Chapter 56. Welcome Her with Applause!
A radiant afternoon, sunlight pouring down.
With sunlight seeping in through a slightly opened window, a heavy hush settled over the classroom where dozens of students sat.
The only sounds were the soft shrrk of paper turning and the scratch of pen tips against the page.
As that peaceful white noise tickled their ears, the students took the exam with faces more serious than ever.
How much time passed like that?
Beep-beep-beep-beep...!
An alarm rang out across the entire academy.
"Time's up. Everyone, put your pens down and raise your hands over your head. The students seated at the back of each row, collect the test papers and submit them to the front."
At the proctoring professor's instruction, the students set down the pens they'd been gripping, and the students at the very back of each row gathered the papers.
Even so, the faint silence didn't break.
Maybe the aftereffects of their concentration hadn't faded yet—every student wore a strangely absorbed expression.
"Professor, we've finished collecting everything."
"Good."
The proctoring professor nodded at the assistant's words and left the classroom just like that.
"You all worked hard for a week. Stay quiet until your 담당 professor arrives."
Rattle, thud.
The silence broke immediately after that.
"Woooooah—!"
Cheers erupted simultaneously from all over the academy.
"It's over! It's over...!"
Was the five-day exam really that brutal?
The students began releasing the wave of liberation that hit them all at once, each in their own way.
Rattle, thud!
"It's over! Over!"
"Hoo-ah."
Some flung open the classroom door and sprinted down the corridor; others stayed seated and let out a long, relieved sigh with a light expression.
They all looked different, but the emotion on their faces was the same.
Relief.
Well, how could it not be?
A full five days.
Two days of practical exams and three days of written ones.
And that wasn't all.
The exams ended in a week, but to prepare for them they'd spent nearly a month.
Plenty of time to feel suffocated—not only for students who studied diligently, but even for those who didn't.
As the students soaked in their freedom—
"Hey, for question three, what theory did you use to solve it?"
"I used the Lamiter Mana Theory. What about question five—what did you use?"
"A pen."
"Stop talking bullshit."
The students who studied hard gathered in small groups, comparing their solutions.
The answer sheets were already submitted and gone, but the test papers remained, so they used those to estimate their scores.
A moment where joy and sorrow split.
"Ah! Damn it! I read the conditions wrong! How did I miss this?!"
Some groaned over parts they hadn't noticed in time.
"Right? Applying that theory is correct, right? Wow, I was agonizing over it for ages...!"
Some gained certainty on problems they weren't confident about and burst out in joy.
But not every problem reached a clean conclusion.
"I seriously have no idea about the last problem...."
"I solved it with the Puluksen Theory, but it feels like I kind of forced it...."
Usually, once you read a problem prompt, you can at least get a sense of how you're supposed to approach it.
But the last problem—no matter how many times they looked, they couldn't make heads or tails of it.
"They said Professor Parun's problems were hard... This isn't something that's not even in the textbook, is it?"
"Who knows. It might be in the textbook, but altered so much we can't recognize it."
As they discussed, the M2-class students shook their heads at the problem's difficulty—then, as always, they picked up the test paper and went to one person.
"Ivelin, did you solve the last problem?"
It was Ivelin.
Ivelin greeted them with a gentle smile.
"Yes, I did solve it. Why do you ask?"
"Ah! I knew it. It's Ivelin. We were talking, and we seriously couldn't figure out the solution."
"Yeah. Is it something from the textbook, by any chance?"
The students' faces brightened at Ivelin's response.
Meeting each student's eyes one by one, Ivelin answered their questions.
It was such a beautiful scene that even professors passing by stopped to watch, nodding with satisfied smiles.
How could it not be heartwarming—someone who isn't ashamed of ignorance, and someone who doesn't boast about being exceptional?
But.
"Ah-ha! I get it now. Thanks, Ivelin."
"Can we ask you next time too?"
"Yes, ask anytime."
Right after the students left with their curiosity satisfied,
Ivelin made her eyebrow twitch once, so subtly no one would notice.
'Honestly....'
It was impossible not to get annoyed.
Just because she'd responded a few times, they came over like this and acted familiar.
Every time, it was unbearably bothersome.
And it wasn't as though their backgrounds were attractive enough to be worth maintaining ties with, either.
Most were children of minor merchant groups, or sons and daughters of noble houses that were nothing but empty shells on the verge of collapse.
From Ivelin's point of view, they were things with no use at all.
The only reason she even responded at all was because they were students of Jenion Academy.
Right now they were nothing special, but in the future, she might run into them somewhere, in some position, in some way.
"Hoo."
Ivelin let out a faint sigh to shake off her irritation, then tidied the hair she had neatly tied up.
That was when a conversation between two male students seated diagonally caught her ear.
"Hey, what the hell. You said you were slacking off. Did you secretly study?"
"Ah, this kind of stuff—you'd know it all just from listening in class... Hm?"
A boy lounging back in his chair, putting on airs.
"...Anyway, yeah? You guys should focus properly in class like me, that's what I'm saying."
"You annoying bastard."
"Is Deminen just smart? Or did he study on the side behind our backs?"
At a glance, it was an obnoxious sight—but Ivelin, instead, smiled to herself.
'So the first deal was a success.'
Deminen von Harimir.
The eldest son of the Harimir Viscount's family, which owned a vast granary region—one of the customers who'd bought the exam paper from Ivelin this time.
What the Harimir Viscount's family promised Ivelin in this deal was priority rights in trading with the Harimir granary region.
Right now, petty merchant groups were competing over grain bids, and Goldrin would be able to claim that priority.
'The first button's been fastened well.'
There were four such deals in total.
Two in M1, one in M2, and one in M3.
And she was going to receive similarly hefty compensation from the remaining three, so if this wasn't a successful deal, what was?
But this was only the beginning.
'If I can build routes across every year in the entire academy....'
Would a mere Harimir granary trade deal even matter?
Every year, connections of that scale would spring up like bamboo shoots after the rain.
As she secretly raised a toast to success and dreamed of a hopeful future—
Rattle, thud!
The front door opened, and an uninvited guest entered the classroom.
"…?"
The door was so loud that every student's gaze snapped to the front. It was Assistant Professor Yorby.
The vice-homeroom teacher for M3—among students, he was notorious, for reasons no one could quite explain, for being "bad luck."
Ivelin also looked to the front without thinking—
and then her pupils trembled faintly.
"..."
Behind Assistant Professor Yorby,
a group of students stood in a line, wearing uneasy expressions—and every single face looked familiar.
At the front stood Dibay from M1.
And behind him were two students, and they were all...
'...Customers?'
All of them were customers who had bought the exam paper from Ivelin.
'What is this?'
It was too convenient to be coincidence.
Right after the exam ended—and Yorby just happened to summon only those three?
No, it wasn't only those three.
"Deminen, come with me."
"…Me?"
"Yes. Deminen."
The called Deminen frowned.
The customers hadn't shared information among themselves, so they wouldn't recognize each other.
But he clearly recognized Dibay's face, and that was why his expression stiffened.
"Um, why is this...."
"Hm."
At Deminen's question, Yorby twitched one eyebrow as if displeased.
Then a thick, heavy pressure fell over the area.
"…!"
Because it was an academy, he didn't let it out in an overtly threatening way, but it was more than enough to make the students tense.
The lively classroom froze in an instant.
"Deminen? Where do you think you are?"
"An aca…demy."
"If you know that, then follow the call of an assistant professor in silence."
Deminen walked out with a pale, drained face.
Right after that, Yorby's pressure vanished as if it had never been there.
Ivelin stared blankly at the scene—
and then, at that moment, her eyes met Assistant Professor Yorby's.
'....'
Startled to the core, Ivelin barely managed to keep her poker face.
As her mouth went bone-dry under Yorby's gaze that fixed precisely on her,
a voice reached her ears.
[Ivelin, thank you for the letter. You showed great courage. You must have suffered a lot—how admirable.]
What letter? What courage?
What's admirable?
The incomprehensible words sent cracks zzzzt through the poker face she was barely maintaining.
But Yorby didn't stop.
[It'll all end well, so don't worry too much. Thanks to you, I also got to pad my performance a bit— ahem, hm-hm. Anyway, it'll all be over by tomorrow, so rest easy.]
What, exactly, was supposed to be "over"?
She had a mountain of questions, but Yorby closed the door and headed straight for M3.
"What… in the world is this...."
Ivelin stood there, stunned, taking it all in.
Her cold, merchant's rationality was holding her mind together, but her head was already a chaotic swirl of stray thoughts.
But the bigger confusion came the next day.
…Early morning.
For the first time since the entrance ceremony, academy students gathered all in one place.
— "Ah, ah. Attention, first-year students of the Basic Division. Please assemble in the main auditorium in time for your first class."
At the sudden summons, the academy students each tilted their heads.
"What is it?"
"Why a sudden assembly? You hear anything?"
Had some incident happened?
As the academy students murmured, someone let slip a tempting bit of information.
"This is… something I heard too..."
"From who?"
"You know, that guy—when kids get into a fight, he's the one who sets up the 'arena'? He said he heard it."
"Yeah, yeah."
A friend beside them leaned in with eyes full of curiosity, and others pricked up their ears, focusing their hearing.
"There was cheating."
"Cheating?! How?"
"How would I know. He said he must've picked it up from staff talking."
A short bit of information not even worth listening to.
But the shockwave that sentence carried was enormous.
Cheating?!
In the academy's hundreds of years of history, had there ever been cheating?
Of course, there had.
Every year, talented people who were said to be the best of the best entered the academy, and among them were those who used their talent in bad ways.
It was even possible there were quite a lot of cases the academy never discovered.
But how did it end?
Expulsion at minimum.
The academy demanded massive compensation from the family, and for the next fifty years they would not accept that family's children.
And the collapse of honor was an enormous problem as well.
"Is it really cheating?"
"Seriously, Deminen, that bastard. He didn't study at all, but he said he solved the problems well."
The truth hadn't even been confirmed yet, but the students acted as if they'd already concluded the summoned ones were cheaters.
Whether true or not, it was an easy story to chew on.
So, as the auditorium fell into chaos—
only one person.
Only Ivelin stared up at the stage with a stiff expression.
'...How, exactly?'
The plan had been perfect.
There hadn't been a gap for anything to leak out.
Everyone involved was an accomplice, and everyone could secure definite benefits—so there was no reason anyone would betray her.
'Who...?'
She wasn't worried about getting caught. Since it was the first case, she'd chosen children of families that Goldrin's influence could control. Dibay was the same.
She was just curious.
Had that idiot Dibay made a mistake?
It was possible.
If you weighed possibilities, it pointed at Dibay… no, surely not. He was stupid, but he wasn't someone with no basic sense.
'Then what in the—?'
"Ah, everyone, quiet. Quiet, please."
Ivelin's thoughts continued even after Professor Drauk stepped onto the podium.
"From the looks of it, the rumor has spread a bit. For those who don't know, I will explain. In the midterm evaluation for first-year students of the Basic Division, cheaters have been discovered."
Professor Drauk expressed regret over the situation, while also publicly announcing the list of offenders and the disciplinary measures.
On top of that, they said they would apply imperial law and take measures to ensure such a case never happened again.
The longer it went on, the hotter Ivelin's head became.
'...How dare you. Who!'
It had been a meal nearly ready to eat.
No—more like crops that had just sprouted.
The sprouts had finally emerged, and she'd been waiting only to raise them into a thick harvest...!
Whoever it was, she wouldn't let it go.
"A-and, actually… in a truly shameful turn, this matter was not uncovered by academy staff, but by a certain student with a strong sense of justice."
Words that made her ears snap open.
"Today's gathering is, in fact, also to widely recognize the exemplary conduct and justice shown by that student."
Only then did Ivelin throw her gaze at Professor Drauk.
But the sharpness of her glare was enough to make anyone's knees go weak.
'Who is it. Who. Say it. I'll mobilize every means I have and wipe you—'
Bury you.
No matter what family. No matter who.
Even if it took ten years, even if it took several, she would absolutely take revenge for today.
With that resolve, she stared—
and then the name was called.
But that name...
"Ivelin de Planche, step forward."
'...?!'
"Everyone, please welcome this student with applause."
It was her.
"It was Ivelin?!"
"Wow!"
"As expected, Ivelin! That's amazing!"
Cheers and praise poured out around her, and the main auditorium quickly filled with applause.
As everyone raised their voices calling Ivelin's name—
only Ivelin stared at the podium with a rigid expression.
'...What in the world is going on?'
She reported cheating?
As if she'd do something like that.
"I—I didn't."
Her hands waved before she even realized it, but Professor Drauk simply watched with a pleased smile.
"Even humble."
"I-I'm not being humble, I'm really not—"
Now with a face gone as white as ash, Ivelin shook her head.
She didn't want to go up. It truly wasn't something she had uncovered.
What idiot in the world ruins their own plan with their own hands?!
But the academy students around her didn't leave her alone.
"Ah, Ivelin. Don't be embarrassed. This is something you have every right to be proud of!"
The students who'd been asking her about the test shoved her by the shoulders, pushing her up onto the stage.
The students and professors watched the scene with satisfied smiles.
"Then, we will now proceed with the commendation ceremony."
Professor Drauk, wearing a generous expression, looked at Ivelin and read the text written on the certificate.
At that moment, a voice came to Ivelin's ear.
[Ahem, hm. Ivelin. As written in your letter, I arranged the stage. But there's no need for compensation, so understand it that way.]
When she turned her head, Yorby winked one eye.
'Compensation? What compensation? What letter?!'
Even tearing him apart on the spot wouldn't be enough to satisfy her—why would she be giving compensation? Was he insane?
In the midst of everyone's cheers and applause, one person alone, silently and desperately going mad.
Ivelin de Planche.
Tears were even welling at the corners of her eyes...
And one student watched her with particular satisfaction.
"Mm."
Arms folded, Aster nodded.
His expression was filled with a proud emotion, like a mother sending her young out into the world.
How could it not be?
'Looks like she's moved.'
She was tearing up like that over the event he'd created for her.
'Now you understand, Ivelin, don't you? This is the warm attention of the world.'
Don't twist yourself. Return to the right path, and live in the world with a straight heart.
"Ivelin, guidance, successful."
Today I took care of one more—no, guided one more.
This was the righteous Troubleshooter: a good judge who reformed villains, a benevolent adjudicator.