TSSAH 36

Chapter 36

*Flip, flip!*

“Whoa, whoa!”

Every time a page of the exam paper turned, Noah Benton let out exclamations as if he were adding commentary.

“Not a single wrong answer! Rookie, you’re really amazing!”

“Thank you for the praise, Mr. Benton.”

“Really, really amazing! It’s already impressive that you took the exam after just a week, but to get everything right!”

“I just got lucky that a lot of the questions came from the parts I focused on memorizing.”

I smiled, feigning humility.

With this, I had passed the exam Gisela Loth had set.

It was a natural result.

The only things I’d had to newly memorize about Knox this time were information about the collateral branches—hardly even worthy of being called the same clan.

So the only thing I had to consider was, ‘How many should I get wrong?’

For a moment, I had debated whether I should fail on the first attempt.

That would have been the most natural outcome, after all.

But I soon changed my mind.

I concluded that I needed to show Gisela Loth—who still hadn’t fully acknowledged me—a powerful一击.

“Mm-hmm, I can tell it wasn’t luck. Look at this!”

Noah Benton pointed to a question where my answer had been especially long.

“Not only did you cleanly describe the complicated succession structure of the Knox Duke from 160 years ago, you even pointed out an error in the question Gisela made!”

“I thought it wasn’t an error, but a trap.”

It was an error.

The Knox Duke from several generations ago, whose private life was utterly debauched, had countless lovers.

Among them—scandalously—was a woman who was already married. The daughter she bore was later revealed to be the Knox Duke’s blood, not that of her legal husband, a baron.

After a thorough investigation, the Knox Duke acknowledged the child as his daughter, but could not enter her into the Knox family genealogy.

Because the poor baron, who knew nothing, had already taken the initiative.

So that generation’s family tree recorded only two daughters, when in fact there were three.

“I especially like this part. ‘Though she was not entered into the Knox lineage, there remain multiple records of the Duke referring to Aila as his daughter on official occasions. Nothing of Knox can take precedence over the Duke. Therefore, the correct number of Michelan Knox’s children is four sons and three daughters.'”

“Haha. Hearing someone else read it aloud makes it sound a bit insolent. What if Miss Loth took offense?”

“Hmm? Gisela?”

Noah Benton’s eyes went wide, and then he burst out laughing.

“No way. Gisela, she’s surprisingly not the type to hold grudges. She probably found it amusing, actually.”

“What did I find amusing?”

“Gisela!”

Gisela Loth, who had briefly left the nest after finishing grading the exam, had returned.

Noah Benton scurried over to her like an obedient puppy.

“I read Rookie’s answer sheet! He got everything right!”

“So I saw.”

“I had to retake the exam several times, but Rookie is really smart! Isn’t he the first person to get a perfect score on your exam?”

“That’s only the first two volumes.”

Gisela Loth snorted and glanced at me.

I met her gaze with an indifferent expression and thought,

*’Ah, I want to hit her once.’*

Why did Gisela Loth have to be my mentor?

It should have been the other way around—I should have been her mentor.

Then there would be so many things I could do under the guise of a mentor’s guidance.

Making her climb a cliff under the pretext of physical training would have been effective. Throwing her a book on survival methods and a single dagger, then making her find her way to the mansion alone in the deep mountains would have been pretty good too.

Watching her cry her eyes out with a grimy face would have been thoroughly satisfying.

“Ah, really! Rookie did so well, you should praise him!”

When Noah Benton stomped his feet in frustration, Gisela Loth reluctantly opened her mouth.

“You’re smarter than you look. Well done.”

“…Thank you, Miss Loth.”

Was that a compliment or an insult?

I bowed my head anyway, and she spoke as if granting a favor.

“You passed the exam, so you can leave early today.”

“Thank you!”

Leaving early!

Early dismissal!

Even if her wording was a bit irksome, what did that matter?

She was letting me leave early.

As I happily packed my things, Gisela Loth asked,

“What are you doing? Why are you packing?”

“Didn’t you just say I could leave early?”

You can’t give something and then take it back!

As I bristled, she pointed to the empty room I’d been confined in for a week and said,

“You need to clean up the storage room you used before you go. Should I clean it for you?”

“Ugh, my whole body aches.”

Gisela Loth was indeed a vicious mentor.

She said leave early, and then made me do a massive cleaning.

After scrubbing out dust that had settled for so long it wouldn’t come off, and even mopping the floor, my entire body was sore.

And I even left later than usual!

“And it *is* a storage room.”

Every time I called it a storage room, she insisted on calling it an empty room.

Rolling my stiff shoulders, I finally arrived at the action squad dormitory.

All I wanted was to wash up quickly and become one with my bed.

As I trudged up the stairs one step at a time, something felt off.

“Rookie’s here!”

“Ooh, you bastard!”

“You’re young, but you’re a man, huh?”

The action squad members, who usually treated me like a cow looking at a chicken, each threw a word at me and slapped my shoulder as they passed.

“Why are you all suddenly like this?”

“Playing innocent!”

“You’re dating, good times!”

No matter how much I asked, confused, that was all I got in return.

Did they all eat something bad at the barracks cafeteria?

Or maybe they’d heard some nonsense rumor again.

Too exhausted to even be curious, I arrived in front of my room and finally understood why the seniors had been grinning.

“…What is this?”

A small pouch was hanging from the doorknob of my room.

Not only was it made of pink cloth, but there was even a note attached that said, ‘Only Rookie may open this!’

Just then, the senior from the room across the hall happened to open his door, looked back and forth between me and the pouch, and smirked unpleasantly.

“Popular, aren’t you, Rookie?”

“Do you know who left this pouch?”

“No? It was already hanging there a few hours ago. Hey, Albert!”

The senior from across the hall called out to another member passing by.

“Did you see who left this pouch?”

“Didn’t see it, sir? It was there when I came back after my shift too.”

“He says he didn’t see it either.”

“Hmm, I see.”

I didn’t know who had hung such a cute little pouch, but I had a good idea what was inside.

A savory, sweet scent was wafting out from within.

“Good work—”

“Wait, don’t tell me it’s more than one?”

“Pardon? More than one what?”

When I asked back, the senior from across the hall’s face suddenly turned red and blue, and he even pointed a finger at me.

“Y-you, you despicable brat! You have so many candidates that you don’t even know who left the pouch?!”

“No, that’s not it…”

“I didn’t think you were that kind of guy, Rookie! You’re really shameless!”

As the two seniors started yelling, all eyes in the hallway turned toward us in an instant.

“What’s going on?”

“Rookie has more than one woman!”

“What?!”

“They say he’s such a playboy he can’t even remember who left the pouch!”

“The youngest is dating all by himself?!”

“Rookie is a two-timer?!”

The narrow hallway filled with anger directed at me.

No, this was bloodlust.