Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Chapter 19. Four Proofs

“Cedric Guardner. I’m your senior, and I graduate next week.”

Blond hair fluttering.

Bronze skin contrasting with it.

After introducing himself, Cedric slightly raised his head.

Four golden lines were clearly engraved on his high collar.

Naturally looking down at Kawin, Cedric asked,

“Have you heard the saying associated with these marks?”

“...The Four Proofs?”

“Oh. You know it well.”

Cedric chuckled and slowly approached.

The rumor surrounding the golden lines on Tesca uniforms.

Most students had heard it at least once.

-The first line is proof of one’s Circle.

-The second line is proof of knowledge.

-The third line is proof of battle.

-The fourth line is...

‘Proof of genius.’

Three hundred freshmen.

And ten graduates.

Each year, the number of students dropped exponentially.

An Academy where surviving each year was brutally difficult, never mind graduating.

An Academy that awarded the qualification of Initiate immediately upon graduation.

Cedric had survived there for three years.

His pride was obvious in the way he looked down at Kawin.

“But something I heard is different.”

“Oh? Really? What part?”

“I didn’t know the fourth proof meant going berserk.”

“H-ha!”

Cedric laughed in disbelief.

‘Judging by that reaction, he’s not stupid.’

Kawin had deliberately mocked the shoulder-check.

Looks like the message got through.

Cedric’s breathing had grown rougher.

“You’ve got quite a mouth.”

“As you can see, I’m late for class. Is this graduation Challenge or whatever the point of all this?”

Pop.

A vein bulged on Cedric’s bronze forehead.

“Yeah. I planned to leave quietly, but you keep smearing shit on the imperial family. Looks like you need to be properly educated.”

As expected.

So that was it.

Kawin snorted.

The surname Guardner.

It belonged to the bloodline of the ‘Royal Guard,’ who had protected the imperial family for generations.

For generations they awakened the abilities of ‘Martial Mages’ and served the royal family.

“Consider it an honor. Graduation Challenges aren’t offered to just anyone.”

“...Sure.”

Then I’ll be going.

With that, Kawin turned his back.

Cedric didn’t follow.

Instead, he smacked his lips once.

“Lucky bastard. I was planning to start by smashing you into the floor.”

Whatever.

The sentence of ‘proper education’ had already been passed.

Guardner brushed his blond bangs back with both hands.

A circular mark was engraved on each hand.

Proof that Cedric Guardner was a Second-Circle mage.

* * *

The grimoire stored at Tesca Academy.

Kawin wasn’t sure ‘stored’ was really the right word.

Because the grimoire was the red carpet laid throughout the main building.

And that red carpet connected directly to the doors of exactly eight professors.

To decipher the entire grimoire, he needed access permission from those professors.

Not one or two.

Eight.

Kawin reached one conclusion.

‘I need a strategy.’

First, he would quickly win over the professors who already liked him.

Judging from Professor Oracle, if they took a liking to him, they seemed willing to grant access immediately.

Several professors had already shown open interest in Kawin.

Professor Oracle of ‘Perception Magic,’ who had already granted him access.

Professor Valeria of ‘Illusion Magic,’ who had been watching him since the entrance exam.

And there was one more professor...

Click.

Kawin opened the classroom door.

His gaze swept over the seated students.

‘I’m late after all.’

Exactly one minute.

Cedric’s interference had made him late.

To receive office access, he needed to make a good impression on the professors.

And every professor hated tardiness.

But Kawin wasn’t disappointed.

He had something to rely on.

The reason Kawin had run all the way to class without using Lightning Speed.

Was closely tied to gaining access permission.

“Oh! Kawin!”

Any penalty for arriving late.

At least in this teacher-student relationship, it didn’t apply.

“Come sit down. I saved the seat right in front for you.”

“Yes, Professor. Sorry I’m late.”

Judging from her expression, penalty points hadn’t even crossed her mind.

Special treatment so obvious that even Kawin felt awkward.

But there was a reason.

Because this professor, whose eyes practically dripped honey whenever she looked at him, taught,

‘Rune Linguistics.’

“Now then, Kawin’s here, so shall we properly begin class?”

Brilliant silver hair swayed below her waist.

Dark skin and colorless eyes unique to her kind.

A tight dress revealed every curve of her silhouette.

Her name was Morvael.

The Academy’s only dark elf, and the professor of ‘Rune Linguistics.’

“Professor.”

A freckled male student sitting to one side raised his hand.

His voice was full of dissatisfaction.

“Your name?”

“Joel.”

The student called Joel’s expression darkened further.

One student entered and was immediately called by name, while another wasn’t even remembered.

“Honestly, this feels like blatant favoritism. Kawin came late, and instead of penalty points you even saved him the best seat.”

“Favoritism. Favoritism, huh.”

Morvael muttered while nibbling on her long fingernails.

The inability to hide uncomfortable emotions.

A trait typical of dark elves.

But only for a moment.

She flipped through the grade book.

“Joel. The last Rune Language quiz took you one hour and twenty minutes, right? You scored 57.”

“Y-yes. That’s... right.”

Joel’s voice immediately weakened when his test score came up.

“Meanwhile, Kawin submitted a perfect 100-point answer in fifteen minutes. Yet I counted both of you as having passed. So who’s receiving favoritism? Kawin? Or Joel?”

“I’m... sorry.”

Joel lowered his head and stared at his desk.

He had complained for nothing and ended up worse off.

“Now then. Shall we begin again? Our Kawin. Are you ready?”

Every student nearby gave a bitter smile.

‘Our Kawin.’

That made her argument with Joel moments ago feel utterly meaningless.

But no one complained further.

Because in this ‘Rune Linguistics’ class, Kawin was undeniably in a league of his own.

“Problem on page 38. Anyone want to solve it? No one?”

“Can’t be helped. Kawin, want to try again?”

“Correct! Even second-years struggle with that one, and you solved it instantly!”

“Did House Anper hire you a private tutor or something?”

“Kawin. Could you ask me a question, just once? I’m genuinely curious what you don’t know.”

Kawin’s name had probably been called dozens of times during class.

‘Fuck. Is this “Rune Linguistics” or “Kawin Studies”?’

‘How the hell is he solving these formulas?’

‘He barely looks at them... This is seriously demoralizing.’

Other classes might be different, but ‘Rune Linguistics’ was inevitably Kawin’s one-man show.

Because Kawin’s knowledge of Rune language far surpassed even Morvael, who had studied Runes for centuries.

A professor teaching a fake language.

And a student who had already seen through the truth of magic itself.

He had surpassed his teacher before even beginning.

And Kawin’s strongest feeling toward Morvael was, arrogantly enough...

‘Pity.’

Kawin recalled something he had heard in his previous life.

Stories of mathematicians who met tragic ends while trying to solve impossible problems.

Scholars born geniuses, but not gifted enough to solve the problems they pursued.

Morvael overlapped with them in his mind.

‘At least those people weren’t chasing the wrong answer from the very beginning.’

Rune language contained imperfect principles from birth.

What must it feel like to spend three hundred years clinging to letters that were impossible to solve?

Kawin couldn’t even imagine it.

But he couldn’t help her either.

According to Dharma’s grimoire, Kawin alone could decipher this Braille.

One side gazed at him with adoration.

The other looked back with complicated pity.

That was the relationship between Morvael and Kawin.

“Is it okay if I ask something unrelated to the subject?”

“Oh! Of course. Anything is fine.”

“I heard the seniors who completed the curriculum are graduating soon. I’m curious about the graduation Challenge.”

“Ah. So that’s what you wanted to know.”

Morvael snapped her fingers and moved to the center of the magical blackboard.

The information in her mind appeared directly as text.

“The graduation Challenge is one of Tesca Academy’s oldest traditions. I’ve been here over thirty years, and it was already happening when I arrived. Proud Tesca graduates Challenge current students and offer them ‘guidance.’”

Joel raised his hand again.

“But a Challenge is just fighting. How is that educational?”

“Haha. It feels different from our ordinary Challenges. Rather than both sides fighting with everything they have, think of it as one-on-one coaching. Of course the current student can fight at full strength, but graduates rarely fight seriously. It’s more like passing down useful tricks.”

Exclamations of understanding spread around the classroom.

Tesca Academy.

A place where only geniuses among geniuses could graduate.

Tips taught directly by graduates who had survived its brutal tests.

“In some ways, that can be more valuable than lessons from professors like us. They can advise you from the perspective of fellow students.”

“So that’s why so many seniors apply.”

“Exactly. Third-years preparing for graduation desperately want Challenges with graduates. Competition is fierce. You freshmen probably won’t be accepted even if you apply, but later you should absolutely try.”

Perhaps because of her affection for Kawin, Morvael’s explanation was as kind and detailed as her Rune Linguistics classes.

Thanks to her, Kawin now understood the graduation Challenge clearly.

And additionally,

‘My case is different. This isn’t a normal Challenge.’

There would be no useful tips or advice.

Cedric had explicitly promised ‘proper education.’

His determination had been clearly conveyed through his breathing and the scent of his sweat.

But why?

They had only spoken for the first time today.

Kawin’s interpretation was simple.

‘Because he comes from a Royal Guard family.’

After graduating, Cedric would devote himself to serving the imperial family.

And Frasel was Tesca Academy’s only member of that imperial family.

Then the last-ranked freshman had beaten her in a Challenge and even made her follow him around.

From a future Royal Guard’s perspective, it must have been unbearable to watch.

“Graduation season really must be here. To think our Kawin is already asking about graduation Challenges.”

Curiosity sparked in Morvael’s colorless eyes as she leaned forward.

Naturally, her face came close to Kawin’s.

“Why did you become curious about graduation Challenges, Student Kawin?”

“Ah. Well.”

Kawin paused to steady his breathing.

Now that Morvael had explained it, he could already predict everyone’s reaction.

“Senior Cedric Guardner notified me.”

“What kind of... notification?”

“That I’m the target of his graduation Challenge.”

“Eeeeeeeh?”

Exactly as expected.

Nearly a hundred seated students shot to their feet at once.

Some even crashed sideways with a clatter.

“Heh...”

Morvael’s reaction, however, differed slightly from what Kawin expected.

“You’ve already captured the heart of a graduating student. That’s amaaaazing!”

As though she had known it would happen, new stars filled her colorless eyes.