“Don’t be too nervous. Just show what you’ve studied.”

The man sitting on the far left said with a friendly smile, speaking leisurely.

“Now, here’s the first question. Draw a magic circle to place a barrier on this egg.”

Seeing that he said “first,” there must be multiple questions. As it wasn’t too difficult, Cordelia placed a barrier on the egg in the blink of an eye.

“I’m done.”

“…Already? That’s quite fast.”

He seemed a bit surprised but soon dropped the egg on the desk onto the floor. The egg floated gently before touching the ground, maintaining its shape completely as it made contact.

“Hmm. It seems you’ve studied hard after all. Here’s the second question.”

The woman sitting next to the person who posed the egg question spoke.

“Draw a double magic circle and place it on that window over there.”

“Done.”

“What?”

Cordelia answered as soon as the female mage finished speaking. The woman who posed the question abruptly stood up and approached the window. She tried to shake it, but it wouldn’t open.

“Did you really do it in such a short time?”

A look of surprise flashed in her eyes. Keynon, sitting in the middle as the third examiner, spoke.

“It seems it’s not by chance that you came in first. Hmm. The third question is about breaking magic circles.”

“Lord Keynon. Breaking magic circles is still too difficult for a lower-level mage to learn…”

“If she’s studied, she should know this much.”

Keynon paid no heed to the other mages’ attempts to dissuade him. He looked straight at Cordelia and drew a magic circle in front of her. Of course, it was visible only to Cordelia’s eyes.

“Now, try to break it.”

Keynon spoke confidently, making it seem like he was about to pose an incredibly difficult question, but it was merely breaking a triple magic circle.

Magic circle layering was still only up to five layers at most, but breaking magic circles was one of the areas Cordelia was most confident in.

She found the distorted part of the magic circle and inserted her magical power.

“Done.”

“Already? Lord Keynon, did she really break it?”

“…Oh ho. It seems you’ve really studied hard? This time it’s quadruple. This should be difficult…”

“Done.”

Cordelia had been repeating the same word since earlier. As soon as she finished speaking, Keynon abruptly stood up. His eyes were filled with excitement.

“You, you!”

“Yes?”

“Try this one too.”

He drew a quintuple magic circle. Cordelia broke that one without much difficulty as well. Then Keynon, excited, drew sextuple and septuple magic circles in succession.

Of course, while the gap before she said “Done” grew slightly longer, her answer was always the same.

Keynon looked at Cordelia fervently, like someone who had just discovered gold while plowing a field. If exaggerated, it seemed like his eyeballs might pop out.

“You, what did you say your name was?”

“Cordelia Vasquez.”

“Lord Keynon. Did that child really break a quadruple magic circle?”

“Not just quadruple, she broke up to septuple.”

“What? A lower-level mage? That’s nonsense…”

The other mages sitting nearby didn’t seem to easily believe Keynon’s words.

Keynon rushed to Cordelia, almost jumping, and grabbed her hand. His beaming face was so bright and innocent, just like a child’s.

“Our Cordelia! Where have you been all this time?”

“Pardon?”

“Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for our Cordelia? What’s your school? No, whatever it is, change it. Move to Diduasel right away!”

I’m not sure when we became so close for him to call me ‘our Cordelia.’ Cordelia mumbled, flustered.

“My master would never allow it.”

“What school are you from? I don’t know who your master is, but don’t worry. I can solve everything. Oh, you do know that our Diduasel is one of the three great schools of the Mage Association, right? So, where are you from?”

“Acheron.”

“Acheron? Acheron… Acheron! Don’t tell me you’re that Atilei’s disciple?”

“Yes.”

“Arghhhh!”

Keynon screamed like a madman, clutching his head with both hands. Cordelia flinched in surprise and took a step back.

“Why him of all people! Why? Among all the schools, why Acheron?”

By this point, Cordelia was becoming increasingly frightened of Keynon. He would speak while smiling, then suddenly yell, and then get angry. He didn’t seem quite normal in many ways.

She waited for him to calm down before carefully asking.

“Um, but there’s one thing I’m curious about.”

“What is it? You can ask anything.”

“What kind of test is all this?”

“…”

The room suddenly fell silent. As the atmosphere sank so rapidly, Cordelia quickly added an excuse, thinking she might have said something wrong.

“Actually, I was trying to deliver a letter to Lord Keynon and ended up taking the test unexpectedly.”

“You took the test without knowing what kind of test it was? Does that mean you didn’t prepare for the test?”

“Well… But I’ve been studying hard regularly.”

“Sigh… How cruel the heavens are. To give such a talent to Acheron, to Acheron of all places!”

Keynon screamed again. At that moment, the male mage who had posed the first question handed something to Cordelia with a smile.

“Congratulations, Vasquez.”

“Pardon? Why?”

“You just passed the intermediate mage promotion test.”

What he handed her was a blue ribbon. Cordelia alternately looked at the ribbon in her palm and the man’s face.

“Excuse me?”

“If you get three out of five questions right, you pass, and you got all three questions correct. There’s still a final third test left, but it’s an interview, so as long as you’re not a serial killer who’s murdered twelve people, you’ll pass.”

Cordelia was more perplexed than happy at the news he shared. Is it okay to become an intermediate mage this easily?

“An intermediate mage? But I’ve only been at the Mage Association for a day.”

“A day? How long have you been learning magic?”

“A little over a year.”

“Good heavens.”

The female mage, who had been maintaining her composure among the five, let out a sigh.

“Lord Atilei really took on a disciple similar to himself. An intermediate mage after learning magic for just a year.”

“Um, if I did something wrong, should I retake the test?”

“With those skills? Come on. Don’t discourage the other kids unnecessarily.”

Keynon said. He still looked at Cordelia with eyes full of regret.

“Do you enjoy studying magic circles?”

“Yes. It’s manageable.”

“Hahaha. Manageable, you say. Well, I understand your breaking skills. How far can you go with layering?”

“Hmm. I can do up to quintuple now.”

“…Arghhhh! Why did you meet Atilei first! Why! Quintuple in just a year!”

Keynon cried out to the heavens again. Cordelia was about to say it wasn’t a year but three months, but stopped herself. She thought if he found out that fact, Keynon might really not leave her alone.

Just then, a strong magical wave was felt near the door. As Cordelia turned her head, the door swung open.

“There you are.”

“Ah, Master.”

“You said you were going on an errand, so why haven’t you come back? Do you know how long I’ve been looking for you?”

He grumbled as he walked towards Cordelia. As soon as Keynon saw Leonard, he rushed to him.

“Atilei!”

“Why are you shouting?”

“Your disciple, our Cordelia.”

“Our Cordelia?”

One of Leonard’s eyebrows raised, seemingly displeased with the term of address. However, Keynon stubbornly maintained it.

“How about sending our Cordelia to Diduasel? If she’s a talent who can do quintuple layering after learning magic circles for just a year, I’m confident I can nurture her well. Hm? She’s sure to make new history at Diduasel!”

Leonard quietly looked at Keynon before suddenly raising his hand. Then he wiggled his fourth finger in front of Keynon’s face.

“I’ve already inscribed her name on my finger, knowing you’d come swarming like a pack of dogs, drooling over my disciple.”

“You, successor, already!”

Keynon glared at his fourth finger with wide eyes. Leonard smiled victoriously and gently pulled Cordelia’s shoulder.

“Besides, history should be written by oneself, not by someone else’s disciple. Let’s go, Cordelia.”

“Ah. Yes. Take care.”

“Co-Cordelia. If you have any troubles during your time at the Mage Association, come to me anytime. Alright? Do you know where my research room is? It’s the last room on the fifth floor. Come anytime!”

Keynon’s desperate voice reached her back and then dissipated. Leonard quickly left the room, perhaps afraid that Keynon might chase after them.

“What on earth were you doing there?”

“Well, I somehow ended up taking the intermediate mage promotion test.”

“What?”

“But I passed.”

Cordelia showed her master the blue ribbon she had received earlier. Although she had taken the test unexpectedly, she felt proud now that she had passed.

Leonard chuckled upon seeing it.

“I sent you on an errand, and you come back after taking a promotion test.”

“I did well, didn’t I? I solved the first test as the top scorer.”

It was slightly mixed with a misunderstanding as she had solved it within five minutes, but first place is still first place. She spoke proudly.

“And that test supervisor said I was a genius or something…”

“More than me?”

“…Of course not more than you, Master.”

Cordelia’s voice instantly shrank. Leonard snatched the ribbon from her hand.

“Ah, my ribbon!”

“Stay still for a moment.”

He moved behind her and, with clumsy hands, gathered her hair and tied it with the ribbon she had just received.

Every time Leonard’s fingers brushed through her hair, Cordelia felt strange and fidgeted with her hands unnecessarily.

“Done. Hmm.”

He returned to Cordelia’s front.

The way her hair was tied was asymmetrical, crooked, and stray hairs were sticking out everywhere, so it couldn’t be called pretty even out of courtesy, but to Leonard’s eyes, covered with rose-colored glasses, it looked quite decent, no, actually pretty.

“It’s pretty.”

“P-pretty, you say?”

“Yeah. Let’s go. They’ve brought your desk and belongings into the research room.”

Leonard spoke nonchalantly and walked ahead. Cordelia fiddled with her hair unnecessarily before hurrying to follow him.

Usually, she would have just brushed off such a comment, but for some reason, the word “pretty” stuck in Cordelia’s heart. It kept bothering her.