LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 15 - Academy
A week had passed since my runaway when the Count arrived at the Duke’s territory.
It was about three days after I collapsed from the fight with Chantalka and woke up.
Under normal circumstances, he would’ve chased after me the moment I ran away, but the situation wasn’t ideal.
He had dispatched two Expert-level knights for the unexpected real-world combat training, which left a gap in the territory’s management.
The Count’s workload and paperwork had piled up like a mountain, and on top of that, I had run away.
Even though the Count doted on his son, he couldn’t just rush to the North with his busy schedule.
He said he was relieved after contacting the Duke, finished all his paperwork, and then came to the North.
“I’ve heard the story, Kyle.”
The Count, who saw me recuperating in bed, had his eyes sparkling as if he had heard the details from Duke Walter.
A look of disbelief mixed with expectation, as if he couldn’t believe it even though I was his son.
Receiving that look, I lifted the barbell I was using for rehabilitation exercises.
“This?”
Intense Aura flowed from the steel barbell.
Aura Blade.
The unique power of a Master to draw Aura outside the body.
The Count, witnessing this power with his own eyes, stared at me with a gaze filled with various emotions, then nodded as if convinced.
“It was true. I couldn’t believe it…”
“Hey, who would lie about something like this? It’s over if I can’t prove it.”
“Even so, becoming a Master in your teens is a bit…”
The Count began to explain how earth-shattering this was.
How other Masters would be shocked if they found out I became a Master in my teens, how families would send marriage proposals to obtain my seed.
Hearing this, I burst out laughing, saying there was no way that would happen.
“I already have a fiancée.”
“They won’t care about that. They’d even accept being a concubine. As long as they can receive your seed—their families might also be able to have a Master.”
That’s how incredible it was to become a Master in one’s teens.
And from the moment he heard about me becoming a Master, the Count seemed to have already decided how I should act.
He carefully suggested,
“Go to the Academy.”
“….What? Why would I go there?”
I tilted my head at the Count’s words.
The Academy? Why would I go there?
A gathering place for education and encounters, gathering talented individuals regardless of noble or commoner status.
Naturally, there was nothing for a Master like me to learn there.
However, the Count quietly shook his head and listed the reasons why I should go to the Academy.
“Go there, meet people, gain experience—I want you to realize the extent of your power.”
“There’s nothing to learn there.”
“Still, go. It’s my wish. Just three years… just stay there for three years.”
The Count started to tear up as he said so.
The tears of an old man were quite difficult to watch, so I quickly waved my hands to stop the Count from wiping his tears.
“No, Dad! Father! Why are you suddenly like this?!”
“Consider your father’s feelings too… how I felt when I first heard you ran away… and when I heard you almost died here?”
“Isn’t it fine as long as I didn’t die…?”
“If you die, the centuries-old history of House Meyer might lose its lineage. Go to the Academy and produce an heir. Please. It’s not like this father is asking for much! Just stay there quietly for three years!”
Later, the Count almost shouted as if he was forcing me.
His appearance left me with no choice but to pretend to consider it.
In reality, even if I went to the Academy, there was nothing to learn.
However, this world is the world of the game . Countless events take place within the Academy.
The Count, unaware that this world is a game, wouldn’t know, but I would have headed to the Academy even if he told me not to.
‘This is even better.’
There was no reason for a talent like a Master to be stuck in the Academy, but the Count suggested it first.
It’s as if the heavens are pushing me to go to the Academy.
I shook my head as if I had no choice and opened my mouth.
“….If you insist, Father, I can’t refuse.”
“So?”
“I’ll go. To the Academy.”
“Oh- Kyle…!”
The Count looked at me with a deeply moved gaze.
He seems happier now than when he found out I became a Master.
However, I extended my hand toward the overjoyed Count.
Looking at him tilting his head, wondering what was going on, I laid out a few conditions.
“—After graduating from the Academy, I’ll do as I please.”
“As you wish.”
“Even if I say I won’t inherit the family?”
“As long as you produce an heir, there’s no need for you to inherit it. I’ll educate my grandchild well.”
Okay, I got confirmation that he’d take care of the childcare. I grinned and extended my hand.
“No take-backs later?”
“Likewise—it won’t work if you whine about not wanting to go later.”
We shook hands and reached an agreement.
After a promise akin to the Alaska Treaty was made, smiles filled both our faces.
* * *
A carriage bearing the Duke’s symbol traveled down the road.
Three carriages followed behind, and dozens of cavalrymen escorted them.
It was a formidable force, enough to scare off bandits who might be curious about the carriage’s contents.
However, if they heard who was inside the carriage, they would have realized that even that force was nothing.
“Kyle.”
“Why?”
“Just, calling your name.”
Inside the carriage heading to the Academy, Yuri couldn’t quite believe that she was alone with her fiancé, so she kept calling Kyle’s name.
Kyle responded with a bright smile the first few times, but after it surpassed double digits, his responses became indifferent.
Even if she was a beautiful, busty fiancée, there’s a limit.
Of course, even if Kyle treated her coldly, it didn’t stop her from calling his name.
“Kyle.”
“What now?”
“How did you do it?”
“What?”
“Father allowed it—he usually doesn’t.”
At her words, Kyle recalled the conversation he had with the Duke.
Then he lightly rested his chin on his hand and looked out the window.
“Well.”
“I’m curious. Can’t you tell me?”
“Later. I’ll tell you as a wedding gift.”
Only four people knew that he had become a Master.
The Duke, the Count, and the two physicians and priests who treated his injuries.
It was decided to keep it a secret from everyone else for now.
The Duke thought it was best to hide it, as he didn’t know what kind of commotion would arise if the fact that he became a Master in his teens was revealed.
Since it was the clever Duke’s idea, there were no objections, and thus, Kyle didn’t reveal to his fiancée that he had become a Master.
More accurately, he couldn’t.
Unable to reveal the secret, Kyle naturally changed the subject.
“No, more than that—aren’t you worried?”
“About what?”
“The Academy entrance exam.”
“Not really—it won’t be that difficult.”
Hearing Yuri’s words, Kyle finally realized that she was the Duke’s daughter.
The daughter of the Six-Star Magician, Duke Walter Grace.
Naturally, she was also a Magician.
A Two-Star Magician, at that.
According to the classification he once heard from Sir Leon, she was at a level equivalent to the lower end of an Aura user.
‘I heard that normally, even this level is considered a genius.’
A genius who reached the Expert level in their teens was so exceptional that rumors spread that they would one day reach the Master level.
Naturally, such geniuses couldn’t be overflowing.
Kyle, who not only reached the Expert level as soon as he learned Aura but also achieved the Master level in his teens, was the abnormal one.
Look at that smug expression. Kyle stared intently at his fiancée’s face and felt the carriage slowly decelerate.
“—We’ve arrived, Miss, Young Master.”
The coachman, arriving at the Academy, immediately opened the carriage door and waited for the two to disembark.
Kyle lightly jumped down from the carriage, extended his hand from below, and escorted Yuri.
Lightly holding Kyle’s hand and getting off the carriage, Yuri slightly raised her chin, feeling the envious and jealous gazes of the surrounding people.
“Kyle.”
“Yes?”
“How does it feel to have such an accomplished fiancé?”
“I think it’s similar to how you feel.”
Chuckling, Kyle headed into the Academy with Yuri.
The employee who was yawning and waiting at the exam registration desk immediately straightened up and greeted the two.
“W-Welcome!”
Perhaps feeling uneasy about showing such a lax appearance in front of Kyle and Yuri, who clearly exuded nobility, the employee stuttered slightly.
Ignoring the employee’s tone, Kyle immediately got to the point.
“We’re here for the Academy entrance exam. This is the right place, right?”
“Yes! That’s correct!”
The employee said so and immediately took out documents, preparing to record their personal information.
“May I ask for your names?”
“Yuri Grace.”
“Kyle Meyer of Count Meyer’s family.”
“Thank you. The written exam can be taken freely anytime from now until a week later, and the practical exam will be held all at once a week later. What would you like to do?”
Tilting his head at the words that the written exam could be taken freely anytime, Kyle asked how that was possible.
After all, considering the possibility of exam questions being leaked, the examiner who created the questions would typically be confined until the exam was over….
However, the employee smiled awkwardly, as if he didn’t know such details.
“Should we take the exam now? I don’t think anything will change even if we prepare for a week.”
“Yeah.”
“Then let’s take it now.”
At Kyle’s words, the employee guided the two to the examination hall.
As they entered, a magician waiting inside came to greet them.
“Greetings. I am the written exam proctor. Before we begin, please take this.”
The proctor said, handing a small pill to each of them.
Sensing the flow of magical power within the pill, Kyle looked at the proctor and asked what it was.
The proctor, looking at them with a bored expression, carefully explained the identity of the pill.
“It’s a pill that prevents you from remembering the exam questions. Please note that you cannot take the exam if you refuse.”
He didn’t know how it was possible, but he could roughly understand why the written exam questions weren’t leaked.
As expected of a fantasy world with magic, they prevented leaks using magical methods.
Finding it quite impressive, Kyle tossed the pill into his mouth and immediately felt the magic power emanating from it crawl up to his brain.
‘Whoosh!’
‘…Huh?’
Confirming that the magic power was burned by the Aura within him, Kyle scratched his cheek and asked the magician,
“What happens if my memory isn’t erased?”
“It’s designed to erase even the memories of Expert-level knights, so that won’t happen.”
“Ah.”
At those words, Kyle looked at the magician awkwardly.
Even people who reached the Expert level in their teens were extremely rare.
There was no precedent for someone reaching the Master level in their teens.
There was no need to prepare for a case without precedent.
But at this very moment, he, who broke that precedent, appeared.
‘Well, it’ll be fine as long as I don’t leak it…’
Thinking so, Kyle sat down.
Seeing the two sit far apart, the proctor immediately handed them the exam papers.
Kyle started to sweat as he received the exam paper.
‘…This is bad.’
[Question 1. Write the name of His Majesty, the first Emperor of the Great Empire.]
I don’t know.
From the first question, he encountered one he didn’t know.
But he couldn’t honestly write that he didn’t know, so he smoothly bluffed—.
[I cannot utter the name of His Majesty, the Great Emperor Dairus.]
Next.
[Question 2. Introduce the history of Dairus Academy…]
I don’t know.
[Question 5. Measure the height of a tree using a 50cm stick. The ratio of the shadow cast by the tree is…]
…Measure it by jumping?
[Question 17. Describe how to fight 5,000 soldiers with 300 soldiers.]
Around the middle, he finally encountered a question he could answer.
Kyle confidently wrote the answer.
However, even looking at the next question, and the one after that, there weren’t many he knew.
Realizing that he had failed the exam, Kyle had a hunch that he might not be able to enter the Academy unless he made up for it in the practical exam.
* * *
A week later.
The day of the practical exam.
Kyle narrowed his eyes as he looked at the examiner in front of him.
“—Greetings.”
An unbelievably powerful aura emanated from the old, shabby knight in front of him.
In other words, a Master.
“Knight Department, practical exam proctor. I am Gawain. We will now begin the practical exam.”
The proctor, Gawain, said so and drew the sword from his waist.
“Come at me, all at once.”