NOVEL NEXT Chapter 17
“After measuring your magic power, the practical exam consists of a simulated battle with the examiners. Even if one of these aspects is lacking, you can still pass if you excel in others. I’ll also mention that winning the simulated battle with the examiners isn’t everything,” Lucia explained.
Afterward, she disappeared suddenly, likely using spatial magic to teleport.
While teleportation was commonplace for me, the other examinees seemed fascinated by it.
“Wow… is that Lucia-sensei’s magic?”
“Teleportation is like a symbol of high-level magic users! I want to try it too!”
“I want to become as cool as Lucia-sensei!”
“Me too! And I’ll show that guy who abandoned me!”
The examinees were quite impressed by Lucia’s magic and her overall demeanor.
The examinees continued to chatter about magic and their aspirations, but I couldn’t help but notice the one person with a strong personal grudge. I decided it would be best to steer clear of them. As for all the excitement about teleportation, I found it a bit overblown. While it was impressive that Lucia could teleport without the need for an incantation or a gate, both I and Mea were capable of similar feats. It made me realize that even the most powerful mage, like the main heroine, had her limitations.
However, at that moment, I couldn’t foresee the colossal blunder I was about to make, and I certainly wasn’t thinking about it as I quietly smirked to myself, pleased with my ability to conceal things effortlessly.
“Next—Examinee number 260!”
“Yes!”
“—Huh!?”
I had succumbed to drowsiness during what felt like an eternal wait and was rudely awakened when my head nodded forward. I realized, to my alarm, that there were only three examinees left until my turn, at number 263.
Panic set in.
Oh no… I wanted to aim for the average level based on the performance of the previous examinees, but I completely dozed off! I mean, surely, someone would have woken me up after two hours of sleep; that’s the normal thing to do. But wait, I’m a villainous noble, so naturally, I have hardly anyone around me! Damn it!
I found myself drawn to a peculiar, black-haired and black-eyed girl as I silently cursed being a villainous noble in my thoughts. She placed her hand on the crystal-like magical tool used for measuring magical power.
Right, I should at least check the level of the other examinees a bit, I thought.
The magical power levels were numerically displayed on the monitor connected to the crystal the girl touched. In front of me, the girl had a reading of 12,000.
Hmm… Is that impressive, or is it not? I really can’t tell. The game didn’t provide much detail about the entrance exam. Besides, it seemed like the other examinees were completely absorbed in their own results and didn’t pay any attention to others, making it even harder to gauge.
Well, there are two more people left, so maybe I should aim for the average of the three of us.
As I pondered this, I glanced at the remaining two examinees’ results. Number 261, a seemingly carefree-looking guy, had a score of 6,200, while number 262, a muscular man who looked like he might struggle with magic, scored 6,800.
Hm, when averaged, that’s about 8,333… I guess that’s quite high. It’s probably because that black-haired girl’s score is exceptionally high. So, it should be safe to consider the other two as around the average.
The other two candidates seemed to be the type who didn’t like to put in much effort, and one looked like they struggled with magic.
“Next… Number 263…”
“Yes.”
It was finally my turn, but that examiner, the moment he laid eyes on me, made a very obvious displeased expression. Well, it might have to do with me being the villainous noble, but couldn’t he at least try to conceal it a little, especially as an adult?
While thinking that I’d teach him a lesson someday, I approached the magical device, making sure not to show any hostility.
“Please place your hand on this crystal,” he instructed.
“Yes.”
“Ugh… This brat’s getting too cocky…”
I can hear you loud and clear, Mr. Examiner. Just know that one day, I’ll utterly defeat you and crush your self-esteem.
I gave the teacher in front of me a slight glare before placing my hand on the crystal.
“Detect Magic… Seal Magic…”
I muttered under my breath, sensing the magical power of the two people from before and sealing my magical power just slightly more than theirs. With this, there was no way I’d get caught.
The numbers on the device kept rising. This time, I intended to stop at around 7,000. Originally, I thought about going for 6,000, but since the teacher in front of me was incredibly irritating, I decided to achieve slightly better results. Well, even if I made a small mistake here, I could balance it out in the next mock battle, so it shouldn’t be a problem.
I consciously severed the flow of my mana and stopped the number at exactly 7,000.
Ha… How about that for perfect manipulation of mana?
Take a good look, examiner and teacher!
Now, what kind of expression will he make? Huh?
But when I imagined a slightly surprised expression, what I saw was a teacher with his mouth hanging wide open, staring in shock.
‘Huh? What’s going on?’
‘Hey, why are you so surprised!?’
This is only a little higher than the average for the other examinees, you know!
“This… This is ridiculous… You mean to tell me that that failure is higher than the genius children of the powerful Marquis and Viscount families…!? There must be some mistake… There’s no way this is right! He’s just a worthless failure!” The teacher muttered to himself, clearly in disbelief.
The teacher was clearly panicking, but he could at least make a little more effort to conceal it. I mean, it does hurt me a bit, just a little…
But now is not the time to joke around
Thanks to that darn teacher yelling loudly, the attention of everyone around us started to focus on me. And they all looked at my score with widened eyes.
In that moment, due to the shocking reaction of the teacher, his earlier words, and the reactions of the other examinees, I realized something rather significant.
And it’s a very big something.
––– I, um, may have messed up big time, haven’t I? (Absolutely correct!)
Dear Mea,
It seems I’ve managed to mess up quite spectacularly right from the start. What should I do…?
I smiled dryly as I basked in everyone’s attention, looking up to the heavens.
Thank you Max Kniefel-san~
And I have decided to start my ko-fi membership plan. You can now have access to 2-5 extra chaps ahead of everyone else! 🙂