Zoltan Unredeemed

Chapter 4

The moment we sat down, a bell rang, and as if on cue, a woman suddenly appeared in a blast of ice crystals on the stage in front of the room.

She reminds me a lot of my mother.

Definitely not the kind of woman you willingly want to cross and expect to get away unscathed.

Wearing a silver and gold blazer and black pump shoes, she looks very imposing and probably younger than what her curt expression and tight bun of brown hair suggest.

The woman looked around imperiously among the hundreds of boys and girls before her and raised her head proudly, "Vice Principal Metis of the Crysalian Military Academy. I will cut to the chase since this will be a very busy day for all of us. You are all here as either the very best your respective schools can produce or someone who has the privilege to be related to one of our current or previous colleagues in this school. Commoners who don't have the financial means to enroll using the normal means and have to rely on the scholarships or are hoping to get one of the limited slots within the classrooms of this hallowed institution. This is your once-in-a-lifetime chance to take hold of your destiny. There are twenty remaining vacant seats for freshmen commoners. Be one of the top twenty, and we will welcome you with open arms. You know what and what not to do. You have an hour, begin!"

She then snapped her fingers, and folders materialized on our desks from thin air and dry ice, and as if possessed, Cady quickly opened it and began scribbling like a maniac.

I blinked at her in amusement before looking down at the folder and opening it to see if I really had what it took to break free of my mundane life and into a brand new adventure ahead of me.

Unexpectedly, or, well, who am I kidding? It is expected that I will not be able to answer these questions well enough to reach the top fifty, much less the twentieth place.

I realized how lacking my knowledge is in general knowledge and everyday things normal kids of my age should know.

Basic Crysalian history, distinct cultures of each nation, and even endemic monsters within the borders of the countries.

Heck, I don't even know the monsters unique to my country since I will be lucky enough to be out of sight of my mother or her minders, close enough for me to see monsters with my very own eyes.

The simple knowledge that could make or break my gamble.

No wonder mother is so confident that I will never succeed here. She knows.

She, of all people, knows just how far I can go with my brain because she was the one who molded it in the first place.

The empire's population, the economy of Brigansys, the tax structure of the barony, heck, the only thing I can answer with utmost surety are those about the palatinate and viceroyalty.

Instead of beating myself up for my ignorance, I decided to proceed to the last part of the examinations, where at least I could save my dignity because I was sure I could answer correctly and perfectly.

Political thought experiments, ethics, and leadership psychology.

Now that's something mother's provosts have drilled into my head repeatedly since elements know when.

How to deal with lies and intrigues within the court. Handling international relations in less favorable circumstances and morality questions balancing the needs of the few versus the many.

What's great about those old men and women from our nation's top educational institutions is that they have taught me that there is no wrong answer when it comes to deciding according to my will.

My will is the will of my people, and it is always "right" for all intents and purposes.

The only question is, what is better than the other options before me.

I am so into answering the essays that I didn't realize that the time is almost up, and I have taken up the space for answering the questions I failed to answer in the first place.

I glanced in Cady's direction, realizing that we had the opposite problems. She can barely answer the essays, only managing a few sentences here and there before giving up entirely and resigned to perfecting what she knows she can.

In a way, we are alike in our differences.

"Times up!"

To our surprise, the paper and folders got blown away by a flurry of a localized blizzard. All fell down neatly to the waiting arms of an astonishingly handsome man in his late twenties with silver-blue hair, a long pointed nose, pale complexion, and pouting lips that made almost everyone here sigh in amazement as he quickly brought the papers towards the vice principal who is now standing beside a kind of machine or something and began feeding our documents in there.

It then began making odd sounds, and after a minute or so, a long thin piece of parchment came out from it. The two looked at it quietly before nodding at each other, and Vice-Principal Metis cleared her throat to get our attention.

"All students whom I will call, proceed to the door to your left. The rest of you, proceed back to the entrance. The coasters will bring you back to the train station shortly."

She then began shouting the names of lucky examinees that made it to the top twenty as Cady and I looked at each other and shrugged our shoulders.

We know deep down that we may do our best, but our best is not good enough.

No need to get our hopes up.

I guess that's one of the defining qualities of a citizen of the viceroyalty. Almost always grounded in reality.

"So, what are your plans after this, Cady?"

"Well, back to regular programming for me, Arcelon," she answered earnestly, and I have to admire her optimism, "Thankfully, I just cashed out on my yearly leave, and I can return to my jobs by tomorrow."

"Jobs?" I asked in confusion as we began to walk towards the exit because, as expected, our name was not called.

She smiled proudly and nodded, "Yes, job with the s. Three to be exact. Four hours each, three times a day, six times a week. Enough to get by on my own, if I do say so myself."

"Where are your parents? Your family?"

"Gone for as long as I remember. I am a complete orphan."

I bowed my head apologetically, "I am deeply sorry."

"Hey, no need to apologize. How can you even know to make a snide remark when I didn't even tell you in the first place," she quickly replied kindly, "But enough about me, how about you? What will you do after this?"

I groaned and sighed sadly, "Go back home to my vindicated mother and let her decide what is the best for me, as usual."

"Vindicated? You mean she doesn't expect you to pass in the first place?"

I shook my head and grinned, "Nope. Not a chance. She even shouted at my back before I leave our house that she will have dinner ready later."

"You don't say..."