After finishing the idiot prince's discipline, I was issued a strict reprimand through Rose.
I was well aware that I had gone rather overboard. I had braced myself for some sort of penalty from the rulers of the Tower of Babel, but it turned out to be an utter anticlimax. Well, though I would feel bad for Rose, if they had attempted to use brute force, I fully intended to resist with everything I had.
I had grabbed the head of a royal—her own blood brother, no less—and forcibly made him eat food splattered across the ground. I had expected Rose to wear a conflicted expression, but with a strangely refreshed look on her face, she simply declared, "It was just the right medicine for Gil."
Originally, Rose was the type to abhor that sort of conduct. No matter how notorious a scoundrel the opponent might be, she would normally at least scold someone for stooping to such methods. Yet, her reaction had practically screamed, Please, be my guest and do as you like. Perhaps she was just that close to snapping. Well, considering she had nearly been sold off to the Empire and turned into a pervert's plaything, it was only natural.
With all that behind us, my life in Babel began.
They must have switched lodgings. I didn't run into Laila or her cousin Lumine even once at our inn. Surely, Lumine had begged and pleaded with her. Even in the old days, Lumine had always been convinced that I was going to steal Laila away.
And so, after idling away a week, the day of the exam arrived.
Initially, I had no intention of taking any exam, but Rose pleaded with me over and over with such sheer desperation in her eyes that I finally threw in the towel.
According to intelligence gathered from an informant, the Hero's party was currently in the city and frequently visited the Gilbert faction's manor. Since the Sage Satoru, a member of the Hero's party, had been selected as Gilbert's Royal Guard for the Throne Selection War, it was all but certain that the Hero had sided with Gilbert's faction.
In short, this city had already become an exceedingly dangerous place for Rose. Having stuck my nose into the matter this far, I had no intention of abandoning her now. Either way, since I couldn't afford to leave her side for long, playing at being a student held a certain degree of practical sense.
"Kai, please make sure not to overdo it. Playing it safe is best."
Sent off in front of the inn by Rose with parting words that made me want to ask if she was my mother, I headed toward the skyscraper soaring in the center of Babel.
The tower's vast ground floor was carpeted in brilliant crimson, and its walls were adorned with motifs of a divine bird. The layout faintly brought the Hunter Guild to mind, though I had heard the guild's founder was originally the first headmaster of the Tower of Babel. This place was likely the original blueprint.
Even so, the crowd was staggering. The absurdly spacious hall was overflowing with youths who appeared to be applicants.
I took my place at the very end of the snaking queue before the reception counter and waited patiently until my turn finally came.
"Please present your examination voucher."
At the counter, I handed the voucher Rose had given me to a male clerk with black hair parted neatly to the side. In return, he gave me a metal plate inscribed with the number [20456] alongside what looked like an exam program.
"Take that plate and proceed to the testing grounds," he instructed.
The testing grounds, was it? It seemed the pamphlet detailed everything I needed to know.
Glancing over the sheets of parchment, sure enough, the specifics of the exam were laid out.
The morning was dedicated to an aptitude test, followed by a practical exam in the afternoon.
According to Rose, the aptitude test was merely meant to determine if an applicant possessed the bare minimum potential required to study at Babel. The true emphasis lay overwhelmingly on the practical exam, making the aptitude test little more than a preliminary baseline. Well, my Gift was "The Most Incompetent in the World." On top of that, I couldn't use magic. I might very well be weeded out during the aptitude test, but so be it. I had little interest in playing student in the first place. If it came to that, I would simply find another way to protect Rose.
Just as I turned on my heel to head toward the designated area—
"Why the hell are you here?!"
Turning toward the familiar racket, I saw Lumine, the girl with the blonde bob cut, screaming at a handsome brown-haired youth with enough fury to bite his head off.
"That's my line!"
The brown-haired boy glared right back, refusing to yield an inch.
That was Lumine and Roman, without a doubt. I could read the situation like an open book. With Lumine here, Laila was surely taking the exam as well.
So that was what she meant before we left Lamoor when she told me my letters wouldn't be necessary. Until I was swallowed by that labyrinth, I had planned to make Babel my base of operations. If she was coming here too, we could meet anytime, rendering letters pointless.
"I'm staying by my lady's side forever! Of course I came with her!"
"I came to Babel for my training! You have no right to lecture me!"
They really were two of a kind, bickering on the exact same childish level.
As I watched the two squabbling from a distance, musing on the thought—
"Kai?"
At that profoundly nostalgic voice, I whirled around instinctively. Standing there—just as she had been a hundred thousand years ago—a beautiful girl with long blonde hair stared at me in disbelief.
"Laila... is that you?"
At the bewildered question that slipped from my lips, Laila puffed out her cheeks in a pout.
"Geez! Who else could I possibly be?!"
"Sorry, sorry, it just slipped out."
To mask the slight flutter of emotion stirring within me after so long, I gently patted Laila's head, just as I used to do in the distant past.
"..."
Laila looked up at me in silence for a moment before speaking.
"Kai, have you grown a little more mature?"
She echoed the exact same sentiment my mother had voiced.
"Perhaps. A lot has happened, after all."
I replied with a wry smile. Still, this was troublesome. Unlike when I spoke with Mother, I couldn't seem to slip back into my old manner of speaking.
"Hey! Kai Heinemann, get away from my lady!"
"Kai! What are you doing here?!"
Spotting me almost simultaneously, the two let out nearly identical shouts.
Honestly, they were cut from the exact same cloth.
"See you around. I'll be in the city for the foreseeable future. We'll catch up again if we get the chance."
Lightly raising my right hand, I turned my back on Laila and the others, spoke words that felt wholly uncharacteristic of me, and vanished into the sea of applicants.