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The next day after arriving at the royal capital.
I came to the Royal Academy while doing my morning running practice. Though the exam itself was in 2 days.
I was wondering if I should check out the venue beforehand so as not to be suddenly swallowed by the atmosphere during the day of the exam. I believed I should be fine, but in the end, I decided to give this place a visit.
Hmm, a one-way trip was 10km, huh? This sounded just perfect for warming up. Alright, I would come here jogging on the exam day.
But as expected of the Kingdom's pride...... The first thing that came to my mind was… it was stupidly huge.
I peered from the huge entrance, which was so wide it could easily accommodate the passing of 4 carriages at once and saw a meticulously maintained cobblestone pathway stretching endlessly, leading to what appeared to be a Western-style building, presumably the school building.
Even with a conservative estimate, the road must be at least 3 kilometers to that chalk-white school building, which looked like a speck of dust from the entrance.
The cobblestone path then split into two around the school building, with one path extending towards the forest visible in the right rear, while the other continued straight from the left side of the school building, disappearing into the distance.
Hmm, it was indeed a wise decision to not underestimate the venue and check it out beforehand.
Seeing this imposing view amidst the unique atmosphere of the entrance exams on the actual day would undoubtedly make it difficult to remain calm. Some would likely cower, while others might shout "I will definitely pass!" to cheer themselves on— all of which would have prevented them from performing at their best and missing the academy.
Maintaining a calm mindset, one would be able to exhibit their true abilities. That was when the best performance could be achieved.
Every year, despite the combination of the three courses — the Knight Course, the Mage Course, and the Official Course — there were only 100 successful applicants, making a total of 300 students in three grades at the academy. It had made me curious how the academy would even handle the accommodation of 10,000 test-takers, but that was a groundless concern. Given the grandeur of the premises, it would be able to handle them with sufficient leeway.
......Still, it was hard to figure everything out from just a distant glimpse.
I began running clockwise along the academy's perimeter, following the wall.
◆
To cut to the chase, this academy had a staggering circumference of over 40 kilometers.
Even though it was far from the center of the capital, it was still large enough to contain the entire Claubiar Fort City, the capital of our Viscount territory.
But thinking about it again, the mages did require a spacious place to train, so having this size might be beneficial....... Then again, I still think it was just too big for no reason.
Back at home, my everyday routine involved running around the perimeter of the fortified walls. I think this was the perfect place to replace that and I could gauge my progress by running the same distance.
Suddenly changing from the usual distance wouldn't do me any good either way.
On the way, I also noticed an amazing hill with a 10-degree incline and a total length of 500 meters, and over it, I did 10 hill dashes.
I channeled all my body strength to go up and then came down jogging lightly. Why was I continuing my daily running training?
It was all for muscle building. Endurance was the key aspect for knights, but when it came to strength, muscles beat all.
The short-distance sprint contained everything for building the muscles necessary for knights, and that wasn't an exaggeration. Like the participants at the 100m dash in the Olympics, they all had arms like logs.
It wasn't just about running fast. Upper body strength, starting with the arms, was crucial. There was hardly any other exercise that could match the same intensity and effectively put the entirety of the body to use. For instance, swinging a sword wouldn't adequately train the leg muscles. Besides, this also doubled as mana training under a 'full power' load.
100m would have been enough in my previous world, but this world had body-strengthening magic, the raison d'etre of physical work. I utilized the slope and started running longer distances while calibrating the load on my body.
In the beginning, right after awakening, I was just running for the sake of building a routine, but as I gradually understood the 'significance of running', I made several discoveries.
With each discovery, I gradually modified my routine to improve my efficiency. So having found a new way to train was a matter of joy for me. 'Alright, I'll come back tomorrow.'
With the new routine, I was now a bit more excited about the academy.
Speaking of the academy, it also had a back gate in the north aside from the main entrance in the south. Out of curiosity, I also peeped inside, and beyond another lo~ng path, there were dormitory-like buildings. Aside from that, the walls were considerably tall, perhaps taking into account the casual peepers, so there wasn't any other place to look at the situation inside.
I could have climbed if I wanted to, but then again, it was the academy that even royalty attended. It wouldn't be surprising if there were security measures in place so I didn't take the risk.
◆
Returning to the Viscount Rovenne residence, I was eating my portable emergency ration like usual in the small garden after my sword practice when Mother called me out.
"Allen? What are you having?"
"This is a portable emergency solid food."
"I can see that too. I'm asking why are you eating something like that?"
She asked with a chilly stare. It was like the calm before a storm.
But eating this solid food for breakfast had become a ritual for me, part of my daily routine! I didn't want to break this ritual at least until I was done with my exam 2 days later!
Mustering my courage, I explained—
"It is the rule I have imposed on myself to put all my focus on the exams, to keep reminding myself that I am in the biggest battle of my life. I will be having this until the day of the exam."
After staring at my face for 5 full seconds, Mother finally spoke.
"Keeping a healthy body is also a Knight's duty. I don't think it is advisable to skimp on breakfast, which is the main source of energy in the morning, and dinner. I will not interfere with whatever you are having for lunch, but I better not see you having it in the morning."
Her tone was such that she wouldn't listen to a 'no'.
While I was trying to figure out what to say to convince her,
"Good morning, Allen-kun~"
Elder Sister woke up.
With how she used to be back at home during the holidays, she had woken up quite early today, around 8 a.m. However, her refined appearance from yesterday was nowhere to be found with her hair being a mess, and her wearing loose pajamas— very much the definition of unkempt.
She was never fond of formalities and preferred such loose dressing as far as I knew.
"Can you try to appear more presentable, Rose? Allen woke up quite early and has even worked out. I saw your sword practice, Allen. You've really grown up. You've been keeping this up every day, haven't you?"
Mother had always been one to praise earnestly when effort and progress were involved.
After awakening, I have come to appreciate her way more than ever.
"Yes, but it's only been about three months."
"Oh~? Allen-kun's sword practice was praised by Mother..... Too bad I missed that."
Unlike her drowsy appearance from earlier, her eyes were now sparkling at the newfound discovery.
"But it's alright! I will be able to see them anytime when Allen-kun joins the Royal Academy! Ufufu."
She seemed to be in a good mood.
"Hey, Allen-kun! Where should we go today? I asked my friends where the best restaurants and stylish clothing shops are in the capital, all for today!"
Was that why she woke up early?
Mother shook her head in disbelief.
"Allen shouldn't have the free time to hang out with the upcoming exam. Besides, Rose, don't you have to attend school the day after tomorrow as well? Have you prepared your stuff?"
"Eehh! Even though I did all this research for Allen-kun...... Fine, I'll give up this time…… We'll be together every day either way!"
Now was the time. If I didn't say it now, I would definitely be ensnared by my sister.
I quietly prepared to use body-strengthening magic and spoke,
"Ah, actually, I am planning to live in a dormitory if I pass. Since I'm planning to become a knight, eating from the same pot with my friends would surely be a good experience."
"......Huh?"
The beaming expression on the Elder Sister's face disappeared in an instant. It was the prelude before all hell let loose.
"You're just teasing me, right? Am I right, Allen-kun? Do you know how much I had anticipated for this day...? You must have known right, from the letters I sent you every month?"
Oh, shoot. After announcing that I wouldn't be able to reply to the letters with the excuse that I was too busy studying, I completely forgot to read them.
At this rate, I have to somehow get the discussion to move on before we start talking about the actual content of the letters.
After confirming Mother was nearby as an arbitrator, I answered her.
"I am not joking, Elder Sister. I'm really planning to commute from the dormitory. I also have received permission from Father."
My hand caught the fist that came flying at me the instant I spoke.
Alright, as long as I knew she was going to launch her offense, I should be able to respond to that speed. I was different from the no-thinker 'Allen' of the past.
She was unbelievably fast in taking action. But with this, I had at least sealed one of her hands.
"Ohh~, you stopped it...? I'm really amazed at how much cooler you've become, Allen-kun."
She said with a smile, however, the aura around her was anything but amiable.
"I don't think an Artificer should go around throwing their fists like this. Their hands are their lifeline, no......?"
I replied while trying to keep her counter at bay, the force she was putting in her fist was simply a striking contrast to her slender arms.
But the next instant, she withdrew her strength with outrageous speed. I was keeping my attention for the sudden withdrawal of her 'force' after our hands locked into each other, but she went from 100 to 0 too fast!
I quickly braced myself as I was falling forward but right then, her knee came upward, aiming for my jaw. I swiftly covered my jaw with body-strengthening magic, but it still couldn't stop my face from jolting upward.
I believed my jaw would have shattered without my prompt body-strengthening magic.
Elder Sister must have anticipated I would follow up with guarding myself. Still, I had a life-changing exam in two days, I couldn't let anything happen to me......
After my face was jolted upward, she followed up with a backhand strike, causing my nose to drip blood.
"I'm really happy for your concern, Allen-kun. But your nose is bleeding, are you alright?”
Then she said 'Shall we talk now?' with a smiling face.
That's when our Mother, the arbitrator, interjected.
"You both, stop playing around and finish your breakfast first. Allen is not wrong, however. Even if he lives in a dormitory, it's still not far away from here, right? You should be able to meet him anytime, Rose. So be content with this. Besides, if the family head, Bell, has given his approval then this matter needs no further discussion."
Kukuku.
I quietly chuckled to myself while hiding my face with my nose still bleeding. As long as it didn't concern the safety of her children, Mother usually stood up for Father.
I had already expected this scene to play out like this when I was having dinner with Father! All hail my meticulous strategy!
It was just that the glare from Elder Sister's tear-filled eyes inexplicably raised a feeling of guilt within me.
But aside from that, this had solved the last of my worries and with this, I was all ready to challenge my life-changing exam in two days.
On a side note, I had just reached out my hand to my emergency portable ration in excitement when I heard an exclamation of 'Hmm?' from Mother, and I reluctantly gave up on it.
Editor's note - Oh man, what a violent older sister. When she was introduced as a brocon and an artificer in the previous chapters, I expected her to be sweet on the MC. The sudden beatdown was unexpected but pretty good too.
T/N - Suddenly reminded me of yanderes, who go 'kya, my cute whatever the heck mc name' while beating ~~and sometimes stabbing~~