"See ya, kid. Take care of yourself once you get back home!"
"Thank you for everything, sir. You take care, too."
The morning after the exam, I bowed deeply in front of Groot, shouldering my heavy pack. The day had finally come to leave the royal capital. I likely wouldn't ever set foot in Ulm again in my lifetime.
"Um, well then, I'll be borrowing your new recruit for a bit."
"Yeah! Newbie, make sure you help him pick out some good souvenirs!"
"I got it! Right this way, mister!"
"Yeah, thanks."
Led by the new girl, I made my way down the street. This would be my last look at the Ulm cityscape. The thought that I might never walk these cobblestones again brought a strange sense of loneliness.
"Um, excuse me, mister?"
"What is it? Er, ah..."
"It's Amalia! And, um, there's something I wanted to ask!"
"What's up?"
Amalia puffed out her cheeks in annoyance as she pressed me.
"Are you reeeally not going to check them? The passing results!"
"Ah..."
"You went through all the trouble of taking it, so you might as well at least go take a look!"
By passing results, she of course meant for the first stage exam—the written exam. I understood where she was coming from, but...
"Well, I gave it my best shot, but after watching so many smart-looking examinees throw in the towel, I just can't imagine I passed."
"Ehh, but still..."
"Besides, even if I did advance to the second exam, I wouldn't be able to take it anyway. I don't have the coin to stay in the capital any longer."
"..."
"Is something wrong?"
"No, it's nothing!"
Amalia's face seemed to twitch for a split second, but maybe it was just my imagination. In truth, I only had enough left for souvenirs and the journey home. The last thing I wanted was to take a second exam I had no guarantee of passing, only to end up penniless and cast adrift in the royal capital.
"Ah, here it is! This place is already open!"
Before I knew it, we had arrived outside a shop. I had asked Amalia earlier if there was anywhere open first thing in the morning that would be good for souvenir shopping. Peering inside, I saw an extensive assortment of sundries and knickknacks. Perfect.
"Thanks. I wonder if there's anything my little sister would like."
"I'll help you pick! She's the same age as me, right?"
"Yeah, though she's super serious..."
Chatting with Amalia, I stepped inside.
"What do you think of this hair ornament?"
"...If I were your sister, I'd disown you."
"Is it really that bad?!"
The two of us browsed the shelves, chatting about this and that. Personally, I thought a hair ornament shaped like a legendary dragon was pretty cool. I really didn't understand how girls that age thought...
"Hm?"
Looking outside, I noticed a large group of youths in gowns walking past. Judging by their direction, they were probably headed toward the cathedral. Most likely on their way to check the results of the mage examination. Come to think of it, I wanted to find out what those gowns meant before leaving the capital.
"Amalia, what's the deal with the people wearing those gowns?"
"Ah... Those are the uniforms for Arendt Preparatory School."
"Preparatory school?"
Amalia answered matter-of-factly as she picked up a hair ornament from a shelf. "Preparatory school" wasn't a term I was very familiar with.
"It's a school for people taking the mage examination. They have classes almost every day, and they're made to study magic, apparently."
"Wait, there's an entire school just for the exam?"
"That's right. If you fail, you go there for another three years."
"Huh?!"
"Wealthy folks from all over Ulm pay hefty tuition fees to send their kids there. Having even one court mage in the family opens a lot of doors, it seems."
"...I see."
It felt like she was describing a completely different world, making my head spin. Back in the countryside, people didn't even know the mage examination existed, yet here it had become an entire industry. Given how many students in gowns I had seen, demand had to be massive.
I felt like I was finally grasping the true nature of the Court Mage Selection Exam. While it was just a keepsake memory for a country bumpkin like me, to the people of the royal capital, it was a high-stakes gamble they bet their entire lives on.
"I heard the headmaster's daughter took the exam this year. The headmaster was completely fired up, saying she was going to pass at the top of the class to uphold the prestige of Arendt Preparatory School."
"You sure know a lot about this. Could you be aiming to become a mage too, Amalia?"
"No way, someone like me couldn't possibly! It's not me—the boss is the one who knows all about it."
"Groot?"
"He's been friends with the headmaster for years, apparently. So he talks to me about the mage examination all the time."
That came as a surprise. He had claimed he didn't know a thing about magic, yet he had a connection like that. Even if only in name, I was an examinee too; he could have just told me.
"Hey, isn't that him?!"
"Elena! Over here!"
"??"
A sudden commotion outside drew our attention. Students in those distinctive gowns were gathering one after another, staring in our direction and whispering among themselves.
"...Amalia, what's going on?"
"I don't know either... What is this...?"
Amalia and I exchanged glances and tilted our heads in bewilderment. Was there something special about this shop? No... it seemed like an ordinary store. What on earth was—
"Found you, Keegan Bauer!!"
"Huh?"
Standing in front of the shop was a tall, red-haired girl. Pointing an accusing finger straight at me, she strode briskly inside.
"Wait, what? What's going on?"
"Mister, are you a wanted criminal?!"
"No, no, not at all! I haven't done anything wrong—"
"How dare you subject me to such humiliation!"
"Whoa, hey, too close—whoa?!"
She closed the distance so aggressively that I lost my footing and tumbled backward onto the floor. Without missing a beat, the girl pushed up the sleeve of her gown and shoved the back of her left wrist right in front of my face.
"To give me a number like this...!"
Carved clearly onto her skin was the number "2." The girl glared down at me, looking as though tears were faintly welling in her eyes. But unable to make heads or tails of the situation, all I could do was sit on the floor in utter bewilderment.
I would learn later that her name was Elena Arendt. She was the daughter of the Arendt Preparatory School headmaster—and the person universally favored to pass with the highest marks.