NA: Hello readers, sorry for not having published anything. I had the draft of chapter 4 of the fanfic, but it didn't convince me so I had to submit it to a rewrite of the chapter removing paragraphs and super obvious phrases remarking the same point, but I already have it here
Author's note: the underlined dialogues are the communication by telepathy of the Puer and Puella Magi, as long as Kyubey is near them.
Episode 4
Aiming for the best university, Stockholm University.
July 19, 2010
The team were investigating all over the city about some anomaly such as being witches or Uwasas... All except Aleyn, since she was reviewing with great enthusiasm and nervousness the exams of the city university that included the subjects of mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology and a bit of general history. With every minute that passed, the entrance exam for Stockholm University was getting closer, further increasing the nervousness of the team's rookie. I bet you are wondering, what was it that triggered this nervousness and unbridled enthusiasm to study? Well, that was summed up a few days ago…
"Dante, wait… I appreciate everything you did, but… I want to do something risky…" Aleyn said.
"What's going on?" the boy asked as he took a sip of coffee.
The girl only limited herself to swallowing nervously, but looking at Dante's serene face, the girl calmed down a bit and she blurted out the possibility that she could put another semester in the dark.
"I want to take the Stockholm Academic Sufficiency Test" the girl blurted out.
Dante spat out his drink and looked at her worriedly. It was more than obvious that it was impossible to enter the university with only a Stockholm academic proficiency exam. When Dante and Victor took their respective exams, they had to try to get at least the letter B, luckily getting the letter A by far, so that it is a guarantee of admission par excellence since in terms of scholarships they only gave them when they got the note VG, but to avoid confusing exchange students, from 2007 onwards, Swedish universities such as Stockholm and Lund applied the letter grade, with B and A being the ones that are given the most benefits.
"Aleyn… Are you sure you want to take the admission exam, which is complicated? It's not to discourage you, but the pre-facultative exams last one semester, so if you fail an exam, you'll have two more to add to your final grade and enter more securely" suggested Dante.
"I understand, Dante, but I can't lose another semester either. Really, I promise to do my best to pass the admission exam first time and with an A" said Aleyn. She was an average student who would at least reach a grade of C, rarely would reach a grade of B or A, but the reality is that math is where she falters the most, which could affect her performance. So she aspires to aim for C at least.
"Well… If you want, Diana can help you with biology and Victor with the math part" Dante offered.
"It won't be necessary. I don't want to be dependent on them after the bad impression I gave them. I can do it alone, trust me" Aleyn commented.
Dante just nodded, trusting that everything would be fine.
It's been almost 1 week after the talk between the group leader and the rookie. The girl didn't ask for help even once, as she didn't have much confidence in her abilities and she had a tendency for her nerves to betray her during the exam. We have to add several sabotage attempts from former schoolmates, making her a little distrustful of her subsequent attempts at kindness and her studying alone. She was also not very friendly with the teachers because they took the Swedish education of the student-teacher relationship very seriously, causing them to be distant with her, which worsened after a peculiar incident, having only one friend, the teacher Strickler being the only person to treat her well regardless of the prejudices that were said of Aleyn, having a bond of friendship outside of class, taking her out to eat occasionally and giving her history books and talking about her days. The teacher promised Aleyn to celebrate graduation day with her, however, the teacher broke her word, where he resigned the day before graduation, leaving the girl to finish her high school studies the same way she started, alone.
Aleyn tries to solve the 1998 admission exam... whose questions were so difficult that the girl only received a headache when thinking about where to start.
"Det här provet är så svårt! How many passed this exam?" she lies back in her bed frustrated. Diana was resting on her bed very peacefully. She finished making some notes on her potions about 2 hours ago and discovered a potion that could create barriers out of rose stems and thorns.
"I have to pass the entrance exam… I already have a roof and food. If I fail the exam, they will think that I am taking up extra space and they will kick me out of the house and the team…"
After these worries and with the fear of being one more step away from her, the girl closed her eyes and fell asleep.
July 20, 2010
The girl got up somewhat unsure of herself and ended up having breakfast with a long and thoughtful face about the exam.
"Ready for your test, Aleyn?" Dante asked.
"Av förbannelse" Aleyn replied with some enthusiasm "Why wouldn't I be?"
"I notice you're distracted, as if you're nervous about the exam" Dante commented to which Aleyn only laughs a little.
"Maybe I'm a little nervous" Aleyn replied.
"Diana made you some sweets for your test. If you feel uncomfortable or nervous, you can eat them during the test" Dante offered.
Diana offers the box of sweets to Aleyn, to which the girl rejects it.
"Don't worry, Diana, it won't be necessary, I'll be fine" Aleyn rejected the offer, making Diana feel bad, since refusing food to the French is synonymous with offense and the redhead goes to the room upset with her.
"Aleyn that was very rude!" Dante said.
"It's just that I'm…full, yes, breakfast was very heavy" the brown-haired girl created the lie while she held her belly.
Aleyn did not accept the box of chocolates due to countless attempts at sabotage, although she wanted to believe that Diana's attempts to get closer could be genuine, she also remembered that Diana behaved passive aggressively towards her and decided to reject the gift for fear of another attempt. of sabotage. Aleyn felt Dante's heavy gaze on her, so she had to come up with another excuse.
"Okay" the chestnut grabs a box of sweets "I'm going to eat the sweets when I'm in the exam… I'm going to the university, adjö" the girl quickly grabs her things and runs off without giving the rest a chance to wish her luck.
After half an hour, the girl arrived at Stockholm University. And, unsurprisingly, there were several applicants for the university. Being the second best public university in Sweden, no one was going to miss this opportunity to study for free. On the other hand, there were people renewing their credentials for the next school year. As she searched the classroom to take her test, she saw a very familiar face.
"My former history teacher… Wartolomeo Strickler…" Aleyn said to herself.
Aleyn wondered where her teacher went, since in the last year she left without knowing her final whereabouts. Finally the question that tormented her since the last day of school was already answered, so without waiting, she went to meet her teacher.
"Lärare Strickler! Lärare Strickler!" Aleyn approaches the teacher with a big smile "Hello, Lärare Strickler. I didn't know you were here in Stockholm"
"Miss, sorry for the confusion but do I know you?" Strickler asked confused.
"Oh, how can she not recognize me, I was one of her students" commented Aleyn "Remember me? We used to have lunch together during break time sometimes, while we talked about our days"
"Hm… I don't remember anything about you… maybe she got the person confused?" Strickler asked.
Aleyn was puzzled. Her former master didn't remember her, but if she pressed the issue, Strickler would think she was crazy and her lord would stay away from her, so she chose her words better and do the unthinkable, but she did. more logical so as not to raise fuss.
"Sorry for the confusion, Mr. Chancellor. I wanted to say that you look a lot like one of my former school teachers that I treasured a lot. In appearance and so on" the girl offers her arm "Jag är Linder Aleyn, trevligt att träffa dig"
"Trevligt att träffa dig, fröken Linder, I am the rector of the university, Wartolomeo Strickler" accepts the hand and shakes it "Good luck in the admission exam for the degree you are applying for" Strickler leaves the place, leaving Aleyn happy and sad at the same time. She found her teacher, but he decided to pretend not to know her. Leaving that aside, her biggest concern is passing the exam.
The girl enters the classroom where she would take the exam, the teacher seemed very threatening and serious, which made the girl uncomfortable. At first everyone was beginning to solve the exam, but when the teacher appeared to see, he whispered something to the boys that made the applicants nervous and some decided to stop solving. Despite the fact that the chestnut studied for a C, every time the teacher said how much time was left for the delivery and by the way, the teacher was observing seriously, Aleyn began to doubt more.
"This is... I didn't expect this to come in... Hmm let's see... If I start here... No... This won't be possible... But if I use this... No... it also leaves me in a dead end" Aleyn thought, not knowing what to do.
The teacher goes to see Aleyn's exam and after seeing the chestnut's traces and then later erasing them, the teacher only lets out a sigh.
"I don't know what elementary school nonsense you're doing…" the teacher said to Aleyn and went to see other people to try to manipulate them and persuade them to give up and finish the exam. The less applicants enter, the less expenses the university would have to pay to the government.
That lowered Aleyn's little confidence about the exam. He no longer knew where to start or end. She felt lost in the waters of restlessness and doubt. With every minute that passed, she Aleyn was drowning in the sea of uncertainty. Every time the professor approached an applicant, the boys either gave up or pretended to write something or erased all the progress they had by questioning. Although Aleyn studied so hard, she forgot even the most basic. After 90 minutes, the teacher applauded to attract the attention of the applicants.
"Put down your pencils! The exam is over" said the teacher who was controlling.
Aleyn got frustrated. She didn't manage to answer even half of the questions, so she, with resignation, handed over her exam and she leaves frustrated with her eyes lowered.
"I couldn't even answer 40% of the questions…" Aleyn sighed as she watched how other exam partners ended up just as worried, getting an F.
"Liten Flicka… How did you do on your exam?" someone asked and the girl looked up.
"Victor, what are you doing here?" Aleyn asked when she saw her partner.
"Isn't it rude to answer a question with another question?" Victor asked raising an eyebrow.
"Du har rätt… I did well in the exam" the girl tries to feign pride "In fact, I had a lot of self-confidence and stuff. And what are you doing here?"
"I'm glad to hear that" Victor replied, inspecting the security mask on the girl's face, trying to see if it was genuine or a fake security and he has the nerve to lie to her "Regarding why I'm here, the registration expires every year, so I have to renew the registration so that they give me new registration codes"
"I see…" Aleyn answered and the peace was disturbed by a lady who started shouting nonsense. The lady had curly blonde hair badly combed with a green cap, she had a beige sweater, white shorts, white socks and old shoes that were falling apart.
"The end of the world will come to those students! They will die, they will be assassinated!" the lady shouted while the rest of the students were surprised by the lady, others only made rude comments about her. One of the school authorities arrived and was frustrated. This scene was always common for them apparently.
"Mrs. Olga! Could you please stop giving students unnecessary anxiety?" asked a humanities teacher.
"But what I say is true! They will die, there will be blood everywhere!" shouted Mrs. Olga.
"Mrs. Olga, we had to convince the authorities that you were out of your mind to avoid arrest, now go back to your tower," said the teacher and, with the help of a guard, led the unstable woman towards a tower. The unbalanced lady tried to get out of her grip by shouting things about the exam, it would be her downfall but she was in vain, they locked her in the tower.
"Excuse me, was that lady always like this?" asked the guard, who apparently was a new employee of the university staff,
"She should be in a psychiatrist in Malmö, but since her family decided not to pay for the treatment, here we are. We could expel her, but that lady is one of the students at the university and her family turned their backs on her, at least we welcome her with what basic. Don't let Olga escape from this tower during exam time" replied the humanities teacher, to which the man nodded and they went to their respective work stations.
"Mmm… It seems Miss Olga wants to scare off the applicants, they didn't do well in their exam" Victor commented.
Both saw many frustrated people commenting on the difficulty of the exam and the possibility of giving a grace exam.
"Poor kids desperate for getting nervous or not studying, they want to give everything in the grace exam... As long as it's not another incident like the so-called 1998 tragedy, all good"
"1998 tragedy? What are you talking about?" Aleyn asked.
"Supposedly there is a rumor going around the university… And it may be the theory as to why Stockholm University dropped from the rankings, as well as why the amphitheater is locked up in the entrance exams and Olga's current state of mind …" Victor answered and began to recount.
"The year was 1998. Several applicants went to Stockholm University to enter the university. At that time, despite the fact that Stockholm University was ranked 1 in the University Rankings, at the same time it was in financial crisis, so they had to take a very complicated exam. The intensity of the exam was so brutal, that of the 10,000 applicants who took the exam, only 5% of students made it into that year. You would think they went to take another one admission exam, the so-called grace exam... But it was not like that... A psychopath with mental problems posing as a teacher, asked them if they could accompany him to the amphitheater, since he supposedly managed to convince the teachers to give a grace exam. In their desperation and naivety, they went to the indicated place. Once inside, the boy closed the door of the place, took out a shotgun and forced all the students to take the grace exam. If one passed with n B or A, he would set all the victims free, but if no one made it, they would die. The result was that no one passed with those grades, so the psychopath took the lives of each of those young people, one by one. Just when the murderer was going to kill a blonde lady, police footsteps were heard looking for the missing students from the exam, so the murderer decided to commit suicide and the young blonde fainted. When she was found by the police, the girl saw that there was no crime scene. The bodies, weapons and blood mysteriously disappeared, but this did not help the lady. The supposed incident that only she witnessed and that disappeared from her left her so affected that she ended up mentally broken, the lady's name is Olga. In short, Olga related every detail of how things went, but no one paid any attention to her, they classified her as mentally ill and, upon finding out about the irreversible mental problem, they decided to keep her in the tower provided by the University of Stockholm and the case of disappearance ended up filed and unresolved. This specific problem caused Stockholm University to drop in the overall Swedish ranking. Legend says that every 4 years, applicants who fail the admission exam are given a second chance: the grace exam. If you pass the 98 exam, the grade you got is weighted in the grace exam and you enter the university... But if you fail in those 90 minutes... You would be doomed to disappear... Poof"
"And that rumor is real?" Aleyn asked to which Victor denied.
"Apparently it's just a story to scare newbies to scare them with Olga's behavior and prevent them from entering the exam. As those old masters say, the fewer applicants the better. So don't worry about such nonsense. Well, I have We have to take out some other things for the registration, we'll see you at the fountain behind the math faculty" said Victor leaves, Aleyn says goodbye happily... To later transform her into a gloomy face.
"Kan inte vara… This exam was my chance to enter the university…" Aleyn said with a sigh. The girl sees a group of students following a person, to which Aleyn questions as she walks with the rest.
"Excuse me, where are you going?" Aleyn asked curiously.
"We were given a second chance to pass the exam. It's a grace exam" answered someone worried and excited.
The applicants advanced to a part of the building, to a door which the teacher opened. When they entered the place. The walls were painted in cream color, while seating was arranged in a descending fashion, at the end there was a blackboard and a platform where the teacher used to stand. Aleyn didn't want to take the grace exam since it seemed suspicious to her, but she also didn't want to admit that she failed the admission exam out of pride.
"God morgon studenter, welcome to the grace exam... You can start" the teacher leaves some sheets to the students in front and they passed the exams. It seemed to be a normal exam until…
"Excuse me, Mr. Teacher, the exam date is wrong. It's the year 2010, not 1998" commented a lady. And sure enough, the date read "July 17, 1998." There was no doubt, the Uwasa is real.
"Sir, teacher, I retract it" Aleyn stood up "I'd rather lose my test this year than take the grace exam" the girl goes to the door but it doesn't open "Sir… why doesn't it open?"
"You didn't understand me, miss… Provet har redan börjat, so if you don't want to mysteriously disappear, I suggest you start with the exam" the panorama of the place begins to change. The pastel colors of the classroom changed to a rusty orange and the floor began to fill with thick blood "Welcome to this exam of grace... If one manages to pass with the grades of B or A, rest assured that I will set them free... They fail and they will turn to blood"
Some students took out their phones to ask for help but the phones are not answering. The teacher saw that, he made a click, a shotgun appeared and shot point blank at the poor students who tried to call for help, scaring the rest of the students on the spot.
"If they ask for help... They will suffer the consequences. Besides, using phones is useless now, the signal doesn't reach here" said that teacher "Now they have 90 minutes to solve the exam"
Aleyn was between a rock and a hard place. If she killed the teacher, and destroyed the Uwasa, she would have to admit to Dante, Diana, and Victor that she failed the exam. But if she did nothing and failed, the Uwasa would take her life and that of the rest of the innocent students, so with resignation, she took her pencil and eraser and set out to solve the 98 exam.
Meanwhile, Victor was waiting for Aleyn at the fountain in the math school, but the rookie didn't show up.
"Where is Liten Flicka…?" Victor wondered as he watched the minutes tick by. At that moment, two girls were passing by. One was a blonde girl with a high ponytail and the other was a girl with short cherry hair and eyes of the same color and who wore glasses.
"That admission exam was so brutal that only very few passed, Katherine" the cherry-haired girl said to her friend.
"And what's more, Noelia says it, it seems that the failed students left the classroom crying and frustrated. But where did they get to? "Asked the blonde girl, asking the same question that Victor had on her mind.
"I understand that they followed a teacher. But when searching for information, there was no record of the teacher," said Noelia.
"Do you mean that there would be another tragedy like the one in 1998? A collective disappearance? Or a collective suicide?" Katherine asked, making Victor shudder at hearing such possibilities.
"I don't know, but one thing is for sure… it will be the last time we'll see those guys" Noelia answered, to which Victor froze thinking of a possibility like that.
"Rather, a witch or an Uwasa" Victor thought to himself.
"Thank God, I was already starting to worry when I lost contact with Miss Linder Aleyn, Mr. Andersen Victor" said a voice inside the boy.
"At the time you show up, rat" Victor answered.
"Mr. Andersen Victor, you know very well that I can't keep an eye on you. I have more contracts to do around the world" Kyubey said with all the naturalness in the world.
"Rather, cheat and swindle the world with your contracts" Victor replied wryly.
"Congratulations, along with Miss Linder Aleyn you found the psycho rumor of '98, Mr. Andersen Victor. The girl mentioned in her mind something about a grace test and…" Kyubey said.
"Tsk, listen to me rat, Hur kan jag göra för att träffa en liten flicka?" asked Victor concerned for Aleyn's integrity and angry at the lie that she did well.
"Straight to the point right? Well, what you have to do is go to the place that has no access in the entrance exam. There you will find the barrier. The rest depends on Miss Linder Aleyn. If she really is in the Uwasa , you must pass the exam with a grade of B or A. Let's go find her. We are at the entrance of the Uwasa, Mr. Andersen Victor" concluded Kyubey.
Once the conversation is over, Victor leaves on his way to the haunted amphitheater and being separated from everyone, he uses his Soul Gem to transform. When Victor met Kyubey, they headed to the entrance of the amphitheater and had to figure out how to access it.
"Hmm… If the victims were tricked into taking the grace exam, for the entrance to open then I must pretend that I have to take the exam" Victor guessed.
"Excellent guess, Mr. Andersen Victor" Kyubey said.
"The detail is that I'm already in a race, rat. I don't know what excuse to say" Victor commented.
"Was there any paperwork lately at your university, Mr. Andersen Victor?" Kyubey asked.
"Withdrawals and change of majors to take the exam and… Jag har en idé" said Victor and mentioned "I am a student who withdrew the major and wants to take the grace exam to validate subjects. My name is… Cristhian Larsson" commented the boy, mentioning the name Aleyn occasionally mentioned. The door of the amphitheater was opened revealing an environment where the walls, ceiling and floor were stained with blood and several relatives that had a shape of people with shotguns fiercely aimed at the boy.
"And now they want to underestimate me with ranged attacks… Kom igen prova, shitty familiars. Come on, Black Thunder Sword" Victor said drawing his sword and proceeds to approach the familiars.
When the familiars tried to pull the trigger, Victor with a quick movement hurt each of the familiars giving clean thrusts, making these familiars scream in pain and fall to the ground disappearing. When two other relatives tried to attack the young man from a distance, the boy used his sword to block the attacks by turning his knife, later when the relatives were reloading their firearms, the black-haired man approaches the relatives and destroys them with his sword. . So Victor found the pattern of the seizures. He would hide behind a pillar or deflect his sword attacks and when the familiars reloaded their shotguns, he would attack.
"Excellent, but there's something curious. You don't give much importance to the Uwasas since they don't leave Grief Seeds. Dante was the one who dragged you to the Hotel California. Don't tell me you appreciate Miss Linder Aleyn, Mr. Andersen Victor" commented Kyubey.
"Tsk, it's not appreciation, Rat. If Liten Flicka didn't study, that's her. Remember clause 2 of the contract. Face the Uwasas even though they don't leave Grief Seeds" Victor answered seriously.
"I see, so she's doing it out of duty, right?" Kyubey asked to which the boy nods.
After fighting for a long time, both arrive at the entrance of the exam, where the exam applicants could be seen trying to solve their admission test, being pointed with the weapons of the teacher in charge, increasing the nervousness in each one. Aleyn was just shedding tears, very unsure how to solve the exam. It was a fact... If she couldn't pass the 2010 entrance exam... It would be impossible to solve the 1998 exam.
"I can't do this alone… I'm a failure… And this Uwasa proves it" Aleyn thought, frustrated at not knowing what to write.
"Liten Flicka!" Victor yelled, drawing the attention of his partner and she looks at Victor and Kyubey.
"Tyst på tempt! If you new person try to help or attack me in the exam, they will pay!" said the teacher in charge. Victor took a good look at the scarf around the teacher's neck, where an old parchment was hidden, just like the one from the Hotel California, so that was the Uwasa's weakness, but the problem would be that Aleyn had to have a good grade in the exam or they would die, for so Victor came up with a way to help his partner.
"Liten Flicka!" Victor yelled.
"Victor, don't yell!" Aleyn asked desperately, but she sees that the students and the teacher continued as if nothing had happened.
"Before you scream and condemn everyone, this is a Puella Magi and Puer Magi ability. When Kyubey is close to us, we can contact each other through telepathy and incidentally the consent of both parties" Victor explained.
"I see…" Aleyn said as she took her pencil and prepared to solve the exam "Victor, give me your most honest opinion… Do you think I'm a nuisance? Because I dragged you here or for not solving a simple exam?"
"Liten Flicka, if you continue with such pessimistic ideas, you will obviously continue to be a nuisance. Look, I'll tell you something I learned from my life... Countless injuries, whether physical or mental, make you stronger. If you keep that in mind, the easier you'll be able to cope with everything. As much as Puella Magi, as in your personal life" Victor encouraged her.
"But how can you do your best if no one is supporting you? I feel like an outsider on the team" Kirsten asked.
"Du har oss. Diana even tried to give you no-trick chocolates to calm you down a bit and Dante was going to give you fresh water for your exam. I helped you retrieve your documents and by the way I managed to fake a high school certificate and asked you how it was you. Kyubey and I risked our lives looking for you in this Uwasa. Regardless of your good or bad result, we will all be there to support you... That's what friends do - Victor said.
Aleyn was relieved that Victor, who was distant, decided to give her moral support. So she forcefully took her pencil and began to perform her procedures with greater confidence. This time, the initial doubts dissolved and she began to apply basic things, but that made each exercise easier. Every time she felt nervous, she opened Diana's box of chocolates and she began to eat them and with this she felt more She calmed down and proceeded to continue with her examination. Once she finished the test, she gave it to the teacher who started revising the test.
"Impossible!" said the teacher when he saw Aleyn's exam.
Having said this, Victor enters the place and ends up stabbing the teacher in the scarf where the scroll was, destroying it. Just as the 90 minutes was up, everyone except Aleyn and Victor for obvious reasons passed out. The environment of the amphitheater returned to the initial state before the Uwasa was activated and the girl's exam was on the teacher's desk.
"At least there are no losses to regret…" Victor answered looking at each of the students "If they failed, they have more entrance exams… Anyway, the Uwasa of Stockholm University has already been destroyed… Everyone will be safer. I hope you passed the exam, Liten Flicka"
The Puer Magi and the Puella Magi left the place, they only had to wait for the results of the exam. While the applicants who were trapped in the Uwasa and ended up fainting, it was sensed that they wanted to commit collective suicide for failing the exam, but Aleyn repented and went to notify a classmate and consequently went to notify the authorities, being saved by timely intervention. Chancellor Strickler was puzzled by the incident, but seeing that he had a complete exam, he decided to grade it anyway.
July 21, 2010
Aleyn was anxious to see the results in the exam, looking for her card number on her board, afraid that the Uwasa was a waste of time and that it was invalid. But before she saw the note from her, someone called her.
"Linder Aleyn… Can you walk me to the principal's office?" Strickler asked approaching the girl, to which Aleyn nods and follows the teacher.
With those fears, Aleyn entered the principal's office.
"Miss Linder. I understand that you failed the normal admission exam and entered the grace exam, or am I wrong?" Strickler asked.
"That's right, Mr. Chancellor" Aleyn replied.
"Your admission exam grade is... an F" answered Strickler "And as far as the grace exam grade is concerned, you have... An A"
"An A?" Aleyn asked to which the teacher nodded.
"Yeah… an A, I was thinking that you get a B or an A because of the final calculation failures, but in the end, I decided to give you an A, tell me, you got nervous because of the difficulty" asked Strickler.
"A little" Aleyn mentioned as she remembered that the exam wasn't the only thing she would lose that day.
"Grattis, Miss Linder Aleyn. You not only passed the exam… But, by having the third highest grade performance of all the applicants, you will have some comforts that the university will consider with you. You will be awarded a dining scholarship, you will be able to borrow books earlier than the rest, and finally, I will give you a special gift"
Strickler pulls out a light blue uniform from a box. This one had a light blue long-sleeved shirt and a skirt of the same color, he also had a white shirt and a cherry-colored ribbon.
"I always give these uniforms to the best students of each admission. Consider yourself one of the lucky few" Strickler replied.
Aleyn nods happily and is about to leave, but Strickler stops her.
"Before you retire, there is something interesting that I want to comment on. Very few people passed the 1998 exam, both in the year of 98 and the grace exams every 4 years... Miss Linder Aleyn, this is a very good achievement for you to pass an exam of such difficulty. I hope to get to know you more thoroughly and if you wish you can come in to invite me to a coffee and have a bond of friendship. I hope you continue your studies in astronomy, successes and you can retire" Strickler said.
Aleyn leaves the rectory office behind and all Aleyn could do is fall to her knees and cry. Although Strickler didn't remember her, he was proud of her for solving a fairly difficult test. And that's not all, he discovered her talent that made her be herself: A talent for mathematics. The girl wiped her tears with the sleeve of her dress.
"With my talent for mathematics and controlling my nervousness... I want to teach future students with classes before exams. I don't just want to be an astronomer... I also want to be a university professor. I'm sure I'll make it" thought Aleyn and Victor approaches to her, slightly concerned by the girl's tears.
"Strickler rejected your test?" Victor asked to which Aleyn denies.
"No… Lärare Strickler felt proud, apparently, for passing an exam of considerable difficulty… Let's go home, we have to tell Diana and Dante the news" Aleyn answered. As for whether to tell her the concern that Strickler didn't remember her, she decided to keep it to herself, since Victor might not believe her.
Just leaving the campus, Olga was in a nervous breakdown from the entrance exam, yelling nonsense again.
"I was right! The students almost died! They must close the amphitheater immediately!" Olga shouted to the four winds.
Aleyn wanted to get closer to the lady but then…
"What do you want to do, Miss Linder Aleyn?" Kyubey asked as she approached the couple.
"I want to talk to Mrs. Olga" answered Aleyn.
"About what? What was right all these years? That there were really monsters in the amphitheater every grace exam? Liten Flicka, some people just aren't right in the head" Victor said seriously.
"But what the legend and the teacher commented…" Aleyn said.
"Skitsnack. Those teachers said that just to make her feel good. Her family decided not to pay her for the mental hospital because they saw that Olga was already a hopeless case. Every time the university looked for a psychiatric facility for her, the lady just ran away. Besides she called Claire stinky and assaulted her when she tried to help," Victor said.
"Ms. Johansson Olga is very mentally unstable. In fact, I was going to offer her a contract during the 1998 incident, but the young woman was simply so traumatized that I left her without signing the contract. And rather, because a Puella Magi with her mentality destroyed will only cause problems if she has those psychotic breaks. Maybe in another life if she hadn't been so aware of that exam and the lost lives, maybe she could have been an excellent Puella Magi, but now she will have to live with the trauma" explained Kyubey.
"But…I thought she could be helped" Aleyn said.
"Tsk this is not a generic Mahou Shojo where you can save everyone with gab and shit. You can't save someone who doesn't want to be saved, Liten Flicka. Olga had several opportunities to be helped, and every time she turned a deaf ear," Victor said.
"But…"
"Liten Flicka, do you remember what clause 3 of the contract was?" Victor asked.
"We cannot say anything about our double lives as Puer Magis and Puella Magis. That carries several risks," Aleyn said.
"Exactly. Now let's stop thinking about Mrs. Olga and go celebrate with the rest" Victor said and he makes Aleyn stand in front of him. When they passed close to Mrs. Olga, the mentally unbalanced woman threw rocks at Aleyn, while she was protected and shielded by Victor. Despite the fact that he wanted to tell the lady certain truths, she decided to keep the comments to herself.
Arriving at the house, Diana prepared a small cake and divided it into four sections.
"Grattis, Aleyn for entering the university" Dante celebrated hugging the girl.
"Félicitations, Aleyn. I knew my calming poppy extract chocolates would help calm you down" Diana said forcefully, but with a slight touch of genuineness as she was impressed by the feat of solving a complicated exam, thinking of making more effective potions. Indeed Diana drugged Aleyn but with good intentions.
"Thanks everyone, but this wouldn't have been possible without Victor's support" Aleyn said.
"Anyway, you just solved the exam, feel proud" Victor said.
Dante takes some crystal glasses from the display case and serves everyone champagne.
"A toast, to our future" Dante said.
"For the future" everyone said, clinking their glasses and each taking the contents.
Thus, with that little party, Aleyn no longer felt like a stranger and little by little she felt closer to her teammates. Finally that house was already a home. And those 3 members were her family.