Chapter 28
But I'll meet Kailyn again.
It seemed I'd meet Kailyn again.
Kailyn wasn't the type of mage who did research.
Also, the mage she aspired to be was one who achieved the great feat of joining the hero's party and defeating the Demon King, so she wasn’t interested in research.
So it was natural for her to participate in the combat practical exam.
If I participate as Daphne's escort, I'd surely meet her.
That fact was very uncomfortable for me.
Why do we meet so often?
How can meeting an ex-wife you've divorced not be uncomfortable?
It hadn't been long since I divorced Kailyn, and to meet her again like this…
I didn't know why I kept getting involved with Kailyn so often.
Come to think of it, is it unavoidable?
But actually, if one thought about it, it was unavoidable.
I was destined to be involved with the hero's party for the sake of the smooth progression of the story.
Kailyn was also destined to be involved with the hero's party to pursue her dream of becoming an archmage.
With the hero's party between us, in our situation, we couldn’t avoid meeting.
I was just acting on my own, and Kailyn was acting on her own.
Not just this time, but we might keep meeting often in the future.
Given this situation, it seemed I'd have to get used to it.
I can't sigh every time I meet Kailyn.
Even if we meet, we wouldn't have a proper conversation anyway, so let's just pass by each other when we meet.
"I'm so glad. That Davian is helping me. I'm really glad."
Anyway, let's focus on helping Daphne pass the combat practical exam for now.
Daphne kept thanking me.
I planned to focus on helping her pass the combat practical exam for now.
Well... I can't overlook this either.
Aside from Levia's request, this could actually be a very important element for the story.
In the original story, when Daphne became the mage of the hero's party, she was affiliated with the magic tower.
She was officially chosen by the hero as a member of the magic tower.
But if she was no longer affiliated with the magic tower, could she still become the mage of the hero's party?
There was a high possibility that Daphne and the hero might not even meet in the first place.
If that happened, the story might flow in a different direction.
This world that should end with a happy ending might end in a different way.
That wasn’t what I wanted at all.
So I wanted to help her pass, but...
I'm not really worried about the magic tower's practical exam.
Actually, I wasn’t particularly worried about the magic tower's practical exam.
Because the practical exam only checked whether one qualified as a mage or not.
The mages and escorts from the magic tower participating in the practical exam were quite powerful.
Fighting them was definitely not an easy task, but...
We don't necessarily have to win, right?
The exam itself wasn't about fighting them and winning.
The exam was an absolute evaluation, determined solely by whether the mage was qualified or not.
I just needed to help Daphne prove that she was qualified, and there was nothing else I particularly needed to do.
So, there was no pressure.
Besides, a mage of Daphne's caliber would surely pass anyway.
I just needed to pretend to fight moderately and then come back.
That was why I wasn’t worried about the magic tower's practical exam.
"Davian... should we practice?"
Of course, unlike me, Daphne seemed quite worried.
Daphne, who had become my teammate.
She said we should practice together from now on.
Saying that since we'd be fighting together, we needed to coordinate with each other.
"No, there's no need for that."
"What?"
"You'll pass anyway. It's fine."
I refused.
I didn't feel the need for it.
Daphne would pass anyway, right?
How strong was she, the mage of the hero's party.
She'd pass sufficiently without doing that.
"Is it really okay?"
"I'm telling you, it's fine."
Daphne still looked worried, but I told her not to worry.
Telling her to have confidence, I sent her back.
"Come back on the exam day. See you then."
"O-okay..."
So we agreed to meet again on the exam day, and parted ways for now.
***
Time passed again, and finally, the day of the magic tower's practical exam arrived.
"Is this the place?"
"Yes. The magic tower's practical exam is held here."
The place we found was a colosseum in the city.
It was a place where martial arts tournaments or life-and-death battles of gladiators were held, but now it was a space solely for the magic tower's practical exam.
As expected of the magic tower, they think big.
They probably rented this colosseum for this exam.
They couldn't hold the exam inside the magic tower.
Probably because outsiders couldn't enter the magic tower.
Anyway, when the practical exam was about to be held here, we'd soon be fighting here.
I looked around at the teams we'll be fighting soon.
There are many formidable people.
There were about 16 teams taking the magic tower's practical exam, including my team with Daphne.
And all the mages and escorts looked quite strong.
Among them were already famous mage and skilled escorts.
Maybe some of them are stronger than the current hero?
Looking at their faces, there were many opponents who wouldn't be easy.
Even S-rank adventurers who appeared briefly in the original story were visible.
It's not a big deal, but this is quite a battle of pride.
One might think why there were so many amazing people for just a practical exam, but mages were the kind of people who obsessed over such unnecessary things, so it couldn't be helped.
Winning the practical exam ultimately gave quite a lot of honor, right?
It was just honor, but because mages value it so much, they probably hire S-rank adventurers as escorts for large sums of money.
From my perspective, I wondered why they bother doing that.
It was just a waste of money.
Of course, it doesn't matter to me and Daphne at all.
In that sense, Daphne and I could be seen as very faithful to our purpose.
It was fortunate that Daphne didn’t have such unnecessary desire for honor.
We should just use some combat magic moderately and then leave.
"Daphne. Let's get ready."
"O-okay."
"Don't be nervous. You'll pass anyway."
"Will I...?"
About 10 minutes left until the exam?
I was just warming up a bit for the practical exam that was about to start soon.
"Why are you here?"
Someone approached us and spoke.
A mage with silver hair wearing neat mage’s robes.
It was Kailyn, my childhood friend who divorced me.
I didn't expect her to speak to us first.
It was somewhat unexpected, but I answered Kailyn's question, "I came to take the exam. To help Daphne with the combat practical."
"...You?"
"Yeah."
Kailyn looked somewhat displeased at the mention of the combat practical, but soon she turned her head as she always did.
It was her expression of disinterest.
"Is that so? Do your best then."
Was she saying that although she was a bit surprised to see me here, there was no need to pay much attention?
Anyway, just as Kailyn, who had briefly spoken to us, was about to leave again, Daphne called out to her.
"Ka... Kailyn."
Daphne looked somewhat troubled as she looked at Kailyn.
I know why she was making that expression.
She probably wanted to know if Kailyn really stole her paper.
So she called out to her, but...
"Um... Kailyn. I have something to ask..."
"Let's talk later, Daphne. I'm not in the mood to talk now."
Kailyn ignored Daphne as if she had nothing to say.
She left like that.
"...Ugh..."
Daphne, who didn't get an answer, looked very frustrated.
She seemed to still be troubled about this issue.
Did she really steal it?
I was curious too.
Did Kailyn really steal the paper?
I wasn’t sure, but...
Let's put that issue aside for now.
"Mage Daphne. Please come up to the arena."
Now it was time for us to take the practical exam.
A person from the magic tower called for Daphne.
It was announced that it was her turn.
"Daphne. Let's get ready."
"Okay..."
Daphne and I went up to the arena.
And we faced the magician and escort standing in front of us.
We'd be fighting them from now on.
Shall we win easily?
Let's focus on winning for now.