Chapter 107

After somehow finishing the Mana Blast bombardment… I mean, the Magic Department entrance exam.

As soon as I hurriedly left the Magic Department exam site, where about three large crater-like holes had formed, and returned to the central plaza of the academy, I encountered Ethan waiting at the place we agreed on.

“Maid, did the exam go well?”

…Should I say that it went well?

Well, since it seemed I had at least avoided failing, I answered moderately to avoid unnecessary worry.

“Yes. Well… it seems I did reasonably well.”

“Reasonably…? Was the exam difficult for you, Lilith?”

“No. Well… it wasn’t that difficult.”

I just jumped in as Lilith without any preparation and almost failed completely.

Still, it was fortunate, if you could call it that, that I somehow managed to pull through, thanks to the Mana Blasts on my final attempt.

In the end, the targets I destroyed totaled six.

I hit one of the sturdiest targets and one next to it…

one moving target and one next to it…

…and one of the farthest targets, plus one that I hit by chance while firing magic arrows.

I destroyed more than half, including the three highest-scoring targets, for a total of six, so my strategy was successful.

…To be honest, it’s rather ridiculous that I only destroyed six targets after firing magic of that scale.

But, well, who cares? As long as I reach a passing score, that’s all that matters.

As for how to increase my hit rate, that is, how to increase my Luck, I’d have to figure that out after entering the academy. There were a few subjects that increased Luck during academy classes, after all.  [GalaxyTL/Axiomatic]

“If you’re curious about whether I passed, you don’t need to worry. It looks like I’ll be able to pass sufficiently.”

“Really?”

“Yes. However, since the exam subject wasn’t my strong area, I probably won’t get a high score.”

“Th-that can’t be helped. Everyone has things they’re good at and things they’re not. I know you’re an excellent mage, so it’s okay.”

“Thank you for saying that.”

“Ah, come to think of it, I think I heard a familiar explosion sound from the exam site earlier, was that caused by you…”

“…Isn’t today the day your Swordsmanship Department exam results come out, young master? Did you check while I was taking the exam?”

“No, not yet. I wanted to check together with you.”

“That works out well. We still have time before lunch, so how about checking now, young master?”

“Sure, let’s do that.”

So, we moved together to the bulletin board in front of the academy headquarters to check whether Ethan was accepted into the Swordsmanship Department.

In fact, what I was really curious about wasn’t Ethan’s results but whether another character had entered the Swordsmanship Department.

It was time to confirm whether the protagonist had entered the Swordsmanship Department as expected or had chosen another department.

It wasn’t too difficult to find Ethan’s name on the bulletin board in front of the academy headquarters.

Generally, when the academy posts multiple student names on a bulletin board, they don’t distinguish between nobles and commoners. Of course, they don’t distinguish between noble ranks either.

The method of Luminor Academy was to sort names in ascending order, regardless of whether noble and commoner names were mixed. It’s probably the most fair way to present the results and it’s less likely to be nitpicked.  [GalaxyTL/Axiomatic]

As I’ve mentioned many times, Luminor Academy was a domestic game, so sorting names in ascending order meant sorting them in alphabetical order.

Looking around the list near ‘E,’ I was soon able to find Ethan’s name.

…

Arc Rilkenia

Ethan Richard Blackwood *1

Emma Lightsword

…

“Maid, did you find it?”

“Yes. You’ve passed splendidly, young master.”

“Sp-splendidly…”

“Congratulations. At least you won’t have to hear the master’s scolding.”

“…Yeah, thanks. It’s all thanks to you, Maid.”

“It’s just the reward for your efforts, young master.”

…Well, I’ll admit that I didn’t do absolutely nothing.

If I hadn’t stimulated Ethan, he probably wouldn’t have built up this level of swordsmanship skill, and he might not have been able to guarantee victory in the duel with Caraham.

Still, the most important thing was that Ethan achieved this result because he worked hard. I just provided a bit of motivation.

By the way, I also roughly checked whether other major characters were accepted. I only looked for those who affected the main plot of the game, like Natalie or Caraham.

I briefly wondered if Caraham’s defeat in the duel with Ethan might affect his acceptance, but looking at the results, it seemed the story so far wasn’t deviating much from the original.

…Of course, what was important wasn’t Ethan or Caraham, but whether the protagonist character had entered the Swordsmanship Department.

‘How do I find the protagonist’s name among all these names…’

Even if I had sunk 2,000 hours into Luminor Academy in my previous life, it was obviously impossible to memorize the names of all the students of the academy. What kind of crazy person could memorize the names of all the extras and minor characters?

Still, it didn’t matter. Even if I didn’t know the protagonist character’s name, there was a way to find them.

It was by using the fact that in Luminor Academy, the protagonist character has a fixed surname.  [GalaxyTL/Axiomatic]

It might seem strange that they let you freely choose the first name but fixed the surname, but for the game’s story, this ‘last name’ had to be fixed.

In this list of students, I just needed to find the surname ‘Volt,’ and that would lead to the full name of the protagonist.

Volt… Where’s Volt, Volt…

“Maid?”

“…Yes.”

“What are you staring at so intently? Are you looking for someone?”

“…No. I just thought I’d memorize some names as they might be in the same classes as you in the future, young master.”

“You’re so diligent, Maid.”

In fact, I was looking at the list on the bulletin board because there really was someone I was looking for.

I decided to just check the first few lines on the front, as it seemed like Ethan might become suspicious if I kept looking for too long.

The thought crossed my mind that I might be wasting time unnecessarily in a situation where I couldn’t even be sure if the protagonist character had taken the Swordsmanship Department Entrance Exam.

As I was about to turn back after roughly scanning the names near the ‘G’ section, I was able to find a name that anyone would say could only belong to a player.

As soon as I confirmed that name, whose meaning I could roughly guess, I couldn’t help but fall into deep despair.

“Ah, aaaah…”

“…What’s wrong, Maid?”

“Ah, n-nothing… It’s nothing, young master.”

“…For nothing, your expression is quite serious.”

“Th-that can’t be. I-I’m completely fine, y-young master.”

“…Let’s go back to the inn and rest for now. You seem tired from the entrance exam today, Maid.”

“Y-yes, yes, yes…”

My mind was filled with all sorts of complex emotions just from confirming the protagonist’s name.

At the same time, it was a moment when I began to seriously worry about whether this world itself could be safe.

No matter how I thought about it, the hero of this world who chose that kind of name didn’t seem at all likely to try to catch the Demon King.

About an hour after Ethan and Lilith left the bulletin board…

A man and a woman, with appearances and attire sufficient to attract many people’s attention, walked directly to the bulletin board of the academy.  [GalaxyTL/Axiomatic]

A tall man with white hair with a two-handed sword at his waist…

…and a woman with pink hair wrapped in a pure white priest’s robe.

The large and small wounds on various parts of the man’s body and armor indirectly indicated his experience in many battles.

The star and curve patterns on the pure white priest’s robe proved that she was a saint of the Aurelian Church.

“How did it go, Hero?”

“Hmm…”

The Hero of the Aurelian Church looked for his name by scanning the list of those who passed on the bulletin board from top to bottom with a serious expression.

His gaze quietly stopped at one side of the bulletin board.

After confirming his name written there, he let out a slightly troubled sigh and answered the woman.

“Fortunately, it seems I’ve passed, Saint.”

“A-as expected of you, Hero! I knew you would pass! The ‘fate’ I felt about you said so, too.”

“…Yes. Thank you for believing in me, Saint Serista.”

The pink-haired girl called Serista gave a smile to the Hero.

However, he, paying little attention to such a bright smile, just quietly scanned the academy bulletin board once more.

“Natalie, Caraham, Ethan… Is the original story flowing properly for now?”

“……”

“Then who was that woman I saw in Silverwood…? No matter how I looked at it, she looked exactly like Ariana. I’m pretty sure the prostitute in Silverwood was supposed to be a petite woman with pink hair…”

“Um… Hero?”

“Was it set randomly without much meaning from the start? But other parts are still the same…”

“H-Hero…! Ho-how long are you going to keep standing in front of the bulletin board…!”

“…I’m sorry, Saint Serista.”

The Hero, who had been lost in thought and muttering to himself for a moment, quietly stepped back at Serista’s words.

The empty space he left was quickly filled by other applicants trying to check their acceptance.

“Again, with the incomprehensible talk about ‘original story’ and ‘random,’ what’s the matter this time?”

“…I’m sorry. It’s something I can’t explain to you, Saint Serista.”

“…I understand. If it’s something you can’t talk about, Hero, there must be a reason.”

“Thank you for understanding.”

“Since you’ve been accepted to the academy, let’s go to the church today to report your achievements. I also need to prepare to enter the academy from next year by talking to the High Priest.”

“Understood, Saint.”

Although he was still a man whose thoughts were impossible to understand, Serista enjoyed walking together with him while watching his expression.

Having already gone through several hardships with the Hero, he already occupied quite a large part of Serista’s heart.  [GalaxyTL/Axiomatic]

The fact that she could live as a student at the academy with him for the next four years was a fact that made her happy.

“From next year, both you and I will be students of Luminor Academy!”

“…Yes, that’s right.”

“As it has been until now, I look forward to working with you in the future! …Hero Gyeongmwajogyegigwat!”

“……”

Gyeongmwajogyegigwat Volt’s expression stiffened for a moment as soon as he heard his name from Serista’s mouth.

As soon as she saw that expression, realizing her mistake, she hurriedly bowed her head to gauge his mood.

“I-I’m sorry, Hero! I-I was so happy that I accidentally…”

“It’s alright. …But next time, I’d appreciate it if you could call me by my surname instead of my first name. As I’ve said before, I don’t really like my first name…”@@novelbin@@

“I-I’ll keep that in mind…”

The two headed towards the Aurelian Church at the academy, each carrying different complicated emotions in their hearts.

Gyeongmwajogyegigwat Volt, the Hero of Luminor Academy, and Serista, the fake saint of the Aurelian Church.