After 30 minutes, multiple pillars started to grow in a very colorful way, with different expressions from the participants.
"Red.. Red pillar? Is that real?" a participant murmured while staring at the sky.
"Shut up and focus on your own box! If you lose your concentration, your colour will drop!" a fat boy beside him yelled back, sweat dripping from his forehead.
Hans, who was still lying down on the floor with his hands behind his head, opened one eye and looked around.
'Hmm.. Green, green, yellow, orange.. Oh, someone got blue. Not bad.' thought Hans. 'In Earth, an exam like this would be graded by E to A, so as long as I am not the only one who gets an A, nobody will be jealous.. hahaha..'
Hans forgot one small thing. He was not the only one who got an A. He was the only one who got an A in five minutes. And there was a pillar of light that pierced the sky still standing proudly beside him, which didn't help him to be inconspicuous at all.
He closed his eyes again. 'Ok, wake me up when this is over..'
"Hans.. Hey, Hans!!" a whisper could be heard from the edge of the plaza. It was Layla, who was standing behind the rope with an apprentice uniform which was too big for her. She was waving her hand like crazy, trying to get Hans's attention without being noticed by Magus Nemo.
Hans pretended not to hear her. 'Whatever it is, do not drain my luck again or else it will cost me silver again.'
"Mister Stingy!!" Layla's whisper became a little louder.
'...'
"Hans!!!" this time the whisper was not a whisper anymore.
"What?!" Hans sat up, annoyed.
"The red pillar.. that is yours, right?" asked Layla with a shaking voice. Her eyes were wide open like she was looking at a ghost, or maybe a monster. "I knew it was weird.. Earlier you said that answer, and now this.. Who are you actually?"
"I am Hans, a handsome and stingy guy who just wants to take a nap, okay?" replied Hans while touching his own cheek. "By the way, did you forget your promise? You owe me 4 silvers.."
"I never promised that!!"
"My memory says otherwise."
"Your memory is a liar!"
In the end, Layla returned to her post with a red face while Hans laughed in his mind. 'Mr. Roland, you are right. Teasing a girl is the best entertainment in any world.'
.....
One hour finally passed.
"Time is up!! Everyone, remove your hand from the box!" Magus Nemo's voice echoed through the plaza. This time his voice was a little hoarse, maybe because he had been staring at the red pillar for almost an hour while trying to maintain his dignity as an high elder level magus.
The boxes stopped shining one by one, and the pillars faded away slowly. Only Hans's pillar was still there, because Hans did not remove his hand from the box.
"Eh.. Is it over?" asked Hans. He removed his hand, and the red pillar finally disappeared with a soft sound. "Sorry, sorry.. I thought I was still dreaming.."
There were several people who wanted to curse him, but when they remembered the colour of that pillar, nobody dared to open their mouth.
Magus Nemo cleared his throat and said, "Now, let me announce the result for the first test. Those who got below green, please leave the plaza immediately, and no, there is no refund.."
Almost half of the participants dropped their shoulders. Some of them cried, some of them cursed, and the rest only walked away like a zombie. That was around 5 thousand gold in total of half participants which was not coming back to their pocket.
'What a business.. This academy must be a branch of a loan shark..' thought Hans.
After the crowd became thin, Magus Nemo looked at the remaining participants. 'Hmm.. 312 people passed. It is a little bit more than usual, but still acceptable..'
He cleared his throat once again. "For those who passed the first test, congratulation. Honestly, I did not expect there are so many.. ahem.. I mean, I am proud of all of you. As for the highest result, three people got blue, one got indigo.." Magus Nemo stopped for a moment, then continued with a more complicated expression "..and one got red."
Everyone looked at Hans. Hans looked at the sky.
'Pretend you are a leaf, Hans.. a quiet little leaf..'
"Boy, come here." said Magus Nemo.
A leaf could not escape. Hans stood up slowly and walked to the podium with his best innocent smile. In the middle of his walk, he could hear people whispering.
"He is just a kid.. How could a kid get red?"
"Maybe the box is broken."
"A broken box can not make a pillar that high, idiot.."
"Maybe he is a child of the Avalon family.."
"Avalon's children don't wear a tattered cloth like that.."
'Tattered cloth? Hey, this was a gift from a dead bandit, show some respect..' thought Hans.
"What is your name, boy?" asked Magus Nemo after Hans stood in front of him. His voice was very gentle, the same voice a farmer used when he found a very big pumpkin on his field.
"My name is Hans.. I think." replied Hans, remembering that he had used the name Nash on the caravan and the name Hans in front of Layla. 'Damn, I have to keep my lies organized.. Which one is the official one here?'
"You think?"
"I mean it is Hans, sir. Just Hans."
"No family name?" Magus Nemo raised his eyebrow.
Family name. Hans paused for a second. In this kingdom, a family name was a power, a protection, and sometimes also a death sentence, just like what happened to the Yuri family. And Hans did not even know who his father was.
"No, sir. My mother is a single mother.. and she is.. no longer with me." said Hans, with his voice a bit lower. He did not need to act this time.
Magus Nemo was silent for a while. Then he patted Hans's head lightly. "I see.. Then, from now on, you are a student of this academy. Don't worry about the fee, we will talk about it later."
"Eh? Is that okay, sir?" asked Hans. In his mind he was jumping around because he just saved 5 gold, but his face must look humble and grateful. 'Roland's drama knowledge is the best.'
"Of course it is okay, I am in charge of student affairs." said Magus Nemo proudly. 'Besides, if I let this monster go to the other branch, the headmaster will peel my skin..'
From the side of the plaza, the East Warrior Academy Headmaster, who sneaked in to watch the event, clicked his tongue. 'That old fox moved faster than me.. Hmph, let's see if the kid can pass the second test, a magus without enough mana is just an expensive scholar..'