Chapter 15

It's the day of the exam.

The first day's exam is a physical fitness test.

All 432 new first-year students have gathered on the school grounds.

They were told to wear comfortable clothing, but since it was early in the morning, everyone was quite bundled up.

I, too, am wearing long sleeves top and bottom to keep my body temperature from dropping.

About five minutes after the assembly time, a person who seemed to be an instructor appeared at the front of the school grounds.

"Hello, everyone. I'm Instructor Mitchell Wu.

Today's exam is a physical fitness test, and you will run about ten kilometers around the school.

Your time will directly affect your score, so do your best.

We have prepared numbered bibs for each of you, so please come forward to pick them up.

We will start in one hour from the main gate, so make sure to prepare yourselves! That's all!"

A 10-kilometer marathon, huh? I'm confident in my physical strength, and it's a straightforward event, which is good.

My bib number is 44.

Normally, such a number wouldn't make me feel too good.

But I didn't let it dampen my motivation and started my warm-up.

Next to me, the two who came to my room early in the morning were also warming up.

"I need to check your base physical strength in today's exam."

Vain was stretching his body carefully.

"Don't talk down to me, you wooden puppet! Only Lord Kuri allowed you to speak that way!"

Cross was also doing thorough stretching as per Vain's instructions from yesterday.

"It hurts, it hurts, it hurts! Don't push so hard!"

I realized Vain was supporting Cross's stretching.

It was probably his way of getting back at Cross for the insults.

"You, I told you yesterday not to touch my skin so much! You pervert!"

"I can't support you without touching you. You'll get used to it soon."

"I'll never get used to it!"

They were having the same kind of exchange as yesterday.

I thought I was Vain's best understanding friend, but these two seem to get along much better.

Well, while these two are being affectionate, I'll look around.

Oh, I see some familiar faces.

I also spotted Iris.

She was doing thorough stretching.

Her eyes were set on winning at all costs, making it hard to greet her casually.

By the way, this academy doesn't seem to have any special considerations for gender.

It's a pure physical competition with no handicaps for either gender.

I guess that means there are a lot of excellent women here.

...I won't lose to Iris, right?

I'm starting to feel a bit anxious.

Looking around further... there they are!

Prince Arc and his best friend, Rail.

Their charisma stands out, but what makes them even more noticeable is the group of women surrounding them.

Arc wasn't being as polite as he was at the party.

His face seemed to be saying, "Get lost!"

Rail was trying to smooth things over.

Being a prince must be tough.

Looking around even more... another big catch!

Eliza Doville.

The daughter of the prime minister and the most beautiful girl in the grade.

She's academically excellent and athletically versatile.

She has blue eyes, and her long, beautiful hair reaches down to her waist.

She's standing with her arms crossed, eyes slightly closed, and her posture is stunning!

She's my future wife, after all.

Honestly, she's my ideal type.

But why is her personality so bad!

If she were more modest, she'd be perfect.

What a waste.

Right now, her four attendants are standing behind her.

Their glares are intimidating everyone, preventing them from approaching.

Only men worthy of greeting her would do so.

The rest are to be excluded, as if it were their mission.

That must be it.

By the way, in the original story, Eliza was in Class A, as if it were a given.

That means she must have placed well in this marathon.

...huh.

Thinking about Eliza's determined running face made me want to laugh.

She acts so cool, yet...

Somehow, I started to feel a sense of familiarity with Eliza.

Vain and Cross were getting along well, so out of curiosity, I approached Eliza.

"Hey, good morning. I'm—"

Before I could finish, one of the attendants, a woman, pushed me away.

That's assault!

"Back off, scoundrel!!"

"Scoundrel!?"

I've never been called that before, so I don't understand.

"I just wanted to greet Eliza."

I said, quite confused.

"Eliza is busy now, can't you see! Scoundrel!!"

The attendant who pushed me answered.

"But I'm just standing here."

"Persistent, scoundrel!!"

"Scoundrel!?"

"Stop it, Merime."

Eliza herself appeared.

She bowed gracefully, almost making me say something like, "Beautiful."

"Are you Kuri Heran? I'm Eliza Doville.

I apologize for the rudeness of my attendant earlier."

"It's fine, really. I don't mind.

More importantly, I hope we can get along well, Eliza."

"Yes, I hope so too. I may have many shortcomings, but please take care of me."

"Still, Eliza, your manners and appearance are incredibly beautiful."

Her beauty was so striking, even my simple words couldn't do it justice.

"Hehe, it seems you are skilled at handling women."

"No, it's just the truth."

"I see. Then I will accept it gratefully.

I have preparations to make, so I'll take my leave now."

"Sure, let's both do our best."

"Yes."

She bowed perfectly and quickly returned to her spot.

One of the attendants, Merime, bowed as if to apologize.

Forget that, take back the "scoundrel" thing!

Eliza made a very good impression.

I can't imagine her bullying Iris.

Hmm, but she does.

That's the scary part about women. You can't see anything on the surface.

I need to stop her without being deceived by her beauty.

That's the biggest reason I'm here at this academy.

I finished my warm-up and put some light strain on my body.

By 10 minutes before the start, everyone was already prepared.

This is a school for elites, after all.

They all have a good understanding of physical activity.

"A little nervous, Master?"

Just before the start, Cross said this.

"Yeah, I'm nervous."

When you're nervous, it's better to talk. That's my belief.

"Everyone, are you ready?"

No one responded to Instructor Wu's question.

That's a sign that everyone is ready.

"Start!" The instructor's voice was followed by a starting gun.

Immediately after the start, three large groups formed: the front group, the middle group, and the back group.

Everyone must have already decided where they would position themselves based on their objective assessment of their physical strength.

Of course, I joined the front group.

I didn't want to think about anything extra.

I didn't look around to see who was there.

With the school's outer wall on my left, I turned left at the first corner.

There are four corners in total, and after the third turn, it's the final straightaway.

There were about 50 people in the front group at the first corner.

The group gradually spread out, making it easier to run.

The group continued to stretch out.

By the second corner, the number had reduced to about 30.

Ah, there's Vain.

I noticed him because he's so big.

No, no, I can't lose focus or I'll fall behind the group.

The straightaway after the second corner is long.

Running on a straight course makes it feel like the distance isn't getting shorter.

Unable to endure the mental strain, the group had shrunk to about 10 people.

Prince Arc was leading the pack.

Really!? But no, I can't lose focus!

After the third corner, we finally finished the longest straightaway.

The front group was down to Arc, Rail, Vain, a man with a springy stride, and me.

I was surprised by the prince's increased pace, but we all managed to keep up.

However, after the final corner, Vain and the springy man fell behind.

It was a final three-way battle.

Arc made his final sprint.

I realized I had one more gear to shift into.

But I'll let someone else win.

I don't want to stand out too much, and winning against the prince won't do me any good in the long run.

I gradually slowed down and fell behind Arc.

I was caught up by Rail, who had fallen behind earlier.

He looked quite tired and didn't try to overtake me.

We ran side by side, and the finish line came into view.

Arc had already finished and was resting.

"You still have some energy left," Rail said with a smile.

It was a strangely eerie smile.

I felt my strength drain, and Rail took second place, with me in third.

After the race, Arc and Rail congratulated each other on their performance.

Shortly after, Vain and the springy man finished in a close race, with Vain winning by a fraction of a second.

"Yesss!"

It was rare to hear his loud voice.

"Kuri did better than I expected."

Vain, who had finished hydrating, spoke to me.

"Vain ran well for such a big guy."

I praised Vain.

It's amazing how refreshing you feel after exercise.

More men who had been training their bodies continued to flow into the finish line.

It seemed to be quite tough for the women, as none of them had finished yet.

"The next one will be ninth place."

The last single-digit position.

Vain was looking at the course, probably worried about Cross.

He might also be hoping Cross will do well.

The ninth-place person soon came into view.

It was a woman!

It wasn't Cross, so Vain quickly lost interest.

Looking closely, I could see Iris and Eliza in a dead heat.

The next one to finish would be ninth place.

It was the last single-digit position and a battle for the top female finish.

Both of them were so determined that their beautiful faces were contorted.

Iris.

You can't win!

I was shouting in my head.

I wanted to shout out loud, but I couldn't.

Eliza's pride would be shattered.

Please, Iris, for your sake, for my sake, for the world, lose!

"Go! It's the last stretch, Iris!"

Vain was cheerfully cheering, oblivious to my feelings.

Bastard!

"Eliza! Hang in there!"

I couldn't help but shout.

"Iris!" Vain shouted.

"Eliza!" I shouted back.

"Iris!"

"Eliza!"

"Iris—!"

"Eliza—!"

Both of them saw the finish line and made their final sprint.

They almost crossed the finish line at the same time.

Who won!?

"Eliza is slightly ahead," Instructor Wu said.

"Yesss—!"

I couldn't help but shout.

Eliza looked at me as if to say, "Why are you so happy?"

"Good job. Eliza, right? It was a good race."

Iris ran up to Eliza and extended her hand.

It was a good scene after a sport.

"Hmph." Eliza snorted and ignored her, going to hydrate.

Iris came over, looking sad.

"It seems she doesn't like me. It was a good race, though."

"You did well. It was a good race, and a good result."

I handed Iris a bottle of water and smiled at her.