When I was working as a civil servant, I was found out to be a muscle-brained knight by the princess knight and got sent to the front lines - Episode 135

Episode 135

As the entrance ceremony at the Royal Academy’s grand arena approached, the top performers of this year spent their time in the VIP room, waiting for the event to begin. Jez passed the time by striking up a conversation with a male student who was quietly sitting alone on a sofa in the corner of the room.

“Alchemis? Does that mean you ranked first in theory and magic?” 

“…Yeah, that’s right. And you were first in martial arts and the interview, weren’t you?” 

Both Jez and Victor recognized each other’s names from the entrance exam results. They had shared the top spots across various subjects, excluding the overall score. Even without trying, their names had stuck in each other’s memories. This sparked a conversation between them, though it was mostly led by Jez. Victor merely responded in short, hesitant answers.

It seemed Victor was an extremely shy individual. From what Jez gathered, he was a recluse. He was deeply engrossed in research and his hobbies and rarely interacted with others. In fact, Victor hadn’t even planned on attending the Royal Academy. He had wanted to continue his magical research and work on magical tools freely at his family’s estate in the countryside. However, as a member of the main Alchemis family—a prestigious lineage of alchemists that stretched across various nations of the Azerion continent, including the Tashman Kingdom—he had been ordered by the family head to return to the capital and graduate from the academy before joining the Academy of Magic.

The Alchemis family was a truly prominent household, being the originators of alchemy and having branches in multiple countries. Jez, who often worried about his own status as an adopted son, couldn’t help but sympathize with Victor. He seemed to have even more burdens to bear.

Yet despite reluctantly taking the entrance exam, Victor had managed to rank first in both magic and theory. Jez couldn’t help but think that Victor was not only a genius but perhaps an eccentric one at that. Just as Jez was silently coming to this conclusion, they were interrupted.

“…Hmm? So, the top-ranking students are already getting cozy and watching from their high perch, are they?” 

Erin Saylor approached Jez and Victor with a sharp tone, having noticed their conversation from across the room.

Victor sensed Erin’s prickly attitude and shrank back slightly. Jez sighed in exasperation. “Why is this girl always so sharp-tongued?” he wondered.

“Do you need something, Saylor-san?” 

“No, not really. I was just curious about what you two were talking about” 

“I’m curious too” 

Another voice from a female student joined the conversation. Jez recognized her.

“My name is Miriam Stonewell. Nice to meet you, Norman-kun. And it’s been a while, Victor,” the girl said, introducing herself.

Miriam Stonewell, second in the overall rankings and from the Stonewell baronial family, had joined the conversation. The Stonewell family specialized in magical tools. If Erin was the leader of the upper-class nobles from the capital, Miriam played a similar role among the lower-ranking nobles. Both were from the capital, though their different social standings had limited their interactions in the past. They had heard of each other and crossed paths a few times, but their relationship had never been deep.

As a side note, the Tashman Kingdom had a relatively common ranking system: duke, marquess, earl, viscount, baron, and knight. In addition, there were positions like margrave that  ruled frontier territories and honorary knights, a title granted for exceptional merit, which could be held for a lifetime. Those who rose from commoners to high-ranking military positions, like Legion Commanders, were often awarded honorary knighthoods or higher titles automatically.

Erin’s Saylor family held the rank of earl, and she led a group of her peers from families with similar or higher titles. For context, Jez’s Norman family held the title of margrave, while the Alchemys family was, surprisingly, a marquess household.

Back to the story, the Royal Academy was a completely merit-based school where rank or title didn’t matter. For the first time, Erin and Miriam were competing on equal footing. Furthermore, the Stonewell family was known for their expertise in magical tools and had long been acquainted with the Alchemis family, masters of alchemy. As such, Victor and Miriam were childhood acquaintances. However, because Victor had spent most of his time at the Alchemis family’s country estate, their relationship hadn’t been particularly close.

Nevertheless, now gathered in one place were the top two students of the year and the top performers in various subjects. Unsurprisingly, the entire room began to take notice of this remarkable group.

Erin Saylor, the leader of the upper-class nobles from the capital, was rumored to be the daughter of a future prime minister. Similarly, Miriam Stonewell was also from the capital and led the lower-class noble group. Her family is deeply connected to the business world, particularly through the development and distribution of magical tools and their ties to large commercial guilds. Then there was Victor Alchemis. Despite being a mystery to most, he was rumored to be a prodigy of the famous Alchemis family. His academic and magical performance had reportedly been overwhelming.

And finally, Jez Norman, son of Gerald Norman—the Commander of the 2nd Legion and the strongest man alive, who defended the northern front, the most dangerous battlefield in the Tashman Kingdom. It was no surprise that Jez had ranked first in martial arts. However, even the teachers had been perplexed when he also took the top spot in the interview portion of the exam.

Regardless, these four individuals, not only known for their own talents but also for the influence of their families, had gathered together. It was clear that this year’s class would revolve around these four. Everyone could feel it. It was no wonder that they were the center of attention. As the room watched them with bated breath, the boy with the long bangs, who had been quietly dealing with Erin and Miriam’s prodding, suddenly muttered,

“…Um, is it just me, or are the students from the capital really lacking in skill? Could someone explain to me how they managed to make mistakes on such a simple exam? I’m curious.”

Hearing this, Erin smiled sweetly, while a vein of anger pulsed visibly on Miriam’s temple. Meanwhile, Jez gazed up at the ceiling, resigned. It became clear then—this boy with the “gal-game protagonist” bangs had quite an outrageous personality beneath his quiet exterior.