Every year during the season of entrance exam, at strict 10:00 AM, the Royal Academy would announce the result of the entrance examination.

As soon as the time is nigh, the cloth covering bulletin board, located at an extensive vast lawn just straight from the entrance, would be removed, revealing the fate of examinees. The cloth was embroidered with the crest of the royal family using golden thread.

Incidentally, Royal Academy never accepts repeaters or supplementary exams.

Once the mana organ had fully developed, the growth period from the age of 12 to 15 was extremely precious for magical training. And the kingdom was too vast to entertain second chances, regardless if it was due to one's doing, or a stroke of misfortune like accident or illness.

To put it concisely, even before they had realised, the race had already begun. The steps till the exam centre in itself was a trial of their preparation and resolution. Though the road might not be completely closed for the absolute prodigy, for 99.99%, the exam was their once-in-a-lifetime-chance.

Every year, roughly tens of thousands of aspirants, each a gem in itself, would gather at the Royal Academy to fight for the life-altering chance. They would have further trials await them there; namely mana capacity test, practical exam, and finally academic, further filtering the crowd to mere one thousand.

In a sense, even if they'd not qualified, the thousand students that now awaited for the result were already miles ahead of their peers. And yet again, the seat of pioneers of their generation reserved solely for hundreds of them—a mere 10%. There was no consideration, but a cold truth and rejection for the last 900 aspirants.

◆◆◆

Ten minutes until the revelation of the result.

"Examinees, and their guardians. Please make sure to not cross the space beyond the bulletin board. Only the students—the examinees who have their name on board—are allowed to take a step further. Before proceeding, state your name and associated rank to the staff. Orientation will be held an hour later in your respective class. At the same time, the disqualified examinee must leave the academy premises before 11:00 AM."

Teacher Rias, the person in-charge, explained the details.

Whether it was the aspirants, or their guardians, they all had come with a burning hope for Royal Academy.  It was a no-brainer the chaos that would ensue once the result was announced.

To very few, it would be like they've been beckoned to heaven. But to the disqualified ones, it was no different than being kicked into hell.

—Pandomonium. A literal glimpse of hell, filled with chaos and scream.

Allen hadn't witnessed it during his time of admission, though it was more due to lack of interest. Since he never saw any reason to be quick, he had taken his sweet time to arrive, and by then, the hellscape had driven out. But, and without fail, it was almost a tradition for the situation to track the same order every year.

Few would jump into the embrace of their family, bawling out, the other one would unleash a roar at the sky, pumping fist upward again and again due to excitement. Some would fall to their knees, breaking into tears, similarly releasing a yell of their soul. In the joy, it wasn't quite uncommon to find such strange scenes of rejoicing.

Meanwhile, the disqualified would shout at the top of their lungs, thrash around. Then some would either vomit, faint. In fact, some might even soil themselves. After years and years of the same cycle repeating, this had become a familiar scenery of the result day. The academy had stationed guards and nurses etcetera to deal with the situation.

There had never been a year when either of the situations hadn't occurred. And yet—something was different this year. It could be seen even before the result announcement.

Camping before the bulletin board, one could spot roughly twenty kids in easy-to-move clothes. For some very incomprehensible reason, they're carefully stretching up, or taking other measures as a warm-up.

They bear a sharp glint in their eyes. They're not the eyes of someone waiting for the result—no, it was as if they believed a final trial still awaited them beyond it.

This would be a bit spoiler-y, but they'd no doubt about their admission. So, what they seemed to be looking at was something even beyond the result—General Dormitory.

Along with the admission of freshmen, today was also the day for seniors to bid farewell to the academy. And that meant an empty room in the said general dormitory, or otherwise known as loser's dog house.

Today, at noon, there was apparently a lottery event to decide on those empty rooms.

The key point was 'noon.' There was no doubt they would not be able to make up once the orientation kicked in at 11:00 AM.

Thus, the ones privy to that confidential information were now making preparations. The distance from their current position to the General Dormitory was 15 kilometres. They'd a bit less than an hour to cross that distance, grab the lottery, and make their way to orientation.

But the one who didn't know, their entire action seems incomprehensible. And that's why, the lawn had been covered in a fidgety air before the result.

Just opposite to the bulletin board, when you walk straight from there, was the chalk-white classroom building. A staircase stretched from the entrance of the building, and examinees could capture the sight of some people occupying them, seemingly the enrolled students.

Now, there was nothing unexpected or strange about being watched by academy's students, but the story takes a twist when their identity comes into question. For example—

"Heh, the examinee from the Valcandol region seems to be an interesting personality. What do you think, Alice?"

"I feel the same, Feyrune-san."

"Fufu. We're classmates, so just Fey is fine."

They're the newly promoted students from Class A of 2nd Year.

"Hey, guys! Let's go out and greet the newcomers! We're going to hold A Reception Event by Senior!" Out of nowhere, Allen suddenly made an announcement this morning. Apparently, he was extremely excited by the prospect of having juniors, and came up with a plan in high spirits. And that's how, everyone hurried up to gather at the entrance stairs to welcome their juniors.

The accompanying guardians, as well as some examinees were quick to notice their existence.

"H-hey, the one sitting there, isn't she the prodigious artificer...?"

"Yeah, Feyrune Von Dragoon-senpai. I had the chance to greet her at last year's buffet party. It's definitely her. ...Even now, her regalness has never dimmed. Hmm, I wonder who's sitting by her side. They seem to be quite close..."

"She's Lady Alice Masculine from the rumours. She's the sole person to be promoted to Class-A this year through promotional performance. The eldest child of the Distinguished House of Count Masculine, the treasure of the Valcandol region..."

A certain low-rank noble from the Valcandol region—he had been here with his son—explained. The others gulped in nervousness as they heard the details.

Gradually, more students in the group of 3-5 joined the others at the staircase.

"Hey, look over there... the student that just joined them... It's Rudolf Serdos, the president of Sail Club, and the only other student to become a knight as freshmen!"

"Ah, the hero who saved the country from the incident of Hellrawcaust, receiving the direct praise from His Majesty...! And the one next to him, it's Rudolf Austin-senpai. I heard he made sensational debut in the Empire's Rising Dragon Cup! I saw his picture in today's newspaper!"

"Ah, the beauty unmarred... the reincarnation of Saintess Sari, Feyrune Dragoon-senpai's striking presence is as splendid as ever..."

"The one next to her, the pink hair tied in a twin-tail, must be «Fearless Tiger» Stella Achilies, the leading member of Hillroad Club..."

"Ooh, I imagined her to be someone strict, but she's quite cute..."

With the result almost moments away, whispers broke out among the gathered people.

Then another one—a lone boy came out of the school building, and sat amidst prominent members like it was an obvious thing, folding his arms.

"Kyaa—!" All of a sudden, squeals that one wouldn't expect to hear in current somber air, buzzed the lawn.

"......This one requires no explanation. That palpable aura is obvious enough."

"Truly, the hallmark of obvious—«Miraculous Prodigy» Leo Zaitsinger-senpai. He's every bit... no, even more of a graceful scion than the rumours described."

With Leo Zaitsinger's addition, the staircase now had nineteen members of Class 2-A present.

"Wait a minute... do you think..."

"Yeah.... they're gathering here. Only one person is on a mission..."

"T-the living example of unprecedented ...? D-do you think we can catch a glimpse of him already...?"

"This is a chance for the newspaper agency!"

All members of Class 2-A had been present, saving the sole person who had actually insisted on the plan. After shouting "Make sure to be there at 10:00 AM. Do not be late!" he had disappeared somewhere, yet to be found.

Just as the tension reached its zenith—

"Ahem. It's the time. Reveal the result!"

The appearance of high-profile students had attracted so much attention that nearly everyone had forgotten the true purpose. But with a deliberate cough, the in-charge Rias pulled them back to reality.

Once she affirmed everyone's attention was on her, she pulled the cloth covering bulletin board at once.

As soon as the result was displayed—

"Eight Cerrado of Class 1-A, taking his entry!"

"Class 1-C. Flora Von Cherat!"

"Class 1-B. Pariaro Baiter!"

"Class 1-A. Shiny Marerian stepping in!"

The certain group, who had been performing warm-up stretches, halted only to affirm their designated class, and immediately sprinted for their destination, waiting no further to bask in the joy with their family.

A ruckus encroached the lawn.

The action of the first group left the other candidates perplexed. They'd no idea why they would suddenly leave, and looked around in confusion. Meanwhile, those who were quick to take action, didn't wait to think about the situation, and imitated the action of the first group. They'd noticed the gazes of the dignified students of Class 2-A were lingering on them.

Then, it suddenly struck to the left behind members that maybe something important was going on, and they, too, decided to imitate their action.

With parents pushing, and still wrapped in confusion, they covered the route leading to the chalkwhite classroom building.

A wry smile tugged on the faces of Class 2-A students as they took notice of their junior's action, and calmly awaited them—

◆◆◆

I was with my two-wheeler mana vehicle, hiding among the woods on the right side of the classroom building—right if you walk from the entrance—eyeing a perfect timing to enter the scene.

Why, you ask? Obviously, it's to make a flashy, dramatic entry, and enter the spotlight.

—Freshmen Welcome Event.

It was an event that was bound to appear in many academic oriented another world reincarnation stories.

The general gist was to approach cheeky juniors with a pompous attitude to 'teach them about the real world', but only to have tables turned on them by the hands of talented freshmen, the so-called 'serves your arrogance right.' At the end, they would be hit up with remarks like 'you're not quite shabby,' or 'same to you, Senpai.'

It was just an example though. I definitely had no intention in becoming a stepping stone for the juniors just so they can be popular. I also wasn't going to bully them around, of course.

Well, I wouldn't mind if we had some hot-blooded juniors looking out to test their mantle, but as far as it concerned me, I just wanted to give them advice as a senior—”fill the pages of your academic life with vibrancy of whims, and cherish the experience of youth.”

It was the lesson I was taught by Riyad-senpai during my entrance, though he had now graduated.

That's why, to make sure they take it seriously, I needed to stand out more than everyone, and showed them a glimpse of 'joyful whims.'

"Kukuku. It's about time, eh."

And that's how, I brought my trusty bike with me, hiding myself in a position where the bulletin board was clearly visible. Hmm, taking in account that the juniors would at least spend some time sharing their joy with their families, maybe I should take my entry five minutes later?

With various scenarios brewing in my mind, I sneakily watched, and soon, the cloth covering the bulletin board was taken down.

But, what happened next made me doubt my eyes.

As soon as the result became clear, the freshmen broke into a run. First, it was few, then few more, and soon everyone did the same, creating an avalanche like scene.

What in tarnation... What happened to sharing joy with the parents?! They're leaving just like that?!

I was only a year old, but damn. Was this what they call, generational gap?

...No. I need to calm down. That's right, me. Recall the teaching of Riyad-senpai. Be the paragon of tolera—

Screw it. How dare they break my perfect chance!

I kickstarted my bike.