Gamry firmly grasped his sword. He wanted to at least let that absurd fellow know what effort was like.

While observing the other examinees, the instructor approached and asked Gamry, “Are you all right?”

“I am all right.”

His left wrist was throbbing but adrenaline made it tolerable. The instructor looked at his left hand and the fighting spirit in his eyes and spoke.

“That guy is a pass anyways.”

It was only a single match, but the instructor saw that Alphonso’s level of swordsmanship was not very high. Although it was at best at a middle-level, he was still much better than the idiotic condescending nobles who came each year to take the exam after only having swung a sword a few times. But compared to those that were actually talented in swordsmanship and honed their skills under a teacher, he was really lacking.

Still, the reason for his acceptance was not because his uncle was William. Family nor financial backing was necessary for selecting knights who would protect the empire. It was because of the power that Alphonso showed and his ability to handle mana.

As long as one had a passion for the sword, it was possible to raise their level to at least average by having a teacher stick to them and correct them as many times as needed. But handling mana clearly required talent.

“I know. But-”

Gamry took a deep breath.

“-As a senior, if it ends with me showing only such a disgraceful scene, I’ll lose face.”

The instructor sighed as he laughed. “Yeah, it’s over if you get looked down upon.”

The instructor gave Gamry a pat on the shoulder telling him to work hard and went back to his original spot. Gamry raised the sword with his right hand. “I’m sorry for the delay. Let’s start again. Come at me.” He gritted his teeth and smiled.

The wavering eyes from just before could no longer be seen. When Gamry’s momentum suddenly changed, Alphonso, on the opposing end, swallowed hard and swung the sword from left to right.

Gamry gauged the distance and retreated three steps. Alphonso’s powerful swing cut through the empty air with the sound of wind being torn.

“That’s one attempt left.”

Using the momentum of the sword, Alphonso spun and took another big swing from left to right. Gamry once again dodged by retreating backward. He was fortunate to have predicted it based on the momentum not slowing down. Else, there was no way he could have blocked it with his now swelling wrist.

“You have used up your three attempts,” Gamry said as he stabbed his sword towards Alphonso’s side, who was out of position from his large swing.

Alphonso was surprised and was forced to twist his body to block the sword. He was off-balance from suddenly twisting his body when Gamry kicked his leg.

“Aaah!”

And just like that, Gamry pointed his sword at Alphonso when the latter fell awkwardly.

As Alphonso saw the end of the sword stretched towards him, tears started to form around his eyes. “I lost.”

At the slightly tearful voice, Gamry put his sword away and extended his right hand to Alphonso. Alphonso grabbed the hand and asked while getting up, “Did I fail?”

Seeing Alphonso on the verge of crying, Gamry burst into laughter. It was strange to not let his guard down at that face.

“Wooowooo…”[1]

At the sight of the glistened eyes that were on the verge of crying, Gamry sighed and said, “I don’t know because the instructor is doing the evaluation, not me, but I think you should stand a chance.”

No matter how careless he was, the sparring opponent was a senior, so how could someone who managed to mess up a senior’s wrist fail? Still, the reason for him speaking so vaguely was because literally, the evaluation rights belonged to the instructor. If Gamry, a mere sparring partner, made a hasty judgment, it could be considered as disregarding the instructor.

“Thank you!” Alphonso replied.

Gamry left Alphonso behind and exited the training hall. Looking at his swollen left hand, he sighed in his heart, fearing it could have fractured in the worst case. Then, he told the instructor about the situation and headed to the temple. He thought it would be best to slow down this month.

Alphonso’s match was over. In my observation, he had an overwhelming physique compared to his sparring opponent, but his swordsmanship was nothing. Comparatively speaking, the hardware was good, but the software poor. What’s the point of having a good character when your control is awful?[2]

The opponent was obviously shocked by the first blow. If he had gone one step further, he could have won. Of course, that knight would have died if he had been cut.

“He won’t fail, will he?” Watching from the side, Yuria sighed with anxiety and looked at Alphonso.

“He probably passed.”

Yuria turned her head to me. “Really?”

“Yeah, well, swordsmanship seems to be there, so your brother whose physique stands out should be advantageous. Besides, he’s the only one who has hurt a sparring opponent so far, so don’t you think that scored a lot of points?”

None of the 20 test-takers here were worth paying any attention to. I didn’t know if it was always like this or if the new examinees this time were bad, but the best so far was a guy at Training Hall No.1 and Alphonso.

“That knight was hurt?”

Yuria tilted her head as if I said something strange. Lisbon explained further.

“Yes, he held the sword with both hands at first, but after the first blow, he held the sword with only his right hand. I think it’s likely his left hand was injured.”

Clap, clap, clap! That was a great explanation, Teacher Lisbon! Unlike me, he answered with such a nice explanation!

“I wasn’t entirely sure, but Den recognized it as well.”

I smiled, hiding my guilt.

“Ha-ha, even if it looks like this, I only learned a little bit about the sword as a part of culture when I was young.”

“Wow! Magic and sword? That’s impressive!” Yuria clapped her hands with pure eyes and admiration.

“Huh? Magic?”

Oh no! Lisbon didn’t know I could use magic. At times like this, it was better to commit to the act.

“Yes, a grandmother who lived next door was an alchemist. I just happened to pick up on a few things while snooping around for snacks, but I suppose I could say I’m a little knowledgeable.”

However, I didn’t know that the granny who lived next door was known as a legendary great magician.

“What do you mean some knowledge! I admire Mister Den’s alchemy knowledge!”

Yuria shook her head and countered. No, how could a Butterfly Tribe member say that! Someone will misunderstand and think I’m an expert in magic!

I spoke pretending to be embarrassed, “Hahaha, it’s not to that degree.”

As I waved my hand and blushed, Yuria grabbed my hand as if saying, ‘take me’, and said, “No! Mister Den definitely has the ability! Even though you are lacking a little mana… But, alchemy isn’t just about mana! I don’t want Mister Den to give up on magic.”

Excuse me? But I’ve never given up on magic! If you give up magic, you can’t use a bidet! A bidet is important enough to affect my life!

“Yes, ok. So then, my hand….”

Yuria let go of my hand in embarrassment. “Oh my, I’m sorry.”

While Yuria was being embarrassed, Alphonso arrived upon finishing the exam.

“Yuria~!”

As Alphonso approached enthusiastically waving his hands, he was surprised to see me sitting next to his sister.

“Den?”

I couldn’t hide my bitter smile at Alphonso’s exaggerated surprise.

You don’t have to make such a fuss, everyone knows I’m Den, so I’d appreciate it if you just came a little quieter.

Happy to see me, Alphonso rushed at me with open arms for a hug. I reflexively grabbed his head in one hand and stopped him.

“It’s hot. Don’t cling on to me.”

“Hing~”

Alphonso was about to cry and struggled to hug me. Why do these siblings like skinship [3] so much with people they don’t know so well?

“Do you know each other?”

Alphonso replied excitedly to Yuria’s question. “Yes! So, like, Bam Bam, thump! happened.”

At the explanation that had no real words, Yuria turned to me.

“He was lost, and I just guided him because we had the same destination.”

“Yes! We decided to be friends!”

What?!

Yuria nodded “I see” at Alphonso’s incoherent words.

By the way, did I say that I would be his friend?

Alphonso proudly snorted through his nose with his arms crossed. It seemed that in his head, I was already registered as his friend.

I threw the last bits of peanuts left in the bag into my mouth and checked my watch. “It’s almost time for the magic school exam, are you sure you can be relaxing here?”

Yuria was stunned when she looked at the big clock hanging at the edge of the training hall. “Oh! Thank you. Let’s go quickly!”

Unaware that Lisbon and I were also going there, Yuria grabbed Alphonso’s hand and headed to the magic school. Looking at her retreating back, I asked Lisbon. “Shall we head over slowly?”

“All right.”

-o-

Examinees were gathered in a large gym used as a waiting room by the magic school. In front of the test takers, a strict-looking female professor was calling out the examinees to confirm their attendance.

“Turner Braham.”

“Here.”

The professor flipped over a piece of paper.

The names starting with ‘Y’ were listed on the register, and the professor called in order.

“Yuria Fendria.”

Without an answer, the professor flinched her eyebrows.

“Yuria Fendria. If not present-”

Boom-!

At that time, the doors of the gym opened violently and a voice mixed with harsh breathing was heard.

“Yuria Fendria! Here! I’m here!”

Looking at Yuria with her hands on her knees trying to catch her breath, the professor twitched her eyebrows.

“Aren’t you late?

“I’m sorry!”

Seeing Yuria bow her head and apologize, and the professor said with her eyebrows twitching, “For a magician, preparation is very important. That’s why wizards are often called preparers. But to be late, I have no choice but to say you weren’t prepared enough.”

“I’m sorry!”

The professor twitched her eyebrows again at the sight of Yuria apologizing a second time. “You have a bad attitude. I would like to drop you, but I can’t drop someone because of tardiness according to the rules. How fortunate for you.”

The professor twitched her eyebrows with great regret and Yuria breathed a sigh of relief. But that wasn’t the end of what the professor said.

“However, it’s really fitting that points can be deducted at the discretion of the professor. Miss Yuria Fendria, it’s a deduction.” Saying so, the professor wrote “-10” next to Yuria’s name without hesitation.

The examinees turned pale at the sight. It was because if that particular professor was administering the exam, it would be hard to get points. At the same time, the examinees sympathized with the girl. However, the recipient felt relieved that she didn’t get dropped and headed to the back seat.