The Day After the Test

There's a certain pattern. Just before I wake, I hear strangers gossip around me. It must be because they're free to visit the sick in the infirmary, which I assume was where I was, but I suppose I can allow their eyes to trail after my half-unconscious body, as though I was some kind of spectacle, if only I could glean out some information about the world while I was asleep.

"What kind of test happened this cycle, to have them go back in this state?"

"I heard a few more Sinus Fidei were injured too."

"They surprised me, teleporting back with them all covered up in blood."

"But they... passed?"

"Just... can't be... will probably-"

"... failed..."

When I could no longer hear them anymore, I deemed to open up my eyes. Just as I had thought, I was in the infirmary. It was a longish room with curtained single beds lined up in two rows. Then, I fully revealed the rest of the room after bunching up my bed's partially opened curtain. On the bed beside mine, I can see a familiar head of curly brown hair.

She was looking at me with a snoozy grin. "I thought they'd never leave."

"You doing okay, Kendra?" I asked, inching myself towards the corner of the bed, planting both my feet on the ground.

"Mhmm..." Kendra mumbled. "But I don't think you should be getting up yet. Look. Your bandages are getting bloody again."

Looking down at my abdomen, I saw a thick layer of bandages beneath my thin shirt, already staining with splotches of red. I sighed, and allowed myself to collapse back into my sheets. Turning my head to look at my friend, I asked, "Joren? Albert?"

"They were here for a while, but they weren't as hurt as we were, so they were shooed off by the Academy nurse," Kendra said. "Charles made a huge fuss, even hinting out that he was the crown prince. Oh, but you should have seen the nurse! She was absolutely fearless, pushing the prince out like he was naught but a simple child."

That made me laugh, but after seeing my wounds, I was now well aware of the pain. Just shaking from laughter made me wince.

In the silence that came afterward, I had to ask. "And the test?"

"... Telken passed, if that's what you mean." Kendra sighed quietly. "If it would make you happy, I would have you know that Crown Prince Charles at least passed the test as well."

'So they held up their end of the deal,' I thought, weariness taking over me.

Then, I frowned. "What about the traitor?"

"... He passed too."

I groaned. Imagining Jordan's haughty face and quietly going through ways to make him feel pain, I forced myself to calm down. Besides, nothing much could be done about it.

Sighing, I asked, "After I blacked out, what happened?"

When I was greeted with silence, I turned my head to look at her again. Kendra looked like she was deep in thought too. Then, she murmured, "I don't know. After you were... stabbed by Telken, there was a sudden darkness, and the moment it cleared up, we were all already teleported back into the hall... I suppose after the ceremony finally ended, the treasure was already Telken's."

I frowned deeper. "I thought Joren had the treasure?"

Kendra pursed her lips. "I don't know... He told me that too, but it mustn't have been the real treasure, or why else would we have failed?"

Releasing a heavy sigh, I glared at the ceiling until I was sure it would wither away from my gaze. "So this is it... All that and we didn't even pass."

Kendra laughed. "Well, if you say that, it's all bad and all, but if you think about it, isn't it perfectly normal for us to fail on our first Test of Waning?"

Her words succeeded to calm me. "You speak wisely, Lady Kendra. I shouldn't have been too prideful."

"Well, that isn't to say," Kendra added. "that we couldn't have passed it if it weren't for traitors and vile upperclassmen. I don't think you're being prideful, Eleftherion. I think we did fairly well despite our infancy as students of the Academy."

A grin formed on my face. "That's definitely one good way to look at it. We did fight well against inner ring students."

I heard her sweet giggles. "That we definitely did. And wasn't I a sight to behold! Acting like the little girl I looked like, and then fiercely attacking when he least expected it!"

"You were very brave," I agreed.

"But it was very dangerous," Kendra said with a finality in her voice. "... You may not know this, Eleftherion, but when you were stabbed by that Telken, everyone thought it was already hopeless. He had hit you right at your stomach, and all of us despaired, thinking that you were a dead boy. I know you feel alright now, but only a few hours earlier, you were ashen faced and your other half was already on the steps up to Solus' Kingdom."

I dared to look at her, and was bombarded with her worried face. She told me, "You almost died. And although we do have our pride, and the test is indeed quite important. These all mean nothing if you're dead."

I smiled humorlessly at her comment. To her eyes, I must've been nothing but a reckless boy, but...

"If I didn't do that," I mumbled. "Charles would have had his heart stabbed by that weapon."

Kendra gasped. "Is-Is that true?"

I nodded slightly. "It was a fraction of a moment. Telken was deranged by fury at being interrupted by Charles, and... All I know is that if I hadn't stepped in, someone else would have been far more injured, or worse..."

Kendra looked pale. "No wonder the crown prince looked so distraught... He wouldn't leave your side at all and even argued so much with the nurse... Now I know why."

But while news of Charles' concern did make me a bit glad and troubled, I was suddenly assaulted by a different thought. I hadn't noticed it, but I was dressed up in clean clothes and fresh bandages. I didn't feel grimy and I felt like I had been cleaned up marvelously in an expensive bath.

So, I knew that the worst had come.

I gulped down my anxiety, and asked Kendra, "Where's the nurse? Was she the only one who attended to us?"

She looked at me with confusion, but answered nonetheless, "Yes. I think she's more capable than my family estate's gaggle of doctors."

"And... the bandages and the clothes?"

She nodded. "She did those too. She was also very professional, using precise water elemental magic to wash us up from our beds."

Then, she blushed. "She... also know how to respect our privacy, keeping the curtains well closed so others wouldn't see."

Seeing her honesty, I knew she didn't see my body. I knew I still had the body of a child, but I could never be too sure. But now, knowing I was completely clean...

I sensed someone come inside the room.

Seeing her face, I almost doubled over. My mouth moved before I could stop it. "Hestia?"

But after a dizzying second, I knew that she wasn't. Her chin was a bit more pointier, and her complexion a bit darker. She wasn't my nanny.

But even her smile looked like hers. "Sorry, dear. You must still be confused after all you've gone through."

She walked towards me and placed her hand on my head. If I closed my eyes, I could almost imagine that it was Hestia, ready to pat through my hair while she spoke of her days as an adventurer.

But my daydreaming was short-lived. The nurse was only checking my temperature.

"At least your fever is all gone now," she murmured, and then turned her eyes on mine. "Are you feeling alright?"

Slowly, I nodded my head, trying to read through her expressions. She should already know my true identity, but she hasn't said anything about it yet. So, I ventured out. "I did move around earlier though, and I think I might have opened up my stitches."

Prying my shirt up, she observed the not so bloodied bandages before turning her confused gaze at me. Seeing my serious look, she immediately caught on. She said after a short while, "Yes, these do need changing. Will you come with me to my supply room? I suggest you do some light walking to aid up your recovery."

"Of course," I replied easily, and started to go up from the bed while holding her steady hands.

Kendra never thought much about it, thinking it was perfectly normal.

By the time the supply room's door closed, I glared at her. "What will happen to me now?"

The nurse was calm as she rummaged around for bandages. "Oh, whatever do you mean by that?"

I huffed. "We both know how I lied in my application papers. Will the school reprimand me dearly? If they choose to publicly announce it, then I'll have to leave now-"

She sighed, and finally stopped her rummaging. She straightened up her back and turned to me. "Now, look here, young lady. You can barely walk while sporting a severe injury. You have abnormal depletion of magical power, a few fractured bones, and a far too fatigued body that any other child two or three years older than you should never experience at all! I won't have you sprouting out ideas of leaving, escaping, or any of that nonsense."

I immediately closed my mouth in shock, but knew I had to keep talking. "But I'll have to leave either way-"

She glared down at me and said, "That won't happen on my watch."

"... So you won't report me?" I asked in incredulousness.

She sighed. "Of course I'll report you! Falsifying documents is a crime where I'm from, you know?"

"Then I'll have to leave," I said while my stomach churned in ways unconnected to my injury.

She stomped her foot in frustration. "And I told you you won't! I'll personally speak with the head professor the moment he returns. Perhaps after listening to whatever reasons you might give him, he will allow you to remain-"

"But I would rather leave if the school would force me to live as a girl."

She promptly froze and then finally sighed. Soon, a silence filled the smallish supply room.

It already made me sad to think about leaving all my friends behind, but... It was short-lived but I got to experience going to the Academy. I didn't regret it one bit.

But now I had to leave.

I was already turning around to head on back to my bedroom to pack when the nurse held me off. "Wait a moment."

I looked up at her with annoyance. I would have to pack and leave within the fortnight if I wanted to escape their punishment. My mind was already busy thinking about where I could hide and where I could go next when-

"There is a way," the nurse finally said with a sigh. "I don't exactly like keeping this a secret from the others, but if we head on first to the second head professor, maybe we can appeal for your... special case."

I blinked at her in shock. "... Professor Whitaker?"

She looked surprised at first but then nodded her head. "Do you know of him?"

"I- I guess you can say that he considers me his personal student," I murmured.

She then smiled. "Good, then! It will be easier to appeal to his senses."

"But how come I can't appeal to the head professor's senses?" I asked in curiosity.

She pursed her thin lips. "Let's just say... that Head Professor Raghnall is quite the righteous man, but also very strict about the Academy rules. Once he knows you have done deliberate falsifications on your papers, well... You'll be out in the streets before you know it. I can only imagine the best case that would happen would be him taking pity on you as a young girl, and allowing you to stay as long as you no longer... lie about your true sex."

I never thought that the head professor would be like that. During his short speech on the welcoming ceremony, I had thought him to be wise and powerful... But I suppose I could also see him as a severely rule-abiding old man, or an old man with the same prejudices of the men of this continent.

However...

"Despite the fact that I might know Professor Whitaker, what guarantees are there that he would allow me to stay as a boy?" I asked.

The nurse grinned at me. "Hardly none, but also quite a lot if you ask me."

Faced with her nonsensical reply, I could only sigh in defeat. If this doesn't work out, then I could always just jump out of a window and run away in the clothes on my back. As long as they didn't pry too much to my past, I hardly felt like I would be in so much trouble.

Right?