Chapter 11
The second-stage exam was a written test.
Apparently, there were around 7,000 applicants this year, and about twenty percent—roughly 1,400—had made it through to the second stage.
We were divided into rooms of one hundred and took our seats.
"You have 100 minutes. Begin!"
The moment the examiner announced it, applicants began raising their hands.
"I forgot my writing utensils!"
"I forgot mine too!"
"Me too!"
...Yeah, about a third of them were trying to take the exam without any writing utensils.
The examiner handed writing utensils to the applicants who had raised their hands.
I looked down at the exam paper, feeling oddly warm and fuzzy inside.
I'd heard the Knights' written exam wasn't that difficult, but...
'Question 1: Draw the Knights' uniform.'
"........"
Of course, I took a good long look at the examiner!
The other applicants were also copying the uniform as they looked at the examiner.
...What was this? They had a knight in uniform standing there and then asked us to draw the uniform. Was this some kind of special service?
"Hey, hey, what's this? Instead of staring at me, shouldn't you be answering the questions?"
The examiner gave us a slightly smug warning.
...Ah, this is a serious question.
(I guess whoever wrote the exam didn't expect them to have a knight in uniform stationed in the exam hall...)
'Question 2: There is a young man being chased by a wild boar, and a girl chasing a rolling apple. What do you do?'
"........"
...I-I don't know what the right answer is.
Maybe I'll skip it...
'Question 3: A senior knight was badmouthing the captain of the Knights. What do you do?'
"........"
...Huh? Whaaat?
I'd heard the exam questions were easy, but this is hard!
This won't do. I have to write something...
Let's see...
'Answer to Question 3: Agree with the senior knight, who said, "The captain of the Knights is so strong, he's practically a monster."'
Ah, this answer might work.
It turned the insult into something that wasn't an insult, and I agreed with the senior knight, too.
I think I'm starting to get the hang of this. I figured out Question 2 as well.
'Answer to Question 2: Kick the wild boar up with your right foot and grab the apple with your left hand.'
That's it!
Amazing. I feel like I can solve anything.
Overflowing with baseless confidence, I got carried away and answered one question after another.
◇◇◇
The third-stage exam was a practical swordsmanship test.
Apparently, the second-stage exam had little bearing on the results unless something major happened, and pass or fail was determined almost entirely by the third-stage exam.
Yeah, judging by the first- and third-stage exams, it was pretty much all about swordsmanship.
About a hundred examiners stood on the raised testing platform.
They looked to be in their mid-twenties to early thirties, probably mid-ranking knights.
The examiner standing in the middle began explaining in a clear, carrying voice.
"In the third-stage exam, you'll spar with an examiner for three minutes. You'll be assigned to a group of three examiners: one will be your opponent, and the other two will judge you. You don't need to win; you'll pass if both judges decide that the way you fought was befitting of a knight. You may use either your own sword or one of the Knights' swords provided here. The examiners will use blunted iron swords. That's all."
I decided to use my own sword.
It was the iron sword Father had given me when I passed the Coming-of-Age Ceremony.
It looked like an ordinary sword, but in fact, I had imbued it with several magical effects.
It doubled both attack power and speed, making it quite a nifty weapon.
In addition, weapons with enchantments normally glow with an effect, but I'd used a spell to obscure the glow so it would look like an ordinary sword.
Heh heh heh. Enchanting weapons with effects is actually a "lost art," so this sword is pretty valuable.
After all, if you want a weapon with enchantments, you have to either buy one made back when people could use enchantment magic—called a "Relic of the Golden Age"—or happen to find one in a treasure chest in a dungeon or somewhere.
That's why I suppressed its glow, both to keep people from realizing it was valuable and to prevent it from being stolen.
The third-stage exam was also divided by the first letter of our names, so I joined the F line.
I saw that the women were all grouped at the very back of the line, so this time I lined up properly at the end.
Most of the applicants seemed to prefer using a sword they were used to, so they were using their own.
That said, most of them were iron swords like mine; I didn't see any made of particularly expensive materials.
Well, that made sense. Today's the general applicants' exam, after all.
The children of nobles and knightly families would probably take the exam for graduates of the Knight Training Academy, so most of today's applicants were likely merchants' children or adventurers who'd spent a few years honing their skills.
The exam had already begun, so I watched for a while. The examiners really were strong.
There was about as much difference between them and the applicants as between adults and children.
Maybe that was only natural, since they'd spent their days as knights fighting enemy soldiers and monsters, but perhaps I should focus on how to lose rather than on winning...
As I was lost in thought, it seemed the silver-haired hottie's turn had come—the one who'd spoken to me during the first-stage exam.
Oh, good. He made it through, too.
Then the spar began...
I was captivated by the match in an instant.
The silver-haired hottie was overwhelmingly stronger than the other applicants.
Actually, his movements were no different from the examiner's. He was moving like a veteran knight.
Amazing!
He wouldn't actually beat the examiner, would he?
...That was what I thought, but...
As time passed, the speed of his sword swings slowed, and when their blades locked, he was overpowered and began staggering back one or two steps at a time.
Huh?
Concerned by his movements, I couldn't help edging closer so I could see more clearly.
...Was he injured?
...His right arm was broken.
The examiner didn't seem to have noticed, but I'd spent my previous life as the Great Saint healing people's injuries, so I was better than anyone at identifying the location and severity of an injury.
It must have hurt terribly whenever he moved his arm.
Sweat poured from the silver-haired hottie's forehead, and the speed of his sword swings was visibly slowing.
His expression didn't change at all, though, so the examiner didn't seem to notice.
The silver-haired hottie was finally disarmed, and his sword came flying right in front of me with a clatter!
The silver-haired hottie hurried over to me.
"I'm sorry! Are you hurt?"
Up close, his face was flushed, and he was gasping for breath, as if even breathing was difficult.
His hair and clothes were plastered to him with sweat.
...Amazing.
His arm was completely broken, so even crossing swords must have caused him excruciating pain.
And yet he hadn't cried out or even let it show on his face. Just how much self-discipline had he cultivated?!
Deeply impressed, I picked up his sword and pretended to hand it to him as I touched his right arm.
"May your right arm be blessed with protection."
Since I couldn't utter the "core words" required to activate the magic, the effect was weak, but it should still have taken away his pain.
For about five minutes, he should be able to move without feeling the injury.
"...Huh?"
He must have realized the pain was gone.
The silver-haired hottie looked at his right arm in surprise.
"The examiner seems to be waiting for you."
When I called out to him, he hurriedly turned around.
"O-oh..."
Then he climbed back onto the platform and resumed his spar with the examiner.
Unlike before, his movements were powerful and swift.
He even seemed to be trading blows with the examiner on equal terms.
"He's amazing..."
I heard one of the knights judging the match murmur, almost as if to himself.