The Mercenary King’s Unexpected Pass
No, I really did pass.
“Pass.” “Yes...?”
I put on a slightly surprised expression. It was because I’d passed without even taking the exam.
‘What’s going on?’ I was definitely on friendly terms with Serge Geis, but I hadn’t made any requests to him beforehand.
I hadn’t even known he’d become a professor in the Academy’s Special Class.
Soon Serge Geis opened his mouth again. After hearing what he said, I understood.
“The Mercenary King’s swordsmanship is already famous, isn’t it? There’s no need to verify it further here.”
“Ah..."
Surprisingly, Serge Geis was quite flexible. I nodded at his judgment. “Thank you.”
“It’s only natural.”
With those words, he stepped back.
Once he withdrew, a man wearing a pointed hat approached.
He looked quite old, like an elderly mage.
I could roughly guess who he was.
‘Twilight Archmage Armel.’
I’d never met him, but his aura and appearance were enough to deduce it.
He was one of the kingdom’s top archmages. Naturally, his appearance was well known.
He looked at me with a displeased expression, as if he outright disliked me.
“Mercenary King Jace Allen. I know you’re already famous as a Magic Swordsman.”
“Yes.”
“But I don’t think I can pass you right away.”
“Understood.”
It was because I was a Magic Swordsman, not a proper mage.
A Magic Swordsman was a bit different from a mage.
Both used magic, but a Magic Swordsman honed a few practical spells to the extreme and used them alongside a sword.
As a result, they inevitably showed a rather biased side.
“There’s no need to see offensive magic or combat-related spells.”
He probably wanted to test my magic.
At that moment, a question occurred to me, so I asked him.
“By the way, did everyone who can’t use magic fail?”
From what I could see, it seemed like you had to pass each stage to get final acceptance.
But that would mean many people who couldn’t use magic would fail.
“No, that’s not the case. If you pass the first knowledge test, the rest only require showing potential.”
“Ah...”
It seemed the first test was acting as a filter to weed out the chaff.
Anyway, he told me to use one spell.
I put on a slightly tense expression. It was true that I’d learned more spells than most Magic Swordsmen.
Still, I couldn’t be sure.
He might order something completely unfamiliar.
And just as I expected, he ordered an odd spell.
I could sense his determination to make me fail somehow.
“Use the Arouse spell on me.”
I gave him a bewildered look.
‘He wants me to use that?’
It wasn’t that I didn’t know the spell.
Fortunately, I did know it. I just hadn’t expected him to tell me to use it on himself.
‘Still, I have to do it.’
With a reluctant expression, I cast the spell.
The Arouse spell was extremely specialized.
It was the kind of magic a Magic Swordsman would never learn.
But somehow, I had learned it.
It was all thanks to my eccentric master. My master was a very peculiar person.
He was certainly talented.
If he’d only focused on combat magic, he probably would’ve earned the title of archmage.
But he didn’t.
He only cared about learning as many spells as possible.
He was truly an odd one.
Thanks to him, I also knew a great number of spells.
Anyway, my hand glowed.
True to a Magic Swordsman who valued practicality, the spell activated immediately.
“Arouse.”
A pink light poured from my hand.
The light struck the professor’s body precisely.
Then came the change.
Suddenly, that place(?) of his began to swell greatly.
It was so obvious it looked like it might tear through his robe.
‘Ugh, that’s why I didn’t want to use it...’
That’s right.
It was an arousal spell.
A spell that sexually excited a person.
Naturally, it was magic no Magic Swordsman would ever learn.
“Tsk... To think you’d even know something like this... You pass.”
He nodded calmly even in his fully erect state.
He showed no shame whatsoever when it came to magic.
‘Haah... I should avoid Armel from now on.’
He was clearly not a normal person.
Fortunately, his prejudice toward me seemed to have lessened quite a bit, but I still felt uneasy.
Anyway, the final test remained.
I’d passed every test so far.
This was probably a very rare case.
“Still, the last test won’t be easy.”
I gave Armel a puzzled look.
The last remaining professor had a very kind face.
He reminded me of an ethics teacher from my school days.
‘What could the last test be? He doesn’t look strange at all from his appearance...’
I put on a slightly tense expression. Soon the kind-faced professor approached me.
“Greetings. I’m Professor Leman.”
“Ah, yes. Hello.”
He greeted me first.
That was a bit unusual.
‘Leman? Never heard of him...?’
On top of that, he kindly explained the area he was in charge of.
“I’m the professor in charge of character. This test will also be about character.”
“Ah, yes.”
‘Character?’
I didn’t quite get it.
Soon he opened his mouth, and I put on a slightly flustered expression.
“You said you’re a Magic Swordsman? Do people around you often say you seem half-baked?”
“Yes...? No...?”
“Hmm, I see. But your nose is quite large. Have you ever been teased because of it?”
“No. That’s also...”
He suddenly started attacking me.
He was attacking me with words instead of a sword.
“Ah, I see. But don’t you smell something? It’s like the stench of corpses... Did someone just come from a battlefield?”
“......”
That’s right.
He was deliberately attacking me with sarcasm. It seemed the content of this test was enduring it.
‘Is he testing patience?’
Given the Academy’s many nobles, it was probably included for that reason.
They couldn’t tolerate such attacks.
They couldn’t endure it because of honor or whatever.
But I was different.
I was the Mercenary King.
It meant I’d reached the pinnacle of the rough mercenary world.
And those kinds of insults didn’t even count as insults to me.
“Do you not bathe?”
“No. I bathe properly.”
“You don’t seem like you’d be good at nighttime activities either...”
“That’s not true. You’d be surprised if you saw.”
I calmly endured all his attacks with a composed face.
‘Is that dog barking?’
It was so trivial it made me want to yawn.
Seeing my reaction, he attacked a few more times before shaking his head.
“I surrender. You have remarkable mental fortitude.”
“Haha... That... Yes. Thank you.”
He seemed to have misunderstood something, but I didn’t bother correcting him.
And so I passed every test.
This was probably the first time something like this had happened.
“My word...! I never thought you’d pass them all...”
“Impressive. Even the hero couldn’t endure the last test...”
“To think the Mercenary King would be such an extraordinary talent...”
The entire faculty looked at me with admiration.
The people below the stage were in an uproar.
“Th-that’s impossible!”
“The Mercenary King passed the Academy entrance exam?!”
“A Mercenary King that smart...! Ha...”
Everyone reacted with disbelief.
Well, he would be the first among all Mercenary Kings in history.
Soon I saw a professor writing down my name.
It seemed he was adding it to the list of successful applicants.
After seeing that, I stepped down from the stage.
“Th... What the hell is a wagglebee...”
“Y-Your Majesty the Mercenary King! Please teach me English!!”
Then many people started clinging to me.
They wanted to get some information out of me somehow.
But there was no way I’d tell them. I wasn’t that good-natured.
‘They insulted me like that earlier and now they want me to teach them?
I’m not an idiot.’
“Sorry. I’m busy.”
In reality, a guard was approaching me.
He was probably going to explain various precautions.
I followed him out of the auditorium.
I could see people staring blankly at me. Some had regretful expressions.
Of course, it was already too late.
And so I passed the notoriously difficult Royal Academy entrance exam.
I even passed the Special Class exam, said to have the highest difficulty in history.
It was an incredible feat no one could believe. And I was also the first and last successful applicant on the final day of testing.
That night.
Inside a noisy tavern.
“What? The Mercenary King passed?!”
“Ha...! Where did you hear such nonsense...!”
“If that’s true, I’ll strip naked and dance right here!”
People didn’t believe the news of my acceptance.
The tavern was filled with talk about me.
It seemed that surprising that I’d passed.
Of course, no one here could say that to my face.
I slowly stood up from my seat.
I’d been drinking in a corner of the tavern.
But because I kept hearing so many stories about myself, I couldn’t drink properly.
Soon I stood up completely.
‘How annoying.’
With this many people, some of them should recognize my face.
And I was right.
“Gasp...! Y-Y-Your Majesty the Mercenary King!!”
Suddenly someone shouted loudly while looking at me.
“Ha...! The Mercenary King...? Trying to strip me somehow with cheap tricks... That doesn’t make any... Eek!”
“I-It’s the Mercenary King!”
“Magic Swordsman Jace Allen!!”
In an instant, the inside of the tavern fell silent.
Everyone closed their mouths.
I watched them for a moment.
Then I pointed at one person. It was the one who’d confidently said he’d strip naked and dance.
“You.”
“Yes...?”