Vol. 8 - Ch. 425 - Moving on to the Exam Period! Study Meeting at the Guild!

With the change in academy policy today, we also switched our schedule for after class and held a study meeting at the guild.We also invited sub-members to be a part of this in the new guild room of <Eden>. Of course, we only had those who wanted to participate—those who wanted to study in their room, with their friends, or simply didn't need to study. It was at their discretion. Everyone except those who really need them.

Everyone was looking forward to the month-long dungeon week and was giving it their all. We first split those that were already doing great versus those that seriously needed to be supervised.

I first had a look at their academic performance, and depending on the outcome, I had them pair with someone who excelled at academics. Among the bunch, the ones that were able to overcome their weak points or simply didn’t need to study were Sierra, Celestine, Mert, and Reglam.

The following four members, plus me, were in charge of guiding others.

"Ugh, the boys here really have a sharp head."

"At this rate, the position of us girls will be in jeopardy. It's really, really bad. Though the silver lining is..."

"(He is) Truly out of a different mold compared to class 1 boys. Of course, excluding ‹Eden› members."

The harmonic trio—Sachi, Emy, and Yuika—shuddered (?) seeing the group of us with teacher roles. Their faces were slightly aglow red.

Incidentally, I was in charge of the three.

I guess they must be frantic to stay in class 1. Though they do have a discerning eye, if they have set their eyes on me.

"You three. Are you paying attention?"

" " "Yes! We're!" " "

"Nice spirit. Then, here's the next question. ‹Which magic job involves the use of eyes? List all that apply›. Alright, that's a tricky question. Remember, since you're still a first-year, you just need to fill in the low-ranking jobs taught in the syllabus."

I was using the past year exam papers that Celestine and Rina had somehow gotten from who knows where as a reference to explain the key points to the trio.

"The trap in this is ‹Magic Job›. Who knows the answer?"

" " "I know! It's ‹Vision Master›!" " "

"Oh, all is correct."

"Hurray."

"Ehehe."

"Hardly a problem."

‹Vision Master› was a magic job that utilized the eye to use magic. The holder of such a job can shoot fire, water, or beams from their eye. Just in case, no, they couldn't use duplicate ninja.

They're correct, but still not enough.

"The question asked, 'list all you can.' In short, there are more. Who knows?"

"Err, eyes, right? Hnn, ah! ‹Chuunibyou›."

As if it just came to her mind, Sachi answered, and Emi and Yuiki followed with a 'that's it!' vibe. It's not, you girls. That's simply Evil Eye-chan making their eyes glow, alright?

"Unfortunately, wrong answer. This is why I said it's a trap. The question is mainly asking about jobs similar to ‹Vision Master›. The correct answer is mid-ranking job ‹Vision Master II› and high-ranking job ‹Magic-Eye Job›. Between, ‹Chuunibyou› isn't even a magic job, so it doesn't fill the bill either. The same goes for its high-ranking version, ‹Wicked Eye›. It's easy to trip here, so be more careful."

"Ah~. Understand."

Hearing my answer, the trip quickly noted it down in their notebook. They weren't bad in academics; just the lessons in class 1 were a bit too much for them to follow through. The Class 1 syllabus tends to be more congested as well. By simplifying it like this, they were able to understand.

We continued the session and then disbanded in the evening. When I was on the way back, Reglam invited me for dinner. Sᴇaʀch* Thᴇ N0vᴇlFirᴇ.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

"Zephyr, how about having dinner together? Mert and Celestine are in as well."

"Oh, sounds good. Count me in."

The plan shifted to having dinner with the three boys.

We gave our order at the cafeteria and sat down at a four-person table.

"A udon set? Honestly, it doesn't sit well with you, Reglam."

Seeing what Reglam was having, Mert muttered in a deep tone.

I know what he was referring to. Imagine Reglam, a blonde hunk with the ‹Star Boy›, slurping udon. This might surely shatter the fantasies of some girls. The person in question understood it as well, it seems. Though he followed up as if he didn't care.

"Don't mind that. And what about you? A fish meal set with cow milk surely doesn't go hand in hand."

"......Right. What suits and what doesn't really matter in a meal. That was boorish of me."

Mert shook his head at Reglam's response. I know, right? Just eat whatever you want.

"And Zephyr-sama's order is summer vegetable stir-fry with side rice topped with raw egg?"

"Yup, I am still in the middle of conquering the cafeteria's menu after all. Starting from the top of the menu, today's meal to conquer is summer vegetables. It's really delicious."

"Is that so? Then I will try the same thing tomorrow. Looks tasty."

"And you're having Japanese cuisine?"

"Yes, I was in the mood to have some sweet, simmering food. It was quite a bit of brainwork today."

"Oh, that makes sense. Everyone, good job."

Celestine's choice was influenced by the mental work he had undertaken today. Recalling that, I gave my word of gratitude once again.

"Still, I didn't expect you to be that good at studying." (Zephyr)

"Reglam is smart. In fact, he is ranked even above me in class." (Mert)

"Even more than you? Amazing." (Zephyr)

As I mentioned, I was surprised at the academic ability of Reglam and Mert supplements.

That's honestly impressive, to best ‹Sage› Mert in the ‹Combat Department Class 8›. Well, considering the situation around ‹Star Boy›, that actually doesn't sound impossible.

"Come now; it's not all that impressive. Anyone can reach that level with systematic study."

"And this is the difficult part, you know? Amazing is indeed an apt word for those who managed to do so."

"Fufu. I guess I can take your words. Perhaps so."

Apparently, my response seemed to have struck a chord with him, as Reglam let out a deep laugh.

As the air softened and we reached a breakpoint in our dinner, the direction of conversation was steered to the earlier study session.

"How are the students you are guiding doing?"

"At the very least, they're not going to fail. They might even score better than average."

"Same here. It should be a cinch to avoid the failing marks. However, it might not be easy to aim higher."

Following Reglam, Mert commented. They were in charge of tutoring Hannah and Pamela, respectively. ——I will omit the, you know, chaos that happens when it comes to deciding who will be tutoring who.

Hannah was a bit different since she was a ‹Production Major›, but she had been having study sessions with Alulu over related subjects. However, her knowledge was lacking in common subjects, of which Reglam was in charge. It sounds like she was doing fine.

Pamela, on the other hand, had quite a long list of subjects—math, dungeon clear, job, specialties—she wasn't good at. Pretty much, yeah, she was an academically challenged student. Though, that's where Mert's ‹Sage› saved the day. He was sure she could avoid failing, but hoping for anything other than average marks was a bit of a pipe dream.

"This is a tumultuous time, but let's give our best so that the guild can reach a new height."

"Well put, I am relying on you too as well, Celestine."

Celestine supervised Ester and Lana today. Originally, I was about to take on that role to teach Lana, but Sierra and Rina protested, and I had to change it.

Speaking of her, Sierra was tutoring Karua up close, which had caused later’s cat ear to droop, but...you can do it, Karua! Rika would be teaching her at night.

For the whole week after that, ‹Eden› and ‹Arc-Arcadia› worked hand-in-hand to tackle the preparation for the upcoming exam. Sometimes, we also trained in the training ground with ‹Arc-Arcadia› to let off some steam and further come up with better options and all. Overall, it was a fun period before the test.

On the night of the same day, Lana visited my room, saying she wanted to continue the study session. However, her arrival clashed with Hannah, who was there for the same reason, and somehow, one thing led to another, the study session was thrown out of the window, and what followed was just a mess. The following day, Shizu announced to the whole guild that my room is off-limits for anyone at night, but I will spare you the specific details.

Time flashed by in a blink with all this, and finally, we were in the test week.