Now that Hirschur was here, Fraularm wouldn’t be able to fake my score. She grimaced as she took the exam paper over to her desk. Hirschur was watching closely to ensure there was no foul play—and barely a moment passed before she interjected. “Fraularm, you...” “Oh, dear me. I appear to have given Lady Rozemyne the wrong test. Ohohoho...” “Not that it seems to be a problem. She answered all of the questions correctly.” “She—?! What did you say?!” Fraularm examined the sheet at once; her eyebrows raised even higher than before. “Did something happen?” I asked.

“The test you just took was for fifth-years,” Hirschur explained. “How do you even know this material, Lady Rozemyne?” “Ferdinand forced me to learn the syllabus for every single grade, so it is all the same to me.” I had been taught everything up until graduation in one go, so I wasn’t even sure what counted as third-year material. The questions that Fraularm had given to me had seemed fine enough, so I hadn’t thought twice when answering them. “Ferdinand truly does demand the unreasonable,” Hirschur said, a hand on her forehead. “I am amazed that you can keep up with him.” Meanwhile, Fraularm was muttering, “This isn’t normal...” over and over again. I personally believed that her giving me a test meant for older students was the abnormality here—as was Ferdinand going so over the top as to have prepared me for it. I was normal. “Does this still count as a pass?” I asked. “Or do I need to redo the test with a third-year paper?” Hirschur turned to Fraularm. “Is there time for a retake? I was under the impression that we were going to speak about a new joint research project.” Unable to endure the pressure that Hirschur and I were putting on her, Fraularm went bright red and hysterically screamed, “That will do for the exam!” She took a seat to indicate that she was ready for our discussion to begin, though I couldn’t help but notice how aggressively she dropped into her chair. It couldn’t have been good for her backside, but at least I understood that she was feeling very displeased.

— Ascendance of a Bookworm Part 5 Volume 1 by Miya Kazuki, You Shiina (60%)