Book 1 Chapter 9
[9]8
“It’s been a long time. Lord Zis Bugaju.”
“Have you been well? Imperial Mage of Roses.”
Zis greeted Roses Lewallin.
Roses Lewallin.
He was a cousin to the current head of the Lewallin family and served as an Imperial Mage of the Empire.
“It’s truly a celebration that Abad, Chelsea, and Celia have all entered Lummern in the same year. Hahaha! As people of the same empire, it's a joyous occasion!”
Abad, the head of the family’s child, was sixteen. Chelsea was fourteen.
From the empire’s perspective, it was good news that three talents representing the nation had entered in the same year.
However, from the perspective of the two families competing for the top position in the empire, it could be said to be the beginning of a grueling competition.
“Though Abad will undoubtedly take first place in the Western entrance exam.”
“Is there a reason for your certainty?”
“Abad and Celia are certainly skilled enough to contend for first place.”
Roses glanced. He looked at Albi, the examiner standing on the platform.
“This exam is unusual. There are many variables. And Abad has Chelsea.”
This meant the two siblings would cooperate to defeat Celia.
Chelsea was one of the top five most skilled candidates.
If she were to help Abad, Celia would have no recourse.
‘It’s disadvantageous in many ways… but it’s not entirely bleak.’
There was a joker on this side too.
Zis smiled meaningfully as he thought of Leo.
A giant square magic mirror appeared in the air.
Ooooooh- the audience gasped.
It was magic that allowed them to see the inside of the Hero’s World.
Here, the exam situation was broadcast.
The magic mirror glowed, and a screen appeared.
The moment they saw that screen.
“Pfft-!”
Zis burst into laughter without realizing it, and Roses glared.
Although no sound was heard, a girl with light sky-blue hair was screaming.
The girl, tied up and dangling in the air, had a bonfire burning beneath her.
And a white-haired boy holding a vine was grinning wickedly as he adjusted the rope.
***
When Chelsea came to her senses, her hands and feet were tied together, and she was dangling in the air.
“W-what is this?”
“You’re awake? Since you’re awake, let me ask. Will you cooperate with me? Or not?”
“I will make you regret not eliminating me and tying me up with such crude restraints.”
Chelsea, speaking venomously, activated her magic.
‘Huh? Why isn’t my magic moving?’
Something seemed to be suppressing her magic.
“Could it be a magic sealing formation?”
“That’s right. I drew it.”
“Were you a Sword Mage?”
“No. I have no magic right now. So the sealing formation isn’t very strong.”
“Ugh! Did you have magical aptitude after all! But I can break any sealing formation that doesn’t have magic!”
“You probably can. However, that’s if you can concentrate properly.”
“What? Hiiik-!”
Chelsea shrieked as she felt a burning sensation on her backside.
As Leo lowered the rope, the presence of the bonfire became apparent.
“W-wait! Stop! Aaaahhh! Don’t lower it!”
“So? Will you cooperate? Or not?”
“As someone from the Lewallin family, I will cooperate with a Zedinger!”
“Really? I don’t care if your backside gets cooked?”
“Aaaahhh? Stop! Stop it!”
Chelsea struggled.
A burning heat rose up her backside.
She desperately tried to break the sealing formation, but it wasn’t easy.
Magic sealing formations require considerable magical aptitude.
Even a sealing formation without 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 immature for her skill level.
Leo had seen right through that.
Chelsea’s face turned pale.
‘The entrance exam can be viewed from the outside! If others see me like this!’
It was the height of humiliation!
Fwoosh-!
The hem of her skirt caught fire!
“Aaaah! It’s hot! Stop! Stooooop!”
“I swear on the name of my family. I will cooperate.”
“I will! I will! I’ll cooperate on behalf of the Lewallin name, so please stop!”
Chelsea, with tears welling up in her eyes, pleaded.
‘Easy, she’s just a child.’
He chuckled and pulled the vine.
Chelsea, finally freed, cried and put out the fire.
‘Did… did anyone else see me like this? No. They couldn’t have. The exam just started, they must have been showing other people.’
However, to her great misfortune, Leo and Chelsea’s scene was the first to be broadcast via magic.
***
‘Hmm.’
Albi sighed with a look of disinterest.
The Hero’s World unfolding before him was special.
The first page of his own heroic tale.
It was the catalyst that led him to become a hero.
Watching the candidates struggling in that world, Albi thought.
‘They’re all so low-level.’
Albi clicked his tongue in annoyance.
A hero is someone recognized by God.
That’s why people think of heroes as noble and dignified.
Of course, there are such people.
But Albi, at least, was far from that conventional image.
He had a nervous and efficiency-driven personality.
He disliked inefficiency.
He disliked troublesome things.
That’s why he created this exam.
Survival in a secret demonic realm.
Those who survive are strong.
It was an extremely simple exam, yet excellent for weeding out the best.
And its effect was evident.
Eliminating rivals.
Surviving by fighting monsters.
In this exam, there were two choices.
The choice of the majority of candidates was to eliminate their rivals.
‘How utterly foolish.’
They must have been thinking hard.
It was the fastest way to move up in the rankings.
And the monsters in the demonic forest.
Orcs, ghouls, and goblins were not a significant threat to the candidates.
Of course, trolls were dangerous, but there were few of them, making them hard to encounter.
The students made two mistakes here.
First. They failed to grasp the information properly.
Albi explained the exam content.
But he never provided the passing criteria.
In other words, they should have realized that eliminating competitors was not the only solution and acted cautiously.
Second. Misjudging the demonic forest.
It was a forest that even large armies from powerful nations could not conquer.
Even low-level monsters would become exhausted if fought endlessly.
To fight each other in such a situation without cooperation.
In a real situation, it would have been annihilation.
‘Of course, if one has overwhelming skill, they can achieve both monster subjugation and competitor elimination.’
Albi smirked as he watched the magic mirror.
A girl with black hair and red eyes.
She was wielding a sword enveloped in a fiery aura.
‘Celia Zedinger. Truly as the rumors say.’
Celia was fighting three trolls.
And behind her. A boy with light sky-blue hair was chanting.
‘Abad Lewallin, too. The empire’s future looks bright.’
The two rivals, by coincidence, met for the first time upon entering the Hero’s World.
Possessing overwhelming skill to pass this exam alone, they chose cooperation over competition.
This was because they had accurately grasped the nature of this exam.
‘With those two, there won’t be any problems. It will be difficult to even distinguish between them.’
He wore a satisfied expression.
While thinking that the first and second places would undoubtedly go to these two.
The screen changed again.
The candidate reflected in the magic mirror was fighting an orc.
‘His name was Leo Flob, wasn’t it?’
The candidate who was first captured on the magic mirror.
And the candidate who committed the most bizarre act throughout this exam.
Most people regarded Leo, who tied up the young lady of the Lewallin family and tried to burn her over a bonfire, as completely insane.
However, Albi gave Leo high marks.
‘Regardless of the method, obtaining Chelsea Lewallin’s cooperation is something to be positively evaluated.’
Therefore, he was looking forward to seeing what he would show in this exam.
And what he was showing now was beyond expectations.
No, even for a hero like him, it was surprising.
‘She lacks the power and flashiness of Celia Zedinger, but….’
His movements, which felled orcs with minimal effort, exuded an endless sense of seasoned skill.
‘An unexpected dark horse.’
***
Fwoosh-!
“Kiiiaak-!”
With an orc’s heart pierced, Leo rotated his body.
His sword was drawn naturally.
The sword, swung with centrifugal force, precisely severed the neck of an orc attacking from behind.
As soon as he encountered ten orcs, Leo charged out.
Orcs are intelligent monsters; if given an opening, they form ranks and attack.
He struck quickly before that could happen.
While Leo mowed down the orcs at the front, Chelsea chanted a spell.
“Wind Arrow.”
She fired the completed magic.
Fwoosh-!
“Kuuuuaaaak!”
“Kieeeek!”
The orcs pierced by the magic screamed.
Seven orcs died due to the magic.
Leo, cleanly slicing the neck of the last orc, shook the blood off his sword.
Then, without a word, he walked forward.
Chelsea, following behind him, muttered to herself.
‘Combat is easy.’
Even though she aspired to be a Battle Mage, a mage is still a mage.
The most efficient tactic is to entrust the front lines to a skilled warrior and focus on firepower from the rear.
And Chelsea felt that she and Leo had excellent synergy.
Although she was initially upset about being forced to team up with Leo, after three battles, she felt she had made the right decision.
It wasn’t just about fighting monsters.
He skillfully lured the monsters to one spot so that magic could be most effective.
Magic is area-of-effect.
Naturally, the more enemies gathered, the greater the effect.
“You’re quite good, easily handling orcs without even using an aura.”
“I don’t know how to use an aura.”
“What?”
“I haven’t learned it yet.”
‘Is it possible to move like that without using an aura?’
While a question arose, she also understood the reason for her previous defeat.
‘Since he wasn’t using an aura, I couldn’t sense his mana.’
Chelsea placed her hand on her hip with a triumphant expression.
“You reveal your secrets so easily! How foolish!”
“There’s no need to worry since you can’t subdue me with your current skill.”
“Hohoho! Such boasting.”
“I’m just stating facts.”
Leo said indifferently.
“Honestly, you have great skill.”
“Oh?”
“Your magic is strong, and you probably know various spells.”
“There’s nothing for you to gain by honestly praising me.”
Although she said it curtly, she felt good about the unexpected compliment.
“But that’s the problem.”
“Huh?”
“Your skill is so good that you can’t properly bring out the essence of wind magic.”
Chelsea has a combat style that overwhelms opponents with powerful magic.
That is not the essence of wind magic.
“The pride of our family is wind magic. To discuss wind magic in front of a Lewallin, how laughable.”
Chelsea scoffed.
Leo’s current statement was unacceptable.
She chanted a spell in runes and pointed her staff in one direction.
“Wind Break.”
“Grrrrrrr!”
A blade of rough wind flew into the bushes, tearing apart a hidden troll.
The troll, which had fallen to the ground, writhed and then went limp.
Chelsea, who had pre-cast a high-level spell to intimidate Leo, was showing off her power.
‘He probably got surprised seeing this, thinking I know a bit about magic!’
Chelsea wore an smug expression.
Seeing her, Leo wore a nonchalant expression.
“That’s not how you use wind magic.”
The greatest advantage of wind magic is its unpredictability.
Simply crushing with power is the least characteristic way to attack with wind magic.
At Leo’s words, Chelsea’s expression turned indignant.
And she turned her head away as if she didn’t want to hear it.
‘Well, I can’t use magic right now, so it’s absurd to say this.’
She might not have been able to use magic in her previous life, but she hadn’t learned it yet.
Leo chuckled and suddenly stopped walking.
Chelsea’s eyes also widened.
There were troll corpses scattered around.
But the state of the corpses was strange.
They were emaciated, as if their life force had been drained.
“What was it struck by? There shouldn’t be any monsters in the demonic forest that drain life force?”
Chelsea examined the corpses with a bewildered expression.
Leo, touching a corpse, narrowed his eyes.
‘Could this be….’
“For now, I think it’s best to rendezvous with Celia and your brother. I think I understand the approximate passing criteria for this exam.”
“Huh? What is it?”
Seeing Chelsea’s surprised expression, Leo smiled meaningfully.
“Conquering this world.”
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