72
Monday morning, a new piece of paper was posted on the dormitory bulletin board.
It was a schedule announcing the start of midterm exams.
The exam period extends for two weeks, during which regular lessons stop, and one exam is held for each subject.
The children gathered around the paper that included the dates and locations of the exams for each subject, and began writing down their schedules in their small notebooks.
“What should I do? I didn’t study well at all...”
Among the young students, there were those who were sad and crying while reviewing their exam dates.
But his friends were unable to console him that everything would be fine, as the atmosphere of the academy changed significantly with the start of the exams.
Despite the influence of noble families and the weaknesses of some, all students possessed the minimum qualifications that qualified them to enter the academy.
They may not excel in all subjects, but each of them has at least one subject or skill in which they excel.
Outside, they were described as geniuses, as their talents surpassed those around them.
But within the academy, they realized how arrogant they were before.
Here, everyone was talented.
Thus, the children who were called geniuses became just ordinary students.
“I'm not special.”
This realization was a huge shock to the students.
However, so far they have somehow managed to hold on.
But as the exams began and the results came out, fear began to creep into their hearts: What if their grades were low?
The academy does not expel students for poor grades, but the bottom 20% are deemed to need additional education and are required to attend make-up classes later.
The students were afraid that they would have to attend these lessons, as it was clear evidence of their poor grades.
“Other people will definitely make fun of me and call me stupid.”
So, the students are all making desperate efforts.
Evie also felt the change in the atmosphere.
What I noticed most was the transformation of Lusca, who had always been the most indifferent of the quartet, into a serious person.
Luska usually walked around with his coat thrown over his shoulders and his shirt unbuttoned, ready to play with his friends.
Even during lessons, he was fooling around and joking, which caused Professor Mallis to scold him many times, holding his ear while shouting: “Can’t you concentrate?!”
But Loska now had no trace of those actions.
He was wearing his school uniform neatly and neatly, sitting upright, focusing on solving problems with intense concentration.
Evie looked at the serious Luska, whom she saw for the first time, in astonishment and could not take her eyes off him.
After he finished solving a math problem, he wrote down the answer and extended his hand to Evie.
“Evie, can you check on her?”
“Of course... like this...”
Evie carefully reviewed his notebook from top to bottom.
“This is correct. But here, the steps are wrong. In this part, you should have used square…”
Evie explained the error in detail.
Loska listened carefully to her explanation, took notes, and then re-checked his incorrect answer from the beginning.
“So, if I analyzed it like this, would it be correct?”
After listening to Evie's explanation carefully, he smiled and showed a new solution method.
"Yes! It's accurate!"
Evie clapped enthusiastically, and Loska laughed and said:
“As I expected, your explanation makes things easier.”
“But Professor Mallis explains well too, doesn’t he?”
Eppie tilted her head in surprise, and Luska smiled bitterly.
“This only applies to you and Arcel… For normal people, it is sometimes difficult to keep up with his impulsiveness.”
“But you study well too, Luska.”
Loska was always pretending to cry, claiming that he was the worst of the quartet in the study.
But Evie thought this was just a joke.
Loska understood quickly when something was explained to him, and would often solve problems he had previously been unable to do in moments.
The problem was that he would go back to playing after that.
So Professor Mallis was complaining, “That kid is smart, but for some reason he doesn’t put in the extra effort...”
At those moments, Lusca looked at Arcel with a complicated look for a few seconds.
“No matter how hard I try, I can't be like Arcel.”
His response had a hushed tone, different from his nature
The usual.
“You know too, right? Arcel is really good at everything.”
“Yes...”
As Luska said, Arcel excelled amazingly in all subjects.
At first, Professor Mallis refused to accept Arcel with excessive enthusiasm, but after teaching him he turned to look greedily, saying: “Aren’t you thinking about majoring in mathematics?”
"No matter how hard I work, I can't reach his level. It's hard to beat Arcel at anything."
After a short thought, Evie replied:
“But you're taller than him, aren't you?”
“Okay...”
“And run faster.”
“Maybe because I'm a little taller, like you said.”
“And you're better at playing ball.”
“That's because I don't study and spend time playing with friends.”
“And your singing is great too.”
Evie continued listing his strengths.
Lusca might think he was nothing better than Arcel, but Eppie saw it differently.
Loska was a truly wonderful person.
He was always surrounded by people, and despite his heavy banter, there was no one who genuinely disliked him, not even the professors.
The evidence for this is that everyone was smiling and greeting him warmly when they saw or heard his voice.
“I've never seen someone so loved by everyone, Luska.”
This was something Evie truly envied.
Everyone loved him, and he loved everyone.
So, she always felt comfortable around him.
“So, I'm thinking I want to be like you when I grow up.”
“…”
Loska looked down for a moment, and his neck turned red.
After still staring at the ground sheepishly, he raised his head to face Evie.
Then he said quietly:
“…thanks.”
He then exchanged glances with Evie for a moment, before reaching out his hand and ruffling her hair.
He returned to his usual cheerful tone and said:
“But, I'm not that much older than you! What's this talk about you becoming like me when you grow up? As for the professors, we're about the same age.”
“But you are much taller than me!”
“That's because you're small! If you were a little bigger, it wouldn't be that big of a difference. Well, maybe it would be hard to outstrip me.”
The idea seemed really difficult. But Evie hoped it would at least reach Lusca's chin.
“Since when will you keep calling me Mr. Lusca? Irene just calls me by my name.”
“Well, this is…”
“Try it now. Call me Lusca.”
Luska leaned his chin, looking at Evie with obvious expectation.
Evie hesitated and looked around.
Just walking with him was enough to attract sharp glances, so what if she called him by name directly? Hostile looks may multiply.
But if I kept calling him “Mr. Lusca,” I felt like he might get hurt.
Between the eyes of the people and Lusca's expectations, Evie finally made her decision.
“Lu…ska?”
Luska's eyes opened gently.
“Well done. Once again.”
“Lu…ska.”
“It still looks a little weird. Try again.”
“…Losca.”
At first, it was difficult to call him without a nickname, but after a few tries, it became familiar.
After making her call him by his name dozens of times, he finally said enough was enough.
“By the way, where is Irene today? It’s unreasonable for her to be wandering around without you.”
“Irene...she said she wanted to study alone today.”
Since the start of the exams, Irene has seemed to tend towards isolation.
Even when Evie suggested studying together in an empty classroom, Irene hesitantly declined, saying she would study alone in her room.
Evie was a little worried and frustrated that Irene, who had always been attached to her, did not insist on accompanying her.
“Hmm.”
Luska nodded as if he understood.
“That's why you were so sulky when you came.”
While Irene was thinking of Irene sadly, Luska approached her as if taking advantage of Irene's absence, and grabbed her cheeks with both hands.
He pulled them gently without hurting her.
“Look, you're going to cry.”
“We are still crying!” (I'm not crying)
Evie stared at him sharply, and Loska laughed and said:
“I should have a little fun without Irene.”
He extended his hand to her and said:
“Today I will take care of you. Let’s go eat!”
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