บท 55: Chapter 18
Lilith and Berith were having a serious conversation inside the inn room. Berith looked both surprised and happy when he heard Lilith's words.
"What!? Is that true, my lady?" Berith asked Lilith, and an excited look appeared on his face. He couldn't wait to slaughter the humans since they were an eyesore for him.
"Of course, but we will carry out this plan once accepted into the academy." Lilith nodded slightly then she opened the manual book in her hand.
"So, how can we finish off the humans in the academy without us having to intervene?" Berith was curious about the plan Lilith had said. He could not stand to mingle with humans for long, even though he had only been there less than a day. But his pride didn't allow him to be in one place with the lowly races. That's why Berith wanted to finish his mission as soon as possible.
"So here's the plan..." Lilith started to explain her plan in detail to Berith. They didn't know that in the barrier they created in that room, there was a hole the size of a needle. From that hole, someone was listening to what they were planning.
***
Ziel suddenly opened his eyes after he had slept for a while. From the start, he had always monitored Lilith and Berith's movements. Ziel also knew that their room was right next to his. Then he felt a membrane enveloping their room. It prevented sound from leaking out and other people from peeking inside. But Ziel easily created the size of a pinhole in the barrier and listened to what they discussed. After that, he raised his eyebrows after discovering Berith and Lilith's plan.
"This is troublesome." Ziel sighed and mumbled quietly without anyone hearing. He glanced at Clara and Beatrix, not far from him. They had been chatting on the bed ever since they entered the room.
"Okay... I'll go back to Academy, Clara. It's late, and I must prepare everything for tomorrow morning's academy entrance exam." Beatrix got up from the bed and stroked Clara's head.
"Eeh!... You want to go already!?" Clara held Beatrix's hand as if reluctant to let her go.
"What are you afraid of? Isn't there already someone taking care of you here?" Beatrix smiled and glanced at Ziel, who was lying on his bed.
"What are you saying, Auntie!? What if Ken hears it!?" Clara panicked and blushed after hearing what Beatrix said.
"So what if he heard about it? Haven't you heard from your father that he is here as your guardian?" Beatrix flicked Clara's forehead and wanted to leave their room.
"But Aunty..." Clara gets nervous when she's alone in the room with Ziel. She wasn't unhappy but embarrassed and didn't know what to do in such a situation. But before Clara could finish her sentence, Beatrix interrupted her.
"You will take care of Clara, won't you?" Beatrix looked at Ziel and asked.
"I'll take care of her because it's my job." Ziel said flatly.
"What!?" Clara was shocked because she thought Ziel had been sleeping all this time. If he's awake, he's heard everything Clara and Beatrix are discussing.
"Then I will leave her to you. Bye-bye, Clara. I have to go now." Beatrix grinned and quickly left the room before Clara could respond.
An awkward atmosphere enveloped the room. But that only applies to Clara and not to Ziel. This was her first time in a room alone with Ziel under normal circumstances, and she didn't know what to say to him.
"My lady. If you feel uncomfortable with me being here, I will try to find another room or inn." Ziel spoke and broke the silence in the room.
"No! It's not that I feel uncomfortable with you! I'm just nervous and don't know what to say. But I don't hate this at all! On the contrary, I like it." Clara said frantically for fear that Ziel would misunderstand. Then he quickly covered himself with the blanket after remembering his last sentence. Her face was blushing up to her ears as she was embarrassed by what she had said.
"Then you better go to bed early. So, tomorrow you will be fresher and more focused on taking the exam." Ziel didn't want Clara to keep pushing herself into the conversation. At this rate, they wouldn't be able to sleep until morning.
"I understand." Clara turned around and covered her whole body with the blanket. From the tone of her voice, she was a little disappointed and reluctant to sleep early. There was silence for a moment, but only for a moment.
"Ziel... Are you asleep?" Clara asked from under her blankets, but no answer came from Ziel.
"It seems you have fallen asleep. I still want to chat with you. Although I don't know what to say, I want to talk to you in this situation." Clara felt slightly disappointed but kept talking even though she knew Ziel was already asleep.
"Let's fight together for tomorrow's test. We have come to this academy. I don't want to fail and return home with nothing. I doubt that I can become a great mage with my mediocre talent. Because of that, I think I can achieve my dream if I study at Piqmentia Grand Academy. That's why I don't want to fail..." Clara's voice sounded a little shaky at the end of her sentence.
"Because of that, I will strive to pass with top marks in tomorrow's three exams." Clara continued her one-way conversation.
"Yawn... I'm already sleepy. Good night, Ken." Clara closed her eyes, and her consciousness sank into her dream.
"Good night, My lady." Ziel replied softly, not long after Clara fell asleep.
***
Today is the day the academy exam is held. Ziel has been up since early in the morning. He had already showered and prepared himself to go to the academy. But on the other hand, Clara still sleeps soundly in her bed.
"It's already morning, my lady. You must wake up now." Ziel opened the blanket that covered Clara's body.
"Five minutes more, Ken. I'm still sleepy." Clara answered in a half-asleep state.
"You'll be late for the exam if you keep sleeping. Or... Do you want to fail to become an academy student?" Ziel whispered in Clara's ear, and the girl suddenly jumped from her bed.
"No! I will pass this exam and enter as a student in the Piqmentia Grand Academy!" Clara subconsciously screamed after she woke up. Then she realized that she had raised her voice in front of Ziel. Clara quickly pulled back the blanket to hide her face.
"Alright, my lady. You have to get up and take a shower. The warm water is ready. I'll wait for you outside for breakfast. Besides, please tidy up your nightgown." Ziel quickly got out of the room.
Clara looked at her body after she heard Ziel's words. He found that her nightgown was slightly open to reveal her cleavage.
"Kyaaa...!" Clara shouted shortly after Ziel came out of the room.
***
The seven skyscraper towers of Piqmentia Grand Academy look majestic and awe-inspiring. Thousands of people gathered there, from royalty, nobles, and merchants to commoners. They were about to take a test to become an official academy student. Ziel and Clara were also about to take the exam and were standing in front of the silver tower.
"I can only take you up to here, my lady." Ziel had arrived at the academy since morning. Unexpectedly, the enthusiasm of other prospective students was also very high. The two of them did not expect that the academy was already crowded with prospective students about to take the exam when they arrived.
"Thanks, Ken. Let's fight together for the test! Good luck!" Clara said as usual, but her face looked tense.
"Please accept this, My lady." Ziel took out a leaf-shaped hairpin from his pocket.
"Huh? What's this, Ken?" Clara was surprised and confused to see Ziel suddenly give her a gift.
"This is a magic tool that can reduce your tension. This is a gift from me. I'm sure you can pass this test. So you should be more calm and confident." Ziel gave the hairpin to her. Clara received the hairpin from Ziel and smiled because she felt good.
The hairpin was an artifact of the same rank he had given Princess Aishia but with a slightly altered function. The first was drastically increasing the wearer's mana and making it easier to control. The second was a barrier for defense equal to Princess Aishia's, but Ziel changed its shape. The third and last will activate when the time comes.
"But is it okay for me to accept this valuable item?" Clara is happy that Ziel gave her a gift, but when she learns of the value of the gift, she hesitates to accept it.
"Of course, so please accept. It might help you pass the test." Ziel gave the item as Clara's protector because he couldn't always be by her side to accompany her after they were accepted into the academy.
"Okay. But can you put it in my hair?" Clara squeezed her voice and worked up the courage to say those words.
"Of course." Ziel nodded at her request. He took the hairpin from Clara's hand and put it in her hair. Clara looks much prettier and cuter when wearing that hairpin. Ziel had to admit that it suited her.
"Thank you, Ken." Clara said shyly and blushed. She lowered her head and didn't dare to look directly at Ziel.
"You're welcome, my lady. Then I'll leave now to go to my test site in the red tower." Ziel lowered his head slightly to Clara and quickly left the place before the girl could reply.
***
After walking for a while, Ziel arrived in front of the red tower. He quickly entered the building because the exams were about to start. Ziel enters the tower and looks for the room that will be used for the test. He could find the place immediately because he scanned the tower and looked for the room with the most people.
Ziel entered the room and saw that many prospective students were already waiting for the exam. He's looking for an empty seat in the back and the least crowd.
Time kept running, more and more prospective students came, and the empty seats slowly filled one by one. Ziel looked at the podium; two people wearing black and gold combination clothes suddenly appeared out of thin air. One male and the other female. The man had short blue hair and glasses over his blue eyes, and the woman had long green hair and emerald eyes. Besides the woman's beauty, the most striking part is the shape of her pointed ears. She is an elf.
"My name is Christof Glaucio, and the partner next to me is Kalya Venetia. We will be the proctors of your test today." Christof introduces himself to the prospective students. He looks like a friendly person. While Kalya just nodded slightly without saying anything.
"I'll say it straight away. You must get a minimum score of 60 to pass the written exam." Christof snapped his fingers, and a test paper appeared before each prospective student.
"You only have two hours to answer all the questions on paper. Well then, the written exam begins!" Christof's voice echoed in the room, signaling to them that the exam had started.
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