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Chapter – 7
“Ignis!”
“Renia?”
“Long time no see.”
“Yeah. It really has been.”
Ignis greeted me warmly as I called his name and walked over.
But his expression looked a little stiff.
“Are you nervous?”
“Huh?”
“You look kind of tense.”
Ignis blanked out for a moment, then let out an awkward laugh.
“How could you tell? No one else noticed.”
…Is it really that obvious I’ve spent all this time doing nothing but staring at Ignis?
The old me would’ve frozen up just from talking to him.
I wouldn’t have noticed something like this at all.
The only time I wasn’t nervous around Ignis was when I was watching him from afar, alone.
But now, I’d gotten fairly used to being around him—enough to notice things like this.
“Want to try something?”
“What is it, Renia?”
“Well, I heard this somewhere before…”
I continued talking while watching Ignis struggle to force his expression to relax.
“You take a really deep breath like this.”
“……”
“Then close your eyes and slowly breathe out. They say it helps you relax.”
“……”
“I tried it myself—it actually works.”
After a moment, Ignis closed his eyes tightly and followed my instructions, breathing in and out.
Seeing someone who was always so composed act so childishly made it hard not to laugh.
“Renia, you…”
Ignis shot me a briefly reproachful look, then burst into laughter with me.
Just then, the professor overseeing the exam appeared, and the previously noisy venue fell silent.
At that moment, a ticklish sensation brushed against my ear.
“Thanks, Renia. I think I’ve relaxed a bit.”
At his whisper, I gave him a thumbs-up.
“Let’s do our best.”
“Yeah.”
“Now, I’ll explain today’s exam in detail. This exam will—”
Standing on the podium, the professor began explaining the test.
But as the explanation went on, confusion spread across the students’ faces.
Everyone had expected a tournament-style duel among students taking the swordsmanship class—but this was completely different.
For this exam, Professor Eria from the Department of Magic—who specialized in illusion magic—would create virtual monsters, and students would be evaluated based on how they fought them.
There was one particularly unique aspect to this test.
Students could choose the monster they would fight.
If you wanted a high score, you could choose a stronger monster.
If you wanted to play it safe, you could choose a weaker one.
Well then.
There’s no way I can choose the safe option.
This is the only exam I can actually trust.
Of course, if I fail to defeat the monster, that’s it for my score…
“As long as it’s not creepy, I think I’ll be fine.”
“Renia, that one looks like a high-level monster.”
Muttering to myself, I followed Ignis’s gaze.
And there it was—
a monster that looked exactly like the thing I hated most in my past life.
Yes.
The universal enemy of all humanity.
A cockroach.
…I’m screwed.
Professor Eria, the culprit behind this monstrosity, smiled shyly.
“Isn’t it adorable? Since it’s just an exam, I made it like this on purpose.”
Absolutely not, Professor.
I stared at the high-level monster for a long time before finally deciding to fight it—for the sake of my grades.
And now…
I was standing face-to-face with it.
I’m going to die.
I seriously feel like I’m about to die.
They say when fear reaches its peak, you can’t even scream.
That’s exactly how I feel right now.
Kyuuung?
“……”
Professor. Please. Save me.
Why does something that looks like that make such a cute sound?
It’s disturbing.
There’s no other word for this situation—disturbing.
Should I just give up?
Yeah. Yeah, I can’t fight that thing.
I absolutely can’t.
How did Professor Eria even come up with something like this?
“Um…!”
I was shaking my head, about to declare my withdrawal, when a man’s gently smiling face flashed through my mind.
Right.
There’s someone scarier than that cockroach monster waiting for me at home, isn’t there?
“What is it?”
Forcing my lips into a smile that wouldn’t rise, I clenched both fists.
“Let’s go!”
“As expected of Miss Berenor! Raising everyone’s morale!”
…That’s not what I meant, Professor.
“Then let the exam begin!”
“……”
At the professor’s signal, I tightened my grip on my sword and took my stance.
The monster that appeared managed to irritate me in every possible way.
The moment the signal rang out, I charged at it with my sword raised.
The monster twisted its body in surprise, blocking my attacks.
I just want this to be over as fast as possible.
Kyuoooong!
Please shut up.
I barely managed to hold onto my sanity as I dodged the monster’s attacks.
“As expected of Lady Renia.”
“Seriously. Even though it’s that creepy.”
“She’s not even flinching!”
While evading the counterattacks, I drifted close enough to the crowd of students to overhear them.
It’s not that I’m not disgusted—I’m so disgusted I’ve transcended it.
I stopped briefly to catch my breath and steady my mind.
Think.
Getting a bad result and letting that black-hearted family member at home find out is way worse than just gritting my teeth and killing this thing.
Yeah.
And I’ll turn this disgust into fuel and tear it apart.
There’s not much time left anyway.
Gripping my sword even tighter, I moved my legs as fast as I could.
Then I leapt high into the air and brought my blade down.
The cockroach-like monster shrieked as it took the blow.
Why did they make this so realistic?!
And then—
“Why won’t you die already?!”
The monster was far more persistent than I expected, and panic began to set in.
I’d been fighting it at close range for a while now, but I still couldn’t get used to how disgusting it was.
Jumping back, I took a deep breath.
“This is really the last one.”
Pouring all my strength into my sword, I charged one final time.
The moment my blade pierced its head—
Kyu…
The monster let out a faint final sound before collapsing and dissolving like smoke.
I…
Me—the person who couldn’t even kill a single cockroach in my past life—defeated a cockroach-like monster.
Am I amazing or what?
It felt like I’d become a hero, avenging myself against all the cockroaches that had tormented me in my previous life.
Since I was apparently the first to defeat a high-level monster, loud applause erupted around me.
“I survived.”
Awkwardly acknowledging the applause, I wiped the sweat from my face and headed back to the waiting area.
I’d defeated a high-level monster within the time limit—and it hadn’t even taken that long—so I felt confident I’d earned a good score.
Humming cheerfully, I ran into Ignis on his way to take the exam.
“You’re heading in now?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll be cheering for you!”
“Thanks, Renia.”
I sat down to watch Ignis’s exam, my tired body sinking into the chair.
Around me, conversations about Ignis drifted through the air.
“Well, Ignis always excels at everything.”
“He’s destined to become emperor.”
“I’m jealous. How can someone be perfect in every way?”
That was true.
Ignis, the future emperor, had no flaws.
Academics, swordsmanship—even his endlessly kind personality.
I’d watched him for so long while harboring unrequited feelings, but I’d never once seen him make a mistake.
So of course—
Today would be no different.
Not just me—everyone who had seen Ignis’s perfection thought the same.
…Or so we thought.
“Ignis?”
Staring blankly at his exam, I jumped to my feet at the scene unfolding before me.
Not long after the exam began, Ignis collapsed to the ground.
He’d twisted his ankle while charging at the monster.
“Not even accepting help… Is he okay?”
Ignis gave a calm smile to those rushing toward him, insisting he was fine.
He firmly refused all offers of assistance and eventually walked out of the exam hall on his own.
He was probably heading to the infirmary.
People were visibly shaken at the sight of a member of the imperial family getting injured, but none could follow him due to his gentle refusals.
“…Did I imagine it?”
Just before leaving the arena, I swear Ignis looked like he was about to cry.
“Even after making a mistake, he’s so composed.”
“Yeah. I wouldn’t be able to smile like that.”
The exam hall quickly filled with murmurs about Ignis’s rare misstep.
Worried, I couldn’t keep my legs still where I sat.
And in the end, I made my decision.
“I—Professor, I’ve finished my exam. Would it be okay if I left early?”
“Ah, of course. Go ahead, Miss Renia.”
“Thank you.”
After receiving permission, I hurried out of the exam hall, my steps quick and urgent.
