The magnificent graduation ceremony had ended, and it was a quiet late winter night before the eve of the festival.

The dormitories where students should be sleeping were gradually becoming restless.

Dong, dong.

Ten consecutive bell tolls were heard from far away. At the same time, all the students threw off their blankets and got up from their beds.

The students moved in unison, as if they were one body, without any confusion and in a regular manner.

In an instant, the students lined up by department and grade. Their faces were filled with a bit of solemnity, and otherwise with trembling and excitement.

They looked like children sneaking into the kitchen at night while their parents were asleep to reach for the cookie jar.

What the students were about to do was not much different from this.

“…Confirmed, next. Confirmed, next.”

The student council officers from the three departments mechanically verified the students’ identities, comparing the student list with their faces.

And finally, it was Allen’s turn.

“Your name?”

“Allen Evans, first-year Magic Department!”

At the same time, a fountain pen scratched on paper.

“Confirmed, next.”

A small piece of paper inscribed with complex magical formulas was placed in Allen’s hand, whose identity had been verified.

Allen slowly tore the paper with a face unable to hide his excitement.

As the paper split into two, it made a tearing sound. Simultaneously, the light from the magical formula grew larger and engulfed Allen.

A moment later, the light faded and Allen opened his eyes.

“…!”

The auditorium where the graduation ceremony had been held had completely transformed.

Instead of the bright flowers that had been decorating various places, the emblems of the three departments—Swordsmanship, Politics, and Magic—were neatly arranged.

A powerful magical barrier, which hadn’t been there during the day, now hung over the seats divided into three sections by department, preventing anyone from carelessly intruding into another department’s area.

In the very front, a large black flag emblazoned with the department emblem prominently occupied its place.

Looking at the flags with the department emblems majestically fluttering, one’s spirit for their department would naturally be uplifted.

Tap.

Just then, someone touched Allen’s shoulder.

“You came early.”

It was none other than Nigel Ars.

Allen, who had been smiling brightly, suddenly stiffened his face. Nigel tilted her head at Allen’s strange behavior, then figured out the reason.

“…You still haven’t withdrawn that rule?”

“It’s not tomorrow yet.”

Nigel surrendered to that stubborn voice.

And she silently nodded her head in response.

Allen, who had been staring at this, slowly opened his mouth.

“…I’ll give you a special amnesty two hours early, just you, not Noah.”

Nigel chuckled softly at the shallow calculation that came from Allen thinking it would be boring if he only mentioned himself, and gladly accepted the amnesty.

Then she belatedly looked around the auditorium.

Despite being so busy with the graduation ceremony, the auditorium had somehow been prepared to match the grandiose name of the department score announcement ceremony.

At that moment, the voices of the student council members could be heard.

“…Did the sleeping juice I made work well?”

“Yeah. The dorm supervisor fell into such a deep sleep, she wouldn’t have noticed even if a magical beast had taken her away.”

The proud creator of the juice was someone who had been accepted as a royal magician even before graduation.

“Then how about the professors’ side?”

“Of course, it’s perfect. Who do you think is giving the supervision orders?”

“We’ve already perfectly tracked the professors’ movements. There’s no way we’ll get caught.”

The female student carrying a large sword on her back and the male student reading a book were prodigies who had been accepted into the royal knights and royal officials, respectively.

Wondering if she would naturally become like that when she became a third-year student, Nigel frowned.

“What are you looking at?”

Just then, Oliver’s voice was heard.

It was Oliver who had overseen and directed this department score announcement ceremony, and it was also Oliver who had broken through the academy’s security magic and inscribed hundreds of pages of complex teleportation magic designs.

And it was only Oliver whose post-graduation path had not been determined.

Rumor had it that he had been offered a position as a royal magician even before the juice maker over there.

“…Don’t you regret it?”

“What?”

Innocent eyes met hers.

Looking at those eyes filled only with joy, without a trace of regret, Nigel’s desire to speak melted away like snow.

“No, it’s nothing.”

“Alright then. It’s about to start, so don’t wander around and quickly take your seat. In just a few days, you’ll have to be a role model for your juniors, so you shouldn’t do that.”

“Who are you to say that?”

“Of course, who else but me, who has perfectly fulfilled the role of an exemplary senior worthy of being a role model to juniors?”

“…Ah, yes.”

Nigel answered with a rotten face and sat down, leaving Oliver’s giggling laughter behind.

And, not long after, the unofficial, unauthorized event that truly concluded the school year at Sienia began.

“Wow~ Professor Heres is sweeping it all this year.”

In the faculty lounge, Heres sat on the sofa, sipping tea with a victor’s smile.

Just like every year, the professors’ department score betting took place without hesitation, and Heres, along with all the other professors, bet on the department they were in charge of.

“I heard the highest scorer is the top student of the year, Nigel Ars?”

As the name of his proud and beloved student was mentioned, Heres’s smile deepened.

His pride swelled even more thanks to Nigel, whom he was in charge of, becoming the highest scorer.

Looking at the scoring items made him even more pleased.

Top student, top student, top student… Endless top rankings and anonymous reports from students of other departments who received help from Nigel, earning big bonus points, it couldn’t be better.

Well, there were also awards from the dreaded magic sword competition among them, but they had long been forgotten among the other achievements.

“Heres, your mouth is about to reach your ears.”

“Oh, what nonsense.”

Heres grinned and waved his hand dismissively.

“Maybe I should make our kids study a bit instead of just swinging swords. This academy is too biased towards theory.”

“Don’t be petty over mere department scores, Roneh.”

At that moment, Roneh from the Swordsmanship Department, which ranked 3rd in department scores, and Cledian from the Politics Department, which ranked 2nd, took seats on either side of Heres.

“Sigh, I should have somehow made Nigel transfer departments.”

“This time, I have no choice but to agree with you, Roneh.”

Heres wasn’t afraid of the two of them, at least for today.

“Haha, well, our Nigel is just that excellent.”

He didn’t forget to emphasize the word ‘our’ in the meantime.

“Well, children can always change their dreams, so there are still two years of opportunity left.”

Cledian nodded in agreement with Roneh’s words.

“You two… you still haven’t given up on Nigel?”

Roneh and Cledian looked at Heres with shameless faces as if asking why he was stating the obvious.

Heres’s face hardened as he suddenly faced the crisis of losing his cherished student.

“Professor Roneh, you have Noah, and Professor Cledian, you have Sid!”

“Yes, and in addition, I have you, Dian.”

At Roneh’s words, Cledian’s face turned cold. Roneh welcomed that face gladly.

After a while, when the two’s staring contest subsided, the target became Heres again.

“By the way, this year will be a headache for you, Heres.”

“Ah, I heard the news too. Who would have thought that person would come as an exchange student. I heard they specifically designated you, Heres.”

At the words of Cledian and Roneh, Heres’s face, who had been forcibly trying to forget that fact, turned pale.

“Yes… it’s an honor to be able to serve such an esteemed person.”

“They’re known to be a cheerful person, so it probably won’t happen, but it’s best to be careful not to cause any friction. If you’re not careful, you might end up in an international dispute rather than a department fight.”

“…Thank you for the advice, Professor Roneh.”

Heres barely managed to answer and weakly got up from the sofa.

“…Hehehe.”

At the eve’s banquet hall, Allen suddenly laughed while drinking fruit juice.

“…”

Afraid that Allen might get upset, Nigel spoke first instead of Noah, who couldn’t say anything.

“Enough already, Allen. How many times has this been?”

Despite the cold voice, Allen’s laughter showed no sign of stopping.

“No, listen, Nigel. Just now, some boy asked me if I was a senior student. A senior, can you believe it?”

“That’s right, even someone who barely passed the promotion exam is still a second-year student.”

Nigel said playfully.

“Why are you touching a sore spot on such a good day? If it weren’t for your special training with Lady Dien, you wouldn’t have passed either.”

Nigel’s body stiffened as if she had been hit hard in the solar plexus by that light joke.

“Ah, without our help getting into the gate… you wouldn’t have even dreamed of promotion, right?”

“That’s true, conclusion-wise.”

And with Noah’s decisive finishing blow, Nigel became as silent as a mute who had eaten honey.

Allen and Noah were giggling and whispering in their own world, clearly enjoying themselves.

…They were definitely talking about the confession they made back then.

Nigel put her hand in her dress pocket.

She still hadn’t returned the seal ring that was in her hand.

Why was it so difficult to refuse? For some reason, the words just wouldn’t come out easily.

As Nigel was bowing her head deep in thought, Allen pushed Noah towards Nigel.

Although Noah could have easily resisted with his strength, he pretended not to notice and allowed himself to be pushed towards Nigel.

Seeing through the two’s obvious ploy, Nigel flashed her middle finger at Allen, the instigator.

Next was Noah’s turn.

‘It’s definitely Noah’s turn, but…’

In an instant, Noah’s face came close to Nigel’s ear.

“You’re beautiful today too.”

That charming smile that appeared after he finished speaking once again stopped Nigel’s words and actions.