NOVEL NEXT Chapter 55
EP.55 Can You Solve It? (2)
Apuria Academy does not care about status.
Inside the academy, regardless of who one is, they are evaluated as a single mage.
While the position one holds outside may earn respect and reverence, it does not translate into privilege.
“Then that’s why I had to go through such complicated procedures.”
Even if they are the Master of the Tower, there are no exceptions.
The Master of the White Tower, Selly Devela, grumbled while shifting her steps. It was a hassle navigating the myriad of rules on a simple visit, and it took almost a month after applying to finally receive permission.
Tap tap.
Her steps were hurried.
There was no time to worry about her usual image. Every minute and second was precious.
Thud, thud.
The sound of her footsteps was not singular.
With a frown, the White turned around. As if waiting for her, the man shrugged his shoulders.
“What, got something to say? White?”
The Master of the Black Tower, Yetual.
Shooting a glare at the Master who applied for a visit alongside her, the White clicked her tongue.
“…You snake-like old man.”
“We’re only a year or two apart, you old fox.”
“I’m a fresh twenty!”
“Yeah, right. I heard ten percent of the White Tower’s monthly research budget goes toward your elixirs?”
“Shut it, Black!”
Click, with a scowl, the White turned away.
Tap tap.
The heels of her shoes echoed on the floor.
Thud, thud.
Following closely behind was the sound of soft shoes. It seemed he was determined to follow her till the end.
“…”
The White frowned. The sound directly behind her was very distracting.
“Don’t follow me.”
“Overly self-conscious. Why would I want to follow you? White.”
“…I’m going to meet Professor Rania.”
“What a coincidence. So am I.”
“Don’t follow me, Black.”
“Don’t you follow me either. White.”
Grumbling, they headed toward the professor’s office.
Many students watched them. They didn’t pay attention to the murmurs around them.
They hurried along, having no time to deal with such children.
“Rosel Elder’s class is from two to four, right?”
Only two hours were allotted.
To avoid the peculiar stare of that Elder, the time of contact with that girl wasn’t long.
“Rania van Trias.”
While chewing on that name, the White licked her lips.
She hadn’t forgotten the shards of truth she saw that day.
“Though it’s annoying that my visit time overlaps with Black’s…”
In fact, it was a good opportunity.
It’s a chance to prove that the White is superior to the Black.
As she thought about it, how long had she walked?
– Mana Trading Studies Research Room.
They arrived and paused in front of the professor’s office.
The door was not closed; it was open. However, they didn’t rush inside.
The scene visible through the door held them back.
“…Black.”
The White slowly opened her mouth.
“…What is that?”
“It seems to be… drawing a circuit.”
“That?”
They gazed blankly into the professor’s office.
Dozens of sheets of paper were flying through the air.
Amid those sheets, hundreds of characters passed.
Hundreds of floating characters.
Those characters were ones they knew well.
‘Rune characters.’
The most fundamental language, often referred to as such.
The characters that formed this language floated in the air. Someone was pulling them one by one to use.
A girl was sitting alone in the professor’s office.
Her ashen hair fluttered in the wind.
Her blue eyes were fixated solely on the letters swirling in the air.
Rania van Trias.
The girl waved her fingers.
The letters moved along with her fingers.
The letters became words.
The words became sentences.
The sentences formed a circuit.
Thus, the completed circuit was recorded on paper.
The sheets with the circuits stacked neatly on one side of the table.
As the papers that filled the professor’s office began to decrease, when all papers finally settled into place.
“Hmm?”
Only then did the girl turn her gaze toward the door.
“What’s going on?”
*
Selly and Yetual were guided by the girl to take their seats. Sipping coffee that she brewed for them, Selly recalled the purpose of her visit here.
“I… came to ask about that point I saw during the lecture.”
For now, that question was of little concern.
Her gaze was not focused on the girl in front of her but on a stack of papers piled in one corner of the table.
“…”
And it was the same for Black as well.
Finally, Selly opened her mouth.
“Excuse me.”
She pointed to the pile of papers in the corner of the table.
“What is that?”
“Pardon?”
“That thing you just recorded with the rune letters. Is that your research?”
The girl picked up one of the papers.
“This? You mean?”
“Yes.”
“It’s the midterm exam paper.”
“…What?”
Selly questioned her ears.
That even after writing circuits with rune letters, it turned out to be just a midterm exam paper?
‘What kind of nonsense is this?’
There could be no greater waste.
At this point, suspicions about the exam paper began to arise. Selly reached out toward the paper.
Swish.
The girl moved the paper to the side.
Selly squinted and shot a glance at the girl.
“…Can’t I take a look?”
“I was told to avoid leaking exam papers.”
“Are you saying I look like I’d leak an exam paper? Ha, come on…”
With a hollow laugh, Selly reached out again, but the girl once more moved the paper. Selly’s hand grabbed at empty air.
“Ah, come on! I said I wouldn’t!”
“How can I believe you?”
“Should I even cast a silencing spell? Do I need to go that far?”
Ultimately, it came to that.
“…”
With a nuanced gaze, Selly looked at the contract placed before her. Although she felt a bit annoyed, her desire to see that exam paper was overpowering.
“Haah…”
Sighing, Selly grabbed a pen.
“Well, it’s a significant breach, but… someone of your level as a mage could overlook this a bit…”
“I already signed. Can I take a look too?”
“Could you please not interrupt me?”
Looking at the Black who took the exam paper first, Selly glared. Regardless of her feelings, the girl nodded at Black.
“How much time would be enough?”
“I think ten minutes would suffice…”
“I only need five.”
Before that statement finished, Selly interjected.
Aware of the Black’s sidelong glance, Selly shrugged her shoulders.
“Let’s show that the White Tower is superior to the Black.”
“…Must we do that just because we’ve come here?”
“What is it?”
Black frowned.
“Honestly, how mature are you…”
“Forget that, let’s see the exam paper, okay? Ten minutes sounds good, or why not set thirty minutes as a cushion?”
Accepting the exam paper, the White smiled.
“Just complete it within the time and return it to me.”
The girl placed a magically enchanted sand timer in front of them. Each sand timer was set for five and ten minutes.
Swish.
Watching the sand begin to fall, Selly leisurely looked at the question paper. There was a reason for her nonchalance.
‘I’m curious about the circuits drawn with rune letters, but still, it’s a problem meant for students, right?’
Apuria is prestigious, but it still hasn’t been a decade since these students began studying magic.
‘Whatever their standard, it can’t be that bad.’
Five minutes seemed excessive. Planning to finish it in just three minutes, Selly turned her gaze to the exam paper.
Sure enough, it took less than ten seconds to solve the first question. It was a basic knowledge question. She quickly jotted down her answer and moved on to the next question.
And then.
“…”
At that point, Selly felt something was off.
It took thirty seconds to solve the second question. The answer didn’t come at once. She couldn’t do it mentally, and eventually had to pull out her pen.
Looking at the third question.
A circuit filled half the page.
The strands of that circuit were not easily grasped. She quickly moved the pen, taking them apart one by one.
One minute passed.
Though she dismantled all circuits, she couldn’t find the answer.
Another minute passed.
Finally, she managed to find the answer. As she transcribed it, Selly glanced at the timer. It was already halfway gone.
‘…This doesn’t feel right.’
Selly squinted her eyes.
She looked at the fourth problem. It was no different from the third. However, the circuit was a bit more tangled.
Swish.
The sand continued to fall.
Selly’s pen moved rapidly across the paper. She filled the margins with calculations.
‘Something’s off.’
She stacked calculations upon calculations.
Basic processes were calculated mentally. Any part that could be shortened was maximized.
‘Something feels strange.’
Cold sweat beads formed on Selly’s forehead.
And then.
Thud, the last grains of sand from the timer fell.
“Time’s up. Please hand it in.”
“Uh, whuh?”
The girl grabbed the edge of the paper.
Selly absentmindedly reached for the paper. The girl eyed her with narrowed eyes.
“…What’s this?”
“Uh, well, you know, I was just a bit relaxed at first, right? Just ten more seconds…”
“Done. Hand it over.”
The girl cut her off and snatched the paper away.
Selly stared at the paper in disbelief.
‘This is… this isn’t what I expected?’
She had never imagined such a scene.
Selly turned her head sharply. The Black sitting next to her was still working on the problems.
Scrape.
She pulled a chair beside the Black.
Intending to sneak a look at the exam paper, but the Black raised his arm and placed it on top of the exam sheet, blocking it all.
“You…!”
Selly tugged at his sleeve.
The Black looked at her with an expression of disdain.
“Stop interfering and move over, White.”
“Don’t be petty and let’s just look together!”
“Didn’t you vow to prove that you are superior to the Black?”
“Ugh, ugh!”
Not backing down, the Black ultimately raised his hand.
“Proctor, this woman is disrupting the exam.”
“Yes. I’ll take action.”
“What, wait! No, let go! Hey!”
Selly’s chair spun around.
Scrape, enchanted by mana, the chair turned toward the wall.
“Ha, come on. Seriously? I just want to look for a moment! Hey, let me go!”
The chair remained unmoving. Ultimately, Selly had to face the wall until the exam was concluded.
2.
The Master of the Black Tower, Yetual, stared at the sand timer.
Before he knew it, it was nearing ten minutes. With only about a minute left, there were still three problems remaining.
6, 7, and 8.
Eyeing the three questions left, Yetual couldn’t help but smile wryly.
He had known that Rania van Trias was an extraordinary mage long ago. But still…
‘Who would have thought it would be to this extent.’
This was beyond his imagination.
He had been awed by the neatness of the fifth problem he had just solved. It was clean and straightforward enough to want to take it back to the Black Tower.
‘The calculations aren’t complicated. There’s no need for advanced calculations. It sticks strictly to the basics.’
The problems become difficult and complex.
Yet, these were questions that anyone could manage as long as they knew the most basic circuit-solving method.
‘However, these three questions seem… a little different.’
Yetual tapped the end of his pen.
For these three questions, he simply couldn’t figure out how to approach them. It felt like facing a conundrum typically posed by the Magic Association.
In the end, he let go of the exam paper.
“I’m done here. I can’t seem to solve any further.”
“Yes, understood.”
The girl took the exam paper.
After glancing over it, she responded briefly.
“All the problems you solved, you answered correctly.”
“Glad to hear that.”
Sighing, Yetual set down his pen.
Perhaps he had overexerted himself in those ten minutes; a sense of emptiness washed over him.
‘But still, I solved more problems than the White, so that’s good.’
Feeling a slight sense of satisfaction from that fact, Yetual murmured the girl’s name.
“Professor Rania?”
“Yes?”
“This midterm exam paper, it can’t possibly be a lie, can it?”
Yetual smirked bitterly.
Then he lowered his voice and whispered.
“If it’s intended to scrape the White Tower Master who wasn’t particularly fond of you, you’ve succeeded. After all, they’re still sulking against the wall.”
“Pardon?”
“Did you not trick the White into thinking it’s a level students can manage? That was a clever idea.”
Having sensed that in advance, the Black leisurely set ten minutes as his estimate. The problems crafted with rune letters could not possibly be mere exam papers for students.
‘More likely, they’d be questions intended for submission to the Magic Association.’
Absolutely, these wouldn’t be problems anyone could solve.
They were questions that would drive mad the sorcerers obsessed with circuits.
They were bound to sell for a high price.
As he nodded along to himself, “Yes,” the girl tilted her head in confusion.
“Huh?”
She handed Yetual the paper resting on top of the heap.
– Mana Trading Studies, Basic (Midterm Exam).
– Issuing Professor: Rania van Trias.
Such a title adorned the paper.
Yetual checked beneath it.
“…”
The very problems he had passionately solved were clearly printed there.
“…Er, Professor Rania?”
“Yes?”
“I’m seriously advising you…”
After a brief pause, Yetual opened his mouth.
“Perhaps it would be better to lower the difficulty level a bit…”