······The chairwoman of the Imperial University Magic Tower heard an interesting bit of news in her private office.
It was an order sent down from Bercht. Among its items was one that said, “The matter concerning the Red Casket shall be tabled until a later meeting.”
If one were to gamble, the vast majority would have bet ten million, even a hundred million, on “the suppression of the Red Casket.”
Yet this was the result, and even more astonishingly, they said it was because of Deculein’s fierce opposition.
“What could it be······.”
“Indeed. Truly.”
In the chairwoman’s office were thirteen professors, including Relin and Letrin.
Like this, the professors usually came to have an audience(?) with the chairwoman once a month, but there was only one person who had never once stopped by until now: Deculein.
“But why did you all come today? Did you meet someone at the Magicians’ Association?”
At the chairwoman’s question, the professors merely smiled.
Even in the magical world, factions certainly existed. There were also many branches known as “schools,” and the professors belonging to those schools were affiliated with a regular professors’ gathering called the “Magicians’ Association.”
However, Deculein alone was not bound to any school. The Yukline family itself was practically the godfather of the magical world.
“Sir Ruina attended this Magicians’ Association meeting. We spoke with that person a little, and······.”
At the words one professor mustered the courage to say, the chairwoman gave a bitter smile.
Ruina had once been Deculein’s rival for the position of Head Professor.
However, due to an unforeseen incident—or perhaps Deculein’s scheme—Ruina had voluntarily withdrawn, and was currently serving as Head Professor at the Kingdom University Magic Tower.
“They’re coming back to the Empire?”
“Ahaha. Well, if a position is guaranteed, would they not come, of course? If that were to happen, it would be an enormous, well, benefit for our Magic Tower as well. Sir Ruina’s accomplishments in the Kingdom were truly remarkable, were they not?”
“······.”
“On the other hand, Professor Deculein has been a little······ a little strange lately. Good heavens, defending the Red Casket. That Professor Deculein would show such words and conduct at Bercht······.”
It was the remark of a certain professor whose intent was clear. The chairwoman chuckled and waved her hand.
“All right. If Ruina says they’re coming back! I can consider it. But for now, go on. I have work to do today.”
“Yes, Chairwoman!”
At that positive order to leave, the professors’ faces brightened as they exited the office.
“Hmmmmmmmm······.”
Resting her chin in her hand as she pondered, the chairwoman took out the documents sent up from the University Magic Tower.
It was exam season, so documents were pouring in. There were especially many exam papers.
Originally, the chairwoman had no hobby of leafing through exam questions, but······.
“How did he make a problem like this?”
She was startled when she saw the exam Deculein had made. By the time she solved up to the final question, she was moved.
“Even if I gathered every other exam, they wouldn’t be as good as this one.”
It was not flattery. The quality of the questions was good enough to be used for the Solda promotion exam.
However, the chairwoman was not so naive as to think that “Deculein made these himself.”
“Hm······ This time, it seems he’s hiding it well······ Who could it be······.”
Epherene muttered in a small voice, then grinned.
“Well, whatever. That actually makes it more fun.”
If she asked him about the exam questions, wouldn’t he be unable to answer and flounder? Professor Deculein would be rather cute if he did that.
“I’ll have to tease him later!”
* * *
Wednesday.
The day of the five-credit lecture’s exam.
Since it was an important exam, worth about two or three ordinary exams combined, Epherene set off for the Magic Tower early in the morning.
[ 30th Floor ]
The designated place was the 30th floor of the Magic Tower. An entire floor of the Magic Tower had been rented out solely for one exam.
[ Exam Waiting Room ]
She gripped the doorknob beneath the nameplate that read “Waiting Room” and opened it.
“Oh my.”
Epherene flinched in surprise.
It was only 8 a.m., yet more than a hundred people had already gathered.
“······.”
“······.”
Their quiet chatter ceased. Perhaps because of recent events, all of their gazes focused on Epherene.
For reference, Epherene’s nickname these days was “Clueless Commoner”—despite the fact that she was not a commoner.
Epherene sat near the club members, including Julia.
“Ephy, did you just wake up?”
“No. I didn’t sleep.”
She had no idea how many cups of coffee she had downed.
But exams were always like this anyway. Because of coffee and nerves, sleep absolutely would not come. Rather, she was clearer than ever.
“Ephy, want to see my notes? I wrote down what I realized yesterday.”
Julia smiled, huff.
“Let’s do that. I’ll show you mine too.”
The two exchanged notes and studied, and when time passed like that and it became 11 a.m.
Assistant Professor Allen entered.
“Nice to meet you. I am Assistant Professor Allen. We will begin the midterm for [Understanding Pure Elemental Magic] without taking separate attendance.”
Allen read the paper in one hand.
“Before that, I will inform you of the exam details. First, there is no time limit for this exam.”
“?”
The mages were momentarily bewildered. Allen, as if realizing he had misspoken, tapped his own mouth and corrected himself.
“Ah, the exam time lasts until the week the Magic Tower’s exams end, that is, until midnight next Sunday.”
The mages were even more dumbfounded.
Today was Wednesday, 11 a.m., and if the exam lasted until midnight next Sunday, did that mean they were taking one exam for nearly ten days?
While Epherene merely blinked, Allen continued.
“Of course, you may leave to take other exams in the meantime. You may eat outside, sleep at home, wash, and even go out to play to relieve stress. However, the exam paper cannot be taken outside.”
The more she listened, the stranger—no, the more fascinating—the method seemed.
“Additionally, the exam rooms are private rooms. One person per room, and you may sleep inside. However, you must bring your own pillow or blanket. You may bring food and eat inside. You may also bring and read reference books or papers. The exam is open-book.”
By then, Epherene’s eyebrows were twitching bizarrely.
Open-book? If it was open-book and the exam period was ten days, just how hard was it?
No, was it even possible to balance that difficulty? It seemed like it would be one of two extremes: everyone getting zero, or everyone getting full marks.
“As such, the professor said this.”
Allen cleared his throat, hem-hem, and imitated Deculein’s voice.
“If there is anyone who achieves full marks, I will write a recommendation letter in the name of the Head Professor—”
Recommendation letter.
At that word, every mage’s eyes widened.
A mage of the Monarch rank.
Among the “Eleven Ranks,” the hierarchy of mages, that was the 4th rank—or, considering that the 1st rank was Archmage, effectively the 3rd rank. A recommendation letter from the Head Professor held tremendous value.
To exaggerate slightly, it meant that if one simply made it to the interview stage of the Solda promotion exam, they would pass for certain.
“······.”
Forgetting even their doubts about the exam format, the mages burned with fighting spirit.
Of course, there was the overwhelmingly first-place Sylvia, but the target of the recommendation letter was not “one person,” but “a full score.”
In other words, a rebellion by the latecomers was entirely possible······.
“Now, we will assign each of you an exam room. Please stand from the front row and follow me.”
The fifteen people in the front row of the waiting room stood first.
That repeated a total of ten times, and Sylvia was assigned Room 23, while Epherene and the club members were assigned Rooms 73 through 78.
“······Do well, Ephy. Fighting!”
“Yeah, you guys too.”
Since they had plenty of time, her tension was actually easing.
Just as they were encouraging one another, Allen shouted loudly.
“Now. Everyone, please enter!”
Epherene took a deep breath and went inside.
The room was slightly larger than a single room in the dormitory. There was only a desk, a chair, and a clock, and on the desk lay the exam paper.
Epherene immediately sat in the chair and looked at Question 1.
[ 1. Calculate the circuit of the following formula. ]
It was a 100% theoretical problem.
Epherene took out a pencil. At the same time, she released mana through her finger.
It was a method of calculating theory through intuition, calculating with the pencil while constructing the circuit with mana.
“······Phew.”
After about an hour, the answer came out. Epherene infused that amount of mana into the answer field.
She turned the page.
[ 2. Infer the core circuit of the following formula, and describe the flow of its mana. ]
Question 2 was also somewhat difficult, but it was still theory, so three to four hours of thought were enough to solve it.
However, the real problem began after that.
[ 3. The following circuit is part of a certain spell. Through the conditions below, infer the above formula, manifest the magic, and implant it into the exam paper. ]
Epherene thought about it every which way.
At first, she thought it would be easy.
However, this irritating problem that seemed just within reach would not be solved no matter how much time she poured into it······.
“I’m sleepy.”
In the end, Epherene put down her pen and lay on the floor.
“······Haaawn.”
Thinking she would rest just a little, she closed and opened her eyes on that hard floor, and before she knew it, a day had passed.
* * *
Day 4 since the start of the “Understanding Pure Elemental Magic” exam.
It was Saturday. The knight cadets who had left for their practical exams had returned, and the exams of ordinary undergraduates were mostly reaching their end.
The Magic Tower was still bustling hotly.
Not only the mages of the University Magic Tower, but also the attention of external kingdom Magic Towers, the press, knight cadets, and undergraduates was all focused on it.
The reason was, of course, Deculein’s marathon exam, which one could challenge for nearly two weeks if desired.
In truth, other professors had tried such marathon exams before, but most had fallen through after being rejected by the chairwoman.
However, this exam was one the chairwoman herself had supposedly pushed for.
“Yes! Right now, the exam is still being held on the 30th floor!”
Thanks to that, many reporters had come, and the chairwoman stepped forward to be interviewed.
“What level is the difficulty?”
“It is difficult! But when I solved it, I found it incredibly good! The mages will realize it as they solve it too! It’s solvable!”
“Do you plan to release the exam questions afterward?”
“That is something you would have to ask Professor Deculein! But I think even the ‘Floating Island’ would want to pay money to buy it!”
There were all sorts of people near the Magic Tower.
Undergraduates and knights had finished their exams and come to play, and since the festival and MT period would begin in just two weeks, the entire university grounds had been opened.
“Um, perhaps an interview—”
“Are you a Debutant? Um, just a moment—”
The reporters caught those presumed to be mages and asked for interviews. Most refused, but Epherene agreed to an interview in exchange for four cups of coffee and three pieces of bread.
“Then, is there not a single person who has given up on the exam yet?”
“Yes. Probably.”
“What do you think the reason is?”
“Who knows. I don’t really.”
Epherene drank her coffee without answering.
In truth, she already knew “the reason they did not give up.”
This exam was an extension of the class.
Like Deculein’s lectures, which seemed unfriendly at first glance yet were kind, this exam was guiding them to grow on their own initiative.
As they solved the problems, they reviewed everything they had learned from Deculein, applied it of their own accord, and came to understand its applications.
“But is there no risk of mages discussing the answers among themselves and writing them down?”
At the reporter’s innocent question, Epherene nearly spat out her coffee. She chuckled and shook her head.
“That won’t happen. Mages are an extremely individualistic bunch. And even if they did, it would all show anyway. Magic, and mana, have something like ‘personality.’ It remains like a fingerprint.”
“Aha······.”
“Then, ten minutes have passed, right? I’ll be going.”
The promised interview time was ten minutes.
Epherene packed up the remaining three cups of coffee and two pieces of bread as they were and rose from her seat.
* * *
Early Monday morning, Sylvia woke up in the exam room and warmed her food with heat magic.
“Nom nom—”
While eating breakfast with her mouth, she looked at the exam paper with her eyes.
[ 7. When the magic containing the above core circuit satisfies the following four conditions, infer the complete formula and implement the magic. ]
She pondered as she manipulated her mana this way and that according to the conditions of Question 7.
“······Ugh.”
It was a problem she had already spent all of yesterday trying to solve, but today, as expected, it still refused to yield, and before she knew it, the time had come to take another exam.
“······.”
Sylvia came out of the examination room and approached the assistant professor in front of the elevator.
The assistant professor asked,
“Are you giving up, or stepping out?”
“I’m stepping out for another exam.”
“Yes~ Miss Sylvia. See you when you get back.”
Afterward, Sylvia took a general education exam at Theo Hall outside the Magic Tower.
*
Sylvia finished the two-hour exam in twenty minutes and was on her way back to the examination room. The servants from the mansion, who had been waiting near the Magic Tower, handed her packed lunches for both lunch and dinner.
“Do your best, Master! You’ll be able to solve them all!”
“Good luck, future Archmage!”
Receiving their cheers, Sylvia returned to the Magic Tower.
Strangely, she felt pressured. During the entrance exam, she hadn’t felt pressured at all.
Was it because the possibility that she might not be able to solve it—a possibility she didn’t even want to imagine—was growing larger and larger in one corner of her heart?
“Let’s not rush.”
However, she armed her mind by recalling the words the professor had once said to her.
[ Room 23 ─ Sylvia ]
Sylvia’s examination room had become a complete studio apartment. She had made a bed with her own magic, and there were blankets and pillows, of course, as well as various books and papers she could reference.
It was literally a capsule where she ate, slept, solved, ate, slept, and solved.
She sat at the desk and challenged Problem 7 again.
One hour.
Two hours.
Three hours.
Four hours······.
She poured an immense amount of effort into it, equal to the time that flowed by.
This effort was not simply because of the difficulty of the exam.
The exam questions were difficult, of course, but if they had merely been difficult, Sylvia would have instead complained to her father.
A trash problem, not even worth solving, and a trash professor who told them to solve it for ten days—things like that.
This exam was not like that.
Each problem presented new possibilities and directions, induced unexpected variations, delivered a tremendous shock in utilization and application, and made one marvel at the flexible thinking inherent in the problem itself······.
In particular, starting from Problem 6, where the difficulty rose sharply, it was no different from “self-overcoming training” for a wizard.
She believed that if she achieved a perfect score, her rank as a wizard would rise by at least one level. In that process, the recommendation letter was rather incidental.
And so, ten hours.
Eleven hours.
Twelve hours······
“!”
Twelve hours today, eighteen hours yesterday.
After a total of thirty hours of grappling with it.
Problem 7 was finally solved.
The circuit Sylvia had transplanted manifested as magic. That pure magic formed the shape of a sphere and floated into the air.
Light soaked the surroundings. The form of a blazing star, with fire, earth, wind, and water all mixed together.
Sylvia lost herself for a moment in its beauty.
But soon, she looked at the clock and let out a sigh.
[ 6:00 PM ]
It was time to go take another exam.
After only combing her hair, she went straight out of the Magic Tower and walked along the road. Since there were still many people near the Magic Tower, she chose the back road.
Then, she ended up running into someone.
“Oh, Sylvia?”
It was the insolent Epherene.
“······Are you going to take an exam?”
Epherene asked that. Sylvia walked on without answering.
But at some point, they asked each other at the same time.
““How far have you—””
Their words overlapped.
Sylvia closed her mouth, and Epherene shrugged before speaking first.
“······I’m working on Problem 7.”
Sylvia also answered honestly.
“Eight.”
“What? You already solved them all?!”
Epherene’s eyes widened.
“I’m working on it.”
“······Oh. That’s fast. I’m completely stuck on 7.”
Epherene smiled bitterly and scratched the back of her neck. Sylvia passed by Epherene without saying anything more.
And yet, for some reason, her insides seemed to twist.
If she was already on 7, that was far faster than expected. There was only one problem’s difference between them. Was she lying? Or had I become too slow?
······Sylvia felt resentful for no reason.
The problem was time.
There was only one “real exam,” and yet far too much time was being stolen away by the other “fakes”······.
* * *
Meanwhile, after parting with Sylvia, Epherene came to a café. It felt as though she had spent nearly a thousand elne on coffee alone during exam period.
She swept her eyes over the interior of the café. She was checking to see if there were any reporters. In her head, the formula “reporter = interview = free coffee and meals” had already been established.
“······None.”
Tsk. With no other choice, she bought coffee and bread with her own money.
As she sat down in a café chair, Sylvia’s words came to mind.
“Problem 8, huh······ I’ve been stuck on 7 for two days.”
These past two days, it felt as though she had contracted some kind of illness.
She had shouted in anger, I’m quitting! I’m going to quit! But even after throwing such a fit, if she suddenly gained even the smallest hint for the problem, happiness melted over her like snow.
That feeling of happiness was incomparable to anything else.
“······Sigh.”
Epherene raised mana at her fingertips. While pondering Problem 7, she forced herself to chew through bread and coffee.
Suddenly, she wondered what Deculein was doing.
After setting a problem with such insane difficulty, just where was that professor, and what was he doing?
“I’ll solve it even if it’s out of spite······.”
Munch, munch, munch—after filling her stomach almost as though she were devouring the food, Epherene came out of the café.
As she immediately ran toward the Magic Tower, she suddenly looked up at the sky.
There was a star.
It was a star emitting light.
In the dark sky, together with the moon, the stars were sprinkled thickly like marshmallows······
“······!”
Epherene opened her eyes wide. A star was reflected in her widened pupils. A realization that spread along her spine surged into her mind.
She immediately sprinted back to her examination room.
Then she began to release her mana.
“It works, it works, it works, this is it······.”
Her inspiration was the stars of the night sky.
Under the conditions recorded on the exam paper, she calculated and identified the circuit, then, based on that circuit, inferred the formula, and implemented a magic circle that matched the conditions of the problem······.
“I solved it······?”
The 「Artificial Star」, created by gathering the four attributes of fire, wind, earth, and water.
At that pure and pristine condensation, tears welled in Epherene’s eyes without her realizing it.
“Ah, seriously······.”
Epherene stayed with her face clutched in her hands for a long while. A few tears also fell.
Had she been immersed in the lingering emotion for thirty minutes like that?
“Sniff.”
Epherene wiped her damp eyelashes and turned to the next page.
“······.”
And the moment she saw the final Problem 8.
The moment she saw the magical circuits and conditions filling half the page.
“No, this insane—”
She nearly fainted.