The party was held at Duke Ellington’s estate. Duke Ellington governed a sizable territory to the south. He grew strong due to the spice-rich country to the south, and now he wanted more power for himself, which was why he became the figurehead of the nobility faction.

“Vincent Silverlight from the House of Redwall has arrived.” A servant announced as Vincent entered the ballroom.

“Just how I like it. I’m not drawing any attention.” News of him renouncing the Redwall name had already spread throughout the aristocrats. His status at this moment was barely higher than a commoner at the point. There was no use getting to know him; thus no one turned to look nor greet him when he entered. Vincent looked around the venue before slinking off into the crowd.

The strong smell of perfume and over-extravagant clothing left an unpleasant impression on him. These nobles acted posh and elegant, but they couldn’t hide their selfish nature as their haughtiness and swaggering bearing betrayed them. This atmosphere wasn’t going to work. Vincent extricated himself from the crowd and leaned against a pillar in the outskirts.

“Care for a drink, Milord?” A subdued voice asked from beside him.

Vincent looked over and froze stiff when he saw a maid with a tightly bound bun. Her hair was as black as the moonless night sky. There was a mole just right below her left eye. She was the epitome of an eastern beauty if she were in the modern world. However, her beauty wasn’t what left Vincent speechless. He knew that person.

“Aya…” He uttered.

The woman’s professional smile faltered for a fraction of a second before she answered, “You are mistaken, Milord. The name of this one is not worthy to be known. Please, would Milord care for a drink?” She offered him a tray of wine.

“Is that so?” Vincent looked thoughtful for a while before shaking his head. It was at the moment that a bell rang throughout the room.

*Ding Dong!*

“His Royal Highness, Prince Lysander has arrived!” The trumpets blared as the third prince walked in. Everyone turned to watch as an intimidating man entered the ballroom. He still looked quite young, around his twenties. He studied the crowd as he struts in with confidence. Vincent also noticed that the maid had disappeared from his side.

“Ladies and Gentlemen,” began Prince Lysander. “It is an honor to see that every one of you still have faith in me. I promise that when I become King, I’ll pardon our friends who were framed for corruption. The King is being misled into believing this nonsense and I, Prince Lysander, will rid the palace of these misleaders!”

“Yea!”

“Third Prince~!”

The crowd cheered as the Prince entered the ballroom after his short speech. Vincent silently observed the third prince as he continued to greet the nobles. Finally, after wasting plenty of time and having nothing to show for it, he gave up and silently left.

“More than anything, it was just a morale booster for the nobility faction.” He shook his head when he realized that it was natural not to speak of such matters in such an open place. Although his effort today had turned up pointless, at the very least he met with Aya. She was also a key player in the novel.

---

The next day, Vincent crossed over the barrier into the academy city, Lancelot. Gawain and Lancelot, the twin cities, existed side-by-side in harmony, benefitting each other. Today, Vincent was headed for the administrative district to retake his examinations. His scores from the previous year were thrown out since he had suspended his attendance.

“Please wait one moment while I inform Vice Headmaster Bardus.” The receptionist professionally said and left. Not too long later, she returned, “The Vice Headmaster will meet you in the testing center, please follow me.”

She led him through a series of hallways decorated with various medals and portraits of previous headmasters and vice headmasters. Finally, after entering through a set of plain-looking doors, he saw what looks to be a chubby man in a set of robes.

“So you’ve finally arrived, Vincent Silverlight.” Bardus Geringer raised an eyebrow as he gestured for him to sit. In front of him was a set of exam papers. “It’s not normal to accept a student so late into the year, but Duke Evergreen has put in a good word, so our academy has made you an exception.”

“Thank you, Vice Headmaster.” Vincent saluted in a practiced manner befitting of a soldier, stunning Bardus momentarily.

“This is a place of learning, not the army. There’s no need to salute.”

“Understood.” Vincent straightened up and continued, “Captain Halt sends his greetings.”

At the mention of Halt, Bardus grimaced, “That old bastard is still alive and kicking? Hmph. I should’ve dropped him down that ravine way back when.”

Even though Bardus was complaining about Halt, he had a look of cheerfulness hidden away at the corners of his mouth. He continued grumbling about Halt for a bit longer before regaining his composure.

“Where was I… Oh right. As a reminder, the exam will test both your academic and physical ability. So once you’ve finished the written exam, we will proceed outdoors for the physical exam. You may begin when ready. You have 60 minutes.” After finishing giving out his instructions, Bardus stepped back and took a seat.

Over the past few weeks, Vincent had not been slacking off. Other than training, he had also brushed up on his studies. The curriculum at Lancelot was simpler compared to modern standards, but there were also topics that might relate to governing and economics that require a bit more study for Vincent.

Right after opening up the exam papers, Vincent’s eyes lit up at the basic arithmetic calculation questions. Even though he was bed-bound his whole past life, he was still able to learn, in fact, learning new things and studying was the only thing he could do. He quickly sped through the arithmetic questions, then the history questions, then economics questions, and finally the magic theory questions.

Not even 20 minutes had gone by; Vincent had already placed down his pen. Bardus was slightly surprised, not because Vincent finished so fast, but because he thought Vincent had given up. He was slightly disappointed by that thought, but kept it to himself.

“Finished?”

“Yes.”

“Then we’ll proceed to the physical test. Cindy, please show this young man to the practice field, I’ll inform Vice Head Julia to proctor for his physical exam.” Right after he finished speaking, the receptionist had reappeared. Bardus gathered up the exam to grade and left after bidding his farewell.

“Right this way.” The receptionist called Cindy walked up. The whole way to the practice field she didn’t speak a word. It was awkward, but Vincent felt that it was fine this way; he wasn’t much of a speaker anyways.

The practice field was more like an arena than a field. It was inside a dome-like building that was connected to the main administration building. Inside it were stands surrounding the central platform where viewers could sit and listen to the instructor. Off to the side were various weapons neatly displayed on racks, it was clear that they were modified for safety. The platform itself was circular and very large, it was at least 50 meters in diameter.

Vincent was made to wait there after the Cindy left. Out of curiosity, he approached the weapon racks and picked up a short sword to examine.

“So the blades are dulled, and the tips were blunted. However this weight…” He swung the sword as if it were a plastic baton. “It’s too light.” He placed the short sword back and retrieved a large axe that was nearly the size of his body. He also swung it around with ease.

“Please don’t touch the training equipment unless you’re under supervision or an instructor is available.” A gruff but otherwise feminine voice reproached him.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a middle-aged woman entering the practice field. She was quite the opposite of Bardus. She wore her robes like it was a set of dojo clothes, but they looked worn out as if they were put under stress too often. The set of robes were cut off at the shoulder, revealing her toned and scarred arms that had been casually placed behind her head. The woman’s face itself was average, but the most notable feature was her predator-like eyes and her heroic smile.

“Vice Headmaster Julia, I presume?” Vincent disregarded her words and placed down the axe. Just as the axe head was about to reach the floor Vincent’s hand jerked.

*Bang*

A dull sound erupted out as Vincent flew back a few steps. The handle of the giant axe bent into the shape of a fist.

“What’s the meaning of this?!” Vincent cried out, his heart beating furiously.

Julia stood up in the position where Vincent was standing before with an excited gaze in her eyes. “Your test as already begun.” Immediately afterward, another fist flew out towards his eyes.

“Damnit!” Vincent almost didn’t have any time to react and immediately shrank back after abandoning the bent axe and drawing his sword at his waist. Not long after that split-second decision, Julia’s fist knocked over the axe.

Vincent neatly retreated and flipped onto the platform. It was disadvantageous for him to fight in such a narrow space below the platform. After regaining his calm, he watched as Julia leaped up.

“You’re not bad, Boy.” She grinned as she kicked off the ground, shooting towards him like a human-shaped bullet.

“This person is crazy! How the hell did Vincent survive this in the original novel?!” Vincent thought to himself as he couldn’t do anything and was forced to dodge. Julia was the other Vice Headmaster of Lancelot. If Bardus was akin to water, then Julia was fire. Bardus was in charge of nobles and Julia was in charge of commoners. Bardus was a B-ranked mage and Julia was…

“Vice Head Julia!” Vincent yelled through staggered breathing; it took all his focus to dodge her attacks. “Don’t you think it’s unbecoming for an A-Rank warrior to test me?”

“Hah?! I can’t hear you over all this music!” Julia crazily chuckled as she continued to attack. From time to time, Vincent was able to parry a few attacks, but when they came into contact with her fists metallic clangs were heard.

“Just what kind of monster is she?!” He thought. Up until now, Julia had been fiercely attacking. All her attacks targeted all his openings and it took all his concentration just to defend himself. He felt as if she was using a cheat that allowed to endlessly combo her opponent. Not only were her attacks fast, but they were also heavy; each attack jarred his arms and made them feel sore.

“Take that! That! THAT! HAHAHA!” She began to grin crazily as her speed picked up. Nearly overwhelmed, Vincent sucked in a cold breath and stomped his foot down, sending shattered rocks flying up, momentarily halting Julia. Using this opportunity, he jumped back.

“Kuhuhu, not bad, Boy!” She still had her grin as she dusted off the rocks. “That’s a good sword; it’s not even damaged after taking my fists.” She pointed to Vincent’s sword which still looked as good as new, not even a dent was on the blade.

“It’s a gift from General Aster.” Vincent replied as he slowed down his breathing.

“Him? Is he still playing forest ranger with his band of merry men? A real man should be fighting and trading hit for hit on the frontlines!” She spoke passionately about the grandeur of a frontline warrior.

Vincent grimaced and replied, “It’s through General Aster’s efforts that the forest border is safe.”

“Pfft! Give me a week and I’ll clear up the whole Emerald Forest!” boasted Julia. “Alright, breaks over. Did you enjoy it?” She flashed over an evil grin and immediately attacked again.

“Hah~…” Vincent sighed tiredly and submitted himself to be a punching bag for the overzealous meathead Vice Headmaster.

After about 10 minutes and dozens of bruises later, Vincent finally felt the relentless assault come to an end. His sword laid at his feet. He had a large welt on his cheek.

“Not bad, Boy. I’d say you are almost C-Rank. Hurry up and get stronger, so I can fight you seriously.” She dusted off her hand and walked off. From the point when she arrived to the point where he was beaten into the ground, not even 30 minutes had passed.

“Crazy woman!” He spat out some blood. When she hit his cheek earlier, his teeth had cut into his cheek.

“Oh is it over already?” Bardus had at some point appeared beside him. Bardus looked down on him with an amusing look in his eyes.

“You knew…” Vincent growled as he stood up like a newborn fawn.

“Vice Head Julia is an excellent lady, Vincent. She’s very let’s say… expressive.” He looked over Vincent before continuing, “It looks like she quite liked you.”

Vincent angrily glared back and countered, “And this is her way of expressing it?” He gestured at his dirtied clothes.

“You’re lucky. Most people who sparred with her ended up with fractures at the very least. So yes, I would say she quite likes you.” Bardus nodded his head.

Vincent felt a shiver passed through his spine as he hugged himself. He quickly changed topics, wanting to put what he had just envisioned behind him.

“I don’t suppose you have the results of my exams?” He looked at the parchment in Bardus’ hand.

“As a matter of fact, I do.” He unfurled the parchment and started reading from it. “If I wasn’t the proctor for the written exam, I dare say you must’ve had outside help. Nearly a perfect score, Vincent in all segments. Only… your magic theory scores are sub-par, but that’s understandable for a non-mage student. We don’t expect you to have high attainments in the field of magic.”

“Thank you, Vice Headmaster Bardus. And about my physical exam scores?” Vincent had a pleading look in his eyes as he asked that question.

“Wouldn’t it be better if Vice Head Julia do the honors?” Bardus had a strange grin on his face as he answered back.

“Please…”

“Alright, I’m jesting. She said your abilities are above average, equivalent to almost a third-year student. If it didn’t go against our rules, I would’ve put you back into the second-year class, but as per procedure you’ll have to start in the first-year class.” Bardus looked apologetic but remained firm in his decision.

“It’s understandable; I have a request though.” There was one annoying bit about Lancelot that would be detrimental towards his future plans.

“What is the request?”

“In order to facilitate the best learning environment, Lancelot forbids its students to leave the academy. The only exceptions to this are when the school year ends, holidays, or if there are special circumstances. My one request is this; I wish to be able to come and go as I like within Lancelot.” Although it was a request, Vincent’s tone sounded more like a demand.

Bardus ruminated over the strange request, “May I be able to inquire about why you would make this odd request?” Normally, any student would be overjoyed to be able to study at Lancelot. It was quite the opposite since many students wouldn’t return home even if the school year had ended. Hence, Lancelot grew large enough to become the academy city and various students had gone on to become researchers living in the city.

Vincent couldn’t just tell the truth, so he gave a half-truth answer, “I don’t like being tied down to one place. I see myself as a wanderer and want to experience everything for myself rather than read it in books.” This was in a sense, a truth.

“…” Bardus could feel the passion concealed underneath the youth’s expressionless face. He thought it over for a bit before saying, “It may be possible, but I’ll have to take it up with the headmaster first before it can be approved. For now, you may return and after I have Vice Head Julia write down a set score for your physical exam, we’ll send you the results.

“I understand. Thank you, I’ll see myself out.” Vincent picked up his sword and dusted himself off before leaving the practice field.

Bardus watched the back of the staggering youth as he left before walking over to the weapon rack. “That muscle brain didn’t go easy at all.” He mumbled as he picked up the bent axe. He mumbled a few lines and the metallic handle turned into a malleable clay-like substance and straightened. Not long after, it hardened once more and then Bardus placed it back on the rack.