Lady Ulrika’s Entrance Exam
Author: Unicoon
Raw: https://ncode.syosetu.com/n8138gc/10/
Translator: Lilia v4
Editor: Yuriko AYA
The first exam: written.
In a quiet lecture hall, only the scratch of pens.
Many examinees bent over their desks.
Lady Ulrika was taking it too, except…
“Hmm… I don’t understand any of this…”
Question marks floated over her head.
The questions were things like the history of the Kingdom of Romulus and manners in noble society.
For Lady Ulrika, who had lived in the Demon Realm, it was all unknown.
“Hmm… I don’t know… I don’t know… this is bad…”
“You there, be quiet during the exam!”
“U-uhmm…”
Scolded, Lady Ulrika drooped.
Time only passed, and then—
“That’s enough! Examinees, put down your pens!!”
“What! It’s already over!!”
Facing a still-blank answer sheet, Lady Ulrika’s mind went blank too.
Dark clouds gathered early over Lady Ulrika’s entrance exam.
✦ ✦ ✦
Next was the magic practical.
Examinees were lined up on the schoolyard.
A little way off stood human-shaped wooden targets.
“The magic practical will now begin! One at a time, in order, loose magic at a target. You may use any magic medium you like. Show us your precision and power!!”
“”””Yes!””””
The examinees formed several lines and fired in turn.
“Flame, burn them away!!”
“Lightning, surge forth!”
“Pierce! Ice spear!”
Some smashed the targets well; some missed; some lacked power.
Then a loud cheer rose from the head of a line.
At the center of it was Princess Charlotte.
The wooden target at the tip of her leveled staff had been smashed to splinters.
“As expected of Princess Charlotte! Splendid magic!!”
“There’s no comparison with the other examinees!”
“I’d rather learn magic from Princess Charlotte than from a teacher.”
“Fufufu. I’m still nothing compared to my elder sister.”
“Even your humility is lovely.”
“I look up to you~”
Lady Ulrika and Olivia, meanwhile, were at the tail of a different line.
“My turn is soon!”
“I’ll say it once more! Whatever you do, don’t go all—”
“I know. I’ll hold back properly.”
Then, at last, the end of the line: Lady Ulrika’s turn.
“Last one, then. You are… an examinee?”
“I am. A pleasure!”
Lady Ulrika was clearly smaller than the others.
The examining teacher looked suspicious, but Olivia slipped in at once.
“This is Lady Ulrika’s exam ticket!”
“Mm… it seems genuine. Very well. Show me your magic.”
“All right!”
Lady Ulrika raised the staff, in high spirits.
She closed her eyes, concentrating, and murmured.
“The smallest, lowest power… hold back so much it’s too much…”
A little pop, and a flame as thin as a hair lit at the staff’s tip.
She showed it off, proud.
“Well!”
“Hey. Is that magic? Is that your full power?”
“Mm! I can’t go any smaller.”
“I-I see…”
The examiner looked exasperated at the tiny magic.
The watching examinees giggled.
“What is that? Is it even magic?”
“It’s a child’s make-believe.”
Laughed at by the crowd, Lady Ulrika did not care at all.
She pattered back to Olivia.
“How was it?”
“Um… was that magic?”
“Of course! Just as Zenon said, I used the smallest, lowest power, holding back so much it was too much. I can’t make magic smaller than that.”
“I-I see…”
Olivia held her head, apologetic.
Lady Ulrika’s entrance exam was far from over.
✦ ✦ ✦
Next was the swordsmanship practical.
Examinees paired off for mock combat.
Spirited shouts rose all over the schoolyard.
“Tooooh!”
“There!”
They clashed hard with exam wooden swords.
Princess Charlotte drew the most attention.
“Oryaaa!!”
“Too naive!”
“What!? Guaah”
A boy cut at Princess Charlotte.
She slipped it easily and knocked him down.
“As expected of Princess Charlotte! Her sword is splendid too!!”
“I was mesmerized!”
“Fufufu. I’m nowhere near my second sister. I still have much to learn.”
Princess Charlotte and her entourage were in high spirits.
Lady Ulrika, meanwhile, was taking her exam at the edge of the yard.
“Um… I’m Natasha… nice to meet you…”
“Ulrika. A pleasure!”
The girl who had named herself Natasha was Lady Ulrika’s opponent.
A cute girl with springy orange hair.
“Now then, shall we!!”
While Lady Ulrika pumped herself up, Olivia whispered in her ear.
“Lady Ulrika, you mustn’t go all out.”
“I know. It’s a promise.”
Lady Ulrika and Natasha raised their wooden swords.
An examining teacher stood between them.
“Then… begin!”
“Yaaaaah!”
At the signal, Natasha swung up her sword.
Lady Ulrika took a leisurely guard.
Natasha stepped in and brought the sword down.
Lady Ulrika’s face went surprised, and she quietly lowered her own.
“Teiyaaa!!”
A thunk. The wooden sword struck Lady Ulrika square on the head.
“…Eh?”
“Mm. Natasha’s win!”
Olivia, the examiner, even Natasha herself, could only gape at the unexpected finish.
“M… match!”
The examiner came back to himself and called the end.
Natasha, still blinking, bowed and left.
Olivia asked the Lady Ulrika who remained.
“Lady Ulrika, are you all right with losing?”
“Mm. Livi, what did you make of Natasha’s ability?”
“What… I thought she was ordinary.”
“You’ve still a way to go, Livi. Natasha is overflowing with talent for the sword.”
“Talent…?”
“In aptitude alone, she had something finer than anyone I’ve met in the human world. She’s still rough, but that one stroke was too good to dodge.”
“I don’t really understand, but… the exam result is a loss, you know?”
Lady Ulrika patted the head that had been hit.
She did not care about losing at all.
“It can’t be helped. I’ll pull myself together for the next one!”
Lady Ulrika’s entrance exam: next was the last, the field exam.