Chapter 57
Chapter 57
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 57
Chapter Title: Chapter 14: Dogs and Wolves (4)
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Kids from wealthy families typically learn to hunt from a young age.
This wasn’t simply because hunting was a hobby for the well-to-do.
It was so they could naturally learn how to find their way, track, practice stealth, and master archery while wandering the forests and fields in pursuit of game.
Thanks to this, squires were generally treated as skilled guides and hunters.
They were also the most reliable scouts and messengers.
It was a squire’s role to travel between cities to deliver their master’s words in times of peace, and to scout the enemy’s defenses in times of war.
They had to act as messengers, breaking through enemy encirclements and pursuits to report on the state of the battle, or conversely, as pursuers to track down and eliminate enemy messengers.
The third test was designed to verify such skills.
“Alright, the rules for this test are simple.”
A young, red-haired examiner with a friendly face explained the rules of the test.
The setup was roughly this:
The candidates were squires belonging to a vanguard unit.
Their army had fallen into an enemy trap and was in a dire crisis. The only way to overcome it was to inform the main army.
If they failed to deliver the message within the given time, their army would be annihilated.
“The faster you deliver the message, the fewer casualties our army will suffer, right?”
At the declaration that passing the test quickly would earn them bonus points, the candidates’ eyes lit up.
Unlike the previous two subjects where the results weren’t clearly visible, the straightforward ranking system of this test seemed to ignite their competitive spirit.
“Then, before we officially begin the test… hey, Number 99?”
At the sudden call, I opened my eyes wide, and the young examiner cleared his throat.
“Unless you plan on taking the test on horseback all by yourself, I’d appreciate it if you got down now…”
“Ah. My apologies.”
Only then did I realize I was still on my horse, and I apologized in a fluster.
Then, I hopped off the black horse’s back.
“There, there. Be a good boy and go over there.”
*Neigh.*
With a soft snort, the black horse clopped toward a corner of the testing ground.
“…Then we will now begin the test.”
After glancing between me and the black horse for a moment with a look of fascination, the young examiner announced the start of the test.
*Stare.*
But the candidates didn’t move.
They understood the rule about delivering the message to the main army within the time limit, but they didn’t know the crucial location of the said main army.
“Ah, right. Where is my head?”
The young examiner, belatedly realizing his mistake, provided the missing information.
“This is the main army.”
The examiner’s words were completely out of the blue as he plopped down on a chair that had appeared from nowhere.
“All you have to do is come to where I am.”
A beat later, the candidates began to stir.
The distance between the examiner and the closest candidate was, at most, ten paces.
Was he really suggesting a footrace?
While the kids were still standing around dumbfounded…
*Thud.*
I immediately dashed toward the examiner.
It was a chance to breeze through one test subject; there was no reason to refuse.
A few quick-witted candidates followed my lead and kicked off the ground.
*Tat-tat-tat-tat.*
Now, there were only about five paces left.
*Snap.*
The examiner grinned mischievously and snapped his fingers.
In that instant.
“Huh?”
The world around me changed.
I was in the middle of a dense forest, location unknown.
The wide clearing, the friendly-faced examiner, and the other kids were nowhere to be seen.
An unfamiliar environment.
The only familiar thing was the information that appeared before my eyes.
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【Alberich's Ring - Wood (☆☆☆☆)】
*A ring-shaped vault created by the dwarf Alberich, who feared his treasures would be stolen.
*The dwarf Alberich divided his treasures among the rings of Wood, Rock, Lake, Giant, and Witch.
*The Empire's founder, Dietrich, who was out deer hunting, happened upon the dwarf and received the five rings in exchange for sparing his life.
*Dietrich took only the Giant's Ring and the Witch's Ring, gifting the rest to his most trusted knights.
*The knight Hildebrant, who received the Wood Ring, was more interested in the space itself than the treasure hidden within. He later donated the ring for educational purposes when he founded the Cradle.
*The Wood Ring perfectly replicates the forest where Alberich lived.
*The owner can manipulate the forest's environment at will.
*No one can enter without the owner's permission.
*The owner can see and hear everything that happens inside.
*Each ring has a hidden treasure.
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The blessing of 「Pathological Curiosity」 had activated just before I was sucked into this unidentified space.
“That ring…”
Come to think of it, the examiner had been wearing a large-stoned ring that didn’t quite suit a swordsman.
It seemed that was an artifact.
I frowned.
“I knew it was too good to be an easy pass.”
I was flustered.
But on the other hand, it made sense.
The previous two tests had been, in fact, too ordinary.
The Cradle had a reputation to uphold, after all.
Using such an outdated method that a provincial knight order might use to recruit squires?
Frankly, it had been disappointing.
“This is more like it.”
Now, it felt like the Cradle’s test was truly beginning.
“Let’s see.”
I scanned my surroundings.
A dense forest where even the sunlight barely penetrated.
I had no idea where to go, let alone where I currently was.
It was to be expected.
I had been, for all intents and purposes, thrown into the middle of a forest.
The damn examiner hadn't given me a single piece of information.
He had just tossed people into the woods and told them to find the main army on their own.
But I wasn't too dismayed.
I had experienced this countless times in my past life.
There was even a time when an entire legion had set up a perimeter just to catch one cripple.
Compared to that, this was nothing.
Besides, both my legs were perfectly fine now.
“Hmm.”
Alberich's Ring, or whatever it was called.
It said everything that happened inside was relayed to the ring's owner.
The examiner was probably watching my every move right now.
Suppressing the urge to give him a wave, I took a step forward.
“A dwarf’s treasure, you say…”
For some reason, I felt like getting sidetracked on this test.
* * *
For the Third Examiner, seeing candidates in a state of confusion after being suddenly dropped in a forest was nothing special.
He had seen it countless times before.
First, they were flustered by the sudden change in environment, and then they were bewildered by the lack of information.
It was a natural reaction.
Although the Wood Ring was now just a teaching aid, with its set of matching rings scattered and lost, it was once a relic that had troubled even the founding emperor.
Those rings were nasty pieces of work that had made even that great emperor give up after conquering only two of the five.
The artifact’s power was far too strong for mere candidates to overcome.
It wasn’t rare for candidates to pass a few of the gates through sheer luck.
But passing a few gates and passing the test were two different matters.
He had intentionally withheld information.
The test wasn’t designed to be passed in the first place.
It was merely a test to observe the candidates’ adaptability, resilience, and improvisation in an unfamiliar environment.
Most of the Cradle’s entrance exams, with a few exceptions, were generally similar.
They assessed one’s mindset and measured one’s potential.
Skills and experience were never the main focus, as those could be accumulated over time.
It was a test that prioritized future potential over present achievements.
This subject was no different.
He had planned to give a generous score just for handling the situation with composure.
As he had always done, he was prepared to award bonus points to any candidate who managed to break through a few gates.
That was his intention.
“Hm?”
That is, until he saw a candidate breezing through the gates without hesitation.
“He’s already entered the third gate?”
It was unbelievable.
The Third Examiner’s blessing was 「A Thousand Pairs of Eyes」.
Contrary to its grand name, it couldn't actually secure a thousand fields of vision, but it still gave him the ability to observe at least a third of the candidates here simultaneously.
That meant the time he had lost sight of the candidate who entered the third gate couldn't have been long.
And yet, in that short time, the candidate had passed through two gates.
It was astonishing.
But it was merely astonishing.
The true test of the relic began at the third gate.
While the previous gates were testing grounds composed of natural environments, from the third gate onward, one had to contend with curses that successively blocked hearing and sight.
Unlike the previous gates, this one was impossible to break through by relying on luck.
“Hmm. Just in case.”
Believing this, the Third Examiner nevertheless assigned one of his thirty pairs of eyes to the gray-haired candidate.
And as a result.
“…!”
He was able to witness, in real-time, the wondrous sight of the candidate breaking through the third and fourth gates in succession.
*Clack.*
His mouth hung open as if his jaw would drop as he watched the scene.
And so, he made a grave mistake.
“Huh?”
The candidate disappeared into the fifth gate.
The fifth gate was an unknown.
It was a domain he, a temporary master permitted to use it as a teaching aid, could not peer into.
All that was known about the fifth gate was the legend that it harbored the most terrible trap born from the malice and greed of the dwarf Alberich, who wanted to keep his treasure from everyone, and the tale that even the great Emperor Dietrich had thrown up his hands at its viciousness and given up.
*Jump.*
The Third Examiner shot up from his seat.
A precious talent was in danger due to his carelessness.
If he hesitated out of fear of being held responsible, he would regret it for the rest of his life.
He had to stop the test now.
He swiftly tried to pull off the ring.
Or rather, he tried to.
“Damn it…!”
The ring was clamped tight around his finger and wouldn’t let go.
The ego, or sentience, that high-grade relics often possessed had chosen this exact moment to activate.
Without hesitation, he drew a dagger from his belt.
If the relic’s ego refused, he would cut off his own finger to forcibly stop the test.
But he never had to cut off his own finger.
*Pop.*
The candidate, who had been swallowed by the pitch-black forest shadows and was no longer visible, reappeared.
And he was perfectly fine, without a single hair out of place.
He looked exhausted, but what mattered was that he had returned safely.
“Ah…”
The Third Examiner let out a long breath.
“Number 99, huh…”
When that petty Second Examiner had whined about losing his horse, he hadn't thought much of it, but now he felt he could fully understand the sentiment.
“A strange one has entered the Cradle.”
* * *
When I opened my eyes again, I was back in the Cradle’s testing ground.
“Everyone, good work.”
The examiner, looking somewhat drained, declared the end of the test and vanished on the spot.
After staring for a moment at the spot where he had disappeared, I observed the kids.
“So this is where the Cradle truly begins.”
“It’s extraordinary. And baffling.”
“I can’t believe that was all an illusion.”
The kids, chattering in small groups, seemed a bit tired, but their amazement at the wondrous experience appeared to be even greater.
“Hmm.”
Watching them, I frowned.
It seemed I had been thinking too simply.
About the level of the kids, and about the Cradle’s test. All of it.
To be honest, I thought I would pass this subject with ease.
I was confident in my ability to find my way through a dense forest.
That was arrogance.
The forest was more complex than I had imagined, and far more vicious.
Especially that last gate I entered—it was enough to make even me, who prided myself on having experienced just about everything, shudder.
If it hadn’t been for the blessings bestowed by the stars, it wouldn’t have been easy to overcome.
I was completely exhausted.
But unlike me, the kids still looked full of energy.
To have that much stamina left after going through such a terrible place…
It was a fresh reminder of the talent gap that existed between them and me.
Looking back now, my successes so far had been due solely to the advantage of knowing the future and a bit of luck.
Just because some guy who had rolled around in the dirt in his past life returned to the past, he started acting like he was something special.
“Get a grip, Yan.”
It was utterly pathetic.
I took a moment to get a sense of my own place.
“Reflection over.”
But staying down for long wasn’t in my nature.
Besides, I had something to celebrate right now.
*Swoosh.*
I slipped a hand inside my clothes.
A heavy sensation that hadn’t been there before the test began.
I pressed down firmly on something that kept squirming.
“Heeheehee.”
A laugh escaped me before I knew it.