And then, three months later.
I was standing in line for test F of the Knights' Exam, inside the Royal Castle in the Royal Capital.
I arrived in the royal capital yesterday and spent the day relaxing at an inn.
"But it really is a lot."
I looked around and was once again surprised at the number of people there.
Apparently there were 5,000 to 10,000 applicants for every 100 successful candidates, so maybe that's about right.
The Knights' Order exams were held on different days for those graduating from the Knight Training School and for the general public, and today was the exam day for the general public.
Most people from knight families like ours went on to knight training academy, but because the eldest son, my brother Ardio, did enroll, it was only natural that the second and subsequent children didn't enroll.
By the way, the knight training school has a graduation quota of 150 students, and 100 are accepted, so it's not a difficult matter as long as you can graduate from school.
Verification of the "Power of the Great Saint" was completed over the past three months.
The result was, "I can use healing magic almost just like in my previous life."
I said "almost" because there were some things that couldn't be replicated due to a lack of test subjects, such as "Magic Attack Defense" and "Cure from Illness."
At the very least, I was able to use all the magic that I could test, so I was optimistic that I would be able to use it just like in my previous life.
Also, in my previous life, my magical power was about a thousand times the average, but it seemed to be about the same in this life.
This might sound impressive at first glance, but when it came to powerful techniques, they consumed a huge amount of magical power, so depending on the spell, I might only be able to use it a few times.
In my previous life, I had a contract with a spirit, so I was able to use magic with a ratio of 9:1 magic essence to magical power, but now I only had magical power, so I can only use 1/10 of what I could in my previous life.
It meant I really need to conserve my magical power...
Furthermore, the testing itself took only a week, so the remaining time was spent on magical training.
In my previous life, I had never directly fought an opponent, so it was quite difficult for me to strengthen my body and use it smoothly.
However, after three months of carefully considering my abilities, I gained confidence.
Today, I was going to try and see how far I could go... I was in a bit of a testing mood.
The first exam seemed to be a typing test against a knight.
The test was simple: if you could block 10 attacks from the knight who was acting as the examiner, you would pass.
Come to think of it, my sister had said that everyone in their first and second years of joining the club was called upon to take the entrance exam, and this must be what she was talking about.
The examiner was probably a young knight.
We were separated by the first letter of our names, so I lined up in row F. I looked at the front of the line... and my eyes widened.
"See, you don't have enough strength! Hold on a bit more!"
As he spoke, the examiner knocked the examinee's wooden sword away.
Umm, brown hair and narrow eyes...
"Is there no one who can deflect Leon's sword?"
…Yeah, he introduced himself. It's my brother Leon.
By the way, was it okay for a mere examiner to show so much individuality?
Looking at him, Brother Leon was knocking the swords of the examinees away one after another.
...Is this what the first exam is like?
No, I understood that there were more disqualified people because they're probably weeding out the rabble that gathered here, but about 50 people have been disqualified in a row, and all of them had their swords knocked away after just one exchange.
Looking at the examiner next to him, I saw the examinee's sword being exchanged, one go, two go, and so on, and with the final tenth go, he knocked the examinee's sword away.
Moreover, about one in five people passed the exam.
Yeah, my brother Leon, it looked like he had no intention of producing any successful candidates.
Or rather, I thought he had forgotten that it's a test.
As I was thinking, should I, as his younger sister, give him a warning about this..., I felt someone tap me on the shoulder from behind.
When I turned around, his impressive pectoral muscles came into view.
Wow, his muscles were so visible even through his clothes, it's amazing. I mean, he turned around and I could see his chest, he's really tall.
Looking up, a handsome, silver-haired prince stood there.
...Ahhh.
… I should say that I have never been excited about anything, even in my previous life. I was not immune to it.
...But wasn't it a pretty high level to make eye contact at such close range? Wasn't it something that a couple in a relationship would do?
I was feeling elated for a moment, but then suddenly I remembered something.
No, no, if such a handsome man had something to do with me, it would probably mean a warning or a lecture or something.
"...Is there something wrong with my clothes? Hah, Got the fried egg stuck to your teeth from breakfast?!"
The handsome silver man lowered his eyebrows in confusion and pointed to the back of the line.
"Sorry if this bothers you. Our examiners seem to be a bit peculiar. They fail all the applicants. But in the first round of the exam, each examiner is required to pass 20% of the applicants. I think that kind of examiner, when there are only a few applicants left, gets scolded by the examiner next to them and starts passing applicants in a hurry. So I think you'll have a higher success rate if you line up at the back of the line. What do you think? Look, all the women are lined up at the very back, aren't they?"
Indeed, there was a group of women gathered in the last row where the handsome man in silver was pointing.
Wow, that's amazing. I saw some chivalry in the knighthood exam.
As ladies and gentlemen, we should obey this handsome man's orders...
"Thank you for your kindness." (Fia)
Trying to convey the impression that I was saved, I bowed slightly and tried to move out of line and to the back row...
"Fia, don't run away! Come forward!!" (Leon)
I was found by my brother Leon.
Ahh, brother, that handsome man's kindness has been ruined...
I tried my best to smile and explain to the concerned-looking handsome silver man, "It's not like your kindness has backfired and caused my turn to be pushed forward, and it's not like I'm angry because of it."
"It's my brother. I was called, so I'll be off." (Fia)
There weren't many test takers who were called upon by the examiner.
With all eyes on me (at least, I think everyone in the row was looking at me), I ran over to my brother.
"You have some nerve trying to run away from me! Just because you enslved the Black Dragon King doesn't mean you're getting too cocky, does it? Come on, bring it on!" (Leon)
"...Black Dragon King? What's that?"
"He said enslavement. Does he mean enslaving monsters?"
"...Haha, no way. Monsters only become subordinate to people stronger than them. It's not easy even for a full-fledged knight to do that."
The surrounding test takers heard my brother's scream and started to get noisy.
...That's the worst, brother.
I don't want anyone to know that I'm a saint until my safety is guaranteed, so I intend to stay quiet and inconspicuous, so what are you doing?!
I picked up the wooden sword and climbed onto the elevated exam bench.
"Please treat me well" (Fia)
I bowed slightly and closed the distance.
Let's just get this over with before he said anything more inappropriate.
"[Physical Strengthening] Attack power x1.2! Speed x1.2!" (Fia)
I muttered under my breath and strengthened my body.
At the same time, my brother started closing in.
Clop! Our wooden swords clashed with a heavy thud, and I took a step back.
"Hoo……" (Leon)
My brother, who was unable to knock the wooden sword away with one swing for the first time, looked at me with a surprised expression.
On the other hand, I began to have a slightly different opinion of my brother.
You're strong, brother!
Even though I'd strengthened both my attack power and speed, my brother was still superior.
Although the sword wasn't knocked away, it was pushed back a step.
"[Physical Strengthening (Refresh)] Attack power x1.5! Speed x1.5!" (Fia)
I overwrited the magic. Now, what about this?
I held the wooden sword firmly in both hands and exchanged blows with my brother, two, three, four.
Unlike the first move, I didn't wobble and started exchanging blows with good balance, which made my brother look at me with a puzzled expression.
And the speed increased more and more.
5th, 6th, 7th, 8th! 9 go!
During the tenth exchange, I took a step forward and put my weight on my sword to push it back.
Zank!
With a dry sound, my brother's sword flew off.
...Ah, damn it.
Clearly realizing that the other examinees' eyes were on me, I froze for a moment... and after thinking about it... I gave my brother a polite smile.
"As expected of the examiner. Thanks to you, you moderated your strength in order to produce a certain number of successful candidates... In other words, thanks to you taking it easy quite a bit, I was lucky, miraculously, to be able to make ten cuts." (Fia)
I glanced over at my brother and he was staring at me with his mouth agape, in disbelief.
...Ahh, an expression like that would ruin the convincing nature of my acting.
Let's get this out of the way quickly.
"Well then, I'll excuse myself. Thank you for sharing your feelings with me." (Fia)
"Ehehe," I said with a polite laugh, and headed as quickly as I could to the door.
I heard a burst of laughter coming from where the handsome man in silver was, but of course I didn't look back and just ran out of the venue as fast as I could.
Author's Note
Thank you for reading.
If you spot any typos, please let us know.
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