* * *
A storm swept through Whitmore.
It was none other than the posting of the midterm test results.
While some might consider it cruel, the academy had a tradition of ranking students by their grades and displaying them on the bulletin boards.
The goal was to provide motivation through a sort of public execution of pride.
Some professors voiced their opposition, questioning whether this was a healthy way to motivate students, but the practice remained unchanged.
The results were posted on the bulletin boards of each grade level.
As expected, as soon as the rankings went up, students flocked to the boards in droves.
The names at the very top of the sections for Magic, Swordsmanship, and General Studies were marked in especially bold letters.
Thanks to that, the top student of each department could be read from a distance.
“Ah, my grades dropped.”
“Your rank went up a lot this time, though?”
“Wow, I’m seriously ruined…”
At times like this, the space in front of the board was literally a mix of heaven and hell.
Students whose scores and rankings turned out well cheered, while those whose results didn’t meet their expectations were plunged into despair.
Some were even crying.
Ruite happened to spot a student in the corner surrounded by friends, weeping.
He pushed through the crowded throng and walked toward the board.
The most visible name in the Magic Department was, as always, Chester Callaway.
It seemed he had firmly defended his position as the top third-year student in the Magic Department once again.
Below him was, predictably, Colin Railguns.
It was easy to imagine how high Harold’s nose would be held in the professors’ lounge right now.
Then, Ruite naturally looked for his own name.
In his first and second years, his grades had always been positioned right in the middle.
A score that was too vague to be called good, yet not quite bad either.
So, what would his rank be this time?
He didn’t have a particular obsession with studying, but he still needed enough points to graduate.
Ruite’s gaze naturally moved toward the middle rankings.
However, the name ‘Ruite Everhart,’ which was always around there, was nowhere to be seen.
‘Did I drop even further…?’
Since the ranking was based on relative evaluation, he checked the lower ranks just in case, but he wasn’t there either.
Then, just as he started scanning the upper ranks, he found his name.
“Oh.”
It was a grade significantly higher than the middle.
His rank had jumped by a large margin. It was the best score and rank he had received since entering Whitmore.
Next to it were the detailed scores; his theory marks had only risen slightly from last year.
However, there it was, proudly written: Practical – 100 points.
The reason his rank had soared so much was entirely due to that.
A smile spread across Ruite’s face.
No matter how much he claimed it didn’t matter as long as he could graduate, there was no reason not to be happy about a higher score.
Who should he brag to?
While he was swallowing his joy, the area around the board became even more crowded.
He was bumped by students pushing in from behind, and then his body tilted backward because of a student in front who was jumping with joy over their improved grades.
Just as he was stumbling, losing his footing, he felt a hand steadying his shoulder.
“Ah, thank…”
Ruite, who was about to offer his thanks, paused.
“You’re falling because you’re just standing there grinning like an idiot.”
“Chester.”
The one supporting his back so he wouldn’t fall was Chester.
Ruite looked awkwardly at the hand touching his back and slipped away to the side.
Chester looked down at his now-empty hand for a moment before letting his arm drop.
“Ah, you’re the top student again.”
“I know.”
He was as obnoxious as ever, but Chester’s grades were already famous.
Due to the incident during the last practical test, Chester’s practical score had also been raised to a perfect mark like Ruite’s, but it was certain that even without that incident, there would have been no obstacle to him taking first place.
“My grades went up a lot, too. See that? My rank.”
Ruite reached out and pointed to his rank.
Chester wasn’t exactly on the list of friends he’d brag to, but he wanted to express this joy somehow.
Ruite looked back and forth between the ranking list on the board and Chester with a wide smile.
“…”
Chester didn’t even glance at the rank Ruite was pointing to.
Instead, he only took in the face that was smiling so brightly, innocently, and… cutely.
“…Are you really happy with a rank like that?”
“Someone like you wouldn’t understand the heart of those of us who play in the middle tier. Do you know how hard it is to break out of the middle?”
Yet, his rank this time was actually in the upper-middle tier.
This was why the professors nagged them to look at even one more word, asking if they knew how great the joy of rising grades was.
As expected, one never truly knows until they experience it themselves.
As Ruite continued to let out little smiles, he suddenly felt a sting on the side of his head.
As soon as he turned his head, he made eye contact with Chester.
What was with that persistent gaze that seemed both annoyed and… not?
Then, something occurred to Ruite.
He let out a low “Ah” and bit his lip.
“What are you doing?”
Chester, who had been watching Ruite’s smiling face the whole time, immediately questioned the strange expression.
“I’m trying not to laugh.”
“I’m asking why.”
Why? Ruite actually wanted to ask the question himself.
Why was he the one saying that?
“You said it before. You told me not to smile in front of you. So I’m trying to do that.”
It had definitely been when they were heading up to the classroom after finishing the consultation about the practical incident.
Back then, he had been so happy about Harold’s words that he would get a perfect score that he wanted to express his gratitude to Chester as well.
But the response he had received was a firm: “Don’t smile like that.”
Since he didn’t want to get on Chester’s nerves if possible, he intended to do as Chester wished.
“And?”
“Huh?”
“You’re not going to smile in front of me? Ever?”
“I have to try.”
Ruite scratched the back of his head.
Why was he asking so persistently?
It wasn’t like he was testing him to see if he remembered the advice or not.
Chester frowned deeply. Sensing that he was difficult to deal with, Ruite slowly moved away from his side.
He had a place he needed to stop by, anyway.
“Hey, where are you going after checking your grades?”
But for some reason, Chester spoke to him again.
“I already checked everything. And I have to go to the infirmary.”
“The infirmary? Why there? Do you have a fever again? You didn’t take your medicine properly, did you?”
As Ruite headed down the stairs to go to the infirmary, Chester suddenly followed alongside him and began throwing a barrage of questions.
“No. I took it very diligently.”
“Then why are you going to the infirmary?”
“I lost a week’s worth of medicine.”
“You…”
He knew it.
He knew that look of pathetic disbelief would be aimed right at him.
But what was he supposed to do when he had clearly stored it safely in the dormitory, yet it was gone when he looked for it this morning?
If he just took it for one more week, he could be free from the medicine.
So, he had no choice but to visit the infirmary.
“How on earth do you lose something that important?”
“Chester, humans are fundamentally animals that make mistakes.”
“Will you only come to your senses after your fever rises and you collapse again?”
But why was this guy following him?
Ruite thought Chester would go his own way once they had walked a certain distance.
“Why are you getting angry again? Even if I collapse, I’m the one collapsing, not you.”
“…”
At those words, which hit the nail on the head, Chester became abruptly quiet.
However, he continued to follow along just the same.
Ruite wondered if he was really going to follow him all the way to the first-floor infirmary, and it turned out that ‘maybe’ was correct.
He even strode into the first infirmary and approached Philia, who was working, and was the first to bring up the fact that Ruite had lost his medicine.
Ruite scratched his cheek while looking at the back of Chester, who was talking with Philia.
Only after a bit of nagging and a brief check on Ruite’s condition did Philia pack another week’s worth of medicine for him.
Ruite and Chester walked out of the infirmary side by side.
“Hey, listen, Chester.”
“What.”
“Professor Philia told you before to make sure I take my medicine, but you don’t really have to pay attention to that.”
“I’ll take care of it myself. Stay out of it.”
But the voice that came back was very blunt.
“No…”
He understood that Chester felt a sense of responsibility toward the professor’s words, but it made things quite uncomfortable on this end.
“Hey, Ruite!”
Just then, Dylan waved from a distance.
The moment he saw him, Ruite’s eyes brightened.
He had finally found a friend to brag about his grades to.
Ruite skipped past Chester and quickly approached Dylan.
He confidently revealed his rank, asking if Dylan knew what place he got.
“Really? What the. How do your grades go up like that?”
Dylan’s eyes widened, and he covered his mouth.
His face was so comical that Ruite laughed out loud.
Meanwhile, Chester stood still in front of the infirmary, staring intently at the scene.
After listening to a bunch of complaints from Dylan about whether Ruite was mocking him because his own grades had dropped, they parted ways.
Ruite promised to listen to the rest of the grievances during dinner.
“Oh? Chester, you haven’t gone up yet?”
Chester approached his side.
Ruite hadn’t been paying attention, assuming Chester would have just left by now.
“Hey.”
Ruite was about to head up to the classroom when Chester grabbed his shoulder.
“What is it?”
“Smile.”
“Huh? What did you say?”
“I’m telling you to smile in front of me, too.”
* * *
