Chapter 40 Entrance Exam (1)
I was lying quietly on the bed.
Sleep eluded me. Thoughts, independent of my will, chased one another in an endless loop, leaving me restless.
Sion seemed to have a personality that didn’t hesitate to take on anyone they viewed as a potential challenge.
The brief eye contact at Philin’s smithy might’ve been because Sion was sizing me up as prey.
The mansion remained silent. Its quietness, ironically, tortured me.
Eventually, I gave up on sleep and rose to leave my room. A faint light leaked from the end of the dark corridor, from the living room.
Who could it be?
Near the fireplace, where the embers were dying, sat Liria.
There was a comfortable armchair right beside her, yet she was squatting in an uncomfortable position, nodding off to sleep.
Why would she be here, looking so pitiable?
“What are you doing here?”
Liria jumped in surprise at my voice, turned to look at me, and then, seemingly panicked, attempted to tidy her disheveled hair.
“Oh, you? It’s nothing.”
“What’s nothing?”
“Well, I mean, this is comfortable for me.”
“…?”
There seemed to be some reason.
I pressed Liria for answers.
After several attempts to change the subject, finally, she yielded to my insistence and spilled everything.
“It’s…the room is so cramped.”
The rooms allotted for the servants were split between the men and women, but there were too many women, so there was no space left, and she certainly couldn’t go to the men’s room, hence she ended up in the living room.
There’s something about Liria that stirs a certain pathos in me. Maybe it’s because we’ve lived through similar environments, and I can empathize more.
Sighing, I said,
“I’ll stay here, so go sleep in my room.”
“What? No, no.”
She waved her hands, refusing.
“I can’t sleep anyway. You might as well use the room that’s going to be empty until morning anyway.”
I semi-forced the hesitating Liria into my room. Returning to the living room, I sat on the armchair in front of the fireplace and stoked the dying embers back into a small blaze.
Sitting still, listening to the crackling fire for several minutes, I too began to nod off.
And then, after I’d drifted off into a deep sleep for a few hours, a strange woman’s voice cut through.
“What are you?”
Awoken from my slumber by the realization this was not a dream, I turned my head towards the source of the sound.
In the dim entrance to the living room, someone was looking at me, their face full of suspicion.
Catching the light from the fireplace, I could see long blonde hair.
I recognized her. It was Luna.
Perhaps I had taken her spot.
“Ah, sorry. It looked so comfortable that I just…”
I immediately got up from my place.
Upon my sudden movement, she took two steps back, startled.
Luna seemed to be on high alert, as if she had encountered an unfamiliar creature.
She opened her mouth slowly, her voice slightly tinged with agitation, as if she’d encountered something unpleasant.
“The kids… they become quiet only around you. They’re terrified.”
“…?”
“At first, I thought it was because of the professor… but it wasn’t.”
“Pardon?”
“I had a hunch something was off. It’s because of you.”
“What on earth do you mean?”
I couldn’t understand what she was talking about. She mentioned the kids being quiet, but there were no children to speak of, and the mansion was quiet as ever.
Was she seeing ghosts?
As I took a step forward, she recoiled two steps back once more.
Trying to calm her, I spoke steadily.
“It seems you’ve misunderstood something. I haven’t done anything.”
She didn’t seem to believe a word I said.
“…”
As my eyes adjusted to the dark, the details of Luna’s face became visible.
Clamping her lips in a tight frown, she glared at me for a moment, then abruptly turned and disappeared into the dark hallway.
I stood there, dazed. What was the issue?
So vigilant was she that we couldn’t have a proper conversation.
Whatever had happened, it seemed unlikely that I’d become friends with that girl.
***
The carriage was speeding away from Rigved.
From the time morning came until we left for Eternia, I never once saw Luna.
Silveryn then said,
“It’s because she’s a spirit master.”
“Are all spirit masters like that?”
“No, Luna is a little special. Spirits flock to her to such an extent that even odd entities get tangled up with her, causing her quite some trouble a while back.”
Those noisy ‘kids’ she referred to were spirits. I had never imagined the mansion might be home to so many of them.
“She seems like a rather peculiar girl.”
“Yes, she has many stories.”
Just her demeanor suggested she had even more stories than I may have had.
She continued,
“Don’t be too harsh. Strictly speaking, spirit masters are your natural enemy. Think about it. How can you contend with an opponent you can’t even see?”
That’s true. In front of a spirit master, all I could do was to be hit without fighting back.
Thinking it over, Luna had mentioned that the spirits didn’t like me. Perhaps, I was already in their bad graces.
“Is there no way for me to deal with spirits?”
“You must improve your affinity for spirits gradually. And you should get a spirit-realm artifact soon too.”
“No rest for the weary with these tasks.”
Note to self: don’t pick a fight with a spirit master.
***
The mountainside fringed a river broadening like a lake, where several boys and girls played in the riverside sand.
Judging by their ages, they were likely students from Eternia; no ordinary villages or houses were in sight.
Approaching Eternia, I felt my attention drawn to every individual we passed. There was an odd sense of premonition that I might meet them again as seniors or peers.
Silveryn twirled her hair around one finger while gazing out the window.
She seemed to dwell on some thought, perhaps preoccupied with something.
After a long silence, she finally spoke up.
“But, you know…”
“Yes?”
“Why did that alchemic squirt come out of your room in the morning?”
“…?”
Silveryn peeked at my reaction with a flick of her eyes.
“Well, if it’s nothing, then never mind…”
She quickly shifted the topic.
“It’s beautiful here. Sometimes griffons, pegasus, or even unicorns come to this riverside to rest briefly.”
Was it not Liria’s story she wanted to know earlier?
I humored Silveryn’s change in conversation without much thought.
“Those creatures aren’t dangerous?”
“They’re tame and don’t attack humans. I’ll show them to you someday.”
Not particularly keen on magical beasts. I’m in the midst of extracting blood from griffons to craft potions. Seeing magical beasts friendly with humans would likely make me uneasy during potion-making.
“I’d rather pass on the griffons. I’d enjoy seeing the other creatures, though.”
“Alright.”
As I admired the scenery, I started to doze off again, the result of the prior night’s poor sleep.
Meanwhile, the carriage kept moving forward.
When I woke up, the carriage had come to a halt in front of Silveryn’s mansion.
Our final destination was a small fortress nestled within a forest, which Silveryn said was not too far from Eternia’s professors’ quarters.
Compared to the mansion in Weisel, this place seemed more suited for vampires, with its eerie atmosphere.
We hurried to unpack and clean the long-unoccupied fortress, now filled with cobwebs and rat droppings.
Silveryn walked through the hallways and rooms, drawing magical circles with chalk. As she chanted a spell, hundreds of rats with their tails ablaze scurried in terror toward the gate of the castle and fled en masse.
Watching this scene in astonishment, Silveryn spoke to me.
“Get used to it. It’s an annual event.”
After the cleaning and room assignments were finished, the schedule was more or less concluded.
Once admitted to Eternia, I planned to alternate between this place and the dormitory for training.
However, with just three days left until the entrance examination, I decided not to train but instead to rest.
It wasn’t that I was completely idle. I received lessons from Silveryn about the geography of Mount Graice, which would become the stage for the entrance exam. She also informed me how the exam would be conducted and what they would evaluate.
It seemed odd that an academy official could divulge such information to me directly. Knowing this could compromise the fairness of the competition.
“Most of the kids taking the exam are already familiar with these things. Besides, since your face shouldn’t be recognized, it’s necessary to plan your movements in advance.”
What can I do? When the professor says so, I must follow.
***
Three days passed in the blink of an eye, and the day of the entrance examination arrived.
Silveryn and I boarded a carriage to head to Eternia.
The path leading there was already congested with dozens of carriages, almost blocking the way.
I was so captivated by the view of Eternia in the distance that I hardly felt any frustration with the slow-moving carriage.
Eternia looked less like an academy and more like a grand royal palace. Even from the outside, its reputation as the continent’s top academy was palpable.
As we finally reached the main gate, we were greeted by Plantaras.
These entities, the size of humans and wielding steel swords, were lined up on both sides of the gate. It almost felt like passing through a tunnel, given the massive shadows cast by the Plantaras.
The premises were so expansive and complex that we had to move further inland even after entering through the main gate.
Many applicants could be seen through the carriage windows.
There was not a single one among them who was alone; kids around my age warmed up or chatted, each accompanied by soldiers, attendants, or private tutors by the dozen.
Judging by the crests affixed to their shoulders or chests, they came from families who could make quite an impression.
Silveryn’s toes wriggled and poked at my shins.
Turning to face me, she sat opposite, legs crossed and chin propped on her hand, gazing in the same direction as me.
I felt a bit tense seeing the other candidates so full of confidence, while she looked perfectly at ease.
Right, why should I worry? Even if I lack a family name, status, or wealth, in terms of sheer skill, I am second to none of them.
A group of men gathered at one spot we passed by was causing quite a commotion.
There was a fight going on.
A man with a shaved head the size of a fingernail was beating someone down like a street dog.
Thump, thump, the sound of flesh being struck reverberated, and the beaten kid’s face was swollen beyond recognition. The ground around was splattered with blood.
A fight right where the entrance exam is about to be held? They must be out of their minds.
His companions, who looked the part of his cohorts, cheered on with claps and raucous laughter, resembling a band of thieves or mercenaries by their looks.
What Silveryn said next was even more of a shock.
She reacted to this brutal ruckus as if it was a welcome sight.
“Oh, there he is. That’s the guy I told you about.”
“Who?”
“Gaile Varianne. The guy who got in by recommendation.”
“Which one?”
“Well, obviously, it’s the one doing the beating. Looks like there’s some trouble. We’ll say hello later, not now.”
Why is Silveryn so nonchalant about this? The man is ruthlessly assaulting someone.
Based on the first impression, I don’t feel the slightest desire to greet him.
“He doesn’t have a very appealing face.”
“He’s from the North, so he might be rough around the edges, but he isn’t a bad kid. He probably knows about you already.”
“…”
Honestly, I wish he didn’t know about me at all. That’s not just rough; it looks insane. With so many eyes watching, what is he thinking?
Like Lūna, these recommendation candidates seem a bit off-putting.
I can only hope the rest of those I haven’t met yet are somewhat normal.
Finally, the carriage arrived at the Eternia stop and came to a halt. Given the circumstances, I couldn’t be seen accompanying Silveryn outdoors and had to proceed alone from now on.
Thanks to Gaile drawing attention, I could disembark from the Eternia-crested carriage unnoticed.
Silveryn looked at me thoughtfully.
“Nervous?”
I was nervous but not shaking. It was a perfect level of tension.
For some reason, admitting I felt nervous seemed like it would make me more so. Thus, preferring restraint in expressing my emotions, I silently prepared to depart. Fixing the mask over my face, Silveryn spoke up one last time.
“We won’t see each other for a week… Want a hug before you go?”
The entrance exam would take a week.
Had I ever spent more than a week away from Silveryn since I met her? Not that I could recall.
I wonder how the teacher feels about it. Maybe a bit empty?
Without much reaction, I opened the carriage door, stepped down, and said,
“I’ll be back.”
Silveryn’s lips protruded slightly in a pout, as though she felt slighted by my response.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l