Time flowed relentlessly, indifferent to the desperation of those who feared the rising sun the next morning.
It was mid-August when Professor Antorelli announced the upcoming exam. With only a month left until the Mid-Academic Assessment at the Caldera Imperial Academy, students intensified their exam preparations.
A month. A short time for some, yet long for others. While it might have felt different for others, students found this month to stretch endlessly.
Not only did they study late into the night at the academy library, but the number of students who received permission from the on-duty professor for nighttime self-study in the academic affairs office gradually increased.
Thus, August came to an end, marking the close of summer.
September began. The students’ thirst for knowledge did not wane; rather, it blazed even more intensely.
Even though they could have been fatigued, the stamina of the young and vibrant students far surpassed that of the professors, who had faced the passage of time and its unavoidable effects.
In this way, professors felt overwhelmed teaching these students, and they embraced their classes with fiery passion.
Neither the second-year nor the third-year students stood out as particularly unusual. Curiously, the ones burning with academic fervor were the first-year students.
It had been just over half a year since their entrance to the Caldera Imperial Academy. The students had fully adapted to academy life.
They had no need to adapt to the academy, make friends, or search for their aptitudes; they could focus entirely on the exam and their grades.
The reason first-year students this year were particularly fixated on the Mid-Academic Assessment was not solely due to this.
“Wow… really?”
“No way, huh….”
“I can’t believe it….”
A crowd of students gathered like a swarm of clouds, each letting out their own exclamations as they directed their gaze towards a specific spot.
[Announcement of the Theology Exam for First-Year Students at Caldera Imperial Academy.]
It was the only announcement posted on the first-floor bulletin board in the academy’s main building.
[In this Mid-Academic Assessment, the first-year theology exam will be administered collectively by Professor Lucio Antorelli, who teaches the first-year A class in Theology.]
Just three lines. On the surface, it looked like hastily written, stiff wording, yet those three lines were packed with meaning.
[The exam will be an open-book format, with no restrictions on materials.]
It left the students filled with inexplicable anxiety and curiosity.
“Is this for real? Wasn’t it just a rumor?”
“Yeah… I thought it was just a joke.”
“Do you think Professor Antorelli would joke around like that?”
“Not a chance.”
“Then it really is true.”
Students who had previously debated when Antorelli first made the announcement had now quietly nodded in agreement. They felt it was a waste of time to engage in unnecessary bickering.
Professor Antorelli’s theology exam was known for being rigorous, so even an open-book format would likely not be straightforward.
Even in other subjects, the open-book format felt akin to hell, but when you added the presence of Professor Antorelli, it felt even more daunting.
Fearing that indescribable sense of dread, students devoted themselves even more intensely to their exam preparations.
The theology department students were no exception. Professor Antorelli had previously stated, “This theology exam will be designed at a uniform difficulty level for all students, whether theology students or not.”
This meant that simply being a theology student did not guarantee a sense of security.
In fact, the theology exam was even more crucial for theology department students, making it essential for them to study harder than others.
For various reasons, first-year students concentrated significantly on the exam itself.
And the same applied to other theology professors from different classes, apart from Professor Antorelli, who taught the first-year A class.
“Hmm…”
“Well… since Professor Antorelli is a faithful servant of the Lord, let’s not worry too much.”
“That’s right. The concerns we have have not yet materialized, so we should simply follow along. The Lord will guide us on the right path.”
Since the head professor had put it on record, it ought to be followed. The theology professors for the first-year students were secretly awaiting Professor Antorelli’s exam.
Having announced he would administer a unified exam for all first-year students, the professors of other theology classes felt their pressing tasks vanish.
Thus, they would wait and see.
“I wonder how the evaluations of the classes will turn out, but…”
“You were quite confident, so let’s see how it goes, Professor Antorelli.”
“…I shouldn’t expect too much. No matter how much the theology exam is twisted, it won’t stray far from determining right and wrong based on the given examples.”
Professor Antorelli had surely mentioned that it was fine for other theology professors to accompany him to the examination room. The theology professors resolved to enter the examination room alongside the students.
And they would observe.
What would Professor Antorelli’s exam entail?
Thus, time passed, and the day of the exam arrived.
How time flies.
It feels like just yesterday that I took up my post at the academy, yet here I am, preparing for the first-year students’ exam.
Just standing here brings back memories. In the past, I thought I wouldn’t last long and would give up.
But here I am. I am still standing here, trying to lead students with a mindset vastly different from before.
It may just be an illusion, but I want to believe…
That I have finally taken a step forward.
“Head Priest, 30 minutes remaining.”
“Understood.”
Sofia Sub-priest approached me. Nodding in acknowledgment, I recalled Professor Esther, who would be in the midst of preparing for the Exam in the Department of Fantasy Magic.
“…Professor Esther.”
I was quite grateful to her. She had come running at my request immediately after finishing the preparation of her own exam for the Summoning Magic department.
I had wanted to repay her somehow, but Professor Esther had rejected my offer, saying:
– Please set this debt aside for now. I would like to be repaid later. For now, focus on your exam.
She is a good person. Once again, I expressed my deep gratitude towards her, though she was not here.
“By the way, conducting the exam in the small auditorium… that’s really unprecedented.”
“Indeed.”
As Sofia Sub-priest mentioned, the location for the exam was the small auditorium attached to the academy’s annex.
It was an auditorium that could accommodate just over three hundred first-year students. Before a large auditorium was built separately, this space had served as the main auditorium; thus, it was not unreasonable.
“It may have been used for practical assessments in the Combat Department or Magic Department, but using it for a written exam in Theology is unprecedented.”
“Did the Chancellor grant permission?”
“The head professor gave the approval. The head professor oversees the first-year exams.”
“I see…”
Sofia Sub-priest gazed admiringly around the auditorium. And rightly so, as over three hundred desks and chairs arranged neatly and adequately made it look quite imposing.
Once the exam venue grew this spacious, students entering for the first time couldn’t help but feel puzzled.
“The students will surely be surprised. It’s practically like there’s no monitoring.”
“Well, it’s not particularly necessary, is it?”
“True… But that’s beside the point.”
The fact that there were only two of us monitoring this wide exam venue, Sofia Sub-priest and I, was especially notable. If it was a written test, it was even more so.
“…Hmm.”
“Head Priest… are you alright?”
As I grasped my right shoulder and frowned, Sofia Sub-priest approached with a concerned expression. I had recently realized that her distance was becoming uncomfortably close.
Feeling awkward, I instinctively took half a step back. I grimaced from the sharp pain in my shoulder and barely managed to nod.
“…Yes. I’m fine.”
“Aah… as expected, my divine power is too weak…”
“It’s not that. Don’t be too hard on yourself.”
As Sofia Sub-priest had said, if she had exerted herself a little more during the process of creating the exam papers, it would have greatly alleviated my burden, but… it was something I had prepared myself for. It wasn’t entirely Sofia Sub-priest’s fault.
“Did you take the painkillers?”
“Yes. I took them in advance. But…”
“…It seems you indeed pushed yourself too hard.”
“There was no way around it.”
I continued to gently massage the aching right shoulder, biting down on my lip.
Yes. It was unavoidable. Using divine power during the process of creating the exam papers was necessary.
“Really… if you had simply prepared the exam questions normally, you wouldn’t have to feel this pain…”
“Sofia Sub-priest. This concerns the students.”
I swept my hand across the stack of exam papers resting on the podium in the center of the small auditorium.
Until today, I had spent several nights creating exam papers to distribute to everyone.
I recalled how I had made excuses to Professor Esther and Sofia Sub-priest to send them away so I could stay behind and work alone on the exam papers.
In total, it had taken a month to produce the exam papers.
Throughout that month, I used divine power every single day without fail. It was only natural that my shoulder would begin hurting.
“Phew…”
“Ah, time…”
At Sofia Sub-priest’s words, I glanced at my wristwatch.
As she indicated, the start time for the exam was now just around the corner. Simultaneously, I began to hear murmurs from outside the doors of the small auditorium.
“Sofia Sub-priest. Let’s begin.”
“…Yes!”
Alright, it’s time.
“Be still. But wake up.”
And, believe holily.
The Lord will surely deliver us from this exam.
In the first year A class, a girl with striking pink hair, Chloe.
Right now, she couldn’t figure out where she had stepped into.
“Is this… really the exam venue?”
“…It’s too open.”
As Elin mumbled beside her, it felt far too open to consider this a written exam room.
While the desks, filled with approximately two-thirds of the students, were spaced a couple of footsteps apart, it was a far less secure setting compared to the written exam they had just completed in the Magic Department, which would deter cheating.
“…Let’s go in.”
“Yeah…”
Regardless, it was an exam. Chloe and Elin were pushed by the tide of students flowing in from behind and sat wherever they wanted. There were no designated seats for this examination.
“Wow, how novel! Ahahaha…”
“…This isn’t novelty; it’s rather lax. How are we supposed to take an exam here?”
“B-but! It’s Professor Antorelli’s exam! Yes! I believe in him!”
Though feeling a bit uneasy, Chloe steeled her resolve.
Based on everything Professor Antorelli had shown thus far, there was no way his exam could be this lax. There must be some reason behind it.
“By the way, did you see? Other theology professors are also here at the back of the exam room.”
“Yeah… all the first-year theology professors are here, right? Some second-year and third-year theology professors were here too.”
“Could it be, really that someone was called?”
“It seems a few were, but… who knows.”
As Chloe engaged in conversation with Elin while waiting for the exam to begin, she didn’t notice how much time had passed.
– Thud.
The heavy doors of the small auditorium shut, likely indicating that all students had entered. Chloe swallowed hard without realizing it.
– Tap, tap.
Then, a familiar sound of footsteps crossing the stage.
Though it was merely the sound of footsteps, it resonated loud enough for everyone to hear. The 320 first-year students, who had been chatting among themselves, slowly fell silent.
“Everyone. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Professor Lucio Antorelli. He opened his mouth in a flat tone towards the microphone placed on the podium.
“I am Lucio Antorelli, responsible for the first-year A class in Theology.”
As soon as Antorelli finished his brief self-introduction, someone tried to clap. He promptly stopped it.
“Please refrain from applauding.”
Whether in the past or present, the sensitivity towards clapping remains the same. Chloe shyly smiled as she looked at him.
“As you stepped into the examination room, I believe many questions arose in your minds.”
Professor Antorelli, holding the microphone mounted on the podium, began to walk slowly across the stage. The steady sound of his footsteps echoed in the now silenced small auditorium.
“Isn’t there any kind of shield for a written exam? Where are the supervisors? When will the exam papers be distributed?”
These were the questions on everyone’s mind. Hence, students were left speechless, unable to speak.
If Professor Antorelli articulated these doubts aloud, it meant he was aware of them too.
“Do you know why those things are absent?”
No one answered.
“It’s not simply because I forgot. It’s not because I was negligent in preparing for the exam, nor is it because I have boundless trust in you.”
The audience in the small auditorium tilted their heads in confusion. Even the other theology professors seated in the back were baffled.
To them, Professor Antorelli stated,
“The reason is simple. They aren’t necessary.”
With his customary unchanging expression, he declared.
“Someone may ask, ‘Isn’t it a written exam?’ Yes. It is indeed a written exam. However, there is no need to monitor cheating in the theology exam you will take today, and no reason for it either.”
The students’ eyes began to widen. This included not just the A class students who regularly attended his courses, but also those from other classes as well as other theology professors.
“The exam papers that will be distributed to you. The correct answers on those exam papers are all distinctly different.”
Astonished into silence, no one could muster a response. Their minds struggled to comprehend the situation.
So… he was saying that the correct answers on the exam papers given to more than three hundred students would all be different?
“…That’s ridiculous.”
Someone murmured. Indeed, it was absurd.
As the murmur grew louder, Professor Antorelli quietly raised his right hand. The noisy auditorium became quiet in an instant.
“I’ve taken too long to introduce. Now, I will distribute the exam papers.”
As soon as Professor Antorelli finished speaking, Sofia Sub-priest appeared, beginning to distribute the exam papers. Though she wasn’t moving quickly, the students soon received their papers from the student sitting in front of them.
The exam papers, sealed neatly in brown envelopes. At first glance, they seemed no different from papers in any other department, but the thickness was remarkable.
“It seems I’ve distributed the papers to everyone, so let’s begin the exam. Please take out your exam papers.”
Then, the mystery was quickly resolved.
“Huh, just one page…?”
The exam paper distributed by Professor Antorelli.
It was just a single page.
Students hurriedly checked inside their envelopes, wondering if they hadn’t pulled out their exam papers.
But the inside of the brown envelope was completely empty.
“W-we’re taking the exam with just one page…?”
“What the…?”
Students with startled expressions began to look at one another.
Towards those students, Professor Antorelli’s voice resounded.
“It is indeed just one page. Please don’t become too flustered.”
The chaos quickly subsided. Sensing satisfaction in the regained silence, Professor Antorelli softly spoke.
“Now, we will commence the integrated exam for the first-year theology class at Caldera Imperial Academy. You may turn the exam paper over.”
Amidst the orderly flipping of exam papers by the students, Chloe too turned her exam paper face up.
[As the Lord watches over you, you are to state your responses honestly.]
And the content of the exam paper she faced.
[Freely describe the answers to all questions.]
“…Huh?”
The first question caught her eye.
[Who are you?]
Chloe stared blankly at the question.
[Who are you?]
Staring blankly at it, she slowly lifted her gaze. She could see other students, just like her, raising their heads in the corners of her vision.
All their gazes were directed toward the podium. Standing firmly and unyieldingly in front of the podium was Lucio Antorelli.
He slightly smiled. The smile was so subtle that it was hard to detect, yet it was gentle, as if it were a silent question directed at the 320 students looking up at him.
[Who are you?]
Who are you?
