The winter that was so cold and bitter has now disappeared as if it was never there, and the warm spring breeze has arrived.
The flowers, which had been dormant throughout the winter, are now beginning to sprout, and the time to prepare for blooming has come.
This means that the time has come for me to leave this forest, which I have never left for the past three years.
It felt like time was moving too quickly.
Perhaps it passed so fast that it was hard for me to even judge if I had spent it efficiently or not.
But one thing is clear.
If asked whether the time I spent was wasted, I would answer, “No.”
I can firmly say that it was not.
I did my best, did everything I could, and worked to achieve not only my goals but even more than I had hoped.
It wasn’t just me who worked hard.
Ophelia, Nia, and the four spirit siblings.
Because of those who worked with me, my time was not wasted.
Therefore, I have no regrets.
Not about the past three years.
“…I’ll be back soon.”
“Okay, take care.”
Ophelia waved her hand lightly at me and said her farewell.
I also waved my and and smiled softly at her, sending a quiet farewell.
I was going to use Ophelia’s magic circle to get to the academy.
Of course, Ophelia wasn’t coming with me to the academy.
She would walk in a different direction, but eventually, we would meet again as our destinations would align.
So, Ophelia did not say a final farewell to me.
I, too, didn’t say goodbye but just a simple “See you again.”
I waved my hand gently and headed towards the teleport gate with Elenia and the four spirits.
Our destination was the capital of the Empire.
The academy there.
Until now, I had been a fallen noble, hiding away from the eyes of the aristocracy.
But now…
It was time to return as the only heir of Kalvrant.
Ruenn Fil Kalvrant.
“…Let’s go.”
Before stepping through the teleport gate, I took a deep breath to steady myself and spoke calmly.
Nia stood silently beside me, watching me, and the four spirits followed without a word.
I ignored Ophelia’s gaze from behind me and slowly stepped through the teleport gate.
Swoosh…!
The moment I stepped onto the teleport gate, a blue light surrounded me.
Having already been warned by Ophelia, I closed my eyes for a moment, and when I opened them again, just as my head began to spin, I looked ahead.
When I opened my eyes, the blue forest was no longer there.
“Hyah…!!”
“Look around! It’s cheap, really cheap!!”
What appeared before my eyes was the bustling center of the city, overflowing with people.
In the middle of the city, I took a long breath, inhaling the familiar scent of the city after such a long time.
I had returned.
And now,
It begins.
The Aspiria Empire.
The most powerful and wealthy empire on the continent, it had conquered a third of the land.
There were rumors that the empire could achieve the dream of uniting the continent, but despite their predictions, the empire had stopped its advance.
Based on the late king’s decision that consolidating their own territory was more important than expanding further, the empire began focusing on internal stability.
The Aspiria Empire had started dabbling in magic and worked toward strengthening its internal affairs.
Thus, a peaceful and prosperous era had continued.
However, even during this time, they did not give up the dream of uniting the continent for future generations.
And from that dream was born the academy.
An institution to nurture future talents to lead the empire, raise their levels, and create a more powerful empire.
With the vast support of the empire, the academy had evolved into not just an imperial institution but the greatest school on the continent.
The Celebriyon Academy.
The academy was named after the late king of Aspiria, Celebriyon, who had advised on solidifying internal affairs.
There were only two ways to enter the academy.
The first was by receiving an invitation to apply for the academy through the academy’s admission offer, followed by passing the entrance examination.
The second was by receiving a recommendation from a famous person of the empire or the continent.
In the first case, passing the entrance exam guaranteed admission to the academy, but in the second case, it was different.
Since recommendations could be abundant, the number of people who could receive them was limited to one recommendation per person every five years, and if there were too many students with recommendations, a review process would narrow it down to a maximum of 10.
Of course, since a recommendation carried the weight of the person recommending it, it was not something that was freely given out.
But, still, today, the staff in the admissions department, who were busy confirming the recommendations sent from famous figures across the continent before the new semester, could not avoid feeling the pressure.
No matter how many restrictions were in place, how many people were there on the continent?
In the most famous academy on the continent, hundreds of recommendation letters were sent to secure a place for their students.
Among them, after being filtered, only a few reached Rachel, the staff member in charge of admissions.
The mediocre ones were filtered out, and from the letters sent by truly famous figures, Rachel had to decide which students, evaluated as promising, would be granted admission.
It was up to Rachel, who had the discretion to make this decision, and so today, he was carefully reviewing the recommendation letters with a serious expression.
“This one has rumors about having a flaw in character. Pass.”
Talent, current ability, potential, and even character.
Judging all of these aspects to select students was no easy task.
Rachel, who worked in the admissions department, rarely had time off throughout the year, but no one complained about it.
From external pressure to the demands of high-ranking officials, Rachel had to endure such things throughout the year — or rather, throughout his time working in admissions.
Of course, if a student had overwhelming talent and abilities, even if they had a slight flaw in character, they would be accepted, but this one was too much of an imbalance on the scales.
Thus, Rachel shredded the letter into pieces and, with half-dead eyes, continued to sift through the rest of the letters.
The number of students who could be recommended for admission was limited to 10, but that didn’t mean exactly 10 students were accepted every year.
Only those who passed the strict rules set by Rachel and the academy’s chairman could be admitted through a recommendation letter.
“Is this enough for this year?”
After several days of careful consideration and research, Rachel had filtered out four students.
Though this number was far fewer than the dozens of letters he received, it was still a considerable number.
It was clear that this generation of the academy was highly anticipated, often referred to as the “Golden
Generation.”
“I’m so tired.”
Rubbing his dark-circled eyes, Rachel took a deep breath and stretched his stiff body as he sipped his coffee.
For one month out of the year, the staff member in charge of recommended admissions would be locked in a room, unable to leave.
Of course, the room was equipped with a bathroom, a shower, and meals, so there were no inconveniences, but the pressure of selecting the right students left him exhausted.
Rachel, however, usually finished categorizing the recommended students before the month was over.
Of course…
Swoosh…!!
Except for rare cases like this one.
The fire in the fireplace, which was burning meaninglessly in Rachel’s room, suddenly intensified.
Rachel, rubbing his tired eyes, frowned and looked at the fireplace.
The fireplace was purely decorative.
A magic spell kept the room at a consistent temperature.
However, the fireplace’s true purpose was to communicate with the outside world.
It was rare for the fireplace to flare up, as it was intended for urgent messages or late-coming recommendation letters.
Knowing that it was not a good sign, Rachel scowled as he watched the flames.
Then, a single piece of paper flew out from the fire.
The paper fluttered through the air and landed in Rachel’s hands.
Irritated, Rachel grabbed the paper and roughly unfolded it to see who would send a recommendation letter so late.
Then…
He rubbed his eyes and checked the seal on the paper again.
“Insane.”
Clank!
Finally realizing that his eyes hadn’t deceived him, Rachel cursed under his breath and quickly rose from his seat.
“Is… is this really happening?”
He didn’t even read the name of the recommended student.
At the very bottom of the paper, the prominent seal of Ophelia caught his eye.