The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 171
Princess Rosa’s face flushed when she saw me.
I felt a headache coming on as I sat down.
It seemed she hadn’t heard clearly what kind of meeting this was.
That’s why she frowned her delicate brows at Joseph’s following words.
“Rosa, apologize for what happened last time.”
“Brother…? What do you mean…?” Rosa opened her eyes wide, asking why she had to apologize.
“Because last time, you put this friend in a difficult position. Because of you, this friend received various troublesome looks. Do you understand?”
It was true.
After talking with Princess Rosa that time, strange rumors about me had spread.
There were rumors that I had used my good looks to bewitch Princess Rosa under Rinoa’s orders. Anyway, there were no good rumors.
Joseph was trying to make her apologize to me while simultaneously crushing Rosa’s vain feelings.
It was a very good judgment.
I inwardly cheered for Joseph as I looked at Princess Rosa.
“But… I just wanted to have a conversation…!”
“That’s what caused trouble. It’s not like you don’t know your position.”
“Are you saying royalty shouldn’t even have conversations!”
“There’s a difference in positions! If you had such an intimate conversation with a noble’s child, I wouldn’t say anything else! But he’s a commoner!”
“And he’s an Academy student! A commoner student at the Academy could become a noble in the future! That’s why you’re also eyeing Erina, isn’t it, brother! Because if Erina succeeds as a magician, she’ll become a noble!”
“E-eyeing? What a vulgar expression!”
At the mention of Erina, I couldn’t help but react, even though I knew it was a different person with the same name.
“Rosa!” Joseph shouted angrily. Her previous statement was tantamount to admitting she had romantic feelings for me.
I was simply exasperated.
‘Love at first sight? Give me a break.’
In other words, if it weren’t for my appearance, she wouldn’t have been interested in me even as much as a speck of dust.
Well, they say most human relationships start with appearance, but I despised such relationships. Even more so after becoming Ars.
“I’ve looked into this friend. He’s the transfer student partnered with that Rinoa Branford?”
“So, what about it?”
“Well, let’s put that aside for now. But what about his grades? Do you think he can become a noble by earning the title of hero?”
Joseph was subtly putting me down too.
It’s not strange to think that way since I was at the bottom in the most recent official exam.
Rosa seemed to have nothing to say about this and kept her mouth shut.
Joseph, judging that he had gained the upper hand, pressed on.
“Adults always say this. If you choose a person based only on their appearance, you’ll end up in big trouble! You’re making that mistake right now!”
Now he’s openly putting me down.
I didn’t mind much, as long as Princess Rosa backed down because of it, it would be worthwhile.
“N-no. I’ll do as my heart tells me. Father said to do so too!”
“That’s because father dotes on you…!”
“I won’t listen anymore!”
“Sigh…!” Joseph let out a deep sigh.
Then he turns to me and says.
“I’m sorry. We showed an unsightly scene. Anyway, I trust that this matter has been well communicated to you too.”
I nodded as if I had been waiting for this. “Of course. As you said, Your Highness, I will make sure to have no relations with the Princess from now on.”
“How…!” Princess Rosa looked shocked, then immediately glared at Joseph with a face full of anger.
Joseph shook his head and spoke to his attendant, perhaps to settle the situation.
“Call for Lady Erina. Tell her to take Rosa away.”
“Yes.”
And he gestured to me to withdraw now.
I bowed my head and quietly slipped out of the place.
* * *
The Academy’s exam was conducted over a total of 6 days.
The first, second, and third days were written exams, covering basic subjects like culture, history, geography, etc. It wasn’t much different from subjects in our world.
However, the content was vastly different.
Because it was a world with magic, the content was spectacular.
For example, in geography, there were lakes formed because giant monsters crouched down, or lands that became permanent frozen soil due to dragon monsters’ breath. Many geographical formations were not scientifically explained.
Moreover, there were even subjects about dungeons and monsters.
‘Dungeons that have sent countless heroes and adventurers to the other world…’
It was about the 10 most vicious dungeons.
‘Three of them are currently sealed. The rest are still in the lost lands, I guess.’
Two in the northern continent. Two in the southern continent. And three in the eastern continent.
The exam subject was about one of the sealed dungeons called ‘Seven Deadly Sins’.
Seven Deadly Sins was a cursed dungeon, and while the level of resident monsters wasn’t that high, it was counted among the top 10 dungeons due to its unique curse.
Because of that curse, this dungeon had to be conquered by exactly 7 people. It becomes dangerous if more people enter, and impossible to conquer if fewer enter.
Such content was on the exam questions.
I solved them smoothly as it was content I had studied.
‘The magic stone of Seven Deadly Sins is currently sealed in the magic stone storage of the Ellan Kingdom…‘
Good, that’s the end.
After finishing the last written subject, I was soaked in a small sense of exhaustion. As I stayed in the classroom doing self-grading, Rinoa came to my classroom.
“Wade, what are you doing? Let’s go quickly.”
“Huh? Didn’t you do the grading, miss?”
I was calling her ‘Miss’ publicly.
“I didn’t.”
“Well, Miss doesn’t have friends, so…”
As I looked at her with pitying eyes, Rinoa glared at me to come out quickly.
I packed my things and followed her.
Rinoa asks, “How was the exam?”
“It was perfect. Because I didn’t go easy on myself.”
“Huh, I didn’t know you’d still have confidence. Then how about the practical exam? Do you think you’ll be okay?”
“No problem.”
The preparation for the practical was also perfect.
Rinoa tells me there’s bad news. “For the martial arts practical, they say the Captain of the Royal Guard will personally oversee it.”
“So what?”
“It will be a tough practical for commoners. They go easy on nobles during the exam, but they’re harsh on commoners.”
“Hmm. The Captain of the Royal Guard…”
For me, the image of the Captain of the Royal Guard was Eonia and Anton.
They were all strong individuals.
“That sounds fun.”
“Fun, you say?”
“Well, because I’ll be able to see what level the martial arts are here.”
The martial arts level of the female spear user I fought in the northern continent last time wasn’t satisfactory. I thought the Captain of the Royal Guard would be at least stronger than that.
The magic practical exam started from the fourth day.
While the exams for upper grades involved things with high practicality like subjugating a certain level of dungeon or developing new magic, the exam for freshmen was simple as expected.
First, in the power test, it was about destroying a scarecrow with a magic resistance barrier, just as I had prepared.
Students aimed at the scarecrow with magic they had prepared.
Among our class 17 students, about 6 were able to damage the scarecrow.
Mello, who was one of the, was elated saying he had knocked off one arm.
“Next, Wade!”
As I stepped forward, Mello openly showed his displeasure. Then he spread rumors to his group saying I would fail, that I only had a pretty face but no skill.
Still, perhaps because he had been hit by me before, he shut his mouth like a clam when I gave him a look.
“Begin.”
As soon as the examiner’s signal fell, I concentrated and formed an orb of arcane magic.
“Arcane…?”
The examiner narrowed his eyes, showing interest.
Regardless, I increased my concentration and slowly changed the orb into the form of a spear.
After finally completing the spear form, I gave it vibration properties, then grabbed it in a throwing position and aimed at the scarecrow’s head.
“Hup!”
Swish! The spear scattering arcane magic power, heads towards the scarecrow’s head.
Soon the magic resistance barrier lit up, but with a ‘ting!’ sound it shattered, and the spear penetrated the scarecrow’s head and passed through.
“Woah…!”
Exclamations flowed through the exam site.
The examiner was also rounding his lips.
“Good. Very good! Unlike other attributes, arcane magic is easy to shape and change its form. You understood that characteristic very well. Plus, even the vibration property. Excellent!”
I was also happy when the high praise came out. Even more so because it was purely what I had studied and prepared.
* * *
After that, there was a test on casting speed.
How quickly one could cast a certain level of magic.
I spent 3.3 seconds forming a sphere of arcane magic, placing me in the middle ranks.
In this area, it was difficult to catch up to those who had been practicing magic since childhood.
‘It might be hard to get first place overall.’
I heard that unlike commoners, noble kids receive special treatment like bonus points, so it wasn’t a fair fight to begin with.
And so, on the fifth day of the practical exam.
Here, a test on magic suppression was conducted.
Animals were used for this test.
A fierce beast resembling a wild boar was rampaging inside a cage.
“Kueeeek! Kueek!”
It was glaring at us with hostility.
“You can rest assured as it’s chained. But don’t let your guard down. Probably in the next test, there won’t be any chains.”
The examiner smiled sinisterly, saying this would be the last time chains would be used.
Due to this fear-mongering, the students took the test nervously.
The cage door opens, and the beast charges at that student.
The student tried to cast a suppression spell to stop the beast, but given how terrifying the beast’s charging power was, they couldn’t suppress it properly.
“Kueeeek!”
The beast was about to ram into the student, but clank! It gets caught by the chain it was tied to.
“Hiiiek…!”
The student falls on their behind, terrified. The examiner shakes his head and calls the next student.
The results of this test were unsatisfactory. Perhaps because it was a practical test, everyone was nervous and couldn’t perform their best.
“Next, Wade!”
“Yes.”
I stepped forward to face the beast.
The beast was growling as if it would crush me this time for sure.
“Then, begin!”
As soon as the signal was given, the cage door opened.
I created a sphere of arcane magic in my right hand. And in my left hand, I produced a strand of light.
Since it was still difficult to shape light magic, I could only form a strand of magical power.
After finishing my preparations, I charged at the beast instead.
“Kyaaaa!”
The students screamed.
“Kueeeek!”
The beast tried to ram into me as if this was perfect, but no matter what, I wasn’t at a level to be knocked down by a mere beast.
I vaulted over the charging beast’s back, attaching the arcane sphere in my right hand to its back while doing a flip.
Since I had added a bit of adhesive magic, the sphere stuck firmly to its back.
Then, I connected the light strand I had been casting in my left hand to that sphere.
Currently, since the arcane sphere itself had an attractive force, it was enough to just connect the strand.
I formed another arcane sphere and connected the light strand that was attached to the beast’s back to it as well, then placed it on the ground.
Then the beast couldn’t move as it struggled. As the attractive force occurred between the arcane spheres connected by the light strand, it started to be pulled back as if it had lost in a tug-of-war.
With this, suppression successful.
I gave a look to the examiner as if to ask how it was.
However, the examiner was still watching the development of the magic.
“Kuee! Kueeeee!”
The beast screamed as if begging for help.
The spheres were approaching each other while absorbing the light strand.
“…Huh?”
My miscalculation was that I didn’t expect the arcane spheres to actually stick together.
The spheres quickly started to merge using the light strand connecting them as a medium.
After completely merging, they rapidly contracted and then bang! The light magic inside the arcane magic exploded. The beast caught in this was blown to pieces and died instantly.
[…….]
Silence fell over the exam site.
“Ah, haha. I should have done this in the power test.”
I could only laugh awkwardly.
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