On the very day applications opened for the regular admissions track, the Academy was practically overflowing with people.
Senior Rena seemed slightly excited, as though she had never seen so many people in one place before.
“Look, Ashen. I think there are more people gathered here than the entire population of Baron Molten’s domain.”
“That’s probably actually true. When the Academy’s exams are near, talented people from all across the Empire gather here.”
Eleonore offered Senior Rena a faint smile.
Then, with the tip of her finger, she pointed to the long line stretching ahead and glanced at Rena and me.
“Applications are being accepted over there. Let’s make sure we aren’t late.”
Senior Rena and I immediately headed toward the end of the line she had indicated.
At the same time, I could feel gazes gathering on us.
“They’re even accepting Kurdan now? The Academy’s standards must have fallen.”
“Having a savage like that nearby must stink.”
Murmuring voices came along with those stares. The emotions in each gaze differed, but in the end, the one they were all watching was Senior Rena.
Eleonore noticed and swept an intimidating look around us, but even she could not stop every gaze.
In the end, just as I could no longer hold back and was about to say something to them, Senior Rena hurriedly grabbed my arm.
“Don’t, Ashen. I’m fine. It’s not like this is the first time.”
The tips of her fingers trembled faintly as she said it.
I looked at her hand, let out a deep sigh, and forced my expression to relax.
Since she had spoken first, I couldn’t force my way in, even for her sake.
And so, we silently pressed forward through the waves of stares for quite some time.
Before long, we reached the reception desk.
The young man sitting there glanced at Senior Rena, then immediately turned his gaze to me.
“You’re the applicant, correct? Please show me your identification plaque.”
“No, I’m the applicant.”
At Senior Rena’s words, the clerk’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly.
He quietly looked at me, but I did not avert my gaze and looked right back at him.
At that, he straightened his posture again and shifted his gaze to Senior Rena.
“I see. Understood. Then do you have an identification plaque?”
At the clerk’s question, Senior Rena immediately held out her identification plaque. The clerk examined it carefully before returning it to her.
“I have confirmed your identification plaque. Then, would you please submit a letter of recommendation from your identity guarantor?”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
Eleonore reacted to those words.
Perhaps she, too, was displeased by the clerk’s attitude, for a faint white light was flowing from her hand.
“As a professor, I am aware of no such procedure.”
“Ah, Professor Eleonore. You may not know this, Professor, but it is a regulation added starting this semester. We’ve recently received reports that commoner students have been disrupting order within the school. As such, an identity guarantor verification process has been added for commoner students.”
At the clerk’s calm reply, Eleonore’s expression twisted instead.
“The student just before us was clearly a commoner, yet he only submitted his identification plaque, did he not? Then why now…!”
“Ah, that person is a commoner, yes, but he is the heir to a major merchant guild. You could say his identity has already been proven. More importantly, would you please submit the documents quickly? There are quite a few applicants waiting behind you.”
The clerk’s manner was businesslike, but his tone subtly placed the blame on us.
Unable to endure the sight of him any longer, I opened my mouth.
“I’d like to know more about that identity guarantor regulation. Would you show me the relevant rules?”
“I do not believe that is any concern of yours, as you are not an applicant.”
“No, I’m an admitted student as well, though through special admissions. And since I’m also of commoner birth, shouldn’t I know about it in advance?”
“Ah, that… may be a little difficult. There are so many documents that it would take quite some time to find.”
The clerk answered while tapping the pile of documents stacked beside him.
In the end, Eleonore let out a heavy sigh and continued.
“In that case, I will be her identity guarantor. Surely there is no issue with that?”
“…If that is what you wish, Professor, then yes. Understood.”
The clerk signed the document in a perfunctory manner, then handed Senior Rena her examinee badge as though tossing it to her.
Just as Eleonore was about to continue arguing over his attitude, loud complaints burst out from the people behind us, exhausted from waiting.
“How long are you going to make us wait?!”
“If you’re done, get lost!”
The uproar grew louder with each passing moment.
Seeing that, I let out a small sigh.
If we wanted to argue, we could argue as much as we liked, but showing the other applicants an ugly side of things like this could work against Senior Rena’s admission.
In the end, Eleonore and I left the spot together with Senior Rena.
After we had moved a fair distance away, I looked at Senior Rena with concern.
“Are you all right, Senior?”
“I’m fine… I’m fine. I got my eligibility to take the exam, didn’t I? This is enough.”
Senior Rena’s face was smiling, but her eyes were not smiling at all.
Watching her, Eleonore lowered her head with a troubled expression.
“…I’m sorry.”
Perhaps angered by her own helplessness, pure white divine power was seeping from her fists.
“I knew the Academy wasn’t a place that functioned according to ideals. But I never imagined even something like this would happen…”
“I-it’s all right. It isn’t your fault, Miss Eleonore.”
“No, it is my fault. Even though I am a professor, I failed to take a firm stand.”
Eleonore sighed and met Senior Rena’s eyes.
“This will not happen again. As a professor, I will make certain to prevent it.”
“…Thank you.”
At Eleonore’s vow, Senior Rena answered with a faint smile.
I patted her shoulder and forced my voice to sound cheerful.
“Cheer up, Senior. Once they see your exam results, all those people will have to shut their mouths.”
“Can I… really do well?”
“You can, Senior. Among the people I know, there’s no one as talented as you.”
“…Thank you.”
Senior Rena answered, scratching her slightly reddened cheek as if embarrassed.
I smiled at her, and then we all headed back to our lodging together.
**
By the time the sun had vanished from the sky and the moon had risen to the middle of the heavens.
Sensing a presence beyond the window, I rose from my bed.
When I looked outside, two streaks of sunset-colored light cutting through the soft moonlight entered my sight.
‘Senior Rena?’
Was she training even this late at night?
Unable to overcome my curiosity, I quietly opened the door and approached her.
Senior Rena was dancing swiftly with her swords under the moonlight.
Her figure was beautiful, more like a dancer than a swordsman, but the trajectories her blades drew were as fierce as a storm.
The wind of the grasslands. The Kurdan sword style she had shown me from time to time.
Back then, there had been a playful air to it, so I hadn’t understood it clearly, but only now could I see how deeply she had devoted herself to the sword.
Without taking my eyes off her, I quietly sat on a nearby rock.
How long had she been training?
The sweat covering her bronze skin seemed to hold the moonlight and shine.
At last, her sword dance ended.
When Senior Rena let out a deep breath, I clapped for her.
Only then did she seem to realize I was there, and she looked at me with her face flushing red.
“Ashen? Since when were you there?”
“Hmm, since you were in the middle of your sword dance?”
“You should have said something if you came. How embarrassing.”
“Come on, Senior, you were concentrating so hard. I couldn’t disturb you. Besides, you looked so beautiful that I wanted to watch until the end.”
At my slick reply, Senior Rena’s face turned even redder.
“Seriously, you…”
Grumbling at me, she promptly sat down beside me.
For a while, there was no conversation between us. Only the occasional night breeze drifted by, as though connecting the two of us.
Senior Rena worked her lips for a moment, then looked at me hesitantly.
“Hey, Ashen. Can I ask you something?”
“Anything.”
“What will you do if I don’t pass the Academy exam?”
“That won’t happen.”
“But there’s always a chance.”
“Well… why are you worried about that?”
When I turned the question back on her, Senior Rena gave a bitter smile and lowered her gaze to the ground.
A sorrowful light unlike her usual self settled in her golden eyes.
“You saw it too, Ashen. How people react to me. So maybe it’ll be the same during the exam.”
Her lamenting voice seeped into my ears.
“To be honest, when I saw the Academy plaza, I was excited. There were so many people, so I thought maybe I might be accepted too. But this is how it turned out.”
“Senior…”
“So, Ashen. I want to ask you. If I don’t get accepted into the Academy, what will you do?”
“Well, then…”
I stopped speaking for a moment and looked at Senior Rena. Her gaze was still fixed on the ground, but even from the side, I could clearly feel her trembling.
I moved closer to her and quietly whispered.
“I suppose I’ll run away with you.”
“What? What are you talking about?”
“If you’re not there, there’s no need for me to enroll in the Academy, is there? Even if Miss Eleonore tries to stop me, I’ll somehow run away together with you.”
“But your dream…”
“The chance to become a knight can’t only exist here. Who knows? If I make a name for myself with you, I might naturally end up becoming one.”
When I smiled broadly, Senior Rena looked at me without saying a word.
Though there was no conversation, her reddened face and the small drops of water gathered at the corners of her eyes seemed to show me exactly how she felt.
“…Idiot.”
After breaking the silence with that one word, Senior Rena rose and picked up her swords again.
“All right, I’ve decided. I’m going to pass no matter what. Kurdan do not run from the battlefield. So I’ll make sure that neither you nor I has to run away.”
After saying that, Senior Rena took her stance and steadied her breathing.
“Are you going to keep training?”
“Yeah. I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep like this.”
“Then I’ll join you.”
Holding my spear, I took my stance before her and smiled.
“How about a spar, for the first time in a while?”
“There’s no way I can beat you. I still have trouble handling mana properly.”
“That’s still what sparring is for. I’ll only defend, so you do your best to attack me.”
At my words, Senior Rena stayed still for a moment, then slowly took her stance. Her shortswords covered most of her face, hiding her expression, but I could see her eyes, smiling sincerely.
“No complaining if you get hurt.”
“Of course.”
And so, we spent time together until the moon tilted toward the western edge of the sky.
After the spar ended, on the way back to the lodging together.
Senior Rena looked at me and whispered quietly.
“Ashen, you know…”
“Yes?”
“Thank you. And also…”
With a bright smile, as though the sun itself were rising, she looked at me.
“I’ll pass. Let’s enter the Academy together.”
“Of course.”
And so, the two of us returned to our respective rooms.
For a short rest, brief though it was, for the sake of tomorrow.