Chapter 100
Since I wasn't familiar with the Empire's application forms, I ended up submitting mine a little later than the others.
The receptionist was kind and beautiful.
She had brown hair and a pleasant smile, along with a black hat and black uniform.
There was a holder at her waist for a wand.
Come to think of it, Aris and Robert did the same when they had to take their wands out.
“Is this the right application?”
“Yep.”
It was a uniform different from the school's.
The Empire's crest, embroidered in gold thread, was visible across her chest.
It caught my eye because the buttons there looked ready to burst.
It wasn't like I was looking on purpose.
“Yes. I've received your application for the Rank 1 Combat Mage Exam.”
After carefully reading my application with a smile,
she looked at me and said admiringly,
“That's truly amazing. Taking the Combat Mage Exam as a first-year.”
“Huh?”
I looked at the group, who had already finished everything and were waiting for me a fair distance away.
She hadn't said anything like that to them, had she?
“When I was young, I dreamed of becoming a high-ranking combat mage at Reinhart too, you know? Of course, I'm here now after being called upon by the Empire.”
“Yeeah.”
“Hehe, you're so adorable… I mean, so earnest.”
Something about the way she looked at me was like I was a little brother.
She certainly seemed skilled enough to warrant it.
I could tell she had quite a lot of mana without even using Observation Eye.
It was even neatly controlled.
“Thanksies.”
“And as a bonus for such a commendable student…”
“As a bonus?”
What was she going to give me?
Candy would be great. I happened to be craving something sweet.
“If you get a perfect score on the Combat Mage Exam while enrolled at Reinhart, you’ll have the chance to enter the Imperial Palace, you know?”
Aw.
So I couldn't have it.
“Then what’s the good part?”
“You’ll get the chance to have an audience with the highest-ranking person.”
“…Pardon?”
“It’s not officially advertised, though. To begin with, getting a perfect score on the practical Combat Mage Exam is extremely difficult.”
“Are you allowed to tell me that?”
“It’s a confirmed provision, so there’s no need to worry.”
Hmm.
That was a pretty interesting fact.
So would I get to enter with those guys?
Karnarof wouldn't have given me an assignment I couldn't handle.
“And here is the textbook for the common written exam.”
“The written exam?”
She placed a very heavy, paper-wrapped rectangular object on the counter.
A textbook…?
This?
“Huh? This is it!? Seriously?”
No, I’d been happy thinking I wouldn’t have anything to study for the final exam!
I had to do all of this?
“Your friends each bought one too, you know?”
Looking closely, I saw that they, too, were each carrying something of a similar thickness under one arm.
“…You’ve got to be kidding me.”
***
A few days after Yumia registered for the exam, the applications were gathered in one place.
The Rank 1 Mage Exam would be held exactly one month later.
The applications had to be sorted and compiled into a document.
A seasoned Rank 5 court mage of the Empire.
Kren took the applications.
Since this was the important task of selecting talent, it was only right that he handle it personally.
“There are quite a lot of applications from Reinhart this time. Karnarof’s side did contact us.”
[I’m going to push the first-years into taking the Rank 1 Mage Exam a little early. Handle the applications.]
An extremely concise and rude way of speaking.
If he hadn't known Karnarof well, he would have been angry, but by now he was used to such treatment.
“…Hmm?”
“Is there a problem?”
His aide, who had delivered the applications, asked.
“Practical… There’s an application for the Rank 1 Combat Mage section.”
The aide seemed unable to understand.
Then again, he was a practical type who hadn't graduated from an academy.
“That’s an exam for court mages or high-ranking adventurers. It’ll be difficult without practical experience.”
The Combat Mage Exam measured one’s ability to actually fight using magic.
As a specialized exam, it had quite a few additional tests attached to the ordinary Mage Exam.
Particularly in the practical portion, there were parts where even Rank 4 court mages made mistakes.
“Couldn’t they have applied by mistake?”
“What kind of idiot would do that? Anyone in the Empire who has dreamed of becoming a mage has these common-sense facts drilled into them from childhood.”
“Then since the application came from Reinhart, shouldn’t it be fine?”
“It should be fine if it’s Reinhart… but are you sure? This kid is even a first-year?”
“…Is this one a first-year too?”
This time, even he couldn’t help being surprised.
Kren wore an expression of utter bewilderment.
“A Combat Mage Exam for a first-year? What on earth is Karnarof thinking?”
“Isn’t that beyond anything we could understand?”
He agreed with that.
Even geniuses found it difficult to understand the thoughts of other geniuses.
“Well, it shouldn’t matter. It’s not our concern.”
Kren knocked some ash from his cigarette.
If it was an application from an immature youngster, the practical exam would weed them out anyway.
As he shuffled through the papers and compiled the list of applicants,
his aide said as though he had just remembered something.
“Come to think of it, the fellows who were dispatched for the exchange meet did say a genius had emerged from Reinhart.”
He waved it off as though he wasn’t interested.
“Geniuses in name only pop up all the time. More importantly, our work…
Until his aide said something absurd.
“Apparently, they took down a half-dragon with one hand.”
“What?”
…Wasn’t Reinhart a magic school?
For a moment, he questioned the identity of his alma mater,
“Haha, as if that could be true.”
“Indeed.”
and laughed it off as an amusing joke.
***
The stack of papers thrust before me was definitely thick enough to crush my spirits.
But when I took it back to the lodging and opened it, it wasn’t an absurdly difficult textbook.
The sound of flipping pages echoed through the living room for about ten minutes.
“If I study in my spare time, the written exam shouldn’t be a problem.”
I reached my conclusion.
“I can just cram!”
“Why are you taking it in that direction…?”
“I have lots to do.”
“What could you possibly have to do, Yumia?”
Linia, who had stuffed the library's books into her Inventory, asked.
I truly envied that magic.
“I’ve almost beaten all the bosses in the eastern dungeon, but the later bosses are still left.”
I must've lowered my dynamic vision too much. It was brutally difficult.
“So it’s about a game after all! No. Do what you need to do today first.”
“Entertainment is important. And I need to practice my Unique Magic too.”
I needed to reduce Silver Shoes’ activation speed.
If I couldn't get it under 0.5 seconds, I couldn't use it.
Earlier, Karnarof had moved me before I even realized he was using it.
Even if I couldn't reach that level, its activation speed had to be guaranteed if I was going to use it for movement.
Otherwise, I’d end up bound like I had been by Bind earlier.
And so I roughly readjusted my goal.
“Oh, and this is a bit unrelated.”
“What is it?”
“I’m out of money.”
“That’s what happens when you spend it so lavishly.”
Linia chided me.
“No, you know why I don't have any money.”
They said I’d get a discount if I paid a year’s rent all at once, so Aris and I simply split the full payment.
That left me nearly penniless, and I’d spent the few gold coins Isabel had given me as potion payment here and there.
“I could lend you some, you know?”
“I appreciate it, but I need to go to Earth anyway.”
I can bring back some goods then and sell them to Robert.
Besides, we were also running low on frozen food and seasonings.
“In that case, well…”
Linia and Aris both rather liked my cooking.
So they didn't try to stop me.
“I’ll be back!!”
“W-wait!”
Aris seemed to realize something and reached out, but
I had already disappeared via spatial movement.
* * *
Isera was in the guildmaster’s office.
Jeongyeon slowly turned to face her.
Apart from Jeongyeon, she was the White Tiger Guild's most capable member.
He had called her in after she returned from the Abyss raid and finished handling all the minor matters.
“It’s been a while, Sera. You missed me, right?”
“Not particularly.”
“I-I see.”
“Please get to the point. It's already past quitting time.”
“There’s a talent I’d like to recruit.”
“Pardon?”
This time, it was Isera’s turn to be surprised.
The White Tiger Guild was elitist.
Unless a proper prospect of B-rank or higher appeared, they didn’t participate in recruitment competitions.
And until now, Isera had never heard of any such prospect appearing.
“While I was with the Abyss raid party… I got some good information.”
“What… is it?”
“Apparently, there’s a super rookie who hasn’t entered the market yet.”
“…Pardon?”
Isera’s thoughts raced.
“Is it someone from Japan or Southeast Asia?”
“No, apparently she’s a native Korean. Even foreign Hunters know about her through the grapevine. There’s one more Hell-difficulty user, and when they traced the Tower, it turned out to be Korea.”
Overseas, research on the Tower and the caliber of Hunters was more advanced.
A talent worthy of attention even abroad? In Korea?
“And after I roughed up Cheonmyeong to find out.”
“Pardon? Why them…?”
“They picked a fight with me, demanding I hand over a talent, even though I had no idea what they were talking about. So I broke a few things and came back.”
“I always tell you to try talking before resorting to your fists…”
As Isera started in on her usual lecture, one person came to mind.
A Korean… talent.
Wasn’t there one person the Cheonmyeong side was desperately searching for right now?
“Anyway, I heard we absolutely have to find a Hunter named Yumia.”
The moment she heard that, Isera understood everything.
Isera had no idea where to begin explaining this.
Jeongyeon was a good person.
When she had become entangled with the Cheonmyeong and Azure Wolf Guilds, Jeongyeon had readily offered her a helping hand.
Though he treated her brusquely, he was one of the few people she could call a benefactor.
But…
‘This man really isn’t very quick on the uptake.’
The guild only functioned because he had a secretary at his side.
‘Though the secretary being busy enough to die was a problem.’
She was seized by the dilemma of a lifetime.
If she just told him, the guildmaster might die from embarrassment.
‘And these two seem like they'd hit it off far too well, which is another problem.’