Maseki Gurume - 027b

I hope none of you gets sick, please be careful!

　＊

"Ain-sama. Congratulations on passing the exam."

After submitting the numbered card he got as an applicant, the test was completed.

Apparently, detailed information for successful applicants will reach the applicant's house, which, for Ain's case, should be the castle.

Right outside of the entrance to the venue was Chris, waiting for him to come out.

"Yes, thank you very much. Did you know when was I coming out, Chris-san?"

"Yeah, obviously. Also, I'm sure you might be tired so I apologize in advance. I'll have to lecture you on our way back......There are some things I got to say, so you don’t mind, right Ain-sama? "

"……Yes."

This was why Chris was standing at the entrance waiting for Ain, and also why she knew he had passed the exam.

Chris knew Ain had used Dark Knight. She was able to feel the signs of it activating even at a distance.

Although Ain couldn’t see her face behind the helmet, he knew she was still angry.

"Say, Chris-san. "

"Yes, what is it?"

As they walked, Chris answered Ain's call in a slightly colder voice than usual.

"Are you angry because you're disappointed? Or just purely angry? "

"Neither."

'Then, it's alright', thought Ain. If she were disappointed, there he would be left utterly helpless.

"I knew the examiner was trying to angry me for the sake of the exam. But if someone makes fun of you, Chris-san or Lloyd-san, who taught me swordsmanship, and called you bad teachers, there's no way I wouldn’t get mad."

Actually, the words that were said after that were the trigger. But still, he wasn’t lying.

In fact, Ain got angry when the examiner berated Chris and the others.

"Hmm……mmm……Still, that wasn’t good! You used a skill that shouldn’t be shown......It doesn’t matter how strongly you felt about it."

He felt a bit calmer. Ain understood that he had done something wrong, but right now he was so tired he wanted to be spared from the lecture to come.

"I, think of you as my real sister, Chris-san." That's why I couldn’t help getting angry."

This was also true. Ain cherished Chris since she had always been with him, being escorting or training with him.

"……Haa. Still, I think His Majesty will learn about this incident through the school."

"I think there no helping that. Come to think of it, I did hurt the examiner, is there going to be a problem about that?"

"Since he was the examiner, I'm sure he wouldn’t have expected getting hurt. However, there are people at that school that specialize in healing magic, so don’t worry about it."

It appeared Chris would stop the lecturing for now, to which Ain felt quite relieved.

Having to endure Chris' sermon would be painful with the current fatigue in his body.

However, what kind of reaction would his grandfather, Silvird, have? While feeling a bit depressed, for now, he just wanted to go back to the castle and take some rest.

"(I wonder if I'll be able to make some friends? I don’t know many people close to my age……I wonder when will Krone come?")

After passing the exam, he started to think about his future school life.

Up until now, Ain had no friends his age, so he was somewhat looking forward to that.

Included in that was Krone, who was coming to Ishtalika, and Ain was curiously looking forward to that.

　＊

It had turned a bit chilly after the tenth month arrived.

A month had passed since Ain's entrance test problem, and a formal acceptance letter had arrived.

When the letter arrived, Silvird and the others were speaking about Ain.

"In any case, it’s great he passed without issue. But I can’t deny that was a problematic attitude."

This was what Ain's grandfather, Silvird, said. Of course, the issue in question had been already been communicated to Silvird during the day of the test.

A certain examinee made a couple of black arms and won against the examiner. And apparently, the examiner was painfully injured.

But since there was nothing that went against the rules of the exam, the judges decided to pass him. Still, Silvird could do nothing but hold his head on one hand when he heard that.

Ain returned home that day with a tired expression and rested while absorbing some Ripplemodoki magic stones.

Olivia took the news of him passing as a matter of fact, but when she heard he had used the Dark Knight, she told him he shouldn’t have. And so, she then gently lectured him.

"Hahaha. Well, it wasn’t an unbearable situation for Ain-sama, but still, it wasn’t something to be praised."

"As his teacher, I feel happy to hear my disciple got mad for my sake. That's why I can’t chide him too much……"

Warren didn’t adulate him, and Lloyd, on the other hand, wasn’t too keen on blaming him. Ain had gotten angry for his sake, so this placed him in a difficult position since that had made him happy.

"Fortunately, there's a huge amount of skills. That's why they don’t know what was used, and it's not a situation where it can be identified."

"That's what's most important."

"Incidentally, what about the examiner's injury? "

"I had someone who could use healing magic treat him. I heard he's now in good shape."

Lloyd was concerned about the injured examiner.

And he came to see Silvird to find out how was he.

"Well, with that said, speaking from the standpoint of someone who also trains people. It's his responsibility if he gets hurt. And in the end, all that remains is the fact that he lost."

His opinion was a severe one. Since he was Ishtalika's Grand Marshal and the commander of the Royal Guard, placing him in a similar teaching position, he was surprised the examiner wasn’t prepared for the unexpected.

"Lloyd-dono. But don’t you think it's for the best to say something about this issue? After all, what Ain-sama used was the Dark Knight. It's a technique from the legendary Dullahan……I don’t know if that was too much for the examiner."

"I too agree with that. But with that said, I can tell where Lloyd is coming from, after all, having our biggest talents, such as him and Chris as teachers make this an obvious outcome."

Lloyd was convinced after hearing those words. The truth was, Ain had made more effort training than just relying on his skills. He felt as if he was looking at his young self.

"By the way, Lloyd-dono. You were recommending your son, right? "

"Oh, about that matter. Since he's still immature, it will only be for the school grounds and in emergencies."

"I see. Then, what about bringing him and picking him up from school? "

"For picking Ain-sama up, I still don’t have much trust in him. So, I was thinking about having Chris take on that role."

"Sounds reasonable. In that case, I'll allow it."

What the three of them were talking about was Ain's exclusive knight.

Since Lloyd's son attended the same school, he had recommended him. But from a Grand Marshal's point of view, the off-campus escort wasn’t yet viable for him. Therefore, that escort should only be provided while on campus, and Chris should continue with her work while off-campus.

His son was, so to speak, an exclusive knight apprentice.

"Well then, let's speak to the Princess along those lines. I'll inform Ain-sama later."

"Okay, Warren-dono. Please do."

"In any case, it's getting colder and colder outside, I don’t have any problems with heat, but I can’t come to like the cold."

"Yes, indeed. Speaking of things changing...... It's almost time, Your Majesty."

"Uh? Ahh, you're right. The long-awaited first shipment will arrive."

Just like Warren said, it was almost time for the long-awaited Sea Crystal shipment to arrive at Ishtalika.

The first cargo, the result of the trade deal with Euro, was scheduled to arrive at Ishtalika soon.

"The long wait will end. Was the amount mined exceeding our expectations? "

"Yeah, that's right. Thanks to it, I don’t think we will worry about depletion for a while."

"That's great. It's just as the Princess predicted."

This was cheaper than the deal they had with Heim, so the amount they could purchase was more.

Therefore, with this becoming a situation where the amount needed by Ishtalika was easily covered, they could shelve their worry for mineral exhaustion for a while.

And thus, the first shipment was soon to arrive. And along with it, a lot of Sea Crystals, and some guests from Heim.