Chapter 10
Chapter 10
Of course, it wouldn’t be easy.
After hearing the duke’s explanation, I learned that when the Academy appointed professors, it scored them in a total of seven categories and then calculated their average.
For reference, these were my scores:
Character: 0 points.
Achievements: 0 points.
Experience: 0 points.
Reputation: 0 points.
Academic record: 0 points.
Leadership: 0 points.
A grand total of 0 points in every category.
My character was the worst, I had no achievements, no experience, and no reputation to speak of. My academic record at the Academy was dead last, too.
Even with the duke’s recommendation, it was understandable that the Academy would reject me.
For me to pass, I would have to score as many points in the “Ability” category as I did in all the other categories combined.
In other words, I would have to get 700 points in that one category alone.
It was absurd.
But—
“With my greatness, it will be more than enough.”
Naturally, the duke’s reaction was not positive.
“I know you’ve changed, but that’s impossible. More than anything, there are several reasons beyond the purely objective scores why it will be difficult for you to pass.”
“What are they?”
“Have you already forgotten the havoc you wreaked at Rubiness Academy when you were a student?”
“……”
The duke’s face twisted into a deep scowl.
“Do you know how many times I had to apologize to the Director to keep you from being expelled? If you added up all the money I spent in support to cover up your misconduct, I could have bought several mines. Every professor remembers what you were like as a student, so there’s no way they’ll agree to appoint you.”
That left me with nothing to say.
If I were one of the professors, I’d oppose it with everything I had, too.
“And there’s an even more important obstacle. This may well be the most serious problem of all.”
The duke sighed.
“The Rapalt Ducal House.”
I looked puzzled.
They’re the prominent merchant family.
There were four great ducal houses in the empire where the game was set.
Each specialized in a different field, and the Rapalt Ducal House was the golden family that dominated the empire’s trade.
And, on the strength of that wealth, they exert enormous influence over the Academy’s scholarly circles, too.
For reference, the Ecclesia Ducal House was a “prestigious political family.” The other two ducal houses were the “Prestigious Swordsmanship Family” and the “Prestigious Magic Family.”
“I hear that the Rapalt Ducal House opposed your appointment.”
“Why?”
“…Have you really not understood a thing I’ve said, despite all my explanations?”
The duke glared at me, his face twisting into a deep scowl.
“Didn’t you commit a grave offense against the Rapalt Ducal House’s daughter, who was your fiancée, and turn our two houses into enemies?”
“……”
Come to think of it, I vaguely remembered something like that being part of Ban’s character settings.
“In particular, Rubiness Academy currently relies on the Rapalt Ducal House’s patronage to keep itself financially afloat. There’s almost no chance of your being appointed.”
The more I heard, the more it seemed like the difficulty was far from ordinary.
Every evaluation category at zero, a faculty who still gritted their teeth at the thought of me because of my student days, and now a major patron who considered me an enemy, too.
“What about another academy? A place like Amethyst Academy owes me a great deal, so they wouldn’t refuse.”
It was a reasonable suggestion.
In a situation like this, giving up would be the right thing to do.
But I shook my head.
No matter how hopeless the situation, I’ve never given up on a pitch.
If I wanted to claim a life of taking it easy—
No matter what obstacles stood in my way, I would never surrender.
“There’s no need to worry. Whatever obstacle awaits me will merely become a tool to make my greatness shine all the brighter.”
Realizing how firmly I’d made up my mind, the duke sighed.
“Do you have another plan?”
“If they’ve rejected an appointment by recommendation, then there’s only one way. I’ll apply through the public recruitment process and take the official appointment exam.”
No matter how much the Academy disapproved of me, it couldn’t stop me from taking the public recruitment exam.
“…You’ll only be making a wasted trip.”
“We’ll have to wait and see.”
I raised the corners of my mouth.
“We’ll see what the result will be.”
The duke fell silent, then nodded as though he had no choice.
“Fine. Do as you wish.”
I stood up.
“I’ll leave for Rubiness Academy right away.”
“Already? There’s still time before the appointment exam period, isn’t there?”
The Academy’s public recruitment exam for professors was held before the new semester began.
“There’s somewhere I need to stop.”
A pitch was, so to speak, like a hunt.
The harder the hunt, the more thorough the preparation it required.
I would make absolutely sure they chose my product.
The same went for this appointment exam.
I had to prepare perfectly.
So that no one could raise even the slightest objection.
So that no one at the Academy could deny that I deserved to pass.
It was possible.
At the center of the Reinhardt Empire, the setting of Hero Academy, there was a Free City.
It lay at the heart of the empire’s trade routes, and because it was not under the rule of any lord, merchants of every kind flocked there. It was a vast city, bustling almost as much as the capital.
The Empire’s greatest paradise of pleasure.
At the same time, this city, infamous for having the worst crime rate, had one famous landmark.
Rubiness Academy.
A vast campus situated on the boundary between the Slum, a dangerous area, and the district where wealthy merchants lived.
In one of the Academy’s conference rooms, raised voices were flying back and forth.
BANG!
The professors shouted in fury.
“What is this supposed to mean? That trash of a young master, Ban, is actually going to take the hiring exam after all!!”
“Even for the Ecclesia Ducal House, this is too much, isn’t it?! Recommending Ban as a professor!!”
“And in the Department of Magic, no less? Hadn’t Young Master Ban gotten failing marks in every single magic class? There’s a limit to how much you can look down on Rubiness!!”
Just then, the sound of clapping rang out.
“Now, now. I understand that you’re all angry, professors, but please calm down.”
“…Professor Balik.”
He was a young man.
He could not have been more than a little over twenty.
And yet, every one of the older professors immediately fell silent, as if watching his reaction.
There was a reason.
Professor Balik was a relative of the Rapalt Ducal House, which was responsible for Rubiness Academy’s finances.
Though he belonged to a collateral branch, he wielded more influence than anyone else in the room.
“What’s there to worry about, even if Young Master Ban applies? If he isn’t qualified, he’ll naturally fail.”
“…That’s true.”
“If anything, I’m worried about Young Master Ban’s reputation. The hiring exam is open to the public, after all.”
Professor Balik let his voice trail off.
“Will he not only make a fool of himself by rushing in without knowing his place, but bring what little reputation he has left down even further?”
It wasn’t concern.
A cold light glimmered in Balik’s eyes.
It was the look of someone with a dark scheme in mind.
“How about this? What if we put Young Master Ban through the ‘special examination track’?”
Everyone looked surprised.
If an applicant had an especially distinguished background, they could be made to take a separate, special examination.
It was preferential treatment, but Ban’s case was different.
‘He means to humiliate Young Master Ban thoroughly.’
The exam would surely be packed with questions meant to crush Ban.
The professors exchanged glances.
No matter how much of a piece of trash Ban was, he was still of the duke’s blood.
It was a risky thing to do, but if Balik, with the Rapalt Ducal House backing him, took the lead, that changed things.
“Ahem. Very well. We’ll leave the matter of Young Master Ban entirely to you, Professor Balik.”
Afterward, left alone, Balik gave a derisive snort.
He looked over Ban’s application for the hiring exam.
“Ban, has this bastard gone mad? Has he forgotten all about his school days?”
An unexpected story came to light.
Balik and Ban had, in fact, been classmates at the Academy.
He had been fairly close with Ban.
In a bad way.
“The most pathetic, miserable, pitiful bastard in the world.”
Trash came in different kinds.
There was the kind of trash no one dared to mess with.
Those were the truly bad ones.
Ban wasn’t like that.
He was trash, but not the frightening sort.
On the contrary, he was so pathetic and pitiful that the Academy’s “movers and shakers,” Balik among them, looked down on him behind his back and took advantage of him.
“You pathetic loser. Even when you were framed, you couldn’t manage to argue back properly.”
This was something no one knew.
Of the many crimes Ban had committed while attending the Academy, a good number of them had not actually been his doing.
Balik and the others had pinned them on him.
Since no one believed Ban, it had been easy.
‘Still, when he was even made to break off his engagement, I felt a little sorry for him.’
After committing a grave offense against the legitimate daughter of the Rapalt Ducal House—who had been Ban’s fiancée—Balik had been afraid she would demand an explanation. So he framed Ban for the crime.
‘It was all because that idiot, Ban, was stupid.’
Balik flicked the application Ban had submitted.
Just as he had looked down on Ban back in school.
A dark voice spilled from his lips.
“This time, I’ll make sure to crush him properly. I’ll bury him so completely that he’ll never be able to show his face in high society, or anywhere else, again.”
I left the ducal house right away.
Had my desperate resolve somehow leaked out for all to see?
At the sight of the Black Flame Dragon’s Charisma, Hans, who had been following me, let out an admiring exclamation.
“Oh! As expected of you, Young Master Ban. You look just like a hero marching off to the battlefield. Just thinking that your greatness will soon spread throughout the world of magic makes this Hans’s heart pound with excitement!”
“Silence. Do not make such a fuss. If anything, I am worried that this body’s magnificent light will spread through the world too brilliantly.”
…This middle-aged wizard seemed to be getting noisier by the day.
What was even more chilling was that my cursed Black Flame Dragon mouth was perfectly in sync with all that fawning.
Stop the over-the-top translation.
For the record, what I had originally meant to say was, “Please don’t. I’d like to keep a low profile.”
“Master Ban, by the way, where are we going? This Portal doesn’t lead to Rubiness Academy, does it?”
“I’m stopping by the Wailing Cave.”
“…What did you say?”
Hans blinked, then let out a belated shout.
“The Wailing Cave is an ‘Inaccessible’-rank dungeon, isn’t it?!”
That was right.
I was heading to a dungeon.
More precisely, a hidden piece.
I need to get a sure-fire skill that’ll help me pass the hiring test.
The problem was the difficulty.
It was an Inaccessible-rank dungeon, of all things.
A dungeon clearly designed to be impossible to clear.
“It’ll be fine.”
“It won’t! Even I wouldn’t dare set foot in the Wailing Cave!!”
“It might be impossible for you, but not for me.”
“!!”
“Have you already forgotten my greatness? I am Ban Ecclesia.”
…Even as I said it, my hands and feet curled up in embarrassment, but it seemed to work on Hans.
“Ah, how dare I doubt you, the future star of the magical world! I’m sorry. In return, please, please! Promise me that if it seems too much for you, you’ll give up without fail.”
I nodded.
It shouldn’t be dangerous.
However—
…This time, I can’t be sure I’ll definitely pull it off.
-Clear rate for the Wailing Cave: 30%
That meant I was more likely to fail.
Even if I challenge it with Hans?
An additional message appeared.
-Clear rate when challenging with the middle-aged mage: 30%
It was exactly the same.
In other words, he was no help at all.
There was a reason it was classified as “Inaccessible.”
I’ll have to manage somehow on my own.
Still, I couldn’t help feeling a little regretful.
If I had someone I could use as a sucker, the clear rate would shoot up dramatically.
Unless someone has an exceptionally strong will, they can’t do a thing in the Wailing Cave.
That was what I was thinking when we arrived at the Wailing Cave.
“Sniff, sob…”
A girl in a mage’s robe was standing at the entrance to the dungeon, covering her mouth as tears streamed down her face.
She’d tried to hold back her tears somehow, but couldn’t stop the sorrowful sobs from spilling out.
The problem was, I knew her face.
…Why is she here?
Just then, the girl seemed to sense someone’s presence and whipped around to look at me.
“Who are you?!”
The sharp voice was a world away from the girl who had been crying just moments ago.
Her fierce gaze seemed to bristle with even more thorns, as if to hide her weakness.
It was a face I knew all too well.
An expression and a face I’d seen countless times.
I thought in alarm,
Why is one of the protagonists here?
One of the sixteen playable protagonists.
The girl who would one day become the hope of all humanity, the “Saint Hero of Light.”
I’d come face-to-face with Katrinne del El Paso, known as the “true protagonist.”