Chapter 11. Departmental Exam (4)
The control room monitoring the Artificial Dungeon erupted into chaos.
“Are you serious?! What time is it?”
“Fifteen hours and forty-seven minutes since the exam started!”
“Someone cleared the dungeon in less than sixteen hours? Seriously?”
“Go tell the Professors!”
Alfren hurried out of the room and rushed toward the Professors’ lounge.
Ordinarily, even if someone cleared the dungeon, there would have been no reason to wake a Professor.
This time, however, was different.
“P-Professor!”
“Hmm. Alfren. What is it?”
Having once served as a Knight Commander, Benjamin had already awakened at the sound of Alfren’s hurried footsteps and asked in a composed voice.
“Fifteen hours and forty-seven minutes into the exam. A cadet has cleared the dungeon.”
“……Fifteen hours and forty-seven minutes?”
For the first time, surprise appeared on Benjamin’s previously impassive face.
“That is a new record.”
He rose from his seat and straightened his attire.
“Alfren. What was the fastest clear time in the history of the Department of Command exam?”
“T-Twenty-six hours and twenty-one minutes.”
“So he shortened it by nearly ten hours.”
Of course, every exam in the past had featured different dungeon types and different kinds of monsters.
Even so, clearing a dungeon normally took at least two days, and sometimes as long as a week.
Yet this one had been cleared in barely sixteen hours?
Benjamin had entered and experienced countless dungeons.
The time required to clear one varied drastically depending on the abilities of those entering it, but even Benjamin himself was not confident that he could have finished within the same time under the exact conditions Shane had been given.
“Did you bring the observation log?”
“Y-Yes. Here it is.”
The log contained a long, detailed account of everything that had happened from the moment Shane first entered the dungeon.
It was the result of Alfren painstakingly recording every one of Shane’s actions.
“So, he set traps inside tunnels already filled with traps and used them to eliminate the Curse Goblins?”
“Y-Yes…… That is correct.”
Shane had taken only three golems with him.
However, every single one he had chosen was expensive.
The first was an Assassin capable of concealing itself within darkness.
The second was an Earth Mage proficient in Earth Magic.
And the last was an Elite Greatsword Warrior wielding an enormous greatsword.
The Assassin and Elite Greatsword Warrior each cost one hundred and fifty points, while the Earth Mage cost two hundred.
Thus, while the other cadets brought between ten and twenty golems, Shane spent only half of his one thousand points and entered with just three.
The other cadets had laughed at him, asking whether he truly believed he could clear a dungeon merely by bringing expensive golems.
But in reality, every choice had been deliberate.
Using the Earth Mage and Assassin, Shane subtly altered the traps installed by the Curse Goblins so that the goblins themselves would fall victim to them.
As a result, Curse Goblins that passed through the area believing it to be safe fell into their own traps and died instantly.
Afterward, Shane deliberately left one goblin critically wounded and used it to lure the others toward another trap.
“His operational ability is absurdly refined…….”
Benjamin could hardly believe how cleanly Shane had executed the plan.
Was this truly something a cadet entering a dungeon for the first time could devise?
Rather than simply killing the enemy, Shane first considered how they could be used.
Cruelty born from sadistic preference was one thing.
Shane’s actions, however, were cold, calculated ruthlessness.
“Poisonous Miasma fills those tunnels four times a day at regular intervals. He calculated those timings precisely as well.”
“Y-Yes. And astonishingly…….”
“Indeed. He stuffed the anesthetic commonly used by goblins into the fume vents.”
As a result, when the Poisonous Miasma erupted from the vents, the anesthetic spread throughout the cavern along with it.
Meanwhile, Shane soaked a cloth with the antidote stored alongside the goblins’ anesthetic and wore it like a mask as he moved through the dungeon.
“But Professor Benjamin, is what he did there really allowed?”
At the Assistant’s question, Benjamin gave a faint smile.
The Assistant was referring to the Luminous Moss covering Shane and all three golems.
“The commander prepared it himself, but he did not use it to fight, did he? He followed the rules and never laid a finger on a goblin.”
Shane had not simply stood around waiting once the anesthetic began spreading.
Even though he had poured the anesthetic into the fume vents, Curse Goblins naturally possessed a degree of resistance to the substance.
Their bodies would stiffen for a time, but the effect would not last long.
That was when Shane began moving quickly.
He wrapped his own body and the golems in Luminous Moss taken from the floors and walls, then advanced even before all the Poisonous Miasma had completely dissipated.
To an outside observer, it looked almost like a gamble.
“Luminous Moss is connected underground through a network of stems. People assume it must possess tremendous vitality because it absorbs Poisonous Miasma, but that is not the case.”
“Yes. Damaging even a small part of the stem can kill every patch of Luminous Moss connected to it. Since the stems are linked through extremely faint traces of mana, anyone who was not highly sensitive to mana—or had not learned a related technique—would have been in serious trouble.”
“Exactly. And he knew that, yet still wrapped himself in Luminous Moss.”
“Then the reason he spent those first few hours staring at the ground…….”
“Yes. He was analyzing the mana patterns connecting the stems of the Luminous Moss.”
“I did not even know that was possible until today.”
“Someone has probably conceived of the idea before. Whether they would actually act on it is another matter. He was simply certain he could do it, and then proved himself correct.”
Benjamin had served as an Imperial Knight Commander.
He had encountered countless talented individuals and witnessed many extraordinary feats they had accomplished.
Something like this was not enough to leave him utterly astonished.
“There are many different kinds of geniuses in this world.”
And so, Shane easily dealt with the goblins that could barely move beneath the effects of the anesthetic he had spread and continued onward.
Once Benjamin finished watching the recording up to the moment Shane encountered the Goblin Shaman at the dungeon’s end, he left the room to prepare to meet him.
—
“Impressive. I did not expect you to clear the dungeon before even a full day had passed.”
“Thank you.”
Shane calmly accepted Benjamin’s praise without any notable change in expression.
“Do you know? The previous Speedrun record was twenty-six hours.”
“So I shortened it by ten hours.”
“You also made a groundbreaking discovery regarding how to clear a Curse Goblin Dungeon.”
“Is that so?”
“Do you know who set that record of twenty-six hours?”
Shane naturally had no reason to remember something so specific, so he shook his head.
Still, he had a rough idea of who it might have been.
“You are surprisingly uninformed about matters like this. Embarrassing as it is to admit, it was me.”
“As I expected.”
“You do not seem particularly surprised.”
“I have heard of your reputation, Head Professor Benjamin. Your exceptional judgment and your ability to suppress enemies efficiently through command are already renowned not only throughout the Empire, but across the Allied Nations as well.”
Benjamin gave a bitter smile at those words and subtly changed the subject.
“There is one thing I want to ask. Did you bring the Elite Greatsword Warrior because you anticipated that final battle?”
Shane nodded.
The final battle.
When Shane reached the end of the dungeon, he encountered the Goblin Shaman, which had nearly recovered from the paralysis.
The other Curse Goblins nearby, however, were still only partially conscious, so subduing the Shaman was not particularly difficult.
What mattered was precisely that result.
‘Subduing’ it.
Shane had not immediately killed the Curse Goblin Shaman.
Instead, he closed his eyes for a moment and focused on the flow of mana.
After surveying his surroundings in that manner, Shane ordered the Elite Greatsword Warrior to destroy one of the walls.
A short while later, as the wall collapsed in a cloud of dust, a violet Mana Stone could be seen floating in the air beyond it.
It was different from ordinary Mana Stones, which generally carried a blue hue.
“I had only seen one in books, but it was reproduced quite accurately.”
It was a stone that served as an extraordinarily precious source of mana for monsters.
If consumed by a monster, it allowed that monster to evolve into a higher species.
Shane forced the stone into the Goblin Shaman’s mouth and observed what happened.
Before long, the Goblin Shaman’s body began changing, and it evolved into a Mass Hobgoblin Shaman, a higher species.
Before the creature could even open its eyes, Shane ordered the Elite Greatsword Warrior to cut off its head.
Where the corpse of the Mass Hobgoblin should normally have remained, a single golden coin appeared instead.
“What is this?”
Shane took out the coin he had picked up and asked.
Benjamin smiled.
“An Entry Pass.”
“An Entry Pass?”
“Have you ever heard about the Artifacts stored within the Academy?”
“I have heard rumors that such things exist.”
But they were only rumors.
Even Shane knew very little about them.
“Think of it as an Entry Pass to the ‘Repository.’”
“…….”
“And inside, you will have the right to select one item of your choosing. Of course, there is a price.”
“A price?”
“If you continue graduating from the Academy with exceptional results, then someday you will have to give a lecture here.”
“……Understood.”
Shane was not entirely certain that giving a lecture at the Academy even qualified as a price.
There was no one who failed to understand what it meant to deliver a special lecture at the Academy of the Allied Nations.
Doing so would enhance one’s reputation in its own right.
Seeing no real disadvantage, Shane carefully put the golden coin away.
“What should I do now?”
“Nothing in particular. Rest in your assigned quarters. Of course, you should also prepare for the Written Exam in one week.”
At the answer, Shane gave a slight nod and departed.
Benjamin watched him carefully as he left.
According to a Professor from the Department of Magic, Shane possessed considerable intellectual talent, so he would likely pass the Written Exam without much difficulty.
Then Benjamin suddenly remembered Shane’s impassive eyes.
They seemed utterly indifferent to everything in the world.
Benjamin had seen eyes like those before.
They belonged to people who had survived battlefields for many years.
And yet Shane’s eyes were even deeper and more unreadable than theirs.
If Benjamin stared into them for too long, it almost felt as though his own emotions might be erased.
How had someone so young come to possess eyes like that?
“How unusual.”
Of course, it was only an instinctive impression.
Benjamin turned away and decided to focus on the work that remained.
—
It was a languid afternoon.
Shane had not taken a single step outside his room while waiting for Klein’s exam to end.
Instead, he had spent the entire time observing his own inner self.
In his previous life, Corruption had constantly robbed him of control over his own body.
As a result, Shane had always remained wary of both the emotions festering within his chest and the power of Corruption itself.
Although he had not sensed any trace of Corruption since regressing, he still could not afford to relax completely.
Perhaps it could be called a kind of trauma.
Whenever he had free time, Shane could only feel at ease after examining his inner self and confirming that no symptoms had appeared.
While doing so, Shane suddenly sensed a black mass somewhere within his Inner World.
‘What is that……?’
He moved closer to determine what the mass was, but a knock at the door broke his concentration.
“Brother. Are you inside?”
“……Yes. Did it go well?”
“Yes. I finished safely.”
Even in Shane’s previous life, Klein had possessed considerable talent for command.
Shane therefore offered no further comment.
Afterward, Shane accepted Klein’s surprisingly courageous(?) invitation to eat together, and the two walked down the corridor side by side.
“Gentlemen over there.”
“…….”
“Pardon? Do you mean us?”
They stopped at the voice of a girl approaching from the opposite end of the corridor.
“Yes. The two of you walking together look like something from the canvas of a famous painter. I stopped you because there is something I would like to ask.”
The canvas of a famous painter.
Shane thought those words suited the girl before them more than they suited him and Klein.
‘So I meet her here.’
Her platinum-blond hair shone even more brilliantly than Klein’s, reminiscent of a field of barley beneath the autumn sun. It fell in long waves past her waist.
Her emerald eyes were like a clear, vibrant forest, accentuating her beauty all the more.
Every delicate feature fit perfectly upon her small face, giving her such a petite appearance that most men would instinctively feel the urge to protect her.
Yet there was an unmistakable aura of authority within the girl’s voice.
To Shane’s eyes, which could see through the souls of humans, she appeared entirely different from her delicate exterior.
Her soul resembled a wall of steel that nothing could pierce.
“What can we help you with?”
“I am trying to find the practical examination hall for the Department of Command. Could you tell me where it is?”
“If that is where you are headed, go behind Building Two.”
“Oh, I see. Thank you.”
The girl departed.
Shane continued watching her until she disappeared from sight.
“She certainly was…… remarkably beautiful, wasn’t she?”
“Hmm.”
It was not an incorrect statement, so Shane casually agreed.
“……?”
Only then did Shane notice Klein’s expression and tilt his head.
For some reason, Klein was smiling at him with a teasing look.
He was clearly entertaining some pointless misunderstanding.
Shane let out a quiet sigh.
Did Klein know?
The woman who had just passed them was Jepher di Arsha Olicia, the First Imperial Princess—and the first of the Empire’s Two Flowers.
