As soon as Pola came out of the test site, the children were waiting there with Lucas.

"Sister! Did you pass?"

"Of course! Hey, more importantly, young master of the duchy. Are you crazy?"

"Kh, khum..."

Pola, who was shouting at Skir.

The other children, who didn't know the reason, were just rolling their eyes.

"What the hell was that? Do you know how embarrassed I was!?"

Skir's head drooped as Pola shouted, pointing her finger at him.

"J-just... I wanted you to cheer up..."

Skir, who was fiddling with his fingers and answering in a crawling voice.

"...Y-you crazy bastard!"

Pola, who saw Skir, turned her head and spat out a curse.

'What happened?'

Lucas's brow furrowed as he looked at them.

"Sister... what's wrong?"

"He, he...! No, so...!"

"..."

Pola, who had stuttered at Nella's question, let out a deep sigh and turned and walked away.

"W-where are you going!"

"To eat!"

"L-let's go together!"

Skir, who quickly followed Pola. Seeing that, Lucas roughly guessed what had happened.

"Oppa. Why is sister Pola angry?"

"Hmm... maybe Skir cheered for Pola in the wrong way. Don't worry about it. Let's go eat too."

"Okay."

***

The academy's meeting room.

"There are more passers than I thought, aren't there?"

"I know. The students must have prepared a lot."

The faculty members who had received the list of passers were each saying a word.

"Oh? There are three beginner class students in the magic potion test? And one from the beginner class."

"Is it because the professor who teaches is different...?"

His eyes, who had finished speaking, turned to Hadin Barad, who was in charge of the magic potion class.

Hadin Barad, the only other race and a blue elf, was an outcast, not an outcast, in the academy.

When he was first appointed, the other professors also tried to get close to him.

But everyone was tired and had given up on Hadin's sharp wall and line-drawing.

In fact, rather than the others ostracizing him, Hadin had volunteered to be an outcast.

"It was an easy problem, so it's natural. More importantly, there are only twelve passers in engraving, aren't there?"

"Hmm... I thought there would be many participants, so I made the difficulty a little harder, and this happened."

"Ha, but still, twelve people? At this rate, not even the 4th place prize will come out."

The grades that the students who had participated in the engraving had received were disastrous.

"No, it was a problem that even the top-class students would have found difficult. Whose idea was it? Who was the person who said to engrave on orichalcum from the first test?"

That's right. The first problem of the engraving test was none other than orichalcum.

Since the difficulty of engraving was determined by the material and shape of the object being engraved, the difficulty of orichalcum, a mineral, was high.

"No, then should we have told them to engrave on parchment!? This is still the best magic academy in name and reality! If we give such an easy problem, it's no different from lowering the students' level!"

"Who said to engrave on parchment? Can't we adjust the engraving difficulty instead of the object!?"

In the end, the atmosphere in the meeting room became heated in an instant.

"Ha! Engraving difficulty! No, then I should have told the academy students to engrave a curse!"

In the end, as Professor Snider Caleb, who was in charge of the engraving class, shot up from his seat, Professor Desia Monigan, who was in charge of magic application, also got up from her seat, not to be outdone.

"Now! That's enough. Everyone, please sit down."

In the end, Aman, who couldn't bear to see it anymore, stopped them.

"You all have done nothing wrong. It's just my fault for not going through one more verification."

As Snider and Desia sat down, panting, Aman put down the documents in his hand.

"Now, the test has already been held, and we have to prepare for the next test. As you know, the next test will be held in two days. First, Professor Hadin?"

"Yes. Professor Aman."

"As the ingredients for the next magic potion test... let's see... you've requested orc fangs, haven't you?"

Aman, who had looked through the documents on the table and had found the request, looked at Hadin.

"Yes. That's right."

"Hmm... orc fangs. Well, it won't be difficult to get them, but there might be students who haven't handled them. What are you going to do about that?"

"If you're talking about the poison in the fangs, you don't have to worry. We'll remove the poison in the preparation process and provide it to the students after pre-treatment."

"Well, that should be fine then. I'll take it that you'll process the orc fangs and provide them as powder?"

"Yes. That's correct."

"I understand. Then next... Professor Desia? You've requested... orcs for the next test? And... seven of them?"

The corner of Aman's mouth twitched as he took his eyes off the documents.

Seven orcs? That side has fangs, and this side has orcs?

"Yes. I'll use them in the next magic application test."

"Haha... may I ask how you're going to use them?"

"How am I going to use them? As you know, the magic application field mainly looks at attack magic. Is there anything better than a real battle to judge the students' application skills?"

Aman almost lost his temper at Professor Desia's sneer, but he held it in.

"Yes. I understand... but I know that the application test has the most passers... you're not planning to drive all these students to their deaths, are you?"

"Ha! Of course not! Not only will I be observing in person, but I'm also planning to build a strong defensive magic. The students will never be in danger."

"I hope you can take responsibility for that. Seven orcs... I'll bring you some strong ones."

The corner of Aman's mouth trembled as he finished speaking.

"Then next... Professor Arnil. You're in charge of the magic defense field in this competition, right?"

"Yes. That's right."

Arnil Jenium was a biology professor, but he was in charge of the magic defense field in this competition.

"Well, Professor Jenium's magic defense skills are self-proclaimed and recognized by others. But I heard there was a little problem in this test."

"Ahem... it was a minor problem."

"I heard that two students were injured."

"It wasn't a serious injury. The magic cast on the students was also a 1st circle level energy bolt."

Arnil, who had avoided Aman's sharp gaze, silently looked at the documents.

"I understand. In the next test... I hope there will be no injuries."

"Professor Aman?"

"Ah, yes. Professor Ronaldo."

"I think orcs are too much for the next magic application test."

Ronaldo Hasen, the magic practice professor. Originally, he should have been in charge of the magic application test, but for some reason, he had said he would be in charge of supervision instead of setting the test.

"The reason?"

"I briefly observed the application test today... and the students' skills were disastrous. No, the word 'disastrous' is an exaggeration."

Desia glared at Ronaldo's words.

"To throw orcs at such students? Someone will surely be seriously injured."

"Professor Ronaldo! Seriously injured? Didn't I say I would be observing in person?"

"Professor Desia. If you bring orcs to the second test, are you going to bring a dragon to the last test? Yes. Let's hear what your plan is."

Desia finally shot up from her seat at Ronaldo's sarcasm.

"What did you say!? After the orcs, it's golems. After that, it's gargoyles, then cockatrices, and for the last test, it's not a dragon, but a minotaur!"

"Ha, why don't you just declare that you're going to kill them all!? Yes!?"

Ronaldo's words were right. What, this was no different from saying that he would bring monsters and slaughter the students.

Golems in the third test? And what? Gargoyles and cockatrices? And a minotaur at the end?!

"Look! Professor Aman. That's no different from declaring that you're going to kill not only the students but also the faculty! The difficulty needs to be adjusted."

"Hmm... I heard that kobolds came out in today's test. Well, even if they were in a group of four... it was still dangerous. Professor Desia, are you really confident?"

Desia nodded her head vigorously at Aman's question.

"Of course! That's why there are the most passers!"

"I understand. Then I'll trust Professor Desia and proceed as is."

Ronaldo, who was about to say something at Aman's decision, turned his head sharply.

'There's going to be an accident~ then you'll have to take all the responsibility~'

Aman also knew. An accident would surely happen.

But what could he do when that foolish professor Desia insisted on proceeding like that?

If an accident happened, she would have to take all the responsibility.

In addition, although Desia had shown a talent for attack magic, she had chosen the academy instead of the Mage Tower.

What was it? Did she say she was reluctant to attack something?

For her to force a test of such a difficulty. She was clearly crazy.

"Now, then. Everyone, please work hard to prepare for the next test."

***

Aman, who had finished the meeting, left the meeting room and headed to his office.

'There's so much to prepare. Should I hire an assistant...'

It was when Aman, who was walking while thinking about this and that, was just turning the corner.

'Aren't those the dogs of the Demon God?'

What came into Aman's eyes were two men in gray robes entering the library.

'Why are they in the library?'

Aman, who had briefly hidden behind a pillar, cast a transparency magic.

In the library that he had followed them into, there was, as always, the librarian, Brandy.

"Welcome. You are the priests of the Demon God Cult, aren't you?"

"May the light be full in the darkness. It's a pleasure to meet you. Librarian."

The priest, who had shown a friendly smile, glanced at Brandy once.

"Hoho, more importantly, what brings you to the library... are you looking for a book?"

"Yes. Actually, we came here thinking that the book we are looking for might be here."

"Yes. If you tell me what book it is, I'll try to find it."

"Is there a book called... 'The Soul of Shamos'? It's one of the old books... it's a book that our order really needs."

Brandy's face hardened for a moment at the priest's words.

"I-is there such a book? Hoho... I've never heard of it..."

Although Brandy had quickly relaxed his expression, the priests could instinctively tell. That he knew something.

"Is that so? Then may we look for it ourselves?"

"Kh, khum... o-of course... but I've been working here since the academy was established. There can't be a book that I don't know. Ha! Ha! Ha!"

He was really not good at lying.

"Haha, of course. There can't be a book that the librarian doesn't know. But it would be good for us to check it ourselves."

"Y-yes, please do."

As Brandy stepped aside, the priests began to search the bookshelves thoroughly.

'Hmm... The Soul of Shamos... that's more of an artifact than a book...'

Aman, who was secretly watching, also knew what they were looking for.

But 'The Soul of Shamos', which had disappeared a long time ago, was closer to an artifact than a book.

'Why are they looking for it? And at the academy?'

As far as Aman knew, it should have been kept as a holy relic in the Demon God Cult.

'Did they lose it?'

How long had they been searching the bookshelves? In the end, the priests, who had not found anything, stood in front of Brandy again.

"As the librarian said, it doesn't seem to be here."

"Is that so. That's a shame."

"But... what's behind that fireplace over there... librarian?"

Brandy's eyes began to tremble madly.

"B-behind the fireplace... there's a c-chimney, right!?"

A moment of silence fell at Brandy's flustered shout.

"Hahaha! That's right. There's a chimney. Then we'll be going..."

As the priests left the library, Brandy, whose legs had given out, collapsed into a chair.

(End of Chapter)