Roland had always been a good judge of character.
Whether through dialogue or subtle micro-expressions, Sylvia concealed herself very well. At least, he could not read much from her, though he was somewhat bewildered by the emotionally charged glances she cast at him from time to time. Aside from that, her words and physical etiquette were completely flawless.
She was very dignified, behaving exactly as expected of her.
Simply put, that was roughly the case.
"Master Roland, long time no see."
Sylvia wore a polite, proper smile.
"I wonder if Uncle Roman has been doing well lately?"
"Probably fine."
Roland spread his hands and spoke casually.
It had been more than five months since he last saw his cheap father. As the war at the front line grew increasingly intense, Roman's visits had dropped from once a month a few years ago to not returning for five months now. Sometimes, he could not even return twice in an entire year. In fact, while the Eastern Territory was celebrating New Year's Eve dinner, fists were drinking blood at the front lines.
That was why the Northern Territory was called the most chaotic region.
Yet it was also the region with the highest overall military power.
Indeed, while it was true that the Northern Territory's capital, Lucifiel City, was inferior to Romanvia of the Eastern Territory, the Northern Territory reigned supreme over all of Romanvia when it came to the number of powerhouses and overall strength. With such a harsh environment and constant state of war readiness, one could not survive there without genuine strength.
After a moment of silence, Sylvia suddenly responded.
"Is that so?"
Watching the two converse so coldly and awkwardly, Aixi picked up a subtle scent of gunpowder. Perplexed, she spoke up: "I actually envy you two so much—one the son of a grand duke, the other a princess. Unlike us, who have to suffer taking the test. Right, Little Zena?"
"Uh... I think it should be fine? It probably won't be too hard, right?"
Forced into the conversation, the solemn young girl looked uncertain as she pondered seriously. Evidently, she was not only simple-minded but also quite an airhead. Following the past style of the St. Romanvia Imperial Academy, the pass rate for First-Rank candidates was almost a hundred percent.
Fits her character in the original novel.
Roland nodded inwardly.
Matching characters with his memories was one of his few current amusements. He then followed the topic and said, "Who knows, they might change the rules to a free-for-all brawl between commoners and nobles, selecting only a fixed number of people through survival of the fittest."
"How could that be possible?"
Aixi frowned and said.
"The Imperial Academy's rules haven't changed in decades. The possibility Young Master Roland mentioned is very slim," Sylvia said. She did not drink the red wine on the table, instead taking a sip from the hot tea she requested from a servant while casting a slightly bewildered look at Roland.
Roland paused for a moment. She didn't know?
He had assumed Aixi's ignorance was understandable, but even Sylvia, a member of the royal family, was unaware. In the normal storyline, the Headmaster of the St. Romanvia Imperial Academy would announce new rules on the day after tomorrow—the 28th of the Eternal Calendar—initiating an entrance free-for-all brawl.
This was a major climax at the beginning of the story.
This entrance exam would be unprecedented in scale.
This meant that neither Roland, Clyde, nor Princess Sylvia could escape taking the entrance exam.
Moreover, students would be assigned to houses based on their rankings, which directly affected future resource allocation. At the same time, the main protagonist, Messiah Tanner, would make her official appearance here, marking the beginning of the invincible female protagonist's story.
"That's good, that's good." Aixi patted her chest and said, "Now I don't envy you guys at all. If it really were pure survival of the fittest like Roland said, the entrance exam would definitely be brutal. The current way is much better. Most importantly, I don't want to compete on the same stage with monsters like you."
"Is that so?"
Roland looked at her with a trace of interest in his eyes.
Through casual banter, the group quickly grew familiar with one another.
Looking at the youth who interjected a word or two every now and then, Sylvia found herself momentarily dazed. In her stupor, she pondered how different he seemed compared to back then. He had changed considerably, at least no longer as... icy cold as when they were children. Speaking of which, the personality she projected to the outside world today...
—a part of it was actually learned from him.
It felt somewhat laughable to think about.
"Via, Little Via?"
Aixi waved her hand in front of Sylvia's face.
Sylvia snapped back to reality instantly.
"Sorry, Aixi, I spaced out just now."
She offered a slightly apologetic smile.
"You seem a bit distracted tonight." Aixi stared intently at Sylvia. "Are you feeling unwell?"
Sylvia smiled sheepishly and said, "It's probably because I didn't sleep well last night."
Under the ambient light, Roland's shadow grew increasingly dark, like a bottomless black hole. As if sensing something, he glanced outside. At the same time, One's voice resounded in his mind: "Master, just moments ago, a powerful existence briefly cast their gaze here."
"A Demigod?"
"In all probability."
"Did they notice you?"
"Unlikely."
Roland nodded, then turned to the three chatting young women and said, "Excuse me for a moment."
Watching his departing back, a faint light flickered momentarily in Sylvia's azure eyes before vanishing instantly. She then froze in disbelief—never before had 【Eye】 failed, yet now, looking at him, it was like a stone sinking into the sea, yielding nothing at all.
Sensing the faint, subtle feeling of being peered at from behind,
Roland, who had already stepped outside the banquet hall, smiled and murmured, "Is it 【Eye】?"
Aside from Sylvia's 【Eye】, Roland already knew which old fox had cast that initial gaze. There were only two Demigods in Romanvia: the current Great Emperor of St. Romanvia, and the Headmaster of the Imperial Academy. If he had to guess, it was likely the latter.
The entrance exam was about to begin.
On top of that, the old fellow was preparing to alter the rules.
The reason he had cast his gaze here—or more accurately, swept his boundless spiritual power across all of Romanvia—was to briefly check for any traces of heretics before letting the matter drop. After all, this upcoming entrance exam would be grander than ever before.
Roland recalled that as many as six thousand students would participate.
One should not consider this number small. After all, those with talent were only a tiny minority. Under the original recruitment rules, only a little over a thousand applicants would attend. But under the new regulations, the number multiplied severalfold, and after layer upon layer of screening, only five hundred would pass.
Screening by rank alone would directly eliminate over four thousand people.
In previous years, the pass rate for ranked candidates was a hundred percent.
This time, however, the pass rate for ranked candidates plummeted. Out of more than six thousand participants, even after filtering out the unranked ones, nearly two thousand remained—yet in the end, only five hundred could stay. This was mandatory based on rank standings, meaning that for ranked candidates, the pass rate was only around twenty percent.
And those five hundred who remained...
...were the geniuses among geniuses.
Rate on N.U.
