A Returner’s Magic Should Be Special - Chapter 7

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 7. A Returner’s Entrance Exam (6)

Dezir had considered the possibility that Azest might find herself in the same situation as him — that she, too, had returned from a past life. If she had come back from her previous existence, she would be playing the role of her “present self,” just as he was hiding his true nature. Through this confrontation, Dezir intended to discern the truth.
And the result was clear: she had not returned from a past life.
The Azest before him now was far too young. Her experience in magical combat, her ability to devise countermeasures — all of it was laughably immature by comparison.
Dezir halted the Magical Arrows he had been controlling.
Crack! Boom!
The arrows that had been chasing one another in succession collided with each other and cancelled out completely.
Because they had been lined up in a single file, not a single arrow remained undefeated.
‘Blast!’
At the same moment, Azest moved to draw her sword, but her timing had already fallen too far behind.
By the time her blade was halfway unsheathed, Dezir had already passed her and reached the finish line.

The Shadow World is now terminating.
Please wait briefly while the entrance examination results are being calculated.

A chill rose from the stone floor. Deep beneath the Hebrion Empire, in some underground hall, many people had gathered. Most were professors, though there were also several representatives from the Western Kingdom Alliance among them.
Justin, the Chancellor of Hebrion, gripped the Wooden Gavel placed before him. A Parchment lay on the table in front of him.
“Not a single commoner has been selected for Alpha Class.”
Kelivan, the professor of swordsmanship, had summed up the entrance examination results thus far in one sentence.
His words drew agreement from more than just a few. Chief Professor Fuggman in particular nodded vigorously.
“It is only natural. Alpha Class is a seat reserved for the glorious nobility alone. It is no rank for commoners who have not even received a proper education.”
Fuggman, intoxicated by the pleasure of his own words, failed to notice that Bridgette, sitting across from him, had gone rigid.
“They should consider it an honor merely to have been admitted to this Hebrion Academy.”
Tap, tap.
Justin tapped the Wooden Gavel.
“Silence, all. This is the final student.”
Justin then began to read through the documents before him.
“One Circle Mage, Dezir Armang.”
The assembled professors murmured among themselves here and there.
“Ah, this is the student who…….”
“The one who defeated a Sword Mage, they said…….”
Justin addressed the professors.
“I understand this is a recommended candidate. Who recommended this student for admission?”
One of the professors raised her hand.
It was Bridgette, the professor of magic theory.
“I was the one who recommended him.”
“What was your reason?”
“The boy has studied magical theory for a long time, and his desire to learn is quite strong. I recommended him because I valued such passion.”
“How did you come to know him?”
“I met him by chance at the Orphanage.”
“Hmm.”
Chancellor Justin cleared his throat.
He turned to the supervising examiner and spoke.
“What were his preliminary test results?”
“One Circle. And even that seems to have been barely scraped together to meet the minimum requirements. His Mana is said to be quite turbid and impure.”
“A student without much talent, then.”
“You think so? Then take a look at this. Assistant, play that recording for us.”
At Justin’s command, the assistant waiting beside him placed a Crystal Sphere on the table in the center of the conference hall.
As a Mana Stone was channeled into the Crystal Sphere, a crackling sound erupted, and an image began to form in the empty air.
It was a recording of the entrance examination.

As the footage began to play, everyone in the hall focused intently on Group D’s entrance examination.
…
…
…

—The Shadow World clear conditions have been satisfied.
The Shadow World is now terminating.

Every face in the assembly had gone rigid with shock.
Some of the magical theory professors sat with their mouths hanging open, unable to close them, while others cleaned their spectacles over and over again.
Even the sword technique professors—those untrained in magic—could see unmistakably that what had just unfolded was anything but ordinary.
“Well then, let’s have each of you share your impressions in turn, shall we?”
Justin spoke.
A professor raised his hand with a question.
“Setting everything else aside—is this actually possible?”
A second-year magical theory professor answered him.
“No. It would be impossible even if a Third Circle mage were present. The Gris spell used there acts only on flat planes; it cannot be applied to three-dimensional objects like the human body. It appears the algorithm of the spell has been modified somehow… and if that’s the case, then this student possesses truly extraordinary computational ability.”
The tactics professor gripped his head in his hands and spoke.
“The practical instinct and psychological warfare were also superb. The way he didn’t reveal his full strength and used his final move as a foundation for a reversal—that’s absolutely commendable.”
“Indeed. It’s as though he’d spent a lifetime on a real battlefield, a seasoned veteran. I confess I’m no expert in magic, but tactically? Flawless. He seized complete control of the flow of battle.”
“That a commoner would receive such advanced education is remarkable. Truly astonishing.”
“He’s certainly qualified to pass. But why do you hesitate with a judgment, Rector? Why not render your decision now?”
“Because Professor Bridgette, having viewed this footage, has proposed that this student be assigned to the Alpha Class.”
…!
The assembly fell silent as if drenched in cold water.
The buoyant mood deflated, and an icy stillness filled the void.
No one dared speak easily into that quiet until someone raised a hand, requesting the floor.
“With all due respect, Rector.”
It was Fuggman, the senior chief professor.
“As you know, we have regulations in place. Classes are assigned according to ability—a rule by which the excellent are placed in Alpha, the somewhat less refined in Beta, and these assigned students receive instruction optimized to their respective levels within their assigned classes.”
“What are you driving at?”
“Any student who should enter the Alpha Class must, by definition, be excellent—which is to say, objectively speaking, at least a Second Circle mage. But he has not yet cultivated many usable spells. Therefore, I believe his current ability is premature for Alpha Class assignment.”
“Hmm…”
“Indeed, that’s a fair point.”
Murmurs of agreement rippled through the room.
But not from Bridgette.
“How absurd, Professor Fuggman.”
All eyes turned toward Bridgette.
“You call a student who defeated Azest Kingscrown—a Third Circle Sword Mage—unremarkable merely because he’s a First Circle? That’s a judgment so personal it borders on repugnant.”
“A First Circle mage has limits! No matter how excellent his computational ability or application, there are fundamental constraints in spell deployment!”
“Stop this petty quibbling. You have another reason entirely, don’t you?”
Another reason.
Bridgette knew exactly what it was.
“You oppose him because he’s a commoner. Isn’t that right, Professor Fuggman Fasil Niplecar?”
Fuggman shook his head.
“I swear by my honor that no external factor such as status informed this judgment whatsoever.”
“Is that so? Then how curious that until just moments ago, you were insisting that commoners had no business in the Alpha Class, and now you come forward with such perfectly impartial reasoning?”
The confrontation between Fuggman and Bridgette held a peculiar resonance with their circumstances.
Bridgette, a professor who had reached Fifth Circle—a rank held by fewer than five hundred people across the entire continent—born of commoner stock.
Fuggman Niplecar, heir to House Niplecar, second only to the imperial family among the great noble houses.
Their respective arguments represented not only their own positions but a fundamental clash of values.
Tap. Tap.
The sound of Justin’s gavel cut through the exchange.
He spoke with solemn authority.
“Enough. Debate serves no purpose. Let us now render judgment. All in favor of admitting Dezir to the Alpha Class—cast your votes accordingly.”
This was the final step.
Everything would be decided now.
Bridgette raised her hand in favor, while Fuggman cast his vote against without hesitation.
In favor: eighteen. Against: twenty-one.
Justin delivered his verdict.
“First Circle Mage, Dezir Armang. Ordinarily he would be assigned to the Alpha Class, but according to Professor Fuggman’s assessment that his Circle is too low, he is assigned to the Beta Class instead.”
Tap, tap, tap.
Justin placed Dezir’s admission application into the folder marked “Accepted.” Murmurs rippled through the gathering of professors.
“Well, a commoner does present certain concerns…….”
“No matter how skilled, assigning someone to Alpha based on entrance exams alone is…… absurd.”
“Headmaster! If you understood how the Beta Class currently operates, you could never have reached such a verdict!”
Bridgette protested.
“The decision has been made by majority vote. It cannot be overturned.”
Justin rose from his seat, his tone firm and brooking no further objection.
“If he is truly as exceptional as you claim, he will prove his worth anew in the Promotion Exam. As you yourself said, if he possesses genuine ability, this matter will resolve itself readily.”
“But…… but…….”
“That will be all. You are dismissed.”
Whoosh.
At the Headmaster’s gesture, the torch that had been illuminating the Underground Hall extinguished.
The deep darkness descended like a lid, sealing shut her words.
Thus the meeting concluded.

March arrives with spring. Willow leaves unfurl in tender green, forsythia blooms bright in the flowerbeds, and the air grows warm.
Today was the day the entrance examination results of Hebrion Academy were announced.
A bulletin board stood at the center of the academy’s corridor.
Upon it, names were listed in order alongside their assigned classes. Alpha Class at the top, Beta Class below.
Dezir found his name without difficulty on the lower section of the board.
“As expected.”
He had anticipated it.
Yet seeing it with his own eyes now made his heart sink deeper still.
He had surpassed even Azest and placed first in his cohort, only to be assigned to Beta Class.
“Living up to expectations, as always.”
Beta and Alpha.
Hebrion students were divided into two classes.
This system existed for the purpose of Ability-Based Tiered Education tailored to each student’s level.
Students were assigned to classes according to their individual capabilities and received instruction suited to each one, achieving superior learning outcomes.
Or rather, they were supposed to have achieved them.
‘But now that lofty purpose is nowhere to be found.’
In its early days, the system had indeed proceeded according to its principles, but much time had elapsed since the academy’s founding, and circumstances had shifted.
On the surface, Hebrion Academy assigned superior students to Alpha Class regardless of birth, yet most of those deemed superior were nobles who had received systematic education from their youth.
And before long, a kind of aristocratic supremacy had come to permeate Hebrion Academy in subtle ways. Within this atmosphere, whenever a commoner student of sufficient ability occasionally emerged who would have qualified for Alpha Class, they were invariably relegated to Beta Class instead.
Just as Dezir was now.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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