About an hour before Ethan and Lilith arrived at Luminor Academy…

Caraham Jamuel August, the eldest son of Jamuel Bruce August, Margrave of Alteration, and the hereditary successor of the August-style swordsmanship, was also heading towards the academy to take the entrance exam for the Swordsmanship Department.

In a carriage adorned with the August family crest, he was shaking his legs with an anxious expression, unable to sit still.

 

Tremble, tremble.

“……”

Tremble, tremble.

“……”

Tremble, tremb…

“Caraham! Can you stop shaking your legs?! With your size, your trembling is making the whole carriage shake!”

“S-sorry, sister!”

 

Caraham bowed his head at the shout of his only sister, Lizzy Lynn August.

Thanks to her warning, he managed to compose himself and calm down for a moment.

He somehow managed to stop his shaking leg and seemed to gather his thoughts for a moment.

However, this temporary stability began to waver again like ripples on a calm water’s surface in less than five minutes.

 

Tremble, tremble.

“……”

Tremble, tremb…

“Ca~ra~hammm~!”

“So-sorry, sister! I-I unconsciously… due to anxiety…!”

“…*sigh*, really now…”

 

Seeing her younger brother shaking his leg in the Augusts’ carriage as if he was about to jump out at any moment, Lizzy let out a sigh.

Wondering what had made her younger brother so anxious, she asked.

 

“What’s wrong with you? It’s just the academy entrance exam, isn’t it? Where’s your usual confident attitude, saying you’d never lose since Father has passed down the August-style swordsmanship to you?”

“N-no, sister! I’m not feeling anxious about the sword duels in the entrance exam, it’s for another reason…”

“What other reason?”

“I-I’ve been feeling anxious about this carriage line that hasn’t been moving at all! We’ve been standing still without moving for an hour now, so of course, I can’t help but feel anxious!”

“Ah, Caraham…”

 

Lizzy had thought about cheering him up, thinking that even her brother might be nervous about the entrance exam, but seeing her brother scared for a much more ridiculous reason than she had thought, she couldn’t help but feel exasperated.

In the end, instead of encouragement, she started advising him to maintain his noble dignity, as she always had.

 

“What’s there to be so anxious about just because the carriage has been stopped for about an hour? A noble should be able to wait patiently in a carriage for five hours or ten hours.”

“Of course I can wait patiently in a carriage when traveling long distances! Bu-but when we’re standing still like this, we can’t move forward! When on earth are we going to arrive at Luminor Academy?!”

“It’s natural for carriages to be stuck on the day of the academy’s exam. By now, the nobles of the carriages at the front should be finishing their exams and leaving one by one, so this line of stopped carriages should clear up in about three or four hours.”

“Th-three or four hours?! What if the entrance exam ends by then?! If I, the eldest son of the August family, can’t take the exam and can’t enter the academy, what a laughingstock it would be…”

“The academy entrance exam is held from morning to evening, so you don’t need to worry! Anyway, if you really are a noble, act like one and sit quietly and read a book! Here!”

“O-okay, sister…”

 

Lizzy handed her younger brother a book on the history of swordsmanship that she had prepared in case something like this happened, and Caraham received it in a daze.

He forcibly opened the book he had received in an attempt to somehow calm his anxious mind, but in his anxious mental state, there was no way the contents of the book could properly enter his head.

Above all, the history book, which was full of text with almost no pictures, only served to confuse Caraham’s mind even more.

 

“If you really can’t stand it, lean against the carriage wall and take a nap. I’ll wake you up when we arrive at the academy…”

“…I can’t do this after all, sister.”

“Huh?”

“I’ll leave for the academy first. It seems it would be much faster for me to run there myself than to wait here for the carriage to move.”

 

With those words, Caraham grabbed his sword that was leaning against the carriage wall and jumped out of the carriage.

Lizzy urgently called out to her younger brother, who was suddenly showing some strange behavior, but Caraham’s footsteps were already quickly running toward Luminor Academy.

 

“Hey, Caraham! Hey!!”

“Take your time coming, sister!”

“I’m not even taking the exam today! And you’re going to leave me alone in the carriage while you go ahead? Come back right now!”

“I’ll come back after taking the entrance exam!”

“Hey, HEEEEY!!!”

 

Caraham had already started moving towards the academy, disregarding his sister’s calls.

Only Lizzy was left alone in the August carriage, which had lost its purpose.

 

“AAAAGH! And I came along because I was worried!!”

 

Only the screams of the young lady of the Augusts, left in the still turtle-paced carriage line, quietly echoed around.

“Lastly, Applicant Number 16, Caraham Jamuel August!”

“…Caraham?”

 

Caraham Jamuel August.

At the sudden appearance of this named character, I, too, began to feel a strange tension for a moment.

To the extent that I thought for a moment that I might have misheard.

Of course, I immediately realized that I hadn’t misheard when I heard the boisterous and stupid voice that followed.

 

“Yes! The eldest son of Jamuel Bruce August! The successor of the August-style swordsmanship, Caraham Jamuel August!”

“……”

“……”

“……”

 

At the loud voice and ridiculous self-introduction, not only mine and Ethan’s gazes but also those of the guide staff and other applicants were momentarily drawn.

However, the eldest son of the Augusts, just as oblivious as in the original game, simply walked shamelessly towards the guide staff.

 

“Is the exam room this way inside?”

“Ah, yes! Please go inside and have a pre-evaluation duel with the other applicants.”

“HAHA, I understand! Thank you for your hard work!”

 

Then Caraham entered the exam room with his loud voice, following me and Ethan.

I had a hunch that it would be a waste of time if we encountered him, so I hurriedly urged Ethan to move deeper into the exam room.

 

“Let’s go in quickly, young master. If the young master of the Augusts happens to recognize you, it might lead to some troublesome situations.”

“…You’re right, Maid. I’m not very used to that type of person either…”

“Oh, isn’t that Young Master Ethan over there! It’s been a long time!”

“……”

“……”

 

As expected of a sturdy youth of the empire, Caraham immediately recognized Ethan just by the back of his head in this dimly lit dueling hall corridor.

Why does he have to act like he knows us in a place like this?

It seems he had made acquaintance when he visited the capital once during a gathering of the imperial guard members, excluding me. …Although it seemed Ethan didn’t particularly want to become close to him.

Anyway, it would be impolite to ignore and pass by when another noble young master has spoken to you first, so Ethan had no choice but to respond to Caraham’s question.

 

“…It’s been a while, Young Master Caraham.”

“The last time we met was when we were commended by His Majesty the Emperor. It brings back memories to see you here again.”

“…I see. I didn’t expect to encounter you here again, either.”

“Young Master Ethan, I had no idea that you would also be taking the entrance exam for the academy’s Swordsmanship Department this year! I thought you would be much too young to take the academy’s entrance exam yet.”

“…Thanks for the compliment.”

 

Ethan’s expression momentarily scrunched up strongly at Caraham’s tactless greeting.

It was already well-known among most nobles that Ethan didn’t age for 5 years due to a curse, but to think he would brazenly mention that part so nonchalantly…

Really, just like at the masquerade ball, he was still as tactless as ever.

 

“By the way, it seems your sister didn’t come with you, Caraham. I thought a man like you with muscles for brains would need your sister to stick to you like glue.”

“Ah, my sister is in the carriage right now! She said she was worried about me and came to see me off!”

“…Hmm. She says she’s worried but doesn’t attend the exam itself. It seems her affection for you isn’t that deep after all.”

“Haha, you jest well, Young Master Ethan! It would take at least an hour for my sister to walk from the August carriage to the academy, I couldn’t trouble her with such effort!”

“……?”

“……?”

 

Caraham’s words, which made absolutely no sense, were confusing.

Even though Ethan, whose Achilles’ heel had been stimulated, openly referred to him and his sister as muscle-brains and clingy, Caraham didn’t understand the insults with his stupid head and let it slide.

There was no way Ethan could win in a simple conversation with this blockhead. Caraham probably didn’t even think he was in a verbal sparring match to begin with.

As the two were facing off, another guide staff from inside the exam room called for Ethan and Caraham.

The footsteps of the two, which had momentarily stopped due to the unexpected encounter, moved into the exam room.

 

“Applicants! You need to enter now!”

“…Let’s continue the rest of our conversation with swords.”

“Haha! I look forward to it, Young Master Ethan!”

 

The two prospective freshmen moved to the exam room in a strange tension.

I simply followed them into the exam room, standing next to Ethan without a word.

I quietly prayed inside that the exam would end safely without any major injuries.

 

“Come to think of it, I feel like I’ve seen the person next to you somewhere…”

“…It’s a pleasure to meet you, Young Master Caraham.”

“Hmm, is that so? I apologize for my mistake.”

 

…He may be tactless, but his unnecessarily sharp eye for faces is just like in the game.