The Dragon and the Selection
Just go and whoosh out some magic once. Pass with a super simple test.
That was one of the very brief little phrases Ha-yan and I always used whenever we talked about the magic evaluation.
In other words, neither of us felt any real pressure about it at all.
Ah, those slightly anxious looks she put on at school and places like that?
Well… an “evaluation” was still an “evaluation.” Ha-yan had things she needed to prepare for in her own way, so the pressure wasn’t completely zero. It was also that weak little whining, that cuteness she only ever showed me.
But that was as far as it went.
Just enough pressure to worry a little. Yet the moment the day arrived, it vanished as if it had never been there.
For Ha-yan, the magic evaluation sat at exactly that level.
The fact remained, however, that among every single person taking the evaluation this time, that carefree attitude applied only to her.
Ha-yan paid zero attention to pass rates since she was going to pass anyway, but the final first-time pass rate for the magic evaluation every year topped out at forty percent at best.
On top of that, the evaluation Ha-yan was sitting for was the one given to kids crossing the line from minor into adult, so the pass rate plummeted even further.
Yet Ha-yan still felt no pressure whatsoever.
Which was why, even though the evaluation was the next day, she was trailing after me to the disciple-selection venue deep underground in Osaka.
Ha-yan must have been thinking the same thing, because she looked out at the huge crowd gathered in front of us and asked,
“Aren’t any of these kids practicing for the evaluation? Why is everyone here?”
“My thoughts exactly. This year’s pass rate is going to be an absolute massacre.”
Standing up on the platform while countless people stared up at us, our impressions were that simple.
The ones who would pass were already decided; we were just imagining the pitiful futures of the kids who would be wailing tomorrow.
Before long, some old geezer in charge of running the selection asked everyone to wait a moment, then walked over to me.
“Ahem. Might I inquire how you intend to conduct the selection method?”
“Ah, that? Easy.”
I immediately brought over the large jar that had been sitting behind me and set it down in front of us.
“Th-this is…?”
The old man, who had clearly expected some direct observation of magical ability or other qualities, stared at me with wide eyes.
I snorted and answered,
“I honestly don’t care who gets selected. Which is why I figured the examinees might try every cheap trick, every scrap of power or money they have, and turn this whole evaluation into a complete mess.”
“Ah. Um. Y-yes, of course.”
“…”
This bastard…? Wait, had he actually been thinking along those lines?
Had he seriously planned to plant whoever he wanted using his authority and the prearranged evaluation method right in front of my face?
I stood there blankly, stunned by the sheer audacity, and the old man must have felt the chill; he hastily handed me full authority and scrambled off the platform.
Living a long life had clearly sharpened his instincts, if nothing else.
I was still reeling from the mental shock of someone trying to stab me in the back when Ha-yan thumped me until I snapped out of it.
I turned my gaze back to the young students staring up at us with pleading eyes.
Their gazes were desperate enough. But I could see it. The ugly desires writhing inside them. Through the eyes of a dragon who regarded humans as an inferior race, the pitch-black things in those kids’ hearts were laid bare.
Of course, the trio I had already told everything to a few days earlier weren’t completely free of that either, but they were more gray than black. They had at least put in real effort, even going so far as to tail us because they genuinely wanted something. That was why I had chosen them.
So what the hell had these others been doing in the meantime to look so pale and desperate? They hadn’t even bothered following us after that.
“Ahem. Hello, everyone. I’m fairly certain no one here is seeing me for the first time or doesn’t know who I am, so I’ll skip the introductions and get straight to the point. No need for self-introductions, right?”
The students in front of me nodded and shifted their eyes to the jar beside me.
I launched into the explanation with complete confidence.
“The people selected this time will not be my disciples. I don’t know how the old men up top explained it to you, but let me make this crystal clear right now: aside from the student standing next to me, Lee Ha-yan, I have zero intention of accepting any other human as a disciple. If anyone else claims I’m taking disciples or whatever, tell me immediately. I’ll rip that bastard’s tongue out myself.”
I flexed my mana for a second and yanked a length of rebar straight out of the concrete floor. The students in front of me trembled along with the iron bar.
At the sight of it,
“I can’t live like this…”
Ha-yan simply shook her head beside me.
I cleared my throat and moved on to the real point.
“This jar contains slips of paper with every single one of your names. Exactly one per person. And I will draw a total of three. But I just said they won’t be disciples, so what happens to those three? They won’t be disciples… but they will live with me in Korea for anywhere from six months to a year in an ‘observation’ format, and I will teach them. About magic, that is.”
It wasn’t accepting disciples, yet the benefit was so massive that the students immediately erupted into excited murmurs.
I paid the noise no mind and thrust my hand into the jar.
And of course, the three slips that ended up in my hand already had the names decided.
“Teave, Lily, Silvi. These three…. Huh?”
“H-here!!! Someone collapsed!!!”
Why the hell did those three all pass out at the exact same time? Did they rehearse this?
There was a brief commotion, but the situation was resolved quickly.
Checking on the three who had collapsed, it turned out they had simply been hanging on by a thread through sheer willpower while grinding for the magic evaluation, and the moment they heard the results they let go.
Medical staff rushed them to the hospital on site.
Everyone else assumed they had fainted from the sheer shock of being chosen.
And, as was only natural, a handful of students with more power and money than those three began picking fights with me—or more precisely, with the adult mages currently overseeing the situation.
“This is a scam! There’s no confirmation that the jar that human—no, that gentleman—brought has no tricks in it!!”
“A lottery?! Shouldn’t the standard for receiving that great one’s teachings be the magic evaluation itself?! I came in second right behind Lee Ha-yan, the sole disciple of the Archmage, in the last evaluation! Who else but me could possibly understand his teachings?!”
“This is invalid!! Hold it again right now!!!”
Chaos. Absolute chaos all over again.
Even after I instantly returned the spent jar to nothingness, the complaints didn’t stop.
“H-hey, students? Please calm down first…”
“Grrraaah!! I can’t take it! I need to blow this whole place up so you’ll all come to your—!”
“You’re the one who needs to come to your senses, you crazy bastard.”
CRAAAACK!!!!
“Guek!”
I stepped in and slammed my palm straight into the skull of the lunatic who had started casting offensive fire magic over his hand.
The idiot’s head bounced off the floor and he went out cold. Every other student around us instantly shut their mouths at my appearance.
I savored the concentrated stares for a moment, then opened my mouth.
One sentence that would end this entire situation in a single blow.
“What? Fraud? Pissed that different kids got picked? Jealous? So you’re saying you have a problem with my decision. Anyone want to step up and tell me exactly what your complaint is, right to my face?”
“…”
“Nobody?”
Mm. Situation resolved instantly.
When I walked back over, Ha-yan shot me a sideways glance, then let out a long sigh as if she had no choice.
“Honestly, I’ve never liked how you always try to solve everything with force… but right now I was thinking a little of that force was necessary.”
“Right? See? Sometimes you need to shove once with overwhelming power.”
“This time I actually agree with that. How can people charge in so completely unprepared?”
After the brief chaos was crushed flat by my overwhelming power, Ha-yan nodded and gave her full approval of my actions this time.
Even after that, a few clueless Japanese kids and their parents came charging at me demanding a different method, but my answer stayed the same.
“If you don’t like it, try settling it with force.”
I was taking them on my terms, selecting them however I damn well pleased—who was going to stop me? Sure, I had tinkered with the jar a little. I had rigged it just enough so the trio would be drawn.
But who the hell noticed? Their magical ability was so pathetic they couldn’t even spot that simple trick, and now that they hadn’t been selected they were crying foul?
“Plant beans and you get beans, plant red beans and you get red beans—that saying fits perfectly. I’ll have to give another warning later. I lived quietly for a while and now they’re crawling all over me again.”
“I don’t know what you’re planning, but go easy. Please.”
After wrapping up the little (relatively speaking) disturbance, Ha-yan and I headed back to the hotel.
We had planned to bring the trio along and explain the upcoming schedule, but before we left for the hotel, Teave—the only one who had regained consciousness—came up to us.
“Um… I’m truly sorry to say this, but we still have to pass the evaluation first. Would it be all right if we did something after we’ve gotten through the magic evaluation?”
I was about to say the obvious—“What practice do you need for that easy evaluation?”—when Ha-yan immediately covered my mouth.
“Of course. Focus on preparing safely for tomorrow’s magic evaluation. We’ll contact you separately after that.”
Ha-yan smiled kindly and quickly sent them back.
I simply stood there with my mouth sealed by Ha-yan.
Once the kids were gone and my mouth was free again, I asked her,
“What kind of practice does an evaluation even need? For a test that easy?”
“…This is exactly why I keep saying you still lack social skills. That test is easy only for us. Not for them.”
At Ha-yan’s scolding I merely shrugged one shoulder.
Then I left her with one last line.
“No way. They can’t even pass that?”
And.
Yes.
They failed.
…These bastards?