The villainess shall be mine

After Adam and Blanca left with Redmond, Uriella had begun informing the other participants about the test.

"Demonstrating that you are strong is indeed necessary during this test, but even if you are strong individually if your group doesn't manage to pass the next test, the professors and also the Guardians would not evaluate you well," Uriella said.

"The theme for this test is 'cooperation' because everyone in the Empire needs to work together against the monsters. However, everyone can't a leader, but without a proper leader, things wouldn't go well. Now look at yourself and evaluate your abilities and your weakness. Because if your group needs a leader but you hesitate to take the responsibility to lead everyone even though you can do so, then you have already failed as a noble. On the contrary, if you think of yourself as better than the leader of your group, yet your contributions and actions are for your own sake, then you fail as a noble. This is why discipline is crucial," Uriella added.

"The first test is necessary for the other members of your group to see what you are capable of and vice-versa. It will also help the leader to elaborate a plan while knowing what his teammates are capable of. As you can see, a leader doesn't only think about himself, and that's why being strong doesn't make you a good leader so don't make a fool of yourself if you are not ready to shoulder this responsibility. You need to support your leader and contribute to everything their plan because that's the duty of a noble. The professors would evaluate these two aspects during this test."

What Uriella explained was indeed the official statement that the Empire issued about the Holy Academy's test.

Still, Redmond knew that it was not as simple as that and his intuition was spot on.

The Holy Academy's test was a battleground for influential people and also a source of revenue for others.

The more participants affiliated with them pass the test, the more their influence would grow in the future. Still, this also allowed the Empire to keep an eye on the majority of the participants who were considered the new generation of gift holders.

Hidden from the public view, a lot of internal conflict and fight for power was happening within the Empire and the monsters were the last of their worries.

Good people were corrupted, the weak were crushed without delay, and the strong grew stronger until they fall in their turn. It was an unending cycle.

Thus, some of those who are top began to search for a way to prolong their life.

On the other hand, some were just focused on acquiring more money to spend excessively on mundane things after. This was also one of the most frequent lifestyles that some nobles and Lords adopted.

Such people saw the Holy Academy's test as a form of entertainment, and a lot of people were about to gamble on the participants and they bet an astronomical sum of money or even something more extreme just for the sake of the thrill.

Those Lords were the ones who were bored with their life as they didn't have the chance to go against the influential Lords despite their greediness, so they sought other methods to satisfy their wicked desires.

All of that was part of the dark side of the Empire and because of his goal, Adam couldn't avoid facing such a people.

"Now, you need to ready yourself, and these people will help with that. We will be leaving for the Empire the day after tomorrow," Uriella said, and she was clearly not related to the dark side of the Empire, at least, Redmond made sure that she wouldn't be swallowed by that world.

Among all of the participants affiliated with the Raizel family, however, there were a few talented youths with particular gifts and one of them was Amelia despite her problematic attitude.

During the last few years, the number of people having the same type of particular gift had increased dramatically and this made the emergence of exceptional individuals less frequent.

Still, these talented youth were more concerned about Adam and his identity than everyone else because, despite their particular gifts, Adam's abilities were unfathomable. What was his level? What was his gift? How strong he was? What was his connection with Lord Redmond? And why he was with Amelia.

These questions crossed the participants' minds, and Amelia ended up being the center of attention.

Adam's presence was impressive and the participants had a hard time acknowledging the fact that he was the same age as them. Moreover, he had the Pride of a noble and acted like how a genuine noble should act despite his ability.

How he acted in front of Uriella and how his attitude changed when in front of Redmond showed this.

Uriella wasn't a Lord, and for a Lord to be looked down on by someone who wasn't a noble would be a disgrace for them and the people who were under their jurisdiction. Thus, Adam hadn't even once acted as if he was below Uriella or anyone present there despite his age.

Other nobles would of course adopt a more friendly attitude when they were in front of important people from the Empire whether they were Lords or not. This was because they feared drawing attention to themselves or because they didn't have the power to back up their actions, to the point that they discarded their pride as a noble.

Consequently, by showing such an attitude, Adam had shown that he had the power to back up his actions and he assumed his status.

Nonetheless, Adam also acknowledged the hierarchy of power and showed respect to Redmond like a proper noble. He didn't discard his pride by doing this, but he was showing that he was following the Empire's common etiquette.

By doing so, he wasn't putting himself below Redmond but recognized that Redmond had an important role than him, at least within the Empire.

Regardless, some interpreted his actions as showing off but in reality, they just felt Adam was above them in every aspect and they couldn't stand it.

Either way, the Holy Academy's test would the day for every participant to prove their worth.

*****

Continuing the discussion with Redmond, Adam finally understood what was at stake during the Holy Academy's test. Thus, he had already added various details to his plan according to Redmond's explanation.

"The only thing that looks challenging is the second part of the power test," Adam commented. "I came here intending to pass the test with the highest score, but working with other people could indeed be tricky."

Adam's tone didn't sound arrogant at all as he said these words, and it just sounded like it was normal for him to do so. Looking at his attitude, Redmond knew that Adam could back up his words, and far from arrogance, he saw the determination in Adam, seeing him analyzing the pieces of information that he just acquired as a great strategist would do.

A noble must act like a noble in every aspect, but arrogance was not the main thing that should define them.

A Lord without ambitions would not do anything good to those who expect something from them but if the Lord was also too arrogant, things would be the same.

That was why Redmond was amazed by the balance in Adam's character. Still, he believed that Adam could still develop.

"I am glad that you are confident in your abilities, but you also need to be careful. There are a lot of talented people this year, and as you said, it will be tricky to work as a group if you were to be in such a group," Redmond said.

"You don't have to worry, uncle. I am aware of my limits, and I know what I can do and what I can't so turning around the bush wouldn't do anything well. I also believe you have your plan and you would need to adjust it after my appearance so as of now, you can make those adjustments based on the fact that I will finish the test as a top student unless someone who has awakened their authority appears," Adam replied.

"What makes you believe that?"

"The Raizel family is not as influential as it was, I can at least reach this conclusion by myself, and seeing how uncle gathered these young people here, things would make sense if it was for the sake of the family because after talking with you, I can tell that you are similar to my father in many ways. Well, I believe all of the other Lords would also take advantage of this event to increase their family's influence but, I am here with the attention to show my father that I am worthy of my title. And I believe that I can outperform everyone, so it would be a disgrace if I act this way and don't get the highest score on this test. Of course, this is just my commitment as a Lord," Adam answered.

"I am impressed!" Redmond cried in awe. He knew that Adam was testing him even though his words appeared to be straightforward. If Redmond was like the other words, what Adam said would have certainly offended him because Adam never once said that he needed the Raizel family's help.

When the populace looked up, they should see their Lord leading the way, and when they reach their hand to grab the Lord's clothes, they should feel that the Lord was pulling them upward, giving them a sense of security. Such a Lord would be respected.