The terrorist attack that took place at sea was suppressed without significant damage.
The students resisted the terrorists, causing confusion, and the academy’s security officers, who arrived late, stormed in and completely subdued the attackers.
Had the students not resisted, the terrorists would have taken control and turned the situation into a hostage crisis, forcing the academy into a tense and prolonged negotiation.
“It’s a relief that it ended at this level. If the students hadn’t bravely stepped up, the damage could have been much worse.”
After receiving a report on the incident aboard the ship, Professor Horizon, the head of the Academy’s Security Department, frowned.
“Even so, this was utterly absurd. We need to strengthen the security screening system at the dock.”
The young boys and girls who had come to take the entrance exam had nearly been massacred. Although the incident occurred outside the academy, it was still something that should never have happened.
Horizon would undoubtedly face harsh criticism at the next faculty meeting. Avoiding political repercussions would be impossible.
“But I heard there was a boy who detected the activation of magic?”
“Yes, he noticed that the leader of the terrorists was using magic to trigger an explosion.”
“Is that even possible? How could a freshman distinguish that?”
“Well… He said he could sense the magic being activated…”
“……”
“Could he have been mistaken?”
In the past, magic required reciting incantations or drawing magic circles to be activated, making it obvious when someone was preparing to use it.
However, modern magic was different. It involved composing intricate formulas in one’s mind using a ‘spell language’ and then projecting them into the real world. Once these spell structures, which had existed solely in a magician’s consciousness, were applied to reality, magical phenomena would occur.
While formulating these spell structures took time, it was ultimately a mental process. Detecting it from the outside was practically impossible.
“No, maybe it wasn’t a mistake.”
“Excuse me?”
“If he deciphered the spell the moment it was projected into reality… it’s possible.”
“He deciphered the spell?”
“Yes.”
“T-That’s ridiculous. The projection of a spell into reality happens in an instant… How could a student possibly read it? It’s impossible by any logical standard.”
“True, by normal standards, it should be impossible. But… the world of magic often defies logic.”
“What?”
“It seems…”
Horizon stroked his chin with interest and muttered,
“We may have a magician with the rare talent of ‘Deciphering’ on our hands.”
Even after being rescued by the security forces, we were not set free.
We had to be questioned by the security officers.
Especially the three of us who had first stepped up to resist the terrorists—we had to endure an even longer interrogation.
By the time we finished cross-examinations with the captured terrorists, it was already night.
“Phew, that took forever. I need to study for the exam.”
“Tell me about it.”
I sat in the waiting room of the Academy’s security office with Cain Trigger and the black-haired girl.
“A-Also, thank you for bravely stepping forward today.”
The girl bowed her head to us.
“My name is Senia Artian. And you are…?”
“I’m Cain Trigger. And this guy here is Eriol Valencia.”
Cain casually threw an arm around my shoulder as if we were close friends and even introduced me in my place.
“Wait, Artian? Are you from that Artian family—the famous swordsmanship household?”
“Oh, yes…”
“Ah, that makes sense. No wonder your movements were different from everyone else’s.”
The Artian family, renowned for their swordsmanship.
Like the assassin family Trigger, they were one of the continent’s Ten Great Families.
In the past, they had been the most prestigious among them, but with the rise of modern magic, their status had declined compared to before.
Still, a prestigious family is a prestigious family. Looks like the academy attracts a lot of nobles from famous households.
I didn’t know her exact rank within the family, but simply being from one of the Ten Great Families was a status in itself.
Compared to her, I—a mere son of the provincial noble Valencia family—was nothing special.
“But why would someone from the Artian family come to the academy?”
“I want to study magic swordsmanship…”
Magic swordsmanship—using magic to enhance sword techniques in battle.
It was a niche style, but combining it with the swordsmanship of the Artian family could create a powerful synergy.
“That’s similar to me. I came here to learn the academy’s orthodox magic and incorporate it into my family’s assassination techniques.”
“Oh, I see.”
“Now that I think about it, Eriol, why did you come to the academy?”
Cain turned the question toward me.
“My family went bankrupt.”
“What?”
“I’m broke. I need a way to make a living, so I came to the academy to turn my life around.”
“……”
Cain was at a loss for words.
Senia had a similar expression.
But I didn’t care.
I had other thoughts on my mind.
That biology book they took as evidence… Are they not going to return it?
A Encyclopedia of Southern Jungle Creatures.
It was a thick hardcover book, and an expensive one at that…
After being released from the security office, I stayed at the lodging I had reserved in advance.
The next morning, I headed to the examination hall for the entrance exam.
The hall was bustling with over a thousand people gathered for the test.
Not many people actually fail the entrance exam.
For the most part, simply passing the test wasn’t difficult.
However, placement into different classes depended on one’s scores. Those with poor results would end up in the lower classes.
The lower classes had subpar lessons and little support from the academy.
That’s why, in order to properly learn magic at the academy, one had to achieve high scores on the entrance exam and get placed in at least an intermediate class.
The problem is… I’ve never taken a test like this before.
I had never attended school, nor had I learned under a proper tutor.
I had solved practice problems from study books and answered reader quizzes in magazines, but… this was my first formal exam.
There’s probably a time limit too. This won’t be easy.
Thanks to my reading habits, I wasn’t completely unprepared, but I couldn’t afford to be careless.
I had to at least score in the middle.
If I want to succeed as a mage at the academy… I need to maintain decent grades.
Just then, I spotted some familiar faces.
It was Cain Trigger and Senia Artian, whom I had seen yesterday.
They were chatting as they made their way to the exam hall.
I should pretend I didn’t see them.
Knowing Cain, the moment he saw me, he’d latch on and start chatting away.
To stay focused on the entrance exam, it was best to keep my distance for now.
With that conclusion, I lowered my head and quietly headed toward the exam hall.
“Brother, is that guy over there Eriol Valencia?”
“Yeah, he introduced himself as Kaisel Valencia’s nephew.”
“He keeps his head down and walks like a creep.”
Watching Eriol walk alone, Monarch Orson spoke with his cousin.
“Yeah, I noticed yesterday—he opens a book every chance he gets. Seems like a pretty gloomy guy.”
“Was he studying for the exam?”
“Probably.”
“Not that cramming at the last minute is going to change his scores.”
“Exactly. What an idiot.”
It was true that thanks to Eriol distracting the terrorists yesterday, the situation had been resolved without major casualties.
But Monarch didn’t like Eriol.
“Since he’s Kaisel Valencia’s nephew… he’s bound to receive enormous privileges once he enters the academy.”
“Of course. Professor Kaisel has immense power in the academy—his nephew will milk every benefit he can.”
“Tsk, the academy should be a meritocracy.”
Monarch came from a powerful ducal family, carrying the weight of his house’s expectations as he applied for admission.
His future was already set—if he graduated with excellent grades, he would be placed in a high-ranking government position.
Because of that, Monarch had been preparing for the academy entrance exam for years.
He had even used his connections to get inside information on the test.
“I’ll take the top spot in the entrance exam… and put that guy in his place.”
“If it’s you, Brother, I have no doubt you can do it.”
Soaking in his cousin’s flattery, Monarch stepped into the examination hall.
The test locations were assigned based on candidate numbers, and as luck would have it, he was placed in the same room as Eriol.
Good. That means…
Soon, the exam began, and the test papers were distributed.
There were four subjects in total, with the first period being a one-hour linguistics exam.
This passage… might as well be a brick wall.
Looking at the densely packed text, Monarch let out a small sigh.
To make things worse, it wasn’t written in the common continental language but in the “Standard Academic Language” used for scholarly purposes, meaning it would take even longer just to read.
Ten essay questions… Can I even finish them all in an hour?
According to the information he had obtained, most students only managed to answer about half the questions.
The average score was supposedly around 30 points.
If I want to take first place, I need at least 80 points. I need to hurry.
With that thought, Monarch focused on the first page.
First, he needed to grasp the main topic of the passage.
“…?”
Right then.
The sound of a pen scratching across paper came from the front.
Since most people were still reading the passage, the noise stood out.
Huh?
Unintentionally, Monarch lifted his head—and was stunned.
Eriol Valencia was already writing on his answer sheet.
Flip.
After filling in his answers, Eriol turned the first page and moved on to the next.
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