I Favor The Villainess Chapter 6

First contest (1)

"You are quite impertinent for a commoner!"
"Yes! Because I'm impertinent please abuse me more!"

Claire-sama is in the perfect form this morning.
Incidentally, so am I.

I've forgot to mention, I transmigrated on the first day of the academic life, that is the school entrance ceremony.
A week has pa.s.sed since then, and I'm gradually getting used to the school, the relations.h.i.+p with Claire-sama is deepening nicely… unilaterally, I think.

When I went to greet her as usual, she returned the aforementioned reply.
Speaking of her followers, I believe I was too calm when it comes to their bullying, so they stopped being a nuisance from the day before yesterday.
They lack guts.
They need to follow Claire-sama's example.
Well, as for me, communicating with Claire-sama is going smoothly and satisfactorily.

"… I will not be toyed with every single time?"
"Ara?"

I was hoping for a delicious response today as well, but Claire-sama seems to be a little different from usual today.
I retained fearless smile.

"Tomorrow, we have a test, right?"
"We do"

There's not much difference from tests done in j.a.pan.
However, the subjects are very different, Liberal Arts, Etiquette and Magical Power are examined.
It seems it was only Liberal Arts and Etiquette before, but with the introduction of meritocracy, a new subject, Magical Power, was established…. That's the excerpt from the otome game's setting materials.

The world of 「Revolution」 is in the period of change.
Its impetus was the discovery of a special gem - a magic gem.
I'll discuss it in detail later, but with the discovery of these gems, something called magical tools was invented and technological innovations are happening.
These magical tools greatly changed the world and countries compete at using them most effectively.
The apt.i.tude to handle these magical tools is called magical power.

Come to think of it, in the setting materials it was mentioned Claire-sama was an angel in her childhood, but having no idea I was thinking about such things, Claire-sama unable to accept me,

"It is a contest. If I win, you will leave the academy"
"Eh? I don't want to?"
"How about thinking a little about what I said!?"

Certainly, Claire-sama throws tantrums, but after all, it's like this.
I wouldn't be able to savor her.

"Is the top new student going to run away?"
"Because, if I leave the academy I won't be able to enjoy Claire-sama"
"Could you not relate these together!?"
"Hahaha, what a silly thing you're saying"
"I am ridiculous!? I am!?"

Yup, it's fun.

While admiring Claire-sama who's like that, suddenly I recalled something.
This is one of the events that occurs in 「Revolution」.
Claire-sama challenges the heroine to various contests, the first being the test at the start of the semester.
At first player's knowledge is insufficient, so Claire-sama is quite tough.

"Listen up, it is a contest!"
"We…ll, let's do this, if Claire-sama can't win against me, Claire-sama will do one thing I tell her to"
"Haa? Why would I?"
"Huh? Are you running away? You aren't confident, top internal student?"

The Royal Academy consists of kindergarten, primary school, middle school, high school and college departments, students who've been attending the Royal Academy since kindergarten are called internal students, while those who joined later admission students.
The protagonist is the top admission student of the high school division, meanwhile Claire-sama is at the top of the internal students.
The aristocratic internal students and the admission students composed of commoners generally are on bad terms―― or rather, the worlds they live in are different.
In practice, the admission students are unilaterally regarded with hostility by the internal students.
When a n.o.ble and a commoner share a dormitory room it's quite a disaster.

"Are you trying to provoke me? Very well. I shall accept"
"Fufu, thank you"
"What are you thanking for. Pack your luggage now and prepare to leave"
"Yes! Thank you for the encouragement!"
"I haven't encouraged you!? Ah… Misha!"
"What is it?"

Misha who acted like a spectator came here after being called out by Claire-sama.

"Could you please become a witness? If I defeat her at the test, this commoner will leave the academy. If I fail to win, I will do one thing she tells me to"
"As the King decided on the enrollment requirements, I think such personal fights are quite wrong"
"It is not a personal fight. The commoner ashamed of her lack of ability will leave the academy by herself"

Laughing out loud, Claire-sama felt like she's already won.

"Are you okay with it? Rei"
"I'm okay"
"This is how it is. So that she cannot go back on her world, please be a witness. Is it okay, commoner?"
"Yes! Thinking I can make Claire-sama do this and that, I am excited now!"
"I will not lose! Yes, I swear to G.o.d!"
"I swear to G.o.d!"
"… I will witness it"

In this country, swearing to G.o.d carries a grave meaning.
It's not a simple promise, if you break it you will be held in heavy contempt, regardless of being a n.o.ble or a commoner.
Like this, the contest between Claire-sama and me began.

The test day is here.

First of all is the Liberal Arts test.
It mainly tests the knowledge related to the history and culture of this country, as well as literature.
For example――.

Question
Kingdom history: Describe the political problems King Coulee III was faced with and remedial measures he took during the great famine of 1927.

Or,

Question
Discuss the problems and remedial measures of one of the major industries of the kingdom.

Or,

Question
Write a poem in the style of old poetry.

And so on.

It's clear these questions cannot be said to relate with daily life.
In this world where the literacy rate among commoners isn't high, such education is basically n.o.bles' field.
In other words, Claire-sama has an overwhelming advantage.
Because it makes up the third of the whole exam, Claire-sama is at an advantage regarding the overall score.

"That was tough, wasn't it"

In the game, you could choose to study to acquire information, what you obtained was visible during the test.
Although the test questions require writing an essay, in the game you were presented with choices, so you just had to select the right one, unfortunately, the number of questions was high.
Most players seems to have settled for looking for the answer key on the web capture sites.
It was troublesome.

Next up is Etiquette.
It doesn't require a detailed explanation.
It's self-explanatory, one's etiquette is tested.
This time, for the test, a dinner is held, and examiners evaluate how the students dine.

One can't look down on it as a simple meal.
The test begins before entering the dining hall where the exam is held.
It starts with the clothes one wears, the posture when entering, greetings, on top of that where one looks during eating, they are all subject to evaluation.
It's not just about using cutlery during the meal.

Again, Claire-sama who's a n.o.ble is at an overwhelming advantage.
Because, there are almost no opportunities for commoners to come in contact with such etiquette.
In fact, even to untrained eyes there's a world of difference between escalator students, including Claire-sama, and outside admission students in how refined their movements are.

"It was tiring in practice"

It was also the matter of multiple choices in the game.
For example, whether to wear white or black clothes, what words to use a greeting when entering the room, where to look, and so on.
Of course, most players looked at the answer key to get through it.

So far, that's two thirds of the test.
Everything favors n.o.bility, and thinking normally, there's no way I can win against Claire-sama.

The last test is Magical Power.
It's the only subject where commoners can beat n.o.bles.
In reality, it was the only subject during outside entrance examination.

The meritocracy the current King introduced can also be described as magical power-oriented policy.

The apt.i.tude for magical tools which are bleeding-edge technology is determined by both inborn and acquired factors, the former being more important, it makes no difference whether you are a n.o.ble or a commoner.
That's the justification to placate the aristocratic government.
In reality, the King wants to leave behind the trend of only n.o.bles being appointed to the important posts, it's the most pressing crisis for the current King.
n.o.bility is opposed to meritocracy, magical power has nothing to do with social standing or lineage.

Of course, there are commoners excelling at Liberal Arts or Etiquette that are n.o.bles' forte, very few, but they exist.
Appointing such people to important posts might be the vision, still the reality is they are exceptions.

Now then, although it's a Magical Power test, it's done outdoors.
The test is divided into two parts, Basic Magical Power and Magical Tool Operation.

Basic Magical Power measures your apt.i.tude for magical tools with a specialized magical tool.
There are four apt.i.tude types - earth, water, fire, and wind, fundamentally every person has a single apt.i.tude.
Each apt.i.tude is evaluated into one of the five grades - none, low, middle, high, super.
Although it can grow with practice, the innate component is overwhelming.

Even so, Claire-sama's magical power is high.
Claire-sama's basic magical power is high apt.i.tude for fire.
She resembles fire.
The game's developers' fun hobbies showed through.

Magical Tool Operation is tested with a basic magical wand.
Magical wand is an all-purpose magical tool, it can be used to cause a variety of phenomena.
This time what's tested is how far you can make a magical bullet of your apt.i.tude fly.

"That was the easiest"

In the game you could select magic training to increase magical power, as for the test the flight distance was determined with a rhythm game.
There's no need to specially consult the answer key, it was the simplest test as matching the timing was not that difficult.

However, there was a mania where some people obsessed about achieving the highest distance.
「Revolution」 connected to the internet and records were posted on the official website.
A small gift was presented to whoever managed to reach the first place, but if I had to say, rather than the gift, the goal of these people was increasing the value itself, the last record I remember was over ten times the average.

And well, that's the summary of the test.
After finis.h.i.+ng the examination for the day, I felt exhausted.

"That's why, I came to replenish my energy!"
"… Could you go home?"

When I visited Claire-sama's room, with worn-out appearance she bluntly turned me away.
How sad.