Chapter 9. Departmental Exam (2)
Benjamin carefully studied the faces of the cadets.
Most of them had eyes shining with anticipation, while a few, like Shane, wore expressions devoid of any particular emotion.
“Only the most outstanding cadets in the Academy are permitted to enter the Department of Command. Accordingly, the standards for this exam will be extremely strict.”
Benjamin’s explanation continued.
From this point onward, the cadets would select Combat Dolls created by a Golemancer and enter an Artificial Dungeon constructed through Illusion Magic.
They would be graded according to how ideally they cleared the Artificial Dungeon, and Benjamin reminded them that the results would be made public to every cadet.
“I knew about it, but…….”
“Having all our scores exposed still feels a little unpleasant.”
Most of the students applying to the Department of Command came from noble families.
Naturally, their pride tended to be considerable as well.
But this was a necessary procedure.
And it did not apply only to this exam.
From this point onward, every score earned within the Department of Command would be made available to cadets from the other departments.
The reason was closely connected to the very purpose of the Academy.
Unlike ordinary academies elsewhere, the Academy within the Allied Nations was closer to a military academy.
The cadets’ principal enemies were none other than the monsters dwelling within dungeons.
There was still much about this world that remained unknown.
Humanity occupied only a small portion of the available land, while the rest remained sealed away by the ‘Cradle,’ a vast aggregation of dungeons.
Humanity’s population continued to grow, and with it, the demand for land increased.
Because of that, there had once been a long era when the continent was engulfed in the flames of war.
When peace was finally achieved, humanity entered into a treaty, deciding that rather than continue shedding meaningless blood, they would conquer the ‘Cradle’ and expand their territory.
That was how the Allied Nations had been formed from several countries.
Naturally, the Academy of the Allied Nations had been established primarily for clearing dungeons.
For that very reason, commanders occupied positions responsible for overseeing all available forces. Only those who had thoroughly proven their abilities were granted the authority to recruit other cadets and personally form teams.
Therefore, cadets in the Department of Command had to demonstrate their abilities to everyone else.
If they wanted outstanding teammates to join them, they first had to prove that they themselves were exceptional.
A department governed entirely by merit.
That was the Department of Command.
And that meritocratic system was precisely why Shane had come here.
If he wanted to overturn his long-standing reputation as someone inferior to others in a single stroke, there could be no better system than the one used by the Department of Command.
“There is only one type of dungeon. These contain an explanation of the dungeon, so take one.”
At Benjamin’s words, the fifth-year cadets rose one after another and collected the manuals placed before him.
“I’ll bring yours as well, Brother.”
“Do so.”
There was no reason to refuse, so Shane remained seated and read the manual Klein brought back.
In his previous life, Shane had never applied to the Department of Command.
Nor had he been interested enough in the people around him to investigate its examination process separately.
As a result, he remembered almost nothing about the exam.
“Hmm.”
“The explanation is fairly thorough.”
“So it is.”
The contents of the manual were simple.
Each cadet would receive a total budget of one thousand points, and those points could be used to requisition various types of golems.
The dungeon itself was a Curse Goblin Dungeon, inhabited by goblins that dug tunnels underground.
It might have sounded easy because the inhabitants were merely goblins, but this dungeon differed greatly from most ordinary dungeons.
“So we use points to rent golems and fight with them.”
“It seems that only the golems may be used in combat. It says we’ll be disqualified if we defeat the monsters using our own strength.”
“I see. What kind of golems are you planning to take?”
“Since the goblins live in underground tunnels, I intend to focus on agile types.”
It was a reasonable choice.
The terrain inhabited by goblins generally had low ceilings and narrow passages.
“What type are you planning to choose, Brother?”
“Hmm.”
A method had already occurred to Shane while he was reading the manual.
He was just about to answer without much thought when—
He suddenly remembered Klein’s behavior earlier that day.
The way Klein had immediately begun worrying when he noticed the other cadets’ gazes.
Perhaps Klein feared that Shane’s rigid demeanor might eventually crack beneath that pressure.
‘At times like this, I suppose I can show him a slightly gentler side.’
He was also somewhat curious.
What sort of expression would Klein make if Shane said something like this?
“It’s a secret.”
“Pardon?”
“A secret.”
Shane gave a faint, mischievous smile as he spoke.
Klein was so shocked by the unexpectedly playful expression that he could not say a word.
W-Was that……
A joke?
How am I supposed to react?
Never once in his life had Klein experienced Shane teasing him like this.
He froze stiff as ice.
Finding the sight amusing, Shane’s smile only deepened.
—
Because the cadets would be unable to use their own combat abilities inside the Artificial Dungeon, they chose their golems with extreme care.
As Benjamin watched them, he searched the crowd for the faces of the cadets whose personal information the other Professors had briefed him on beforehand.
The first person to catch his attention was Clayton L. Klein.
A genius among geniuses, said to have been born with the greatest talent in history.
There were several other noteworthy cadets as well.
‘Lintberg J. Aneis. Is that the daughter of the person the Academy President mentioned?’
As someone who had also served in an Imperial Knight Order, Benjamin could hardly fail to recognize the name Lintberg.
In fact, the name was so renowned within the Empire that virtually no one was unfamiliar with it.
Knowing that this girl was the daughter of such a person naturally drew Benjamin’s attention.
The other cadets whom the Professors had mentioned also entered his field of view.
There was Bernstein Auston, the second son of House Bernstein, a marquis family, with dark circles extending beneath his eyes and a gloomy expression.
His physical abilities could only be described as hopeless, but when it came to using his mind, the boy was exceptionally accomplished.
Hadn’t the Professors said he had written a thesis that had astonished even them?
The eldest son of House Baldwin, which guarded the southwestern reaches of the Empire, and the granddaughter of the current Magic Tower Master soon entered his sight as well.
Yet Benjamin could say with certainty that only one person among them was truly unforgettable.
“What…… is he doing?”
A boy with black hair tied back and roseberry-colored eyes.
Clayton R. Shane.
By the time the other cadets had finished selecting their golems and returned to their places, Shane, who had made his choice last, had drawn the concentrated attention not only of Benjamin but of nearly every other cadet present.
—
Bernstein Auston had been lost in thought with a vacant expression when the noisy voices around him brought him back to his senses.
He often wore a dazed look because he spent so much time thinking.
“Haha, is that for real?”
“He’s completely insane.”
“Look at him. He’ll do anything just to draw more attention than his younger brother.”
“No wonder everyone calls him an idiot.”
The cadets who had already finished selecting their golems were staring toward the front, openly mocking someone.
Auston turned his dark-ringed eyes in the same direction.
There stood Clayton R. Shane.
The older brother of the famous Klein.
“That’s…… unusual.”
On average, the cadets had selected between ten and twenty golems.
Until moments ago, the person who had chosen the fewest had been none other than Auston himself.
He had selected eleven golems in total.
Shane, however, had chosen only three.
Naturally, that was enough to earn the ridicule of the other cadets.
“Did he minimize the number because it’s an underground tunnel?”
“Then why did he pick that huge Elite Greatsword Warrior?”
“What an idiot.”
At the voices nearby, Auston briefly turned his gaze toward them.
If he remembered correctly, that cadet’s name was……
‘Pollon, was it?’
The son of a baron from the Empire.
There was a simple reason Auston’s attention had been drawn toward Pollon.
Auston himself had also selected an Elite Greatsword Warrior.
Pollon apparently disliked being stared at and twisted his face in irritation.
“What are you looking at?”
“N-Nothing.”
“Tsk.”
With a click of his tongue, Pollon turned back and resumed speaking with his companions.
Auston returned his gaze to Shane and began running simulations through his mind.
Auston was Mana-Impaired and could not use mana, but when it came to using his intellect, he was more confident than anyone.
Even now, thousands of different dungeons existed within his mind, along with methods for clearing them and strategies he had personally devised.
Could he clear this dungeon with only that much manpower?
Clearing it might be possible.
Doing so within the time limit would not.
But that conclusion applied only under Auston’s own condition of being unable to use mana.
What if mana could be used?
Auston’s mind began racing.
He reconstructed his original plan, added a new assumption on top of it, and followed the chain of possibilities to its conclusion.
The answer was—
‘……I wonder who will really end up looking like the idiot.’
Within the private list of people Auston had already marked as individuals to be wary of, he added the name Shane.
And he placed it at the very top.
—
The moment Shane stepped inside the dungeon, his assessment was simple.
“They recreated it quite well.”
The damp sensation beneath his feet.
The nauseating stench that permeated the tunnels.
Even the Luminous Moss that illuminated the darkness underground.
Shane let out a brief sound of admiration at an environment that could never have been reproduced without considerable expertise.
Then he closed his eyes.
A faint vibration traveled through the ground.
It was almost as though a dragon were roaring somewhere deep beneath the earth.
It was certainly not a good sign, so Shane stopped where he was and observed the situation.
RRRRRUMBLE-
Just as expected.
As the vibrations beneath the ground intensified, the entire tunnel began to shake.
Shane issued an order to the golems standing behind him.
“When I raise my hand, hold your breath.”
“…….”
“…….”
They gave no verbal response, but the blue Mana Stones embedded where their hearts would have been changed to red.
It signified that they were carrying out the command.
Eventually, the vibrations reached their peak.
“Now.”
Green smoke erupted from holes in the walls.
Shane held his breath as well and narrowed his eyes.
At the same time, the Luminous Moss began emitting a brighter green light, and the smoke gradually faded.
The source of the foul odor permeating the entire tunnel—
A massive quantity of Poisonous Miasma buried beneath the ground.
The Luminous Moss growing here survived primarily by feeding upon that miasma, and people commonly referred to areas like this as Safe Zones.
“Now the real thing begins.”
Four times a day, at regular intervals, the Poisonous Miasma erupted and served as a natural fortress for the Curse Goblins.
That meant the moment immediately after the miasma vanished was the ideal time to advance.
Moreover, this place could not be assumed to remain safe indefinitely.
Once every three days, the Luminous Moss released its spores.
During that period, it stopped absorbing the Poisonous Miasma.
When that happened, naturally, everyone inside would be wiped out.
And the exam would end in failure.
“By now, everyone else must be panicking.”
A dungeon that had to be cleared within only three days.
Dungeons like this were commonly referred to as Speedruns, making them perfectly suited for an examination.
After all, there were few better ways to reveal a person’s true nature than placing them under intense pressure.
‘The exams up through last year cannot have been this difficult.’
Whoever had designed this year’s exam was undoubtedly a vicious individual.
Even so, Shane leisurely surveyed his surroundings before giving the golems a single order.
“Keep watch over the area.”
Then he sat down and stared intently at the Luminous Moss glowing green before him.
Long enough to frustrate anyone who might have been watching.
For a very long time, Shane did not take his eyes off the Luminous Moss.
