Chapter 110
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 110
Chapter Title: Captain-Class Exam (3)
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“E-Class adventurer? Ha! What nonsense!”
The vice captain's office of the Black Dragon Knights.
Genitz slammed the thick leather document folder onto the desk like a hammer, making his stylish mustache quiver with rage.
“Does this make any sense on the captain-class applicant list!? No name I've ever heard of, no affiliation, and a blank history!”
After hearing the news from Rei, the captain of the Black Dragon Knights, Genitz had rushed to his office to check the documents.
Is this for real?
Just as she said, the report had only just arrived. Genitz sat calmly in his chair and read through the documents meticulously.
Of course, it didn't take long for his calm demeanor to turn into excitement.
There wasn't much to read in the first place.
E-Class adventurer?
No major combat history?
Ha!
Even the affiliation was blank, and in the self-appeal section, there were just two sloppy scrawls: 'Strong'.
Arrogant.
Insolent and looking down on the knights.
A vein bulged on Genitz's forehead.
This was an insult.
To the count's family and the knights.
As Genitz seethed with anger, a bald man standing before him picked up the document folder and read it with a low hum.
“Heh heh. No recommender, even. It just says E-Class adventurer in one line.”
Genitz nodded, his gleaming eyes fixed on the man.
“Yeah. Another cockroach crawled out to apply. Over twenty times already! Haven't they heard the rumors!? What the hell?”
“Looks like my training wasn't up to par.”
The bald man sighed and shook his head.
His name was Thomas.
The elite knight captain of the Black Dragon Knights.
He commanded the Black Fang Squad, the 1st Division out of the six divisions of the Black Dragon Knights. It was the rank right below captain and vice captain.
“Thomas. Your training was excellent. But...! It wasn't enough, apparently.”
Genitz ground his teeth as he spoke.
There had been plenty of captain-class applicants before now. They were all trash, that's all.
He had given those trash a stern warning. Not just them, but to ensure no more fake applications came in the future.
Yet another phony captain-class applicant had shown up this time, fueling Genitz's fury.
He growled lowly.
“This is an insult to our Black Dragon. No, beyond Black, White, and Blue Dragons! It's a disgrace to the entire count's castle, regardless! We told them to apply according to their abilities, but another phony crawls out. They might think it's just tossing a stone in jest, but we waste time and manpower! This is a challenge to our system!”
Bam!
Genitz pounded the desk with his fist, shattering it to pieces.
Thomas let out a groan.
The vice captain of the Black Dragon Knights, Genitz, was a somewhat hot-blooded man. He worshipped strength. He valued the knights' honor like his own life and despised the weak.
Watching Genitz tremble with rage, Thomas honestly wondered if it warranted this level of anger.
Is wasting time such a big deal? Honestly, if an application comes in, just send one knight to test them simply.
Test them, discard the weak, and blacklist them. Done.
Share the list with the adventurer and mercenary guilds, and anyone who applied as a joke would suffer a hit to their credibility for a while.
No matter how harshly you train them, people who fake applications will do it anyway. You can't stop it. Thomas was inwardly impressed that only twenty had shown up.
But Thomas didn't voice that thought.
He was an elite knight captain, and Genitz was vice captain. For Thomas, who planned to serve the count's family loyally as a knight for life, clashing with his superior was unwise.
Genitz exhaled deeply and spoke.
“Thomas. What happened to the last applicant?”
“You mean Zelan? As confirmed, he's recovering now. He's booked with the Luna Holy Order, but it seems he'll have to wait about half a year for the saintess's treatment.”
“Heh heh heh. Yeah. With his entire skeleton shattered, he's probably writhing in agony right now.”
He sneered vilely and continued.
“But bones won't cut it this time. Cut off one of his limbs.”
“Uh... yes?”
“Didn't hear me? Arm or leg, whatever. Make him half-crippled so he won't dare mock us again. Crush his bones all over, of course.”
Thomas wondered if he'd misheard.
Amputate a limb?
Of course, amputation wounds could be healed by a saintess. But the conditions were that you had to keep the severed part and get treatment as quickly as possible.
However, for commoners, booking a saintess's healing meant a long wait. If the limb rotted due to poor care in the meantime, healing became much more difficult.
Until now, the fake applicants had only been 'taught' enough to allow full recovery via saintess. But amputation was different.
If it was one of the top saintesses, it might be possible, but Christia's saintess, while excellent, wasn't at that level.
As Thomas hesitated, Genitz asked.
“What's wrong?”
“Ah, nothing. Understood.”
Snapping out of it at Genitz's question, Thomas nodded with a stiff expression.
No helping it.
He wondered if it was necessary to go this far, but he didn't like prank applicants either.
And someday, he too would become vice captain of the Black Dragon Knights.
Captain is impossible. With Lady Rei here.
Her talent and strength were on another level. Not the same species. But Genitz was different. If he retired upon aging, or if Thomas honed his strength harder, he could catch up someday.
Cruel methods, but solidifying the knights' prestige wasn't bad.
Whoever you are, don't hate me too much.
Age twenty-three, occupation E-Class adventurer.
Thomas didn't think such a guy was a legitimate applicant either.
Twenty-three and captain-class...?
Absurd.
Rei was an exception, a once-in-a-nation genius among geniuses. Thomas didn't for a second think this applicant was like that.
The utmost mercy would be to cut off one arm quickly, painlessly, with a clean cut.
* * *
“Nice facilities.”
The official arena resembled a massive colosseum.
I whistled as I wandered inside the structure.
This place was huge. Like a modern baseball or soccer stadium.
Maybe because of that, there were plenty of snacks, sold just like at real-world sports stadiums or concerts.
The sweet-and-spicy chicken and french fries-like things were especially tasty.
Should I bring some to Eve and ask her to make something similar?
I chewed on the fried bites thoughtfully.
Their official names were Larakan chicken bites and Urt root fries.
Foods from the previous game that slightly restored HP. Of course, now they were just delicious snacks without that effect.
Anyway, Christia City had plenty of sights and food. Next time, strolling the city in human form with my wives, sightseeing and eating goodies, would be pretty healing.
As I wandered around buying and eating, more people started filling the official arena.
Most seemed to be knights, with pretty solid stats. Around Piona's level, slightly below or a bit above.
It made sense, since 'knights' started at C-Class adventurer or top D-Class level.
Though the contempt is something.
I sat on the waiting bench right in front of the arena stage.
Voices from the pre-gathered audience carried well here.
Some said loud enough for me to hear, others I picked up with detection, but most were insulting me.
More precisely, less direct insults and more mocking jokes like 'How pathetic is this guy?' or 'Another idiot fake-applying, tsk tsk.'
“How long do you think this applicant will last?”
“Surviving twenty seconds would be impressive. Sir Thomas shows no mercy.”
“Heh heh. True that.”
Or such.
“Hey, this applicant's really an E-Class adventurer?”
“Yeah. Heh heh heh. Jullai overheard while passing the hall? Genitz was yelling. Definitely said E-Class.”
“Whoa... totally insane? E-Class won't last three seconds? This even a match?”
“Just pray he doesn't die.”
“Pfft. Yeah.”
Like that.
Seeing the mixed pair of men and women chattering openly right next to the waiting bench, I wanted to whip out predation tentacles and genital tentacles, devour the men, rape the women, and imprint the 'Yin Gate of Lewdness and Worship'—but that'd be suicide.
Not with Rei here right now.
Moving now could get me killed by Rei.
With her monstrous stats, she seemed to always have a massive detection range active, like me.
I hadn't sensed even her presence at first, but after clashing mana with her once, I could now feel not just her, but her detection range too.
She flowed her mana detection in harmony with nature, but whether due to the 'vessel' of talent in my tentacle monster body being larger, I could now detect even that subtle flow.
I think I get how she flows her detection too.
Anyway, her detection covered a huge chunk of the count's castle in a hemispherical shape.
Not the entire castle, but the range was insane. If I maxed out detection tentacles with my stat bonuses, I'd surpass Rei in detection, but in human form now, I couldn't deploy them, so her range was wider.
I was currently inside Rei's detection. Acting rashly meant not taking her, but fleeing immediately.
Crunch.
These sausages are good too.
Pondering how to ravish Rei while munching sausage snacks, a voice came from behind.
“So carefree.”
“You told me to rest.”
It was Genitz.
I'd sensed him coming, so I replied without turning, when a crunch sounded.
What?
Is a vein popping on his forehead right now? First time seeing one in real life.
He seemed to hold back his anger with a deep breath, then grabbed my shoulder and flashed his signature sleazy grin.
“Heh heh. I'm curious how far that confidence goes.”
With that, Genitz patted my shoulder a couple times and walked past.
Behind him, the bald man glanced at me, let out a low hum, and followed Genitz.
Who's that guy?
Whatever, no need to overthink; I'd see soon enough.
I activated Master of All Life to check the bald man and Genitz's stats.