Book 1 Chapter 9
【9】8
“It’s been a long time. Vice Head Jis.”
“How have you been? Imperial Mage Rozes.”
Jis greeted Rozes Ruwalin.
Rozes Ruwalin.
He was a cousin of the current Ruwalin family head and held the position of Imperial Mage of the Empire.
“For Abad, Chelsea, and Celia to all enroll in Lumern in the same year. Hahahaha! As people of the same empire, this is truly a joyous occasion!”
Abad, the family head's child, was sixteen. Chelsea was fourteen.
From the Empire's perspective, it was a good thing that three talents representing the nation enrolled in the same year.
However, from the perspective of the two families competing for the title of the Empire's most prestigious family, it could be said to be the beginning of a cutthroat rivalry.
“Abad will likely take first place in the Western entrance exam, though.”
“Do you have a reason to be so sure?”
“Clearly, Abad and Celia are skilled individuals who will contend for first place.”
Rozes glanced. He saw the examiner Albi standing on the platform.
“This exam is unusual. There are many variables. And Abad has Chelsea.”
It meant that the two siblings would cooperate to defeat Celia.
Chelsea was one of the top five skilled applicants.
If she were to help Abad, Celia would have no way to fight back.
‘It’s disadvantageous in many ways… but it’s not necessarily pessimistic.’
There was a joker on this side too.
It was when Jis smiled meaningfully, remembering Leo.
A huge square magic mirror appeared in the air.
Ooooh- The audience gasped.
It was magic that allowed them to see inside the Hero's World.
The exam situation was broadcast here.
The magic mirror glowed, and a screen appeared.
The moment they saw that screen.
“Pfft-!”
Jis burst out laughing uncontrollably, and Rozes's eyes widened.
Though no sound was heard, a girl with light blue hair was screaming.
Below the girl, who was suspended in mid-air with her hands and feet bound, a bonfire was blazing.
And a white-haired boy holding a vine was smiling wickedly and adjusting the rope.
***
When Chelsea came to, she was dangling in mid-air, her hands and feet tied together.
“Wh-What is this?”
“Are you awake? Since you’re awake, let me ask. Will you cooperate with me? Or not?”
“You’ll regret tying me up with such crude restraints instead of eliminating me.”
Chelsea, speaking fiercely, conjured magic.
‘Huh, what? Why isn't my magic moving?’
It felt as if something nearby was suppressing her magic.
“Could it be a magic sealing array?”
“That’s right. I drew it.”
“Were you a magic swordsman?”
“No. I don’t have magic right now. So the sealing array isn’t that strong either.”
“Ugh! I can’t believe you have magical aptitude! But I can easily break a sealing array that isn't imbued with magic!”
“That’s true. But that’s only if you can concentrate properly.”
“What? Hiiiik-!”
Chelsea flinched at the burning sensation on her backside.
As Leo lowered the rope, the presence of the bonfire was felt.
“St-Stop! Stop it! Kyaaaaaaak! Don't lower me!”
“So? Will you cooperate? Or not?”
“As a member of the Ruwalin family, I would never cooperate with a Jerdinger!”
“Oh really? I won’t be responsible if your butt gets thoroughly cooked, then?”
“Kyaaaaaak? Stop! Stop it!”
Chelsea struggled.
The scorching heat climbed up her backside.
She frantically tried to break the sealing array, but it wasn't easy.
A magic sealing array requires considerable magical aptitude.
Even a sealing array not imbued with magic required intense concentration to break.
Of course, if Chelsea had been a slightly more experienced mage, it wouldn't have worked.
But she was inexperienced for her skill level.
Leo had seen right through her.
Chelsea’s face turned pale.
‘The entrance exam can be watched from outside! If others see me like this!’
There’s no greater humiliation than this!
Hwa-reureuk-!
The hem of her skirt caught fire!
“Kyaaak! Hot! Stop! Sto-op!”
“Swear on your family's name. That you’ll cooperate.”
“I will! I’ll do it! I’ll cooperate on Ruwalin’s name, so please stop!”
Chelsea, with tears in her eyes, pleaded.
‘She’s a child, so it’s easy.’
He chuckled and pulled the vine.
Chelsea, barely freed, sobbed as she put out the fire.
‘S-Surely others didn’t see me like this, did they? Yes. That’s right. They couldn’t have seen it. The exam just started, so they must have been showing other people.’
However, much to her regret, Leo and Chelsea’s appearance was the first to be broadcast via magic.
***
‘Hmm.’
Albi sighed with an unenthusiastic expression.
The Hero's World currently unfolding was special to him.
The first page of his own heroic tale.
It was the catalyst that led him to become a hero.
Watching the applicants struggling in that world, Albi thought.
‘Every single one of them is low-level.’
Albi Tsk- clicked his tongue in annoyance.
A hero is one acknowledged by the gods.
That’s why people consider heroes noble and valiant.
Of course, there are such individuals.
But Albi, at least, was far from that common image.
He was neurotic and pursued efficiency.
He disliked inefficiency.
He also disliked bothersome things.
That's why he created this exam.
Survival in the Demonic Secret Realm.
Those who survive are strong.
It was an extremely simple yet effective exam for distinguishing talent.
And its effect became apparent.
Eliminating rivals.
Fighting monsters to survive.
In this exam, there were two given choices.
The choice of most applicants was to eliminate their rivals.
‘Utterly foolish.’
They must have thought they were being clever.
Thinking it was the fastest way to climb the ranks.
And the monsters that existed in the Forest of Beasts.
Orcs, Gnolls, and Goblins were not a significant threat at the applicants' level.
Of course, trolls were dangerous, but their numbers were few, making them hard to encounter.
Here, the examinees made two mistakes.
First. They failed to properly grasp the information.
Albi had told them the exam content.
But he had never presented the passing criteria.
In other words, they should have realized that eliminating rivals wasn't the be-all and end-all and moved cautiously.
Second. Misjudgment regarding the Forest of Beasts.
It was a forest that many powerful nations, even raising armies, could not conquer.
Even low-level monsters would exhaust one if fought endlessly.
To fight without cooperating in such a situation.
In a real situation, it would be annihilation.
‘Of course, if one possessed overwhelming skill, they could achieve both monster subjugation and rival elimination.’
Albi curled the corners of his mouth as he looked at the magic mirror.
Black hair and red eyes.
A girl with a flame aura around her sword was visible.
‘Celia Jerdinger. Indeed, just as the rumors say.’
Celia was fighting three trolls.
And behind her. A boy with light blue hair was chanting.
‘Abad Ruwalin is the same. The Empire's future looks bright.’
The two rivals, by chance, met for the first time as soon as they entered the Hero's World.
The two, possessing overwhelming skill to pass this exam alone, chose cooperation over competition.
This was because they had accurately seen through the exam.
‘Those two will have no problem. Rather, it will be difficult to determine superiority.’
He wore a satisfied expression.
While he was thinking that the top two places would undoubtedly go to those two.
The screen changed again.
The applicant reflected in the magic mirror was fighting an orc.
‘Was his name Leo Flove?’
The examinee who was first captured on the magic mirror’s screen.
And the examinee who performed the most bizarre action throughout this exam.
Most people treated Leo, who tied up the young lady of the Ruwalin family and tried to burn her over a bonfire, as some kind of madman.
But Albi gave Leo a high score.
‘Regardless of the method, securing Chelsea Ruwalin’s cooperation is something to be positively evaluated.’
Therefore, he was looking forward to seeing what kind of performance he would show in this exam.
And the performance he was showing now was beyond expectations.
No, it was astonishing even for him, a hero.
‘He doesn’t have the same power and flashiness as Celia Jerdinger, but….’
In his movements, slicing down orcs with minimal effort, one could even feel an unfathomable level of mastery.
‘An unexpected dark horse.’
***
Pwahuak-!
“Chwiiak-!”
Turning away from the orc whose heart had been pierced, Leo spun his body.
His sword was naturally drawn.
The sword, swung with centrifugal force, precisely decapitated the orc that had been aiming for his back.
As soon as he encountered ten orcs, Leo immediately dashed forward.
Orcs are intelligent monsters, so if given an opening, they form a formation and charge.
He quickly made the first move before that could happen.
While Leo was leading and cutting down orcs, Chelsea chanted a spell.
“Wind Arrow.”
She fired the completed magic.
Peobeobeobeok-!
“Kkuuaaaak!”
“Chwieek!”
The orcs pierced by the magic screamed.
Seven orcs died due to the magic.
Leo, who had cleanly sliced the neck of the last orc, shook the blood from his sword.
And without a word, he walked ahead.
Chelsea, following behind him, muttered to herself.
‘Combat is easy.’
Even if she aspired to be a battle mage, a mage was still a mage.
The most efficient tactic was, after all, to leave the front line to an excellent warrior and focus on firepower support from the rear.
And Chelsea felt that she and Leo had excellent synergy.
She had been resentful when she was coerced into partying with Leo, but now, after three battles, she felt it was a good decision.
It wasn't merely about dealing with monsters.
He skillfully herded the monsters into one place so that her magic could be used with maximum efficiency.
Magic was an area attack.
Naturally, the more enemies were grouped together, the greater the effect.
“That's quite impressive, dealing with orcs so easily without even using aura.”
“I don’t know how to use aura.”
“What did you say?”
“I haven’t learned it yet.”
‘Is it possible to move like that without using aura?’
While a question arose, she also understood why she had been subdued earlier.
‘Since he wasn't using aura, my mana detection didn't pick him up.’
Chelsea placed her hand on her hip with a triumphant expression.
“To reveal your secret so readily! How foolish!”
“With your current skill, you can’t subdue me, so I’m not worried.”
“Hohoho! Such bravado.”
“I merely stated a fact.”
Leo said indifferently.
“Honestly, you have impressive skill.”
“Hm?”
“Your magic power is strong, and you probably know many different spells.”
“Nothing falls to you for giving an honest compliment.”
She said it coolly, but she felt good about the sudden praise.
“But that’s the problem.”
“Hm?”
“Your skill is too good, so you're not properly utilizing the essence of wind magic.”
Chelsea had a combat style of overwhelming opponents with powerful magic.
The essence of wind magic was not that.
“Our family's pride is wind magic. To discuss wind magic in front of a Ruwalin. How laughable.”
Chelsea sneered.
Leo's current remark was unacceptable.
She chanted a spell in Runic, extending her staff toward a spot.
“Wind Break.”
“Guoooooooo!”
A blade of fierce wind flew into the bushes, tearing apart a troll that had been lurking.
The troll, fallen to the ground, twitched before going limp.
It was Chelsea showing off her power with a high-level spell she had pre-cast to intimidate Leo.
‘To act so cocky just because he knows a little about magic! He must be surprised by what he just saw, right?’
Chelsea wore a smug expression.
Seeing her, Leo made an indifferent face.
“That’s not how you use wind magic.”
The greatest advantage of wind magic was its versatility.
Simply overpowering with raw force was the attack method that least utilized wind magic's distinctiveness.
At Leo’s words, Chelsea’s expression flared up.
And she sharply turned her head, as if she didn't want to listen.
‘Well, I can’t even use magic right now, so it’s absurd for me to say such things.’
Whatever the case in his previous life, he hadn't mastered magic yet in this one.
Leo, letting out a small laugh, suddenly stopped walking.
Chelsea's eyes also widened.
Troll corpses were scattered around.
But the condition of the corpses was strange.
They were shriveled as if their life force had been sucked out.
“What happened to them? There shouldn't be any monsters that suck out life force in the Forest of Beasts, should there?”
Chelsea examined the corpses with a bewildered expression.
Leo, touching a corpse, narrowed his eyes.
‘Could this be…’
“First, I think it’s best to rendezvous with Celia and your brother. I roughly understand what the passing criteria for this exam are now.”
“Huh? What is it?”
Looking at Chelsea's surprised expression, Leo smiled meaningfully.
“Conquering this world.”