After seeing the girl’s pitiful expression, the tester sighed softly. She looked around and whispered a piece of information to her, “How about trying a duel?”
“A-A duel?”
Erika glanced secretly at the surroundings. On the platform set up in the training grounds, she could already see people wielding various weapons, their figures blurring as they moved. The air was filled with the sharp, rhythmic clashing of metal. The confrontation was incredibly intense.
“LUSHAN RISING DRAGON LORD!”
“THUNDER HALF-MOON SLASH!”
Seeing a group of burly men and women shouting and fighting, looking battered and bloodied, the girl could not help but break out in a cold sweat. At that moment, the testing teacher explained from the side, “There is no more effective way to prove one’s strength than practical combat.”
“Y-You’re not wrong…”
‘Not wrong, my foot! What happened to the possibility of me being a Support Class?’
If Erika were to be squeezed between those heroes and hero candidates who could fly through the sky or burrow into the earth, she was certain that in less than five seconds, the opponent would have to drop their weapon to give her CPR.
Though it might sound a bit conceited, Erika felt that when the time came, the other party would surely be eager to perform mouth-to-mouth…
Erika shuddered. If she had the confidence to participate in that kind of duel, she wouldn’t have accepted this troublesome physical fitness test in the first place.
“Besides practical combat, is there any other way? I really want to stay in this school, for myself and Her Majesty the Queen, whom I serve.”
‘Half-step Movie Queen, activate!’
Erika’s autumn-water eyes blinked and flickered, and her lips pouted slightly. The testing teacher let out a long sigh and leaned closer to the girl’s ear to whisper, “This is a secret…”
“If it really doesn’t work out, you could try to find a teaching position at this Academy.”
“A teaching position?”
“Yes, Miss Angelina. You have rich practical and administrative experience. You shouldn’t have much trouble in that area.”
In other words, she would stay here not as a student, but as a member of the faculty and staff. If there were truly no other way, she would have to use this method to stay by Evelyn’s side.
But if she were a staff member, wouldn’t she be unable to attend classes together? That would make it impossible to confirm whether Evelyn was receiving a proper moral education… What if Evelyn lost control in the classroom while she wasn’t there?
Even now, Erika was worried about what outrageous things Evelyn might do while left alone…
*Rustle.*
“This is the exam paper for the faculty and staff interview. Would you like to take a look first, Miss Erika?” The kindly, blonde tester beside her handed her a sheet of paper, seeing that she seemed interested.
“It seems I had some misunderstandings about you, Miss Erika. I didn’t expect you to be so knowledgeable and devoted. I hope you can successfully become a member of the Academy.”
Listening to the tester’s praise, Erika carefully looked at the exam paper in her hand. It was densely packed with text, and as expected, they were exam questions. Was this some kind of recruitment test?
“Who was the first Great Sorcerer to achieve the feat of ascending to the Fifth Rank?”
“In the Ancient Middle Era, who killed Wendydam’s mount, the Deer King Dearscout?”
‘How would I know this? How could I possibly know these detailed settings that weren’t even mentioned in the original novel!’
‘Author, get out here!’
“Why are you saying my answer is wrong!”
Suddenly, someone nearby shouted loudly. The frustrated Erika involuntarily turned her gaze in that direction, only to see a red-haired girl dressed in a nun’s habit shaking her youthful and lovely twin tails.
“I, Cielciel, have already given the answer…!”
It was Erika’s secretary, the succubus Cielciel.
“Cielciel, what are you doing there?”
“Ah! Comrade! It’s so good to see you…!”
Cielciel’s pink eyes widened, as if meeting an acquaintance in this strange, foreign land was a stroke of incredible luck. As the girl approached her, a frowning middle-aged man held his forehead and sighed in Cielciel’s direction.
“As I was saying, Miss Cielciel, that isn’t our official answer. Does that mean you don’t know who killed the Deer King?”
“I, Cielciel, did not kill the Deer King! Let alone the Deer King, I’ve never even seen a deer! Cielciel maintains her innocence!”
What on earth was going on? Who killed whom?
Out of curiosity, Erika checked the answer sheet Cielciel had filled out. It was indeed the same as the one she had received earlier — a test paper prepared for those applying for faculty and staff positions.
Question: In the Ancient Middle Era, who killed Wendydam’s mount, the Deer King Dearscout?
Answer: It wasn’t me; I have never seen him.
Question: Who was the first person to reach the Fifth Rank and obtain the title of the first Great Sorcerer?
Answer: The first Great Sorcerer.
Question: How old was the king who built the Anka Pyramid 1,000 years ago when he died?
Answer: He’s probably dead by now.
“I, Cielciel, have truthfully written down all the facts! The one who killed the Deer King was definitely not Cielciel…!”
This was truly a major problem.
Erika’s mouth twitched as she led the struggling Cielciel away from the crowd’s gaze toward a secluded spot.
“Cielciel, what exactly is going on?”
“Comrade, you said it yourself — you wanted me to enter the Academy here. But since I couldn’t do it as a student, I originally planned to sneak in as a staff member…”
“I see.”
She had originally intended for Cielciel to infiltrate this place. Since Gorigo and Cielciel were both her subordinates now, the girl thought they might have a chance to investigate various pieces of information within the Academy. They might even come into contact with the legendary ‘Forbidden Legacy’…
“But, but! I simply can’t adapt to that feeling of loathing they have for us succubi…!”
“That may be so, but what’s with that strange way you’re talking?”
Cielciel had been speaking with a strange, drawn-out lilt today, as if she were a skipping record. Erika, who was already feeling gloomy, really wanted to give her a chop to the head.
The little succubus Cielciel looked around and whispered softly, “I discovered that there’s a secret society of elves here. To join, I have to pretend to be an elf, and elves naturally speak in this strange way.”
“A secret society of elves? You’re imitating elves just to join?”
“Exactly! That’s it. I have to practice more to become proficient. And this isn’t just any ordinary secret society. Among the original ten people who founded this society thirty years ago, Noelle was one of them. That’s a huge scoop, right?”
“Noelle? Didn’t all the Noelles die out fifty years ago?”
“Everyone thinks so, but Comrade, have you ever heard the rumor that the Demon King Solomon Noel might have had an illegitimate child?”
“…What?”
Erika felt a wave of dizziness. A direct descendant of the Demon King Solomon Noel had survived?
“Um, Miss Erika?” However, the story was quickly interrupted by the arrival of a teacher wearing a white coat.
“Comrade! I’ll find a way to infiltrate this school and take a look! See you later!”
“Uh, yeah.”
No matter how she looked at it, there was something wrong with that kid’s head.
She really bought into that act for nothing.
“Miss Erika, the break time is over. Now we will conduct the measurement of your vision and color perception. Please read out the letters I point to. This is the final test.”
*Flip, flip.* The book the tester opened was filled with colorful geometric patterns, with dots and circles forming various numbers. It was essentially a color vision test similar to a school physical.
“Seventeen.”
“And this one?”
“It says eighty-one.”
“And this?”
“Fifty-four.”
“It seems you have no problems with color perception. Then, can you see this?”
*Shua — *
She flipped to the next page, revealing a line of scrawled handwriting that looked like it belonged in an ancient tome. Although the writing was blurred and crooked, it wasn’t entirely illegible.
“Metis.”
“Yes, and this… wait… what did you just say?”
The tester stopped flipping the pages in surprise and turned to the girl. “What did you just say?”
“It says ‘Metis’ on there…”
“Is that really, truly what’s written there?”
?
‘I think you’re intentionally making things difficult for me, Erika!’
Before she could respond, the tester continued to flip through the thick pages rapidly and then showed the girl a strange circular seal covered in mysterious symbols and illustrations.
“Can you see the characters engraved on this edge?” The edge of the circular seal was like the crust of a pizza, and there were indeed words written in letters there, just as she said.
“Diane? Is that it?”
“Diane? Is that really what’s written?”
The tester looked at the girl with a questioning gaze this time, a flash of doubt and confusion appearing in her eyes. Erika looked closely at the circular seal again, and only then did she realize she had read the character sequence incorrectly.
“It’s not Diane; it’s Edina.”
As the girl recited the characters, the words suddenly seemed to shine with an invisible light. The light then gradually faded, leaving only something unexpected appearing before her.
**[You have taken the first step toward the source of the world’s mysteries.]**
**[Mage Job Experience Points obtained: +50]**
‘Eh? Why did my Mage experience points suddenly go up?’