"In, Instructor, c-could you possibly extend the training hours?"
"?"
Chick number 7, was her name Rose?
The passionate female student who appeared after Revi Fault.
It's certainly admirable, but Ihan knows.
That such a request isn't because she wants to become a knight.
"A-and if possible, I'd like to improve my stamina and athletic ability, i-if that's possible?"
"For that to be possible in a short time, it'll probably be difficult in many ways?"
"You didn't say it's impossible, so I'll do it."
"...Your athletic subjects must be on thin ice."
"Yees."
The desperate flailing for survival.
Which number was this again?
Just today alone, over ten people had already come requesting new training programs.
Some students even brought potions, premium chocolate, or whiskey as if making bribes.
But knowing this wasn't really a bribe, just pleading to somehow raise their stamina and motor skills, Ihan could only feel bemused.
This isn't a gym, you know.
It felt like being begged for intensive lectures by people desperately wanting to build abs as summer approached.
Still.
"Stop with the bribes, everyone. Those who want stamina improvement and athletic ability enhancement, come every day by 7 AM without missing a single day. I'm not sure about athletic ability, but I'll definitely build up your stamina."
-Yes, yees!
The chicks returned with bright faces.
Expressions as if they'd gained an army of thousands upon hearing he'd help.
But those who had properly rolled under Ihan would know.
It was like avoiding a snake only to meet a cliff.
"They're doing something they'll regret."
"Seems like several will die tomorrow."
Garand and Arno wore sympathetic expressions, already foreseeing the chicks wailing, saying the sight was vivid before them.
However.
"Uugh!"
"W-why is there so much to memorize!"
"...Isn't it enough to just wield a sword well? Why do knights have to study!"
"Because you're not knights yet."
"...Right."
While there were those who would wail tomorrow, there were also plenty who were already wailing from now.
Scratch, scratch.
In the training ground where normally only the sound of rough wooden swords splitting the air and jump ropes should have been heard, there were many studying with ballpoint pens and graphite instead of wooden swords.
In the case of the library or study rooms, all seats had already been taken, so they were crouched down studying like that.
The bear cubs cleverly utilized their bear skins like mats, spreading them out to study on, and it seemed quite comfortable for studying.
...I told them to use those instead of armor.
"Still, it's better than those wasting money, right?"
However, wasting tools even more than them were the young masters who purchased desks and essentially turned the training ground into a study room.
Ihan had permitted them to use it freely, but he couldn't help feeling ambivalent, wondering what kind of money squandering this was.
Anyway, they were desperate to show off their rich family status.
"This is why I call you young masters."
"I, I can hear you, Instructor."
"I'm saying it so you can hear it, you brats. So why don't you study normally instead of scrambling now?"
"...We were busy."
"Only your tongues are long, tsk tsk."
"……."
They had much they wanted to say, but it no longer suited them.
Rather than arguing, to memorize even one more thing.
"...Hmm."
Looking at the training ground swept by an unexpected fever for academics, a famous saying suddenly came to Ihan's mind.
"They say tragedy up close is comedy from afar, and comedy up close is tragedy."
It was funny as the saying went, but unable to actually laugh at the spectacle, Ihan shook his head and decided to quietly do some squats.
Just ten thousand, he told himself.
* * *
The exam at Pendragon Royal Academy was a famous 'Big Event' for the citizens of the royal capital.
Why am I suddenly barking like a dog, you ask?
No, I didn't bark, I'm stating actual facts.
Of course, you could ask why the exam period could be classified as a big event, but in a way, this could be seen as similar in context to the War Game held the previous day.
"Do you know when the debate tournament is held?"
"I'll get to see a Polo match after so long, ah! Does it overlap with the tennis match?"
"Hmm, I'll just wait for cricket."
"Why that boring cricket? I'd rather watch the yacht 'exam' than that."
"Cricket has its own charm!"
"You're a severe case."
Due to the Royal Academy's characteristic of emphasizing both literary and martial arts, over 90% of cadets had to take sports subjects as mandatory liberal arts courses.
A healthy mind in a healthy body, was it?
It was definitely something heard often.
Whatever the case, the important thing was that to achieve this balance of literary and martial arts, cadets had to show excellent results not only in written exams but also in sports.
Meaning they had to at least achieve average.
But while it was a desperate exam for cadets to earn grades, for commoners it was merely a rare opportunity to watch high-end leisure sports.
Yes, comically enough, during exam periods like the mid-term evaluations, the Academy was opened to the public.
Just like the War Game, public participation was permitted.
The stated purpose of opening was to show the general public the cadets' level as promotion and to demonstrate authority, but the rumor that became near-certainty was that in reality, it was for nobles to show off their superiority.
Still, such sports viewing was a great entertainment for the people.
No matter the era, nothing burrows into crowd psychology and harmonizes it quite like sports.
...It even made him wonder if someone who understood this crowd psychology had intentionally inserted sports subjects.
To gather the hearts of the people.
But even such a massive event as sports was merely a sideshow.
The biggest event that this nation's intellectual class and ruling class anticipated was none other than—
"Wow, I wonder whose idea it was to replace written exams with debates and presentations?"
Debate tournaments, exhibitions, and presentation conferences—these could be called the largest evaluation subjects assessing cadets' grades.
It was brutal.
If one went into law, military science, literature, or art, debates had to run for at least 100 minutes by default.
During those 100 minutes, one absolutely had to cite examples from terms and cases learned in class, as well as academic papers.
The evaluation criteria were given to professors and distinguished scholars who received formal invitations, and if one didn't show a strong impression and intellectual bearing through the debate, points were immediately deducted.
The same went for the exhibitions and presentations.
Experts and professors in each field gathered to evaluate all of that.
Just like the debates, how professional and thoroughly prepared one was.
Also, how much one had made the knowledge their own was important, as well as how one handled questions and sudden situations.
It felt more like 'actual combat' than an exam.
With such impressions—
"The Academy, no, the Kingdom wants this. Not simply talents with good exam scores, but outstanding talents who can actually be put to use in real combat. After all, studying is just a commonplace thing where good grades come out if one's memorization and comprehension are good, isn't it? So the Academy checks how good the cadets' responsiveness and judgment are on a massive stage like the debate tournament, and carefully observes how much they've made their learned studies their own. And thanks to such exams, the Academy always releases high-quality talents into the world."
"……."
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Because that was an obnoxious statement."
"Excuse me?"
Damian Pollet tilted his head, wondering if he had said something strange.
He had only made an obvious statement, so what was strange about it?
Damian Pollet, who despite his looks was a scholarly genius—Ihan felt that heaven was truly blind.
Why was a guy with that personality so multi-talented?
'So someone who can't even memorize is a goldfish?'
How difficult it was to exercise that memorization and comprehension, yet he called it 'commonplace.'
Ihan wanted to twist this guy's joints right then and there, but held back.
He couldn't lose the one he'd put to work.
'Still, it's practical, I'll give it that.'
Granting what had to be granted, he could see how serious this nation was about cultivating talent.
The will to only graduate proven talents through practical methods.
Could it be called the holy land of early talent education?
'Though if I had attended here, I probably would have quit immediately.'
He didn't know about other things, but debate tournaments and presentations were not something he could handle.
"So you have to do at least five or more debates and presentations per student?"
"It's not mandatory, but if you're not confident in showing a good performance, making up for it with quantity is the best approach."
"And even then, if you can't show above-average performance, you're expelled."
"Those who can't properly answer the professors' and intellectuals' questions are immediately eliminated, more so than the debate itself. So those who haven't studied enough normally will be at a great disadvantage."
"And you have no problems?"
"Nobles often study expected questions and debate topics that will come out in advance through private tutors before entering the Academy, so they're relatively at ease."
"Wow, no wonder."
The chicks, meaning the noble young masters, all had a reason for being more passionate about sports than preparing for debates or presentations.
They had already received thorough early education through private tutors, so they had less to worry about.
That's why they only focused on their weak subjects.
"Cunning little things."
"That's how noble young masters usually are. On the outside they look refined and innocent, but they're no different from foxes."
"I'll pass those exact words to the chicks."
"!!?"
"Just kidding."
"M-my heart just skipped a beat thinking you might actually do it, Instructor."
"Drama queen."
"...I'm not being dramatic."
Ignoring Damian, whose complexion had paled for a moment, Ihan understood why there were so insanely many expelled students from the Academy.
Just taking these kinds of exams, having even 10% graduate was amazing.
"......Hm?"
While confirming such a brutal exam schedule, Ihan doubted his eyes.
He thought he saw something strange.
"What is this? Why is it like this?"
"What do you mean?"
"No, I mean the last day of the exams."
The exam period that ran for nearly two weeks straight.
Yet peculiarly, the final day alone had no exams whatsoever.
Only—
"Why is the Swordsmanship Department exam made out to be the main event?"
The Swordsmanship Department exam.
That exam was written in the schedule as if it were the grand finale, and Ihan blinked.
But Damian said it as if it were obvious.
"Isn't that natural? It's practically the biggest spectacle, no, the biggest exam schedule."
"Did you just call it a spectacle?"
"A, a slip of the tongue. ...A-anyway, look! You left the schedule entirely to me and didn't check it yourself, so isn't your information just late?"
"Who asked for the nagging."
Smack!
"Aaaargh!"
A slave—no, an assistant instructor—daring to talk back.
Still no manners.
Ihan ignored the assistant who was writhing in pain while clutching the back of his head and properly read through the schedule and plan.
To understand why the Swordsmanship Department exam was the finale.
And a moment later.
"...No wonder so many drop out."
It was outrageous, and he thought he understood why the commoner cadets of the Swordsmanship Department dropped out in droves.
This was an exam that commoners, swordsmen who hadn't learned aura techniques, could absolutely never pass.
[Solo combat against a 'Troll'].
So-called monster subjugation.
However.
"......Why does this feel off?"
The bitterness felt from the content about a 'familiar'-feeling troll being subjugated.
Ihan had no idea why he felt a sense of familiarity toward a troll, and with an ambiguous awkwardness, he tilted his head.