LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 14
I sat in the back of the classroom, resting my chin on my hand while observing the test-takers.
At a glance, some candidates appeared to be over 20 years old, while others looked about the same age.
The minimum age to enroll in the Academy is said to be 17, but the age range seems higher than expected.
Looking at this, it seems like Yurasia would adapt quite well. After all, Yurasia is 2 years older than the minimum enrollment age, so I thought she would feel out of place.
What a relief.
Well, knowing Yurasia’s nature, I didn’t think she would struggle to make friends.
I chuckled, picturing her expressive and bubbly reactions.
It’s been 5 years since I got to know Yurasia.
These days, her expressions have become even more distinct.
Such a little brat.
At first, she was so awkward, and now she’s always messing around!
Her teasing teeters on the edge of crossing the line, which is really annoying.
But still, having a cute little sister is quite entertaining.
I pondered how I could tease Yurasia next time we sparred.
Drrr-
The front door of the classroom opened, and a woman with blue hair walked in.
She was the Arkand mage who guided me through the Academy last time.
“In one minute, we will begin the written entrance exam for Karela Academy. Please put everything on your desk, except for writing tools, into your bags, and lay both hands on your desk.”
The blue-haired woman said this.
What was her name again…?
W, w… Wisper?
I remembered it was Arkand.
Anyway, as she gracefully floated the exam papers onto the podium with magic, she winked at me.
At the same time, a girl in a navy hood sitting next to me locked her gaze onto me.
“…Eustetia.”
She whispered just loud enough for me to hear.
But on that note…
Why is she staring so intensely?
I’m about to smack her one!
I haven’t been stared at like this in ages; it feels awkward.
What’s her problem?
Does she know me?
Glancing at her while resting my chin, she immediately darted her eyes away as if she had never seen me before.
Oh wow.
This girl seems oddly cute in her shyness.
So I kept watching her.
I downright stared at her.
She kept moving her lips as if trying to say something, flinching every time I made a move.
But until the exam announcement went off, she never looked at me again.
“I will distribute the exam papers now.”
A little later, Arkand’s voice rang out.
Simultaneously, exam papers flew toward the 20 candidates all at once.
As soon as I placed my hands on the desk, I saw the papers settle.
“Start now.”
The exam had begun.
Rustle- rustle-
The sight of all the candidates checking their exam papers was spectacular.
Some were reading the back with fiery determination, while others began answering questions immediately.
I also started working on the problems right away.
The subject was history.
All the questions were essay-type.
This is great!
Let’s see…
Number 1 is…
The name of the emperor of the Herman Empire during the Human-Demon War.
Hah, seriously? This is a test question?
Isn’t it a little too easy?
Excitedly, I wrote down that bastard’s name.
[Malphramis Herman]
Malphramis was quite the scumbag.
He was petty and pathetic.
He bragged about his power to us gathered to defeat the Demon King, blustering about how secure his position was multiple times, showing he was also a coward.
Had it been a slightly more romantic era, I would’ve knocked him out a few times.
I had pledged to only hit him once after defeating the Demon King, but that was a promise I couldn’t keep.
For the second question…
In short, it asked for the reasons and process of the alliance between the Herman Empire and the Pranecia Holy Kingdom.
This was when the then-Pope of Pranecia, Barahilda Seimon, was throwing a fit about not wanting to send Luna, which led to Paulo, Kaloso, and me storming in to turn things upside down.
The official reason was to help each other in the re-establishment after the defeat of the Demon King and the Human-Demon War.
But what should I write about the process?
I can’t write that we barged in and slapped the Pope across the face!
What did Malphramis say back then…
Scratch scratch-
Thinking slowly about that memory, I moved on to the third question.
The subsequent history questions flowed one after another like water.
There wasn’t anything hard about it.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say I lived through that historical background and was at its center.
Though it was a bit annoying that I had to package it in more sophisticated wording.
Still, after growing up in a Duke’s family, speaking in an aristocratic manner felt pretty natural for me.
After that, I asked about the history of the demon race, the birth of the Demon Realm, the history of holy relics, and so on.
I could finish all those history-related exams in no time.
I never expected the Pope’s blabbering would come in handy here.
“Ugh.”
Stretching after finishing all the questions, the alarm signaling the end of the exam rang.
“The exam is over. You have a 10-minute break. Please take your seats in time.”
With that, all the test papers on desks flew up and gathered in front of Arkand.
After she completed the retrieval of the papers, she winked at me and left the classroom.
Thus came my break time.
As the heavy silence settled in, I rummaged through my pockets.
After using my brain for the first time in ages, I was feeling a bit low on energy.
With 10 minutes for the break, I certainly had enough time for a piece of candy.
If it were my previous life, I’d have smoked a cigarette, but since I reincarnated into this new body, I decided to stay away from cigs.
I can’t waste such a beautiful body given to me, after all.
Well, who knows what happens when I get sent to the Demon Realm.
Rustle- rustle-
As I rummaged through the candy wrappers stacked in my pocket, the girl in the navy hood glanced at me.
Did she notice my unwashed hands?
Whatever.
I pulled out a candy, peeled off the wrapper, and popped it into my mouth.
I stuffed the trash back in my pocket.
I’ll make sure to gift it to Yurasia later.
Click click-
Thud thud-
The next exam is about the Demon Realm.
It’s all about the demon race and monsters.
I wondered why dark mages weren’t included, but it turns out there’s a class on dark magic at the academy.
The description for the lecture was ridiculous.
“Know thy enemy and know thyself, and you can fight a hundred battles without fear of defeat.”
It’s true, but bringing dark mages into the academy seems a bit off, doesn’t it?
There are plenty of people who could teach about dark magic without being dark mages.
Even someone like me, who never cared about theory among our group, could list hundreds of dark magic spells and their countermeasures.
No matter how peaceful the era may be, putting dark mages in a place full of kids is a really dumb judgment.
Well, they say no incidents involving dark mages have occurred for over 200 years, and that some student tried using dark magic out of inferiority complex but was stopped, but I don’t believe they were acting out of goodwill.
400 years is a long time.
Even if the world has changed a lot, and the dark mages have also changed, my opinion remains the same.
Those clowns who sold their souls to legion commanders for power and became puppets should die.
It would be even better if I could kill them myself.
Crunch- crunch- I bit down on the now-shrunken candy.
Then, Drrr- perfectly timed, Arkand entered, and the next exam commenced.
The questions related to the Demon Realm focused on the characteristics of the region ‘Gebihenum.’
The monsters and demon race residing there.
The strengths and weaknesses of those monsters, along with extermination methods.
What precautions to take when dealing with demon races.
And so on. The questions were exactly what I had anticipated.
My pen didn’t stop.
These were ridiculously easy questions for someone who spent half their life in the Demon Realm.
*
“Young Lady!!”
“Here, a present.”
At lunch, after completing the written exams, Yurasia approached me, waving her hand from afar, her small fist tightly clenched.
“Wow! A present?!”
“Yep.”
Giggle- giggle- I dumped a handful of candy wrappers into Yurasia’s hands.
There were so many that they almost spilled from her hands.
I still had a few left in my pocket.
“Ah… Young Lady, if you eat this much, you’ll get cavities.”
“I brush my teeth well, so I won’t get them.”
“You probably will.”
“So what? I’ll get healed by the priests.”
“Well, you shouldn’t! If cavities go too deep, you’ll have to pull them out entirely!”
“Well then, if that happens—”
I was about to say that they could just treat it, but then I remembered it’s only Luna’s miracle that can grow back a lost tooth, so I shut my mouth.
It would just annoy me to see Yurasia with that “Huh? Young Lady didn’t know?” face.
“Enough, let’s go eat. I’m starving.”
“Yes! What will you eat, Young Lady?”
“Meat.”
“What kind of meat?”
“Any of cow, pig, chicken, or duck? Just leave fish out for now.”
If it were my previous life, I would’ve eaten everything.
But given my current state, I might just die if I gobble everything down.
“Fish? Why?”
“Too annoying to eat with bones.”
“Should I debone it for you?”
“Why go through that trouble? I’m fine. I don’t even like fish that much.”
I heard the food at Karela Academy is said to be delicious.
Since Yurasia came to the academy, she’d been buzzing about it at least once every day.
Thanks to her, I was somewhat looking forward to it.
I thought meat was just meat, but well-cooked meat by a top-notch chef is much tastier.
Especially the chef of the Eustetia household.
That guy’s skills were excellent.
He completely changed my taste for demon meat.
I was salivating at the thought that even half of that food would be sufficiently delicious.
“Oh, right, Young Lady. Do you remember question 8 in the Demon Realm exam?”
“Hmm?”
“That one about writing how to easily exterminate an ogre.”
“Oh, that.”
The people mentioned in the question were three.
Two 2nd Rank front liners.
One 3-circle mage.
It asked for a description of how three people could swiftly exterminate an ogre using mundane weapons without magic and fire-elemental spells.
It did mention that martial artists were excluded.
Either way, I remember it.
“Why do you ask?”
“How did you write yours?”
Ogres generally have thick skin.
Their tendons are thick too. They’re strong and surprisingly swift for their bulk.
So naturally, most swords wouldn’t even penetrate them, and magic wouldn’t hit.
To catch one, first, you need to bring it down.
If you damage its brain to throw off its balance, it can flail around, but you can take it down through various means afterward.
Well, you can crush its skin like tofu once you surpass a certain threshold, but that wasn’t the point of the question, was it?
Anyway, I described it in a standard way.
“I just wrote to stab its eyes and ears with a longsword or spear, or to shoot a concentrated spell into its mouth.”
Honestly, there’s no need for three people for this.
I don’t know how good the 17-year-olds today are, but back in my day, you could handle it if you just knew how.
However, Yurasia cocked her head, seeming confused.
“…Really?”
“Yep.”
Hearing my confident response, Yurasia mumbled to herself and tilted her head.
“…That does seem fast and convenient… but can you actually do that?”
Of course, in the books I read about monster extermination, they listed all sorts of complex methods, but those methods are trash.
In situations where supplies are limited and resources and stamina need to be conserved, using those methods means you’d be dead before you could catch an ogre.
I don’t know what idiot suggested those methods, but mine is the correct one.
Even someone of lower caliber than Yurasia should be able to manage it.
If they can’t, they might as well just die and lay around in their cozy homes.
Reality is different from theory.
Even if you devise a perfectly intricate plan, one wrong hit from a demon or monster could kill a person.
So, you must kill them more surely and swiftly.
Those who think my answer is wrong probably have no practical experience.
If there are those who have experience and still say I’m wrong, they deserve a hit with a stick.
“Ah, so what about number 11, Young Lady?”
From then until we reached the cafeteria, Yurasia’s chatter didn’t stop.
When we arrived at the cafeteria, there was a kiosk.
“What will you have, Young Lady? They’re recommending beef today!”
Yurasia ordered for me.
“Ta-da! What do you think? I did great, huh?”
She even deboned the fish for me.
“Wow, this is the tastiest part! Now, say ‘Ahh-’”
It was delicious.
*
Meanwhile, in the headmaster’s office of Karela Academy, numerous faculty members sat around a round table in a meeting.
“We have concluded that the content of this answer is difficult to judge by general faculty standards, so we brought it here,”
The answer sheets from the first and second written exams.
Written in the name column was a single name, scrawled in an atrocious handwriting.
Eliaernes Eustetia.