Youngest 150
by Cristae150
“Grandpaaa…?”
I started to run over, tumbling, but stopped dead.
“It’s black!”
“Wahahahaha! I matched it with my little snot!”
Grandfather, who always let his mane fall like a lion’s, now had his hair neatly trimmed and his beard groomed!
But… both his hair and beard were pitch black!
“Come here, come here!”
He reached out to me once more.
He looked as if he’d grown ten years younger—funny, yet striking. His presence, already imposing, now felt even more formidable.
Still, I was happy to see him, so I ran straight into his big embrace.
“Well now, my child. Did you enjoy being away from home? Hm? Did you?”
“I liked it about 49% and disliked it 51%! But how did you come here? Weren’t you in the north?”
“I flew all the way because I missed my Ruby. Let’s see here.”
Grandfather set me down and measured my height with his palm.
“You’ve grown this much in such a short time! My word!”
“…I don’t think your hand moved at all, though.”
“Oh, you’ve gotten even sharper since you started mixing in society!”
“Bad!”
Annoyed, I batted at his arm. He roared with laughter, saying his massage skills had also improved.
Next up were my brothers, naturally.
If your family was present at the camp, even full-time students could join in, so they’d come running as well.
“Rubyyyy!”
Void spun around me, overwhelmed with emotion.
“Have you settled in now? Are you going to enroll in the Academy? Will you ride my satchel with me next spring?!”
“I’m NOT riding a satchel!”
As I let out a squawk and turned around, I saw Liam smiling contentedly.
“This means you can live with me in the library next year.”
Yes! The moment has arrived!
It’s finally time to expose the detailed reports on my brothers’ lives at the Academy that I have been painstakingly scrawling!
Both of you, better be ready—the reckoning is near.
“Now, everyone, calm down!”
With that, a professor took the podium to bring the room to order.
“Shall we now take a look at what our adorable prospective students have created during camp?”
Wow! Yes! I’m ready!
The Second was coming to a renewed realization of how tough it was to live outside the kingdom.
‘Seventh, I admit it. You’re really good at hiding.’
In a noisy café.
“Hm, may I ask you to introduce yourself?”
A laid-back-looking professor folded his arms and spoke.
‘Really… This is not easy.’
The Second stifled a sigh and stumbled through a fabricated self-introduction.
“My name is Senia. I’m twenty years old. I grew up under a strict father and a mother who passed away, getting by as best I could…”
“Hmmm. That’s enough.”
The professor, having introduced himself as Yuliophe, curtly raised his hand.
“In my time, a self-introduction had to be compelling from the first sentence… A little disappointing.”
Young only in looks, he reeked of old-fashioned severity.
The Second thought this Academy professor was an absolute pain. No one could possibly suit his finicky tastes.
“Where did you learn Ancient Tongue? Not many people know it, so it can’t have been easy.”
“I studied in Kasalia. It’s full of scholars researching mages and ancient history. And there are plenty of ruins.”
“Hmm. I see. However…”
“Is there a problem?”
“Your current nationality is a bit unclear, isn’t it? I don’t see Babylon Empire identification…”
The Second pulled up the end of her turtleneck and forced a smile.
“Ah. That’s because my records were lost in the war.”
“They’re working on restoring records lost in the Imperial court.”
“Yes, I’ve already applied. They said it takes some time.”
Yuliophe smiled gently. “Ah, yes. Considering how many cases there are—makes sense.”
The Second was relieved, grateful she’d prepared that excuse ahead of time.
The atmosphere wasn’t bad.
“Yes, that’s understood.”
The professor shuffled his documents.
“I’m sorry, but we can’t hire you as a restorationist.”
Did I hear that right?
“Sorry? Why? I thought our conversation was going well?”
“I understand your circumstances, but our Academy has very strict identity verification.”
Yuliophe coughed and chugged a recovery tonic.
“We simply can’t hire anyone whose identity isn’t clear. Even if I approved it, Principal Odelli wouldn’t. So… it’s unfortunate, but once you resolve your status issue, I’d appreciate if you’d get in touch again.”
“…”
“Well, I have another appointment.”
As she watched Yuliophe Molten gather his documents, the Second just blinked, wide-eyed.
They said there was a shortage of personnel.
They said if you passed the interview, you’d get a temporary pass right away.
What is this rigidity?
Yuliophe cleared his throat.
“I’m sorry, but could you please leave? We’re handling everything here as a one-stop.”
“Ah, yes…”
Honestly… this was hard.
‘How in the world did Seventh adapt to life out here?’
She had no choice but to get up and cross the cafe.
‘What do I do now?’
Surely by now it wasn’t strange for the Mage King to notice.
‘I really need to catch Seventh soon.’
Nervously, the Second bit her lip.
Just then—
“Oof, I’m nervous.”
A woman with fuzzy hair tied back strode past the Second.
She stopped right at Yuliophe’s table.
“Reliable worker, Jenda Camel. With natural diligence and practical translation experience, I’m certain to be a pillar of the Academy.”
“Nice introduction. Let me see—you’re Jerdin Camel’s sister, aren’t you?”
Yuliophe’s expression brightened. She was a shoe-in.
The Second discreetly watched Yuliophe hand Jenda Camel her temporary ID.
And then, suddenly, a thought occurred.
‘I could just steal that, couldn’t I?’
No need to apply honestly.
“…”
She felt a bit foolish.
Well.
This was only her fifth time outside the palace in twenty years.
Most of the time, she’d handled internal matters for the Mage King or the council of elders.
In particular, managing the many magical arrays descending from the kingdom was her primary duty.
The Second slipped out of the cafe and pressed herself into the alley beside it.
Chime.
Soon, Jenda Camel came out, beaming, ID in hand.
“…Hmm.”
Dad crossed his arms as he looked over my project.
My first creation, molded from clay during crafts class!
“Well? What do you think?”
I puffed my chest with pride. Dad pursed his lips and made a sound.
“How should I put this… Hm. As if… it almost, but not quite, expresses a lively ambition toward the world—there’s a complex artistic meaning here…”
“…It’s upside down, Dad.”
“…And the eyes are on its feet?”
“It’s lying on its side—forget it!”
Dad’s artistic sense was on par with Haben’s!
Next was my project from the herb garden!
“What’s this? An ointment?”
Grandfather lifted a thin stick, narrowing his eyes.
I explained with pride.
“Lip balm! We made it from herbs in herbalist class!”
“My Ruby made this balm?”
Immediately, Grandfather’s eyes widened.
“Let me try it! Hmm! It’s wonderful! Fragrant! So fragrant!”
His lips glistened like glass beads.
“Uh, you’re putting on too much!”
“The more, the better!”
“Kyaa!”
Well, he wasn’t wrong…
Lastly, for free crafting time, we were to make something with found materials from around the Academy.
“Final answer.”
Liam raised his hand with a bright, knowing expression.
“Squirrel Magical Beast.”
“Why add magical beast to it!”
I shouted back in protest, as he pointed to my clay squirrel made with twigs and acorns.
“It smells like the stench from magical beast claws.”
“Jeez! That’s because I put gingko fruit in it!”
For some reason, I found him so annoying I just had to bite the back of his hand. Liam grinned, pleased, saying he liked that I was as fierce as a magical beast.
“All right, now let’s check out Khalid’s!”
I led my family over toward the Stage for Class A.