Chapter 13
The examination hall was nothing like Elara had expected.
She had imagined something grand—stone pillars, banners, perhaps a council of stern-faced scholars observing from an elevated balcony. Instead, Todd led her into a small, white room containing a single desk, a single chair, and a single sheet of paper.
"That's it?" she asked.
"That's it," Todd said.
She looked around. "Where are the examiners?"
"I'm the examiner."
"Where are the other students?"
"You're the only one being evaluated today."
Elara frowned. "This feels less like an examination and more like an interrogation."
Todd smiled pleasantly. "It can be both."
He gestured toward the chair. "Please. Sit."
Elara sat.
The paper in front of her was covered in questions. She picked it up, examined it, and turned it upside down. Then sideways. Then back again.
"...I cannot read this," she admitted.
Todd blinked. "You can't read?"
"I can read perfectly well," she said, slightly offended. "I simply cannot read this."
She held up the paper.
"It appears to be written in a language I do not recognize."
Todd leaned over. He looked at the paper. Then at her. Then back at the paper.
"That's Japanese."
"Is it?"
"Yes."
"How fascinating."
She set the paper down carefully. "I assume this means I have failed."
"Not necessarily." Todd pulled up a chair across from her and sat down. "Let's try something different."
He produced a second sheet of paper, blank this time, and a pen.
"I'll ask you questions verbally. You answer however you like. Written or spoken."
Elara nodded. "That seems fair."
Todd clicked his pen.
"First question. You're in a room with three doors. Behind one door is a dragon. Behind another is a treasure. Behind the third is a man who always lies. You may ask one question to one door—"
"That is a riddle," Elara interrupted.
"It is."
"I adore riddles."
She leaned forward, eyes brightening. "Ask it again. Slowly."
Todd asked it again.
Elara answered in under ten seconds.
Todd blinked. "...Correct."
"I have faced many riddles in my time," she said, rather proudly. "A sphinx once attempted to devour me. I answered her question and she was so embarrassed she flew away."
"...A sphinx."
"A very rude one."
Todd wrote something down.
"Second question. A merchant has twelve coins, one of which is counterfeit and weighs slightly less than the others. Using a balance scale, what is the minimum number of weighings required to identify the counterfeit?"
"Three."
"Correct."
"I once had to identify a poisoned goblet among twelve at a royal banquet," Elara said. "I was not permitted to taste any of them. It was a very long evening."
Todd wrote something down.
"Third question. If you were given a map of a country you had never seen, and told to find the safest route through a mountain range, how would you proceed?"
"I would first determine where the rivers flow."
"Why?"
"Because rivers always seek the lowest ground. A river that vanishes into a mountain does not emerge on the other side. It emerges somewhere unexpected." She tapped the desk. "Water is honest. Stone is not."
Todd wrote something down. He wrote for a long time.
"Fourth question."
He paused.
"...What is your earliest memory?"
Elara frowned.
"That is not a question about logic."
"No."
"It is a question about me."
"Yes."
"May I ask why?"
Todd set down his pen.
"Because the written exam is meant to evaluate your mind. But I'm more interested in what shaped it."
Elara was quiet for a moment.
Then she said, "I remember a field of flowers."
"What kind?"
"Red spider lilies."
Todd's pen stopped moving.
"...Go on."
"I remember running through them. I was small. I was laughing." Her expression softened. "Someone was chasing me. Someone older."
"A sibling?"
"I do not know." She frowned. "I cannot see their face."
Silence settled over the room.
Elara looked down at her hands.
"...That is strange, is it not? I can remember the flowers perfectly. I can remember the sound of my own laughter. But I cannot remember who was chasing me."
Todd's voice was very quiet.
"...Does that bother you?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because I feel as though I should remember."
She looked up.
"I feel as though I have forgotten something important."
Todd held her gaze for a long moment.
Then he picked up his pen again.
"Thank you. That will be all."
---
The results came back within the hour.
Elara sat in a small waiting room, drumming her fingers against her knee. She had been given a cup of tea by a very polite assistant, and she was reasonably certain the tea had not been poisoned, but she had sniffed it three times just to be safe.
The door opened.
Todd stepped inside, holding a thin folder.
"Congratulations," he said.
Elara straightened. "I passed?"
"You did."
She exhaled. "Excellent. I was concerned the language barrier would be my undoing."
"It nearly was. Your written scores were..." He consulted the folder. "...abysmal."
Elara's face fell.
"However," he continued, "your performance on the verbal assessment was extraordinary."
"It was?"
"In twenty years of administering that test, I have never seen anyone solve the coin riddle as quickly as you did."
"I told you. Poisoned goblets."
Todd smiled. "Your spatial reasoning, your logic, your ability to think around a problem rather than through it—these are all exceptional. Off the charts, in fact."
Elara brightened. "Then I am to be placed in A Class?"
"No."
"...B Class?"
"No."
Her smile faded. "C Class?"
Todd shook his head.
Elara stared at him.
"...Am I to be placed in the hallway?"
Todd laughed. "No."
"Then where?"
He set the folder down on the table between them.
"Class 1-B."
Elara blinked. "You said no to B Class."
"I said no to B Class as a letter."
"...I do not understand."
Todd leaned back in his chair.
"C Class students are our scholars. They excel academically. B Class students are our talents—the ones who exceed human limits in a single field. A Class students are those who possess both."
"And S Class?"
He smiled. "S Class students have exceeded the limits of what it means to be human."
Elara frowned. "Then why am I being placed in B Class? I did not exceed any limits. I failed the written exam entirely."
"You did."
"So why?"
Todd leaned forward.
"Because the coin riddle is not a test of mathematics. It's a test of instinct. And your instincts are not those of a scholar."
Elara tilted her head. "Then whose are they?"
"...I don't know yet."
He stood.
"But I intend to find out."
---
The hallway outside the examination room was long and quiet.
Todd walked beside her, his hands folded behind his back.
"Your teacher will be Ms. Georgia," he said. "She's one of our finest—strict, but fair. She'll be expecting you."
"What is she like?"
"British."
"...Is that a personality?"
"It's close enough."
They rounded a corner.
Todd stopped in front of a classroom door.
The plaque beside it read:
CLASS 1-B
"This is you," he said.
Elara looked at the door.
Then at him.
"I have a question."
"Of course you do."
"You said you have never seen anyone solve the coin riddle as quickly as I did."
"I did."
"Then why did you look so strange when I answered it?"
Todd's expression didn't change.
"...Did I?"
"You did."
She watched him carefully.
"You looked as though you had seen a ghost."
Todd was quiet for a moment.
Then he smiled.
"That's a very perceptive thing to say."
"I am a knight. I notice things."
"Then notice this."
He leaned closer.
"There are things about this academy that even I do not fully understand. Things that have been happening for longer than you or I have been alive."
Elara's eyes narrowed. "You speak of the S Class."
"I speak of something older than the S Class."
"..."
"..."
Todd straightened.
"But that's a conversation for another day."
He gestured toward the door.
"Your classmates are waiting."
Elara hesitated.
Then she bowed her head, just slightly.
"Thank you, Headmaster."
"Don't thank me yet."
She opened the door.
The classroom beyond was bright and noisy. Students were still settling into their seats, chatting, laughing, tossing papers across the room.
At the front stood a middle-aged woman with light makeup, an expensive dress, and a pair of glasses resting on the bridge of her nose.
She looked up as the door opened.
Her pale blue eyes fixed on Elara.
"...You must be the transfer student."
Elara bowed. "I am Elara Valenheart. It is an honor to—"
"Five."
Elara blinked. "Pardon?"
"Five seconds. That's how long you've been standing in my doorway. Sit down before it becomes ten."
Elara hurried to find a seat.
The students stared at her as she passed.
"...She's gorgeous."
"I've never seen her before."
"Isn't that the girl who escaped Mad Hound yesterday?"
"No way, that's her?"
"I heard she outran the disciplinary committee."
"I heard she fought Celeste."
"I heard she destroyed the gym."
"...Already?"
One boy rubbed his chin.
"Think she can become one of the School Goddesses?"
A girl nodded thoughtfully. "She's pretty. I'd be more shocked if she didn't."
Another immediately chimed in. "Same. Looks like Amanda has competition."
Not far away...
A blonde girl's cheerful smile twitched.
"...Excuse me?"
The students pretending not to gossip immediately looked away.
Ms. Georgia cleared her throat.
"Everyone settle down."
The room gradually fell silent.
"We have a transfer student joining us today."
She smiled toward Elara.
"Would you like to introduce yourself?"
Elara stood.
She placed one hand over her chest before giving an elegant bow.
"My name is Elara Valenheart."
"It is a great honor to stand among the scholars of this magnificent academy."
"I look forward to learning alongside every one of you."
"...Please take care of me."
Her graceful introduction earned several impressed murmurs.
One boy leaned toward his friend. "Man... I suddenly feel uncultured."
His friend chuckled. "You've always been uncultured."
"Fair point."
Ms. Georgia nodded approvingly.
"Very well. There's one empty seat."
She pointed toward the third row.
"You'll be sitting beside Mika."
The moment she heard her name—
Mika shot upright.
"Hey, girlfriend!"
Elara's eyes brightened. "Mika!"
Ms. Georgia adjusted her glasses. "You two already know each other? That's great. Mika, show her the ropes."
"You can count on me, teach."
Before anyone could stop her...
She practically launched herself across the classroom.
Elara moved forward as well.
The two met halfway.
Mika grabbed both of Elara's shoulders.
"We just keep running into each other. Funny, right?"
Elara laughed awkwardly. "Yes. Last time we met, you pummeled a punching bag. The poor thing stood no chance."
The class burst into laughter.
Even Ms. Georgia smiled. "That's our boxing champ. Shame she isn't as passionate in her studies."
She picked up Mika's homework.
"Although with that said, I'm impressed. You got a perfect score in your homework."
Mika let out a chuckle. "Don't get used to it, though."
Ms. Georgia clenched her fist. "Why can't you maintain this level of hard work? It wouldn't kill you to do so. You could even end up graduating early. Don't you want that?"
"No, not really."
"What!"
Ms. Georgia sighed. "I give up."
Once everyone had settled down...
Elara looked around curiously.
Her gaze stopped on a familiar face.
"...Mad Hound?"
An elegant blonde girl sitting near the window looked up from her notebook.
"...Pardon?"
Elara tilted her head.
"...Forgive me. I appear to have mistaken you for another."
The blonde smiled politely. "No offense taken."
Mika leaned closer. "...That is Charlotte. Better known as Mad Hound."
Elara stared. "...Impossible."
Charlotte blinked. "What is?"
"You possess the dignity of a noble lady. I distinctly remember someone far more terrifying and... feral."
A boy sitting behind them couldn't resist. "She's basically a werewolf."
Another nodded. "Perfectly normal... until she's on the hunt."
Charlotte smiled sweetly. "I can hear both of you."
Both boys immediately sat up straight.
"...Good morning, Charlotte."
"...Lovely weather today."
The classroom erupted into laughter.
Even Charlotte giggled. "...Cowards."
---
Amanda finally stood.
With her usual confidence she walked toward Elara.
"Welcome to Class 1-B. I'm Amanda."
She proudly placed a hand on her chest.
"If you're looking for friends, our group is the most popular in class. I've deemed you worthy. You stand among us."
Amanda then looked over Elara's shoulder—and at Mika—with scorn.
"You deserve better company. Gods recognize gods."
Several girls behind her nodded enthusiastically.
Elara smiled politely.
"I appreciate the invitation. But..."
"I must decline."
Amanda blinked. "...Why?"
Elara answered without the slightest hesitation.
"You remind me of the young nobles back home."
"They often surrounded themselves with admirers."
"They believed popularity was proof of greatness."
"I found them... exhausting."
Silence.
The entire classroom slowly turned toward Amanda.
Amanda's eyebrow twitched.
"...Excuse me?"
Elara innocently continued. "I simply fear I would struggle to keep pace with such behavior."
Mika quietly covered her face. "...She's gonna explode."
Amanda inhaled deeply.
Then smiled. A very dangerous smile.
"Oh? If that's how it is..."
She stepped closer.
"In exactly two months, the academy will hold this semester's Beauty Pageant."
The classroom immediately became lively again.
"Oh! That's soon!"
Amanda proudly folded her arms.
"I'm currently one of the School Goddesses."
Several students whistled.
"If you rank above me, I'll surrender my position."
Gasps echoed across the room.
"But if I rank above you..."
Amanda pointed dramatically at Elara.
"...you'll become my personal lackey."
Mika's eyes widened. "Is becoming a School Goddess supposed to be a good thing?!"
She patted Elara's shoulder. "It is, and it comes with a ton of benefits. Popularity to boot. I'd know—I am a goddess myself."
Amanda nodded. "I'm impressed, Mika. Looks like you're smarter than the average gorilla."
"Gorilla? Okay, that does it. Now I'm locked in. Elara, accept her challenge. We need to put her in her place."
Amanda never looked away from Elara.
"...Do you accept?"
Without a second's hesitation...
Elara smiled.
"I do."
Amanda blinked. "...Really? Aren't you intimidated? You really think you stand a chance?"
Elara tilted her head.
"You merely proposed a friendly contest. I fail to see the issue."
Amanda felt a flash of annoyance at the fact that Elara even thought she stood a chance.
"...Tch. Fine. Don't cry when you lose."
She confidently returned to her seat.
One boy whispered, "...She's definitely crying if she loses."
"I heard that."
"...Sorry."
The class laughed again.
Meanwhile...
Mika couldn't help grinning. "...You're fitting into this class way faster than I expected."
Elara smiled warmly. "I believe everyone here possesses kind hearts."
Across the room...
Amanda quietly muttered, "...We'll see about that."
The first bell rang.
Ms. Georgia clapped her hands together.
"Alright, everyone. Let's begin today's lesson."
And with that...
Elara's first official class at Apex Academy truly began.
— END OF CHAPTER —