The sun hung low, painting the fading snow of the Grand Square in a heavy shade of red. The crowd that had surrounded every tile of the ground before had dissipated hours ago, leaving behind a rather small, calm gathering of people.

And I was among them.

The week had passed more slowly than I had expected.

I hadn't been waiting to see my results. Though I was curious, as long as I passed, I was fine with anything. But when the word of the results being posted publicly reached me… I had to see it for myself.

I had arrived late, the sun was already setting, and the people were already scattering. I didn't need to rush, after all, and it gave me some room to breathe in as I approached the line of boards before me, the names written with black ink were illuminated by warm Luminite lanterns.

Now, standing before them, my eyes found the name I was looking for instantly. It was the first name in sight, at the very top of the list.

Ranked 1st: Carine Sareid [Written: 48, Practical: 31, Total: 79]

A slow breath of relief escaped me.

She made it. No, not just made it, she reached the top of the scoreboard. After everything that the instructor had put her through, she rightfully earned that spot. Seeing her name up there felt like a victory. It seemed our work had not been in vain.

And speaking of which, I drifted my eyes across the board. After a moment of scanning any names that started with the letter 'V', I finally found my name.

Villius Torenkeid [Written: 28, Practical: 0, Total: 28]

A small chuckle came out of me.

The practical score was naturally zero; I had attributed every single flag I held to Carine's name, after all. I was a little worried that the instructor might have misunderstood something and attributed it to me instead, but thankfully, that wasn't the case.

The written score, however, was a surprise. I scored better than I thought. I still remember the silent dread that had washed over me when I took a look at the questions for the first time. The questions were brutal; they all required a deep understanding of obscure laws, obscure mathematics, and niche histories.

The time limit imposed on us was barely enough to answer all of them.

That only made Lady Carine's forty-eight points not just impressive, but terrifying.

Forty-eight points, with twenty-five questions worth two points each, it meant she had answered every single question perfectly, save for one. In that grueling exam, under that immense pressure and time limit, she had been nearly flawless.

She outshone everyone. I was sure there were many hoping she were more name than merit. I could only imagine their reactions when their eyes naturally gravitated to her rightful spot above everyone.

My eyes scanned the board once more, hoping to find the names of the others who had helped me in supporting Lady Carine.

But that was when I noticed something rather… strange.

The scores of the Standardized Track examinees… were high.

Their written exam scores were clustered in a solid, respectable range. However, I did wonder how they managed such scores.

27...

24...

31...

I had heard the exam questions were more numerous for them than it was for us, but to score pretty well even then seemed abnormal.

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But nothing was as abnormal as their practical scores.

Many, and I do mean many, of them had their practical scores sit, at the very minimum, of fifteen. Though only a few managed to scratch twenty points, the number of them who earned fifteen or more points was… astounding.

Couple that with their respectable written exam scores… they dominated the upper and middle tiers of the ranking.

How?

How did so many of them gather so many points in the practical exam? When I heard of their minimum points requirement, I figured only a few would've passed that threshold…

Then it clicked. This exam was a matter of survival for them. Even if they scored well in the written exam, it would all mean nothing if they didn't meet the minimum point requirement. But still, how did so many of them gather that many points?

Then I remembered Lady Carine's words. Her last command before we were ambushed by Instructor Cornellia. She was heading for the eastern side of the forest for seemingly no reason…

Could it be that the eastern side had way more points? If true, that would surely explain the point distribution among the standardized track examinees. But why? Why would the eastern side have more flags for grabs?

And more than that, how did Lady Carine sense that?

Was there some logic I missed?

In contrast, many of the gilded track examinees had their practical scores sitting at… a rather disappointing range. More than half of us sit at around the single dozen range. And what was worse was how there was a concerning amount of those who had their total sit at single digits as well.

So many of my peers had simply… not tried. They had entered the forest for a stroll, collected a flag or two for appearances, and left. Some, I believe, never entered the forest at all.

Sure, they would pass regardless of their scores, and entering Honors was really the only tangible goal for scoring high, which many considered a hassle.

But I was sure they never imagined their complacency would be displayed in the Grand Square like this.

In the end, the evidence was right here, right in front of everyone's eyes. Nearly half of the spots in the better part of the ranking were occupied by Standardized examinees. They had outperformed a significant portion of the Gilded track examinees.

This smells troubling…

In any case, my main curiosity was solved. But before I could leave, my eyes were drawn back to the board, snagging on one name in particular. The one who sat in the sixth place.

Ranked 6th: Feyt [Written: 42, Practical: 20, Total: 62]

Forty-two points in written points. Far higher than mine. He'd almost caught up to Lady Carine herself even.

I hadn't expected that, at all. I guessed that he would do well in the exam, considering he was the chosen student by Instructor Sareid… But it seemed like he was more capable than he lets on.

But to score this well...?

He was, easily, the top scorer among the Standardized examinee.

On top of that, he held twenty points in practical, thanks to Lady Carine.

I had seen Lady Carine gifted the two yellow flags from Instructor Cornellia to him. She had given it to him without saying a single word, without a single gesture. It felt less like a gift, and more like it was something she determined that was already his.

My mind fell onto the sight of him fighting with Carine against Instructor Cornellia. It was a sight that had stayed with me far more vividly than I liked to admit

The way they moved was beyond effective; it was mesmerizing. Lady Carine fought with grace and no wasted motion. Feyt followed closely, nearly mirroring her every step. Not even I could follow her movements, let alone match them in step and response. It was as if they were each other's shadow.

Watching them then, I had wondered how long they must have trained together to move like that. Now, seeing their names so close on the board, it was clear. The trust she showed him wasn't something you built in a day… Perhaps not even in a year.

And perhaps… that's why it stung a little.

It wasn't jealousy, maybe. It was more like a quiet pain of realizing that the path I'd imagined walking beside her… had already been taken by someone else.

I exhaled softly, eyes still fixed on that name.

"I never really had a chance, did I?"

My chest ached with a dull pain as I finally realized Lady Carine had chosen where to put her attention and trust, and it wasn't with me.

I let out a small chuckle and shook my head, nearly laughing at myself. How foolish I was, thinking I could ever catch the attention of someone like her just by talking to her… even when her light had already fallen upon someone else.

But even as that thought settled deeper within me, another began to take place.

Determination.

If Feyt was the one she had chosen to trust… if that was the caliber of person Lady Carine aligned herself with, then that was the caliber I needed to reach, or perhaps, surpass.

I looked once more at his name on the board. With a cool focus, I had decided. My goal was no longer just to pass or to be noticed. It was to become better than the one who walked the path I could only dream.

This scoreboard wasn't the end. It never was. Rather, it had simply revealed my true opponent.

The one I had to surpass.

After one final look of the names, I turned from the square.

With firm steps, I made my way back.

"I'll see you in the academy, Feyt."

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