.'
Thus, while Ian was misunderstanding Danya's jealousy as feline behavior.
A small commotion came from the direction of the Knight Department.
"Kyaaaah!"
"Miss Sharon, you're so cool!"
The first phase of the grade assessment ceremony, the mana measurement, had already begun.
It was Sharon's turn, and the surroundings were buzzing.
She approached the measuring device step by step.
Sharon stood before the device.
The moment countless students' eyes focused on her.
The noisy surroundings immediately fell silent.
A stillness where you could hear a pin drop.
— Please place your hand on the measuring device.
The machine's voice rang out dryly.
Sharon's gaze was just as cold.
Her hand rested on the device, colder than the machine itself.
— F Rank test passed.
— D Rank test passed.
— C Rank test passed.
The lower-grade tests were passed in an instant, barely taking a second.
That meant her mana vastly exceeded the lower grades.
"Oooh..."
Astonishment filled the air.
— B Rank test passed.
— ......
— A Rank test passed.
The initially light admiration grew heavier with shock as her rank kept climbing.
"To pass A-rank that quickly."
"That's overwhelming even compared to the Aether class students."
She eventually scored an S-rank.
"As expected of the Pierce family's daughter."
"Her bloodline was always vastly different from ordinary students to begin with. Now it seems she's fully demonstrating that talent."
"There must have been some problem with her entrance exam."
The first S-rank appearance excluding the Aether class students.
It was only natural that all the attention was focused on her.
But she wasn't the only one receiving attention.
— Student Ian Blackangus, step forward.
Although this attention was a slightly different kind.
"What? I thought Ian was confined to the academy?"
"Since he hasn't been confessing lately, I thought he got banned from attending after that incident."
"I heard rumors he'd changed, though."
Those were clearly hurtful insults.
But Ian didn't mind.
He had confidence in his abilities.
— F Rank test passed.
— D Rank test...
The next prompt was somewhat delayed.
Gulp.
Silence flowed through the assessment hall.
But it was a different kind of quiet than the one during Sharon's turn.
It was closer to anticipation than tension.
— D Rank test failed.
"...What did he just say?"
"Pffft!"
"Hahahaha!"
The moment Ian's rank was revealed.
Bursts of laughter blanketed the assessment hall.
◆
Meanwhile, in the spectator stands where the outsiders were seated.
It was a place prepared for observing the students' grade assessment ceremony.
But even within the same stands, there was a spot where people's gazes gathered.
There was a clear difference in social standing among them. No matter how much the purpose was to observe students, it was only natural for eyes to be drawn to figures who wouldn't normally be easily seen.
Among them, the combination that drew the most attention by far was the fluorescent-haired and orange-haired duo.
The woman with the fluorescent short cut and the small, childlike stature was Ray, of the Lichten branch of the Magic Tower.
The woman with long pink-orange hair, who looked mature and voluptuous enough to pass as Lucia's guardian, was Elisha of the magic guild 'Incident Horizon'.
The Magic Tower and the 'Incident Horizon' guild's prestige ranked among the highest of any organizations on the continent. Moreover, they were two groups that accepted only the elite of the elite, making them even harder to glimpse in person than their renown suggested.
So it was only natural that countless gazes sidelong glanced their way.
But as if used to the surrounding attention, they were solely observing the students.
Many students were undergoing their measurements simultaneously in the hall, but what stole both their gazes was one black-haired student from the Magic Faculty.
— Magic Faculty, Mezai class, Student Ian. Mana measurement result is D!
— Wahahahahaha!
"...Did you see that black-haired one just now?"
"Yes, sis. His magical power is ridiculously weak."
The fluorescent-haired girl answered half-heartedly.
Elisha glared down at her sharply.
"Ray?"
"W-why-euh... why are you looking at me like that? It's pressuring me."
Ray's eyes rolled around suspiciously for anyone to see.
A vein bulged on Elisha's fair forehead.
She immediately grabbed Ray's cheeks with both hands.
"Hey."
"Yeessshhh."
Squish squish. Streeeetch.
With her long hands, Elisha mercilessly kneaded Ray's cheeks like kneading dough.
"Did you see him or not?"
"Mmmphhhguh."
"Did you see him or not?"
"I saw himmmph!"
Only when she confessed to seeing him did Elisha let go.
"Ray. We agreed to handle this nicely by exchanging opinions this time. Let's not make things ugly."
"B-but."
"But?"
"The Magic Tower needs talent! I don't want to work overtime anymore!"
Ray shouted with tears welling up in her eyes.
The Magic Tower's traditional recruitment methods indeed made it difficult to secure talent compared to a magic guild like Incident Horizon.
'Oh dear, the poor thing.'
Elisha let out a deep sigh and pointed at Ian, who was returning to his seat amidst the students' mockery in the distance.
"Still, he seems like the kind of kid the Tower Lord would be interested in. The purity of that kid's mana is no joke."
"I knew you'd see it too, sis."
"Besides, earth elements are hard to contain in a circle. That purity, with that amount—that kid definitely has something."
"Right. It's definitely not something we can just ignore."
A thin tension flowed between the two whose opinions had matched for the first time in a while.
"...We'll need to keep a close eye on him."