Aristocrat Reborn in Another World Ch. 34

 

Volume 2  - Boyhood

Chapter 4 - Entrance examination

Today is the day the entrance exam is taken.

The Royal Academy in the capital is a government-run school, although, in other regions, they are administered by the same territories. It is said that the academy in the royal capital has a higher level than the others, so many people are aiming for the academy in the royal capital. It is also said that the level of the academy of the Esfort Kingdom is so high that students from other countries also come to the academy as exchange students. This is the policy of the first king and has been going on for three hundred years.

Today, Silvia was more anxious than Cain since morning.

「Cain-sama, do you have everything with you?」

「Silvia, it's okay, I can come back immediately if I forget something」

Cain, dressed in simple but beautiful clothes, answered.

「Then, I'm going now!」

Cain left the mansion and headed to the academy.

The academy has two entrances, one from the north and one from the south. The northern one connects to the noble district while the southern one connects to the commoners. but most of the people coming in are on the commoners' side.

Since Cain always went to the Adventurer's Guild by going through the commoners' district using Short Warp, he entered the academy from the southern entrance.

At the entrance to the academy, guards stood on both sides of the gate.

He went straight to the academy and headed to the exam room as shown in the guide map. There you must register your name and you will be given an examination number, then one has to take the exam in a designated classroom.

For the exam, there is a written exam and a practical exam. For the practical exam, it's required to take both magical ability measurement and sword skill measurement. This is because each person has his or her own strengths and weaknesses. Basically, the written exam determines whether or not you pass, however, if a person demonstrates outstanding ability on the practical exam, then depending on the result of the written test, he or she may pass.

Once I entered the room to take the written exam, I went to sit on the seat with my number on it.

Looking around, I could feel that in fact everyone present was only ten years old as they were all nervous.

At the scheduled time, the examiner walks into the classroom with the exam.

「We're going to start the entrance exam now. Anyone who looks at someone else's answers will be dismissed from the room, so be careful」

With that, he hands out the exam questions and answers sheets.

「Then, start!」

All at once, everyone began to work on the exam.

I looked at the questions, and they were reading and writing questions, math questions, and history questions. I have been able to read and write since the age of three so there are no problems there. When it came to arithmetic, addition and subtraction were the main parts of the exam, while there was very little of multiplication and division. Since I was a high school student in my previous life, I had no problem at all.  As for history, if you are a nobleman, these are problems that anyone could answer.

Cain quickly finished all the questions and was currently spacing out.

It wasn't even halfway through the exam. Everyone around him was looking at the question paper as if they were about to bite it.

「Child, are you okay being so relaxed?」

The examiner approached me.

「I'm done with it already」

Cain replied.

「Fumu, I see. You should at least review it」

With that, the examiner began to look around at the other candidates again.

And then the time for the exams came to an end.

「That's enough! Everyone take your hands off your answer sheets and put them down」

Everyone looked relieved that the exam was over.

「Well then, we will now begin the practical test. The candidates in this classroom should head to the magical ability test first」

All the students in this classroom headed to the meeting place for the magical ability measurement.  The meeting place was the training place, and there were dolls-like things lined up that served as targets. There were ten candidates lined up in a row, ten at a time, to cast their magic.

「Now, numbers 281 to 290, line up in a row. Unleash the best magic you have towards that target」

Cain was number 285, so he was in the first round.

「Can I use my full power?」

Cain asked the examiner without thinking.

「There is a barrier covering the training ground, so yes, you can. There's no problem, so you can do your best」

「Then, everybody, begin!」

The other nine who were in the first round with me began to chant their magic.

『Fireball』『Water Ball』『Air Bullet』

The people who finished their casting began to cast their spells.

The targets were burning, wet, or shaking.

Cain watched it from the side.

Initially, Cain planned to release his 'Inferno' with all his power.

But after thinking about it, if he threw such super class magic here he would end up in trouble.

While everyone had finished casting their magic on the target, the examiner called my attention.

「Number 285! Quickly cast a spell」

The instructor gave me a warning while I was concentrating on looking at the others.

Cain shifted his gaze to the target.

He gathered magic power at his fingertips.

『Fire bullet』

Normally at the moment Cain cast magic, a red fire bullet would have come out, but Cain has an Lv. 10 God of Magic's Blessing.

A blue-white blazing fire bullet is heading towards the target at high speed while rotating spirally.

The moment it hit the target, it disappeared as if nothing was ever there. And yet, the momentum didn't stop and hit the outer wall.

*Dogaaaaaaa!!!!*

The outer wall protected by the barrier crumbled away, however the fire bullet didn't stop, it continued non-stop until it destroyed a large tree in the garden and then faded away

All the other students who were chanting magic stopped chanting and froze.

And of course, the examiner too.

「「「「「「「「「……」」」」」」」」」

In front of me, I saw a different landscape than before. The training grounds that was supposed to be indoors had its walls destroyed, and the sun was shining through. The spot where the target was located had burned to the ground and had become a magma-like sludge, emitting hot air.

「....And I thought it would be okay to throw a fire bullet, besides, there was supposed to be a barrier there...」

Cain dropped his shoulders in disappointment.

The examiner who was frozen in place finally began to move.

「...You did t-that? What did you cast?」

「Eh? I cast only a fire bullet」

Cain answered the examiner's question.

「I-It can't be... Such a power with a beginner level... Impossible...」

The examiner was still absent minded.

「Rather, we need to make sure there were no people on the other side of the outer wall!」

After saying that, the few examiners around ran to the other side of the wall while another examiner quickly went to ask for his supervisor's decision.

The examiner's supervisor soon came in to check on the situation.

All the examiners and teachers who had come to see what was going on after hearing the explosion were stunned at the sight of the devastation.

「W-W-We can't continue with the examination like this. We're moving to the second training area now. Everyone follow me. We are moving to the swordsmanship testing ground now」

Since the first examination to test the magic power made the place unusable, everyone was taken by the examiner to the second training grounds.

Cain was also taken by one of the examiners to the swordsmanship examination room.

There were many students who took the swordsmanship exam first.

「Then we will begin the swordsmanship exam. The swordsmanship examiner here has been sent by the Adventurer's Guild to assist you all.  The examiners are adventurers with a B rank or higher, that's why don't worry and use all your power」

One of the adventurers who was lined up looked familiar. He had red hair and had a slightly different vibe from the other examiners.

「Ah, it's Claude」

I couldn't help but mutter to myself when I saw a familiar face. Claude also seemed to have noticed my voice and looked at me. He raised his hand and came to greet me, so I bowed my head.

「Oh, if it ain't Cain. Come to think of it, you're ten years old. I'll take you on」

「Isn't that Claude-san, from the famous Ice-Flame party of the royal capital? An A-ranked adventurer of the Adventurer's Guild.」

Murmurs like that come from everywhere.

「No, I'll pass」

Cain quickly declined the invitation.

「Child, it seems that you know Claude-san, the highest-ranking examiner among the ones here today? He named you, so you can go with him」

The examiner said something unnecessary and so it was decided that Cain's opponent would be Claude.

The other examiners were assigned to different groups of adventurers, and then, the sword fighting examination began.

「Have you got used to the Adventurer's Guild a bit? Come at me with everything you got」

Claude smiles at me. As expected, Claude was still unaware of the fact that Cain was already an A-ranked adventure.

「Well then, Claude-san, please take care of me」

Holding a wooden sword, I get into position against Claude.

I strengthened my body by about 20% with my body strengthening skill and went towards Claude at once.  Even so, Claude was surprised by my speed.

「So you can even use the body strengthening skill, huh?」

Claude intercepts the sword that Cain had swung.

「Looks like this will be fun. I'm glad that Lina has forced me to accept this request」

While saying that, Claude uses body strengthening and shakes off Cain's sword.

Then their swordplay continued. The swords hit each other, raising dust in the air at such a speed that the examiners around were unable to follow them.

「Cain, you're strong! You're stronger than any of the examiner adventurers here!」

「Claude-san, this is an exam, so please don't come at me with such strength」

It seems that Claude is a battle maniac, he smiles and uses the body strengthening skill, and comes at me wielding his sword. Cain was handling it with no problem due to the blessing of the God of War, however, there was no sign that it would end soon.

However, suddenly, a voice interrupted their mock battle.

「That's enough!!」

It was the examiner who was in charge of the place.

「If everyone had to have a mock battle like yours, everyone would have been disqualified!」

Claude and Cain both stopped their mock battle and looked around.

No one was having a mock battle, everyone, including the adventurers who were the examiners today, were absorbed in the battle between those two

「Oops, I guess we overdid it. It can't be helped. Cain, next time let's go on a request together!」

Claude smiles and shakes his hand.

「I'd like to refrain from doing that if it's possible, but I can't, right? I look forward to go on a request with you」

We shake hands and then I return to my seat.

「You must be number 285, Cain-kun, your exam is over with this. You can go now. Now all you have to do is show up on the day the results are announced」

Cain finished all the exams successfully and left the school. He didn't know that the magic and sword skills he demonstrated had become a great rumor among the test-takers who were at the site.

Cain returned to the mansion.

「Welcome back Cain-sama, how did the exams go?」

「I'm back. I finished them safely」

Silvia welcomed me.

「I think I passed, after all, I was able to complete both the written exam and the practical exam」

「That's good to hear. We must prepare to celebrate your admission next time」

Saying that, Silvia smiled and went inside.

Later, the Prime Minister, who was in his office, looked at one of the papers and jumped out of his office again and went to the King's office.

「What's the matter, Magna? You look like you want to say something again」

「Please look at this」

When the King saw the paper shown to him, he held his head in his hands.

The paper that was shown to him contained information on the money needed to repair the training site, which was estimated to be around 10 platinum coins, and a short description of what had happened.

This is what was written in the explanation paper.

『In the entrance exam, a test-taker named Cain used elementary magic on the magic ability test grounds and wrecked the training grounds so we need money to repair it』

「That guy! He overdid it again!!!」

The King put the seal of approval as they both, him and the Prime Minister, held their heads in their hands.