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"What's your opinion?" Headmaster Morrison leaned against the railing.
"For the junior division, I'd say that black-haired girl looks quite promising," Professor Pence said, pointing out several students in quick succession. "The golden-haired one and the silver-haired one too — and that light-golden-haired boy over there isn't bad either..."
"What do you think, Headmaster?" Professor Pence asked when he'd finished.
Headmaster Morrison spoke slowly. "The students you mentioned — I'm afraid none of them will do. Are there others?"
"Others..." Professor Pence shook his head. "The rest don't have magical reserves anywhere near as high. Do you have some concern, Headmaster?"
Headmaster Morrison's expression turned grave. "Except for the golden-haired girl, all the others still have their names on the disciplinary wall. Having them represent our academy wouldn't be appropriate."
Professor Pence: ...
What was going on with this year's batch? Were all the talented students this rebellious?
"Then it's just the golden-haired girl. Axina, I believe her name is. How about letting her lead the team?"
Headmaster Morrison nodded. "That works. You decide the rest of the roster."
Professor Pence sighed quietly. Thank goodness for Axina. Without her, the junior division wouldn't even have a capable team captain for the defense tournament. If word got out, every other academy on the continent would be laughing at them.
Siria Magic Academy was the continent's only free academy , beholden to no royal family, outside the jurisdiction of The Church. It also enrolled large numbers of commoner students every year, which cut against noble interests and had earned it no shortage of quiet enemies among the nobility.
Every May, the continent's notable magic academies sent students to Siria for a "friendly exchange," testing their skills against one another.
Siria, as the host, had to defend its own stage.
The junior, intermediate, and advanced divisions each fielded a team of their best students , three teams total, each competing against same-level squads from other academies. Over twenty magic academies drew lots and took the stage in turn. For the defense to count as a success, all three of Siria's teams had to finish within the top five at their respective levels simultaneously.
Fail the defense, and Siria Magic Academy would lose its license to operate.
In last year's competition, Siria's junior, intermediate, and advanced division teams placed second, third, and first respectively.
The team that took first had already graduated. The team that took third had advanced to the senior division. As for the team that took second , well, that was a bit of an embarrassment. Best not to bring it up.
This year, every junior division student Professor Pence had his eye on had been vetoed by the headmaster. He was genuinely worried about the rankings now. The junior team might not crack the top five.
He did have one nagging question, though.
In the past, there had been plenty of students with strong magical ability who broke the rules. As long as they weren't rotten at the core, the headmaster had always turned a blind eye. Why was he suddenly being strict about it now?
Students on disciplinary record couldn't represent the academy in competition? They'd broken a school rule, not committed a capital crime.
Wasn't the outcome of the defense tournament more important than appearances?
The entrance exam ended. The junior division students trudged back to the castle, deflated.
Students who failed had to retake the exam. Students who passed got lectured anyway. Professor Moses told them they were selfish and had no sense of the bigger picture.
"Waaah, those people were so aggressive — what were we supposed to do!"
"Professor Moses called us swine! How dare she say that to a lady!"
"Waaah, swine eat that stuff, and we don't..."
Qin sobbed as she clung to Rowena's arm, their skirt hems tangled together. Rowena held her breath. Her cleanliness compulsion had finally met reality, and reality had won.
Hold it together. It's just horse dung. Horse dung can be used as fuel. People bake flatbread with it. Not dirty. Perfectly fine.
Compared to swine wallowing in castle cesspits, horse droppings were practically pristine.
Horse dung is just digested grass. Pure. Natural. Organic. Zero pollutants. Completely trustworthy.
She held herself together the entire walk back. The moment she parted from Qin in the castle corridor, though, the composure cracked. Rowena stripped off her clothes while gagging and walked into her dormitory in her undergarments.
She left the dirty dress at the door. She simply could not bring herself to carry something dripping with dung water into her bedroom. That carpet was not getting contaminated.
On the first day of the semester, the academy's water room nearly burned through the bottom of its cauldrons.
Every student who had never touched a bath in their life took one today. Buckets of hot water went up the stairs in an endless relay. Dirty water splashed out of windows. The lawn below was submerged under a finger's depth of filthy runoff.
By evening, the academy gates finally swung open.
Rowena, freshly bathed and dressed in clean clothes, left the school and headed to the Escori Dessert House.
Lunch had left wounds that needed tending. Dessert was the only cure.
Walking in, she spotted Laura carrying a tray upstairs to deliver orders. Steady hands, quick feet, barely a ripple in the cup.
Truly worthy of a nimble little ginger cat.
She glanced toward the kitchen. Theodore had changed into a cream-white chef's uniform and was working a large iron rod through a bowl of milk, huffing with each stroke, his arm moving fast enough to blur.
The shop manager Teresa told Rowena that the past two days had seen an especially large number of cream cake orders. Theodore's hard work was the only reason their cream supply hadn't run
➤ Next: Mr. Bunyan, What Is the Meaning of This?
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