The next morning.

  I woke up at 4:30 a.m. and decided to go for a run around San Minerva City. I saw Irene still asleep next to me, so I got out of bed slowly so as not to wake her. Then I walked out of my room and out of the inn to run around San Minerva City.

  -

  I've run around this city ?three times now. I've only run around the inn, because if I were to run around San Minerva City, it would take a long time. This city is huge, we didn't even visit every place yesterday.

  The city was very quiet in the morning, I didn't even see a single resident except for the patrolling knights. When I saw or sensed any patrolling knights, I always chose to avoid them.

  Since it was still early in the morning, I decided to continue my run. But midway through my run, I was startled by a woman's voice approaching me.

  "Wait a minute, can I ask you something?" the woman asked.

  I looked behind me and was surprised to see the woman behind me. I hadn't noticed her at all. The woman had long gray hair in a ponytail, her right eye covered by the bangs. She wore the same uniform as the Knights I'd seen earlier, but she also wore a long silver robe. She carried a large sword under her robe.

  "What do you want to ask, miss?" I asked.

  "Are you one of the criminals who like to cause trouble in this city?" the woman asked.

  "Criminal? Oh no miss, I'm a student at San Fulgen Academy. I happened to be out at this hour because I was exercising by running around the San Minerva City. I'm not wearing my academy uniform because I just woke up, but if you want proof that I'm an academy student, I can show you this, although I don't know if you'll notice," I said, taking something from my pocket and showing it to the woman.

  "That's the brooch belonging to an Elevrad member," the woman said after seeing what I was showing her.

  "So you know about it too?" I asked.

  "Of course, how could I not know? So you're a member of Elevrad, huh?" the woman asked.

  "Yes, miss. I'm a new Elevrad member, as I'm still a first-year," I said.

  "I see. I also know that the first-year students of San Fulgen Akademiya will be taking their exams near the Duke's residence. Alright, you may go. I'm sorry for interrupting your time. I was suspicious of you because you were the only person I saw at this hour," the woman said.

  "I see, that's fine, miss," I said.

  "Then I'll be going," the woman said.

  The woman turned and walked away. As she turned, I could see a picture on the back of her long robe. Although part of the picture was hidden by her large sword, I was certain it resembled a peacock.

  -

  After a while of running, I returned to the inn. When I arrived at my room, I saw Irene sitting on the sofa in the living room.

  "Where have you been, Rid?" Irene asked.

  "I just finished exercising, running around here," I replied.

  "Why didn't you invite me?" Irene asked.

  "You didn't say so, but even if you had, I wouldn't have the heart to wake you up when I saw your sleeping face," I said.

  "...I'll join you for exercise tomorrow, and I'll make sure I wake up before you," Irene said.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  "O-Ok," I said.

  Then I went to my room, grabbed my new clothes, and got ready to shower.

  -

  After that, the two of us left the room and headed downstairs to the dining room for breakfast. When we arrived, I saw that everyone else was already there. Noa, who had just arrived, immediately approached me.

  "Hey Rid, how was last night?" Noa asked.

  "What happened last night?" I asked.

  "Oh, you were sleeping with Princess Irene, right? Did anything happen last night?" Noa asked.

  "Nothing, I didn't do the things you're imagining right now," I said.

  Then I sat down on one of the chairs and waited for our breakfast to arrive. When it arrived, we ate it with gusto.

  -

  Afterward, we all gathered in front of the inn to return to the Duke's residence by horse-drawn carriage. The distance between our inn and the Duke's residence was quite far, probably around 1-2 km, so we decided to take the horse-drawn carriage to get there again. Soon, we arrived at the Duke's residence. Duke San Minerva was already waiting for us in front of his residence.

  "Welcome back, new students of San Fulgen Academy," said Duke Darwin.

  "Greetings, Lord Duke. Today we would like to request permission to use one of the places you showed us yesterday as a test site for our students," said Mr. Alan.

  "Feel free, Alan. Let's hurry to that place," said Duke Darwin.

  "Where do you think the test will be, Rid? Mr. Alan said it was the place the Duke showed us yesterday, so the place we visited with the Duke will be our test site," said Noa.

  "I don't know, but it's definitely not the dining hall or the church. It looks like we'll be taking the test at the Duke's training grounds," I said.

  We finally arrived at our exam venue. I had guessed correctly that we would be taking the exam at the Duke's training grounds. There were many Knights there, seemingly awaiting our arrival.

  "You've all arrived. May I introduce myself? My name is Marshall Dykes, commander of the knights serving Lord Duke San Minerva," said Commander Marshall.

  "Nice to meet you, Commander. My name is Alan Hugo, and I'm the teaching representative for the first-year students of San Fulgen Akademiya," said Sir Alan.

  They both wanted to shake hands, but Commander Marshall immediately grabbed Mr. Alan's shoulders and embraced him.

  "Why are you always so formal, Alan? We've met often for activities like this," said Commander Marshall.

  "Hahaha, I'm sorry, I just felt it would be rude not to do so formally," said Sir Alan.

  "Take your time," said Commander Marshall.

  "I'd like permission to use this training ground and borrow your knights, Commander," said Sir Alan.

  "Feel free. After all, this is for the academy exams, and Lord Duke has already given his permission," said Commander Marshall.

  "Thank you, Commander," said Mr. Alan.

  Then Mr. Alan returned to us.

  "Attention, everyone. Before we begin the fourth exam on this first day, I will first explain what the fourth exam is about."

  "Unlike the previous exams, which were held over four days, this fourth exam will only be held over three days. There are three different exams over three days. The total points you will earn for this fourth exam is 5,000. These points will be divided into 500 points on the first day's exam, 500 points on the second day's exam, and 4,000 points on the third day's exam. There is no disqualification system in this exam, so if you fail the first day's exam, you can still take the second and third days," said Mr. Alan.

  Hearing this, all the students looked calm and relieved.

  "The first and second days exams will be held at this training ground, while the location of the third day's exam is still a secret. You can guess for yourselves, as you saw the location for the third exam when we toured with Lord Duke yesterday," said Mr. Alan.

  Hearing that, several students began chatting with their friends, trying to guess the exam venue on the third day.

  "Please calm down for a moment, my explanation isn't finished yet," said Mr. Alan.

  Hearing that, the students who had been chatting stopped talking.

  "After you finish the exam, you may not immediately leave the Lord Duke's residence. You may leave the Lord ?Duke's residence once all the students have finished and we return to the inn together. While waiting for the other students to finish, you may wait in this training area or wander around the Lord Duke's residence. I have received permission from the Duke for you to wander around his residence," said Mr. Alan.

  "That's right, those of you who have finished the exam, you may wander around my residence," said Duke Darwin, who had been accompanying us.

  "The exam will be held over three days, Monday through Wednesday. You will have a day off on Thursday and can explore the city of San Minerva for the whole day. We will return to the academy on Friday, but we will say goodbye to Lord Duke at his residence before returning," said Mr. Alan.

  Hearing that they could have fun in San Minerva City for a full day on Thursday, the students were delighted and excited.

  "Hoho, it looks like they're all very happy," said Duke Darwin.

  "They always act like this when there's a day off announcement."

  "Everyone, calm down. My explanation is over. Does anyone have any questions?," Mr. Alan asked.

  The students began to calm down and looked to their sides to see if anyone else had any questions, but none of them did.

  "No one wants to ask any questions, huh? Well, then let's begin the fourth exam,"

  "In the fourth exam on the first day, you will fight Lord Duke's knights one-on-one," Mr. Alan said.

  -To be continued