“Are you calling me a fool in front of the Emperor?”

  “I said silly.”

  “And what’s so great about Dominik anyway?”

  “A lot, actually.”

  “Bet you can’t list more than three things.”

  “1) He wouldn’t choose a flashy human form like you. 2) He wouldn’t blurt out my name in public. 3) He wouldn’t grope me. 4) He wouldn’t obsess over mating. 5)...”

  “You’re so biased. Dominik has a fight record against me—41 wins, 43 losses. I’m clearly better.”

  “You’re dodging the point. I wasn’t even talking about combat. You really are a master... of nonsense.”

  “If you say ‘nonsense’ one more time, I’m going to get mad.”

  Zeedee chewed on her meat angrily, the ambient noise of the restaurant humming in the background.

  “And what will you do? Steal the pork off my plate? Sorry to disappoint—I don’t eat pork.”

  “That’s not pork?”

  “That’s chicken.”

  “You don’t eat pork? Even after becoming human?”

  “Pigs sleep in their own filth. I don’t eat filthy animals.”

  “What about dogs? They eat their own poop too, you know.”

  “I don’t eat dogs either.”

  “But do you think dogs are filthy?”

  “Maybe not filthy… Dirty, sure. But not filthy.”

  He pointed his fork at Zeedee.

  “Dogs have intelligence.”

  “So what you’re saying is—if pigs were a bit more intelligent, they wouldn’t be considered filthy animals?”

  “If they were intelligent, they wouldn’t roll around in their own crap.”

  “But just now, you admitted dogs eat their own crap.”

  “…You know what... you’ve actually got a point.”

  “At least today, I managed to corner you.”

  “Congrats on your completely useless victory. Let’s give Zeedee a round of applause.”

  Zeedee bowed.

  The two of them left the restaurant and laid a gold coin on the table.

  “Come to think of it, everyone in this restaurant looks like student applicants. They must have the same goal as us.”

  “Should I poison their food and weaken them in advance? I have a toxin that could do the trick.”

  “That’d be a disaster—don’t even think about it.”

  He stopped walking and turned to her firmly.

  “And from this point forward, not a word of ‘Your Highness’ or ‘Sire’ or anything out of a royal drama. Just ‘I’ and ‘you’, or ‘me’ and ‘you’, got it? Say it—do you understand, Zeedee?”

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  “I understand.”

  “Good job, Zeedee.”

  “Uh… what was your name again?”

  “My name’s Dan—hey! Don’t tell me you forgot already!”

  “Sorry, Your Hi—I mean, Dan. Human names don’t really stick in my head.”

  “If you’ve got something easier to call me, go ahead.”

  “Sweetie~ ?”

  “Five billion years…”

  “With that patience, a lizard could evolve into a bird.”

  As they walked down the street, the path led them toward Artheris Institute.

  This morning was especially lively. The crowd was thicker than usual.

  Artheris Prestige Academy—greatest of them all—sat at the nexus where the five kingdoms met. The streets were immaculate, paved in white stone throughout the city.

  A grand clock tower stood tall, gleaming under the bright orange-gold sun.

  Applicants of every background, every class, and every corner of the continent had gathered here in a vibrant atmosphere.

  This institution didn’t discriminate by class or birth.

  Even royals attended here.

  You could say the future of humankind was sculpted here with meticulous care.

  And standing proudly at the grand entrance of this legendary institution—

  Was a row of monumental white marble statues honoring legendary figures of the past.

  Kings, archmages, war generals… and most prominently—

  The statue of the legendary Paladin of Light: Casca Saint Maximin.

  Dan stood, head tilted back, gazing at her towering likeness—sculpted exactly as she looked the day they fought, the day they came to know each other.

  The marble face looked out across the land. Dan smiled faintly.

  “She’s big enough to get her own statue, huh…”

  “It doesn’t even look like her. It’s totally off. Bet the sculptor got overly creative. That chest is way too big. Total false advertisement. She really was insecure about her figure, huh? Hahaha! Poor thing!”

  “She could teleport in front of you and you’d call her lazy. She could walk on water and you’d say she can’t swim. Is there anything she could do to win with you, Zeedee?”

  “Hmph.”

  Zeedee puffed her cheeks.

  “You’re always defending her. It hurts, you know.”

  “Defending my wife’s dignity from a sore loser—what’s wrong with that?”

  “Hmph!”

  “If you don’t like it, go fight her again.”

  “...No.”

  “Exactly.”

  He continued into the institute, Zeedee following with a pout.

  Artheris had four application queues, all filled with long lines of aspiring students.

  Dan surveyed the area. Behind the gates, students in pristine white-and-gold uniforms stood vigil, maintaining order.

  “Those must be current students.”

  “If we get in, we’ll get to wear those too, right?”

  “I think so, yeah.”

  “So what’re they doing here?”

  “They’re probably proctoring the exams.”

  “Hmph.”

  Though she disliked humans, she had to admit—those students looked sharp.

  On the other side, a special gate had been set up, and a royal carriage rolled in from a restricted road.

  Knights, priests, and security escorts surrounded it… and murmurs rippled through the crowd. Some applicants rushed to the fence for a closer look, where a human barricade of white-armored guards had formed.

  From the carriage stepped a girl with long, snow-white hair and brilliant blue eyes. Her lips were soft and pink, and her pale skin was so light you could see the veins beneath.

  She wore black heels, a black dress, black gloves—everything about her attire was black.

  White hair. Pale skin. Black clothing. A black void standing out starkly amid the white knights.

  Dan caught the emblem on the carriage:

  A snowflake.

  The Kingdom of Snowhaven.

  He wasn’t especially interested—but for the Academy?

  She was a major figure.

  She was Princess Nora Ophilis of Snowhaven.

  Her bright blue eyes calmly scanned the crowd clinging to the fence to watch her arrival.

  She had journeyed far from the northern kingdom—arriving early because the journey was the longest.

  Princess Nora inhaled and exhaled slowly, centering herself, then greeted the professors and senior student council members awaiting her, preparing for her upcoming evaluation.

  “Welcome, Princess Nora,” the faculty greeted her.

  “Good morning, everyone.”

  “Dan Burn… Zeedee Lamb… applicants number 169 and 170. Please keep your numbers visible throughout the exam process.”

  Zeedee glanced up at the clock tower.

  “About twenty minutes left.”

  She turned to him.

  “Which room should we pick?”

  “Acting like you’ve got the answers already…”

  “From what I gathered through our informants, the tests are split across multiple categories.”

  That way, each applicant could be assigned a specialization—some were skilled in swordplay, others in magical theory, some in invention and creation.

  The tests would determine their strengths and place them accordingly.

  However, all first-year students shared the same core curriculum in the first term.

  “We shouldn’t be in the same room, Zeedee.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Dead sure. Know why? That way we can cover more ground. If we stay together, our progress stays the same.”

  “Then what track do you want me to aim for?”

  “Let’s just focus on getting accepted first. And one more thing before we split—”

  Dan pulled her close.

  “Score well on the exams. We’re getting into the Elite class. Top of the pyramid. To be number one. Got it?”

  “I-I’ll try my best…”

  “If not—600,000 years.”