Chapter: 51
The fact that I passed wasn’t all that shocking.
I mean, just look at what I showed in the entrance exam!
I had an overwhelming performance in the sparring matches, and even though there was an accident mid-way, I achieved some impressive results in the dungeon exploration as well.
So I was pretty confident that even if I bombed the written exam, I could still slide in through special admission.
But a speech as the representative for new students?
Why on earth are they giving that to me?!
Isn’t that supposed to be entrusted to the top scorer among the newcomers?
Am I really that brilliant?
No way!
My practical exam scores might be high, but there’s no way my written scores could match that!
I practically gave up on every other subject except Dungeon Studies, and they’re saying I beat the genius Third Prince?!
Come on, don’t be ridiculous!
Okay, fine, I’ll concede a little.
Let’s say that my answers, thrown together by a guy who’s only been studying for a little over two months, were all correct.
But what about Magic Studies? I had no help there!
I just threw my pencil and hoped for the best.
I outright bombed one subject!
So how could I possibly be chosen to give the speech? Huh?!
There’s definitely something messed up here.
It must be a procedural error that led to my misselection. It has to be.
I read through the admission notice, denying the reality in front of me, hoping to find some mistake.
But the reality was harsh.
The Soul Academy was throwing various facts my way to prove that they made no mistakes in their actions.
“Lady Lucy Alrn’s scores are as follows.”
“Korean Language: 87”
[Told ya! Nobles shouldn’t slip up on vocabulary!]
“History: 98”
[Looks like I must’ve made some mistake. I thought I got them all right.]
“Dungeon Studies: 100”
[Huh? So all those bizarre answers were actually spot on? No wonder she was so confident.]
“Magic Studies: 68”
[…Isn’t there something wrong? Surely you never answered anything in Magic Studies. How did you come to get 68 points?]
“Sparring: 91”
“Dungeon Conquest: 100”
[This isn’t surprising. You did show exceptional performance there.]
“With a total of 544 points, Lady Lucy Alrn has achieved the highest scores this year in the Soul Academy entrance exam and, moreover, has set a record for the greatest score in the academy’s history. Thus, we would like to designate Lady Alrn as the student representative for the speech. If you have received this letter…”
After finishing the letter, I folded it, shoved it back into the envelope, and tossed it to the floor.
But the letter didn’t fall to the ground.
That useless loser of a knight caught it with remarkable reflexes.
“My lady, why are you throwing this?! We must show it to the lord!”
“Shut up, loser.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
I mean, really, with my head swirling, why is this happening?
Did he awaken some perverse desire to be trampled by the feet of his master? Huh?
As I glared at him, the knight hurriedly lowered his head.
[What on earth is going on?]
‘What’s going on?! Are you seriously asking me that right now?!’
This guy is practically the cause of this whole mess; how can he question why I’m upset?!
Grandpa, if only you hadn’t shown off your stupid brilliance, none of this would have happened!
Why did you go and study so much and get such high scores?!
Did you just want to flaunt your intelligence?!
[Isn’t it an honor to represent everyone with a speech?]
‘An honor?! Grandpa, did you forget my so-called “blessing”?’
[Ah.]
Grandpa, do you really think I enjoy standing in front of everyone?
It’s true I’m a bit of a hermit and not exactly keen on public appearances.
But if I had to, I could handle it!
It’s a chance to recover my tarnished reputation, right? Why on earth would I refuse?!
Even without the Mesugaki skill, I would’ve thought it was an honorable position just as you said!
But I have that Mesugaki skill!
‘Listen, Grandpa. Just think about it. I’m going to be spouting off insults about “losers” and “scrubs” in front of a bunch of nobles!’
In a situation where all those influential people are staring at me, picturing myself reading a speech isn’t a hard mental exercise.
“Hey. Hello, all you dummies below me. I’m Lucy Alrn. How pathetic must you be for me to be standing here? I mean, you’re all trash for applying to this loser academy, right?”
It was horrifying.
Sure, the Mesugaki skill keeps me polite when it’s called for, but that doesn’t change the fact that words like “loser” and “trash” would slip out at any moment.
What would happen to my reputation then?
The professors at the Soul Academy would think I’m insane, and nobles and royalty alike would believe all the rumors about me were true. Even commoners would avoid me.
It would be a nightmare beyond anything I imagined for my academy life!
No way.
I must prevent this future at all costs.
I need to do whatever it takes to stop this atrocious event.
Rubbing my face in frustration, I lifted my gaze to see the worried expression in the knight’s eyes.
‘Karl…’
“Hey, loser. You graduated from Soul Academy, right?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
‘Can I refuse to give the new student representative speech?’
“Can you really turn down this pointless speech?”
“Um… I don’t know.”
‘What?’
“What?”
“There’s no precedent. To be the new student representative at Soul Academy is an honorable position, proof of being the best among many. No one has ever turned it down in the academy’s history.”
‘Is that…’
“Is that not a rule?”
“Yes.”
‘Is that so? Then…’
“Then I guess I’ll become the first one to decline this loser academy’s invitation.”
It might sound strange, but it’s way better than being labeled a crazy person among the influential.
Having reached that decision, I snatched the letter from Karl’s hands and headed toward the mansion.
To draft a response, clearly stating that I cannot accept the new student representative position.
I have no idea how they’ll reply, but I’ll make sure to refuse.
If they don’t want to see just how vast a possessed hand can be, they better accept my wishes immediately.
*
“So you’re suggesting I assign a substitute instead?”
Prince Arthur Soladin expressed his displeasure through the communication magic after hearing that they wanted him to take on such a representative role at the entrance ceremony.
It was a rude and even funny notion.
He was already gnashing his teeth over someone else having snatched away first place from him, and now the person in first place was just offering him the role like it was charity.
As if he didn’t have an interest in such an honor.
Hadn’t he spent his whole life striving to grab that honorable spot?
Rationally, Arthur knew he shouldn’t feel this way, but emotionally he couldn’t help it.
His anger was bubbling to the surface.
As he began to nervously tap his desk, he felt the metallic taste of blood in his mouth and realized he was biting his lip too hard.
Damn it.
It was true he had desired the new student representative position all this time.
Yet, the scene he envisioned was one where he earned first place by scoring the highest marks in the Soul Academy entrance exam and proudly stood as the representative—not something thrown at him in this way.
Ha. Whoever it was that abandoned the position was truly infuriating.
To think they’d make him the fool serving the first person to ever refuse the post at the Soul Academy.
“I’m sorry, but I must refuse.”
[Understood.]
Upon hearing Arthur firmly reject the suggestion, the voice on the other end of the communication magic didn’t press the issue any further.
“Wait a moment.”
Just before the communication magic cut off, Arthur called out to the other party.
“Could you please tell me the name of the person who was originally supposed to be the new student representative? After all, it’s bound to come out soon.”
The top 20 scores from the Soul Academy entrance examination were revealed upon the entrance ceremony, so there was no reason to hide that information.
The other party seemed to hesitate for a moment but then answered Arthur’s question.
[Lady Lucy Alrn from the Alrn family.]
“Lucy? Is she really that Lady Alrn I know?”
[That’s probably accurate.]
Lucy Alrn.
Arthur had never seen her in person since he hadn’t mingled in high society.
But he had certainly heard plenty of wild rumors about her.
Rumors tend to spread more easily when they’re negative than positive.
Who could forget the disgraceful whispers about the noble family or the troublemaking young lady that came up more than anything else? And now she’s about to become the new student representative?!
What the heck?
“Could this be a compensation concept for the accident during the entrance exam?”
[Prince Arthur, our academy always strives for fairness regarding exam results.]
Upon hearing the other side’s response, Arthur realized he’d made a rather insulting remark.
He essentially suggested they offered her the representative position as a bribe to cover up their mistake.
“Sorry about that. I guess I got a bit carried away.”
[It’s perfectly fine. As long as you recognize the fairness of the academy, that’s sufficient.]
“Thanks. I’ll hang up now.”
[Yes. Wishing you a peaceful day ahead.]
Do you know what?
Your idea of a ‘peaceful day’ just flew out the window with that last communication.
After the magic communication ended, Arthur leaned back in his chair, staring at the white ceiling.
“Lucy Alrn.”
It just goes to show that rumors can’t be trusted.
It seems ridiculous to associate the highest achiever of Soul Academy’s rigorous examinations with a family’s disgrace.
If anything, it should be referred to as an honor.
“Lucy.”
Well, whether she’s a disgrace or an honor is irrelevant.
What kind of person she is, what her personality is like, and whatever she’s done in the past…
has nothing to do with Arthur Soladin.
The only things that concern him are two points.
First, that Lucy Alrn is the one who took the glory he should have held.
And second, she’s the despicable creature who insulted him while pretending to show concern.
That’s it.
“I’ll look forward to the day I see that face.”
I don’t know what kind of person she is, but I will pay her back for this humiliation.
Absolutely.
*
Since kicking the new student representative position to the curb, I’ve been feeling oddly peaceful.
Of course, there were several distractions during the process, but they let it go when I reminded them of the accident that happened during the entrance exam.
I’m really grateful for that.
In the worst-case scenario, I was even considering not showing up on the entrance ceremony, but things worked out easily, so I don’t have to worry.
After that, I just kept waiting for the day of the Soul Academy entrance ceremony while doing my best to train like usual.
Getting up in the morning to run, sparring during lunch, and practicing sacred magic in the evening.
It was such a tranquil life that I thought maybe everything would be just fine if I continued like this. But that all came to an end today.
It’s time to leave the territory and head to the academy now.
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