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Chapter 24: The Swordsmanship Prodigy Saintess
🕑 Added 2025-06-02 03:15:23 +0000 UTCAcademy Entrance Exam (5)
1.
After watching the entrance exams for the Swordsmanship Department, I returned to the temple.
“Haa… haa…”
I had stayed at the training grounds far too long.
Originally, I only planned to watch a few matches before heading back.
But every single match was so entertaining that I couldn’t tear myself away.
“Alright… up we go!”
With a hop, I started climbing up a tree.
Since I’d snuck out in secret, entering through the front door was out of the question.
Hopefully no one came looking for me while I was out.
If they had, the temple would be in chaos by now.
‘The Saintess is missing!’
Something like that.
Judging by the silence, it seemed I got lucky and no one had shown up.
I climbed in through the window and landed in my room.
That’s when I heard a knock at the door.
“Saintess, it’s Rael.”
Terrible timing.
Startled, I hiccupped.
As I hastily pulled off my robe, I called out:
“J-Just a moment…!”
I stuffed the robe under the blanket.
Then I quickly straightened my disheveled clothes from the climb.
I brushed my hair neatly and put on my veil.
Sweat was trickling down my back, and the area under my chest felt sticky from the heat, but there was no time to clean up.
To sell the illusion, I opened a bible and placed it on the table as if I’d been studying.
I adjusted my posture and cleared my throat.
“Ahem… Come in.”
The door opened, and Rael entered.
“Forgive me for disturbing your rest.”
“What brings you here?”
“I came to inform you about tomorrow’s third exam.”
Rael began explaining the details.
“As you know, the third test is a comprehensive evaluation.”
A comprehensive exam.
Just as the name implies, it assesses the examinee’s full range of abilities—
Physical strength, mana capacity, divine power, reflexes, critical thinking, and more.
In addition, various other factors are included in the evaluation.
Basically, it was a complex assessment to identify whether the candidates were talented enough to enter the Imperial Academy.
“This year’s test will take place in the forest. The examinees must complete a quest there.”
“Same as last year, then?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
Last year, the Theology Department’s entrance exam involved a marble hunt in the forest.
Scores were based on how many marbles you found.
It might sound like a children’s game, but the marbles were special beads that could only be sensed using divine power.
And throughout the search, random trials were triggered.
For example:
There might be traps.
Or someone pretending to be injured.
Or a person in a life-threatening situation.
And besides those, there were dozens of trials designed to assess various qualities for the overall evaluation.
“However, there is one change this year. All departments will be taking the exam together.”
“Wait, you mean while the Theology Department is testing, the Swordsmanship and Magic Departments will be testing too?”
“Exactly.”
That had never happened before.
Traditionally, each department conducted its test in the forest over the span of three days.
“This time, one student from each department will form a party, so teams of three will complete the quest together in the forest. The teams will be assigned by the academy and announced tomorrow morning.”
That was great news.
I’d thought this year’s third exam would be boring.
How hard could finding marbles be?
I already had full control over my divine power.
And even though there were trials during the exam, most of them were just character evaluations.
Combat was almost never involved.
But if the Swordsmanship and Magic students were joining in—
That meant there would be combat.
The most likely thing is monster hunting.
The thought alone was already getting me excited.
“Is anything known about the quest itself? What kind of mission it’ll be?”
“That will also be announced tomorrow morning.”
“I see.”
Please let it be a monster hunting!
And if possible, let me be assigned to a completely useless party—
That way I can take down more monsters myself.
“Ah! And I also passed the second exam.”
Rael looked at me with eyes like a puppy begging to be praised.
“I know.”
“Huh? You already knew?”
Oops.
That slipped.
I’d been so lost in my fantasy about tomorrow’s quest that I answered without thinking.
There’s no way the Saintess, who supposedly hadn’t left the temple, could know what happened at the swordsmanship traning ground.
“I-I mean… I overheard it! Yes, overheard it. I heard some people talking outside the window. They said that the holy knight who applied to the Swordsmanship Department this year was absolutely amazing. The moment I heard that, I just knew it had to be Brother Rael. You’re the only extraordinary holy knight I know, after all.”
I shamelessly rattled off the lie without missing a beat.
“Haha, you flatter me.”
He bought it.
It was such an obvious lie…
But Rael didn’t seem to suspect for a second that the Saintess could lie.
“I heard your opponent wasn’t exactly a pushover either?”
“No, he was a warrior from the Southern Kingdom. His endurance was incredible. No matter how many times I struck him down, he kept getting back up.”
“Still, in terms of pure swordsmanship, Brother Rael clearly had the upper hand. The technique you showed just before the supervisor called the match, it was amazing. It really made me think, ‘So this is one of the Five Holy Knights of the Papal State.’”
Rael looked at me with a strange expression.
“You speak as if you saw it in person at the training grounds.”
“…Is how it sounded, right? I only heard about it. Then I just imagined the rest. Still, I really do hope I get to see your swordsmanship for myself someday.”
“I’ll set aside some time and give you a demonstration.”
“I’ll be looking forward to it.”
I gave him a soft, graceful smile.
I was honestly impressed that my excuse worked.
It seemed he really did trust me unconditionally just because I was the Saintess.
Should I be grateful for such loyalty or give him a little scolding for being too naive?
“By the way, I heard something about you as well, Saintess. That you did something incredible.”
“Me?”
What had I done?
I blinked, trying to think.
I didn’t remember doing anything that could be called incredible.
“They said you filled the Giant’s Cup completely and even made it overflow.”
“Ah…”
So that’s what it was.
“I just… did it, and it worked?”
I could’ve kept going, but I thought it was enough and stopped halfway through.
“Is that really such a big deal?”
“Yes! It’s an amazing accomplishment!”
I still didn’t really get it.
Are there actually people who can’t do that?
It was as simple as pouring water from a kettle into a cup.
“In the entire history of the academy, only two people have ever filled the Giant’s Cup to the brim. One was the previous Saintess. The other is you, Saintess.”
Rael pointed at me with both hands.
“Hmm…”
Well, I suppose it sounds impressive when you put it like that.
But I didn’t feel anything special about it.
It had been so easy.
Honestly, push-ups were way harder.
Without using mana to strengthen my body, I couldn’t even manage one.
It can be said to be one of the downsides of this body.
No matter how much I trained, I could never build muscle, and my strength is terrible.
Above all, my absurdly large, head-sized breasts made it nearly impossible to lower and lift my upper body.
I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve fallen forward…
It’s humiliating, really.
All the more reason I’m deeply, deeply grateful to mana enhancement.
*
2.
The next day.
Those who had passed the second exam gathered in the forest behind the academy.
The area buzzed with noise and excitement.
Much of the chatter stemmed from a handful of standout students.
Everyone’s attention was drawn to those who had made a strong impression in the previous test.
Some looked at them with admiration.
Others, with envy.
And some simply stared in curiosity, as if observing something strange and rare.
In fact, I was one of the people drawing all that attention.
It was probably because it was the first time many of them had seen the new Saintess in person.
Rumors about me had clearly already spread throughout the academy.
From the snippets I overheard, at least 80% of the whispers were about yesterday’s exam.
‘Her divine power is beyond imagination.’
‘She’s destined to be the greatest Saintess in history.’
And so on...
I had no idea why they were making such a fuss.
While I was preparing for the exam, doing my best to ignore the eyes poking at me from every direction, the exam supervisor stepped up onto the podium at exactly 8 a.m.
“Ahem!”
At the sound of his throat-clearing, the murmurs quickly died down.
“Before we begin, I’ll give a brief explanation of today’s exam. The final entrance exam for the academy will be… magical beast hunting.”
Yes!
I screamed internally with joy.
“We’ve released magical beasts into the forest. Your goal is to hunt them, and you’ll be scored based on how many you defeat. The score will also vary depending on the beast's mana. The more dangerous and powerful the beast you hunt, the higher the score you will receive. Is that clear?”
The moment he said “dangerous and powerful”, the crowd broke into whispers again.
“There’s no need to worry too much. While I did say they’re dangerous, none of the monsters are lethal enough to threaten your lives.”
That’s a bit disappointing…
Still, considering this was an entrance exam, it made sense.
They couldn’t risk anyone dying during a school exam.
“Now, I’ll go over the rules.”
First, once the exam begins, candidates will be randomly teleported to various locations in the forest. Three students, one from each department, will be grouped into a party based on where they land.
Second, there’s no need to collect trophies or body parts from the beasts.
“Each examinee from the Magic Department has been given a magical tool that records the mana of hunted beast. When a beast is slain, its mana will be automatically stored in the device.”
Third, interference between parties is allowed.
“In other words, combat between teams is permitted. But please don’t go overboard.”
It’s a monster hunt, not a rival hunt, after all.
“Finally, the exam ends at 6 p.m.”
Thump-thump
My heart was pounding with excitement.
Of course, as the Saintess, I couldn’t exactly go wild, but even just getting to hunt monsters again made me happy.
“Then, let the exam… begin!”
At the supervisor's command, dozens of teleportation magic circles unfolded in the sky above.
The magic circles flashed, filling the sky with a brilliant light.
My vision was consumed in white.
I instinctively shut my eyes.
When the blinding light that covered my eyes slowly faded—
I slowly lifted my eyelids.
And in that very moment—
“Raaaghhh!! Combat! It’s battle time!!”
“Kyaa!”
A thunderous war cry exploded next to my right ear.
