Chapter 80 - Final Exams (1)

Returning to the dormitory, I kept asking myself.

Was telling Regina about Ad Astra really the right thing to do? Wasn't it an action too close to a gamble?

It was a meaningless question. There was no answer sheet anywhere.

It would have been meaningless from the moment I decided to twist the flow, not to follow the predetermined flow.

‘Well, it's a relief that Regina is a person who knows how to keep to her lines, though.’

What I had felt while spending several months with Regina was that the most outstanding of Regina's abilities was her ability to gauge the 'line'.

How far is OK and how far is NG, the cunning princess was all too adept at measuring that distance in human relationships.

It was the same in our recent conversation. Regina would ask for additional explanations about what I was saying, but she did not ask about the source of that information.

She knew instinctively. That it was my Achilles' heel.

And that the moment she crossed that line, the relationship would be twisted.

There was no way the princess wasn't curious. The source of this information.

It was a part that was directly related to whether she trusted me or not.

However, Regina did not cross the line.

She had implicitly made an agreement with me that she would not touch the sensitive parts.

Let's just get what we can from each other. Regina was saying that.

‘That way is much more comfortable, though.’

If what the other person wants from me is clear, and what I want is clear, the story is fast.

Because we just have to give and take what we want from each other.

In that sense, there was certainly trust in working with Regina.

Because there was a guarantee that we would not betray each other in terms of interests.

Perhaps Regina also thinks so.

Well, I was lost in such thoughts as I returned to my private room in Aurora Hall, my dormitory.

“So tired…”

So many things had happened in one day. It was a tiring day in many ways… but it was also a day where I gained a lot.

If you asked me if the tiredness I felt today was related to what I gained…

Umm.

Let's move on from that part.

***

Even after Rain Enlight left, Regina Eliade Abellon sat silently at the table in the garden, lost in thought.

Staring endlessly at the Moon-scented Flowers, which shone white in the moonlight all year round.

The girl was also reflecting on herself. Her choice to fully trust Rain Enlight. Was her judgment correct?

In that respect, the two, Rain and Regina, were certainly similar.

And, a few minutes after the garden fell silent.

Thump, thump.

Heavy footsteps were heard in the quiet garden.

Regina knew who the owner of these footsteps was without even looking in that direction.

Because it was a sound she had heard all the time since she was young.

“Kilt.”

Kilt Creutz. A close aide among close aides who had served as Regina's royal guard since she was young.

He arrived in front of Regina and politely bowed his head.

As he bowed his head, Regina carefully examined his face. The face she was more than familiar with.

The face of a young man who had just turned thirty, with brown hair. Things like that.

However, what Regina looked at more carefully was, of course, his expression.

He was usually taciturn and not very expressive, so he wasn't the type to show his feelings easily, but…

“You have a look of dissatisfaction on your face.”

“……”

Regina accurately read the emotion on Kilt's face.

“Do you not like him?”

“...I think he is a man who cannot be trusted. It is self-evident that he is hiding too many things.”

At those words, Regina pressed her temples with her index finger.

‘Dismissing him was the right answer, I see.’

This stubborn knight would probably have had Rain executed on the spot if he had heard what he had just said.

“I have already decided. I will support him fully.”

To accept him fully and support him completely.

The knight robe she had just given him contained that meaning.

“Your Highness the Princess…!”

“Enough.”

Tap.

The sound of her thin finger tapping the table.

It naturally did not make a loud noise, but Kilt stopped in his tracks at the sound and closed his mouth.

“...This is a judgment unlike Your Highness.”

A direct remark that was hard to believe was being delivered from a royal guard to a princess.

However, that direct remark also signified the years they had spent together.

That they shared a deep trust, enough to offer such advice.

Heh. At those words, the princess let out a small, hollow laugh.

Was it because of the remark from a knight who had never said such a thing in over ten years?

No, that incredulous laugh was closer to self-mockery.

The princess looked back on the life she had lived so far. To be precise, on the processes of survival.

Control everything within reach. If you win, tie the enemy's hands and feet and win completely.

That was the princess's way.

Claudio seemed to be secretly laughing at that method, but that was the form of life that had allowed Regina to survive until now.

However, only in the case of Rain Enlight, she had retracted that principle.

What was the reason?

Was it because the current situation was too disadvantageous?

It wasn't wrong, but it had always been that way.

Was it because it was the last chance?

It was closer to the correct answer. But she felt that it wasn't the perfect answer.

Since it was a question with no answer in the first place, Regina dismissed the question.

And, looking at Kilt, she said.

“Kilt.”

“Yes.”

“Don't you think you're overstepping your bounds a little?”

“……”

The knight bowed his head. Because there was not a single flaw in those words.

A royal guard has the duties of a royal guard, and a princess has the duties of a princess.

“...I apologize. You are right, Your Highness.”

Kilt then said. It was a clear apology.

“Fufu. Let's not get too serious. I know your loyalty well. It must have been from that place.”

As if in response, the princess smiled and lightened the mood.

This series of processes was a social contract.

The subject apologizes. The monarch forgives.

And, what thoughts might lie beneath the shell of that social contract… well.

It was something one couldn't know.

Even if they had spent a long time together.

Surprisingly, Regina was clumsy in these areas.

***

Anyway, the week of final exams continued to pass, and it was already Thursday.

You might think that something must have happened from Monday, when I talked with Regina, until now… but I don't know.

Although I had made the momentous decision to tell the princess about Ad Astra, not much had changed.

Rather than moving immediately, the conversation had flowed towards waiting for an opportunity.

Even though I had obtained a lot of useful information, the strength of our faction itself had not increased.

As before, the basic strategy was to catch the opponent's flaws.

However, the difference was that the range of what could be caught had now become immensely wider.

“It’s going smoothly.”

Yes, although I had faced several difficult situations… if you looked at the results, it was clear that I had walked a very smooth path so far.

The only concern I have left now is, well.

-Did you hear that story? Yesterday, Arien-ssi and that thing again…

Hehe.

‘I'm ‘that thing’ and Arien is ‘Arien-ssi’?’

…Well, anyway, the rumors about me and Arien that had continued throughout this week were a concern, if anything.

Fortunately, after the incident at the training ground last time, Arien hadn't been approaching me so boldly… but it seemed to have already become a major issue.

Well, this was still better than being on awkward terms with Arien.

And not only from this macroscopic perspective, but the progression of the final exams so far had also been exceptionally smooth.

Whether it was studying or practical skills, I had prepared for everything without any gaps.

You might think this. Getting good grades doesn't weaken Ad Astra, so why are you so obsessed with grades?

However, there was a reason for this too.

‘At this rate, there will be no problems with the Exchange Meeting plan.’

The Exchange Meeting. It was an event created for the purpose of allowing the top 10 students with high scores in each semester and department to interact with knights.

And this was also the background of Part 1, Chapter 5. Because there was something I absolutely had to do here.

‘Chapters 3 and 4 will proceed well on their own even if I leave them alone.’

What I was aiming for this time was to be in the top 10 of the Combat Department.

And to attend the Exchange Meeting just before the second semester begins, and do what I have to do.

That was about it.

It might be impossible if you only looked at my specs… but thanks to being at the top in the written portion, I could see some possibility.

If I showed a decent top-tier score in the practical skills, it would probably be a breeze.

In fact, I had shown successful results in all the practical exams I had taken so far.

However, ultimately, there was something else that was most important for a high practical skill score.

‘Even more so than the exams I've taken so far.’

It goes without saying, but the exams conducted in the classes themselves are also very important.

However, unlike schools in Korea, Archenia Academy's final exams had a peculiar test.

The Joint Grade Mock Battle.

It was a test conducted simultaneously by the two pillars of the academy, the Combat Department and the Magic Department… a group evaluation that tested interpersonal combat and monster combat, respectively.

If I were to point out a difference from the entrance examination I took before, it would be that it was a more practical-oriented and group-based test.

The reason I was moving across the campus right now was not unrelated to that topic.

Tomorrow was the day the Joint Grade Mock Battle was held, and today was the day the teams were assigned.

‘A day-before announcement, not bad. Is it probably to prevent them from practicing together in advance?’

In addition, it could also prevent cheating to some extent… but I also thought that if cheating was done at the professor level, it couldn't be stopped.

Well, anyway.

As I was thinking that, I had already arrived in front of the bulletin board where the team assignments were posted.

The front of the bulletin board was already crowded with students who had come to check their assignments, just like me.

“...Let's see.”

I stretched my neck and looked at the bulletin board.

As I looked at the bulletin board, only one thought came to mind.

‘Please be a honey team, please be a honey team, please be a honey team…!’

This was probably the common wish of all students in all worlds, not just this one.

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