Two weeks had passed since that incident. I had become a popular star at the House of the Hearth, and the children revered me, saying, "He really is king material!" Peruel, Cravie, and Citra were also getting attention from their friends as the king’s personal servants. Citra seemed to enjoy that attention, but Cravie was flustered, while Peruel did not care about any of it and simply stuck to me. And today, the day of the second examination had finally arrived. The two Fatui were still assigned as my guards.
"Hey, Avrora! I heard you took first place?! You came out of that exam looking half-dead, so there was a reason for it!"
"Wouldn’t the Fontaine-born Fatui be shocked to see this? A kid this young took first place in the first round of the judicial examination?"
When I met the two Fatui yesterday, they had been nothing but praise. They had worried a great deal after seeing the state I was in back then. But now that I had brought home first place, they must have felt reassured as my guardians—or rather, guards. So today, I was heading back to the Dvor Hotel with the two Fatui. It seemed that those with Visions continued taking their examinations there. The place was spacious and had plenty of personnel, making it suitable for supervision.
When I arrived in front of the Dvor Hotel, a crowd had gathered. There were noticeably fewer people than during the first round, but half of them were reporters.
"Hey! He’s here!"
"Please look this way!"
"Avrora! Look over here!"
Euphrasie waved in my direction. She probably wanted to at least act like she knew me so she could get a photograph.
"Well, Avrora, you’ve become a celebrity in Fontaine, haven’t you?"
"That Steambird reporter is greeting you like she knows you. Do you know her?"
"She’s the person who interviewed me. But she came out again today."
Flashes kept going off, and I shielded my eyes with a hand because they hurt. Could they take it easy already...?
"Hey! You reporters! Our kid says he doesn’t like it, so are you going to keep doing that?!"
Sergei pulled out an ice gun and threatened the reporters.
"H-Huh? Aren’t those Fatui? Why are they guarding the top scorer?"
"Is there some connection between the top scorer and the Fatui? This might make a decent article."
"Hey! Write any strange articles, and you’ll be headed straight to the Opera Epiclese, so refrain from pointless speculation!"
Confusion swept through the reporters. Sergei stood in front of me to block them while Angelina led me into the Dvor Hotel.
"Avrora? Do well on the exam, all right? Taking first place in the first round alone is already incredible, so don’t get too down on yourself even if you fail the second round, okay?"
"Yes... I understand..."
Angelina watched until I entered the Dvor Hotel, then tapped Sergei on the shoulder as he kept the reporters at bay.
"Let’s go. Our mission is over."
"Hmph! Whether it’s Snezhnaya or Fontaine, I really can’t stand reporters."
Sergei lowered his gun, and the two Fatui returned to the Bouf d’ete Residence.
Inside the first-floor grand hall, I was seated by the windows this time. There were around twenty-five examinees. It seemed quite a few people had failed the first round. Then I heard whispers among them.
"Is that the top scorer? He looks so young."
"I take back what I said about him being a fraud. I take it all back."
"That brat got me smacked on the back by my mom... ‘Even an orphan passed the first round, and look at how much I’ve done for you...’"
Resentful reactions drifted through the room. Apparently, there had been a great deal of talk among the examinees because The Steambird had printed my interview without cutting anything out. Especially from the examinees’ parents.
I did not feel much about it. Why should I care when I would not have anything to do with them anyway? What I was most concerned about right now was...
"Hmm-hmm~ Hmm-hmm~ Hmm-hmm~"
That girl. It seemed she had applied to be a proctor again this time. She had said that she applied with only one day left last time, but this time, she had apparently applied to supervise the moment she heard I had passed.
"Lady Furina again?"
"Wasn’t she just an ordinary proctor when we took it last year? Why is she here two times in a row?"
"Is something going on? Will she come next year too...? Honestly, I’m not confident about the second round..."
That was right. The second round now shifted to short-answer and essay-style questions. It was similar to the written-response assessments we used to take in high school. Of course, the two were not even remotely comparable.
Answer sheets and pens were handed out, signatures collected, and question papers distributed—the same old routine. But the instant the bell rang and we opened our papers... hell began.
Sighs erupted from every corner. I sighed too. Haa... What the hell is this supposed to mean...? They left blanks in constitutional provisions and told us to write in the missing words? Without having memorized the constitution, you might as well die.
I slowly scribbled down my answers. While sighs echoed around me, I silently continued writing.
When the first period, Constitutional Law, ended, I got up to go to the restroom. But it seemed someone was following behind me?
"Hey... runt. You cheated, didn’t you?"
"What cheating are you referring to?"
"Don’t play dumb. How does it make any sense for a little brat like you to take first place?!"
I was being threatened by three examinees in front of the first-floor restroom.
"Hey, Maxwell. I think we need to teach this bastard a lesson."
"If we break one of his hands, won’t he fail this exam? He can just take it next year. He’s young, anyway..."
"I do not want to use the power of my Vision here, though?"
"You know that using a Vision’s power here gets you forcibly expelled, right? Go on, use it. Why don’t you?"
Three against one without using my Vision... I had built up some skill through sparring with Capitano until I dropped, but I did not want to cause needless trouble. What a pain...
"Hey, I said use it. Let’s see the power of your Vision~ Let’s have a little match between fellow Vision holders!"
"What... are you doing over there?"
An icy chill, cold enough to freeze water with a single voice, came crashing down on us. That voice was Furina’s... but was it really her?
"Lady Furina! Well, that is..."
"I asked what you were doing. What are you doing to that child?"
Furina dropped the pen and spare answer sheet she had been holding into the corridor, then slowly walked toward us.
"He looked too cocky..."
"Cocky? Him? Aren’t you the cocky one?"
"Y-Yes?"
"How many times have you taken the judicial examination?"
"This is my third attempt..."
"And you cornered a child who took first place at such a young age in front of the restroom because you think he’s cocky? If that isn’t cocky, then what is?"
The light vanished from Furina’s eyes. Her atmosphere reminded me of Peruel.
"You three know that with my authority, I can make sure you never take the judicial examination again for the rest of your lives, right? It is clearly stated in the criminal code."
"Y-Yes, we know..."
"Get out of here right now. Lay a hand on this child again, and I’ll have people sent from the Palais Mermonia."
"Y-Yes, ma’am!!!"
The three of them immediately ran away.
"Thanks for helping me, Furi...na?"
Furina brushed the dust from my clothes, picked up the pen and spare answer sheet she had dropped in the corridor, and returned them to me.
"Follow me..."
I merely held my breath and followed Furina.
The first-floor storage room of the Dvor Hotel, where I had entered before.
"Why don’t you take better care of yourself? Letting brats like that pick fights with you."
"They followed me when I went to the restroom. Honestly, I could have taken them all down, but I didn’t want to make a scene here..."
"They must think you’re an easy target because you’re young... I wish you would grow up soon... I want us to get married soon... have children too... and live happily..."
She had already thought that far ahead? Her drive was absolutely terrifying.
"Anyway, you stand out too much! I’ll be supervising every one of your upcoming third- and fourth-round exams!! So keep that in mind!"
"Can you even do that? What about Neuvillette?"
"Neuvillette is supervising at another test site, so it’s fine. If anything, he seemed pleased that I was coming to the examination hall. He said it would help build an image befitting the God of Justice. Of course, Neuvillette will handle the fourth-round interview. Normally, only Neuvillette attends, but I’ll be there this time too, so come dressed nicely, okay?"
Neuvillette and Furina would both be interviewers? I did not know about me, but the others would be nervous as hell.
"So, Avrora? Praise me! I chased off the people who were bothering you! Praise me!"
"Sigh... All right... Furina, you really did well this time..."
I gently patted Furina’s head. Furina trembled like a cute little animal, seemingly overflowing with satisfaction.
She was even drooling as she went, "Hehe..." She really did look satisfied. Where had the divine majesty she showed earlier gone?
"T-This isn’t enough to satisfy me! Avrora! Kiss me! A kiss!"
"What?! Your lipstick will get on my lips if we kiss!"
"Don’t worry! I brought tissues too! So... Avrora...?"
"Sigh... Fine..."
Furina and I ended up kissing in the storage room. For as long as Furina wanted...
After the second, third, and fourth periods ended, I left the examination hall. What the hell was that civil law problem? "State the amount each of four people must bear." Was this a math question?
When I came outside after finishing the examination, the reporters who had been waiting began asking me questions.
"How difficult were the questions? Were they manageable?"
"I found them somewhat difficult."
When I responded, several reporters wrote down my answer in their notebooks. What a spectacle.
"Did you have any trouble solving them? The examinees must have shown tremendous interest in the top scorer!"
"Why don’t you ask the chief proctor, Lady Furina, about that...? I’m tired, so I’ll be going..."
"Ah, yes... Understood..."
I slipped away from there. Using my brain always left me exhausted.
Furina climbed onto the makeshift podium. It was not the usual flighty Furina, but a serious one.
Furina cleared her throat atop the podium, adjusted her voice, and began to speak.
"I am well aware that many of you are dissatisfied with the judicial examination being moved forward by six months. However, this is meant to provide a long period of rest after the fourth examination, for the sake of the examinees’ mental well-being. I hope you have no great objections to my decision."
"Lady Furina! You have taken office as chief proctor for this examination. What does that mean for Lord Neuvillette?"
"Neuvillette will likewise remain in a position equal to that of chief proctor. During the fourth examination, Neuvillette and I will conduct interviews together. Keep that in mind."
"I’m Euphrasie of The Steambird! May I ask a question?"
Grit.
I could hear Furina grinding her teeth. Because of the article that woman wrote, Avrora had suffered today. A question? She wanted to skip that woman’s question altogether, but that would hurt her standing.
"Speak, my citizen. What is it that you desire?"
"It appears the atmosphere toward the top scorer has become hostile because of the article I wrote after interviewing him. Could you tell us what happened inside the examination hall today?"
Crack.
The pen in Furina’s hand snapped. It was because of you. You were the reason that mess happened.
"I will inform you at a later date. This concludes today’s interview."
Furina promptly turned around and entered the Dvor Hotel, one hand raised to her lips. She appeared to be lost in the memory of a few hours earlier.
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