My Past Life is Riddled With Many Sins - Chapter 20

“Oh? Ah, I was just intrigued by Regina’s story. My knowledge increased because of it.”

“Regina is really smart. How do you know all that?”

Looking up at the innkeeper couple rolling their eyes awkwardly, Regina stood up and grabbed the mop. She seized the opportunity to escape from Garnet’s doll play.

“I’ll get back to mopping the floor now.”

The couple watched Regina return to her chores, while exchanging glances as she worked diligently.

“What’s with that girl?”

“Does reading books at the library every day make you that smart?”

No, I’m actually beyond redemption.

Regina sat back down and clenched her fists to stay focused. Regina Heather is a monumental fool, unable to see even an inch ahead of her.

“To take the academy’s entrance exam, you need to be 20.”

The final hurdle to enter the Imperial Academy, the interview.

“Isn’t it too early for a fifteen-year-old, Little Regina?”

Skyler’s reincarnation, who was sitting in the interviewer’s chair, asked with a teasing smile.

Regina wanted to smash the window and flee from this space, who cares about the academy or whatever.

* * *

Three days ago, at the location for the Imperial Academy’s entrance exam. Regina stared at her test paper.

“Please, 70 points! I just need 70 points.”

“Why?”

“If you average the passing scores over the last 30 years, it’s 68 points. So, 70 points should be relatively safe.”

“Oh, do you know the average score of those who passed?”

“75 points.”

“That’s not much different from the cut-off.”

“Well, that’s the notorious Imperial Academy’s entrance exam for you!”

‘I overheard that conversation on the way here and thought it’d be tough.’

Frankly, it was easy. The kids these days seem to be overly dramatic. Regina, who was feeling helpless, started pondering over how many points she should aim for.

She definitely wanted to avoid anything as conspicuous as topping the entrance exam.

She originally planned to keep a low profile, have a moderately successful career and lead a smooth life. But after encountering Friedrich and Skyler’s reincarnations, she felt even more compelled to do so.

Standing out too much might catch their attention.

So, her plan was to be an inconspicuous model student, not the valedictorian nor the second valedictorian. Just quietly attending the academy as if she didn’t exist, and then graduate.

Afterward, she aimed to become a diligent vassal of a respectable lord, earn enough money to buy a house with a decent study. For that, what score would be appropriate?

‘The cut-off for the past 30 years has been 68 points. The average score of those who passed is 75 points. I should avoid the top ranks, so… maybe around 85 points?’

Since the exam didn’t seem too difficult, the top scorers would probably get around 90 points.

‘Alright. 85 points.’

Having made up her mind, Regina picked up her pen. She didn’t glance sideways, focusing solely on her test paper, unaware that the rest of the examinees in the hall were in a state of panic.

* * *

Meanwhile, the academy professors were observing the exam hall through a large magic mirror. This was to catch any cheating and to prepare for any emergency or safety issue.

“They look nervous.”

“It seems we failed in adjusting the difficulty. Compared to the days of the academy’s inception, we increased the difficulty due to concerns about grade inflation, but it seems to have been too much for the examinees.”

“Indeed, it’s challenging to get the difficulty level right. We aren’t students but professors, so it’s hard to know their level.”

The professors voiced their concern over the unintended exam result. While a test without distinction is not good, causing excessive frustration to examinees was not their intention.

“My goodness, that examinee hasn’t solved even a quarter of the problems. They haven’t even touched their pen. Look at the next seat too!”

“The one in front has simply put down their pen. Sadly, it seems they’ve completely lost their motivation.”

“And that one there seems to have lost not just their pen, but their mind.”

“This seems like it will be a historically tough exam.”

The professors’ faces grew increasingly grave. Then, someone entered the room.

“Here are Becker’s answers.”

Becker was a student who topped the final exams of the second semester of the first year, and was now advancing to the second year. Having the top student from the previous year’s final exam attempt the same entrance exam questions as the current examinees on the same day and at the same time to gauge the difficulty was a longstanding tradition of the Imperial Academy.

“Let’s grade it quickly!”

The professors hurriedly gathered around the fresh answer sheets. But soon, sighs of despair erupted.

“Oh, this is bad.”

“A complete failure. A historic one for the academy.”

“If Becker is struggling like this, the average score won’t even reach 50 points.”

As the professors grappled with the unexpected outcome, someone pointed out.

“Look at that student there. The girl with straw-colored hair. Her answer sheet is nearly full, isn’t it?”

“Indeed, it is.”

“But there’s no guarantee that those are the correct answers.”

“Still, unlike the other examinees, she doesn’t seem panicked and disoriented. She appears calm and composed.”

“Perhaps this examinee might be the top scorer this time.”

“But even if that’s the case, we still have a problem with the other examinees. There’s going to be a massive outcry over this unprecedentedly challenging exam.”

“Who are the major families’ scions among this year’s examinees again? The eldest son of the Count Palantine Passier, who is a Prince-Elector, the Crown Prince of Wilhelm Kingdom, the heir of Nachtwein company… oh dear, this is a disaster.”

“Calm down.”

The clamor among the professors immediately quieted down at that single remark. The voice belonged to none other than the dean of this academy.

“It’s already happened, what can we do? We failed to gauge the examinees’ level, so we have to bear the consequences.”

The professors nodded heavily at the dean’s words as those were correct. Yet, while he was speaking to them, his gaze was fixed on the magic mirror. Precisely, on the girl some professor had described as having straw-colored, or rather, wheat-colored hair.

Her unwavering green eyes, fixed on a single point, looked as though she was in a trance, exhilarating yet simultaneously as fearsome as a ruthless predator eyeing its prey.