Chapter 53
The place I arrived at with the assistant was an empty little classroom.
...No, not little. It was quite spacious for just me.
To think they’d set aside such a space just to seat little old me.
More importantly, wouldn’t the other first-year residents of Linea Hall each have gotten private rooms this size too?
What a ridiculous waste of resources for a mere first-year exam.
Don’t tell me they rented out the entire main building of the Magic Hall. Then where are the upperclassmen supposed to take their exams?
More than the size of the room, the magic set up inside the classroom was also incredibly impressive.
I scanned the classroom from end to end.
'Storage,' 'Oblivion,' and... 'Dream.'
A barrier of illusion magic had been woven together with exquisite precision.
I immediately understood the purpose of the magic laid over the classroom.
Once you left this space, you would forget everything that happened here, as though it had all been a dream.
That’s awfully excessive for magic meant to prevent exam leaks.
What broke my thoughts was the assistant’s voice.
“It’s almost time, so I’ll explain the exam for 'Basic Concepts of Magical Theory.'”
Without even checking my reaction, he rattled it off mechanically.
It was the very picture of a graduate student—no, an academy researcher.
“There are seven questions in total, and the exam period lasts all week—that is, until midnight, when it rolls over into next Monday.”
“...Huh?”
“If you wish, you may solve the problems in your private room around the clock, even through the weekend.”
I was so dumbfounded I could only blink blankly.
No, wait—does that mean I have to stay locked up here for a whole week? Sleep curled up on the hard floor too?
“Um... are you saying we have to eat and sleep here? More importantly, what about the people who have other exams?”
“No. You’re free to go outside and take care of things.”
I looked around the classroom again.
Ah. Now I get it.
The reason they’d set such a complicated anti-leak spell on the private room.
So meticulous. Really meticulous.
Midterms didn’t seem this extreme, though.
“Ah, and I was told by your advisor that Student Lunaris has no other exam schedule at all this week.”
So it was awfully kind of him to say I could solve the problems leisurely without any pressure.
I casually glanced at the bundle of papers tucked in the assistant’s arms.
“Judging by the size, it doesn’t look like I can finish in an hour like I did for midterms...”
Still, I don’t think it’ll even take all day.
“I don’t have to stay the whole week, right? If I finish everything, I can go back immediately?”
“Even if you don’t finish, you may leave at any time. It’s also your right to give up on the exam.”
If I’m being honest, I’d like to bolt without even writing my name on the paper.
But I can’t give up my bed back in my room. As long as I can keep my Linea Hall residency, that should be enough.
Then a beeping alarm sounded from the assistant’s wrist.
“Time’s up. We’ll begin the exam now.”
I took the test paper, flopped down on the floor, and skimmed through the questions.
Question 1, 2, 3... 4, 5...
And the last question, number 6.
They clearly said there were seven questions...
“Interesting.”
The moment I let mana flow to my fingertips—
The magic circle covering the classroom and the letters within the test paper began to shine brightly.
The printed letters on the page peeled away from the paper as if alive.
Before long, they began to reassemble into a new question.
*
After Lunaris left the large lecture hall with the assistant.
“The princess is gone too, and Luna is gone...”
Claire was tasting a profound sense of gloom.
“Only me... left here...”
Of all people, the two she’d been closest to lately were Princess Celestina, who stood at the top by status, and Lunaris, who stood at the top by ability.
And then there was only me, just 'ordinary' Claire.
Claire, who was nothing special.
Feeling pathetic, I just kept digging myself into a deeper and deeper hole for no reason.
Tch. To think they both left me behind.
Just wait and see. I’m definitely getting into Linea Hall this time too.
It may be hard to stand on equal footing with the two of them.
But I’ll keep trying and trying until I can at least catch up to them!
Then the front doors of the large lecture hall opened, and the professor in charge came in with a few assistants.
Everyone except the professor was carrying a hefty bundle of thick test papers in their arms.
Claire swallowed hard before she knew it. When a test paper is that thick, the difficulty usually isn’t ordinary.
The test papers themselves were notable enough, but the professor’s face stood out even more.
For some reason, he looked more haggard than he had during midterms.
His face was pale, and dark circles were deeply etched under his eyes.
He looked as though he’d aged by ten years in just a few short weeks, which was terribly pitiful.
The professor cleared his throat with a dry cough.
“Ahem... There are six questions in all for 'Basic Concepts of Magical Theory,' and the exam lasts four hours from now—until 5:00 p.m.”
The professor went on, setting the stack of exam papers on the desk.
“And any students who finish may leave early at any time.”
There’s more time than I expected.
If I budget an average of forty minutes per question, I can finish them all and still review everything for mistakes.
Claire clenched her fist tightly and made a vow.
I lost a ton of points to careless mistakes during midterms, but this time I really have to avoid making any. Careful, careful...
Claire didn’t seem to be the only one worried about making mistakes.
“Oh, and one more thing. If you find anything strange on the test paper, don’t just ignore it—come forward quietly and have me check it.”
At the professor’s words, light laughter rippled through the classroom.
Everyone was remembering what had happened during midterms.
Even now, months after the exam, the incident where Lunaris openly pointed out the errors in the questions and filled out her answer sheet to the brim was still being talked about among the students.
Soon, an alarm sounded to announce the start of the exam.
The thick test papers flew through the air one by one and landed in front of each student.
The moment Claire took her test paper, she flipped straight through it from the first page to the last.
Now that she looked, there were surprisingly few pages with actual problems on them, and plenty that were nothing but blank space.
Just how long were they expecting the solutions to be...?
Claire felt her head go fuzzy and rubbed her temples.
She kept letting out deep sighs, but soon straightened her posture and started reading from question 1.
“Haa...”
The sigh she’d just swallowed burst out again.
This is a brutal problem right from the start.
-Claire, that formula’s wrong there.
Still, if there was any silver lining, it was that this was the very problem Lunaris had chewed her out over.
Claire replayed her infuriating top-student friend’s languid voice in her head and slowly worked through the problem.
With her right hand, she scratched out the formula; with her left, she drew up mana and formed a magic circle.
'...Huh, it’s solved.'
After finding the answer, she glanced at the clock hanging on one wall of the large lecture hall.
She had spent only about fifteen minutes on the first problem.
Considering the problems would only get harder from here, that was a pretty decent pace.
'Feels good... let’s keep this going and power through!'
And so she moved on to question 2, then question 3.
The problems were quite difficult, though.
But why were these coming so smoothly without a hitch?
Come to think of it, they were all topics Lunaris had pointed out for her.
She was basically a spot-on cram tutor... though come to think of it, she also picked on me and teased me at every turn. That rotten prodigy.
When the exam’s over, I should buy her some tasty snacks and give her a proper scolding.
Come to think of it, what did Luna like again? Last time I saw her, she seemed to really enjoy egg tarts...
The quill, which had been moving without pause, faltered for the first time in front of question 4.
Unlike the previous questions, which only asked about basic principles, advanced concepts were mixed in, and no clue presented itself.
Claire scratched her head, then suddenly looked up at the clock.
The time was, in fact, only just a little over an hour.
“...Huh?”
Something was off.
There was no way she’d solved them this quickly, was there?
Besides, Dean Raymond had said this exam was really difficult.
Was that all just a smokescreen?
With a bad feeling creeping over her, Claire flipped the test paper forward just in case.
'I think everything’s correct...'
Now that she looked again, the solutions were incredibly short compared to the amount of blank space on the paper.
-You’re making way too many leaps in logic.
Suddenly, Lunaris’s irritating voice echoed in her head.
-Don’t just try to find the answer—think about the intent. Haaahm...
Claire stared blankly at the test paper in her hands, then recalled the faint sense of wrongness she’d felt when she first received the stack of papers.
'Come to think of it, isn’t this test paper weirdly thick for no reason?'
Claire tapped the edge of the paper with her fingertips.
At first, she’d brushed it off, thinking the paper was thick because of the space reserved for rough work, but now there was more than one suspicious thing about it.
The faint touch of mana that could be felt when she focused her mind.
And the professor’s words before the exam started were also extremely suspicious.
-If you find anything 'strange' about the 'test paper,' don’t just let it pass—come quietly to the front and have me check it.
At first glance, it sounded like he was saying to come up if there were errors in the questions, but...
Maybe there was something in the test paper itself.
Claire clutched her pounding heart and stood up quietly with the test paper in hand.
Every gaze in the lecture hall turned to her.
Claire swallowed dryly and walked up to the professor.
When she reached the front of the podium, the professor—who had looked like he was dozing off—slowly lifted his head.
The professor stared straight at Claire, then snapped his fingers and cast a soundproofing spell.
So there really is something here.
Quick on the uptake, Claire was certain of it at once.
“Is there a problem?”
“Um... I think there’s something wrong with the test paper.”
The professor’s eyes gleamed.
“Something’s wrong with the test paper?”
“Yes. It’s not the questions—it seems like there’s something odd about the test paper itself.”
At that, the professor covered his mouth, gave a long yawn, and waved a hand dismissively.
“I’ve been exhausted these past few weeks from not getting enough sleep while setting the questions, so I’m in no condition to answer inquiries.”
“...?”
“There’s an assistant waiting outside, so ask the assistant.”
“...Yes. Understood.”
Claire hugged the test paper to her chest and hurried out of the large lecture hall.
In the hallway stood the same assistant who had just taken Lunaris somewhere.
The assistant suddenly tossed a question at Claire.
“Student, do you by any chance have any other exam schedules this week?”
“Um... I have one practical exam for my major on Thursday.”
The assistant nodded and took out a small notebook.
And then he quickly jotted something down.
“Understood. I’ll speak with the professor and arrange for that exam’s schedule to be changed.”
What? Change the exam schedule?
The moment Claire tilted her head in confusion, the assistant spoke again.
“Then let me explain the final exam for 'Basic Concepts of Magical Theory' once more.”
“...?”
“There are a total of '7 questions,' and the exam time lasts until midnight, when it rolls over into next Monday.”
“...!”
“The exam will be held in a separate private room, and you may come and go freely at any time during it.”
Claire’s head started fitting the puzzle pieces together one by one.
So there’s a seventh question hidden inside that test paper?
“Um... assistant.”
“Yes, go ahead.”
“Is this really an exam?”
“You could say that. More precisely, you’ve seized an opportunity to earn extra points.”
Only now did Claire realize why the Linea Hall students—only the representatives of each year—had been summoned separately to private rooms.
Only they had been given the chance to solve the additional question.
And Claire had proven herself worthy of that chance by noticing the oddity in the test paper.
“Yes!!”
Only now had she finally reached the same starting line as those top students.