In a hushed room, the ticking of a clock’s second hand echoes through the stillness——
“……”
Sunk deep into her chair, Luna is absorbed in the villainess novel Ro had tracked down for her.
The so-called ‘villainess genre’ is one of the most popular in fiction.
The basic storyline goes like this: a protagonist who has reincarnated as a villainess draws on knowledge from her past life and does everything in her power to avoid her destined ruin.
“Fuu……”
Having just finished one volume, Luna rises smoothly from her chair and turns her gaze to the empty air before her.
“——I’ve only just met you, but it seems I absolutely despise you.”
She delivers this with cold eyes that treat the other party like something beneath her, turns on her heel, and walks away.
“……Ahhhh……!”
She crashes back onto her bed, kicking her feet in a most unladylike fashion.
(To say something so cruel to the eldest son of some minor noble family who traveled all this way to seek an audience with me……. A saint I am not)
An imaginary scenario, a fictional target, a made-up setting——the so-called ‘Imaginary Villainess Move.’
(Ahh, villainesses really are irresistible. This indescribable sense of transgression……I love it)
“Hafu……”
Luna hugs her pillow to her chest with a satisfied expression, trying to settle her elevated spirits——
“——Luna-sama, are you alright?”
Ro’s face is right in front of her nose.
“Hyah!?”
Luna lets out an involuntary strange noise and tumbles off the bed.
“R-Ro!? What are you doing here!? At least knock properly!”
“I knocked several times, and called out to you as well. But when there was no answer and then I heard a strange sound coming from inside……”
“I-I see……. Well, fair enough.”
Luna turns sharply in the opposite direction to hide her completely red face.
Becoming a proper villainess is clearly going to take quite a bit more time.
“In any case, Luna-sama. You have been quite relaxed these past several days……. Is everything alright?”
“Alright with what?”
“I am asking whether you are alright with exam preparation. The Saint Academy entrance examination is almost upon us.”
“Saint……Academy……? Entrance……examination……?”
Luna’s mouth falls open and she tilts her head to one side.
By any measure, she does not look alright at all.
“Forgive me for saying so……but could this be another case of that amnesia……?”
“Y-……yes! That, that’s exactly it!”
There is no shared memory between the Saint of three hundred years ago and the present-day Luna Spedio.
Which means inevitably, situations like this one——these ‘gaps in understanding’——arise between Luna and the Spedio household.
To bridge them, Luna has been using the ‘amnesia’ caused by being run over by the carriage as her cover story whenever something comes up that she has no memory of.
“Sorry, Ro, I don’t think I can recall it just at the moment——can you explain the basics of what you just mentioned?”
“Of course.”
Ro clears her throat with a small cough and begins to explain the Saint Academy’s background and the upcoming entrance examination.
“Allow me to start with a brief history of the Saint Academy. Three hundred years ago——when the Saint was executed, the bitter wars waged in her name came to an end, and humanity enjoyed a period of peace. But it did not last long. With the Saint gone as a deterrent, the Demon King resumed his invasion of human society.”
“I see, I see. (More or less the same as what I read in the library)”
“Pushed to the brink, humanity followed the Saint’s old trail in search of ‘a key to salvation.’ In doing so, they discovered a book of prophecies in the Saint’s former home. It stated that the Saint would one day be reincarnated in the distant future. Armed with this revelation of the Saint’s reincarnation, humanity immediately founded the Saint Academy and has been devoting all of its efforts to finding her——that is where things stand today.”
“I see……. (Wait, a book of prophecies? I have no memory of writing anything like that)”
While Luna is puzzling over this, a bomb is dropped.
“Regarding the examination——it is scheduled for tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow!?”
“Yes. Pass or fail is determined by combining the scores from both the written and practical portions into a comprehensive assessment. To gain admission to the Saint Academy, one must demonstrate knowledge of the scholarly discipline befitting a saint, ‘Saintology,’ as well as show proof of ‘power worthy of a saint.'”
“B-but, to spring something like this on me all of a sudden……”
“Lord Carlo, Lady Trebas, and all of the people of the territory are cheering you on for your examination, Luna-sama.”
And with that, Ro left the room.
“…………”
Left alone, Luna——
“Oh no oh no oh no……. What is Saintology!? What is a book of prophecies!? And why on earth is the entrance examination tomorrow!?”
——scratched frantically at her head and descended into a panic.
“A-anyway……I have to do everything I possibly can!”
Earnest at her core, she pulled the Saintology textbook from the bookshelf and set about cramming as much knowledge into her head as she could.
The next day——
“Mmmm……good morning, Ro……”
“Good morning, Luna-sama. You have dark circles under your eyes——did you have trouble sleeping last night?”
“Yeah, a little……”
She could hardly say “I was up all night cramming,” so she let it trail off vaguely.
Afterward, Luna had breakfast in the dining room as usual and climbed into the Spedio family carriage.
Outside the window, the people of Spedio territory were sending her off with fervent cheers.
“Do your best, Luna-sama!”
“Granny’s rooting for you too, Luna dear!”
“Good luck, Luna-nee-chan!”
Young men, elderly women, small children——the people of Spedio territory had turned out in full force to wish Luna success.
And on top of that——
“Luna——do your best out there——!”
“We’re cheering for you, Luna——!”
Carlo and Trebas, having climbed onto the manor roof, are waving a large banner that reads ‘GUARANTEED PASS.’
“Th-thank you, I’ll do my best……!”
The weight of all those expectations presses down on her. A negative modifier is applied to all of Luna’s stats.
Several hours of riding later, she arrives at the Saint Academy in the capital.
“——Thank you very much.”
After thanking the Spedio family coachman who had driven her all this way, Luna turns to face the Saint Academy building in earnest.
“So this is the Saint Academy……”
A clock tower so tall she has to crane her neck to see the top. A wide, beautifully maintained garden. A main school building like a white palace——the Saint Academy was on a scale that far surpassed anything she had imagined.
(First things first, I need to check in at reception)
She makes her way to the temporary reception desk set up just outside the main gate.
“Excuse me, I’m Luna Spedio, examinee number 1835……”
“Examinee number 1835. ——Yes, confirmed. Please take this examination voucher and proceed to the Grand Hall.”
“Thank you.”
Luna gives a small bow and passes through the main gate into the school building.
Red arrows indicating the direction of the Grand Hall are posted throughout the building, so she reaches the examination venue without getting lost.
Upon entering the Grand Hall——
“[Everyone]: ……”
——the complete opposite of the soirée she had attended the other day, a pure and serene space spreads out before her.
(What an extraordinary space……)
Despite there being well over three hundred examinees, the Grand Hall is absolutely silent.
Even the sound of swallowing felt like it might count as noise, and she finds her back straightening on its own.
Luna moves to the seat marked with her examinee number and sits quietly without drawing attention to herself.
Some time after that, ten minutes before the examination was to begin, a female instructor stepped up to the podium in the Grand Hall.
The proctor, a band on her arm marking her as such, cleared her throat and drew the examinees’ attention.
“We will now begin the three hundredth Saint Academy entrance examination. As stated in the examination guidelines, we will start with the written portion.”
She says this and snaps her fingers, and from nowhere a breeze stirs and carries the question papers and answer sheets to each examinee’s desk.
A rational method of distribution, using wind magic.
In a stillness so complete the ticking of a clock could be heard——
“You may——begin.”
The starting signal is given, and the sound of papers being turned rings out all at once.
Luna moves so as not to fall behind those around her, quickly writes down her name and examinee number——and then grimaces at the sheer volume of questions before her.
(Ugh, so many……)
The written examination consists of one hundred questions in total, all short answer.
Time limit: two hours. A fairly grueling test.
(Fuhhh, no panicking. First, calm down, and work through them one by one)
She lets out a short quiet breath and turns to the first question.
Question 1. Where was the Saint born?
(Easy. The village of Kansas in the Landonia territory of the Holy Kingdom of Grandize)
Question 2. The name of the mythical creature——separated from its pack——that the young Saint took in and raised.
(Oh, that takes me back. The answer is ‘Tama.’ I was never able to see her again after returning her to the pack, but I hope she lived out a long and happy life……)
Question 3. The detached palace of the Arbus Empire where the Saint was confined.
(Ahh, that place was……I remember now. The Louza detached palace. It was a cramped place, but at least the food was good)
As one would expect from the prestigious Saint Academy, the written examination is full of difficult questions.
Things written in the margins of textbooks, things that could only be answered by someone who had personally visited the Saint’s old haunts——the questions requiring that kind of knowledge are practically endless.
But for Luna, the genuine article, everything being asked about is something she experienced firsthand in her own past.
The answers come simply from searching her memory, so working through the questions is easy.
(Good, good……at this rate, I might be able to aim for a perfect score!)
Luna’s hand, cruising steadily through question after question, comes to a complete stop at the final problem.
Question 100. Write what the Saint was thinking in the moments before her execution.
The last question asks for the examinee’s own interpretation.
(……What I was thinking……)
Luna’s answer——blank.
A Saint who had given up on humanity. At that point, she wasn’t thinking anything at all.
After the written examination ends, a thirty-minute lunch break is held before moving to the practical portion.
The gathering point for the practical exam is in front of a lone withered tree standing in the Saint Academy’s back garden. As the ten-minute mark before the start of the exam approaches, an old man with a fine white beard makes his appearance.
The proctor’s band on his left arm, he taps the ground with a wooden walking stick, drawing the examinees’ attention.
“Ahem——we will now begin the practical examination.”
The old man fingers his long white beard with his left hand and points with his cane to the large dead tree behind him.
“The tree growing just behind me is the cursed sacred tree, Yggdrasil. It was once the most beautiful and mighty tree in all of this kingdom of Elgia, but……roughly three hundred years ago, it was struck by the black magic of the Demon King who invaded the kingdom——an extraordinarily powerful curse——and withered away to this state.”
True to the old man’s words, Yggdrasil radiated no life.
Its trunk, stained pitch black, is frail and weak; its thin spindly branches bear not a leaf, not a bud, not a flower.
By any measure, from any angle, it is simply a dead tree.
“However, this sacred tree is not yet dead! Pour holy magical energy into it, and it will convert that energy into vital force and push back against the Demon King’s curse! The more magical energy poured in, the more beautifully and vividly Yggdrasil will bloom! This year’s practical examination measures how beautifully each examinee can make the sacred tree flower——in other words, the volume of their magical reserves!”
The old man pauses for breath and continues.
“The benchmark for passing is producing at least one bud. Any who fail to meet this threshold lack not only the qualities of a saint but the qualifications even to serve at one’s side. You will be declared failed on the spot.”
At this stern pronouncement, tension ripples through the examinees.
“Now then, let us begin. First——Ascot. Karen Ascot.”
“Y-yes!”
A red-haired girl called forward stepped out.
She stands before Yggdrasil with a nervous expression, places both hands on the pitch-black trunk, and channels her magical energy in.
The result: five buds form, one of which blooms into a pale pink flower.
“Hmm……she made it bloom on her first try, did she. Not bad, Karen Ascot.”
“Thank you!”
Praised by the old man, Karen bows her head with a delighted smile and falls back into the waiting line of examinees.
The moment her supply of magical energy is cut off, the Demon King’s curse reactivates, and Yggdrasil returns to its withered state.
After that, a great number of examinees take on the practical exam.
One produces a single bud.
One produces buds and green leaves both.
Another cannot even produce a bud and is failed on the spot.
And at last——it is Luna’s turn.
“Next, Spedio. …………Hmm, Spedio? Are you not here, Luna Spedio?”
“Huh, oh, yes!”
Having not yet gotten used to her new surname, her reaction came late, and on top of that her voice cracked on the response.
“Pfft, ahahaha……. What was that, she’s way too nervous.”
“My, my, wherever did this country girl blow in from?”
“She must have come from a terribly rural area. I’ve never even heard of a family called Spedio.”
With cold gazes from the surrounding examinees boring into her, Luna’s eyes are fixed solely on the sacred tree Yggdrasil.
The noise around her doesn’t register at all.
Because right now, she simply has no room for it.
(This……might be bad……)
The magical energy of a saint exerts absolute force against the Demon King’s magic.
If she misjudges how much magical energy she channels in, she might actually break the curse on the sacred tree altogether.
Even short of that, if she makes it bloom in too spectacular a fashion, she’ll draw exactly the kind of unwanted attention she’s trying to avoid.
(Fuhhh……calm down, it’ll be fine)
She gives her cheeks two light slaps with both palms and gently touches the tree’s trunk.
(……To produce one or two buds, about this much should do it, I think?)
The instant Luna nervously channels in the tiniest possible trickle of magical energy——something changes in the sacred tree Yggdrasil.
Its gaunt black trunk fills out and takes on a healthy brown; its thick branches extend with a creak, and the countless buds that form along them burst into vivid cherry-pink blossoms.
Full bloom.
Yggdrasil, the sacred tree, has reclaimed its true form across three hundred years of time.
“That……can’t be……impossible……!?”
The proctor, the old man, crumples to the ground involuntarily.
“A-amazing, how beautiful……!”
“This is Yggdrasil, the sacred tree……!”
Every single examinee present is transfixed by the breathtaking sight.
Meanwhile, Luna——
(I messed up……)
——is sweating profusely down her back, and immediately shuts off the supply of magical energy.
At the same moment, the Demon King’s curse surges back through the entire tree, and Yggdrasil returns once again to a dead husk.
“[Everyone]: ……”
In the ensuing silence where no one quite knows what to say——
“S-Spedio! Do it again, right now!”
“Y-yes……”
The excited old man grabs her by the shoulders and shakes, forcing her into a second attempt.
Under the weight of all those expectant stares——
(……If I mess this up it’s completely and utterly over. I’ll be put on a pedestal as the Saint again, and my ideal villainess life will vanish into the far distance……)
She takes a long, slow, deep breath and focuses every nerve on controlling her magical output.
(Just a tiny bit more, push the output down to the absolute bare minimum……and then, just for one instant——release!)
The result: a single bud pops into existence.
“…………Hmmm……. I suppose what happened before must have been some kind of error. Most likely, the magical energy accumulated from previous examinees built up inside the sacred tree, and happened by coincidence to release right at the moment Spedio touched it——that reasoning holds together at least. ……But that really was something beautiful. It might be interesting to gather the current students sometime and try to reproduce the phenomenon.”
The old man mutters this to himself, having entered entirely his own world.
“Um……excuse me, may I go back now?”
Luna, left standing there with nothing to do, asks, and he comes back with a start.
“Oh, my apologies, my apologies. I got quite carried away. Luna Spedio, you may stand down.”
“Yes.”
As Luna walks back toward the examinees’ waiting area, gazes loaded with hostility stab into her from behind.
“……What was that, so irritating……”
“She only managed to make it bloom by sheer luck, and there she is looking so pleased with herself……”
“Does she actually think she’s the reincarnation of the Saint herself?”
While the examinees murmur their little barbs under their breath——
(……Ugh, everyone is absolutely staring. I definitely stood out in the worst possible way……)
——Luna lets her shoulders droop, makes herself small, and hangs her head.