Chu! Chu!
"Huh..." Opening her eyes, Hazel blinked the drowsiness away.
Looking out the window of her personal cubicle, one of the advantages of traveling first class, she saw that despite the rain lashing the city, the reddish-orange ceramic roofs still stood out.
Raising a gloved hand, she elegantly covered her mouth and yawn. Grabbing her briefcase, she followed the passengers to the exit.
Her eyes moved calmly through the crowd of people moving through the station, searching without haste...
'Ah, there you are.' The young woman couldn't help but smile a little.
A sign was held up to her chin. Bright green eyes looked at the people calmly getting off the train, never lingering on a face for more than three seconds before moving on to the next.
That sign read Hazel Macht in loen. The person holding it looked like a police officer, wearing a thick blue jacket, windbreaker, and hat, along with a revolver at her waist.
For a police officer, she was relatively short.
Finding her target, Hazel walked towards her, carrying her briefcase in one hand while raising her other to point out her location.
The officer immediately found her. Folding and storing the sign inside her jacket, she approached.
"Miss Hazel, I will be your escort for the day. I am Alice Clement; I welcome you to Lenburg."
She hadn't changed much since the last time she saw her.
Smiling slightly at another team member, Hazel gave a slight nod to the policewoman.
"I'll be in your care."
Nodding back at the young woman, Xio turned and began walking to the exit. "Come on."
'Aren't you even going to offer to carry my luggage?' Swallowing the comment, the young woman followed her in silence.
Arriving at the exit, Sheriff Xio quickly guided her to a carriage, where she opened the door and let her get in first.
The journey to her new home was completed in silence. Hazel looked out the window at the buildings while Xio kept her eyes closed.
Stopping in front of the apartment building where she would be staying, both women calmly made their way out. The rain had stopped a while ago, but the sky was still cloudy.
Once she got to the reception, all she had to do was confirm her identity. Her parents had paid for her entire stay, which included the five years she was to spend here completing her university education.
Closing the door to her apartment, Hazel looked at her escort with a bit of curiosity.
"Is it safe for us to be seen together?"
Although her teacher had already explained a little about his connection with the Church, she needed to consult another source to be even more sure of herself.
Xio looked at her briefly and nodded. "Trying to hide that we know each other would be useless. Since you have to know the rest, they would catch you sooner or later. It's better this way; we save ourselves a lot of trouble."
"Sigh. I guessed as much." The young woman with green hair could only close her eyes sadly.
Although she would have loved to try to keep her other face hidden, it seemed that this dream would be unfulfilled for now.
Not wanting to think about it, she changed the subject a little.
"How's the Teacher?"
It had been a long time since she had last seen him and a few days since his last letter.
Adjusting her hat slightly, Xio sneered, "He's fine, but I doubt the same about his head."
If her curiosity hadn't been piqued before, now the whole hornet's nest had stung her.
Turning her body to face the older woman, her brown eyes sparkled a little.
"What is he doing now?"
"Until he finishes his work, it's best that we don't talk about it unless we're with him. It can alert his... prey." Xio replied as she sighed.
"Oh…" Hiding her disappointment a little, the young woman could only make a mental note to ask him when she had the opportunity.
Not wanting to end the conversation so soon, she followed the etiquette.
"How are the others? And the new members?"
"They are acclimatizing well. Their progress is not to be belittled either." Xio admitted with a bit of surprise.
She still found it a little hard to believe that children who had never had any knowledge about the world beyond had advanced so quickly the Sequences.
'Of course, those were just Sequence 9. Maybe now that they're Sequence 8, their speed will slow down a bit...'
Sighing soundlessly, Xio calmly looked at the young noblewoman.
"That's as much as I can do for today. Tomorrow I'll come by to take you to the university. Be ready by 9 a.m. Punctuality is everything there."
If someone ever told her that she could talk to a noble like that and that they couldn't say anything, the Sheriff would have snorted at the bad joke.
Hearing almost the same sentence about punctuality from a different mouth than Anabette's made an eyelid of the noblewoman twitch.
Controlling herself, Hazel nodded, "You have nothing to worry about, Miss Xio. I'll be ready when you come for me."
The Sheriff only nodded in response and, without further discussion, left the apartment...
"..."
Alone again, Hazel looked around her new home with mild interest.
Her living room had bright yellow walls, a well-polished wooden floor, and a beautiful rug.
'Father spared no expense.' The Swindler quickly noticed the quality of the place.
Not only did she have a balcony with a beautiful view outside, which would undoubtedly be better once summer arrived. However, her apartment was also close to where she would be studying.
On foot, it was only 20 minutes away...
Helikon District. Wednesday, September 26th.
Looking at the majestic university in front of her, Hazel could only say that the descriptions in the books she read about this institution were accurate.
To anyone who saw it and didn't know its purpose, they would think it was another temple dedicated to the God of Knowledge and Wisdom.
Of course, some differences separated it from temples. Those were that its marble was gray like calacatta and that it lacked the large and opulent pillars that made those churches so recognizable.
But like every temple, church, and educational center, it had the symbol of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom at the top of its roof.
Around him was a large group of people. All ready to enter and take the entrance exam.
They all came from different parts of the world, whether from Intis, Feysac, Feynapotter, or Loen. They all wanted to enter.
A circle of policemen looked after this group of young people, whose gaze and batons ensured that no one would try to do anything stupid.
And in front of them was someone else—a man with rather pale skin, brown hair, and gray eyes. He was wearing an elegant suit, and his circular glasses gave him the air of a bookseller.
"Good afternoon to everyone present. I am Professor Charles Brown and will be one of the examiners." He shouted as he raised a clipboard and pointed to one side, where several tables with workers were arranged.
"Please form three lines. We will give you the classrooms where you will take the exam according to your surnames. Take your time; there's no hurry!"
'Finally...' Seeing that the most annoying part was about to pass, Hazel moved to the nearest line.
Reaching the front, a woman wearing glasses looked at her without expression. "Name?"
"Hazel Macht."
A finger with purple nails moved down the list of registrants, and reaching M, she gave an unenthusiastic nod.
"Classroom 404. Next!"
Grateful that she had been assigned so quickly, the green-haired girl left.
Shortly after, another young woman, wearing dark purple robes and a bowl that pulled her hair back, took her place.
The manager fired as soon as she appeared. "Name?"
The young woman with black hair as straight as a raven's feathers smiled slightly, "Anna Roleffes."
The woman looked at the pretty young woman in front of her without expression, shaking her head. She looked at her list and, after a moment, said, "Room 313. Next!"
...
Following the teachers' directions she came across along the way, Hazel soon found the classroom where she would take her exam.
It was already somewhat full, but there were still many free places.
Taking one of the seats in the middle against the wall, she waited calmly for it to start.
After a while, a teacher came in carrying a thick stack of papers in his arms. His glasses only served to emphasize the neutrality of his gaze.
"The exam will last three hours. The materials are under your chosen table: pencils, fountain pens, erasers, extra paper..."
"There is no need to look at the person next to you. Anyone who does so will immediately have their exam taken away and will be asked to leave. Never to try again.
"You cannot look at the exam until I tell you. Anyone who does so will have their exam taken away and will be expelled from here. You will never be able to retake the exam.
"It will last 3 hours. Once that time has passed, participants who have not handed in their exams but are still writing will be disqualified directly. So please finish on time or respect the time.
"You will know it is all over once the clock strikes." He said, pointing to the large clock in the middle of the classroom wall.
Lowering his hand, his black gaze passed over all the participants, who had turned a little pale.
"Good luck, and I hope at least a quarter of you pass."
With that, he began handing out the exams table by table. None of the people he passed dared look up or look away from the table.
'Is this to study or to punish us? It's supposed to be a university, not a prison! Why do the teachers act like guards?!' Somewhat incredulous, Hazel was only a second behind the rest in fixing her gaze on her desk.
Was this why all those who graduated or were thrown out of here seemed to have no emotions or had difficulty expressing them if they ever could?
Amid her silent complaint, the teacher approached her and handed out the exam.
Thud!
Dazed, Hazel just looked at the thick pile of papers before her.
'Oh Goddess...'
Although she had read that the exams were long, she hadn't expected this!!!
"You may begin... now."
Gong!
The sound of papers being spun reached her ears, and the young woman resisted the urge to spin them and look at the reactions of others to judge the level of difficulty.
'I already feel like I'm in a house full of guards with bigger sequences than me. This is nothing!' Taking a soundless breath of air, Hazel finally grabbed the pile of paper and turned it over.
Filling in the part of her name along with today's date. She went to the first question...
...
Gong!
"Time's up. Put down your pencils, and please don't move."
'If this is the entrance exam, I don't want to know what the exams inside will be like...' Hazel mumbled with a slight headache.
Although she was sure she had scored high enough to get in, she had to admit that it had been more difficult than she thought.
'As long as I don't go gray, I can deal with this.'
Her exam and those of everyone else in the room were collected. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see that most had helpless expressions, and a few others were slightly confident.
If she had difficulties despite being in Sequence 8, she did not envy these people.
Holding all the exams under one arm, the teacher looked at everyone present.
"You will receive a letter with your classes and timetable in the next few days. Of course, that's for those who got ninety percent in your exams.
"If you don't receive a letter within 8 days from today, study harder for next year."
...
Returning to her apartment, the first thing Hazel did was to take off her heels and lie down on the sofa.
She would sleep a little early today...
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Yo!
I completely forgot to publish these here; look at these little rascals~
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