Chapter 116
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 116
Chapter Title: The Unified Exam
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“Very well.”
Pernyan ultimately accepted Gismond Erdt.
Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.
It was better to keep him close, perhaps by Aint's side, and manage him directly rather than watching from a distance.
“Thank you for accepting me. Should I call you brother?”
“…‘Senior’ is just fine.”
“What does a one-year age difference matter! There’s a saying in my hometown: ‘If you have money, you’re my elder brother.’”
However, now that Gismond had shown his true colors, he seemed a bit different.
Brighter, more lighthearted, and perhaps a bit peculiar.
“…That saying certainly hits home, but this is an academy. And I'm uncomfortable being addressed so formally by a senior.”
“If you insist, fine. I'll speak casually.”
“But don't get *too* comfortable.”
“…Ahem, of course.”
Still, he didn't seem like a bad person. Of course, one could never be certain of what was in a person's heart, nor should one be.
In any case, Gismond Erdt had declared himself one of Pernyan's confidants.
“S-so, what should I do now?”
“Live a normal academy life. That's all.”
“Right, that's my specialty!”
“I mean you're not to meddle with the future anymore.”
Gismond flinched at the low, growling voice, then gave an awkward laugh and nodded.
Once Gismond was gone, Pernyan's eyes grew cold.
“Hyde. Assign someone else to him, not you.”
“Is that alright?”
“He claims he wants to be completely on my side. Just assign someone openly. He doesn't have a personal attendant, does he? We can just assign him one.”
Hyde nodded.
“I'll assign a capable one.”
“For his attitude to change so drastically in a moment. What on earth is he thinking?”
There was more than one suspicious thing about him. But he couldn't just cast him out either.
“If he's plotting something, we'll find out soon enough.”
Whatever his scheme was, it wouldn't go his way.
And so, the matter of Gismond's treatment was settled for the time being.
* * *
Time passed quickly.
On a morning when fallen leaves danced and a cold wind began to blow.
Pernyan opened a letter sent from the Golden Pillar.
“Oh.”
“Good news?”
“It says they found a high-quality iron ore mine nearby while developing the Blacksteel mine.”
“That's fortunate.”
“Indeed.”
He was all the more pleased because he hadn't expected to find an iron ore mine at all.
Iron ore was common, but because of its commonality, it was a widely used resource. The more, the better.
Pernyan turned to the next page.
“Oh.”
“Another one?”
“The Mercenary King took the bait. He was hard to find since he wanders the continent daily, but an informant happened to run into him.”
“Congratulations.”
“Yes.”
This was also a stroke of luck.
“It's time.”
“Shall we go?”
At Hyde's words, he rose from his seat.
“I wish you victory this time as well.”
“It's not something I can control.”
“But you're the top of your class.”
“Top student in name only.”
A full three weeks. The autumn break in the middle of the semester had practically erased the second semester in an instant.
“The third day of the Unified Exam has dawned.”
The end of the semester had arrived before he knew it, and the Unified Exam had started the day before yesterday.
The Unified Exam was a test that combined the midterms and finals, which had been missed due to the autumn break.
The exam period was one week.
The event was sparring.
Two hundred participants, with no distinction between the Knight and Magic Departments.
The format was a league stage followed by a tournament.
Twenty groups of ten were formed, centered around the top-ten students from the Knight and Magic Departments. Each student had to fight the other nine in their group.
Three matches a day for a total of three days. Then, based on wins and losses, only the top three would advance to the main tournament.
It was a rather brutal format.
Sparring three times a day for three days was bound to exhaust anyone.
It truly pushed the students to their limits, testing not only their sparring skills but also their stamina and mental fortitude.
Nevertheless, the students only grumbled and didn't raise any complaints.
They knew it was a long-standing history and tradition of the academy.
“Three times a day for three days? And here I was happy about the three-week break...”
“Please let me get a good group. Not Ruina or Pernyan...!”
Of course, most people, like Pernyan, had only just learned about it.
‘So there’s a bye.’
Sixty students would advance to the main tournament, which meant one person would get a bye as they moved up the bracket.
‘I hope I’m the one who gets it.’
He wasn't obsessed with his grades, but he wouldn't refuse an opportunity to raise them without doing anything.
Pernyan examined the match-up chart.
‘There weren’t any particularly tough opponents yesterday or the day before.’
That was because there were no top-ten students in his group, and it seemed that wouldn't change today.
Returning to his seat to wait for his turn, Pernyan asked Ruina, who was beside him.
“How are you finding it?”
“Yes. I don't think I'll have trouble making it to the main tournament.”
“Sounds like you find it dull.”
“It's not that it's dull, but so many people have forfeited that I haven't been able to fight properly.”
“It can't be helped.”
Besides Ruina, there were eight other matches.
It was a better choice to conserve their strength for other matches rather than go all out against Ruina, with whom the skill gap was, even in Pernyan’s eyes, immense.
‘Winning the jousting tournament really made a difference…’
By defeating Rob Kaelin, who had been considered the certain victor, Ruina had ascended not just to the top of her year, but to the number one spot in the entire academy.
It was only natural that the students feared her.
“…Even so, I can't understand it. You can learn so much from a spar.”
“But your grades would be ruined.”
“Grades aren't what's important. Isn't the academy a place to learn, after all?”
“Didn't you say you wanted to be first?”
“W-well, grades are important too, of course, but...”
She, who always gave her all, wouldn't like it.
“Ruina, in the main tournament, things won't be like they were in the jousting tournament.”
The fact that Almon, at least, was burning with fighting spirit was some consolation for her.
‘In any case, Ruina will definitely make it to the main tournament.’
She also has the highest chance of winning.
‘Then should I forfeit if I face her...’
It was a thought that would have horrified Ruina if she'd heard it.
* * *
Pernyan's seventh opponent was a commoner student from the Knight Department named Dante, ranked 71st.
An unremarkable and ordinary person. Someone who hadn't caught Pernyan's interest.
‘Today’s starting off well.’
Getting an easy opponent.
In a tournament with several matches in a short period, managing stamina was crucial.
Facing a relatively easy opponent was a good start.
“Uh, hey, go easy on...”
“Begin!”
Before Dante could finish his sentence, Pernyan unleashed his magic.
Magically created sand swarmed his opponent.
“Gah...!”
Dante reacted by projecting his aura, but he couldn't slash away every grain of sand. Realizing he had to take out the caster, Dante charged.
But Pernyan's magic was a step faster.
A wall of rock rose to block Dante's path.
*CRASH!*
A brilliant blue aura instantly shattered the wall, but in that fleeting moment, Pernyan had already finished casting his next spell.
Earthquake.
*Rumble—*
The floor of the arena split open, swallowing Dante as he emerged from breaking the wall.
Dante struggled to climb out, but the pile of sand that had been following him relentlessly hindered him to the very end.
Dante fell into the cracked fissure.
And just like that.
“Winner, Pernyan!”
The match was over.
“Wow, that's Pernyan for you. It was over in an instant again. I thought he'd be a bit weaker with artifacts banned, but I guess not?”
“His casting speed, combos, and strategy are insane.”
“Look at all those guys who said it was all thanks to Ruina shutting their mouths.”
The students were in awe of the incredibly quick victory and Pernyan's clean display of magical skill.
“It's like Dante was playing right into Pernyan's hands from start to finish, right?”
“Definitely.”
“Why was he hiding that kind of skill?”
“I heard he even caught a Vile Breed with Aint Armian, right?”
Pernyan listened to their voices as he calmly returned to his seat.
“Good work.”
“No need. I didn't even break a sweat.”
Pernyan refused the towel Ruina offered him. The skill gap was so vast he hadn't had a reason to sweat in the first place.
“It's my turn. I'll be back.”
Ruina's match ended in an instant. It was a win by forfeit.
With another easy victory today, just like yesterday, Ruina sighed.
“Want some chocolate?”
There was no answer. But when Pernyan placed a piece of chocolate in her mouth, she began to chew.
“Thank you. And congratulations on your victory.”
Pernyan seized victory in his eighth match as well as his last. His ninth opponent was a mage, ranked 53rd.
Unfortunate for his opponent and lucky for Pernyan, they were both earth mages.
Pernyan was far superior not only in casting speed, mana control, and magic imprinting, but also in his affinity for and understanding of the element itself.
He easily trapped his opponent in a dome of rock and filled it with sand. It was even easier than the first match.
“The preliminaries are over.”
Pernyan won all nine of his matches, advancing to the main tournament in first place.
In the first round of the upcoming tournament, the probability of the first-place winners from each group facing each other was remarkably low, so the chances of meeting Ruina were slim.
“Even if not right away, we'll meet eventually. I think it would be fun to fight you.”
“Me? I'm just a weak merchant.”
“You're the top of the Magic Department.”
“Thanks to you.”
“I thought I was the one who benefited from you.”
Pernyan shrugged.
“You're gravely mistaken.”
“But you've beaten me before.”
“I have?”
“When you first made your proposal to me.”
“That was thanks to an artifact. I don't have it now.”
“So you tricked me?”
“Ah, did I not mention that?”
“You did not...!”
Realizing she'd been deceived for nearly a year, Ruina let out a hollow laugh.
Thus, the third day of the Unified Exam ended safely.
“That's all for today's matches! Main tournament qualifiers will draw number tags to determine tomorrow's opponents and are then dismissed!”
“Yes, sir!”
Pernyan drew a number tag and returned to his seat. He could have just left, but he wanted to check his opponent first.
“Pernyan, what number did you get?”
“Number 33.”
“Too bad. I'm number 6, so we'll only meet in the finals.”
“If you can make it to the finals, that is. But why are you so eager to fight me?”
“Because you're wagging your tail for Aint Armian.”
Ludger pulled up a chair and sat in front of Pernyan.
“I'm kidding.”
“Doesn't sound like a joke at all.”
“I'm not saying it isn’t.”
“It's a misunderstanding. We happened to meet in Valerich, and with the Vile Breeds causing trouble, we had no choice but to cooperate a little.”
“I don't believe you.”
“Then don't.”
Pernyan replied instantly, as if he'd expected that.
“I hope the Fallenberg family makes a wise choice.”
“The Fallenberg family always makes wise choices.”
“Well, I'm not so sure this time. The problem is, I don't know if this is your decision alone, or the Duke's.”
“And what about you? Is asking me this your own idea?”
Ludger fell silent, and their eyes met.
“Yes. Of course.”
“You seem to have forgotten, but the Fallenberg family will gladly exercise its rights as long as a satisfactory deal can be made. You should be trying to persuade me, not threaten me.”
“Ah, of course I know. Think of all the concessions the Fallenberg family received in exchange for their votes over the last three elections.”
As if he wouldn't know. Ludger chuckled.
“But honestly, that's why, while I'm wary of you sticking close to Aint, I'm not worried.”
“And why is that?”
“Because the Armians have nothing. They can't give you and the Fallenberg family what you want.”
He was right. After losing the imperial throne, the Armians had also lost most of their power, authority, and wealth.
There was a saying that a rich family's wealth lasts for three generations even after they fall, but that wasn't the case for the Armians.
Of course, they weren't poor, but what they had was far from enough to satisfy the Fallenberg family.
“Don't get your hopes up.”
“It's the Duke's hopes that matter, not yours. And I'll personally knock your subordinate out.”
Ludger stood up from his seat.
Pernyan found Ludger's name on the match-up chart. ‘Number 5. Gert Grots.’
He stroked his chin.
‘He’ll handle it himself.’
He wasn't a babysitter; he had no obligation to worry about such things. Pernyan shifted his gaze slightly to the side to see if his own opponent had been decided.
And then he found it.
‘Number 31. Ruina Bercefe.’
The name written two spots over from Pernyan's.
“……”
And the face of Ruina Bercefe, looking quite expectant.
“…I'm screwed.”
No wonder my luck was so good today.
How did I end up facing Ruina in the second round?