There is always a reason why mock exams are difficult.

Even though it's just a mock exam, the question style is different from the actual entrance exam, and the difficulty level is rarely "moderate." The balance of difficulty itself is inaccurate—some questions are too easy, while others are overly difficult. Overall, the difficulty level tends to be quite high.

This isn't limited to just the Academy entrance exam. In the world I came from, most mock exams were also somewhat or excessively more difficult than the actual test.

The reason is simple. It's beneficial for the company that runs the mock exams to hear people say, "I passed the entrance exam after taking their mock exam."

Even though students know that these mock exams are just imitation questions and have almost no official recognition, they still become emotionally invested. Humans, by nature, have a psychological tendency to relax once they believe they've already achieved a goal.

Therefore, it's better to make the mock exam harder to prevent students from relaxing and to give them an excuse if the real test turns out to be excessively difficult.

Alice and I have taken such exams multiple times.

Alice, with her brilliant mind, studied hard and consistently scored high—

—while I used my ability to exploit loopholes, repeatedly reviewing textbooks and memorizing everything by heart.

Honestly, it was incredibly tedious. Even though my mind follows my body, and if I turn back time, my body returns to its original state, my memory doesn't recognize the 'time rewind' and instead accumulates experience.

So, no matter how many times I rewind time, from my perspective, it just feels like the same thing is happening over and over again.

…Does that make sense?

Well, anyway.

During those numerous chances, I took time to rest or sleep.

I'd skip class and take walks outside the capital, or lock myself in my room and sleep.

I didn’t care about what others thought. After all, the time I spent doing these things would just be reset. I minimized mental fatigue and turned time back to its original state.

Human memory has its limits, but when you see and study something repeatedly, you can't help but remember it. I don't know if it's because this body's brain capacity is large or if I had that talent all along but never used it.

Thinking about the times when I would save and reload multiple save files while playing games… Well, imagining what my original self could've achieved now seems rather meaningless. After all, I'm now Sylvia Fangryphon, a character who never appeared in the original story.

“How was the test?”

Even though Alice is a princess, the entrance exam had to be taken at the designated location.

The Empire is vast. Even if one takes the latest trains, it often takes hours or even half a day to travel to Rondarium from the provinces. And if you push yourself too hard the day before, it'll affect your condition during the test.

It's understandable for commoners from the provinces, but if this happens repeatedly, even the nobility will start to complain. No matter the era, educating children has always been a critical issue. Except for those who struggle just to earn enough for daily survival.

That's why there are designated exam centers in the provinces as well. Of course, some people can't even make it to those, but in such cases, they probably don't even realize they have that kind of talent. After all, they live in places where they have no access to education.

Anyway, we took the exam at the Imperial Rondarium Academy.

Honestly, if you live in the capital and take the Academy entrance exam, it's a stroke of luck. It means you get to visit the Academy itself. Whether you pass or fail, simply entering that beautifully constructed building is a valuable experience. Outside of festival periods, the Academy isn’t open to the public, so most people never get to see its studious atmosphere.

“The test was easier than the mock exam.”

“Right?”

Of course, even though we took the exam at the Academy, we weren’t treated exactly the same as the other students.

There were security issues, and more importantly, the students in the classroom would have been incredibly distracted by us. This could ultimately affect their performance.

Many noble families are extremely sensitive about their children's grades. If parents only scolded their children, the Empire wouldn’t intervene, but there are always those who want to blame the exam location for their child’s poor performance.

Naturally, the Emperor brushes off such complaints. Such trivial matters rarely even reach his ears.

But the Academy staff can't do the same, and neither can the high-ranking officials who run the Ministry of Education. If the nobility—especially from count or duke houses—start making a fuss, these officials will find themselves in a predicament.

To prevent that from happening, we took our exam in a separate classroom this time.

As I glanced at Alice’s face as we left the room, I saw that her expression wasn’t bad. It seemed the exam was easy for her as well.

It was the same for me. After seeing the material over and over again, I probably performed better than during the mock exam.

Of course, I intentionally got a few questions wrong.

“Let’s go and do a quick self-check. No need to verify everything. You’ll probably remember a few tricky questions, right? We can estimate our scores based on that.”

I nodded.

Alice was already confident about getting into the Academy.

Of course, she was. Alice becomes a student of the Academy in the original story.

While the building is currently filled with unverified candidates, by the time the semester starts, all the unsavory elements will have been filtered out. Inside the Academy, everyone was treated equally, and students were on a first-name basis.

Though those formal rules eventually became meaningless as time passed, social ranks still existed. Alice was so famous that no one needed to be told who she was.

As we walked, we heard some commotion ahead.

Students were pouring out of the classrooms. We weren’t the only ones who had finished the exam.

We paused for a moment.

There were ways to clear out all the students ahead of us, but there was no need to rush.

The knights guarding us stepped forward and secured a path.

Some students glanced our way. However, the presence of the knights prevented them from approaching. Alice never had close friends growing up, so even the children of prominent noble families would hesitate to approach her. They didn’t know how to act around her.

Alice wasn’t just a princess; she aimed to become the Emperor. If she had free time, she'd rather read another page or practice her swordsmanship, so it was no wonder she didn’t have many acquaintances among the nobility.

“How many of them do you think will get into the Academy?”

“Probably very few.”

According to the original story, the Academy's admission quota was 30 nobles and 60 commoners per year.

In reality, the number of named characters who appeared was far fewer than that.

Compared to the many students passing by us now, it felt like just a handful.

We stood aside for a while, waiting for the students to pass.

“…”

Suddenly, I almost let out an audible gasp.

In the distance, I saw a student with blue hair walking by.

She didn’t look like how I remembered. It wasn’t the image from the game, nor the ragged appearance I last saw.

She had grown significantly and had her long blue hair tied up in a proper ponytail. Unlike in the game, she wasn’t wearing bold makeup, nor had she modified her uniform to make it more revealing.

She just looked like a very proper student. Honestly, she could easily pass as a class president. She wasn’t wearing glasses, though.

It was Claire.

Claire was walking and happily chatting with a handsome boy beside her.

That boy must be the son of the Grace family.

The protagonist of this game.

“…?”

“Why? Do you recognize someone?”

“Yes. I see a few children from noble families.”

“…Hmm.”

I figured it was better to offer a plausible explanation rather than deny it, so I said that. Alice hummed in response.

“Is there someone we should be cautious about?”

“There is, but this isn’t the place to discuss it.”

I wasn’t referring to Claire.

It was better if Claire didn’t know who I was.

But there were still people to be cautious of.

…The daughter of the Count Crowfield I killed would also attend this school. She’s one of the heroines in the original story.

“…Alright. Tell me later when we’re back. It doesn’t hurt to be cautious.”

“Understood.”

Alice’s expression immediately turned serious after hearing my words, and I responded accordingly.

In the original story, Alice and Claire had a terrible relationship, so Alice wouldn’t have received this kind of information.

But now… I wasn’t the same Claire. And Claire seemed to have changed significantly from her original self.

So I figured sharing this much information wouldn’t be a problem.

“…Huh?”

Claire, who had been talking, suddenly stopped in her tracks and turned around. Leo, who had been walking with her, asked.

“What is it? Did you see something?”

“Ah, it's just...”

Claire stood there, looking somewhat dazed as she gazed behind her. Leo thought that maybe she had noticed someone standing at the turn in the hallway. One had shining blond hair, and the other had black, shoulder-length hair. Leo had a good idea of who the blonde might be. It seemed like the Princess was also set to enroll this year, and if that was true, the two knights standing ahead of them made sense. As for the other person, Leo wasn't sure who it was.

“Was it someone you knew? Should we go back and check?”

Leo, trying to figure it out, began to retrace their steps, but soon stopped awkwardly as the passing students gave him annoyed looks.

“Oh, no, no need for that.”

Finally, snapping out of her trance, Claire responded.

“Maybe… maybe I just mistook them for someone else. They might have just looked similar.”

“…Is that so?”

Leo found Claire's behavior a bit strange, but decided to let it go.

He knew Claire had been searching for her sister. She had mentioned it a few times throughout her childhood.

However, even if her sister did exist, there was no way she could be here. To even take the exam here, one’s identity had to be verified beforehand.

As much as he sympathized with Claire's story—although Claire never truly believed it herself—the odds of her sister surviving and growing up to take the entrance exam for the Empire’s top Academy were extremely slim. Not to mention the idea of her sitting the exam right beside the Princess was even more far-fetched. Besides, the girl with the short black hair didn’t appear to be a maid. If she were a real maid, she would’ve taken the exam just like any other student.

Furthermore, Claire had almost given up hope by now. Even if the chance wasn't zero, Claire likely knew how slim it was.

“Yeah. I’m sure it was nothing. Just… a feeling. Again.”

As a child, Claire had rushed over to check anyone with black, long hair, only to be disappointed every time. Over the years, she had grown accustomed to these moments, and eventually learned not to expect too much.

After all, there were plenty of girls with long black hair passing through the Academy’s halls.

“…Let’s go.”

Claire said, starting to walk again. Leo, feeling a bit sorry for her, followed behind.

 

TL NOTE: Please don't skimp on the stars for the translation - it inspires me and gives me the strength to write more. Thank you~!

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