Eternoa Academy.
The scene that unfolded beyond the massive arched main gate.
The heat given off by thousands of people rose like a shimmering haze.
“Wow….”
An exclamation slipped out before I knew it.
The crowd filling my vision was made up of all sorts.
The children of nobles, draped in silk, stepped elegantly down from carriages while being attended by rows of maids, while elsewhere, families in shabby but neat clothes held tightly to one another’s hands, their eyes reddening.
Among them, there were some who drew the eye in particular.
A male student with long silver hair walked some distance ahead.
Perched proudly on his forearm was an eagle-shaped summoned beast with sharp eyes, glaring threateningly at its surroundings.
Someone was accompanied by a giant wolf, and someone else trailed an amorphous darkness like a shadow.
It was a scene where alien beings mingled far too naturally.
“All those people are….”
At my murmur, Yustia, standing beside me, lifted the corners of her lips in a gentle smile.
Her eyes shone not with anxiety but excitement, not with fear but fighting spirit.
“Yes. They’re all my competitors.”
There was a faint tremor in her voice, but her gaze gleamed like a predator facing its prey.
“There sure are a lot of them.”
I clicked my tongue as if overwhelmed.
But Yustia took in the countless crowd with her eyes and nodded gracefully, like a noble young lady stepping into a ballroom.
“Right? Doesn’t that make it even more fun? The fact that only a handful of people among all these will survive and become glorious freshmen of Eternoa Academy.”
She looked up at me.
“Don’t worry too much. We’ll be the ones who seize that star.”
Behind her bold smile, the academy’s enormous clock tower revealed its imposing majesty.
Just then.
“Oh my, who might this be? Isn’t this Miss Yustia?”
A greasy voice brushed stickily past my ear.
Someone approached, cutting through the noisy crowd.
It was a male student dressed in an outfit so extravagant it bordered on excessive.
Behind him, more than ten attendants stood lined up like a folding screen.
At least when it came to ostentatious bravado, he seemed second to none.
“Oh, Lucian. Have you been well?”
Yustia’s eyebrow twitched ever so slightly.
Her voice was dry, carrying annoyance rather than delight.
“It has been a while. Is this the first time since the ‘high. noble. house’ banquet?”
“Hoho, I suppose so. I haven’t had much occasion to meet members of the Chartur family since then, as you were specially invited.”
“Ahem… is that so?”
At Yustia’s pointed remark, Lucian’s brow furrowed slightly.
But he soon smoothed his expression into a sly smile, then subtly thrust his left shoulder forward as if to show it off.
Then he subtly thrust his left shoulder forward as if to show it off.
Coiled atop his shoulder was a snake with glossy dark-green scales.
Its tongue flicked in and out without rest, making a threatening sound.
“Ah, it seems my summoned beast wishes to greet you. This one is my first summoned beast, ‘Basilisk.’ I raised it for this entrance exam by feeding it even special elixirs I procured by emptying my family’s storehouse. It was summoned from a high-grade summoning circle and received an A-rank evaluation. To be honest, I do wonder if the summoner who appraised it was a little too stingy with the score.”
He pretended to be humble, but the corners of his mouth were already twitching as if about to reach his ears.
It was obvious that he was openly enjoying the attention of the students around him focusing on his summoned beast.
“That’s impressive. Congratulations.”
Yustia responded with a soulless reply.
But Lucian did not stop.
His gaze swept over Yustia’s surroundings, and he let out a sinister sneer.
“By the way… where is Miss Yustia’s summoned beast? Surely you did not overreach with a highest-grade summoning ritual and fail, did you? If so, you would not even be able to take the entrance exam itself.”
“Empty-handed? How disappointing to hear you say that.”
Yustia lifted only one corner of her mouth at an angle and lightly shrugged.
“Do I have some obligation to certify my summoned beast to you, Lord Lucian? You are not an examiner.”
“Huh…?”
“And Lord Lucian, I’ll pray that you pass the entrance exam as well. I hear that no one from the Chartur family has ever graduated from Eternoa Academy yet. This time, you must fulfill your family’s long-cherished wish.”
Yustia’s words wore the mask of a gentle blessing, but they were laced with deadly poison.
Lucian’s face flushed red and blotchy like a ripe tomato.
He opened and closed his mouth, trying to retort, but Yustia had already treated him like he was invisible and swept past him gracefully.
Watching her from behind, I clicked my tongue.
“Wow… Is it okay to roast someone that openly? Is that some kind of power struggle between nobles?”
At my question, Yurika, who had been gathering the luggage beside me, opened her eyes wide and tilted her head as if puzzled.
“Hmm…? Lord Taesan, did you just say ‘between nobles’?”
“Yeah, isn’t that guy a noble too? Judging by the way he’s dressed and the servants he’s got, he looks like he comes from a pretty well-off family.”
“Oh my, Lord Taesan. What a joke.”
Yurika covered her mouth and giggled.
“To put the Chartur family on the same level as the Rosenhart family? Just because a nouveau riche spends some money doesn’t mean they become a prestigious house with pedigree, does it? Their class is different. Their class.”
“Ah, is that how it is? I thought he was from some impressive family.”
“They’re just rich because a few mines struck it big out in the provinces….”
Yurika, who had been chattering away excitedly, hurriedly shut her mouth.
It was because Yustia, walking ahead, had stopped and turned her head slightly.
“Yurika.”
“Ah… I’m sorry, my lady. I spoke out of turn….”
Yustia looked at us calmly.
“It’s fine. It’s not as if you were wrong.”
“Yes…?”
“But speaking ill of others behind their backs is undignified. A person of Rosenhart does not need to exhaust their tongue with words; proving oneself through results is far more admirable, isn’t it?”
With those words, Yustia once again moved forward gracefully.
I shrugged and lightly nudged Yurika.
“You heard her, right? She says to keep your dignity.”
“Tch, Lord Taesan, you were enjoying it with me.”
Yurika pouted and grumbled.
But in her eyes, longing and pride toward Yustia shone more clearly than ever.
***
“Now, this is the practical exam site.”
In front of a massive colosseum-shaped arena.
Yustia’s voice trembled faintly.
Here and there, the roars of beasts, shouts, and noise mixed together, forming a chaotic pandemonium.
“Are you nervous?”
At my question, Yustia took a deep breath and shook her head.
“No. I’m more excited than nervous.”
Seeing the flames flickering in her eyes, I felt a corner of my own chest grow hot as well.
It was a familiar sensation.
That thrill just before the cage door closed, when my heart pounded as if it would burst and adrenaline surged through my veins.
When I decided to retire and packed my things, I had thought I would never feel this kind of heat in my life again.
Because I believed I had been crushed by the bitter taste of defeat and emptiness, reduced completely to burnt-out ash.
But now, standing before the arena of this unfamiliar world, I felt alive again.
On top of that, I had even gained overwhelming power now.
At the murmur that slipped out of my mouth without my realizing it, Yustia tilted her head.
“Yes?”
“Nothing. Just talking to myself.”
I grinned and clenched my fist tightly.
The density of the power in my grasp was different.
The wall I had once felt was my limit now seemed as thin as a single sheet of paper.
I wanted to prove it with this power.
That I was not a useless loser, but someone capable of shaking this world.
Yustia faced me and clenched her fist tightly as well.
“Let’s show them. What Rosenhart’s dignity is.”
“Yes. Let’s smash them.”
We exchanged resolute looks and stepped into the colosseum filled with roaring cheers.
The arena buzzed with noise.
“Next.”
A dry yet dignified voice rang through the reception desk.
Beyond a mountain-like pile of documents, an old professor with a head full of white hair adjusted his glasses and raised his head.
His gaze was sharp, but at the same time, it carried a trace of boredom.
He looked utterly exhausted from dealing with thousands of students.
“Hello.”
Yustia greeted him in a clear voice and handed over her documents.
The professor habitually scanned the documents, then stopped when he saw the name written in the family field.
“Hooh.”
The professor’s eyes changed in an instant.
His boredom vanished without a trace, replaced by interest and expectation.
“The Rosenhart family. I was wondering what sort of remarkable figure that prestigious house had sent this time.”
He nodded with a satisfied smile.
It seemed the weight of the name Rosenhart carried that much significance even within the academy.
“You must be Miss Yustia. I have heard quite a bit about you.”
The professor rose from his chair and looked around.
His gaze naturally went over Yustia’s shoulder, then toward the empty space farther behind her.
“So, where is your summoned beast?”
He asked as if it were only natural.
Usually, a highest-grade summoned beast would either be as large as a mountain or emit some bizarre aura that overwhelmed its surroundings.
But all that entered his field of vision was me, standing blankly behind Yustia.
His eyes briefly met mine, but he turned his gaze away again and began searching in the wrong direction.
It seemed he had recognized me as either an invisible man or, at best, Porter No. 1.
“Does it perhaps have invisibility abilities? Or is it hiding in the shadows?”
Watching the professor seriously deduce things on his own, Yustia spoke softly.
“It’s right here.”
“Hm?”
The professor asked back while still looking around.
“Where…? Are my eyes failing me? I can’t see it at all.”
Yustia pointedly reached out and indicated my chest with precision.
“This person is my summoned beast.”
“…….”
The professor’s gaze slowly, very slowly, returned to my face.
Then he examined the tips of my hands carefully.
His head moved with a creak, like a broken machine.
“……There isn’t one?”
“No. I’m saying this person is my summoned beast.”
His eyes widened as if they would pop out through his lenses.
“This… person?”
“Yes.”
“No, I mean, this perfectly normal-looking human man is a summoned beast?”