Chapter 50
Dean Raymond's office on the top floor of the main Magic Hall building.
Raymond, the owner of this room, which was so quiet it was almost suffocating, was turning over the thick exam papers one by one.
In front of the dean's desk stood the professor in charge of the first-year magic theory course, looking haggard, with both hands politely clasped.
His hair was unkempt, the skin around his eyes was sunken, and his pupils were bloodshot.
Anyone looking at him would think he was the one who'd stayed up all night studying for the exam, not the one who'd written it.
He looked like he could collapse any second.
But his eyes gleamed fiercely with a pride bordering on madness.
He hadn't originally been this diligent and passionate a professor.
He was the type content to teach a bunch of bumbling first-years just enough while living day by day in the comfort of a stable job at the Imperial Academy.
But the moment some 'advanced mage' suddenly enrolled in the academy, everything changed.
This was, quite literally, a natural disaster.
No... rather, why on earth was the person he should be begging to learn from coming here as a student...?
He'd been under a lot of stress from that inverted teacher-student relationship.
So at first he tried to ignore it somehow.
He breathed a sigh of relief whenever that vicious new student was absent, and when the student happened to wander into class and sleep like a log, he figured it was better that way and didn't bother waking them.
When a problem he'd agonized over for a week was reduced to something solvable in seconds, he got hit with a heavy wave of post-effort emptiness, but whatever.
He figured he'd just endure this year somehow and get the student promoted to second year.
Next year, Kyle and the rest of the so-called 'protagonist cohort' would enroll and suffer even more than this year, but that was a problem for later.
Anyway.
The problem was that, starting with the midterm results announcement, his position began to come under threat little by little.
The issue was that the answer saying the problem itself was wrong had been publicly spread throughout the academy.
-Even though Miss Lunaris is a high-level student...
-Still, as a professor, being worse than a student really makes one question your qualifications...
-Ahem! S-sorry to say this, but you've been designated as the highest-priority target for a special audit. Ah! Of course, I'm not saying you've done anything wrong. It's just... you know? Things have been a bit unsettling lately.
Was his ironclad job security starting to shake?
This was a real super-emergency.
So the professor brought together every ounce of effort he should have made in the past and would need to make in the future, and put everything he had into making the exam questions.
And the result was the test paper now in Dean Raymond's hands.
The dean was just as serious.
Every so often she let out a thoughtful hum and marked up the paper with a quill dipped in red ink, and it somehow looked incredibly serious.
Thinking about how she'd usually been tossed about by that vicious genius freshman, this was a surprisingly fresh glimpse of her on-the-job side.
That's right.
Right now, it was the exam-paper review period.
Every exam the Magic Department students took had to receive her final approval.
Of course, Dean Raymond couldn't personally review the exam questions for every grade and every magic subject. There simply wasn't enough time.
So she personally checked only the core major subjects for third- and fourth-years, leaving the rest to the chief professor's judgment.
Personally checking the exam questions for nothing more than a first-year fledgling was extremely unusual.
But personally checking the problems an Archmage candidate would solve was only natural.
Dean Raymond's gaze lingered for quite a long time on the problem written on the last page of the test.
After a long silence, the dean set down her pen and spoke.
"The questions from number 1 through 6 are so good they'd be called top-tier. But..."
Her voice, carrying a smile, was filled with pure admiration.
"This last question is truly amazing. If it were up to me, I'd want to use it for the academy's chief professor selection exam."
Dean Raymond heaped praise on it, saying it was too good to be wasted on mere first-year fledglings.
"...Thank you for recognizing the hard work, Dean."
The professor's voice came out rough and ragged.
Having felt the hardships of the past month, Raymond let out a sympathetic sigh.
"This problem is, as expected, a 'targeted' one made just for that student, isn't it?"
"Well... I won't deny it."
"Hrm—something like this is too good to waste on only first-years."
Dean Raymond tapped the test paper and went on.
"Would it be all right if I let students from other years try it too and award extra credit at the dean's discretion?"
"If you did that, it would be the greatest honor for me."
The professor said, bowing his head.
This all counts as achievements.
At this rate, he would not only get through the special audit at year-end without any trouble, but also restore his honor.
Dean Raymond carefully examined the last question once more.
Then, as if suddenly curious, she narrowed her eyes and asked.
"By the way, this problem really can be solved using only the material in first-year students' textbooks, right?"
"Yes. If you look at the explanation booklet I included, you'll see that it can definitely be solved within the curriculum."
Dean Raymond looked at the thick envelope the professor pointed to, sitting in a corner of the desk.
The thick explanation booklet, several times thicker than the test paper and almost book-length, was impossible to miss.
"...This really can be solved within the limited time, right?"
"That's why, if the dean only allows it, I'd like to set the exam time from the morning of the first day of finals to midnight of the last day."
"..."
"Also, I've arranged for students to be able to leave and re-enter the exam hall freely."
"Then wouldn't the students just gather outside and discuss the questions while solving them?"
At that, the professor shook his head with a faint smile.
"Don't worry about that. For that, I've separately requested help from the deputy commander of the Imperial Mage Corps."
"Deputy Commander Albert?"
"Yes. With his help, we've placed a confidentiality illusion over the entire exam hall."
"Hooh—you're surprisingly well connected."
Dean Raymond asked, sounding surprised.
"To be honest, the deputy commander was the one who approached me first. And I received quite a bit of advice while making the questions as well."
Like most people who pursue an ordinary life, the professor was also someone who knew his place.
Since he couldn't make a problem worthy of a genius of the century by himself, he had no choice but to borrow another genius's power.
"No wonder the question quality was so good."
With a satisfied smile, Dean Raymond said that even if she gathered up all the other theory exam papers, none of them would compare to this one.
"Come to think of it, it wouldn't matter if the students discussed it outside."
In fact, I'd almost want to encourage them to discuss it together.
After all, it wasn't the kind of problem that could be solved just by putting heads together.
Even so, the reason she went to the trouble of setting up anti-cheating magic was to protect the professor's intellectual property.
"Heh heh... Ahaha!"
Dean Raymond set the test paper down and suddenly burst out laughing.
"Lunaris, that student is, well—looking down on Elterion Academy and our Magic Department far too much."
That's not true at all.
They aren't interested in the slightest.
"This time, we'll definitely make sure to show them that this academy has something to learn from as well."
*
"It's already next week, finals~"
Ghost Story Research Club room.
Princess Celestina stretched out atop the mountain of reference books.
"Yeah."
My voice came out a little more cheerful than usual.
"You seem to like exam season, Luna?"
The princess tilted her head and smiled faintly, as if my reaction were curious.
"The others all look like they're dying, though."
Looking around, the clubroom really was a sight.
Saying they were dying was by no means an exaggeration.
Claire, who had already been half-mad, now looked like she'd definitely gone completely insane.
She was tearing at her hair and mumbling incomprehensible spells—probably the memorization summary.
Even the usually lively President Sylvia was, for once, slumped over and sitting meekly in front of Vice President Thomas, learning how to study.
...But wait.
Those two are from different faculties.
Does it make sense for the Political Science Department to be teaching the Magic Department?
No, more importantly, is it really right for a second-year to be teaching a third-year?
...Well, I guess it doesn't have anything to do with me.
"I really do like exam season."
I flopped face-down onto the table, which had been warmed up nice and toasty.
"I can skip class legally, the maids don't bother me, and what's not to like?"
Especially finals period—I like it even more than midterms.
After midterms, classes start again, but after finals, it's vacation, right?
Just thinking about a life spent with my bed 24 hours a day already has dopamine surging through me.
"Above all, I don't have all that many exams to take."
"Huh?"
"I was exempted from the magic practical after the day I blew up half the Magic Hall auditorium last time, and I had two major exams in the Magitech Department, but I got out of those by submitting a magical device and a report."
Of course, the one who wrote the report was Senior Estelle.
Thanks to that, I got to skate through one exam.
"Ahaha... now that you mention it, I was honestly a little scared back then."
"Anyway, that means I don't have many exams left. At most, one theory exam each for my major and liberal arts, plus one practical exam each for my major and liberal arts."
Among them, the most annoying is the magic duel with Dean Raymond, classified as a major practical exam.
That's why I'm now preparing for the most troublesome exam.
...Huh? You mean lying on the desk isn't exam prep?
This is all about managing my condition.
If I'm going to face the dean, I need to be in perfect shape. I should rest up properly.
"Still, wouldn't it be better to study magic theory?"
Concern seeped into the princess's voice.
"The dean even said the theory exam our first-years are taking this time is going to be monstrous."
"Even so..."
"Luna might not have anything to worry about, but Claire and I do."
The princess cautiously clasped her hands together.
"So... could you maybe help us study, Luna?"
"That's such a pain..."
"Luna! Pleeease!!"
At that moment, Claire suddenly sprang up onto the desk.
Jeez, you scared me.
"Think of it as saving a person, okay? Hm? I'm not confident in practicals, so I need to somehow get top marks on the written if I want to get into Linnea Hall! Hm? Let's study together!"
"All-night exam cramming!"
At Claire's words, the princess's eyes instantly lit up.
"I've always wanted to try studying all night with friends!"
"..."
"Couldn't you manage that, Luna?"
Ah, there it was.
The 'friend's request' attack was several times more burdensome than the 'princess's command' attack.
Sigh... but in exchange.
I silently stared at their troublesome gazes for a moment, then let out a low sigh.
"We'll do it in the princess's room. If I get sleepy, I'm stealing her bed and going straight to sleep."