Hard Work Will Never Betray Me

"I'm sorry about last night. ......"

"Oh, right , ....... I can take a bath by myself. ......"

　The next morning. Alice, who was preparing breakfast, noticed me coming into the dining room and apologized. I know she didn't mean any harm, so I didn't blame her.

"Master  Eberhard, your breakfast is ready.

"Thank you, Hendrik.

　The chief butler, whose name is apparently Hendrik, seems to have prepared the breakfast on behalf of Alice, who was apologizing. The table, which could easily  take ten people, was lined with dishes that  was like in a first-class hotel. It was not too much, but just enough to fill us  up  The menu was light on meats and heavy on soups, making it easy on the stomach. The cooks at the residence seemed to be just as good as those at the main residence in Heitburg.

"Tea, sir."

　Alice poured tea into a teacup for me. Normally, Alisa, my personal maid, would do this for me, but she did not come with me to the imperial capital.

　Well, Alisa is a newlywed, so it can't be helped. You can't  work at  black company and suddenly go on a long business trip when you're newly married. As a high-income, stable, and white family,  I didn't want to force Alisa to go with  me .

　However, if I were to ask her to  her intentions, she would definitely say that she would come with me. The status system in this world is not so lenient that you can refuse to go to the imperial capital  There is an absolute wall between the two, even if it's usually casual. That's why I didn't dare to  ask  her intentions, and chose to have Alisa and Anthony, the newlyweds, stay behind in Heitburg, and  went  to the imperial capital by myself. Well, this is also the duty of a good lord who cares for his vassals. Ho-ho-ho!

"In the imperial capital, Alice here will serve as your personal representative in place of Ms .  Alisa-.

"Please take care of me ."

　So it looks like Alice is going to be my personal maid over here in the Imperial Capital. Hendrik does a good job, but he has an important role to play in organizing the house. In other words, he is the representative of the Farenheit frontier family in the imperial capital. Naturally, his workload and responsibilities are incomparable to those of a personal maid.

　However, as a personal maid, you are in direct contact with your master, and it seems that you have a high status among the servants. When Alisa became my personal maid, she was about 16 years old, and from the looks of it, Alice is about the same age, so it should not be strange. I'd rather have a young lady with a familiar face  than an old lady or an old man taking care of me.

　While enjoying a very breakfast, I was thinking about something very vulgar.

　　　　　✳︎

　After getting ready and leaving home early, I arrived at the military garrison about an hour  earlier  then needed .

　When I went to the room where the exam was to be held, with my examination voucher in hand, I found Jet already there, working on something.

"Good morning, Jet."

"Oh, Eberhard. You're early!"

　The room seemed to be empty except for Jet , who seemed to be the only one in the room, which seemed to be large enough for more than twenty people.

"Are you studied  enough for the exam?"

"'I think I have enough time, but not enough content. I can handle the level of the Imperial Academy entrance exam".

I' ve never been one to study hard since I was a child. I've had a lot of knowledge drilled into me by my elite tutors and my high ranking parents.

　And not only in the training of magic and martial arts, but also in the learning aspect, the effect of "practice makes perfect" was very gratifying. But as a graduate of an advanced school in Japan's super-educated society, I can't help but bite my navel at the thought that I could have gotten that ability a little earlier,....... I'm sure you've heard of it, but I've never heard of it.

"It's also important to take the time to study!"

"I've got no time to study because of your sudden recruitment, right?

　I had no time to study at all because Jet was recruiting me out of the blue. I'm not sure what to make of it, but I'm pretty sure it's going to be "12 years and a few minutes of effort", not "30 years and 30 seconds".

　I I don't think this test is so easy that it can be solved by a brainiac!

　Well, all joking aside, even with this kind of personality, Jet is still the leader of the Special Division. I guess he's a pretty smart guy. I have to admit that. But  he is mr  muscle!

"...... Well, we still have about 30 minutes before we will start . As long as you don't go into the other rooms, you can do whatever you want!"

　With that, Jet gathered up the papers he had been working on and left the room. 

　...... Well, it's not the first time he's been a free man,. I don't care, I'm going to study for a "few minutes".

　I haven't prepared for the exam, but I've brought a notebook that summarizes what I've studied so far. I'm sure I'll have no problem looking through them and filling in the gaps.

　.......

　.............

　...................

　And 20 minutes later . The door opened and someone walked in. The person who came in was a  unknown perwn . It was a girl about the same age as me from the looks . I wondered if she was a taking an exam.　Wasn't I the only one taking the exam?

　The girl's eyes met mine. The girl bowed to me, and I gave her a light bow.

　The girl sat down on a seat some distance away from me and fell asleep . She was a strange girl .......

　You can't tell at all from the way she's sleeping with her arm  as the pillow, but in order to take the exam for the Special Division, you need to be recommended by an active member of the division or someone related to it. In other words, the girl  was recommended.

　It's not like she's an expert in melee combat from the look at her body and the way she carries herself, nor is her magic power outstanding, although she has a lot  ...So  she must  have a type of magic that uses valuable inherent magic or an unusual attribute.

　I was somewhat excited to know that there were other people taking the  exam besides me. There is no limit to the number of people who can take the exam. Therefore, as long as I was able to pass the exam, I wouldn't have to worry about other candidates becoming my rivals. They can be considered purely as candidates to be my peers after I join the group.

　As I was thinking that maybe she and I would be  working together , Jet came into the room again with a stack of papers.

"We will now begin the written test!

,,,,

"I'm sure the  in recommendation been explained to you, but I'm going to explain it again for your confirmation. The exam to join the Special Division consists of three tests: a written test, a practical test, and an interview to determine whether you pass or fail. There is a minimum score for each subject, and if the total score does not reach the standard, you will fail. The minimum score is 30% for the written exam, 60% for the practical exam, and 50% for the interview, with a total score of 60% or higher being the approximate passing standard. Do you have any questions?"

"What about the practical skills?"

　I didn't see anything about it in the outline, so I asked about the practical skills. I don't think there will be any, but if it turns out to be a colosseum between the students.

"You may choose to either fight with the examiner or demonstrate your best magic under certain conditions."

"What are the conditions?"

"Well, one of the most common is a time limit. No matter how powerful it is, if it takes too long to activate to be useful , it failed ."

"I see. Thank you."

　Good. It seems that I don't have to fight with her. . Well, whatever the case, I guess I'll choose combat. I don't mind demonstrating my best  skills , but combat will be  easier.

"All right, now that there are no more questions, let's get started with the  exam .

　Jet handed out the question  list and answer sheet. I miss this feeling. It's like the national standardized test I took in a previous life, and it makes me a little nervous.

　This tense feeling right before the exam  were hard for me. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get any  good results.

　But now, I feel rather comfortable. The more I try, the more I will be rewarded . I even feel that exams are a good opportunity for me to see my growth.

"The time limit is 90 minutes. Let's begin!"

　I grabbed my pen and  look at the of the question list  .