Kays Translations

Chapter 34: Inside an old fort (Part one)

Grey, rugged stone pavement with the walls and ceilings made of the same material greet everyone.

When you slide your fingertips on the walls, you can feel the dampness.

For Ren, it was a familiar sight from the video game, but the reality almost gave him the illusion that he was in a different place.

The windows are small, perhaps because the building was originally built as a fort, and the light is dim even in the daytime unless you rely on the torches that line the walls at equal intervals.

Everyone’s footsteps echoed within this martial fort.

(What the hell is going on?)　

Ren was so shocked that he lost his composure, but fortunately, since it was now an emergency, everyone’s self-introductions were postponed until later.

“I’m Maidas, the adventurer in command of all the adventurers except the knights of the Clausel family during this rescue.”

Maidas lightly introduces himself to Fiona as she leads the group inside the fortress.

At this point, Fiona misunderstood.

If she took Maidas at his word, Ren, who wasn’t dressed as a knight, was an adventurer.

Ren is a registered adventurer, so it’s not a mistake, but it’s somewhat incorrect.

“Why are boys and girls like you in the Baldor Mountains?”

Fiona continues talking without stopping.

“We are students here for an exam. We’ve been evacuated to this fort for a few days.”

“Kuh— You’re students…?”

“Yes, this is the site of the final examinations for the special classes of the Imperial Military Academy.”

Maidas was surprised at this explanation.

Ren and the knights were also surprised.

They, however, continued to be silent.

They listened to what Maidas and the others had to say, even though they had their own opinions.

“I didn’t think it would be possible, but I heard that the academy is offering a special class of students.”

“Ha ha! Hey, Maidas! Don’t be rude!”

The other adventurers cheered the astonished Maidas on.

“I know, But please forgive me! I just can’t get used to the tone of the nobles…… I mean, you guys should introduce yourselves lightly!”

Maidas called out to the other adventurers. He tried to be as polite as possible.

But the adventurers were reluctant and showed their disapproval.

“I’ll pass. I’ve been accused of not responding well to a nobleman’s request for an escort mission before.”

“I’d like to refrain a little myself. The students at the academy are too big for a country adventurer.”

“I guess. If you ask your parents for a reward, it’ll be a good amount of money, but when adventurers like us are associated with a big noble family, it’s usually a troublesome situation. If they say we are involved with an incident, we’ll be in a lot of trouble.”

Adventurers have their own reasons for not introducing themselves, even to nobles.

One of the other adventurers followed suit.

“We’ll send the students down the mountain. They can go down without us, and we can go down without them. That should be enough.”

“Let’s not interfere with each other and we’ll promise to keep you safe.”

“Non-interference is the reward, I guess.”

As one of them said, the parents of the candidates might give them a not-so-cheap reward.

But the adventurers gathered here knew the strength of the powers that be.

It wouldn’t be a good thing if they were to be challenged. In other words, they wanted to keep their identities hidden to protect themselves.

The presence of Fiona Ignat in particular probably made them do this.

“I understand. Well then, let’s do it.”

Fiona, perhaps remembering the unreasonableness of the nobles, simply nodded her head.

As they walked away, Maidas apologized, but she said, “No, we are the ones who need your help,” and laughed soundly.

To relieve the heavy atmosphere, Maidas changes the subject.

“But if you’re taking that special class, aren’t there many candidates who excel in magic, not just swords?”

What Maidas wanted to say was as follows.

The Imperial Military Academy is the most prestigious academy in Leomel, and only a handful of people are allowed to enter the special class.

A student aiming for that has to have an ability greater than adventurers in the countryside.

Therefore, even with this unusual snowfall, wasn’t their ability enough for them to evacuate? This is what he wanted to say.

“We’re not physically stronger than adults. If it’d been just a few days, we might have been able to handle it, but when we decided to evacuate, it was after more than a week of hiking in the mountains.”

For them, whose bodies were not fully grown, the march was tough.

They could beat the adventurers in Clausel area for a few days, but beyond that, they’d have a hard time making camp.

“And then there were so many strange monsters that we were forced to expend more than we should have.”

Maidas raised his eyebrows for a moment when he heard this.

But only for a moment. He quickly uttered, “Maybe it was easier to target them because they were only boys and girls.”

“There was also the unusually cold weather, so it couldn’t have been helped.”

When Maidas was convinced, Ren thought secretly.

(The examinations for the special class are indeed difficult. This final exam is a symbol of that ……….)

It’s a test that takes place at a place designated by the Academy and aims to follow a predetermined route.

This test accesses various things ranging from the physical strength and endurance of the examinees to their tact and the cooperativeness of the examinees who are divided into groups.

So there must be an examiner somewhere.

(It’s just an exam, so they shouldn’t be this unreasonable)

The weather has been so abnormal that even adventurers accustomed to camping out have to be rescued and it’s hard to imagine that the examiners would leave that to chance, no matter how prestigious they may be.

Since some of the examinees are associated with the nobility at home and abroad, if they overdo it, that too will become a problem.

If that is the case, then the question becomes, “Where are the examiners?”

“Did you notice?”

An adventurer walking beside Ren spoke to him in secret.

“This isn’t normal. If it’s not so bad, there might be some powerful people behind it who could kill us all in one fell swoop, right? There are nobles of all factions involved with the students and it would be a terrible thing to mess with them.”

“I understand that concern is the reason for the sudden change in everyone’s behavior.”

“Yes, it is. I think it’s a bit rude, but we’re pretty cute ourselves. We can’t be bothered with a little disrespect.”

As the two conversed, Fiona stopped in front of them.

She stood in front of the door leading to the hall at the back of the fort.

“We took refuge in this fort and were relieved to learn that there were other people here before us.”

But her expression was dull as she said this.

Soon after the door was opened, everyone came to an understanding of the reason.

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