Chapter 9. Academy Admission Recommendation Letter

Radel shot up.

This was no time to be doing this.

He had to train even a little more during this time.

What Ivan had given him was an admission recommendation letter for the Imperial Magic Academy.

It was a first-class educational institution that not only nurtured the talents who built the current Empire but also greatly contributed to the continent’s civilization by advancing magic.

Founded during the reign of the Founding Emperor, the Academy was a venerable institution where not only foreign nationals but also the Imperial Family members of the Empire enrolled.

However, it was also famous for its strict meritocracy, where royals and commoners alike received harsh instruction without distinction.

Ivan’s words that he could survive if he endured there were meant literally. The Academy trained students so intensely that even graduating safely was considered a miracle.

Furthermore, the entrance exam was extremely difficult and demanding, so no matter how noble one’s birth, if they failed the exam, they weren’t even given a chance to set foot in the Academy.

Of course, throughout the Empire’s history, no royal with Ability had ever failed the entrance exam.

“He said the exam is in two months.”

Although it was the Imperial Magic Academy, aspiring knights who could sense mana were also admitted without discrimination.

Of course, only if they passed the entrance exam.

The Academy’s entrance exam was held on a different theme each year.

Sometimes it involved written tests, other times magic duels, but there was one test that was always included without fail.

It was the practical interview.

It was a system where the Academy’s examiners directly evaluated students; they would have applicants sit down and ask questions for an interview, and sometimes, in severe cases, even gauge their skills through sparring.

“I need to achieve something by then to get admitted.”

He didn’t want to be the first royal in the Empire to fail the entrance exam.

While some royals didn’t attend the Imperial Magic Academy, Radel absolutely had to go.

“But why won’t my arm go up…?”

Of course, building basic physical strength was the priority.

* * *

It was early dawn.

The time when the 8th Prince’s Palace’s daily routine began.

Attendants tended to horses in the stables, cleaned rooms, and pulled weeds in the garden before sunrise, each starting their assigned tasks.

Among them, the busiest place was undoubtedly the kitchen.

They were incredibly busy preparing meals for everyone in the 8th Prince’s Palace.

In one corner of the kitchen, attendants in charge of preparing ingredients were peeling onions and chatting.

“Didn’t you run into the 8th Prince the other day?”

“Don’t even talk about it. I almost died, my knees were shaking so much.”

“How did you survive?”

“I just begged for forgiveness and barely escaped. If I had been even a little late, who knows what would have happened…”

“Tsk, tsk. See? Why were you so careless? His Highness is everywhere.”

The attendants’ heads nodded in agreement.

And without realizing it, they checked their colleagues’ faces. The memory of that day was vivid.

One attendant, peeling onion skins, changed the subject as if something had just occurred to him.

He was an attendant dispatched from the temple.

“The other day, I went to the Imperial Temple and heard a sermon about the 8th Prince.”

“What? Which Priest?”

“A famous one… Ah, Kirio Tites!”

“Isn’t he a First-class Priest who often visits the Treatment Room?”

“Yes. That Priest was apparently very impressed, saying that the 8th Prince was very kind even in the agony of near death.”

The attendants’ expressions grew subtle.

Even the attendant who brought it up looked dubious.

They decided not to mention this topic again.

Because some things in the world are better left unknown.

“…But hasn’t it been a bit eerie lately?”

“Isn’t it just cold?”

“No, it’s like when I walk around the castle, I keep hearing footsteps as if someone’s following me.”

“Isn’t it the 8th Prince?”

“No! When I turn around, no one’s there, seriously.”

Various ghost stories circulated among the attendants, but the most popular ones were, of course, about sinister entities living in the old castle.

“I know a story like that. That’s a ghost.”

“A ghost?!”

“Yes. When you turn around, no one’s there, right? If you close your eyes in fear and run then, the footsteps get faster… and they go ‘dadadadak’ following you…”

The attendants looked at each other and swallowed hard.

Since they had to throw out the onion skins outside, someone had to carry this and walk alone down the dark corridor.

“I can’t go alone.”

“Me neither.”

“…How about two of us go?”

Eventually, two of them were chosen and set off down the dark corridor, carrying the sack of onion skins.

The two attendants walked along the somewhat eerie corridor, putting on a brave face for no reason.

“It’s a bit cold. It’s just cold because it’s before sunrise.”

“Right. Where are ghosts, anyway? There are no ghosts.”

Tap, tap-tap.

That was when it happened.

Faint footsteps were heard from afar.

The attendants hugged the sack of onion skins and looked back.

The empty corridor stretched out, pitch black.

“N-no way, right?”

“No way. Whatever it is, definitely not! Absolutely not.”

Even as they said that, the two quickened their pace more than before.

Tap, tap, tap-tap.

But as soon as they quickened their pace, the footsteps echoing from afar also grew faster and faster.

Now, the two attendants’ faces had turned ghostly white.

In contrast, the corridor remained utterly dark.

“U-u-uuaaagh!”

“Uuaaagh!”

Ultimately, the two couldn’t overcome their fear and ran frantically down the corridor, clutching the sack of onion skins.

Dadadadak!

Indeed, there was a sound of something chasing them down the corridor at an incredible speed.

The two attendants ran almost in tears. It was a minute of terror that felt like an hour.

It was the moment when another ominous rumor about the 8th Prince’s Palace reached even the temple.

“What was that?”

Radel stopped while running through the secret passage.

He thought he had just heard a huge scream from outside.

“Did something happen outside?”

He, who never in his wildest dreams imagined he was the cause, scratched his head.

It was cold running outside, so he had been using the secret passages every early morning lately to run.

Magic torches were conveniently hung on the walls, and it was a space where no one was present, making it very pleasant for him to exercise alone. The air wasn’t stuffy, as if it was well-ventilated.

He also enjoyed discovering unknown passages while circling the castle.

Moreover, he felt better as he wasn’t as out of breath as he was initially.

“Indeed, basic physical strength comes from cardio.”

Even with Radel’s weak body, he felt his stamina gradually improving after a few days of running.

Recently, Radel had been training by running in the secret passages in the early morning and late evening, and spending the rest of the time swinging a wooden sword in the Secret Training Ground.

If he continued like this, his Stats would likely change.

“Good. Going again.”

Radel briefly loosened his ankles and started running.

Footsteps echoed once again in every corridor adjacent to the secret passages Radel passed through.

Rumors that the 8th Prince’s Palace was haunted by a ghost were also spreading.

There was currently no way for those rumors to reach Radel’s ears.

Radel diligently ran through the passages, repeatedly turning in new directions whenever an unfamiliar path appeared.

It was when he stopped to catch his breath.

A completely new floor lay before him.

It felt entirely different from the paths he had run on until now.

‘Could it be… I’m lost?’

Cold sweat trickled down Radel’s back.

Calm down.

One can get lost.

Radel did his best not to feel like an idiot who had gotten lost in his own home.

It was something that could happen because his home was so big it was practically a castle.

This is what a real platinum spoon means!

Thinking that way, it seemed like a decent experience.

“Shall I look for the way back?”

He had no clock, so he didn’t know how long he had been running.

It felt like a little over an hour, but he couldn’t be sure since it was a magic-created passage.

Radel didn’t hesitate further and placed his right hand on the wall.

By walking with one hand on the wall like this, he could escape any maze. In his previous life, there were quite a few maze-like Dungeons among the Gates he had raided.

Back then, it took a long time because he had to fight monsters to get out, but here, it was just an empty passage, so he could find his way faster.

“This isn’t a maze, so I should be able to get out quickly.”

How much time passed like that?

Radel’s stomach rumbled.

Normally, after running in the early morning, it was his routine to steal something from the dining hall, and now was that time.

“If I had known this, I would have stolen more jerky.”

It was an undignified remark for an Imperial Prince, but he didn’t care.

He just thought that from now on, he should always carry jerky with him, as he never knew what might happen.

Then, Radel’s hungry eyes spotted a welcome sign.

Food Storage.

It was a word scratched into the stone wall, as if with something sharp.

As far as Radel knew, only one person could have written this.

The Archmage who created this secret passage.

Hayden Reinhard Cretian.

“This ancestor of mine, he’s truly an extraordinary individual.”

What on earth had he been doing, wandering through these secret passages?

Radel grew curious.

And he also wondered if this really was the Food Storage.

As Radel approached and placed his hand on the stone wall with the inscription, light emanated from it.

He had tested it a few times in the 8th Prince’s Palace, and this magic light didn’t seem to be visible to others.

The method for using secret passages or secret doors was simple.

By placing a hand on it and thinking of going out, the door or passage would become transparent. It was a magic that showed in advance who was on the other side.

Radel could use this magic to check where the attendants were and move secretly.

Ancestor Hayden… he was truly amazing in many ways.

Even if he had pursued a career as an assassin instead of an Archmage, he would surely have succeeded.

“Oh… it works.”

The stone wall was gradually becoming transparent.

Shelves stacked high, and neatly arranged food boxes on the floor, along with sacks of flour, came into view on the wall.

Radel drooled, looking at the sausages hanging from the ceiling.

He didn’t know which Food Storage it was, but he planned to eat gratefully and escape.

“Brother.”

“?!”

Just then, someone’s voice was heard.

Radel felt his heart drop, like a thief caught in the act.

But he quickly composed himself.

Since he hadn’t yet passed through the wall, the chances of someone discovering Radel were slim.

“Brother, are you here?”

What brother?

Someone rose up in front of Radel, who was holding his breath, not knowing what situation this was.

“Yes, Thea.”

It was a face Radel recognized.

Though he hadn’t seen her since childhood, that person was indeed the 2nd Prince.

He was also the prince leading the faction that had tried to kill Radel.

“Why did you ask to meet here?”

“It’s easier to talk where there are no people.”

And the sister calling the 2nd Prince ‘brother’ would be the 3rd Princess.

The two were also full siblings, sharing the same mother.

“Was there anything you couldn’t tell me comfortably?”

“Yes.”

It was a sharp answer.

Her cold tone, enough to make ice weep, made him wonder if she had come to fight.

“I’m disappointed. I only ever wish for your success.”

“That’s the problem. Why don’t you understand that I have no interest in the throne?”

“Thea.”

“Or are you pretending not to hear me?”

“You’re speaking strangely. Even though you are the only one in this Empire who will wear the Emperor’s crown.”

Radel knew he was eavesdropping on the siblings’ conversation, but he couldn’t stop.

So, the 2nd Prince wanted his sister to become Emperor.

“If you like the throne so much, Brother, you take it all. I have sworn to wield a sword my entire life.”

“Thea, you can still wield a sword even if you become Emperor.”

“That’s not what I mean!”

The 2nd Prince looked at the 3rd Princess with the gaze one might give a naive, worldly-ignorant child.

“You just need to continue as you are. Brother will take care of the rest.”