South District of Pilgrimage City, outside Carmilla’s house.
A taxi slowly came to a halt.
Carmilla stepped out of the taxi and said to Yuriko inside, “You can just drop me off here. So much happened today. I’ll see you tomorrow~”
“Yeah, see you tomorrow~”
Carmilla waved to Yuriko and then headed upstairs.
Watching Carmilla leave, Yuriko was still a little worried.
It was so late; she wondered if her parents would scold her.
“Driver, please head back.”
—
After returning home, the first thing Yuriko did was settle accounts with Phantom.
“My dear Comrade Phantom, could you tell me what you were doing today?”
Yuriko pinched Phantom’s small cheeks, squishing her expressionless face back and forth.
“Mwu-mwu, I didn’t do anything wrong! This is abuse!”
Phantom batted at Yuriko’s arms, but her meager strength was negligible in front of Yuriko.
“Hmph. You’re usually never this close to me. Why did you start putting on an act the moment Carmilla was there?”
“Didn’t you tell me to act?”
“I meant for you to act like you normally do! Why did you have to add extra drama?”
“It’s professional ethics!”
“What ethics does an unemployed person like you have?!”
After giving Phantom a vigorous pinching, Yuriko finally let her go.
Phantom immediately scurried away, rubbing her sore cheeks.
“Also, didn’t I tell you to stop Carmilla? Why did you let her run out?”
Phantom’s hand paused on her cheek.
She turned her back to Yuriko and gulped.
“I — I’m just a little cat. It’s only natural that I couldn’t stop her, meow.”
“Oh? Are you saying that a catgirl who claims to know thousands of types of magic and possesses intelligence rivaling a Saint couldn’t stop an ordinary girl?”
“Well, I… I couldn’t reveal my identity…”
“Your snacks for the next week are gone.”
“Whaa-meow!”
—
After the events of the previous night, Yuriko arrived at the Academy once again.
In the hallway leading to the classroom, a crowd had gathered around a specific spot.
Yuriko remembered it was where announcements were posted.
‘Why are there so many people here?’
“Curious, Yuriko stood outside the crowd and stood on her tiptoes, trying to see what was inside.”
Unfortunately, her height wasn’t an advantage, and she couldn’t see over the crowd.
‘Phantom, go!’
Yuriko held Phantom high up, letting the cat serve as her eyes.
Phantom took one look and knew what was going on.
‘They’re looking at grades. The results and rankings from yesterday’s exam are posted on the bulletin board.’
‘Then check what rank I am.’
‘Is there even a need to check? With me helping, of course it’s —’
A female student squeezed out from the crowd and immediately spotted Yuriko standing there with the cat held high.
“Whoa, it’s Ruri! I saw your score. You’re actually tied for first with Olesia! You both got full marks. That’s amazing!”
As soon as the female student spoke, the students who were still checking their grades all turned around.
“A perfect score on your first exam? You really are a genius, Ruri!”
“I never thought someone would actually rival Olesia. I wonder which one of you is actually better.”
Yuriko suddenly became the center of the crowd’s attention.
Surrounded and discussed, even the students who didn’t speak watched her with surprise or admiration.
It made Yuriko feel a bit awkward.
‘Getting first place by cheating… it really is embarrassing to be praised like this.’
‘Fine, I’ll definitely give Phantom an extra chicken leg later.’
“Thank you. I just did my best,” Yuriko replied.
After dealing with her classmates, Yuriko escaped the encirclement and went to her seat.
Carmilla had arrived early as usual.
After they greeted each other, Yuriko asked, “Mira, your father didn’t make things difficult for you after you got back yesterday, did he?”
Carmilla shook her head.
“Father didn’t say anything.”
‘He didn’t say anything?’
Though it wasn’t a scolding, this was arguably worse.
It meant Carmilla’s father didn’t care about her situation at all.
‘A daughter returns home late and he doesn’t even ask a single question? Does he truly see Carmilla as family?’
“Let’s not talk about that. Yuriko, did you see your exam results? You’re in first place! This is the first time I’ve seen anyone other than Olesia get a perfect score.”
“Ah… it seems our review session was very effective.”
Even though she had only looked at the books for about one hour.
—
Out in the hallway, Olesia and Nomily appeared before the bulletin board.
When the surrounding students saw Olesia, they consciously cleared a path so she could check her results directly.
Nomily followed Olesia inside and searched the list for her own ranking.
“My name is… found it! I’m in seventh place!”
The rank was a bit lower than Nomily had expected.
She had originally estimated she would be in the top five.
As for why it was lower, Nomily had a vague idea.
These past few days, she had been easily distracted, thinking about things unrelated to her studies.
‘Where is Yuriko’s rank?’
Nomily scanned the left side of the list, all the way up to second place.
They were all familiar names, but none were Yuriko’s.
So, she looked toward the right.
There was no sign of Yuriko among the dozen or so names behind her.
‘That’s strange. Why can’t I find it? It can’t possibly be even further down, can it?’
Nomily glanced at Olesia beside her and noticed her gaze was fixed on the very top of the list.
‘If it’s Elder Sister, she must be in first place again, and surely with a perfect score.’
‘But why is Elder Sister just staring at the list in a daze?’
‘It couldn’t be that Yuriko is also in first place, could it?’
With the mindset that it was impossible, Nomily looked toward the top — First Place: Windham Olesia.
Although Olesia was in first place, the list didn’t end there.
Above Olesia’s name, there was another line — First Place: Ruri Yuriko.
“How is that possible?!”
Nomily turned her head mechanically, her eyes filled with shock and bewilderment.
“Elder Sister, I must be seeing things. How could Yuriko be tied with you? And her name is even listed before yours!”
Olesia looked at Yuriko’s name on the list, saying nothing.
Everyone around them was afraid to make a sound.
Yuriko’s performance in this test had clearly shaken Olesia’s position, and no one knew what Olesia was thinking.
They were terrified of crossing her.
Worried that Olesia might develop a grudge against Yuriko because of this, Nomily quickly tried to comfort her.
“Don’t take it to heart, Elder Sister. It’s just one exam; it doesn’t prove anything. Maybe Yuriko just performed exceptionally well this time?”
Faced with Nomily’s comfort, Olesia merely shook her head.
She didn’t show any signs of gravity or displeasure.
On the contrary, a look of gratification and anticipation even crossed her face.
“I certainly didn’t misjudge her.”