Chapter 122
Chapter 122
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 122
Chapter Title: The Final Rankings
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Is she just someone who looks incredibly similar?
Or maybe a sister?
For a moment, the thought crossed my mind, the sense of dissonance was that strong.
But no matter how I looked at it, my eye for people wasn’t that terrible.
‘That’s Seren, all right.’
As I stared, she couldn’t even meet my gaze, her demeanor hesitant…
Seeing that attitude on Seren’s face was, in its own way, a fresh experience.
“What’s with you? Why the formal speech? It doesn’t suit you.”
“Oh, uh… right…! I forgot. Ha ha.”
*Ha ha?*
“The, weather, is, quite, nice, today, isn’t it?”
“…”
How on earth was I supposed to take this?
If I wasn’t seeing things, and the person before me was the real Seren…
There were two immediate possibilities.
Either her personality had completely changed over the last four weeks.
Or she was acting.
Of course, I had no idea whether this timid display was the act, or if the prickly side I’d seen until now was the real performance.
“Hey, you—.”
“Ah…! I, I just remembered something urgent, so I must be going! I mean, I’ll get going! See you later!”
With those words, Seren hastily departed.
It wouldn’t be hard to follow her, but…
Chasing after someone so blatantly trying to get away felt a bit rude.
Though if you were to ask me when I started caring about manners, I wouldn’t have an answer.
“I don’t get it.”
My head felt fuzzy, probably from hunger.
The fact that Seren was here meant the closing ceremony hadn’t started yet. I should head to the main estate and grab a bite before it begins.
* * *
The training retreat.
The hellish schedule, also known as the [Six Weeks of Despair], had finally come to an end.
“I can’t believe this day has finally come…”
“Are you crying?”
“Yeah, I’m crying. Dammit… These are tears of pure joy.”
“From now on, I’m going to be really good to my mom and dad.”
“A resolution that’ll last less than a month, I bet.”
The young nobles, having endured six weeks that felt like six years, were discharged with streams of emotional tears.
They were now receiving the utmost hospitality in the garden of the Bednicker main estate.
“Ah… I missed this greasy meat so much…”
“What’s this? It says it’s fish roe?”
“Whoa—this is something you can only get in a port city!”
“This one is called butterfly wine. Did they soak butterflies in it?”
“Ugh. I’m definitely not drinking that.”
“It says it has an excellent effect on mana enhancement.”
“Gasp.”
The procession of food, enough to make the tables groan under its weight, was as extravagant as one would expect from the Bednicker name.
Even the nobles who were picky gourmands had their eyes wide with astonishment.
Of course, the fact that the training retreat had forcibly given them a taste for cheap food also played a part.
The banquet was much smaller in scale than the social gathering after the Blessing Ceremony, but it was far more lively.
Most of the attendees were of the [Great Family] bloodline, that is, children of nobility, but perhaps due to the six weeks of training…
Most of the young nobles had temporarily erased the concept of etiquette from their minds.
With no one around to judge them, most of the young nobles laughed and chatted boisterously, enjoying the atmosphere.
“…A toast to Lex.”
“He was a good guy. Dammit…”
Of course, there were also young nobles who had lost teammates or friends.
They did not get swept up in the banquet’s atmosphere and quietly mourned their friends in a separate area.
‘So it’s really over.’
Evan Helvin still felt a little dazed.
The reality that he had completed the retreat hadn't quite sunk in.
He wouldn't even be that surprised if this whole banquet was a trap set up by the instructors, with one final test yet to come.
*Whoosh—.*
The night air, now a bit gentler, caressed his cheek.
The light from the streetlamps, the aroma of food, and the boisterous voices of the young nobles came together as a pleasant noise.
He hadn't had a single sip of alcohol, but he felt intoxicated by the atmosphere.
“What will you do now, Evan?”
Charles’s voice cut through his thoughts.
Her face was slightly flushed, as if she had been drinking wine.
“What do you mean, what will I do?”
“After the retreat. There are several options, you know.”
“Ah… I thought we just go back home?”
“Right. You’re a noble from the frontier.”
He now knew that she didn't mean it in a condescending way.
As he simply nodded, Charles explained.
“The young nobles who complete the Bednicker training retreat have three main options. The first is to immediately enter Heros. Of course, except for the top three, you’d start at the apprentice level, not as a full-fledged hero.”
An apprentice hero was equivalent to a squire for a knight.
Like a squire, they would assist a full hero and learn the ropes, and only after being acknowledged by that hero and subsequently by the organization would they become a full hero.
“That sounds good.”
Evan nodded.
Entering Heros had been his goal even before joining the training retreat.
He believed that the status of a hero was essential to achieve his dream.
“What are the other two?”
“One is to simply return home.”
“I see.”
He thought that surprisingly many young nobles might choose that option.
Perhaps because the grueling training was over.
Even Evan, who had steeled his resolve, found himself thinking of the scenery of his hometown and his father’s face.
“The last one is to receive additional education at the Imperial Academy.”
“…Why would you?”
Evan asked in a skeptical tone.
He wasn't belittling the academy, but after going through the training retreat, the thought of taking classes at an educational institution again was a bit…
As far as Evan knew, the curriculum at the Imperial Academy was at least three years long.
Occasionally, those called geniuses would finish all the courses in one or two years, but they were a tiny minority.
“It won't take years. The special course is said to take only three months. And there are advantages you can only get at the academy.”
“For example?”
“The Bednicker training retreat might be the best for practical experience, but what about the theoretical side? The Grand Master Teachers at Bednicker are excellent, but aside from that, the total amount of instruction was too little, wasn't it?”
“Hmm.”
Evan had to agree with that.
The classes at the training retreat were mostly based on practical application, after all.
“On the other hand, those at the academy are experts in theory. There are also connections you can only build there.”
“Sounds like you’re planning to go to the academy, Charles.”
“That’s right.”
Charles nodded.
“And frankly, I hope you go to the academy too, Evan.”
“Me?”
“Evan, you lack the etiquette of a nobleman.”
“…”
“Just kidding. You want to clear your father’s name, right?”
“I do.”
“The capital is the heart of the empire. It’s also where rumors spread the fastest. If you make a name for yourself at the academy, your name will be known throughout the empire in a matter of months.”
That did sound tempting.
The training retreat had helped him overcome some of his indecision, and his confidence had grown.
He was now certain he wouldn’t lose to anyone his age, with a few exceptions.
“Thanks for your concern. I’ll think about it seriously.”
“Please do. By the way, where on earth did that little—.”
“He was really there!”
A loud shout came from a short distance away. Charles frowned and looked toward the source of the noise.
As expected, it was Mir, surrounded by other young nobles.
“I’m telling you, what you saw was a hallucination.”
“That’s right. You probably saw it wrong because of the barrier in the forest.”
“I was shocked when my older sister suddenly appeared, too.”
Palm was among them, and he glanced around before shrugging.
“Look around. All the surviving young nobles are at the banquet, but Ruan is nowhere to be seen.”
“W-well, that’s true, but…”
“Or… maybe you really did see a ghost.”
When Palm spoke in a spooky voice, Mir flinched.
“Well, the real ghosts in this training retreat were Caron and Lord Hector.”
Karis wrapped her arms around her shoulders and shivered.
“Was it the fourth day…? From then on, those two, as if they’d formed an alliance, suddenly started taking everyone’s orbs.”
Skull muttered with a dejected face.
“I-I was stripped completely naked…”
“That’s because you stupidly hid the orb in your underwear… You shouldn’t have even thought about hiding anything from Caron’s Blessing.”
“Ugh. You’re killing my appetite.”
Evan, who had been listening to the conversation, wore a complicated expression.
Charles asked.
“What do you think, Evan? Do you think what we saw was a hallucination?”
“It didn’t seem like it.”
Ruan Bednicker, who they had suddenly encountered in the forest, had given them three blue orbs and then vanished.
They had even had a conversation during that time.
Evan didn't know much about magic, but it hadn't felt like he was seeing things.
At least, not when they met and talked.
He found out later.
Not a single young noble, aside from their own team, had witnessed Ruan in the forest.
‘This is like some kind of ghost story…’
Evan shook his head and said.
“Still, the result speaks for itself, doesn’t it? If we weren’t seeing things, there’s no other explanation.”
“That’s true. We don’t even know if the orbs he gave us were real.”
Caron and Hector.
The two strongest contenders in this training retreat had, for some reason, formed an alliance near the end.
The two of them had scoured the Butterfly Forest, taking every orb from every young noble they could find…
‘I can understand Caron, but why Lord Hector?’
Charles found it puzzling.
Taking all the young nobles’ orbs meant they wanted to maintain the current rankings.
It made sense for Caron, who was in first place, but for Hector, who was hoping to turn the tables with the final test, it would have been an unwelcome development.
But the two of them roamed the forest together in perfect harmony, without a hint of discord.
It was as if they had developed some kind of camaraderie.
According to the young nobles who witnessed them, the two bickered but seemed to have gotten quite close.
“Ahem.”
Just then, a handsome young man with brown hair appeared with a clearing of his throat.
It was the Sword Master Teacher, Kaljak.
Kaljak stood on the platform prepared in the center of the banquet area and shouted.
“—All young nobles, your attention, please! We will now announce the final results of the 61st Bednicker Training Retreat!”
The commotion died down, and the gazes of the young nobles naturally focused on him.
Only the instructors knew how the scores for the special test were calculated.
In other words, at this moment, no young noble knew their definite rank.
‘Caron and Hector took almost all the orbs, but…’
‘Who knows. Maybe there was someone who managed to keep theirs until the end.’
‘If I’m lucky, I might be in the top ranks…’
As the young nobles stared at the platform with anxious eyes, Kaljak spoke.
“As you all know, the top three will be awarded a Hero’s Medallion from the Hero Organization [Heros] and a small cash prize. Now, I will announce the first place winner! Caron Woodjack!”
So there were no upsets.
Charles, who had been secretly cheering for Hector, was a little disappointed, but as a noble, she couldn’t act ungracefully and offered her congratulations stoically.
“And in second place! Hector Bednicker!”
“Ah.”
Charles was slightly surprised.
Before the test began, Hector’s rank had been third.
‘He managed to climb up after all.’
It was a shame he couldn't get first, but second place was still a great achievement.
Charles clapped with a look of admiration.
Evan thought the applause was much louder than it had been for first place.
“This means there might be a change in third place as well.”
“Indeed.”
Charles mulled over the potential candidates for third place.
‘It’s probably Zeros, or maybe Shinba.’
Caron’s two closest followers.
Aside from those two, perhaps Lady Seren?
Seren was sitting alone at a table, maintaining a lofty demeanor.
Charles was slightly impressed.
Seren’s refined etiquette hadn’t been tarnished at all by the six weeks of training.
Her graceful posture was admirable even to a fellow noble.
Look at that.
Even the simple act of drinking wine was filled with elegance…
“Third place! Ruan Bednicker!”
“Here!”
And the moment Ruan appeared from behind the stage with a cheerful stride.
“Pffft!”
Seren sprayed out the wine she had been drinking.