The morning of the exam was unfortunately overcast. After stuffing my writing utensils and exam voucher into an old bag borrowed from Groot's storage room, I stood in front of the shop.
"Best of luck out there, sir!"
"I'll have a pie baked and waiting for you, bro!"
"Thank you. I'm heading out."
Thanking Amalia and the shopkeeper for seeing me off, I set out toward the church. The exam was scheduled to begin a little before lunchtime. I had considered arriving at the last possible minute, but Amalia had urged me to leave early, so I obediently followed her advice.
It was a straight shot from the inn to the church. Looking around, I saw plenty of people walking the streets in gowns, staves in hand. Surely, they were fellow examinees. Leaving aside the gowns, I couldn't fathom why anyone would bring a staff to a written exam... but perhaps never letting one leave their side was simply in a mage's nature.
In the end, I never did figure out the significance of the gowns before exam day arrived. Neither the shopkeeper nor Amalia had mentioned anything, so they didn't seem strictly necessary for taking the test. Still, I couldn't help but wonder why so many applicants wore them.
"Ooh, if it isn't our future court mages!"
"Give it all you've got, everyone!"
"You're definitely gonna pass!"
As I entered a busy district, cheers rained down from the roadside. The examinees around me waved back bashfully. To the people of the royal capital, this was probably akin to a festival held once every three years.
"Hm?"
I caught what felt like a faint trace of magic coming from a nearby shop. Sharpening my senses, I spotted a man peering down at the street from a second-story window. The instant our eyes met, he ducked back into the room.
"..."
I hoped it was just my imagination. Then again, mages might well have been stationed around the city to keep watch over the restless examinees.
Sophie had warned me that cheating was punishable by death, so there was no doubt a severe fate awaited anyone who stepped out of line. While I didn't particularly care whether I passed, I certainly wanted to avoid having a noose slipped around my neck.
Steeling myself just a bit, I picked up the pace.
"What a crowd..."
Only upon arriving at the church did I truly grasp the meaning of Amalia's warning. In stark contrast to how deserted it had been when I submitted my application, a massive queue of examinees stretched out before the cathedral. Coming early had definitely saved me from a disaster. Back in the countryside, not even our festivals drew this many people.
"Examinees in the three-thousands, please branch off and line up over here!"
"Keep moving forward and close the gaps, please!"
Nuns shouted at the top of their lungs, directing the sea of people. A cathedral capable of holding ten thousand examinees, paired with the ability to mobilize so much manpower... Clearly, the church was an ideal organization to entrust with administering the examination.
I had always thought magic and religion were incompatible, but here in Ulm, they seemed to have struck a harmonious balance. I didn't have fond memories of the church back home, but had I grown up here, I might have turned out a bit more devout.
"Excuse me, are you lost?"
"Pardon?"
Lost in thought, I was approached by a long-haired nun. She must have assumed I was stranded....In truth, the sheer scale of the crowd had left me thoroughly overwhelmed.
"Um, I'm not entirely sure where I'm supposed to go..."
"Do you have your exam voucher with you?"
"Ah, yes."
"The lines are divided by examinee number, so please find yours accordingly."
"M-My examinee number?"
Hurriedly pulling the voucher from my bag, I saw a number printed across it. Let's see... "10211." A prime number.
"Ah, a prime number."
"Huh?"
Caught off guard, I blinked as the nun voiced the exact same thought I'd just had.
"Oh, forgive me. I study mathematics in my spare time. In any case, please join the queue for the ten-thousands."
"Ah, thank you very much."
"There aren't many examinees in the ten-thousands, so you should be able to enter the cathedral shortly."
"That's a relief."
First Sophie, and now her—the nuns in the capital were remarkably well educated... Offering a polite bow, I headed toward the designated line. Sure enough, once I joined it, the queue moved much faster than the others. A true blessing for a country bumpkin like me.
"Next, please present your voucher. Moving on..."
Stretching up on tiptoe, I spotted an elderly nun sitting at a simple desk, inspecting vouchers. Behind her stood a younger nun searching through examinees' bags, likely checking for contraband.
"...Yes, that's fine. Next person, please."
"Coming."
After a short wait, my turn finally arrived. Beckoned forward, I stepped up to the desk and faced the elderly nun.
"Name and examinee number, please."
"Keegan Bauer. My examinee number is... er, 10211."
"Let me see your voucher."
"Here you go."
When I handed over the wave-cut slip, the elderly nun began flipping through a thick stack of duplicate stubs. Unable to find mine right away, she tilted her head in bewilderment.
"Let's see... your number once more?"
"10211."
"Are you certain you applied? We only have records up to 10210 here."
"Huh? That can't be right."
Sensing something was wrong, the surrounding examinees began to murmur. How strange. Sister Sophie had definitely accepted my application.
"Um, I registered with someone named Sister Sophie..."
"Pardon? There is no way she would handle menial paperwork like this."
"But I swear, just four or five days ago—"
"Four or five days ago?"
At a complete loss, the elderly nun could only offer a strained smile. Right, most people applied far earlier than that....Wait, does that mean—?
"Sister, could this be the one?!"
"Ah, that's it!"
Just then, another nun came running up from behind. Having heard the commotion and searched in a hurry, she held a slip tightly in her hand.
"It's 10211, right? It was left behind in the office!"
"Thank goodness, what a relief! Good for you as well, young man."
"Ah, thank you so much. Sorry for the trouble."
"It must be divine providence. It looks like you're the very last applicant this year."
"Thank you very much."
After cross-referencing it with the stub, the elderly nun returned my voucher. The very last one, huh... Though it was simply the result of applying at the eleventh hour, I supposed it made for a neat little keepsake.
"Now then, please have your belongings inspected over there."
"Understood."
Heading in the direction she pointed, I found a young nun already waiting for me. Having held up the line behind me, she looked slightly flustered.
"Um, is this bag your only luggage?"
"Yes, that's all."
"I'll inspect the contents, then."
Unzipping the bag somewhat roughly, the young nun peered inside. Before long, she looked up at me with a skeptical expression.
"...Is this really everything?"
"Is there something else I need besides my voucher and writing tools?"
"No, not necessarily... It's just that you don't have any reference books or study materials..."
"I-I see."
What in the world was a reference book?
"Well, never mind. There doesn't appear to be anything suspicious, so please proceed. Your seat corresponds to your examinee number."
"Thank you."
Fortunately, nothing raised any flags. I slipped past the young nun and walked toward the cathedral, swallowed by the flow of examinees merging from other lines.
Come to think of it, I hadn't gotten a chance to see inside the building when I registered. Given that it was large enough to host the mage examination, it was bound to be one of the grandest churches in the entire capital.
The chapel back in my village had cracked walls and faded paint. Even with generous flattery, no one could call it a beautiful building. Though, to be fair, I couldn't even remember the last time I set foot in there—
"Whoa..."
—I couldn't believe the sight before my eyes. Sunlight poured through the high clerestory windows, bathing the examinees in a gentle, warm glow. Lavish stained glass encircled the entire perimeter, conjuring an ethereal, almost dreamlike atmosphere.
The exquisite stonework was utterly pristine, while statues of the Holy Mother carved into the pillars and walls looked down with serene smiles. Countless long pews and desks stretched endlessly from the entrance to the far back, obscuring even the location of the pulpit.
At that moment, a single phrase came to mind. The religious heart of the nation, a place every devout believer dreamed of visiting at least once. The pinnacle of wisdom and labor, erected through the sheer pride and prestige of the capital's people. Ah, of course. This was it.
—The Resplendent Ulm Cathedral.
I had heard the name before, but only now did it hit me that this was the very place.
Even someone like me, who never prayed to the gods, couldn't help but be moved standing here. A true believer would surely weep tears of joy. The sheer realization of where I stood left me breathless with awe.
"...Hey, out of the way!"
"Ah, sorry."
Lost in the moment, I was shoved aside by an examinee coming from behind. Glancing around, I noticed that no one else was paying any mind to the breathtaking stained glass; they were all marching straight toward their assigned seats.
"...Guess I should get moving, too."
I instinctively scratched my head. Right, I hadn't come here for sightseeing—though whether I could say that with a straight face was debatable.
I made my way toward my seat. With ten thousand examinees present, I had worried finding my spot would be a nightmare, but being the very last number made it surprisingly easy to locate.
"Phew..."
Taking my seat, I set my pen on the desk. Finally, a moment to catch my breath.
"..."
Looking at the other applicants, every single one of them was buried in a book or stack of notes. Were those the reference books the nun mentioned? Cramming knowledge right up to the final second, then.
Come to think of it, this might be an everyday sight for people living in Ulm. I was probably the odd one out for getting captivated by the cathedral right before the test. It felt as though I were in a world of my own—a rather peculiar sensation.
"Yaaawn..."
Surrounded by such overwhelming grandeur, I actually started to feel drowsy. Since I'd arrived early, there was still plenty of time before the exam began. Might as well take a quick nap.
Today was just the written exam. I had no idea what kind of questions would be on it, nor any clue how many I could actually answer. If it proved too difficult, maybe I'd just leave a few doodles on the sheet and head home...
Yaaawn...
...
...
"...With that, I wish you all the best of luck."
...Huh? That was Sister Sophie's voice. Was she projecting all the way from the pulpit?
Incredible. To have that much energy at her age. Wait, hold on. Why was Sister Sophie speaking? And what did she mean by wishing us luck—
"Begin!!"
"Wait, what?"
The simultaneous rustle of papers flipping over snapped me wide awake. A test paper sat right in front of me, and the other examinees were already furiously scribbling away.
"...It's started already?"
The gravity of the situation finally hit me.
The Court Mage Selection Exam, first stage exam. While I had been blissfully snoozing away, the battle had already begun—