A New Slave Has Been Added #4
‘This is absurd!’
Adela’s eyes widened. What she had been taught by her grandfather was a realm of consciousness.
It was called the state of Unity of Offense and Defense, because as long as her consciousness could reach, she could perform both attack and defense simultaneously.
While her domain was expanded, Adela could read her opponent’s attacks or, conversely, perceive the flow to exploit their openings.
In that sense, Adela was confident in her ability to outmaneuver anyone within her domain.
Of course, it wasn’t as if she had never been broken before. Her grandfather, the Guardian Duke, had pierced through it countless times. But those instances felt more like she had been ‘analyzed’ rather than overwhelmed.
But now, it was different.
“Ugh!”
Crack! The domain she had constructed so solidly was being crushed. That was impossible. The domain was supposed to be a range reached by consciousness, which had no physical form.
‘This, how, ugh!’
That was the reason for Adela’s shock. It was impossible, yet it was happening.
Outmaneuvering? That meant nothing here.
She couldn’t read the incoming attack to block it, and no matter how sharply she honed her senses, she couldn’t perceive the flow leading to the strike.
‘What do I do?’
Even with Adela’s perception, which had reached the realm of a superhuman, it was a moment bordering on an instant. In that brief flash, all sorts of thoughts raced through her mind.
And then.
Almost reflexively, Adela focused all her strength into defense.
“Correct.”
The Emperor smiled. As the domain crumbled, his fist made contact. Crunch! Adela’s sword was pulverized. It wasn’t just broken; it was shattered beyond recognition.
“……!”
My precious sword! Do you have any idea how rare that was! Adela screamed internally.
That was the last thing she remembered.
“Sturdy, aren’t you.”
I remarked with admiration.
Adela was half-crushed, yet she was sturdy with no other injuries. As expected, she was a woman whose defensive swordsmanship had no equal.
I knew she would take the hit, but her defensive power was even greater than I thought. It really is much better to see it with your own eyes than just reading the text.
Besides, perhaps because she absorbed all the impact herself, the aftermath wasn’t as great as I expected, even though I had put quite a bit of force into the strike.
Looking around, everyone was flipped over.
Not metaphorically, but physically.
“Ugh.”
“Ouch.”
Those who had been sprawled out were standing up one by one. No one was hurt. I did control my strength, after all.
The Vice Minister of the Military, who had fainted, also regained his senses.
“Ugh, Your Majesty.”
“You’re awake. You missed an interesting spectacle.”
“Pardon? W-what is this?”
With a bewildered face, he looked at the testing grounds and was struck with horror.
It was only natural, as the testing ground they had spent so much effort building was completely devastated. And even that was only better because I had held back and Adela had absorbed the blow.
“Vice Minister.”
“Y-yes? Did you call, Your Majesty?”
“It seems the top scorer has already been decided.”
There was no room for disagreement.
To begin with, Adela is a Swordmaster. Even if one were blind, it was self-evident that the top scorer of this exam was Adela.
“Ah, yes. Your Majesty. Then, as previously decided for the top scorer……”
“I will take the top scorer under my direct command, so keep that in mind and nominate from the second place onwards.”
“Pardon?”
Adela’s defensive swordsmanship has many uses. For starters, if I chose Adela when the option to pick a companion appeared, I could avoid unexpected bad endings.
“Understood……”
The Vice Minister of the Military looked a bit disappointed, but what could he do? Adela was an overqualified talent to be placed in a vacant position in the Military Department anyway.
The Knights Order? It would be fine if she went there, I suppose. But Adela, who was a wandering knight from the start, didn’t seem like she would adapt well to the Knights Order.
It’s better for me to employ her separately.
“Hngh.”
I lifted the limp Adela.
Carrying her, hanging over my shoulder, I climbed back onto the platform.
“Lily.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“She doesn’t seem to be seriously injured, but just in case, have her treated properly.”
After handing Adela to Lily, I sat back down.
“How much is left?”
“About 30 percent of the examinees remain, Your Majesty.”
30 percent is quite a large number.
While the absolute number is small compared to the civil service exam, which has tens of thousands of examinees, it took a long time because, unlike that one where they take the exam at the same time, here they had to come out one by one to show their martial arts.
“Hmm.”
When am I going to watch all of that?
But it’s not like I can just not watch.
Still, watching them fight is at least better. If I had to just sit and watch tens of thousands of people taking an exam, I wouldn’t have been able to endure the boredom.
“Take a short break and then resume.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
As a result.
The exam itself concluded successfully.
In an event of this scale, the only thing that could be called an incident was the sparring match between me and Adela.
I suppose it should be considered a success.
“Hehe.”
Elizabeth’s shoulders were practically touching her ears. It was a result worthy of such pride.
Not just her, but most of the officials drafted to prepare for this exam had proud expressions.
“You all worked hard.”
“Ho ho, isn’t this all thanks to Your Majesty’s grace?”
The Audience Chamber.
In the presence of the high officials, the Minister of Finance smiled contentedly. It was only natural, as one of the people who benefited the most this time was the Minister of Finance.
“Now, we must discuss the placement of the successful candidates.”
“The list is here.”
When I raised my hand, Elizabeth brought a stack of documents.
“The top scorer is Daniel von Arche. He is the top in all subjects.”
She remarked with a small sense of admiration upon checking Daniel’s grades. The high officials also let out exclamations.
“Oh, top in all subjects.”
“An excellent talent. Looking at it, he is a young master of a noble family, but it’s a name I’ve never heard of.”
“If it’s the Arche family……”
The high officials, who had been whispering, fell silent.
The Arche family was a house that had fallen a few generations ago. There were many reasons.
Some said the head of the house was involved in black magic, others said they were heretics, and there were even rumors they were traitors.
What does this mean?
It just meant they were a family that had fallen out of favor. So, they had attached all sorts of reasons to ruin them.
In the original work, there was also a justification for cleaning up the chaos of the Empire after the tyrant fell.
If not for that, no matter how talented Daniel was, he wouldn’t have been able to rise to the position of Chancellor.
“Well, why are you worrying about such old things now? Just stop worrying and talk about which department will take him.”
But I don’t care about such things.
“Would the Ministry of Finance like to take him?”
Elizabeth didn’t care either.
“……Hmm. I think he would adapt well if he worked in the Ministry of Finance.”
“P-please send him to our Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. He is a talent suitable for the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.”
“Ahem. Shouldn’t he first hone his work skills by working in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs?”
Once the two highest powers didn’t care much, the high officials scrambled to attempt to recruit Daniel.
Anyway, they sure know how to read the room.
“Ho ho. In times like this, I am the elder, am I not?”
“You said that last time, too.”
“Ahem. Did I?”
It’s noisy.
Talent like Daniel isn’t that common. No, rather, except for Elizabeth’s level, there is no one to compare him to.
“However.”
At that moment, the Vice Minister of the Military intervened.
Although he was a working-level official, his rank was lower than the other ministers. Moreover, it wasn’t a situation where Daniel was that desperate.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs’ gaze was quite fierce.
“Is the Proxy okay with this?”
“Me?”
Elizabeth’s eyes went round.
“Ugh.”
“That, that guy.”
The high officials looked as if they were in a bind. The Minister of Finance looked at the Vice Minister of the Military and clicked his tongue.
If Elizabeth stepped forward and said she would take Daniel under her, no one would be able to object.
Especially since she had the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of the Interior, and the Imperial Household Department under her command, she did have the upper hand in terms of justification.
However.
“I’m not interested, so you all decide for yourselves.”
Elizabeth didn’t like Daniel very much.
Did they have a connection in the past? That’s not it.
“I just don’t think he’ll get along with me.”
That’s what she said when I asked her before. In the original work, the compatibility between Daniel and Elizabeth was indeed bad.
A villainess trying to fall into the abyss with the Empire, and a Chancellor desperate to rebuild the half-fallen Empire.
There’s no way they would be compatible.
“Ahem, then we will take Daniel in our Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”
In the end, Daniel’s destination was the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
It’s not a bad result. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also had more than one or two heads roll during this purge.
“Tsk. It can’t be helped. Then the second place goes to the Ministry of Finance─.”
“I’ll take the second place.”
The Minister of Finance, who had been aiming for the second place following Daniel, was thwarted, but the tangible power had snatched the second place.
Elizabeth swept up the 3rd and 4th places after the second place as well.
“No, Proxy……!”
“Oh my. Is there a problem? I just assigned them by department since I am in charge of three departments.”
Elizabeth, with her eyes wide, said with an innocent face as if she knew nothing.
How long have the guys here known you, and they still fall for that face?
“Ahem, it can’t be helped.”
They fall for it.
“Hmph.”
Elizabeth looked at me with a smug face.
“Tsk. From the next rank onwards, Proxy, don’t interfere and let them handle the placement.”
In the end, I intervened and sorted out the traffic.
After the placement of the successful candidates was finished.
I headed to the room that had a new occupant a while ago.
Because another successful candidate was there.
When I opened the door, Adela, wearing a roomy patient gown, trembled.
“Are you awake now.”
“Ugh, ugh. I’m sorry…….”
Adela prostrated herself.
Right.
How should I put this one to work now?