‘What’s going on?’
I had arrived at the lecture hall a little late, only to be greeted by thunderous applause.
Surely they weren’t clapping to mock me for being late… So what was all this about?
“Eriol, you did well yesterday,” said Professor Klein with a smile.
“If you hadn’t stopped Sabat Bastia, things could have gotten truly out of hand.”
“Professor…”
“To defeat a terrifying undead like a vampire… That’s a remarkable feat.”
“I didn’t do it alone. Charlotte from the advanced class helped me, and Cain and Senia over there fought with me too.”
I gestured toward Cain and Senia sitting in the back, and the two shrugged their shoulders.
“Heh, all we did was jump in to create a distraction.”
“In the end, it was Eriol’s fire magic that took down the vampire.”
Klein nodded at their words.
“There’s no need to be humble, Eriol. Your achievements have already been verified.”
“…”
“Soon, the academy will present you with an official commendation. As a member of the operations committee, I want to personally thank you.”
I thought everything had ended when we took down Joshua yesterday… but apparently, it wasn’t quite over yet.
“You’re the pride of the top class, Eriol.”
He was praising me so much it felt a bit embarrassing.
Cain and the others started cheering in support, which only made me more uncomfortable.
“Thank you. Then, I’ll just go ahead and sit—”
“There’s one more thing.”
“Yes?”
“It’s about the results of the dungeon raid competition.”
Come to think of it, I hadn’t heard about that yet.
The competition was cut short because of Sabat, so what did they decide about the results?
“After deliberation, the operations committee decided to rank the teams based on the scores at the time the competition was interrupted. Canceling the event entirely would have caused problems.”
“Then…”
“The team that took down the boss, the Drake Skeleton, came in first.”
The team that defeated the Drake Skeleton—
That would be…
“You and Charlotte Strasbourg’s team are the winners of this competition.”
“…!”
I held my breath.
I had been worried we might not have enough points, but to actually win…
“A team composed solely of first-years hasn’t placed first since Kaisel Valencia’s days as a student. You should be proud.”
Klein lifted his chin, smiling.
“And just to add, Cain Trigger and Senia Artian, over there, also placed a very respectable fourth overall. Though they ranked below Eriol’s team, that’s still an impressive result.”
“Haha, we gave it our best.”
“I’m flattered.”
Applause and cheers erupted for Cain and Senia as well.
“Professor.”
“Yes?”
“Um… what about Sabat and Helios? What rank did they get?”
“Hmm… originally, they were in second place. But since Sabat turned out the way he did, both were disqualified.”
“I see.”
I felt a little sorry for Helios.
If he’d partnered with someone else, he might’ve gotten a perfectly decent result.
“Anyway, great job, everyone. Some of you may not have received good scores, but if you use this experience to push forward, you’ll get better results next time.”
“Yes!”
With that, the discussion seemed to wrap up.
I headed to my seat, but Klein’s voice rang out again.
“And one more thing.”
“Another one?”
“Ah, you can sit down. This one’s for everyone.”
Finally, I could get out of the spotlight.
I let out a small sigh of relief and sat down.
“You did great, Eriol,” Senia whispered beside me.
“I was really worried after you collapsed yesterday. Are you okay now?”
“Yeah, I’m fine now.”
“That’s a relief.”
While we chatted, Klein surveyed the classroom and began to speak.
“As I mentioned before, today you’ll be receiving your midterm results.”
“Ah…”
I had completely forgotten.
Now that I thought about it, we hadn’t gotten our midterm grades yet.
Unlike the entrance exams, the midterms had more complex magical content, so it took about a week to grade them.
“By the way, your report cards will be sent to your parents by mail.”
“Ugh…!”
“That’s so cruel!”
Cries of despair broke out all around the classroom.
Come to think of it, what were my parents doing these days? They said they were starting over at a distant relative’s place…
“Before handing out the grades, I’d like to give some comments about the exams.”
Klein placed his hand on the lectern and spoke.
“The midterms had very inconsistent average scores across subjects. I suspect there were some issues with difficulty adjustment.”
“The elemental department’s questions were way too hard!”
“The third day was brutal!”
As the students complained, it was clear the third day’s Basic and Applied Elemental Theory exams had been especially difficult.
They were full of applied questions requiring deep understanding and insight—no way you could solve them just by studying past exams.
“But wasn’t the Magic Theory test on the first day, which I wrote, pretty easy?”
“It was relatively easier…”
“Still tough, though.”
“Even so, our class had an average score of 81. As expected of the top class, it was the highest in the school.”
Klein looked pleased that the class he supervised had outperformed the others.
“For reference, there was even a student who scored over 95.”
“95?!”
“Who was it?!”
At the students’ questions, Klein looked toward the front of the classroom.
“Monarch Orson scored 95.”
“Whoa…!”
“Of course it’s Monarch!”
“You’re amazing, as always, sir!”
Monarch raised his hand and smiled at the applause around him.
He’d always been excellent, and it looked like he’d prepared well for the midterms too.
“And one more person.”
“Yes?”
“Eriol Valencia scored 100.”
“…!”
The room went quiet for a moment.
“100…?”
“Yes, I included some pretty hidden questions to prevent a perfect score, but he got those right too.”
“…!”
I saw Monarch bite his lip.
Good thing I reviewed even the minor details.
The past exams had always included a couple of obscure questions most would skip.
Preparing for those made the difference in the end.
“In the other subjects too, Eriol either scored 100 or something very close.”
“…”
“But not in the Elemental Theory exams on the last day.”
Klein looked at me.
“Eriol, you got 55 in Basic Elemental Theory, and 45 in Applied Elemental Theory.”
“Ah…”
Honestly, I’d felt confident in those. It was a bit disappointing.
I’d filled out the entire test without leaving anything blank, but that was all I managed?
“But don’t be discouraged, Eriol.”
“Yes?”
“You were first place in both subjects.”
The classroom buzzed again.
I was honestly baffled myself.
“First place in the whole school with 55 and 45 points?”
“Well, there was actually some disagreement among the elemental studies professors. Some wanted to grade more generously to raise the average, but… in the end, we decided to grade as strictly as possible. That’s why the score gaps between subjects ended up so large this time.”
Klein gave a bitter smile, as if he had his own struggles with the situation.
“In any case, when we tallied all the exam scores… Eriol Valencia, you are the overall top student in the school.”
“…!”
Overall first place in the whole school.
I had achieved the rank I had aimed for.
In a classroom for the upper class, slightly removed from the top-tier class, the supervising professor was also giving some feedback on the students’ grades.
“Well done, Helios. Charlotte.”
Professor Inies praised the two top students in front of the class.
“Helios ranked fifth overall, and Charlotte took third. Beating out some of the top-tier class students for such ranks is truly commendable.”
Applause broke out among the students.
But among those being praised, Helios wore a grim expression.
“Professor.”
“What is it?”
“Besides Charlotte, who ranked above me?”
“You’re curious about that?”
Inies shrugged slightly as she replied.
“Well, first place is—”
“No need to tell me who’s first.”
“Oh?”
“Yes, it’s Eriol Valencia anyway.”
At Helios’s remark, Inies let out a small laugh.
“You hold Eriol Valencia in very high regard.”
“I don’t like him, but his skills are undeniable.”
“You’re right.”
“What about below that?”
“Second place was Monarch Orson from the top rank class. Third is Charlotte, right here… and fourth was Senia Artian.”
“…”
“Want to hear more?”
“No, I’m not interested.”
Helios answered firmly.
“I don’t have the luxury to concern myself with those ranked below me.”
“That’s a good mindset.”
Helios hadn’t been able to earn any points in the dungeon competition this time.
He had hoped to score well and surpass Eriol in the first semester’s overall evaluation, but ended up earning nothing. That’s because Eriol had won the competition together with Charlotte.
On top of that, Eriol had ranked first in the midterms, while Helios was fifth. The gap had only widened.
“If you want to make up for the setback this time, you’ll need to work even harder. Keep at it.”
“Yes, I understand.”
In truth, Helios hadn’t obtained the complete set of past exam questions.
He had studied with only a partial set. If he’d had the full version, he might have ranked higher…
But Helios didn’t want to make excuses.
‘Eriol… next time, I will beat you.’
Clenching his teeth, Helios burned with resolve.
Since I got first place in the midterms, I had to treat everyone.
Because that’s what Cain demanded, I ended up buying a meal for the study group.
“In the end, we couldn’t monopolize the top five ranks for our study group.”
“Well, it couldn’t be helped. Monarch Orson is really capable, and there were others in the Upper rank class who scored well, too.”
For reference, Senia ranked fourth, Charis sixth, Milia seventh, and Cain was eleventh.
They were all excellent scores, but we still felt a bit of disappointment.
“Cain, if you had worked a bit harder, you could’ve scored higher. You even took a nap the day before the exam.”
“Don’t nag, Charis. You’re not my mom, are you?”
After chatting and finishing our meal, we headed back to the dormitory.
“Eriol, do you think we might’ve ordered too much? Some of the dishes were pretty expensive…”
“It’s fine. I still have money left from completing that dungeon commission, and we’ll be getting the prize money for winning the competition soon.”
“Well, that’s a relief… Oh.”
Senia, walking beside me, suddenly seemed to remember something.
“Eriol, I think I’ll be able to get a temporary Ranger license soon.”
“Really?”
“Yes, through the Artian family…”
It looked like everyone was finding their own ways to secure recommendations, just like Cain.
“So, um… if it’s okay with you, would you go into a dungeon with me sometime?”
“I’d be happy to.”
Senia had close to Cain’s level of physical combat skills.
Being able to go into a dungeon together would be a great help to me as well.
“Actually, there’s something else I wanted to say…”
Senia hesitated like she had something more on her mind.
“Truth is…”
“…?”
What could she be trying to say?
As I patiently waited, a voice called out nearby.
“Eriol Valencia.”
I turned my head toward the voice.
Backlit by the orange hues of the setting sun… stood Charlotte Strasbourg, looking straight at me.
“I have something to talk about. Do you have a moment?”
“…?”
Her expression looked tense.
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