Chapter 48

Left and right.

People standing divided into two groups.

The strange thing was, unlike the people on the left, the ones on the right seemed to have a somewhat slumped atmosphere.

“Congratulations.”

In front of them, a magician wearing a splendid robe shouted from a high podium to the people standing on the left.

“You have been given the glorious opportunity to become members of the Rostia Magic Tower.”

The examiner of the Rostia Magic Tower spoke with a voice full of pride to the applicants who had undergone a month of training.

“This is not an opportunity given to just anyone. We saw burning courage and lofty aspirations in you, which is why we gave you this chance. So, you must do your best. Understood?”

“Yes!!”

The applicants responded with a resounding answer.

The examiner nodded in satisfaction, looking at the enthusiastic applicants.

“And you all.”

However, when he turned to the dejected applicants standing on the right, his expression wasn’t as pleasant.

“You have disappointed our Magic Tower. Nevertheless, be grateful to our Rostia Magic Tower for giving you a second chance, and make sure you don’t fail the next exam.”

“……”

“Understood?!”

“Yes……!”

Though they answered, the voices of the applicants who had failed once before and reapplied had no energy.

The re-examinees whispered among themselves, avoiding the examiner’s glare.

“Ugh, I’ll pass this time. Why did you fail?”

“Me? I’m usually good, but I got too nervous this time……”

“Nervous? Lucky you. My staff just doesn’t suit me……”

The excuses of the re-examinees varied, but they all led to the same conclusion: they had failed.

The examiner looked at the re-examinees with cold eyes.

But then, his gaze suddenly landed on one of the re-examinees.

“Especially, Riana.”

At the mention of the name, the eyes of all the applicants and re-examinees turned to one person.

“Know your place. You didn’t even qualify, but your father poured a lot of money into giving you a chance to take the exam. Yet, instead of working harder, you failed and are taking the exam again. How shameless……”

“Huh? Examiner, are you saying I received special treatment? I never heard such a thing……”

“Shut your mouth!”

Riana had to close her mouth at the examiner’s sharp rebuke.

“Training starts tomorrow. Rest well today and prepare to work diligently from tomorrow.”

The examiner ignored Riana’s protest.

And with a look of infinite affection and expectation for the new applicants, and a look of contempt for the re-examinees who dared to reapply, he disappeared into the Magic Tower.

As expected, the remaining applicants began to whisper loudly about Riana.

“Did you hear that? She got special treatment.”

“So, she failed even with special treatment? That’s impressive in its own way.”

“This is a big deal. No Magic Tower has ever given special treatment to anyone before, right?”

“Should we be jealous or not…? Let’s see if she passes the next exam!”

“……”

Riana had no choice but to endure the criticism and ridicule directed at her, biting her lip.

She hadn’t received any special treatment, but she couldn’t stop the rumors.

Creak-

“Let’s all do our best. Starting tomorrow, we’ll work hard again… Ouch.”

Back at the accommodation.

Today, the sound of the old door closing grated on Riana’s ears.

Out of the six who started using the accommodation, three had passed.

The remaining three should have been encouraging each other and preparing for the next exam, but…

“…Traitor.”

“You’re back. How shameless.”

The two who had failed the exam with Riana didn’t welcome her; instead, they glared at her with sharp, hostile eyes, treating her as an enemy rather than a comrade.

“Traitor? Are you calling me a traitor now?”

“Yeah, we’re calling a traitor a traitor. What about it?”

“I didn’t betray anyone!”

“You hid your true identity, that you received special treatment, and pretended to be just like us. Now the rumors are out. Your father is the commander of the Vanguard, right?”

Riana bit her lip.

“…That’s true. But I never received special treatment. My dad actually…”

“I don’t want to hear it!”

Once a friend, now…

The friend shouted sharply at Riana.

“We’ll be watching. It was strange. You showed the best magical skills among us. Yet, in the exam, you couldn’t even produce a small flame. Don’t you think that’s weird?”

Riana swallowed the words she wanted to say, that she also thought it was strange.

Because such words wouldn’t reach her friends, who were drowning in the despair of failing the exam.

During the month of training, Riana had indeed shown the best magical skills, just as they said.

She had outperformed even the other re-examinees, showing exceptional talent.

When she created fire, it was bigger and hotter; when she created ice, it was harder and colder.

So much so that even the magician in charge of the new recruits’ training was astonished.

Riana remembered what Ronos, the high magician of the Rostia Magic Tower, had emphasized during a special lecture on the first day of learning magic.

“Magic is not about ‘wielding’ but about ‘desiring.’ The more earnestly you desire, the more mana will respond. Keep that in mind.”

But who would have thought that very Archmage would be the start of her downfall.

***

“An Archmage!”

“Why is someone so high-ranking here?”

Following the voices, Riana also turned her gaze.

Someone wearing unusual clothes, radiating powerful mana, was walking towards them.

And…

Towards Riana.

“What a disappointment. Your father is such an excellent warrior, yet his daughter is just…”

Archmage Ronos shook his head.

“We’ll see in a month. Don’t disappoint me then. For your father’s sake!”

***

After that incident, even the examiner publicly criticized Riana.

No matter how much she thought about it, Riana couldn’t understand.

It was true that her father, Balthazar, had donated a large sum to the Rostia Magic Tower.

But that was solely to build the fortress, Cressnig, where the Vanguard would stay.

It was a deal to provide basic living conditions for those willing to fight demons in the coldest place in the world.

It was never a bribe to get Riana into the Rostia Magic Tower.

In fact, Ronos himself had said it directly in front of her father, Balthazar.

“Commander, I don’t know if you can see it. But in this child’s eyes, there is a burning flame. A flame of earnest desire to achieve what she wants, no matter what. If we don’t give such a child a chance to learn magic, then that magician is a failure. Please, allow us to teach her.”

It was Balthazar who brought Riana, but it was Ronos who insisted on teaching her.

“We’ll be watching.”

The two who were once her friends declared with sharp voices, unaware of the circumstances.

“No matter how you look at it, your failure this time was unnatural. You were hiding that you received special treatment, right? It was all an act!”

“Not at all, not at all. Listen to me. Everyone knows my magical performance was good, right? I already showed that, so why would I…?”

“Be quiet! We don’t want to hear your explanations right now!”

“You don’t want to hear my explanations? Then why…?”

Riana, unable to bear the unfairness, tried to argue, but seeing her friends’ eyes again, she realized.

What her friends needed was simply something to blame, something to comfort themselves for failing the exam.

Like wanting to hit or break something when angry, they needed a target.

“……”

No matter what her friends shouted, Riana didn’t respond.

There was no reason to listen to baseless criticism.

She just quietly lay down on the bed and tried to sleep.

Hoping today would pass quickly, that tomorrow her friends’ anger and sense of defeat would subside, and they would treat her warmly again.

She closed her eyes tightly and covered her ears.

But the biggest question in her heart grew clearer and clearer as her ears became quieter and her vision darker.

‘Why did I fail?’

Riana actually knew the answer to that question.

Her staff had clearly resonated with her desire and mana, but it couldn’t produce flames.

Riana heard the staff’s scream, as if it were blocked by something, unable to cast magic, making her frustrated and cry out.

Which meant…

‘Someone deliberately made me fail.’

Though the night deepened as she pondered, Riana couldn’t sleep.

Among those who were once friends but now completely hostile competitors, Riana thought anxiously about tomorrow.

But Riana was determined to pass and become a magician.

‘I will definitely become a powerful magician. I will…’

Thinking of a dear person.

‘I will become their strength, no matter what!’