Chapter 95 - Promotion (2)

"Wait a minute. I'm having trouble following this."

Rei pressed her two index fingers against her temples as she spoke.

"You'll create a guild. So you're taking the promotion exam. But? Isn't something important missing? Is there any point in just us gathering?"

Right.

What was really important was deterrent-like power.

Protection from someone strong enough to face Professor-level Abyss Worshipers.

"When we make the guild, we'll join as a subsidiary."

"To Frontier Guild?"

"Yes."

Not just Frontier.

If we were only going to be a subsidiary of Frontier, there'd be no reason to create a guild.

We could just join as three individuals.

So, if we were making a guild anyway, why not expand the scale?

"We'll join multiple."

"Multiple means..."

"Frontier, Enigma, Conquerors. We'll make offers to all three."

"Wow... Roman, you've finally lost it?"

At my bold declaration, Rei reflexively blurted out her thoughts.

"I hate to say it myself, but are we worth that much?"

Simultaneously making subsidiary contracts with three places made it nearly impossible for them to manipulate us.

You know what they say, “Three legs support the world, and that balance of three isn't easily broken.”

If one of the three tried to use us, the other two would need to permit or at least ignore it, but it failed if even one objected.

So from their perspective, we became difficult to use while they must help us if we have problems—a one-way relationship.

A reversed hierarchy.

The birth of a super underdog.

"Frontier... that's understandable. We have connections there, and Viola's favorable to us."

Rei, who had been getting more childish lately, suddenly started analyzing like an aspiring advisor.

This warm feeling at seeing her growth... is this a father's heart?

"But the others? We don't really have much connection with those two."

"Um... we do though? We went on that expedition together."

"Ah, right. That Crawler? Was it?"

Rei's intelligence immediately normalized.

"Hernan Wakefield. Crawler is just Lady Viola's nickname for him. You're starting to resemble Lady Viola."

"What...! Who's like who...!!"

Leaving Rei roaring like a lion behind, I talked about how to approach the remaining place.

"Honestly, we don't have much with Conquerors. But we have done them some favors."

"You mean Grant Dexter's remains."

Leaf stated the correct answer.

Grant Dexter, one of Conquerors' core forces.

I—no, we—retrieved and returned his remains to Conquerors.

And we also returned Grant's artifact that hadn't melted even in the Blazing Death's hellfire.

"But is that enough..."

Leaf showed signs of lacking confidence, seemingly thinking the outlook was somewhat dark.

While it wasn't a small debt, her expression suggested uncertainty whether it would be enough for protection from their Pioneer leader and acceptance of joint subsidiary status with two other guilds.

"Don't worry. It'll work."

I wasn't planning to rely solely on their debt of gratitude.

That alone would be a bit insufficient.

I had one more thing in mind.

It's a kind of cycling strategy.

There's this strategy? Business tactic?

Say there are three countries: A, B, and C.

You promote to country B like this: Tell them it's incredibly popular and famous in country A.

Then B will buy it, right?

Then promote that to C.

Advertise it as a craze sweeping B, and C will buy too.

Then bring it back to A, promoting it as hugely successful in B and C.

Though it was never actually successful anywhere, false information created real success.

A strategy commonly known as "How to become Bill Gates' son-in-law."

Similarly, we'd approach Conquerors promoting ourselves as a promising guild recognized by Frontier, secure their contract, then visit Enigma saying, "We've got partnerships with these two guilds, want to join?"

Once we get that far, Enigma might be surprisingly easy.

They were a group that not only preferred but loved such eccentric moves.

My guess was they were quite likely to respond with, "You're doing such crazy things? Count me in!"

Though it sounded far-fetched, there were similar cases that actually worked.

Like the case of creating something from nothing with the logic of "We don't have a shipyard now, but if we get ship orders, we'll use that money to build a shipyard and make ships!"

Though slightly different context, such cycling strategies weren't completely unrealistic.

Besides such bluffing strategies, we had one last—no, two truly reliable cards.

My spatial magic and Leaf's High Elf bloodline.

Of these, the more appealing one was... probably my spatial magic, eight or nine times out of ten.

High Elf bloodline had incredible privileges, but its immediate help in Abyss exploration was somewhat ambiguous.

Elves didn't unconditionally obey High Elves anyway.

If they did, the radical Elf faction's shadow wouldn't be considered a threat.

But spatial magic was different.

This unconditionally helped Abyss exploration.

Being able to interfere with shortcuts suggested I might be able to open them when my ability developed.

One of the biggest difficulties in Abyss expeditions was supply, and if I could freely open shortcuts, that difficulty would decrease incredibly.

There would be no need to search for gates on each floor anymore.

This has the potential to make "Shut up and invest everything in me!" quite persuasive.

"Trust me. We'll definitely succeed."

So to start this, promotion comes first.

"...I don't know. I've been following you on faith anyway, Roman, so I'll keep following."

"Me too! If needed, you can use my bloodline!"

"Isn't that dangerous?"

"Is it? I don't think it's much different from what Roman's doing..."

Despite everything, seeing my companions ultimately following my will brought a warm smile.

A pleasant sense of responsibility firmly solidified my resolution.

I must succeed.

For myself.

And for our team.

§

And so, circling back, we return to the promotion examination.

Before talking about joint investment from three guilds, it was meaningless if we couldn't meet the creation requirements.

The three-month restriction preventing reckless Novice challenges ended long ago.

There were no more obstacles blocking my promotion.

So, how does the promotion examination work?

"The promotion exam is also called The 3 H examination."

Mea raised three short, thin fingers as she spoke.

"So there are three examination routes?"

"Yes. Of course, they screen initially based on reported achievements and reputation before you can apply, but someone like Roman shouldn't have any problems."

This was what Bong-sik meant about being an Expert examination candidate.

It meant having the qualifications to pass through the initial screening before the real examination.

But that was just the preliminaries.

The main event was different.

"First is the Hand examination type, which most people challenge. Simple. It's conducted through combat."

If one viewed the promotion exam as an extension of the training center and license tests, it tested functional aspects.

Literally promotion through combat power measurement.

"Second is the Head examination type. This has the fewest applicants."

This promotion type examines academic and experiential knowledge about the Abyss.

Those with high Explorer ranks despite lacking combat power usually take this route.

Hernan was a real example.

Despite only being Senior-level in terms of combat power, he could reach Expert by compensating with knowledge.

"Last is the Heart examination type. This is what I recommend for Roman."

Hand, Head, Heart.

Together they were called The 3 H examination.

"How does the Heart examination work?"

"Recommendations and interviews. It's a test of reputation. Though interviews are required for all types."

Combat trials, tests, recommendations, and interviews.

These formats somehow evoked nostalgia.

However, the Heart examination required recommendations.

One needed recommendations from either three Explorers one rank higher than the rank one was seeking, or one Explorer two ranks higher.

In other words, applying for Senior rank required recommendations from three Experts or one Master.

Though the conditions seem strict since recommendations substitute for combat trials or tests...

This is easy.

To me, it looked like an incredibly low hurdle.

Just thinking about Experts... Hecate, Ruslan, Lyudmila. That works. Philon's master was also an Expert. Should keep that possibility open too.

Or instead of running around troublesomely, should I just go straight to Viola?

I had that thought but set it aside.

It would be more effective to meet Viola later when discussing the guild matter.

"So, could you write me a recommendation, Hecate?"

"Hmm? Oh sure. Going for promotion? I can write a recommendation. Regular?"

"Senior."

"Wow... two ranks at once? You'll become famous."

"My name's already spread anyway."

"Hmm, that's true."

While chatting, Hecate diligently wrote the recommendation.

"Done. Here."

"Ah, yes."

So this is a recommendation... really nothing special.

Just basically "Hecate Cley recommends" stamp stamp! That's all.

"I'll use it gratefully. Then I'll go get the remaining recommendations."

Think I'll start with Serapaion School.

I'll keep the Frontier people as the last candidates.

It shouldn't be hard since I just need Nathaniel and one more.

"Hey, Roman?"

Hecate called out as I was about to leave the workshop.

"Yes?"

"That should be enough?"

Looking somewhat embarrassed, as if shy to say it herself, Hecate scratched her cheek.

"Well, I'm... a Master, after all. Yeah."

Master...?

Who?

Hecate?

"No way!"

"It's true!"