Chapter 126
The title of being a member of Velos Academy's inaugural class would inevitably attract attention, and it would remain attached to them forever.
The staff of Velos Academy had no choice but to take the matter extremely seriously.
"For the one year when there are no upperclassmen, and before any underclassmen enter... the entire continent will be watching Velos Academy."
"I agree. Seeing how Velos Academy proceeds, other countries may operate academies of their own later."
"We must be the first, and at the same time, the best—something that exists nowhere else."
The inaugural students would graduate and go around carrying the title of Velos Academy's inaugural graduates.
What if, by some chance, they graduated as a bunch of mediocre nobodies and went around spreading the academy's name with an ambiguous reputation?
The academy staff thought there could be no greater humiliation.
"We must select the best."
"What if we make the graduation exam difficult? Rather than graduating them simply because they advance a grade...."
"Are you saying we should make admission difficult, advancement difficult, and graduation difficult?"
"That's right. If they lack the qualifications, how can we let them advance a grade and act like upperclassmen simply because time has passed?"
"I want graduating from Velos Academy itself to be regarded as a kind of proof."
"Then the entrance examination will be the most important thing."
"Even so, we must select people who possess at least a certain level of ability."
Thus, they wanted to screen the cadets strictly from the very first entrance examination.
The result was the test known as 'Enduring the Grand General.'
"It's the quickest and most reliable way to determine the extent of their mental fortitude."
"Are we selecting only those who don't faint? That seems far too harsh to me."
"No, we'll examine every factor comprehensively. In cooperation with the fairies, we'll place Fairy Eyes throughout the examination site so that the instructors and professors can keep track of the situation... and we plan to mark only those who show promise."
How well they could withstand the power and killing intent released by someone among the Empire's strongest.
Through this, they could roughly determine how far the cadets had developed in mind, spirit, and body.
As a result.
"As expected, 80% of them lost consciousness the moment the first examination began."
"So 80% is the result of sincerely trying to go as easy on them as possible?"
"Even so, this should make them easy to sort through. Once the first examination ends, we can begin the second examination the following morning."
"We agreed to divide them by specialty starting with the second examination, didn't we?"
"That's right. First, we decided to make a simple division between the academic and martial tracks."
The first screening examination came to an end at astonishing speed.
Only about 20% survived Enduring the Grand General. They had originally expected roughly half of them to make it through.
I had never witnessed a Grand Master's full power, so I could never have imagined it would be this effective.
'It was too powerful. I couldn't even properly guess what counted as holding back.'
Even so, 20% was not a bad number.
The academy professors and instructors busily moved about preparing for the second examination.
And as they hurried to prepare.
"The academic-track examination is essentially a brutal battle of mental endurance, so I'm not too worried about it."
The professors watched the academy instructors as they moved about.
"I'm worried about the martial-track examination."
"...Ahem, that's an undeniable fact. We can get by as long as we work our heads hard enough, but the martial-track examination...."
"I hear even the knight commanders are scheduled to appear at the examination site."
They hoped the martial-track cadets would remain safe.
The Empire's standards were overwhelmingly higher than those of other countries in every respect.
There was even a saying that the Empire meant knights, and knights meant the Empire.
Imperial knights were on a completely different level from knights of other countries.
The fact that one had to be a Sword Master just to qualify as a knight said everything.
But to take the inaugural martial-track examination at an educational institution built by such a country?
The professors could not even imagine how brutal an examination awaited them.
+++++
I want to die. But I don't want to die.
Because I've never died before.
Because death would mean the end of everything.
'But wouldn't simply having it all end be not so bad?'
That thought struck me all of a sudden.
Would it really be so bad to let all the emotions I was feeling and tasting now drift away like smoke?
Was doing things this way really the right thing to do?
Huff, huff, huff.
My breath was coming all the way up to my throat.
Should I stop moving my legs? Should I stop swinging my arms?
All kinds of thoughts tangled together in my head.
When I heard that I had passed the first examination at Velos Academy, I was so happy I could have jumped for joy.
Though I had passed out and collapsed, there had been a point to fainting on my feet.
And the moment the second examination began the following day, I found myself wishing I had been eliminated right then.
"Prospective Cadet No. 1867, I heard your aspirations. You said you want to become an Imperial knight, right? Then you've come to the right place. This second examination you're taking is one of the routines we performed every day to become knights."
"Aaaaargh!"
"You still have the strength to scream? As expected of a prospective cadet who dreams of becoming an Imperial knight."
As distracting thoughts continued to occupy my mind, the sound beside me made my slowing legs move busily again.
The prospective cadets who had chosen the martial track were continuously running around the academy's perimeter.
In a way, it could be viewed as a simple stamina test.
"Bite that tail with all you've got!"
"Aah!"
The fact that it took the form of an Indian run became the greatest obstacle for the prospective cadets.
Indian running.
A running format in which the lead constantly changes,
it was an endurance race that repeatedly required the person in last place to run all the way to the front.
'But the problem is that everyone draws out every last bit of their mana and runs at full speed from the very beginning.'
If they could run while managing their stamina, it might not have been so difficult.
But if they had to draw out all their mana and run from the moment they started, it was a very different story.
'Kill me.'
It was too painful. If this had been a relative assessment, I would have simply collapsed in relief.
The first physical assessment of the second examination was graded absolutely, so as long as they did not collapse, they could proceed to the next stage.
'Ah, now I really regret applying for the knight track.'
How easy the mages must have it.
While the prospective knight cadets were thinking that.
At the same time.
"If Magic Missile, a first-circle spell, is a simple spell, shouldn't you obviously be able to maintain it for 24 hours? If you can't even manage that basic skill, how do you expect to become the Empire's wand?"
The mages' pride was being crushed by the words of Theo, the greatest genius the Empire had produced.
+++++
"It looks like the examinations are proceeding well."
"I've heard that everyone is giving it their all since we're selecting the inaugural class."
"I hope they aren't taking it quite so seriously. There is a saying that the more naturally gifted someone is, the worse they are at teaching."
"There was a saying that geniuses cannot understand the world of ordinary people...."
Thump, thump, thump.
My heart was pounding.
Northern Grand Duchess Estella Nave could not tell whether the tea she was drinking was going into her mouth or her nose.
'Princess, please! Please! Please!'
I have my own pace, you know.
'Big brother! The Northern Grand Duchess came all the way to visit the imperial palace! Of course you'll show her proper hospitality, right?!'
How could she just leave me here by suddenly dropping me in front of His Highness the Crown Prince?
'I thought Her Highness would stay with me for at least a little while, but she vanished immediately, saying she was going to the mage cadets' examination site.'
So now it's completely just the two of us.
To make matters worse, this was His Highness the Crown Prince's bedchamber.
To think I was drinking tea in such a private space.
'This is completely... This is incredibly intimate, isn't it? Could it be that His Highness secretly thinks of me to some extent after all?'
Just as Estella Nave's thoughts began to turn pink.
"...Mmm, sniff... sniff sniff... Your Highness... Is it time for tea?"
"...?!"
Suddenly, the Crown Prince's bedcovers shot upward before slowly sliding back down.
As though by magic, the dragon princess naturally revealed her presence.
"I-in the bedclothes...."
"Arveda does that sometimes. When I leave the bed, she tends to nap in it as though she has been waiting for me to leave."
"A nap...?"
Estella watched the Crown Prince's reaction.
He explained it in such a matter-of-fact tone, as though this had been going on for quite some time.
As soon as she realized that, she understood that merely being allowed to drink tea in his bedchamber could not count as progress.
'What is this supposed to be?'
She would have been extremely astonished even if things had ended there.
"Your Highness the Crown Prince, it isn't urgent, but I have something to discuss with you regarding Velos Academy's Holy Studies course...."
"...Your Highness, it's Pavan. If it's all right, when we go out for a walk later, what would you like to eat...."
Seeing Saintess Rowena and the giant Pavan enter so naturally, Estella's eyes widened.
'...So that's why Princess Erna stressed speed so much.'
Everyone was trying not to show it.
No—in fact, from the moment they naturally gathered here, it would be more accurate to say they were making it glaringly obvious.
'Everyone has feelings for His Highness the Crown Prince.'
And it was already certain that His Highness the Crown Prince would spend some time at Velos Academy.
That was why they were all aiming for him.
'Everyone shares the dream of walking around the academy alone with His Highness the Crown Prince.'
There was one person, but time was limited.
Then they had to find the courage to act.
The women around the Crown Prince knew that better than anyone, intellectually speaking.
But they could not bring themselves to take a confident step toward him.
Because they knew better than anyone that the Crown Prince was devoted to the Empire.
They did not want to let their personal feelings get in the way for no reason.
As a strange tension hung in the air.
The Crown Prince, for his part.
[ The first Academy that should have been established in the Kingdom of Mazerin has been successfully completed in the Empire. ]
[ Therefore, the main stage of the main story has been changed from the Kingdom of Mazerin to the Velos Empire. ]
[ As a result, the possibility of the Empire's demonification has dropped significantly. ]
[ Possibility of the Empire's destruction: 50% ]
[ Numerous fortuitous encounters and hidden pieces related to Velos Academy have been generated in the Empire. ]
'No wonder she was so satisfied when she was being given this much.'
I laughed inwardly as I watched the messages continue to pop up.