15 – Mock Exam (3)
The four-hour long mock exam had finished.
“Oh man.”
Taking a test after a long time is tiring.
Apparently, research that I can take at a leisurely pace matches my aptitude better than studying for entrance exams.
I was stretching my back and relaxing my sore body.
“Did you do well?”
Silver hair danced in front of my eyes.
“It didn’t seem like there were any problems I couldn’t solve.”
The next head of the Adelbain family, Jernia von Adelbain, stood in front of me with her arms crossed and smiled leisurely.
She’s making a big deal out of a mock exam.
“When you speak like that, it almost sounds like you’re boasting.”
“Hmpf, if you score better than me and say that, I’ll acknowledge it.”
Jernia twisted her mouth tightly.
In this way, Jernia walks around picking fights with anyone she sees.
A villainous girl who thinks she’s the best in the world. She’s got too much pride, and to top it off, she’s also talented, which is unfortunate.
Such Jernia eventually betrays humanity. It was because she believed she was not the vessel for humanity.
She becomes an apostle of the foreign god and opposes the protagonist, after which she spectacularly oxidizes from a blow on the back of the head from her protecting foreign god following the collapse of the federation.
But that’s a story far away. Right now, she’s not a villain, or anything, just a bare sprout.
“Do you remember when I said I’d step on you?”
“Why, really going to step on me?”
Jernia approached with a sly smile. She seemed ready to trample on my foot with her own. I didn’t dodge.
Sigh.
“How is it, now that I’ve stepped on you as you wished?”
“Nice.”
It’s only ticklish when a small body tries to press down hard like that.
Seeing me remain indifferent, Jernia seemed displeased and put her weight on me, as if to climb on top of me.
“You’re good at massages.”
“…Crazy bastard.”
Of course, this is all an act. I’m not insane. Where in the world would there be a pervert who gets excited by being stepped on by others? It’s just that, I’ve found it’s better to pretend to be mad when dealing with Zernia. This is my approach.
I spoke as I leaned in closely.
“Excuse me?”
Zernia jumped back like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, pulling away. She breathed heavily, stoking her arm. As I picked up my bag, I told her,
“I won’t mind being stepped on like this, but don’t touch my sister.”
***
– Don’t touch my sister.
That one sentence stuck in Seti’s mind.
‘What the hell is that guy babbling about?’
She couldn’t make sense of Adel’s sudden outburst. Seti hid and eavesdropped on their conversation.
Zernia gently scratched Adel as she had done to her. But Adel didn’t even flinch. He calmly extricated himself from the situation.
The conversation naturally came to a halt.
Seti blinked her eyes. She carelessly shoved the remaining test papers into her bag and found Edward.
“Assistant, you said you taught Adel in an interview, right?”
“Huh? Yeah, but…”
“In the last two weeks, did anything strange happen to him?”
“Not at all?”
Edward, who was studying Seti’s expression, nodded. He seemed to know what she meant and opened his mouth with a laugh.
“Your brother was quite different from what he appeared to be in mass communication. Even though he is surprisingly intelligent. Also, he’s a good person by nature. Of course, there’s a chance I could be wrong… But as an outsider, that’s what I think.”
Edward may have transferred schools, but he certainly had his own conscientious opinion. Seti believed that Edward’s words were not empty.
In fact, even during Rustilla’s time, it was the same.
Rustilla spoke of Adel as ‘a pitiful person’, ‘a person who needs help’. Adel’s first encounter with her was during that time.
Had it been the evaluation of just one person, she could have ignored it and moved on but if two trustworthy people give the same evaluation, it’s worth doubting.
In other words, she could reach this conclusion:
“People can change.”
Or…
“There is a set timing for their garbage-like actions.”
Seti hasn’t lived with Adel for a very long time. Even living in the same house, they didn’t meet often, and they never ate together. Adel always seemed to be locked up in his room.
So perhaps, their relationship was less than average.
“He seems to worry a lot about his sister even though he doesn’t show it.”
“The bastard?”
Seti waved her hand dismissively.
“That’s the guy who would always curse and hit me whenever he had the chance. Not likely…”
“Guys with little sisters are usually like that. There are differences in degree, but they express their affection like that.”
“If that’s how they express their affection, it’s disgusting.”
“He will change as he matures.”
From noble mtl dot com
Edward leisurely gazed towards the far-off scene where Adel and Zernia were talking. Zernia chuckled, wrapped up her clutch bag and went outside.
Having ended his conversation, Adel approached.
“Little brother, let’s go home.”
Seti’s eyes narrowed.
***
Mock test results were out.
“Hey, what rank did you get?”
Just as the notice had arrived, my younger sister had burst into my room.
“What’s up? Coming into my room and all.”
“Cut the crap and check your test scores.”
Without a word, I handed her my report card. Seti grabbed it like a ghost, skimmed over it quickly, and gaped.
“You, you must have forged this.”
“I’m speechless.”
I sighed, touching my forehead. It was too much to be accused of forging my mock test score by my own sister.
Seti’s eyes trembled. She held her breath. Her chest heaved as if she had just run a marathon.
“There’s no way you got this score if you didn’t forge it.”
“Didn’t I say before? Show and prove.”
Whack!
Seti threw my test paper onto my face.
[Total ranking: 1(2)/4565]
[* The number in parentheses represents the number of people with the same rank.]
“You couldn’t even do simple fractions. You were such an idiot. And you’re telling me you got this score in less than a few months? Bullsh*t!”
“Little sister, isn’t your language a bit harsh?”
“Hey, harsh language…! You’ve always…!”
Suddenly, Seti’s lips clamped shut.
“Ah, just open the test paper.”
Saying so, Seti dug through my bag herself. Books I had completed spilled out onto the floor. She finally found my torn mock test paper and unfolded it.
“Ah!”
Even in a mock test, it was still a test that needed checking. In that process, the test paper had become quite dirty. Seti scanned over my scribbled solutions, and then yelled.
“Hey, thi-this is a substitute.”
“……”
“If it is not a substitute, it doesn’t make sense.”
You aren’t making sense.
“You, what rank did you get?”
“You don’t need to know.”
“Why won’t you show yours when I’ve shown mine?”
“Why do I have to show mine?”
I smiled slyly and then said,
“Shall we guess the rank? Third.”
“…Why do you think so?”
“Because, I think, Jelna studies better than you, and she would have the same rank as me.”
It was a logical inference, and in reality, there was nothing to see.
Stellarium was located at the southern end of the Federal Great Bar Spiral Galaxy. Consequently, Zerya, who had lived in the northern part of the galaxy, had purchased a station in the south and used it like a hotel for the past month.
As time passed, she naturally received her mock exam results. She initially had no intention of taking the mock exam, but she reluctantly participated due to the family’s insistence that she should be careful.
The test results were mediocre. Despite answering half-heartedly, she ended up placing first. Zerya believed the test to be intentionally easy in order to manage the students’ mental state before the actual exam.
Only.
“Sigh.”
There was a tie.
“…Who is this guy?”
For the first time in a while, Zerya got testy. So far, nobody had ever surpassed her.
Even though they shared the top spot, it was enough to irritate her.
The direct lineage of the Adelbaine family should always stand on top. It was the family motto and Zerya’s own principle. It was unacceptable to have someone else by her side.
She had experienced the unexpected.
Even before looking at the written test, she was upset.
“Pecha, hack into the school’s computer network and find out who tied with me. I need to at least know his name.”
The Adelbaine family’s information network was as sturdy as a well-woven spiderweb. As soon as Zerya issued the command, the student who tied with her in no more than fifteen minutes was identified.
“I contacted the principal. His name is Eidelf Von Rhineland.”
“Eidelf…”
Just inputting the name in the search engines brings up dozens of articles. Most of them contain negative narratives. A boy who’s committed such reckless deeds that mere sight of them induces frustration.
There were no stories of the boy being poor at studies. The only thing known was that he had been suspended multiple times for wrecking school life .
“Has he always been this studious?”
“Academic ability and character are separate issues,”
Zerya tapped her oak desk with a thump, thump. She ruminated. What to do with this boy named Eidelf.
She would not resort to childish actions such as drowning herself in resentment if he turned out to be superior. That would not be elegant. Adelbaines have always elegantly taken care of their enemies.
“Rhineland……”
They might not be at the same level as the Adelbaines, but their influence was significant. The only reason the southern part of the Federation didn’t fall to the monsters was because of doctors from their family that saved soldiers with miraculous medicine.
“That’s interesting.”
Zerya realized it then.
– Step on.
What phrase had been omitted behind the words Eidelf said back then.
“… If only I could.”
This is just a practice game anyway.
The real test is next week.
Chortling, Zerya checked the calendar.
A week later. The Stellarium written test was coming up.
