Chapter 90: D-Day (1)

DING!

DING!

DING!

The academy’s bells and speakers were louder than usual, enough that they could even be heard from within the city itself.

The results of the test weren’t just isolated to the academy itself after all, whatever happens here, it could affect the entire continent in its entirety.

Future rulers, prominent figures—everyone in the academy was powerful, and all of them would be taking the examination, and if a popular heir proved to be incompetent by the exam’s standards…

It was enough to doom that specific heir’s entire noble lineage.

In other words… this was life or death.

[All students head to their assigned rooms for the academic assessment. We wish you all the best.]

But that announcement wasn’t enough to make me leave my dorm room yet; there was one more thing I was waiting for before I departed.

And that was…

click!

Evelina herself.

The moment I heard the door of her room open was the moment I left, and it looked like I wasn’t the only one expecting it.

“Shall we?” Evelina tilted her head in question. This was the last moment we got before we met as opponents during the exam.

It was best we savour the time we had to be friendly…

I say that… but in all likelihood, if we do meet in battle, we’d probably just bat an eye and pretend we didn’t see each other.

*** Academy Hallway

“Crap, crap, crap! I completely missed this page!”

“What was that stupid term again!?”

“Shit, I left my pen back at my dorm!”

The entire hallway was an absolute mess…

Scratch that, pure chaos more like it.

Students were sprinting in every direction like headless chickens, papers flapping, books half-open, half-forgotten.

Someone skidded past us, clutching three different notebooks. “I studied the wrong Chapter! I SWEAR it wasn’t on the syllabus!”

Another student was on the verge of tears, shaking a friend by the shoulders. “Explain the fire brigade spell formula to me in thirty seconds. Thirty. Seconds.”

Evelina paused beside me, watching the scene with mild curiosity, like she was observing wildlife.

“…How pathetic, after all that time, none of them even managed to prepare fully?” she laughed.

“They prepared,” I replied with a shrug. “But it looks like their preparation didn’t account for stress management.”

That earned a small huff of amusement from her.

We walked side by side through the crowd, and despite the mess, people instinctively parted. Some recognized Evelina immediately and stiffened. Others noticed me and did the opposite, either staring too long or very pointedly looked away.

Rumours travel fast.

A group of female students whispered as we passed.

“Is that him…?”

“Vivianne was right, he does resemble Prince Thorn!”

“Shush! Lady D’Arclight will hear you!”

I ignored them.

“So,” Evelina said casually, hands behind her back, “Enjoying your newfound popularity?”

“If it doesn’t come from you, I don’t care. They just sound like background noise to me.” I replied.

She smiled dangerously; she was still holding back from murdering any admirer in the vicinity. “Good, I hate to do something rash.”

“I’d do the same.”

“I know you will.”

We stopped at a branching hallway where our assigned rooms split in opposite directions.

This was it. The last normal moment before everything turned competitive.

“Well,” she said, turning to face me, “don’t embarrass yourself.”

I raised a brow. “I would never. Embarrassing myself would mean embarrassing you too. I’d die before I let that happen.”

She leaned in slightly, voice lowering just enough that only I could hear. “Then try not to hold back too much. I’d hate to let them think I let a weakling become one of my closest servants.”

I chuckled. “Not going to happen.”

She straightened, crimson eyes glinting with something sharp and excited.

“Good,” she said simply, but not before planting a light touch on my hand, enough to hold contact for one second.

And definitely enough for her magic to work.

’I’ll miss you.’

Then she turned and walked off, disappearing into the sea of students headed toward her assigned room.

I watched her go for a second longer than necessary before exhaling, a blush appearing on my cheeks before I shook it away.

“…Alright,” I muttered, adjusting my coat. “Let’s get this over with.”

I headed the opposite way, toward my own examination hall.

The moment I stepped into my assigned room, the noise from outside vanished as if it had never existed.

Soundproofing magic.

Of course.

Rows of desks stretched neatly across the room, each spaced far enough apart to kill any hope of cheating. Thick magic circles were carved into the floor, faintly glowing—anti-interference, anti-communication, anti-everything.

They really weren’t taking chances.

I took my seat, resting my chin on my hand as I scanned the room.

Some students were already seated, stiff-backed and pale. Others looked way too calm, which usually meant either confidence… or delusion.

A few glanced at me, then quickly looked away.

Yeah. I was a local celebrity at this point.

I leaned back, letting my chair creak slightly.

“So this is it,” I muttered under my breath.

The academic portion.

On paper, this should’ve been easy. I’d read the novel, have a perfect memory of the material, and lived a life worth two lifetimes. Situational problems felt more like common sense than a barrier.

Especially if one of those lifetimes included adapting multiple identities to get close to my target.

Still… exams had a way of being annoying in very specific ways.

Couldn’t be too complacent.

And that’s when the proctor entered without ceremony.

Old. Scarred. Calm.

The kind of person who’d seen enough prodigies crumble to not be impressed by reputation alone.

“Welcome,” he said flatly, voice magically amplified just enough to fill the hall. “You will find your test papers sealed in front of you. You will not open them until instructed.”

A collective swallow echoed through the room.

“Any attempt to cheat will result in immediate disqualification,” he continued. “Any attempt to harm another student will result in immediate containment.”

Containment. Not punishment.

Those words alone told me everything I needed to know. Any attempt to cheat on the exam wasn’t just breaking academy rules; it was treated as an act of terrorism.

He raised a hand.

“Begin.”

The seals dissolved.

I flipped the paper over.

…Huh.

I blinked once.

Then twice.

“This is… surprisingly reasonable.”

Hypothetical formulas, moral applications, economic diagrams, situational judgments. Some trick questions, sure, but nothing outrageous. No obscure items or century-old footnotes pulled just to screw people over.

Even without photographic memory, this was a breeze.

I started writing.

Time flowed strangely after that.

Scratch of quills. Pages turning. The occasional sharp inhale when someone realized they messed up.

I moved steadily, not rushing, not stalling. When I finished one section, I moved on. When something tried to trip me up, I paused, thought it through, and wrote anyway.

Halfway through, I noticed a student two rows ahead trembling so badly their desk was shaking.

Stress really did ruin people.

By the time I reached the final page, my hand didn’t even hurt.

I set my quill down and leaned back, staring at the ceiling.

“…Yeah,” I sighed quietly. “The real fun’s later.”

The proctor’s gaze flicked toward me, lingering for a second longer than the others.

Probably noting how early I finished.

Probably filing my face away.

Minutes later, the bell rang again.

DING!

“Put your quills down.”

I complied, sliding the paper forward as instructed.

As we were dismissed one by one, the tension crept back in, not panic this time, but anticipation.

Because everyone here knew the truth.

This part?

This was just the warm-up.

Well… for the confident ones at least.

Most of them just stormed off, screaming and whining, as soon as they realized their answers were wrong, the moment they handed them in…

“Poor bastards…”

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