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“Ruin.”
“What?”
“So… are you really not going to the blind date?”
“......”
This guy was too crazy for women.
“They’re the super pretty Royal Training Center female knights…! Hit me harder with your swords! Imagining it right now, isn’t it—”
“Please, shut up.”
It had already been three months since we’d returned to the Academy after the capital tour.
During that time, the flow of power had shifted, the world had changed, and everything was flipped on its head.
And yet he was going on about women this, and women that.
It was nearly enough for me to respect him for it.
The only change Jason went through these last 3 months was his hair growing a bit longer.
“Jason. Graduation is literally around the corner. It’s not time to be talking about girls.”
After taking the graduation test, the graduation ceremony would be right there.
Graduation.
Ah, what a word.
These six years of academy life that felt both too long and too short were now coming to an end.
Just thinking about the word graduation made me feel uneasy, but Jason just shrugged, seemingly not seeing the importance of it.
“The graduation test? In the end, that’s just a ceremony to look good for the nobles. I’m gonna be going down to Ardell with you anyways, so what’s the point?”
“I haven’t made the decision to take you with me yet.”
“Ruin! Are you really gonna be like that?”
“Kek. That’s why you should try a bit harder. You can definitely become much stronger if you just tried more.”
Well, what Jason said wasn’t completely wrong.
Although the graduation test changed a little year by year, the essence of it was the same.
It was a stage inviting many nobles of the Kingdom to see the students show off their skills in front of them.
After this test ended, the nobles would start to scout students, and the students would take their first steps into the world of true magicians.
In a sense, rather than a test, it was more like a performance.
And just like Jason, it didn’t mean much to me, either.
I had no intention of accepting anyone’s offer.
However, in another sense, it was an important test.
‘The next-generational magician, Ruin Ardell.’
In this current age, where Galehill had collapsed and the Director was aging, the graduation test was a stage to tell the entire world who Ardell, the magic house that would lead the next age, really was.
Since the people of Ardell, Father included, would be visiting the Academy on this rare occasion, it was true that I needed to give a memorable performance.
“Alright! Then I’ll go get special training for the graduation test. I’ll definitely get a good grade so you are forced to take me with you. Huhu.”
“......”
Ah, is that so?
But I don’t really think something like that would happen.
Then again, there was no reason to break my friend’s fantasy.
I stifled my laughter and smacked Jason on the shoulder.
“Do your best.”
“Alright!’
The weather was starting to get cold.
With the smell of graduation in the air, winter was coming.
* * *
Winter had arrived.
And with it, a new year.
As numerous as the white snow that fell in the cold winter, many nobles came to the Academy.
Whether they be from the capital, or any of the surrounding territories, nobles from all over the Kingdom came to the Academy.
They didn’t all come for the same reason, either.
Some wanted to find skilled magicians to work for their territory.
Others…
“It’s him. The genius magician that the Galehills tried to assassinate.”
“Aah. I should at least go and introduce myself.”
“Don’t bother. Even the princes feel the need to treat him with respect. They even made a decree to never ‘bother’ him.”
“Ugh. It can’t be helped.”
They came to see me.
However, maybe because of the special decree by the princes to not bother me, I could ignore that reason and focus my entirety on the final reason.
“Father!’
To watch their sons and daughters take the last test in the Academy.
It was the same for Ardell.
I found the insignia of the owl that represented Ardell and waved.
“......Father?”
“Shh. Looks like it’s Lord Dellin Ardell.”
And the group of people that were now gathered at the Academy’s entrance grabbed my attention.
The carriage that came through the main gates wasn’t as fancy nor as sturdy as the carriages the other nobles rode in on.
But that humble carriage brought in faces I was happier to see than any other in the world.
“Bro!”
“Ruina!”
Already having grown quite a bit since last time, Ruina leaned out of the carriage to wave her hands.
As soon as the carriage stopped, she jumped off and ran up to me.
“Ruin!”
I hugged Ruina as she ran in toward me, and getting off the carriage a little awkwardly behind her was…
“......Father.”
“Ruin. How have you been?”
I ran up to my father and hugged him.
And then…
“Oh my! Young Master, it has been but a moment since I last saw you, but you’ve become much stronger already.”
“Ehem. I’ve also come. Thanks to the Young Master, I’m able to come visit the Academy as well.”
Behind my father, I could see the spear knight that always protected my father, Sir Bolvar Patten, and also Chief of Affairs Baggins.
I smiled and greeted them, but also apologized.
“Sorry. It’s all because of me.”
The apology was for the assassins that came to Ardell.
It was an undeniable fact that my actions had endangered my family.
However, my father smiled lightly, brushing it off as nothing serious.
“It’s fine. Rather, I am proud that you didn’t compromise your morals or go down the wrong path.”
“......”
The words ‘I am proud of you’ that I was able to hear from my father.
Not even what I felt when I won the Grand Festival was anything close to this.
An emotion burst forth from somewhere deep within my heart, but I barely suppressed it, and only found myself smiling.
“And Sir Bolvar. Thank you so much.”
“Young Master, I only did what was expected of me.”
As we were having this conversation, Ruina asked me,
“But Ruin, who’s this girl?”
“......Eh?”
* * *
Reaper Scans
Translator - Jreaming
Proofreader - Artethrax
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* * *
As I turned my head, I saw Straang standing next to me.
I couldn’t even lie and tell my family that she was a cousin, so I just awkwardly laughed.
But Ruina narrowed her eyes in doubt.
“Ruin. Just because big sis isn’t here, you went and got a new girlfriend?”
“What?”
“How could you do this to Irene? I know you’re Ruin, but this is a bit disappointing.”
“Wh-what are you talking about? She’s just a friend, a friend!”
This little kid… She already knows the secrets of the adult world.
“Right?”
“......”
As I pinched Straang’s elbow, she nodded against her will.
But Ruina didn’t seem to believe me, narrowing her eyes even further.
Oh my goodness.
Since Straang was always next to me, I didn’t think too much about it, but how was Ruina able to question that right away?
It seemed that Ruina was also impressive in multiple ways.
Then, a dark shadow suddenly popped out from the side.
“Hello everyone! I have heard a lot about you, Mr. Ardell!”
“Ah, but who are—?”
“I am Ruin’s best friend, Jason Damon. It’s the Damon that you’re thinking about, with the famous brewery. Haha!”
Jason.
He, who was number one in the continent for sociability, was already calling my father ‘Mr. Ardell’ and getting close to him.
However…
“So you’re Ruin’s younger sister? Was your name Ruby?”
“It’s Ruina, not Ruby.”
“Ahahah! Right, right. Ruina! Ruina Ardell!”
“He looks like an idiot.”
“......Ruin, she really is your sister.”
It seemed he failed at getting Ruina’s approval.
In any case, just like how my family came to the Academy to see me, many other families of the students also came to see their children.
The graduation test wasn’t strict like the other, normal tests.
It was something closer to a meeting to look back on the year and bring it to a successful close.
And in this meeting, I could see other familiar and welcome faces that I hadn’t expected.
“Ruin. Hello.”
“Eh? Hansen? Why are you here? What about the training center?”
“We already finished a week ago, so I came here to see you.”
Hansen and his sister, the one who prepared that bland food for me before, had come to see me at the Academy.
Hansen had a signet on his chest that signified that he had completed his knightly vow and become an official knight.
As I laughed while pointing at it, Hansen scratched his head in his bashfulness.
“Then, I’ll go watch you from the spectator seats. Good luck on your test.”
“Yeah, I’ll see you later.”
And it wasn’t just Hansen that had come to the Academy.
“What? Seta Malkiri?”
“Hey, how’s it going?”
The relationship I had forged in the Grand Festival.
Although we didn’t get off to a good start, we ended up becoming good friends.
Seta Malkiri of the Oyota National Magic Institute had come here.
“How did you get here?”
“What do you mean ‘how’? I took the mana train. After all, I’m not a student like you, but an official, graduated magician.”
“You graduated? When?”
“Hehe. About three days ago.”
But the friends from the Grand Festival didn’t end with him.
“I didn’t come alone.”
“Then…?”
“Irene Prius is also here. She was the one who told me about your graduation day.”
“......Eh?”
Irene Prius popped her neck out from behind Seta.
“Standing around like this, it reminds me of the old days. As one team in the Grand Festival, we—”
“Irene! You really came?”
“Fufu. I told you I would.”
“......Are you guys listening?”
My goodness.
Even Irene was here.
My small circle of friends were all here.
I’m feeling a bit of pressure now.
On top of this…
“Sir Ruin! So you were here. Do you know how much I did to come find you as soon as I arrived at the Academy…?”
“I put in more effort than my elder brother. Please remember that.”
Red and blue.
Just like always, without fail, the Twin Princes appeared with their fancy carpets.
“Oh, so you are…?”
“......I greet the princes.”
“It’s Lord Dellin Ardell! Please, get up. You’re not someone who should kneel on this dirt floor.”
“We need to go somewhere warm and have a long talk over some tea… Where should we go? Aha! Would you like to come to my carriage? It’s comfortable and wide enough to fit ten!”
“Ahem! Younger Brother, am I not having a long talk with Lord Ardell right now?”
“You are the one interfering with me, Elder Brother. Don’t think you have the upperhand just because you were born a minute earlier than me.”
“You dare?”
“......”
It really was the Ruin-Ardell-knower’s gathering.
Just a little mistake here could turn me into a laughing stock.
Then, the fifth-year student representative announced in a loud voice,
“The graduation tests of the students will soon begin!”
The nobles that had gathered around the main gate started to file into Arena Hall, where the test would be held.
“Then, I’ll see you guys in a bit.”
“Ruin! If you mess up, I’ll never let you hear the end of it, so straighten up!”
“Y-yeah.”
This was a very unfamiliar and awkward situation for me, but I couldn’t hide my strange elation, and a small smile appeared on my face.
Yeah.
It was the final test.
There was no point getting nervous because everyone was watching, right?
Let’s just do it like how I always do.
I was about to go into Arena Hall with a light heart, until…
“......Eh?”
I met eyes with someone.
Two people were looking at me from a fair distance away, and although I definitely hadn’t seen them before…
Why did they feel so familiar?
One was a middle-aged man, and the other was a young man that looked 20-odd years younger.
Just looking at the two, they seemed like father and son.
“No way.”
Yeah.
They were also people I knew.