Chapter 1

Please kindly.

---

Noel gripped the fence and watched the horse field.

A beautiful chestnut horse was running around wildly.

It was scary, yet beautiful.

She watched its figure from the safe side of the fence.

A girl was watching young Noel from behind.

Taller and stronger, her sister Zeraphi.

Zeraphi pushed Noel's small body, which was perched on the fence, forcefully.

Noel fell inside the fence without much resistance.

The wild horse approached the girl.

"Ah!"

Noel gasped, her breath caught in her throat.

She couldn't even scream.

Just as the horse's hooves were about to trample the girl, magic flickered, creating a solid barrier.

Noel heard her sister's high-pitched laughter behind her as she lost consciousness from fear.

◇◇◇

Seven years later.

Noel, 12 years old.

--- The admission ticket is also here... I didn't forget anything, right?

Today is the entrance examination day for the National Academy.

Noble children attend school unless there are special circumstances.

Especially those with magical power, all of them must attend school.

The country is trying to cultivate mages to enhance national power and wants to keep track of those who can use powerful magic.

Noel was supposed to be taken to the municipal school for enrollment procedures. Municipal schools are cheaper.

But Noel wanted to enter the National Academy. If she could become a scholarship student, she could stay in the dormitory for free.

She could leave home.

--- I have to try hard.

If I stay in this house, I might be killed.

Noel had learned the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic by listening to her sister Zeraphi's lessons.

While her sister studied with a tutor in the library, Noel would sit quietly in a corner and listen.

In return, she did Zeraphi's homework—more like it was forced upon her.

This year, Noel was old enough to attend school.

If a noble family did not send their children to school, they would be suspected of "rebellion against the state" or child abuse and be investigated.

So, she was called by her father, who was in a bad mood.

"Go and handle the school procedures."

He said it as if spitting it out.

Father always speaks like this, so Noel thinks, "It's business as usual."

The butler handed over the necessary documents.

The person chosen to accompany her was the young servant whom her father favored.

Noel secretly felt relieved.

This man treats her quite badly, but this time it's just right.

It seems to be going well.

Noel had been sent on errands alone since she was about 8 years old.

Usually, noble children are not sent on errands alone.

The security in the Anzelar Kingdom is not very good.

If a child who looks like a noble wanders alone, they are likely to be kidnapped.

Noel has light golden curls and eyes like blue crystals.

Although she is treated like a servant by her family, she looks like a noble.

She stands out if she is alone in town.

She knew that her mother had repeatedly warned Zeraphi, "It's dangerous to go to town alone."

Yet, Noel was sent to do shopping alone. Even as a child, she thought it was dangerous.

Incidentally, Zeraphi has reddish-gold hair and blue eyes, which are quite showy. Her father has the same color.

Her mother has light blonde hair and gray eyes, which are rather plain. That's why she married into the fallen Vionne family, which was once a marquis family.

Noel curled her hair and wore a hat pulled down low to hide her eyes.

Even so, she attracted some attention.

She walked in the middle of the busiest streets.

Following the handwritten map, she managed to buy incense oil and plasters.

Because she successfully completed the errand, she was made to do it again.

Several times, she was followed or approached by suspicious men.

She ran away using a body-strengthening spell on her legs.

If Noel hadn't defended herself, she would have been sold by human traffickers and bought by perverts by now.

The servant knew that Noel could go to town alone.

"Miss Noel, you can go to school alone, right?"

He asked as if it were a given.

It was more of a statement than a question.

"I can."

Noel answered, feeling excited inside.

The servant handed over the necessary documents.

Noel's identification and a letter of authorization.

The letter stated, "Noel Vionne wishes to enroll in your school," signed by her father. He must have signed it to let the servant handle it.

Noel quickly headed to the school alone. Of course, it was the National Academy, not the municipal school.

For this day, she had sold some of her sister's hand-me-down clothes to a second-hand shop to get money.

The National Academy was far, so she took a shared carriage.

She had already checked the shared carriage station.

There were many carriages, so she arrived quite early.

Today, she had chosen one of her sister's hand-me-downs that was relatively clean.

In the Vionne family, the fine clothes of the older sister are sold for money when they become too small, but the everyday clothes are usually thrown into Noel's small room after Zeraphi dirties or tears them.

Noel mends these clothes and uses a "purification spell" on the heavily stained areas to wear them.

As a noble who looked like a noble, she stood out quite a bit.

Noel was used to standing out.

Always in a bad way. She had never stood out in a good way.

At the reception, she showed her identification and handed over the letter of authorization to complete the procedures for the entrance examination.

Unlike the municipal school, the National Academy has an entrance examination.

The middle school of the National Academy is divided into general, knight, and mage courses.

Noel chose the mage course without hesitation.

After completing the procedures, she received an admission ticket and a guide.

The examination was scheduled for a week later.

--- A week later, huh.

Well, it will work out somehow.

If I leave the mansion early in the morning, it will be fine. I still have money for transportation.

The examination content... academic subjects and magic practical... what?

A week later, today.

As planned, she left the mansion early in the morning.

To the passing servants, she muttered loudly, "Heine asked me to do something."

Heine is the butler. This way, she wouldn't be searched for... she hoped.

She packed writing utensils stolen from the library table, the admission ticket, copper coins for transportation, and bread scavenged from the pantry into a leather bag and slung it over her shoulder. The bag was found in the warehouse. It was probably a collection bag. It was still unused and clean.

The academic part of the National Academy examination was in the morning.

She had studied hard for this day. She thought math would be easy. Noel had watched her sister study, so she was learning two years ahead of the normal pace. After her sister entered the Royal Academy and the tutor left, she continued to preview and review.

For history and language, she had memorized the books in the mansion. She had created a "memorization spell" on her own, which she thought was somewhat helpful. She tried to put the things she learned into a mental storage with the help of magic... it was more like a suggestion. It might be more of a suggestion than a spell, but for the scholarship, she did everything without hesitation.

In the afternoon, there was a practical magic examination. It included target shooting and one magic skill of choice.

This was written in the examination guide.

Examples of magic skills included "creating a small tornado," "boiling water in a cup," "generating water in a cup," and "creating a lump of earth."

Noel thought, "This is bad." She couldn't do any of them.

Noel's specialties were barrier magic, body-strengthening magic, eavesdropping with wind magic, and a makeshift memorization spell.

None of them were "showy" magic.

Noel then practiced magic.

She tried to create a small tornado but it always ended up as a gust of wind. It might be okay, but Noel wanted the scholarship. At least, she couldn't do a shoddy magic trick worse than the examples.

She could boil water in a cup with fire magic since she could cast a fireball, but she didn't think she could fine-tune it in time for the exam. In fact, when she tried, the cup shattered into pieces, and she had to cover up the evidence.

Wind and fire magic were too showy and destructive, making further practice difficult.

She couldn't do "earth" or "water" magic, so she thought about using a barrier.

She came up with the idea of "wrapping a barrier around an egg."

She was very good at casting barriers on herself, but the question was whether she could do it on other objects.

In the books, it said that "you can cast magic on weapons and armor to enhance their defensive or offensive power," which is called an enchantment spell.

The method of casting an enchantment spell was to flow magic power into the object and wrap it with the desired effect.

It was too vague.

If that were enough to complete an enchantment spell, the world would be full of the strongest weapons and armor.

Seeing that enchanted swords and shields are "as expensive as magic swords" suggests that enchantment spells are difficult.

But what Noel aimed for was not something so amazing.

She just wanted to give a short barrier to an egg.

If the egg didn't break when she hit it on the floor, the examiners might be impressed and give her a good score.

It was just that.

--- Yeah, I can probably do that.

Noel concluded.

She couldn't use eggs for practice, so she used cotton found in the warehouse. She wrapped a ball of cotton with a string and kept giving it magic power to cast a barrier, then dropped it on the floor.

If it worked, it should make a hard, solid sound.

--- Is a barrier like a physical membrane?

She would think about it after trying.

So, she started this reckless training.

She kept giving magic power to the ball and casting a barrier, then dropping it on the floor.

She strongly imagined the barrier wrapping around the ball as she dropped it.

She did it many times.

As she continued to give magic power to the ball, a doubt arose: "Isn't this a waste of magic power?"

--- No, no, it's not a waste. It's for the exam.

It's practice for the enchantment spell.

It became a battle with herself.

Still, she continued.

She did it many times.

She was getting tired.

At the very end, it seemed to make a slight "thud" sound, but it might have just hit a pebble.

Noel didn't give up.

She continued the futile training.

--- No, it's not futile, it's fruitful. It's growing.

She could do it a little, so it wasn't futile.

As she stubbornly continued, it started to feel like an enchantment.

The ball began to make a solid "thud" sound.

Encouraged by this, she continued to practice.

It clearly made a "thud" sound.

It wasn't just her imagination.

Noel changed the image she visualized from wrapping the ball in a membrane to putting it in a metal box.

The sound became even more solid, like a "thud."

Later, Noel successfully cast an enchantment on an egg.

Thus, she faced the practical magic examination.

She succeeded in shattering the target with a fireball in the target shooting.

She had practiced using the fireplace in an unused room, so this was easy.

Next was the free skill.

The examinees were lined up in a stone indoor training ground. Chairs were lined up against the wall, and they received explanations before sitting and waiting for their turn.

Several partitions were set up in the training ground. Each examinee would be called into a partition to take the exam. The partitions had barriers to prevent any accidents from affecting the outside.

Noel was getting nervous.

There were six partitions, allowing six people to take the exam simultaneously.

Two examiners were assigned to each partition.

Some examinees had tools, and some did not.

Noel's egg was in her bag.

The time for each examinee was not long, and the order progressed quickly.

It was Noel's turn.

She was called by her number and name and entered the partition.

In the small room-like space, two examiners were seated.

A young examiner and an older one.

Both looked strict, but it might just be the tension.

A long table was set up, and a chair for the examinee was in front of it. There was a cup and a water pitcher on the table.

It was probably for students who would use water generation or boiling water spells. In the corner, a bucket of soil was on a sheet.

Her palms were sweaty. She had to be careful not to drop the egg. Her body was tense, and her mouth was dry.

"Are you Noel Vionne?"

The young examiner read her name to confirm.

He had a stack of papers in his hand.

"Yes, that's me."

"Then, what will you do for the free skill?"

"An enchantment."

"Huh? An enchantment, you say?"

The older examiner asked, his voice cracking.

The other examiner frowned.

"Ah, yes..."

Noel stood without sitting and took the egg out of her bag.

"I will use this."

She said, her voice trembling.

"An egg? Can I see it?"

The examiner asked, and Noel nodded, handing over the egg.

"...It looks like a regular egg.

Then, please show us."

Noel sat down after getting the egg back.

She had intended to stand, but her legs were shaking.

She had to concentrate.

She started to flow magic power into the egg.

At first, her breathing was shallow and irregular, but she gradually calmed down.

The magic power started to flow smoothly.

She had practiced this for days.

By the end, she could do it easily.

That's why she decided to go with the "egg enchantment" plan.

Finally, she successfully wrapped the egg in a "barrier box" with the magic power.

Noel immediately stood up and hit the egg on the floor.

Thud!

The egg made a solid sound and bounced a few times on the stone floor before stopping.

"It's an enchantment."

Noel told the examiners, her words faltering.

The examiners were both wide-eyed and frozen.

After a while, one of them stood up and picked up the egg.

The "box" of the barrier was small, but the examiner touched it.

Noel had touched it before, and her magic power was absorbed into her body instantly.

She had never let anyone else touch it, but it seemed the egg was wrapped in a transparent "something."

"...Sorry, but can you show us again?"

The examiner said, dazed.

"Ah, yes..."

Probably, no other examinee had done such a dull trick.

Noel nodded. She was handed the egg and sat down.

...Then, she realized the barrier was still on the egg.

Usually, the magic power would be absorbed, but this time it was taking longer, perhaps because the barrier was too strong.

One of the examiners, who had been whispering, stood up.

"I'll get the egg, please wait."

"Yes."

--- Maybe they think I cheated?

It was a bit of a shock, but she thought it was understandable.

She was aware that what she did was unusual, but she couldn't do the magic in the examples.

She could probably do it a few more times without running out of magic power, so she would do as they asked.

While waiting, the remaining examiner, the older one, said,

"You are the second daughter of the Vionne family, right?"

"Yes, that's right."

"Did you apply for a scholarship?"

The examiner flipped through the documents.

Noel's information was written there.

She had applied for the scholarship when she registered for the exam.

The note said that you could apply after passing, but it would be processed faster if you applied in advance.

Noel wanted to enter the dormitory as soon as she got the scholarship, so she didn't hesitate to fill out the application.

"Yes."

She answered, remembering filling out the application.

"Nobles don't usually apply, though."

The examiner said to himself.

"Our family is very poor, so I thought I couldn't enter the National Academy without a scholarship..."

Noel answered without shame.

Nobles vary in wealth.

"I see. But what will you do if you don't get the scholarship? If you go to a private tutor, the magic instruction will be limited to what the state has set."

The examiner was skeptical.

That was understandable. The mandatory school attendance was to manage the magical abilities of the citizens.

"My father said I should go to a municipal school."

"Huh?"

"He said the tuition fees are already depleted by sending my sister to the Royal Academy."

"...I see."

She hoped they would give her a good score out of pity.

Just then, the other examiner returned with the egg.

Noel was more relaxed this time.

Thanks to that, she was able to cast the enchantment in a shorter time and hit the egg on the floor.

Thud, thud, the egg bounced on the floor.

"Hmm..."

"Um..."

The two examiners crossed their arms.

They probably no longer suspected cheating.

Finally, Noel was released from the exam and left the National Academy examination venue.

Ten days later. The day of the results announcement.

Thus, Noel successfully obtained the scholarship and completed the enrollment procedures for the National Academy.