I Was Just Having Fun With The Time Limit – Chapter 39

Chapter 39

Oh my, I’ve never seen Honey Badger this nimble before.

How should I put it?

It felt like he didn’t just move quickly, but rather popped into existence using magic.

“Honey Badger?”

Honey Badger was stopping me from riding the Round and Round Spin that I was so excited about.

Magical letters appeared above Honey Badger’s head.

They were much larger and bolder than usual.

How should I say it? They were slightly threatening letters.

『Excessive Skinship.』

『Not Allowed.』

“Huh?”

『Blocked.』

Honey Badger’s expression was more solemn and serious than ever before.

I tilted my head.

“But how did you get here?”

『Secret.』

『Carriage.』

He was saying that he secretly rode the carriage to get here.

To be more precise, he was taking a nap in the mane of the horse pulling the carriage.

“You were taking a nap in the horse’s mane?”

It took about three days to get here.

But I didn’t see Honey Badger during those three days.

That means he was hiding in the mane for three whole days.

『Pro Napper.』

Sir Viaton stroked his chin with a “Hmm.”

“The horses of the Imperial Palace are thoroughly trained steeds, so they would reject a foreign object like you.”

Honey Badger grinned.

He pointed his finger at the horse.

『Friend.』

Flinch.

Was it my imagination? I thought the huge horse just flinched.

It seemed quite intimidated and scared, but it must have been my imagination, right……?

『Amicable Conversation.』

『Good Agreement.』

Shudder.

Was this my imagination too?

It seemed like it shuddered.

‘Oh well. No matter how big the size difference is, there’s no way Honey Badger bullied his horse friend, right?’

Sir Viaton said,

“Anyway, Kim Beolkkul, you’re making a big mistake.”

『Don’t Understand.』

“Her Highness loves my Round and Round Spin. That means you’re an uninvited guest who’s stopping Her Highness from enjoying something she likes.”

The imposing aura of Honey Badger subsided.

Then he looked at me with those clear eyes, and oh, that’s really playing dirty.

How can I hate Honey Badger when he looks at me like that?

He’s just too cute.

“Please do it for me next time, Sir Viaton!”

“……Are you giving up?”

“It’s not giving up, I’m just yielding.”

I smiled lightly.

I didn’t particularly dislike Honey Badger’s cute jealousy.

It’s like watching a puppy who only has eyes for me.

“Yielding?”

“Isn’t it cute that he’s jealous?”

“I’m shocked that such pettiness can be considered cute.”

Sir Viaton muttered, “How can I become cute too?” but I decided to pretend I didn’t hear it.

Sir Viaton put on a serious expression.

“Your Highness is too considerate and kind.”

“……Yes?”

Didn’t you just say you were going to trample Reina or something?

“I mean you can yield a little less. You understand, right? I believe Your Highness’s happiness should come first.”

It seemed like Sir Viaton also really wanted to give me a ride on the spinning plane.

Well, Sir Viaton is someone who’s happy when I’m happy.

‘This is so nice.’

It was truly nice to have someone who wanted my happiness.

It felt like I was living a truly blessed reincarnated life.

✦✦✦✦✦✦

On the day of the Olympiad.

Before entering the examination hall, Reina felt something was a bit off.

“Yuri. Have you seen Princess Isabel?”

“I haven’t seen her.”

Even as Yuri said those words, she was cautious.

Originally, she shouldn’t say “I haven’t seen her.” Because she’s the only daughter of a sponsor family.

The correct answer would have been “I’ll find out” instead of “I haven’t seen her.”

However, with the exam just around the corner, she couldn’t say that much.

Fortunately, Reina didn’t find fault with it.

“That’s strange.”

Each examination hall had the names of the children taking the exam posted, but Isabel’s name was nowhere to be found.

“Tsk. Why isn’t she here?”

Reina bit her lip.

She didn’t want to see Princess Isabel, but she did want to see Adjutant Viaton.

Seeing his face would give her strength she didn’t know she had.

‘Anyway, she’s a useless princess.’

Reina said,

“She must have realized her place and given up on participating, right?”

“……”

“She must have gotten scared. Don’t you think so too, Yuri?”

“……Yes. I think so.”

The Isabel that Yuri saw was not someone who would do that.

However, she couldn’t dare answer Reina’s question with a “No.”

Reina’s mood brightened a little.

“Well, of course. What’s a Bilotian princess doing in the Olympiad?”

Reina’s steps became lighter as her mood improved.

However, she wasn’t happy until the exam.

‘Why is this so difficult?’

The only thing she could recognize were the numbers.

It was a bizarre test paper filled with numbers and strange symbols.

‘Ha. I don’t know.’

She glanced over and saw Yuri solving the problems a little way ahead.

Yuri was diligently working through them.

‘This will prove the difference between the Bilotian Imperial Family and our family!’

Yuri is a child sponsored by Duke Rossild. Yuri’s score is Duke Rossild’s score.

For reference, Bilotian only sponsored children with talent in swordsmanship and had never won an award in the Olympiad.

‘Yuri, you have to do well.’

This is the exam that Isabel ran away from.

If Yuri achieved excellent results in this exam, it would undoubtedly put Isabel in her place.

She believed so.

✦✦✦✦✦✦

“I didn’t think it would actually happen, but Princess Isabel really came.”

The man in charge of guiding the examination hall was surprised.

This was the examination hall for the 19th Olympiad.

An exam taken by the geniuses who survived among the continent’s best geniuses.

‘A six-year-old participating in the 19th Olympiad.’

Of course, she looked closer to 10 years old in appearance, but it was still surprising.

Viaton said,

“Please guide her well. Our Princess is precocious, but she’s actually six years old.”

Isabel greeted him politely.

“Please take good care of me.”

Her dignity was not like that of a six-year-old child.

The guide paid special attention to Isabel.

“Good luck with the exam.”

Isabel sat down in the examination hall.

‘Wow, I came to school!’

This was one of the academies in the Mirotel Federation.

It was a place similar to a school on Earth.

‘This is a desk and a chair.’

Except for taking the College Scholastic Ability Test and essay exams, Isabel had never been to a school.

In the hospital room, she had dreamed of an ordinary school life.

Chatting with friends her age, staying late for studying, secretly dozing off during class.

The everyday life that was ordinary to others was a romance to Isabel.

‘I’m excited.’

The desks and chairs were large because it was the 19th Olympiad examination hall.

She swung her legs back and forth.

Her feet didn’t touch the ground.

Even that was fun for Isabel.

“We will now begin the Olympiad.”

The test papers were distributed.

Isabel carefully examined the test paper.

‘Huh?’

She was a little nervous because it was the Olympiad, but it was easier than she thought.

‘This is a problem I’ve solved before, isn’t it?’

Isabel had thought about the Olympiad on Earth.

Even for her, the Olympiad on Earth had some difficult aspects.

But the Olympiad here was about the level of a university math essay exam.

There were a total of five problems, and they were problems that Isabel had already solved before.

‘Starting with the integration method of the old technique.’

A very old method.

A method from before the concept of integration was properly established.

From a modern perspective, it was a method of deriving a primitive method to obtain an integral value.

『=⅓x³+C₁』

‘Then compare that value using the Riemann sum.’

Sure enough.

The value matched the answer she had obtained earlier.

And then the modern concept of integration.

It was very easy.

It was the integration of x², which any science student in South Korea could easily solve.

Again, the answer was the same.

‘I’m so lucky.’

She was able to get the answer very easily because it was a problem she had solved before.

It was also true that the difficulty level was much easier than she had expected.

‘I should hand it in quickly.’

If the scores were tied, the person who submitted first would win.

Since the flow of the problem itself was designed to allow for verification, no separate verification process was necessary.

‘As expected, those who are meant to succeed will succeed.’

Except for the fact that she was terminally ill, her reincarnated life was close to perfect.

Of all the problems, she had to get one she had already solved.

“Have you already finished?”

“Yes.”

“……I see.”

Everyone in the examination hall thought the same thing.

Princess Isabel had just challenged the Olympiad for fun.

Some were offended.

It was only natural to feel upset that what was a serious academic subject to some was just a pastime for the princess of the Bilotian Imperial Family.

Reina, who heard the news, burst out laughing.

“She thinks she’s smart!”

She seemed to understand why Isabel had challenged the 19th Olympiad.

If she wasn’t going to solve a single problem anyway, it would be much better to be humiliated in the 19th Olympiad than in the 14th Olympiad.

She tried to be smart, but it was even more ridiculous.

“The princess is quite a sight. She should have just not taken the exam.”

She felt very good for the first time in a long time.

The Olympiad results would be announced in a month.

And a month passed.