Chapter 102: Academy EnrollmentAfter the knights’ tournament was over, I spent the next few days helping the king with the transferral paperwork.

    That’s right. He put me, a 16-year-old, managing knights’ paperwork for them. However, it didn’t take that long to finish, luckily.

    The former supreme commander was being sent to the 4th order as a knight with all of the commoners that he hated so much and would be under Harvey’s command.

    Apart from the knights’ transfers, we also filled out all the documents needed for Triana to become the new mayor of End Town. However, we needed to plan a meeting for them so Jackson could show her the basics.

    Once I had finished all my work there, coincidentally, it was time for the princess to enroll in the academy.

    That day, the streets were filled with people and decorations as kids from different nations strolled the main road with their carriages on their way to the academy.

    It was easy to tell that most of the kids were nobles since their carts had family insignias or shields that showcased their identity. Of course, I couldn’t recognize a single symbol.

    Every student could take one guardian with them to the testing grounds, and Melina asked me to be her companion.

    Seeing that neither the king nor queen would come to see her since they were busy with all the work I had given them, I happily agreed and waited for her at the academy entrance.

    As soon as Melina arrived, I played my part and helped her get off the carriage by offering my hand, which seemed to surprise her.

    Not even five seconds later, a group of new students who were also enrolling approached us, wanting to make conversation with the princess.

    Their appearances gave away their noble status, so the most logical reason for them to be this annoying was that their families likely told them to become friends with the nation’s princess.

    I mean, it’s not like I could blame them. If you were a noble from any country, having allies in other places was never a bad thing.

    Nonetheless, Melina was visibly getting overwhelmed by all of the attention, so I asked everyone to calm down.

    "The princess only has two ears and one mouth. Let’s calm down everyone!" I exclaimed, making the people silent for a moment as they realized the bombardment of questions they threw at Melina.

    Quickly apologizing for their intrusion, Melina smiled and said not to worry about it since she just wasn’t used to talking to so many people at once.

    Making our way inside, I gazed back at the group of students and noticed that they simply watched Melina leave with their eyes filled with admiration.

    The academy was immense, and the decorations were quite captivating, to be honest.

    I saw a fountain in the middle of the main hall and noticed that it functioned with a water enchantment that kept the water flow going. It was simple, but the magic felt pretty refined.

    Making our way to the testing grounds, Melina caught the attention of every single student or professor who passed by us. Then again, she was the princess of the kingdom, so it was normal.

    "Who is that with the princess?" someone muttered, loud enough for me to pick up on it using sound magic.

    "Isn’t that the guy that beat the supreme commander at the tournament?" another one whispered.

    Ever since I started using sound magic to listen to people’s conversations, I have to say, it almost became somewhat of an addiction.

    I mean, it was the best way for me to gather information without talking to anyone, and luckily, I still hadn’t intruded on any awkward or personal conversations.

    ’If I ever listen to something that doesn’t involve me, I’ll stop listening instantly. I swear!’ I thought, promising myself not to break so many privacy boundaries for others.

    When we made it to the yard that had stone targets, the instructor asked all of the guardians to sit on the bench to the side of the testing grounds.

    Curiously, I noticed that all of the noble kids had either a butler or a servant accompanying them. However, the few commoner kids that were taking the test had their parents rooting for them from the side.

    Honestly, it made me feel kind of bad for the noble kids, but I supposed that was part of their lifestyle at this point.

    When the first student was called, the boy seemed nervous but determined.

    "Alright, start with your most powerful attack spell and try hitting one of the stone targets in the back." said the examiner.

    Seeing the kid’s determination made me somewhat excited, to be honest.

    ’I wonder what kind of spell he is going to use. The examiner did say to use his strongest one...’ I thought, waiting for something amazing to happen.

    However, my expectations plummeted as soon as the guy started muttering a chant that took at least 15 seconds to say, summoning a small ice shard that didn’t even hit the target.

    ’What... the...’ I thought, perplexed at how incredibly weak he was.

    ’It’s fine. It’s just the first guy. Surely the others can cast stronger spells than that...’ I tried comforting myself.

    Nonetheless, the second student was pretty much the same, chanting a super long prayer before casting a weak fireball that barely managed to hit the target.

    Covering my face with my hands in apprehension, I couldn’t contain myself at what I was seeing.

    One of the butlers who sat close to me saw my nervous movements and approached me from behind, offering me candy.

    "Don’t worry, my friend. I’m sure the princess will do wonderfully," he said, thinking that my stress came from the princess not performing well.

    ’What a nice old man...’ I thought, taking the candy and thanking the man.

    However, I wasn’t worried about the princess not performing well. Actually, I was scared that she would destroy the entire testing grounds if she used her "most powerful" spell.

    Trying to calm myself, I ate the candy, and my worries disappeared when I tasted mint.

    Turning around to see the butler, I detailed his clothes and saw that they were made of some sort of silk that I hadn’t seen before, at least not in the Sephyr Kingdom.

    ’I see, this man must be from another nation...’ I thought, still savoring the refreshing mint from the candy.

    "Sir, is this mint?" I asked the butler, who looked at me with surprise momentarily.

    "Yes. Well, we call it mento, but its original name was ’mint,’" he explained.

    The butler was from a small nation in the Eastern Continent called "Lotus," and he was the companion of a child from one of the members of the Lotus Syndicate, who governed their nation.

    ’Huh, so those guys have a completely different form of government...’ I thought.

    Seeing that the kid he was taking care of was next, we stopped our conversation to pay attention.

    For whatever reason, I had hopes that the kid would do something better, but once again, I was disappointed after he cast a few weak fireballs. At least he hit the targets, though.

    The butler stood up and clapped with tears of pride, which only made me feel more nervous about the princess.

    When it was finally her turn, she turned to look at me and nodded confidently.

    ’Oh god...’ I thought as I saw her getting ready.

    Suddenly, Melina turned to the examiner and said that if she cast her most powerful spell, she would most likely destroy the entire testing grounds.

    ’Yes! Exactly, Melina. So, go easy on them...’ I thought, happy that she felt the same.

    The examiner laughed it off, telling her not to worry as the attacks of a 16-year-old could never destroy all of the yard. Nonetheless, Melina took that personally.

    ’Noooo. We were so close...’ I thought.

    With a serious expression, Melina raised her arm upwards and began creating the massive lens that we used for our attack against the Kraken. This time, however, she was doing it all herself.

    Holding onto the magic from the sun, she directed all the energy toward the lens and created a massive beam of light that burned down all of the targets in an instant, along with more than half of the testing grounds.

    The blast of the attack was going to reach the spectators and examiners, so I quickly jumped down and created a barrier to protect them.

    They wouldn’t have been badly damaged, but I didn’t want to risk it.

    After the light dissipated, everyone in the crowd stood perplexed with their mouths open, along with the examiner, who had his hair blown back and looked absolutely confused. Needless to say, she passed the test.

    As the examiner was about to send the rest of the students to another practice yard, Melina and I used our magic to repair the area in a few minutes, which only surprised them more.

    "I had heard the rumors, but wow..." someone from the crowd muttered.

    "I agree. I have never seen anything like this." another continued.

    ’All’s well that end’s well... I guess.’ I thought, letting out a sigh of relief now that the ordeal was over. S~ea??h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.