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Arina frowned slightly.
As the professor in charge of Magical Tactics, he was a thorough meritocrat, producing outstanding research results every year.
Therefore, he had high expectations for the student Rosia, who had transferred this time.
Unlike Ayla, who suffered from Mana insensitivity, she showed outstanding skills in all classes, so it was only natural.
'But Professor Jacy doesn't seem to be very interested in her, surprisingly.'
Professor Roman couldn't contain his curiosity and asked her again.
"So, what happened? Did they both get perfect scores?"
Professor Jacy shook her head.
"No."
"Hmm?"
At her answer, all the professors stared at Professor Jacy with curious eyes.
"Rosia got one of the essay questions wrong."
"Oh, really?"
A sigh of regret erupted among the professors.
"She wrote the ratio of ingredients for the Luminescent Magical potion slightly differently."
It was a Magical potion that she had made in a recent practical exam. Professor Jacy shrugged and continued.
"Thanks to that, Ayla is the only one who got a perfect score on my exam."
The professors couldn't hide their surprise at the unexpected result.
Among them, there were professors who clicked their tongues as if dissatisfied.
"It doesn't matter if you don't get good grades on the practical exam anyway."
"That's right. It's a shame."
"If Rosia had gotten a perfect score, it would have been the first time in a long time that there was a perfect scorer at the academy."
As the professors exchanged words, Professor Jacy frowned and opened her mouth.
"Instead of praising the student who got a perfect score, what are you talking about?"
The atmosphere became strangely subdued at her words.
It was then. Professor Arina also reluctantly agreed with her.
"It's true that Ayla has always shown excellent results in theoretical exams. I don't think we need to diminish her efforts like that."
He usually disliked students who attended the academy with poor qualifications just because they were nobles.
But that didn't mean he should belittle Ayla's efforts.
"It's Rosia's mistake that she got the essay wrong. It's not Ayla's fault."
"Ahem."
Someone coughed, but Arina continued without paying any attention.
"Besides, we can't guarantee that Rosia will get a perfect score on the practical exam either."
"Still, she's from the Blanche Noble house..."
"The idea that the child of the Blanche Noble house is good at Magic is just a ridiculous superstition."
"Professor Arina!"
"I will only evaluate based on what I see."
A cold silence flowed through the grading room for a moment.
The professors shrugged, looking at each other, but no one could refute Arina's words.
It was a while later, when the professors began to focus on grading again.
Professor Jacy quietly approached him and spoke in a low voice.
"Sometimes you say the right thing."
In fact, Professor Jacy and Professor Arina had not been on good terms.
Arina's attitude of overemphasizing ability sometimes felt burdensome to Jacy.
As expected, Professor Arina scoffed at her words.
"I think you're misunderstanding something, but I'm just evaluating people based on their objective skills. It's an undeniable fact that Ayla has always achieved excellent results in writing."
"......"
"However, that's the same for the practical exam. If the upcoming exam results are terrible, it's up to her to deal with it."
Jacy sighed softly.
The professors all thought that Ayla would receive terrible grades on the practical exam.
And in fact, Professor Jacy thought so too, so she had nothing to say.
The practical exams for major subjects continued from the second day of the end-of-semester exams.
The practical exams were usually conducted in a one-to-many format, where one professor tested several students.
The evaluation was absolute, but there was a prejudice that if you were in the same group as an excellent student, your score would be relatively lower.
As a result, most students were reluctant to be in the same group as Freya or Rosia.
On the other hand, the students who were in the same group as Ayla sighed in relief.
Coco Valencia, who had a deep-seated grudge against Ayla, happened to be in the same group as her.
Coco looked at Ayla with gloomy eyes.
Since the rat incident, she had been subtly ostracized within Freya's group.
Therefore, she wanted to make up for her mistakes and blend back into their group.
'If I tell them how miserably Ayla failed the exam, everyone will have a lot of fun.'
Freya had just learned that she was in the same group and gave Coco another chance.
"You're in the same group as Ayla, right? Come back and tell me something fun. You can even sabotage her."
Coco clenched her fists as she recalled Freya's words.
Ayla would collapse on her own anyway, but she wanted to see her break down even more miserably.
'That's how I can repay the humiliation I suffered last time.'
In fact, Ayla had done nothing wrong to her.
Coco was the one who attacked first, and Freya was the one who led the ostracism.
But as always, it was easier to blame the weak than to blame the strong.
Coco sincerely believed that her situation had worsened because of Ayla.
The first exam of the day was Magical Tactics.
Professor Arina had a strong tendency to despise those without talent, so if she used this well, Ayla would be thoroughly humiliated.
"I want to take the exam after Ayla."
"Are you trying to get a free ride? There's no way you're that lucky."
The students chuckled. Everyone looked happy.
Ayla shrugged.
Peony happened to be in a different group today, so she wasn't by her side.
Thanks to that, the Crew members were freely saying what they wanted to say without having to be mindful of Peony.
Ayla scanned her Crew members.
A subtle sense of superiority was seeping into their faces.
They seemed to be glad that they were in the same group as Ayla.
'They must think that they're not the last in this group, at least.'
The fact that there was someone to step on gave everyone a sense of relief.
The chaotic atmosphere soon subsided.
When Professor Arina entered the exam room, the students all closed their mouths with tense faces.
"Everyone, quiet."
The cold voice instantly froze the air in the exam room.
Professor Arina's cold gaze swept over the students.
The students who received his gaze cowered.
Professor Arina was known as a very strict professor. He was an incorruptible person who didn't take bribes and only liked students who achieved outstanding results.
In a way, he could be seen as inflexible or honest.
Ayla was calm even as she received Professor Arina's cold gaze head-on.
Professor Arina's eyes twinkled for a moment, as if he found her attitude interesting.
"Rocas, Pandia, Bania, Coco, Ayla."
Soon, the professor called out the children's names.
Coco's face brightened when she learned her order. She would be taking the exam side by side with Ayla.
If her skills were compared to hers, she might get a better score.
Coco cheered inwardly.
'I was lucky.'
Even in the midst of all this, Professor Arina explained the exam contents in a calm voice.
"This exam is about using this chain to restrain the Slime."
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