A month passed in the blink of an eye.
During that time, more and more mages poured into the magic city of Äußerst.
There were old men, bespectacled nerds, girls who looked like noble ladies, punks who looked like troublemakers… all kinds of people.
They were famous mages from all over, all gathered for one reason: the mage rank exam.
First-class mages were incredibly rare in this world. Every one of them was an elite among elites.
It wasn't enough to just have powerful magic to become a first-class mage.
Even Fern wasn't confident she could pass.
"Shichen-sama, what if I fail?"
At the inn, Fern sat on Shichen's lap in their room, hugging him with her head against his chest as she sulked.
Shichen wrapped an arm around her and comforted her gently. "Relax. With your ability, you'll definitely pass."
The closer the exam got, the more nervous Fern became. She'd been like this for days.
After all, she'd barely interacted with other mages before. Competing on the same stage as them made her feel uncertain.
And she hadn't learned any flashy or unusual magic either. Aside from a few playful spells, everything she knew was basic magic.
"But first-class mages are so rare. How could I possibly pass that easily…" Fern pouted.
"If you don't believe in yourself, at least believe in me." Shichen stroked her head.
"I do believe in you, Shichen-sama."
"Then there's no problem."
"Mmph…"
"Besides, Frieren's taking it too. You can just stick with her when the time comes."
"Mmph… I don't want to stick with Frieren-sama."
"Why are you two still at odds?" Shichen sighed helplessly.
Even though Fern could happily be affectionate with him right in front of Frieren, the two of them still couldn't get along. It really was impossible to understand.
Girls' thought processes always went beyond what men could imagine.
"She's the one who started it," Fern shot back.
"She's basically a kid. Why are you taking her so seriously?"
"I'm a kid too."
"Well… you're not exactly small anymore." Shichen lowered his eyes meaningfully.
"Shichen-sama~" Fern protested shyly.
"Am I wrong? Even Frieren's jealous."
"Hehe~" That clearly pleased Fern.
"You like it too, don't you?"
"What do you think?" Shichen answered with his hands instead.
"Shichen-sama~" Fern's eyes turned soft and liquid, full of affection.
"There's plenty of time. Frieren-sama and the others won't be up for a while."
"Really? What if you get tired later?"
"I'm not the same as before." Fern smiled smugly.
"Oh? That's not what you looked like that day."
"That was just because I'd never done it before. This time will be different." Fern said that and tied her hair into twin tails.
"Then I'll have to see how much you've improved."
…
Another half month passed, and the mage rank exam finally began.
Shichen and Stark didn't take part.
He didn't need to, and Stark wasn't a mage.
Since they weren't participating, they couldn't stay with Frieren and the others, though Shichen had plenty of ways to keep following them anyway.
He just didn't bother.
Shichen settled Stark somewhere safe first and sent him out to train on his own, then went to play with Serie.
He didn't need to babysit Stark anymore. Stark was a mature little underling now and could handle himself.
Shichen had prepared several puppets for him to fight, each stronger than the last. There was no chance he'd get bored.
It was all for Stark's sake, to help him grow stronger. As a big brother, Shichen was really going above and beyond.
There weren't many big brothers as good as him.
He'd even left Stark plenty of good food. Full VIP treatment.
When he arrived at Serie's palace, she was lying on the bed looking bored out of her mind.
"You took your sweet time getting here." The moment she saw him, she sat up.
"I had to get Stark settled first." Shichen walked over, sat down by the bed, and pulled her into his arms.
Serie sat obediently on his lap and let him hold her. "Your little lackey?"
"Yeah."
"You care about him that much?"
"Stark's Eisen's student. Of course I care."
"That doesn't sound like you."
"Hm?"
"Normally, shouldn't there only be girls around you?"
"So now you're slandering me?" Shichen pinched her cheek.
"Mmph… isn't it true?"
"You're talking nonsense. I got along great with Himmel and the others."
"Who knows what was going on in your head."
"Your butt itching again?"
"Hmph. If you've got the guts, hit me."
"Then just say you want it." Shichen didn't hold back. He turned her over across his lap and smacked her.
"You're actually doing it?!" Serie's face flushed bright red.
"Can't show favoritism." He landed another smack on the other side.
"Mmph…"
"Heh. If people knew you liked this, the whole world would be stunned." Shichen teased.
"I do not have that kind of hobby!" Serie snapped.
"Oh? You believe that yourself?" He rubbed the sore spot for her and looked into her eyes.
They were already glistening.
"I…"
"Come on, let me fix that stubborn mouth first."
"You're doing that now? You're not going to check on Frieren and the others?"
"I trust them. A mere exam is nothing to them."
"And what if something goes wrong?"
"Then I'll deal with it. Right now, I'm going to make you beg."
"As if I'm scared of you."
"Heh. We'll see if you can keep talking like that."
As it turned out, Serie's tough act didn't last very long.
Before long, she was already pleading for mercy.
But Shichen had no intention of letting her off easily. He toyed with her every way he pleased.
She was so small he could put her in any position he liked.
Only after night fell did Shichen leave her behind and go check on Stark.
Frieren and the others' first round of the exam would last three days inside the testing grounds, so there was no need to worry about them.
"B-Big bro… you're finally here…"
When Shichen arrived on the outskirts, he found Stark sprawled flat on the ground, unable to move, with one of the puppets standing nearby, silently watching him.
The puppets Shichen created didn't keep attacking forever. Once Stark went down, they stopped.
Still, Stark hadn't been slacking. Several shattered chunks of stone lay around him—he'd already destroyed quite a few puppets.
"What are you doing lying there?" Shichen asked as he walked over and recalled the puppet.
"I'm dying…" Stark groaned, rolling onto his back to stare at the sky.
The moon was bright overhead.
"That tired already? Young people these days are hopeless."
"Big bro… I've been fighting all day," Stark complained.
"Well, do you at least feel stronger?"
"I mean… maybe…"
"That's the point. Sweat never betrays you. If you keep doing this every day, you'll only keep getting stronger."
"Every day? I'll die."
"I can heal you. And after working hard, don't you get to relax however you want?"
"I won't even have the energy…"
"Really? You do realize Frieren and the others aren't here tonight, right? It's just the two of us~"
"Wait—!" Stark's eyes widened.
"Exactly."
"Big bro, you mean…"
"That's right. Tonight, we can stay up all night watching Giant of Light!"
"Yes! I want to watch the Hornbreaker!" Stark shot upright, instantly energized.
"Of course that's the only one you'd know."
"He's so cool! Especially the way he breaks horns. I want to do that too—cut demon horns off someday."
"…Yeah, sure. You do that."
~~~
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