GASP... HUFF....
His breathing came in ragged gasps. Wounds covered the places where he had been cut, and sweat soaked his body.
Gess Alep, a second-year in Calyps Academy's Knight Department... no, ‘Slicker,’ the first trainee of <Ephevia of Glory>, lay collapsed on the colosseum's dirt floor and vented his fury.
“When I really... get out...! Huff... When I get out, I'll sue... I swear... I'll sue you...!”
- Ho, a trainee after so long.
The ghost who had appeared before the tense Gess a short while ago, looking like a foul-tempered gladiator and introducing himself as the Training Ground Master, had begun the examination the moment he spoke those words.
Still bewildered, Gess began the duel the instant the enormous gate on the far side of the colosseum opened and a gladiator who looked anything but ordinary emerged. After a full two hours of fighting, he had barely claimed victory.
“There is no rule saying you cannot bring potions... but drinking more than ten bottles while fighting is a little excessive. From now on, I shall call you ‘Slicker.’”
The Training Ground Master seemed to be giving him a humiliating nickname with a somewhat strange look in his eyes, but Gess did not care.
He had confronted an unfair situation with pride, and he had won.
Therefore, he believed without a doubt that his anger was justified.
“...Trash.”
Of course, the ‘Pillar Who Will Lead the Kingdom's Future,’ who had entered several minutes later than Slicker yet finished the duel dozens of minutes sooner, looked down at her prone enemy with contempt in her eyes.
The Chairman had even revealed the secret of the ancient ruins and given them an opportunity to grow stronger, yet instead of being grateful, he was saying things like ‘I will sue.’
It was enough to make her regret every potion that had gone down his throat.
“You should've at least saved your potions. What is so bad about getting a few wounds?”
“Pillar Who Will Lead the Kingdom's Future. No matter how much of a piece of trash he may be, belittling a companion is not a good habit. Of course, that ‘Slicker’ lacks dignity as he rolls around on the ground and has bewildered his opponent with his wicked tongue, but even so, you should watch your words....”
“...Why am I ‘Slicker,’ anyway?!”
Gess had not even had the strength to respond to Emma's disregard and had merely lain facedown. Yet at the Training Ground Master's words, which he could not tell were meant to stop Emma or backhandedly insult him, he summoned every last ounce of strength and shouted.
“She drank potions too, and she rolled around on the ground as well! It may have taken some time, but we both cleared the examination. Why is one of us ‘Slicker,’ while the other is ‘Pillar Who Will Lead the Kingdom's Future’?!”
He felt wronged.
If they had done the same things and achieved the same result, was it not the way of the world that they should receive the same treatment?
“Slicker, do you still not understand? The difference between you and that trainee?”
“I am asking because I do not understand, am I not?!”
“Then I should explain. I exist for that purpose. Above all, there is still quite a way to go before the final training. Shall we begin with the matter of potions? Pillar Who Will Lead the Kingdom's Future....”
“Just call me Emma.”
Emma's words cut in abruptly.
Just as he had done with Gess, Gess hoped that the Training Ground Master would ignore Emma's words, but as always, the world did not go the way he wanted.
“Hmm, so be it.”
The Training Ground Master accepted Emma's words with surprising readiness and began his explanation.
“Trainee Emma's stamina had been depleted from the moment she entered this place. It was likely because she regularly trained to a harsh extent. Therefore, the use of potions was unavoidable for the examination to proceed fairly.”
“……….”
Gess, who had been loafing around in his dormitory until the Chairman summoned him, fell silent.
Emma's training volume had long been famous among their classmates, but he had not known that she had increased it even further.
Instinctively realizing that continuing this topic any longer would lead to irreparable humiliation, Gess tried to change the subject. However, the Training Ground Master's calm voice was already continuing.
“The second point is rolling on the ground. There was a difference in that as well. You rolled merely to evade the attack at that moment. Of course, that is a necessary skill for survival, but a warrior of the kingdom must consider one move further.”
“...Evading it was enough. What more is there to consider?”
“Even when Trainee Emma rolled, she followed through into her next attack. She used rolling not merely as evasion, but as part of an attack. Even after rolling, you were only desperate to block your opponent's attack.”
For all that, Gess was still a prodigy capable of entering Calyps Academy.
That was why he realized that the Training Ground Master's lecture about ‘rolling,’ which he had never even considered training before, was right. However, he was still too young to readily admit that fact.
“...I get it, so let us move on quickly.”
“Ho, you made up your mind sooner than I expected. You may begin training whenever you wish.”
“That is most appreciated, but....”
Gess trailed off as he cast a glance behind him.
Within his sight was Emma, watching him with an attitude that seemed to say, ‘Let's see how well you do.’
For Gess, who had once tried to cut off Emma's arm, Emma behind him was more frightening than the daunting examination before him.
“...I have some business to attend to. I think it would be best to begin quickly.”
At Gess's reluctant voice, the Training Ground Master stared at him for a moment. Then, as though it did not matter, he grinned and stretched out his hand.
SCRRRAAPE... THUD!
The gate opened to the sound of chains scraping roughly across the floor.
Then three warriors approached, their eyes gleaming as they emitted mana at about the Grade 3 level.
“Beginning with the second examination, the trials will be conducted based on two trainees. For reference, rewards will be given from the third examination onward, so do your best together!”
Glaring at the Training Ground Master, who had imposed a cooperative examination without permission, Emma and Gess raised their respective swords.
Three hours since they had entered <Ephevia of Glory>. Twelve boxes of potions and two and a half boxes of holy water still remained.
There were... even more examinations for them to overcome.
***
“Have the urgent matters been sorted out with this...?”
I sighed as I looked once at the emptied ink bottle and once at the stack of documents that had formed beside me.
Since I was going to live as the Chairman anyway, I thought it would be good to learn the work properly. So I had merely told Persona, ‘Bring me the pending matters. In roughly the order of urgency.’ The result was the stack of documents before my eyes.
‘Up to now, it really had only been at the level of playing around.’
Persona had not been wrong when she said that even this thick stack of documents was far less than the amount Chancellor Pionia and the Chairman himself had been handling independently.
After taking back the work that the Chairman was originally supposed to do, I had to stay up all night to smoothly handle not only the Border Subjugation Practicum, which had been underway for some time, but also the Magic Tower Internship Program and exchange-student matters with other academies.
I wanted to set only the broad framework and dump the rest on my subordinates, but in this world, where status and rank clearly existed, there were far too many matters that a high-ranking noble like the Marquess of Calyps had to decide personally.
Of course, for now, I was getting by using the Chairman's memories I had obtained from Sita Calyps’s Notebook, but someday I would have to attend even face-to-face negotiations.
Hmm....
Twisting my body this way and that after sitting so long that it had stiffened, I put down the pen in my hand and stared into empty space.
My work as Chairman was not finished. There was still a mountain of it, but I had things to do as well.
[ Trait - Appraiser’s Eye Reveals Target Information. ]
[ Gess Alep ]
[ Traits / Weak Against the Strong, Strong Against the Weak, Born Actor ]
[ Notes / Challenging the Eighth Examination. ]
[ Potential Traits / Scene Stealer, Illusory Sword (phantom sword) ]
These were the states of the students inside <Ephevia of Glory>, which I checked from time to time even while buried in work.
At first, hearing Gess complain had worried me, but proving that concern unnecessary, the two were now challenging the eighth examination with a little more than a week of break remaining.
“I should get the items I prepared.”
People remembered those who helped them when they were at their most exhausted and worn down.
If I gave them gifts when they were exhausted after clearing the final, ninth examination, perhaps they would be moved halfway to a pledge of loyalty, even if they did not go so far as to swear one.
***
“Congratulations. You have passed the eighth examination.”
The Training Ground Master's calm congratulations, which they had already heard several times.
Of course, only his voice was calm. The ghost was a Training Ground Master as exacting as any professor, so there was nothing wrong with being happy to receive such congratulations.
Of course, there was no answer to the Training Ground Master's congratulations.
““……….””
Because both Emma and Gess were lying on the dirt floor with their eyes closed.
Like patients in a coma, neither opened their eyes nor spoke even as they breathed.
Opening their eyes meant enduring the blazing sunlight, and speaking required strength enough to move their lips and tongues. They possessed neither.
“The next examination will take time. Prepare yourselves slowly.”
Perhaps thinking it would be impossible to conduct the next examination immediately in their condition, the Training Ground Master slowly dissolved into empty space.
After the Training Ground Master vanished and a considerable time had passed, Emma slowly opened her mouth.
“...This is exhausting.”
After encountering the Lycanthrope, she had increased her training volume several times over.
When she woke in the morning, she went to the training ground. Aside from meals and bodily functions, she never slackened.
So that even if she encountered the wild dog or the Lycanthrope again someday, she would be able to fight.
So that she could fight proudly with her own strength, rather than hiding behind someone's back.
Yet, at this moment, even those efforts were failing to shine.
‘I should not have thought of this so simply.’
The examinations could be started whenever she wished.
And she had the numerous potions and elixirs the Chairman had supplied, along with mana stones provided in virtually unlimited quantities that even reduced the time it took her mana to recover.
Considering these conditions, Emma and Gess should have been able to keep challenging the examinations without rest, but....
‘Waren't there two Grade 3 warriors and one Grade 3 shaman in the fifth examination?’
Warriors and shamans of the ancient kingdom.
Even though they were enemies in a state so close to magic beasts that proper conversation was impossible, they were not easy opponents.
They were blindly aggressive, headlong veterans of real combat who did not miss an opening.
Even if stamina and mana continued to recover, their mental fortitude was not unlimited. A few critical injuries caused by a few mistakes had worn it down.
Sigh....
Emma let out a sigh so heavy that it seemed to flow across the floor, then raised herself.
Lying sprawled on the ground and repeating pointless thoughts did not seem to restore her mental fortitude. If anything, it seemed to wear it down further.
Above all, there was not only bad news.
‘If I clear the final examination, I might really be able to cross the Ore Deposit Wall.’
Grade 3 was a level that even someone of ordinary talent could reach by devoting an entire lifetime to it. Beyond that was Grade 4, recognized as humanity's true shield.
The wall of Grade 4, which only the chosen could cross, was called the Ore Deposit Wall among both mages and knights. Emma dared to say that she now stood before that wall.
“Tsk, it is only natural. Even if it was a joint attack, you defeated a Grade 4 warrior. That said, do not get too cocky. It is merely a path countless knights have already walked.”
A snappish voice suddenly cut in from beside her.
When she turned her head, Professor Giltier was speaking to her from within the colosseum's prison, which was barred off with iron grates.
“There were too many mistakes in the eighth examination. You there, Gess Alep. Why do you keep using a greatsword like a longsword? At the very least, you must avoid being dragged around by your sword....”
‘He's at it again.’
Emma shook her head as she watched Gess flinch whenever Professor Giltier spoke.
Professor Giltier had entered <Ephevia of Glory> a few days earlier. The instant he did, the Training Ground Master had said, ‘You are not a trainee,’ and locked him in the prison.
There, he had been correcting the two students' swordsmanship.
The problem was that the process of that ‘correction’ felt more like a sermon to those who listened to it.
“Urgh... Professor, I am a second-year, not a third-year!”
“I am in charge of the third-years, so any student I teach is a third-year!”
Emma watched Gess roll about on the ground and waited with a sigh for the sermon to end.
At last, just as the long sermon seemed about to conclude, she spoke to the Training Ground Master.
“Please start the examination soon. It looks as though things over there will end soon too.”
“Have you absorbed the reward of the eighth examination sufficiently?”
“I've absorbed it perfectly.”
The reward for clearing <Ephevia of Glory>'s examinations was an increase in mana capacity.
She did not know the principle, but this ancient ruin could increase mana capacity, which was known to be impossible to increase by any means other than being born with it.
Of course, the amount was not great, but it was undoubtedly an immense help to Grade 3 Knights like her and Gess.
Even simply put, having more mana meant that she could use more powerful sword techniques for longer.
Therefore, her statement that she might be able to cross the Ore Deposit Wall had its own evidence and conviction. Realizing that, the Training Ground Master grinned and gave a warning.
“I shall begin the ninth examination. My advice is that you had best prepare yourself.”
THUD! THUD! THUD—!
With the collision sound of iron grates shooting upward, killing intent rose from all around.
Three warriors who looked to be at least Grade 4.
There were no shamans, but they were not a force that two Grade 3 Knights could defeat.
Therefore, to defeat them, the only option was to reach Grade 4, just as the Chairman had said.
“Huff.... I'll take the lead, so you take the rear.”
Emma glanced at Gess, who had approached her at some point, and asked,
“There are three Grade 4 warriors. Can you handle that?”
“They can understand what we're saying, too. It might not work, but if I taunt them, won't that make their movements a little easier to handle?”
Taunting warriors from the ancient kingdom to stop them. And warriors at a higher level, at that.
Emma sighed at Gess, who was still talking nonsense without coming to his senses, but soon shook her head and adjusted her stance.
There was one week left until the break ended.
Three boxes of recovery potions and half a box of holy water remained.
They had not been given a small number of opportunities.
Not yet.