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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Night]
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Chapter 126
Of course, the general cadets only murmured briefly while looking at Leon, who was sitting in the proctor's seat with his eyes closed, but they didn’t seem particularly concerned.
"Look at his physique. Too clean."
"He's handsome."
As the murmuring grew louder—
Leon, who had been sitting in the central seat with his eyes closed, slowly opened his eyes.
At that moment, the academy cadets felt an inexplicable sense of unease.
"Nice to meet you. I am Leon, the temporary assistant assigned to proctor Professor Rommel’s Introduction to Monster Studies exam."
Although he spoke in a low, murmuring tone, his voice rang clearly in everyone’s ears.
"I don’t think a complicated introduction is necessary, so I’ll just go over three key points before we start."
Without changing his expression, Leon sorted the test papers and then pulled out a large belt from inside his coat.
The belt was lined with sharp daggers, densely packed.
"First, no talking. Even turning your head is not allowed."
"Second, once you finish the test, you may leave the room."
With each word spoken, the cadets felt a strange, chilling sensation.
"And lastly, the most important third rule: cheating."
At that word, several cadets, including Buren, flinched.
Leon’s icy, sky-blue eyes made them feel as if he were looking directly at them.
"If you want to cheat, go ahead. Read your books, use your cheat sheets—whatever you like."
At his words, the students began whispering.
Some protested, saying they had never heard such an announcement before, while others darted uneasy glances around the room.
And people like Buren started assuming that Leon must be someone Professor Viviane had arranged.
That is—until the next words came.
"But the moment you cheat, you will be immediately expelled from the room and receive the lowest possible score. Keep that in mind."
There was no one who failed to understand what that meant.
They could cheat if they wanted, but the instant they were caught, they would receive a failing grade.
Tap, tap!
After that, Leon walked down the aisle, quickly distributing the test papers to the students before returning to his seat.
"Begin the exam."
His voice carried no intimidation.
Yet the cadets unconsciously lowered their heads and started opening their test papers.
At the same time—
The students, sitting stiffly, turned their gazes toward the girl in the proctor's seat, watching as she pulled on a pair of black gloves.
"The test begins now. If you're caught cheating, your head will be crushed."
She wore a mask, so her face was hidden.
Her age and true identity were unknown.
But the cadets didn’t care about that.
No one dared to ask.
Because—
Boom!!!
Everyone froze in place as she effortlessly lifted a hammer that looked far too heavy for a human to wield with just one hand.
A delicate frame, a young girl’s voice.
And yet, her strength was utterly inhuman.
Their biological instincts screamed that this was no joke—if they were caught, their heads really would be crushed.
Even those who had been preparing to cheat at Professor Viviane’s suggestion—along with many others who had secretly brought their own cheat sheets—gulped nervously.
Some even tore up their cheat sheets or stuffed them into their mouths, cursing their misfortune for being assigned to this exam room.
"Now, begin the test."
Meanwhile, in Room 4—
The atmosphere was chaotic in a completely different way.
Clatter!
All because of the insane figure sitting in the front-center seat.
It was hard to tell if they were male or female, draped in a pitch-black tattered robe like a grim reaper.
Every time they exhaled, a misty blue vapor drifted from the skeletal mouth beneath the hood.
‘Is that even a human?’
It wasn’t just terrifying—it was absurd.
And that massive scythe?
What was up with that?
As the students whispered among themselves—
The silent reaper slowly opened its mouth.
At that moment, the cadets somehow sensed that beneath the eerie figure was a girl.
"Juniors, no chatting during the exam, okay?"
Despite the terrifying appearance, the voice was soft and cheerful.
However, some of the students shuddered the moment they heard it, exchanging glances before nodding to each other.
"And if any of you cheat… you see this?"
She lightly tapped the scythe resting against the wall with her pale, slender fingers.
"You take full responsibility for what happens."
It was a chilling warning.
"Who the hell is she?"
Just as a cadet murmured in confusion—
A senior who had retaken the course gulped and muttered under his breath.
"Guys, stop talking and focus on your tests. That’s her."
"Senior? What do you mean?"
"The lunatic of Mielephon."
She was a madwoman who always did what she set out to do.
As the daughter of a duke, she was also a true maniac who didn’t have to worry about consequences.
At that one sentence, every cadet buried their heads in their test papers, as if they had never been distracted in the first place.
Among the many ghost stories circulating in the academy, some belonged to her.
"Damn it. Why is that lunatic suddenly here…?"
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HELHEIM SCANS
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Some were even sweating nervously.
"Good, juniors. That's exactly the kind of attitude I like."
If you got caught, you were done for.
Getting involved with that lunatic was known to be exhausting, a legend passed down by both graduates and current students alike.
It was no wonder that many of Professor Rommel’s assistants and associate professors had recently left.
The replacements were not ordinary people.
Unaware of the situation in testing halls 2, 3, and 4, Professor Rommel sighed briefly as he handed out test papers in the first examination room.
He had accepted Isna's proposal because he trusted her, but… remembering what Melissa had said about her brother, he found it hard to place his trust entirely.
And then there was that pink-haired girl—he couldn’t even begin to figure out what kind of person she was.
If asked whether they were strong, neither of them seemed to possess any noticeable aura or mana.
But there was no choice.
This situation was his mistake, after all.
At least for the written exam, all he had to do was monitor for cheating, so there shouldn’t be too many issues.
He was already planning to recruit additional staff for the practical exam later.
One concern, though, was that most of the students suspected of cheating had all been assigned to testing halls 2, 3, and 4.
Professor Viviane had likely bribed the academy administration to ensure they avoided Rommel’s supervision.
Failing to anticipate that was his clear mistake.
“The test will now begin. Everyone, solve the problems honestly without cheating.”
At his signal, the students lowered their gazes to their test papers.
For about ten minutes, the only sounds in the room were the quiet scratching of quill pens.
Then, a commotion erupted in the adjacent examination room, and Professor Rommel instantly knew something had gone wrong.
He shot up from his seat.
* * *
Buren wiped the cold sweat trickling down his face.
‘Damn, this is ridiculously hard.’
No, more than just difficult, the real issue was that over half of the test questions were beyond his current level.
He had barely prepared for the written exam at all.
At least for the practical exam, he had some training, but studying was a completely different matter.
If he had entered the academy purely on skill, he wouldn’t have made it in at all.
‘Not like I ever planned to take this test honestly anyway.’
His eyes shifted to Leon, who sat silently at the proctor's desk with his eyes closed.
Something about him felt off, but now that he observed more closely, he couldn’t sense any aura from his body.
Was he just some uptight weakling?
Just giving off an imposing vibe with nothing to back it up?
Even though Buren was only at the beginner level of aura users—despite growing up with privileged training and resources—he could still roughly gauge someone else’s aura.
And from what he could see, Leon was just a regular human.
Shifting his gaze, he noticed several others in the same situation as him.
These were the ones who had paid off Professor Viviane for cheat sheets.
Like Buren, they were cautiously waiting for the right moment.
‘So what’s the plan?’
‘What do you mean? He’s just putting on a show. Let’s stick to the plan.’
‘Right. I already boasted to my family. If I mess up on the written test, I’ll never hear the end of it.’
Buren discreetly pulled out his cheat sheet.
It was made of high-quality enchanted paper that suppressed visibility from a distance.
The moment he laid eyes on the answers, he smirked and began filling in his test sheet.
Cheating is allowed?
The worst that could happen is getting the lowest score?
Ha, he’d like to see them try.
What can that guy even do?
What difference does it make if he just looks scary?
And then, just as Buren and the others began copying from their cheat sheets—
Leon, who had been sitting with his eyes closed, reached for a dagger lying on the proctor's desk.
Schlick.
A chilling sound sliced through the air in less than 0.1 seconds.
“U-Uwaaaaagh?!”
Buren’s scream was inevitable.
His quill, his test paper, his desk—along with his hidden cheat sheet—were all split cleanly in half as if they had always been that way.
What made it even more terrifying was the eerie silence—there was no audible sound of destruction.
His scream had escaped, but the actual moment of impact had been utterly noiseless, making the scene all the more chilling.
Naturally, the entire room turned their attention toward the source of the scream.
"Cheating detected. Minimum score applied. Leave. And maintain silence during the exam."
There stood Leon, watching impassively.
Buren sat frozen, eyes wide with shock, while his halved test paper and cheat sheet fluttered to the floor for everyone to see.
And he wasn’t the only one.
Every student who had attempted to cheat found their desks split apart with the same mechanical precision.
“W-What the hell just happened…?”
Still trembling, Buren turned his gaze to Leon.
What had just happened?
His eyes landed on Leon’s hand, and that’s when he realized.
In Leon’s grip were several partially melted daggers, their forms completely deformed.
In other words, Leon hadn’t thrown them—he had merely swung them.
And that alone had caused this disaster.
Who even wields throwing daggers by slashing with them?!
"Everyone, stay focused. The exam is still in progress."
The one who had caused all this simply pulled out a few fresh daggers, preparing for the next moment.
"Are you kidding me?! Do you have any idea who I am?! You think you can intimidate me with this nonsense?!"
At that moment, a student shouted angrily.
Unlike the others, there was no cheat sheet near him.
"Oh. Do you have a complaint?"
“…Yes! I was taking the test fairly! And yet you dare disrupt the exam like this?! No matter how high-ranking you are as a proctor, this is abuse of power and tyranny! I’ll report this to the academy administration immediately—!"
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HELHEIM SCANS
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