After Luke finished his conversation with Roman and left, Roman finally let out a sigh that he had been holding back.
“Haah.”
It was a more disorienting conversation than he had expected.
In fact, it was right when he was calling Luke to look at his answers that the worry that had prompted him to call Luke was warranted.
“What do you mean it wasn’t cheating?”
The first line Luke had said to him was really just an attempt to help the nervous child relax a bit so they could have a smooth conversation, as he felt the child was trembling too much to properly explain his workings.
When children are too anxious, they tend to make mistakes that they normally wouldn’t, often making excuses along the lines of “I can’t explain my workings because I’m too nervous” to refuse explaining their thought process.
Whether something was cheating or not could generally be determined by whether the student could adequately explain their answers.
If it was truly their own solution, they would naturally be able to elaborate in great detail, wouldn’t they?
“But this answer sheet…”
Roman briefly picked up Luke’s answer sheet again and marveled.
No, he questioned whether it should even be called an “answer sheet” in the first place.
Not only the complex use of formulas of unknown origin or foundation, but also the meticulous explanations of differing parts in the footnotes that made the structure of the writing seem almost like a thesis.
In many ways, it was a document that could not possibly have been written by a mere child attending an academy without going through a professional academic program.
No matter how much it said, “High marks for the workings; consider various ideas,” the mere thought of formulating something like this on the spot seemed utterly ridiculous.
It was for this reason that when he first received the answer sheet, he could only come up with one assumption.
“That the exam questions were leaked, and someone at the level of a Grand Mage had written a thesis-style explanation, which the child had simply copied.”
However, there were some questionable points about that assertion.
If that had truly been the case, the mage who wrote the answer would have known what the exam was looking for, so why teach the child to respond in such a manner?
And how on earth could the child have managed to replicate such a large volume of work (…which honestly was difficult to call a ‘solution’)?
Cheating papers have clear limitations.
In an examination hall that limits and controls everything influenced by magic, the only physical forms of cheating possible were notes or looking over someone’s shoulder.
Even that would be hard to prepare in advance, given that most of the necessary stationery for the exam, including pencils and erasers, were already placed on the table beforehand, and no objects could be brought in except for one’s own body.
If it was claimed that it had been memorized instead of copied, that in itself would certainly be a remarkable achievement.
Indeed, this explained the serious expression Roman had while looking at Luke’s answer sheet.
“Just how did he manage to cheat?”
Roman had been a supervisor for six years and had uncovered various instances of cheating, yet he found it frustrating that he could not discern the method used.
But such thoughts vanished the moment he spoke with Luke.
It became clear that Luke was a person in whom such cheating was entirely unnecessary.
After all, the child who had unraveled the miracle of Shai’ekh surely wouldn’t have been unable to solve such a problem of this level.
Although he thought it was truly absurd, there was nothing he could do by shouting that it made no sense.
The result had already occurred in reality as it was.
It was quite an amusing situation.
An academy magic competition attended by a prominent candidate for the Ras Award!
It was indeed unfortunate for the other children who participated without knowing anything, but this would certainly become one of the most interesting historical events that would never happen again.
When Roman asked Luke why he had engaged in such a spectacle, Luke mentioned that he participated in the magic competition because he needed the awards for early graduation, making it intriguing that he worried about early graduation after achieving such an astonishing feat with the miracle.
Well, it was amusing that he thought, “I can’t help it since I haven’t received the Ras Award yet.”
He could have easily discussed early graduation with the principal simply for being a candidate for the Ras Award.
Roman smiled as he recalled his conversation with Luke.
“If you graduate early, won’t you come to our research lab?”
“I’ll have to decline for now. This is a foreign country, and I already have a preexisting commitment with a known mage.”
“Haha, is that so? That’s really too bad.”
And the clever Luke seemed to have already planned what he would do once he graduated early.
Roman felt a bit regretful about that.
“Well, all things considered, it seems like this year’s competition gold medal is all but decided.”
Ultimately, Roman had no choice but to grade Luke’s answer as a perfect score.
And since Luke was still the only student to receive a ‘perfect score’ until now, if things continued as they were, his solo victory would be assured.
If that were to happen, Luke would also take the title of the youngest winner of the magic competition.
By the way, to have the achievement of winning the magic competition after having unraveled the miracle of Shai’ekh!
It seems like the order of these notable anecdotes was just slightly out of place for those that would be included in the records of great individuals, doesn’t it?
If in a few decades Luke were to become such a notable figure that he would appear in history textbooks, it would create a situation that could easily be used as a tricky question in history class.
Lost in such amusing thoughts while organizing Luke’s answer sheet, Roman suddenly grew curious.
What, I wonder, does a prominent candidate for the Ras Award and the youngest perfect winner of the academy magic competition spend their days doing?
It was a late realization, but it was indeed an interesting question.
“Heh, I should have asked that question before suggesting he join the Institute of the White Tower.”
He probably would have been nothing but ordinary.
——-
Luke ultimately donned his gold medal and shouted with joy.
“Look at this! It’s a gold medal!”
“Wow, that’s really impressive!”
With Luke exuding happiness, Orland also smiled brightly.
Just moments ago, when his name was called out, Luke had looked as though he was a frightened animal led to a slaughterhouse, but now he resembled an exuberant puppy.
Gerard bent down to look at the medal around Luke’s neck and responded.
“Congratulations, you did it!”
Indeed, Luke was ecstatic at that moment.
He had no idea that the gold medal contained real gold.
“Right? Look at how shiny it is! In the past, with this much gold, at least four families could have supported themselves for a month! I never expected to receive something like this!”
“Hahaha, really?”
Gerard burst into laughter at Luke’s peculiar analogy.
It was just too amusing that a child would make such a specific and material comparison about a gold medal he received.
Yet Luke was serious.
How thrilled had he been to confirm that during the award ceremony?
He hadn’t realized there would be such benefits aside from the prize money.
He had heard that it would just be a golden-colored souvenir, but the gold medal awarded to the “sole top scorer” seemed to look and be made a bit differently from the usual medals.
That medal was specifically for the ‘sole winner’ of the exam, unlike those made every year.
“Real gold, huh!”
To be precise, only about 1% of the medal was gold, and the rest appeared to be silver, but for Luke, that was even better.
Silver had a bit more versatility in alchemy compared to gold.
And it wasn’t just that that excited Luke.
“With this, I can graduate early and buy everything I need with the prize money!”
To be precise, a graduation exam still lay ahead before early graduation, but that didn’t really matter.
The prize money was definitely thrilling just to think about.
The cash that could be used right now—its importance went without saying.
And upon hearing that from Luke, Gerard couldn’t help but ask the burning question that popped into his mind.
“So what are you planning to do with that prize money, Luke?”
Then Luke replied quite seriously.
“Well, the first thing I’ll buy is dolls. I want them to be as big or detailed as possible, and I’ll buy a lot.”
He needed a lot of dolls for the golems.
If he had the skill to intricately process Aseril, it would be a different story, but for now, the doll bodies were the best option.
Aseril was a type of mineral that couldn’t be processed with magic, and he didn’t possess the craftsmanship of the past dwarves from Helken Mountain.
“Dolls? And what’s next?”
After hearing Luke’s answer, Gerard asked further.
He wouldn’t be using all that prize money to buy dolls; curious about what else he was thinking.
And Luke quickly responded.
“Next, I’ll buy a high-performance computer.”
Without a doubt, a computer was an essential item in modern magical technology.
Especially as theory deepens, there are many calculations that would be too cumbersome to solve purely mentally, and a computer was like the best assistant in that regard.
However, the portable computer Luke used at home barely matched the speed of his mental calculations and could not be considered satisfactory in terms of performance, so he needed a high-performance computer.
“A high-performance computer, that sounds good too.”
Gerard nodded in agreement to Luke’s answer.
Indeed, Luke would need a computer.
Luke had borrowed a “Magic Finder” from his office before, so it was very natural that he would be interested in computers.
“And next?”
“Next, I’ll buy various magical tools. Things like reagent flasks and telescopes.”
Indeed, magical tools were necessary.
How long would he keep researching reagents with just a pot and a mug while reading the constellations with just the naked eye?
Over time, he had many expenses that required deferring personal purchases, such as snacks, ingredient costs, replacing broken items due to Pyris’s antics, or buying furniture during moves.
But now that he had a lump sum, he could finally try the personal consumption he had been putting off.
“What about the remaining money? Will you save it?”
“Well, I don’t have any specific plans for the remaining money… Ah.”
Suddenly Luke seemed to recall something.
“I can give it to Yerna and Dayton, who will become my parents. So they can go on the honeymoon they couldn’t take because of work.”
“Wow, that’s really nice!”
After hearing Luke’s entire spending plan, Gerard thought it was a thrifty and admirable budget for a child, enough to make the person providing the prize feel proud.
It truly was an adorable idea that made it hard to resist the impulse to ruffle his hair.
“Uh, please don’t touch my hair; it smells because of sweat…”
Luke remarked, to which Gerard chuckled and replied.
“It’s alright, I can clean it with Clean Magic; it’ll smell nice!”
“…Even so.”
However, having his hair ruffled was not exactly pleasant, so Luke slightly pulled away and checked the clock on the wall, saying.
“It’s time to go now. I’ve received my award.”
Then Luke flashed a slight smile at Gerard and said.
“Thank you, it’s all thanks to you guiding me sincerely when I came to the power plant without knowing anything.”
Luke began recalling the time when he first met Gerard.
He had thought the toilet was a well, marveling at the quality of synthetic leather and carpets…
He was really just like a fool who didn’t know anything at that time.
Moreover, he had only a few coins to his name, yet Gerard had kindly let him into the plant without demanding anything in return.
Thanks to that, he was able to quickly inscribe the circle and delve into magic research properly.
Had that not happened, it would have taken him much longer to achieve this level of magical accomplishment.
And if that had been the case, he probably wouldn’t be here now.
In that case, he wouldn’t have been able to stabilize Shirud’s circle, so he wouldn’t have been able to become close with that child, and he wouldn’t have received Serena’s help.
And he probably wouldn’t have even attended the academy.
More importantly…
“If it weren’t for that, fighting Sigarmata would also have been impossible.”
“So, I truly want to express my gratitude to you. Thank you.”
Luke bowed his head in respect.
Seeing that, Gerard felt an overwhelming sense of emotion and smiled.
“Thank you, I’m grateful for you saying that.”
“Heh, I could say it as much as you want. Well then.”
“Alright, don’t get lost, and take care.”
As Luke turned away, Gerard playfully shouted.
“Oh, and don’t run over the roof on your way back!”
At the embarrassing remark, Luke suddenly halted as if tripping, blushing as he cried out.
“Of course! Did you need to mention that!”
“That’s all I needed to know. Don’t forget to contact your parents when you return to your lodging.”
At Gerard’s words, Luke nodded as if it were obvious, then asked with a disgruntled expression.
“Surely you haven’t forgotten our promise, have you?”
“Huh? What promise?”
“The one where you said I could come to your plant when I graduate.”
“Oh.”
Gerard finally recalled the promise he had made with Luke.
He was sure he had made such a promise casually.
Seeing Gerard’s tentative reaction, Luke nodded and reaffirmed.
“Well, keep that in mind. I turned down other proposals because of that promise, so don’t forget it.”
Honestly, the research lab was an appealing offer, but interacting with a greater amount of mana was more promising at the power plant.
And for Luke, what he needed right now wasn’t a better research environment but more mana, so it was advantageous to turn down Roman’s proposal for the time being.
“Huh?”
When Luke mentioned it, Gerard hesitated to say that it was a mere passing remark. Luke lifted the gold medal slightly and exclaimed.
“If I qualify for early graduation with this prize, I’ll come looking for you, so definitely wait for me! Well then!”
With that, Luke began to walk away joyfully, while Gerard watched him with a pleased but perplexed expression when Orland approached him.
“That kid, doesn’t he have feelings for you?”
“What? What do you mean by that? Why would Luke like someone like me? Probably not.”
But Orland said with a meaningful smile.
“Well….”
From what he observed, it was practically a forbidden scene straight out of the romance between an adult and a child.
