Chapter 57

EP.57 Can you solve it? (4)

“What’s this?”

Everyone blinked in confusion.

The students looking at the bulletin board were young. Though young, they were still wizards. When faced with an unknown mystery, it was a wizard’s duty to figure it out.

The students calmly assessed the situation.

In a manner befitting wizards, they tried to organize the situation.

‘What is this thing in front of me?’

It was a test paper.

More specifically, the midterm exam paper for next week.

‘Then, why is it posted here?’

They asked the question several times, but no answer came.

‘I don’t know.’

No matter how much they thought about it, it was impossible to guess why the test paper was posted on the bulletin board.

“...”

They blinked.

Silence spread among the students.

Squeak.

Then, someone reached out.

And tore off a test paper. The students who had been staring at him soon began to reach out and tear off test papers as well.

The test papers were enchanted so that each person could only take one. Eventually, the students looked at the papers they held in their hands.

“...”

Upon closer inspection, not all the questions were revealed. Out of a total of eight questions, only three were disclosed.

6, 7, 8.

The three questions were derived from a single circuit.

The first thing that caught their eyes was the circuit that filled the page. The moment they saw it, the students were speechless. The confusion they had just felt vanished.

It was beautiful.

This was the first time they had seen such a precise circuit.

It was different from the circuits they had drawn.

‘This isn’t a circuit drawn by establishing an overall form.’

If the circuits they had drawn were towers carved out of a large block, this was a tower built brick by brick.

The difference started with its precision.

The completed circuit, without a single flaw, was like a work of art. In the face of its perfection, the students fell silent.

However, the silence didn’t last long.

“Huh?”

Someone spoke with a puzzled voice. Then, they read aloud the question written on the back of the test paper.

“...Find the errors in this circuit?”

At those words, everyone froze.

The students turned the paper over to look at the question, then looked back at the circuit.

‘Find the errors here?’

The circuit in front of them was a work of art. No matter how many times they blinked and looked again, they couldn’t find even a tiny flaw.

But, there are errors here?

Finding them is the exam question?

The students stared blankly at the test paper. Even though looking at it wouldn’t give them the answer, everyone was doing just that.

Thud, thud.

Then, someone’s footsteps were heard.

The sound of heels clicking on the corridor floor echoed loudly in the silence.

“...”

At the steady footsteps, the students turned around and met the eyes of the person who had made the sound.

Ash-gray hair swayed.

Narrow blue eyes looked at the students.

Lania von Trias.

The professor who had become a new nightmare for the students.

She was dressed in a suit as usual, but today she wasn’t wearing a cape. Perhaps it was because the weather was getting warmer. She had taken off her cape and rolled up her sleeves.

“Hm?”

She tilted her head, looking at the gathered students. Her ash-gray hair followed the movement.

“What are you all doing here?”

At her words, the students’ gazes naturally turned to the papers they held in their hands.

“Oh.”

Professor Lania nodded as if she understood.

“Are you reading the academic notice?”

The students nodded in unison.

One of them spoke up.

“Professor Lania, this is...”

“Yes, part of the midterm exam. These are the three questions with the highest points.”

“But, why did you put this on the academic notice...?”

Professor Lania smiled faintly.

“Since it seems to be quite difficult for you all, I decided to disclose it in advance. There were many discussions about it.”

...Don’t they usually change the questions if they’re disclosed in advance?

The question rose to their throats, but the students listened silently to the professor’s words.

“By the way, it’s good if you try to solve it yourselves... but I’m thinking of covering it in more detail in the next class. If I explain the solution, won’t it be easier for you to solve the problems on the exam day?”

“...Really?”

“I gave you the test paper in advance so that you could take a look at it once before the class.”

Then she smiled faintly.

“Won’t it be helpful to you?”

At her smile, the students were speechless.

What is she even saying? Not only is she giving out the questions in advance, but she’s also going to explain them?

‘Do they usually do that much?’

While it was a very kind offer, the students heard it a bit differently.

Why did she disclose the exam questions in advance?

Why did she offer to explain the solutions?

It was because she was confident that even with all this, the questions would still be challenging. In other words, they were problems of insane difficulty.

“...”

The students looked at the test paper in silence.

The confusion they felt earlier was gone.

The words on the test paper seemed to change in their eyes.

-I will kill you.

The test paper seemed to say just that.

“I’ll see you in the next class.”

With those words, Professor Lania left gracefully. Her steps were as steady as always. Her ash-gray hair swayed in the wind.

The students watched her go.

Someone slapped their forehead and said,

“This is homework, right?”

Who gives out the midterm exam as homework?

Surprisingly, someone did. Right here, right now.

2.

“I want to climb a mountain.”

Lak, who was from the northern region, loved training.

Although he had talent in magic and entered the Magic Academy, he trained his body every day without fail.

-Muscles will never betray you.

-Strong muscles! Thick arms! Grip strength that can crush a troll’s skull! Muscles are a warrior’s first and oldest friend.

That’s what he learned from warriors.

Though he didn’t look particularly burly, Lak’s arms were as hard as iron.

Lak felt joy in this.

Having a strong body meant he could withstand even stronger body-enhancing magic.

Training was a joy for Lak.

When his body was full of energy, Lak felt a sense of fulfillment.

“I want to climb a mountain.”

But now, Lak was...

“Mountain...”

“Please, stop it, Lak.”

He was sitting in a cafe, staring blankly at the ceiling.

It had been a week since he last trained. His body was itching for it.

The reason he couldn’t train was simple.

It was right in front of him.

“...”

Lak looked at the table with hollow eyes.

A pile of papers was stacked there. All of it was homework he had to finish by the end of the week.

“...Belnoa.”

Lak called out to his rival sitting across from him.

“What.”

“I think I’ve been studying hard.”

“So?”

“I’ve done my best. I studied until I went to bed...! I did the homework. So why doesn’t it seem to be getting any easier...!”

His voice was filled with frustration.

Belnoa replied calmly.

“Because you’re stupid.”

“That’s harsh.”

“It’s the truth.”

“That’s too much, Belnoa...”

Belnoa shook her head, looking at the sighing Lak.

‘Why did I come to the cafe with this guy?’

They often ended up together because they were in the same class and both apprentices of the Tower Master. As a result, they had overlapping homework, and that’s why they came to the cafe...

“Ugh...”

The barbarian warrior slumped on the table didn’t seem to be of much help.

‘What kind of homework is he doing?’

Belnoa glanced at the paper Lak was banging his head on. Eventually, the subject at the top of the paper caught her eye.

Mana Trade (Basic).

‘...That makes sense.’

Belnoa nodded silently.

Then she took a sip of her ordered coffee. The caffeine seemed to help her brain function a bit better.

“...Black water.”

Lak, who had been watching her with a dazed look, picked up the coffee cup next to him.

Gulp, gulp.

He drank it in one go. Then, while chewing on the dregs at the bottom of the cup, Lak muttered,

“The black water is sweet... It’s sweet even without syrup... Why can’t I understand it...”

Have I become an intellectual?

His weak voice echoed in the cafe.

3.

The 4th Princess, Ayla.

She looked straight ahead, feeling tired. Her gaze was directed at the professor standing in front of the podium.

Lania von Trias.

Her attire caught Ayla’s eye first.

It was a suit that Ayla had designed with the palace designers, putting a lot of effort into it.

‘It’s nice to see her wearing it...’

Recently, Ayla hadn’t been very happy to see Professor Lania. It was largely due to the insane amount of homework.

‘How many hours did I sleep last night?’

Suddenly, this question came to mind.

Ayla spread her fingers to calculate the hours. Seeing that it could be counted on one hand, Ayla let out a hollow laugh.

Like most students, Ayla had been shedding tears of blood over her homework.

‘I never thought I’d experience sleepless nights here in Aphria, even in the royal family...’

Ayla, who had always slept well even amidst fierce power struggles, wondered if she was living more intensely in Aphria than in the royal family.

Should I laugh or cry?

While pondering this, Ayla glanced sideways.

“...”

Recently, the number of seats had decreased due to some professors joining the lectures. As a result, a rare student was sitting next to Ayla.

‘Resty Eleonora.’

That was definitely her name.

The next Tower Master, ash-gray in color.

Scratch, scratch.

She was silently taking notes. Ayla glanced at the notes. Then, her eyes widened.

It was the solution.

The solution to the exam paper given out by Aphria’s nightmare. Though incredibly complex, it was clear that it was a solution.

“...Miss Resty?”

“Yes?”

At the call, Resty looked at Ayla.

“Did you solve all of this?”

“...Are you talking about this?”

“Yes, that. The exam questions given out this time.”

Resty shook her head.

“I couldn’t solve all of it. I only managed to solve one question.”

“...You solved it? That one?”

I couldn’t solve a single question in four days?

Ayla looked at Resty with surprise, but Resty herself didn’t seem satisfied.

“It’s a bit disappointing that I couldn’t solve all of it, given the time I had. I was planning to solve it once before hearing the solution...”

It wasn’t out of modesty; she really seemed to think that way.

‘Now that I think about it, I’m second, and Miss Resty is first...’

Is this the difference between first and second place?

There was no need to look far. The talent Ayla had been seeking for the future was right in front of her.