“I’m home.”
“Are you late? Did you review the finals with Veronica today?”
“yes. It’s the first time I’ve ever fought like that, so there’s a lot to point out.”
Aslan, who was reading, welcomed Noah back late in the evening.
A few days have passed since the finals.
The Black Moon Dormitory, which had been a hot topic for a while with Aslan’s advertisements, has now returned to its original state.
However, Noah was still visiting Veronica after class to review the day.
“But have you been quiet these days? What’s going on?”
“It’s because the noisiest person stretched out. A huge crowd of kids came to know that if they applied for a move in the Black Moon, they could play with Roselia or Linaria.”
“Were you really taking the entrance exam?”
“No one actually made it through, though.”
Lately, Rogelia has been living in exhaustion from dealing with the influx of people.
Thanks to that, the evening is always quiet.
“… … Couldn’t it be that you deliberately advertised because it was noisy at night after the twin seniors came?”
Aslan averted his gaze at Noah’s question.
“This is the car slaughter system that we have only heard about… … ?”
Thinking about noise pollution, I wondered that Aslan was even reading a book in the lobby.
“Have you been waiting for me? He’s not a kid, he’ll come back on his own.”
“I had something to tell you. It’s Regina-sama’s call. Don’t you have class tomorrow morning? Go to the principal’s office.”
* * *
Nightray main building the next day.
Noah met Regina there, as Aslan told him.
“Hey, our 2nd pick is here.”
“Ugh, isn’t it a bit too much to tease you as soon as you meet?”
“Losing is good. Because there is still room to go up. When it comes to me, there is only one person left on top, so there is nowhere to climb. If you ask me to fight, it’s treason.”
Regina laughed as if it was funny what she said.
Not sure if it was okay to use that as a gag material, Noah just stayed still.
“Tsk, step out. follow me Let me show you something interesting.”
Regina took the lead without looking back.
Noah quietly followed him.
Nightray had a large lot and numerous buildings.
The main building was a representative building among them, so it was more used to welcome guests than a facility for business.
Starting with the history of the school, various objects were exhibited like a museum.
Regina said as she walked down the hallway of the exhibition hall.
“As of yesterday, the entrance exams for the freshmen of your next jockey ended. You too will now get off your freshman ticket and take on juniors.”
“oh.”
Nightray accepts new students quarterly.
In other words, 4 quarters come in a year.
Conversely, since graduation also serves as a knight inauguration ceremony, it is held once a year, only at the end of the year.
“Even if it’s a junior, aren’t there any special distinctions between senior and junior in Night Ray? I heard that if you do well, even juniors can graduate first.”
“Even outside, I tend to focus on the number of graduations rather than the number of entrances. Anyway, that’s not what I’m talking about. By any chance, do you know what the most frequently asked questions by test takers in this entrance exam?”
“… … ?”
“It was a story about Noah, don’t you come out as a test tube. I thought that a person who fought like that with 11th place Veronica would definitely be a top ranker.”
The story of Noah started to become a hot topic as a new attribute conversion user, and even a special article appeared.
From noble mtl dot com.
However, there were many cases where test-takers who were undergoing intense training ahead of the entrance exam did not even read the newspaper.
In the first place, Noah, who had just begun to be known to the outside world, was still in a state of rumor.
“As a result, there are even voices saying that you need to raise your ranking quickly.”
“Would you like to give me another challenge? Then, thank you very much.”
“It’s unfortunate, but it’s hard to sow it even in the country. Tradition is pretty annoying.”
Regina explained the situation to Noah, who looked like what he was talking about.
“Do you know why the top rankers use the swap type ranking match differently from the others?”
“Well, for the evildoers to solidify their stronghold?”
Regina laughed.
“This is understandable if you think about the biggest difference from the lower ranking matches. The lower rankers may change my ranking as a result of someone else’s match, but not the upper rankers.”
In the lower ranking match, which is conducted by the rating point system, the ranking could change due to changes in other people’s points even if my score did not change.
On the other hand, in the swap-type ranking system, only the rankings of those who had a ranking match were changed, and the rankings of others were not affected.
“In the past, when everyone used the rating system, the rankings changed several times a day, so most of them did not even know their current ranking. This is why the word to use a swap-type ranking system came out.”
“It started out unexpectedly for an ordinary reason, didn’t it?”
“okay. It’s being abused now, but it wasn’t originally designed that way. The guys who made this in the first place were just trying to fix a problem with the existing ranking system.”
The swap-type ranking system, which was tentatively applied to the top rankers, still had its drawbacks.
However, the problem was that it was left unattended because the original proposer graduated without offering an alternative.
In the end, when there was no person carrying a gun to fix the remaining problems, the system remained as a test application and became a tradition.
Now there are people who are taking advantage of this point, so there were even people who would oppose it if we asked for a change.
No one dared to try to fix it despite the opposition.
That is until Veronica shows up.
“Veronica has her own ideas and changes the rules, but good intentions don’t mean good results.”
“You mean the same mistakes can be repeated.”
“I heard that you also decided to empower Veronica. If you choose, do your best. And take responsibility for the outcome.”
“yes. All right.”
It was surprising to hear such sound advice than just his always irritated appearance.
‘I guess it wasn’t a lie that he was a respected knight.’
To be honest, at one time, Noah seriously wondered if Tiu had played Gura to make fun of him.
If Regina knew about this, she would have fed her supersonic honey chestnuts, but fortunately even Master Knight was not capable of mind reading.
“It’s here.”
“Here… … It’s the Hall of Stars, isn’t it?”
hall of stars.
A place that all knights of the Empire pass through at least once.
Even Noah knew the Hall of Stars, where the imperial knight ordination ceremony was held.
“These are all star fragments… … ?”
Noah looked around in admiration.
Veronica had given Noah a Holy Spirit Sword made by forging a fragment of a star.
The fragments of stars that fell from the sky had the property of absorbing aura and becoming stronger.
For this reason, the sword made from this meteorite is regarded as the best material for making a knight’s sword, and was strictly managed by the country.
Star Fragments are the equivalent of a knight’s symbol.
And the Hall of Stars was a building made entirely of stars.
“Siwonseok (始元石). A fragment of the world’s oldest star. The strongest substance in the world that has absorbed earthly auras for hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of years.”
“You know surprisingly well?”
“That’s why I can’t help but be interested in saying that it can’t even be scratched unless it’s Master Knight.”
Star fragments have the property of absorbing aura even before refining them into a sword.
Naturally, if it is left in its natural state for a long time, it absorbs the aura around it and becomes hard.
The origin stone was a fragment of a star that fell to the ground and absorbed Aura for a long time before the existence of modern humans.
When the Empire discovered this star fragment, it had already been fortified beyond human technology.
Even Master Knight, who has reached the extreme of a sword, is all about slashing a little.
It was such a great thing, but from the Empire’s point of view, it was also a nuisance.
“Siwonseok was not a thing that humans could use. The problem was that it could not be taken away by other countries.”
“It has a huge aura, so if another country uses it, it could cause serious trouble.”
“okay. Therefore, the Emperor Shih Huang founded the Night Ray to protect the fragments of this huge star that were too large to be moved. The head of the Nightray school is also the person who was officially appointed by the emperor as the guardian of Siwon-seok.”
Regina then added that it was only in name, since no one could steal this big thing anyway.
The Hall of Stars was in the shape of a dish with a depression in the center.
Inside the plate was a splendid cathedral-like building.
The first principal of the school built a building using Siwonseok, and the Hall of Stars became the hardest building in the world.
“Awesome. Even if I stay still, it feels like my aura is being sucked out.”
“Do you know why I brought you here?”
Noah, who had been preoccupied with looking around the Hall of Stars, began to question when he heard that.
The Hall of Stars was originally used for occasional events other than knight ordination ceremonies, so it wasn’t a particularly hidden place.
However, since it is a strategic resource, it was not normally accessible to the general public.
The reason for bringing him to such a hall of stars did not immediately come to mind.
“Your swordsmanship can accept any aura. Like a fragment of a star.”
“yes?”
“Noah, while you still have the skills of a swordsman, you can absorb other people’s swordsmanship and use attribute conversion. As if fragments of a star absorb an aura.”
Regina said while stroking the stone wall.
“A swordsmanship that can be used with any swordsmanship. Anyone can tell that it is not an ordinary swordsmanship even if you think about it simply.”
In fact, everyone who saw that Noah was not just a multi-attribute user, but learning from other people’s attributes on the spot, widened their eyes.
The Rosalina twins said it all, even becoming the youngest and risking doing chores to the point where they entered the Black Moon.
“Aren’t you curious? What on earth is your swordsmanship, and what the hell was the grandfather who taught you that swordsmanship?”
“Of course I am curious.”
“But it didn’t seem like he wanted to find out much about that. There must have been quite a bit of time since admission until now.”
At this point, Noah realized that Regina was trying to dump him.
The reason he was brought to the Hall of Stars was probably because he needed a place where no one would see him properly.
‘why?’
The reason why she, the head of Nightray’s school and one of the world’s greatest knights, cares about Noah, a mere student.
Of course, the only reason I could think of was Noah’s grandfather.
‘What’s your relationship with Grandpa?’
I could have predicted that it wasn’t a bad relationship.
If that were the case, there would be no way to write a recommendation and send it here.
If they were on good terms, it would make sense for Regina to develop a crush on Noah.
‘It’s better to be honest here.’
“I thought it was unnecessary to find out.”
“no need?”
“No matter what my grandfather’s past is, it doesn’t change the fact that he is my one and only family. Even if I hear the circumstances, I intend to hear it myself.”
I have no intention of digging out the fact that I have to hide.
Hearing Noah’s thoughts, Regina nodded in satisfaction.
“So why did you suddenly ask this?”
“To be honest, I was wondering if I could accept you as a priest.”
“yes?”
“I am an alumnus with the same teacher, so you can call me sister-in-law from now on.”
“Yes?”
“When the retired master suddenly said that he would send his grandson, I wondered what this meant. I’m glad he’s smarter than I thought.”
“Yes, yes?”
Noah’s shock and fear swept through the Hall of Stars.