The capital had tall and majestic buildings surrounding it. They were tall enough to cover the view of most of the capital. The only building that was visible over this massive wall was the imperial palace, which was placed a little higher than the rest of the city while also being a massive building.
The carriage Gary and the two girls were in was heading towards the entrance to the south of the city.
They did not have any trouble getting into the city. this was, of course, because they were in a royal carriage, and no guard was stupid enough to stop a carriage with the royal emblem on it.
As they drove through the streets of the capital, Gary could not help but look out of the carriage window and enjoy the beautiful scenery of the capital.
There were lots of people around on the streets, which made it so Gary could easily feel the happy atmosphere all around him. It was a lot different from what he was used to, as the people in his hometown were more enclosed.
Getting further into the city did not make it any less fun for him, as he saw a lot more people. There were stalls out on the streets, selling food, antiques, weapons all sorts of things. Gary quite liked this atmosphere.
He thought that it was a little sad that he could not enjoy all of this at the moment, as he was in a hurry to get into the royal academy.
The royal academy was placed in the center of the capital, right beside the imperial palace. It was almost as big as the royal palace, but it was not quite there. Even though it was not as big, it still shared the same majestic air, as it looked quite luxurious.
All of the walls of the big academy had been specially made, with many carvings of dragons, soldiers, magicians, and so on. Even the roof had been decorated with many small statues.
This made Gary quite shocked, as he could only imagine how much this place had cost. He could not help but get a little nervous now, as all of this was quite a domineering sight to him.
"We have arrived, your majesty!" The carriage driver suddenly said in a calm tone.
Looking outside the carriage, Gary could see they were far from the first ones there. There were already hundreds of young men and women standing around.
The carriage door suddenly opened before them, and they could see the big plaza outside the academy clearly. It was at this moment Gary noticed all of the people on the plaza were looking toward their carriage.
Gary was the first one to get out, which made all of the men and women around the plaza looking at him weirdly.
"Who is this kid? Is he a royal?"
"I have not seen a royal like him before ..."
"He doesn't look like a royal. Look at his clothes."
Many whispers started to sound around as they all looked at Gary. Gary was a little embarrassed by this, but he did not put his mind to it, as he just stood with an indifferent expression by the side of the carriage door.
Soon after Gary had placed himself outside at the side of the carriage door, Jasmine, the little princess, could be seen in the door of the carriage.
As Gary was a nobleman by birth, he also knew some etiquette as he reached out his hand to Jasmine to help her get down from the carriage.
Jasmine took hold of Gary's hand with a smile. As soon as Gary felt her hand, he was quite surprised at the amazing softness he felt. Gary had never felt such soft hands, not even from her mother.
After helping Jasmine come down the carriage, she placed herself by the side of Gary. This shocked most of the people at the plaza, as this meant she treated Gary as an equal.
Gary looked to his side and saw that Jasmine was actually taller than she looked when she sat in the carriage. She was almost the same height as him and stood around 160 centimeters.
"You two should be fine from here, right?" A woman's voice came from inside the carriage. She sounded both domineering and kind at the same time. She had to show her authority when so many people were around.
"Yes, mother," Jasmine said with a calm smile. When she looked like this, she felt like someone much older than she was.
"Yes, madam!" Gary said at the same time with a resolute look, thinking of the exam.
"Good. I hope you will take care of each other!" The queen said before the carriage started driving away, leaving them alone on the big plaza with all of the other young nobles.
Everybody at the plaza gave them weird looks, or rather, they gave Gary weird looks. Everybody had respect for the royal family, and everybody wanted to make friends with them. They were often jealous of the ones that succeeded in doing so if they themselves did not.
As all of the nobles around were whispering around, Jasmine saw that Gary was getting more and more uncomfortable. "Don't worry about all of them!" She said to him with a little smile, trying to calm him down.
"Yeah, thanks ... I don't like all of this attention!" He said while looking at Jasmine with a wry smile.
"Then you shouldn't have rescued me and traveled with me here!" She answered him back with a thankful yet teasing smile. Her opinion of Gary was already very favorable. Seeing him this way made it even more so.
Gary just looked at her with a shocked expression. He would have never just abandoned them, even if they were not the royal family. He would even have safed a single farmer if he could.
"Hahaha, I know you couldn't just leave us!" She said with a big laugh. Gary's expression showed exactly how he felt.
Gary just looked at her with a wry smile plastered on his face. He had long since discovered what kind of person Jasmine was from the carriage ride here. She was an energetic girl who loved to tease others, or at least him.
"By the way, do you have any idea what kind of tests there will be?" Gary asked her after a few seconds of silence. He wanted to know what he had to go through, so he could prepare himself a little.
"I do! The first test will be the test to see your magical aptitude! It is quite simple, as it is just a magic orb you place your hand on, which then tells you the Talent of the person in magic! Everyone has to take this test, both mages, and martial artists!" Jasmine said.
This shocked Gary, as he had not expected him to take the test for mages as well. He had never practiced magic, and his intelligence stat was quite low.
"The second test is to test your physical strength! It is not to test the potential of the person but to see how strong you are! It is very simple, and you only have to lift rocks!" Jasmine continued explaining. This time her face was a little ugly, which Gary deduced meant that she was not really that strong.
"The last test is only for the martial artists! They will have to fight and prove themselves against one of the teachers of the academy! If they can't prove their ability, they won't get selected for the academy!" Jasmine finished explaining with a know it all face. She was proud she had something she could teach Gary.
"I see. To get into the magic part of the school, your talent in magic has to be high enough! But to be a martial artist, you have to have some skills before you can enter?" Gary said, asking to confirm what he had comprehended was correct.
"Yes!" She just replied with a small smile. "But don't worry, I saw the way you fought the bandit! You will easily get in! The requirements are not impossible to meet!" Jasmine continued with a reassuring smile.
"Thank you!" Gary said with a thankful expression.
Gary and Jasmine were talking with and laughing with each other, which made all of the other young nobles quite annoyed with Gary.
He knew that, as he could see everyone's looks, there were some who were indifferent, but most showed anger and jealousy when looking at him. He didn't understand this, but he had many times tried to stop the conversation with Jasmine, but every time she found something new to talk about.
He quite liked talking to Jasmine, too, so he didn't really mind it too much, as he kept talking with her, even with the many death stares pointed at him.
"Hello, everyone. I hope you are all ready to take the academy's exam now!" A booming voice suddenly sounded from the middle of the plaza.