Chapter 96
The light truly was darkest under the lamp.
I thought I knew most famous Explorers by now, but to think Hecate was a Master.
I couldn't remember exactly when, but Hecate once boasted that Mea could easily become an Expert if she wanted to, so I vaguely assumed Hecate was Expert-level too.
If Hecate was a Master, she could have boasted about herself rather than about Mea's Expert-level abilities.
Though I'd heard various impressive evaluations about Hecate from others...
The everyday appearance needs to match.
Our school head is definitely not world-class.
"Well, isn't this good? Saves you the trouble," Rei spoke with her fingers laced behind her head.
Leaf chimed in beside her, "Right. I think saving time is really significant."
"That's... true."
With no prior knowledge of an event transpiring, it was better to handle things as quickly as possible.
Even if it was just a day's difference, that in itself was significant.
"But this type is pretty strict. Does it make sense that recommendations can only be written once a year?"
"You were going to take the Hand examination from the start anyway, Rei."
"...That's true, but it just feels wrong, you know?"
Rei grumbled about how it felt wrong on a feeling level.
Anyway, I got my recommendation for the Heart examination, Rei never considered anything but Hand, and that leaves Leaf.
"What are you going to do, Leaf?"
"Hmm~ I think I'll probably go with Heart too."
"Huh? Leaf, do you have recommendations? Weren't we going to Frontier later?"
"I think it won't be difficult through Teacher."
"Ah... that Dragonkin."
"Not just any Dragonkin, but Costin Balaur."
"Same difference. They are still Dragonkin."
One could apply for promotion and take the examination at branch offices located in each district of the city's Inner and Outer Walls.
Master rank examinations were specifically only held at Union headquarters, but that didn't concern us yet.
So we arrived at the Eastern Outer District branch, where Telema School and Rei and Leaf's lodgings were located.
The Eastern District branch was quite quiet, probably because most people flock to headquarters where it's larger and easier to find team members.
"What brings you..."
"I'd like to apply for promotion."
"Ah! Promotion!"
The receptionist replied with a somewhat excited face, as if promotion applications were rare.
"Did you bring application forms?"
"Are there forms?"
"There's no specific format... I guess you're not from a guild. Just a moment, could you tell me your name, current rank, and which rank and type of examination you're applying for?"
Guild people seemed to make their own forms to speed up the process since promotions were familiar to them.
Paper wasn't extremely expensive here, but it wasn’t as cheap as on Earth either.
After writing down my details, the receptionist moved her hands around doing various things, then stamped with a bang!
"Alright. Your application is complete, Mr. Roman Sun. You're classified as eligible for the applied rank. Straight from Novice to Senior... you must be an amazing prospect!"
"Ah, yes, well."
Skipping two ranks at once must be quite rare, as the receptionist kept expressing amazement and praise.
Usually, such praise would make my shoulders rise, but hearing it continuously just made me embarrassed.
"Please hurry."
"We need to verify the recommendations. If you could wait a moment..."
"Miss Rone, I'll handle this from here."
A familiar voice.
The man approaching the receptionist was someone definitely in my memories, though his appearance and complexion had changed.
"Instructor?"
Davenport, the combat training instructor from the training center.
He silently nodded at my unconscious words and said, "It's been a while."
§
After the training center raid incident, while I kept occasional contact with my classmates, I didn't with the instructors.
There wasn't much of a bond with them, and they didn't feel the need to get close to me either.
If there were exceptions, it would be Director Skyler and... Davenport, who stood before me now.
"I've been following your news separately—impressive. Chromatic Fiend, Evolver, Sentinel. Stories came naturally without having to search."
"Have you been well, Mr. Davenport? Your speech has softened."
"Working here, it naturally had to."
"That's how it is dealing with people."
Davenport continued answering my earlier question.
After the training center raid incident, all instructors, including Director Skyler, quit voluntarily or involuntarily.
Some, like Skyler and Davenport, found jobs at similar institutions like the Explorer Union, while others chose retirement.
Though severely injured, Davenport considered retirement but chose the Union.
Even when headquarters wouldn't accept him and said he had to go to a branch, he complied willingly.
The reason was simple.
"I had to repay the debt I owe you somehow."
So he chose the Eastern Outer District branch as his workplace.
Even moved his house there.
"Until now, you only went to headquarters, so I couldn't help."
Though too modest to call it an abuse of power, having someone supporting me like this makes a big difference.
Just prioritizing my paperwork or informing me about good requests provided considerable benefits.
"By the way, Senior rank? Might need to be careful about drawing too much attention."
Davenport was one of those who knew about Blink.
He seemed concerned about his lifesaver getting into difficult situations.
"Can't help it if I want to create a guild."
"A guild? Planning to make one with your classmates?"
"Not exactly. But I'll propose it."
"They'll all want to join. Except those already in guilds. But do you need to make a guild? Heard you're already in a school."
"Well, about that."
Since Viola's report already made public that the Cult of the End and the Professor were involved, I figured it wouldn't hurt to tell Davenport part of my purpose.
The Cult might have identified my abilities.
And that there was a high chance they'd attack me, so I wanted protection by becoming a subsidiary guild under guilds with Pioneers.
"Hmm, besides directly joining those organizations, that does seem the best option."
Directly joining wouldn't make a difference.
It wasn’t like we could constantly have someone strong enough to face the Professor accompanying us anyway.
Probably only Pioneers could guarantee victory against the Professor.
There might be more who could fight evenly, but they'd still be an incredibly small minority.
Having such people escort us for care?
That was like shouting, “Shut up and invest everything in me!”
Whether they were Pioneers or Masters, they were busy people.
Someone strong like the Professor was like a disaster.
Like a nuclear bomb.
Even on modern Earth, if a nuclear bomb struck, the country's done.
Think about a nuke hitting Seoul.
Wouldn't that destroy more than half the nation's power?
Core personnel, infrastructure...
That was why they built missile defense systems to stop nukes and formed alliances with nuclear powers for mutual deterrence.
And if one just survived, counterattack became possible.
Whether a counterattack was possible made a big difference.
It meant we could take retaliatory measures once we escaped that situation.
Or wage a preventive war.
We can manage to escape somehow.
Just us three, we should manage to escape somehow with Blink.
Even if they block magic, Rei could handle it somewhat.
"Becoming a Pioneer's apprentice might be good too."
"Like Arthur?"
"Yes. That would ensure better personal protection."
"The restrictions on activity are a bit..."
"Then nothing can be done. But it's worth considering. It doesn't have to be Viola Pelletier."
After this conversation, we returned to the main business.
"Recommendation verification is complete. The interview, we can substitute with our just-finished conversation."
"Is that allowed?"
"Technically the branch director should do it, but during their absence, this much flexibility is fine. Besides, I'm an Expert too. Can't be a combat instructor position as just a Senior."
As Davenport was wrapping up the examination with some banter, something seemed to go wrong, and his expression suddenly hardened.
"Why is this..."
"Mr. Davenport?"
"Hmm... this is troublesome."
After letting out a sigh, Davenport bowed his head to me.
"I'm sorry. There's a problem. My oversight for not checking."
"What? What problem?"
"Roman, you're a designated examination subject."
"Designated examination subject? What's that?"
"Exactly what it sounds like. Cases where specific interviewers are assigned for the promotion interview. It's such a rare exception that I didn't even consider it."
Saying he'd never seen this in his work before, Davenport expressed both embarrassment and unresolved questions.
"I don't know who, but you should head to Union headquarters first."
"This is really annoying."
"...Those with authority for designated examinations are few. Union leadership, those with equivalent or greater privileges, the Council of Ten perhaps. I think it's likely to be Viola Pelletier."
Though Davenport suggested this, thinking there were few with such authority and Viola was my only connection among them, I thought differently.
It wasn’t Viola.
Though brief, our time together showed she definitely wasn't the type to bother with such trivial matters.
Then who?
I'll find out when I get there anyway.
"Ah, please tell Rei. She'll probably be taking the combat examination."
"I will. Sorry, I couldn't help."
"Don't be. It couldn't be helped, right? See you next time."
When I came out, Leaf, who had been waiting alone swinging her legs in a chair, bounded over like a puppy.
"Done already? So you're Senior now?"
"No. Something's tangled up, they say I need to go to headquarters."
Well, I needed to go to headquarters anyway for guild creation.
After leaving a message for Rei to come to headquarters later, Leaf and I headed to the Inner City.
And when I applied for the promotion examination at the Union again.
I encountered even swifter processing than with Davenport.
Before I knew it, I found myself in a reception room amid the almost instantaneous flow of events.
VIP-looking classical interior.
Determined to see the face of whoever called me to such a place, I stared intently at the person entering through the door.
Silver hair approaching white.
Narrow eyes stretched long, and the faint smile on his lips felt somewhat mocking, irritating me.
He twitched his eyebrows once upon seeing me, then sat in the head seat with movements that showed ingrained etiquette.
Then he spoke, "This is a first…"
An unpleasant first word.
The next words followed immediately, “...meeting that child's boyfriend."
"...Pardon?"
"Ah, don't you know? Then let me introduce myself. I am Piakra McManus. The heir to the Grand Duchy."