Chapter 12: 12: Testing Site

Leaving the banquet hall, Erina was amazed at the beauty of the hallways that snaked through the Royal Castle. The windows were all spotless, the paintings were lined up along the wall in perfect spacing, and most of all, glamorous chandeliers were hanging down from the ceiling, illuminating the walls.

Arriving at the double doors leading to the testing site, the Queen turned around and addressed everyone walking behind her, "So beyond these doors is the testing site, there are tables laid out for each family to sit at, so please find the table with your family's name on it and take a seat."

Walking through the opened doors, Erina was greeted by a relaxing yet simple sight. In the open courtyard, there was a Magic Measurement array on one side, in front of the array was a stage where the test taker would go to get tested. On the stage were a few large screens, where test results would be shown, as well as a panel where several of the most important parliament members would sit.

In front of the stage were 18 tables forming a semi-circle around the stage, one table per family along with a table for the Royal Family. On these tables was a name plaque, used to identify which family would be sitting there, along with a large table umbrella to allow the family members to remain in the shade.

Near the back, behind all of the tables, was a large array of cameras, used to broadcast the Magic Measurement test for the general populace to watch.

Along the sides of the courtyard, there were many trees under which had small tables for other parliament members. Each tree was tended to in a meticulous fashion, not a leaf out of place,  not a branch sticking out at a weird angle. Furthermore, each table was immaculate, gleaming under the sun's rays.

Taking a seat at the Noragi table, Erina was bouncing in her seat in anticipation, "This is so cool! Mama, why didn't you bring me sooner? It's so nice and beautiful!"

Taking a seat next to Erina, Miyuki replied, "Papa, and I didn't want to bring you here mainly because it's not as peaceful as you think it is, Erina. It's hard to tell but there are 2 factions within the 17 pillar families, nicknamed the Imperious Faction and the Modest Faction. In the Imperious Faction, the families advocate that because they are pillar families they are better than everyone and should be treated even better than they are treated right now. While the Modest Faction advocates that the new legislature shouldn't be passed to make the 17 Pillar Families even more favored than they are right now."

Surprised at the hidden malicious politics between the families, Erina asked, "W-well which families are part of which faction? And which faction is our family part of?"

Thinking about it for a bit, Miyuki turned to Garret and poked him in the side, "You should answer this instead of me, you know a lot more about the current state of affairs than me."

Perking up at his chance to speak, Garret answered with an enthusiastic voice, "Okay! So our family, the Noragi family is part of the Modest Faction. Some of the other Modest Faction families are the Mitsuyas, the Yoshidas, the Seigis, and the Kuznetsovs. On the other side, some of the more prominent families in the Elitist Faction are the Hanamiyas, the Ivanovs, the Nijimas, and the Kusanagis. You might notice that even though I only named a few of the families that most of them are part of the Modest Faction. That is a trend that carries throughout the rest of the families, with the majority of the families part of the Modest Faction, even the Royal family could be considered in the Modest Faction."

With everyone seated, the Queen walked up the ramp to the podium, exuding an air of confidence. Facing the families along with the cameras, she began, "Welcome back everyone, I would like to thank you all for coming today to the annual Magic Measurement test hosted by the Royal family. Today I will be hosting the event as I have for the past 10 years, calling out the names of testers. So to begin, would all the children taking the test today line up on the side of the stage?"

Following the announcement, there was a period of silence where only the sounds of moving chairs could be heard. Leaving the table to line up on the stage, Suzuki reassured Erina with a calm smile whispering, "Don't worry about me, okay? Believe in me, I'm your amazing sister!"

Seeing that everyone was lined up on the stage, the Queen began, "Would Gouki Ichijou please step up to the Magic Measurement Machine?"

Stepping out from the line, Gouki sauntered over to the first machine, the Magic Power measurement machine.

Placing his hand on the designated spot, several blue lines could be seen flowing into the machine.

*Whirrr*

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After several seconds, the machine flashed and the result was displayed on the large screen on the stage.

In a mechanical voice, it reported,

{Result: Magic Power of the subject is A ranked}

Smiling with a smug expression, Gouki continued on to the next machine, the Magic Type measurement machine.

Slamming his hand on the testing spot, Gouki towards the other testers with an evil smirk while waiting for the test results to come in.

Waiting for a few seconds, another mechanical voice reported,

{Result: Magic type of subject is 35% release type 65% enchantment type}

Walking over to the other two machines Gouki briskly finished the other two tests and walked back to the line when the mechanical voice reported,

{Overall scores of the subject are:

Magic Power: A-rank

Magic Type: 35% Offensive type 65% Enchantment type

Magic Affinities: Earth B+ rank, Water C+ rank, Air C rank, Fire D rank}

With the final report in, applause could be heard from the spectators below the stage.

Moving on, several other children went, going in alphabetical order by last name. Suzuki looked on as some children with better results than others.

After going through several other people, the Queen called out,

"Next, will Suzuki Noragi please step up to the Magic Measurement Array?"