Chapter 31: The Retest

 

 

 

Chapter 31: The Retest

 

IRIS accompanied Cytisus to a private room at the Temple of Magic. There, Specialized Arts Division supervisor Pavot sat alone, waiting for them. On the table in front of her was the Aptitude Stone, all back to normal. Perhaps they need me to pay for the damages after all… I just hope it’s an amount my family can afford… Nervous, Iris looked at Cytisus, and he nodded firmly back. She gulped.

“In the near future, you will be asked to undergo a formal re-evaluation back at the academy, but first, we’d like to run a preliminary test on you, Miss Iris.”

Iris blinked in confusion. “Whatever for?”

“I hate to say this, but…it’s possible the results won’t be too impressive, so I felt you might like to know about it ahead of time.”

“So my aptitude is…bad…?”

Worried, Iris looked from Cytisus to Pavot. Cytisus looked conflicted, while Pavot gazed at her with unabashed excitement. From what Iris could see beneath her hood, Pavot looked rather young.

Yep, I’m screwed.

“Lady Iris, will you please place your hand into the water?” Pavot asked in her high-pitched voice.

Iris slid her hand into the vessel of water sitting beside the stone. Like last time, a chill shot down her spine. But this time, she wasn’t going to panic! She took a deep breath, suppressing the visceral disgust she felt.

“Next, Lord Cytisus, take her hand and imbue it with mana before setting it on the stone,” Pavot commanded.

As he took Iris by the wrist, her hand started to glow faintly blue.

“Now, to the stone.”

As Cytisus continued to hold her wrist, Iris gingerly pressed her palm against the Aptitude Stone. This time, the stats that rose up weren’t transparent but navy blue.

[Memory—3; Judgment—3; Strength—4; Agility—4; Stamina—3; Mana—3; Charm—4; Aptitude—Warrior]

Iris let out a sigh of relief. Nothing out of the ordinary.

“Stay still for a moment, Lady Iris. Now, Lord Cytisus, reduce your mana output.”

The blue glow dimmed, and the navy blue mana stat lowered to a 2.

Breathing heavily, Pavot looked at Cytisus. “Ooh… Impressive as always, Lord Cytisus… Can you go lower than that? You can, can’t you?”

As Cytisus sighed in exasperation, Iris cringed slightly. She recognized that look on Pavot’s face—the look of an otome gamer fangirling over her best boy! Then the blue glow faded even further, and the mana stat dropped to 1, slowly turning transparent.

“Aah! Yes! That’s incredible, Lord Cytisus! You’re the only man I know with such strong control over his mana!”

“This is as far as we go.” Right as he spoke, the stone slab began to vibrate. “Miss Iris, remove your hand!”

He yanked Iris’s hand back, and the stats instantly vanished. Pavot looked at Iris, panting. “I knew it! The stats reflect the color of your mana! But as we suspected, you have none!”

“None?” Iris looked back at her in surprise.

“Zero. Here’s what we’ve learned from our most recent analysis: the Aptitude Stone is designed to rank attributes from 1 to 5, but when you showed up with a 0, it confused the system. That’s why I had Lord Cytisus imbue you with his mana just now—to keep the system stable while it ranked the rest of your aptitude. Then he tried to reduce his mana to the absolute bare minimum…but still not entirely, correct?”

“Indeed,” Cytisus nodded.

Oh, so it’s just a programming bug… Wait… You mean a GLITCH made the whole thing break in half…?! Iris stared into space. Still, she was glad to know she hadn’t broken it.

“Sadly, this stone isn’t strong enough to fully measure your aptitude. For now, the Temple of Magic will send your current results back to the school,” he continued. Then he looked at her with pity in his eyes. “Try not to take it too hard, Lady Iris.”

Iris blinked at him.

“Never in my life have I heard of someone without mana attending Chrysanthème Academy. I imagine you’ll struggle considerably.”

Though he sounded worried for her, Iris struck a triumphant pose. “YES! This is it! Now I’ll never be the Holy Maiden! I can’t wait to tell my father!”

Cytisus stared, dumbstruck, as she rejoiced. “You’re…happy?”

“Of course she is!” Pavot chimed in. Iris looked at her, confused.

“Miss Pavot was once a Holy Maiden candidate herself,” Cytisus explained with a sigh. “But although she had the highest mana of them all…she’s now the Maiden’s Aide instead.”

Pavot pulled her hood down over her face. “If you ever have any questions, feel free to ask,” she mumbled in a small voice.

“Okay!” Iris never suspected she was a last-generation candidate. “Say, um, seeing as I have no mana, does this mean I’ll be expelled from the academy? I’d really rather attend, if possible.”

“As long as you do well in your other classes, I don’t see any reason for them to expel you.”

“Oh, good!” Iris replied, relieved. Everything had worked out perfectly! She hopped to her feet. Time to tell Father and His Highness!

“Just a moment, Lady Iris,” Pavot called.

Panting, she looked at Iris with feverish eyes. Eeeek!

“Lady Iris, may I…touch you?”

“Wha?! No thank you!”

Terrified, Iris ran and hid behind the couch. Who would agree to that when the person asking was practically salivating?!

“Just a little, I promise… Just a tiny bit…”

As Iris backed away, she shook her head and waved her hands dismissively. She was so scared, she could scarcely speak.

“Stop that. You’re frightening her,” Cytisus scolded Pavot.

“But Lord Cytisus, I’ve been waiting for this moment for so very long!”

She crept closer; Iris prepared to make a run for it. Worst-case scenario, she could punch her to escape!

As Pavot reached for her, Iris slapped her hand away, ran to the blue door, and put her hand on the knob…