Chapter 12, Combat Testing

Translator: Kazumi

Editor: Silavin

 

Kouhi entered the room indicated by the receptionist. It was a fairly spacious area with a table and chair to one side, where a woman sat intently writing something, not noticing Kouhi’s entrance.

 

“Ah! Damn it! Why do I have to organize these documents!?” She muttered, struggling with the papers scattered before her.

 

After waiting a moment and realizing the woman had not noticed her, Kouhi spoke up.

 

“Umm…”

 

“What is it!? Hold on a second, it’s here… Oh!?” The woman finally looked up, surprised to see Kouhi standing before her. “What’s wrong? Did you come in by mistake? This is the advanced exam. Beginner…huh?”

 

Rather than wasting time with explanations, Kouhi handed over the paper she had received from the receptionist. The woman fell silent, took the letter, and quickly scanned its contents.

 

“Oh.” Her expression changed. “I didn’t expect you to meet his standards. Well, if that’s the case, fine. Let’s get started.” She stood up. “My name is Carmen. I’ll be administering your exam.”

 

As Carmen began walking toward the center of the room, Kouhi called out to stop her.

 

“Um?”

 

“What is it?” Carmen paused.

 

“I understand it’s an exam, but what about it being advance?”

 

Kouhi tilted her head questioningly, and Carmen sighed.

 

“Oh? This again? He hasn’t explained anything yet again.” Carmen glared at the door, though of course there was no response. With a helpless expression, she turned back to Kouhi and began explaining.

 

The room they were in was an examination hall for those with proven track records in the arena who wanted to take tests to raise their rank. Normally, one could not take the exam without arena experience, but exceptions could be made with approval from the receptionist—a grade-skipping system of sorts. Since the arena sometimes involved life-or-death risks, such approvals were rare.

 

“…or so it should have been, but here you are because you were approved. Oh, wait a minute.”

 

After finishing her explanation, Carmen reached into her pocket and retrieved something. Immediately, a different door opened, and another woman in a staff uniform entered.

 

“Carmen, what’s the matter… Oh. Excuse me.” The new arrival noticed Kouhi and bowed before turning her attention to Carmen. “Is it a test?”

 

“Yes. It’s a test she requested.”

 

“That’s unusual.”

 

“Well, I’m going to check if his judgment is correct. I’ll ask you to be the witness.”

 

“Understood.”

 

Carmen and the female staff member continued their conversation while Kouhi waited patiently, trying not to appear bored.

 

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“Oh. Sorry.” After speaking with the staff member for a while—the latter part of their conversation drifting to the documents Carmen had been struggling with—Carmen finally turned her attention back to Kouhi.

 

“It’s fine,” Kouhi answered briefly, understanding that everyone had their struggles.

 

Carmen pointed to weapons displayed in one corner of the room. “Sorry, but this is a test, so please use one of these weapons. Any of them is fine.”

 

“Okay.” Kouhi walked briskly to the collection and selected an orthodox one-handed sword.

 

“Is that okay?”

 

“Yes. No problem.”

 

“Good, let’s get started. Oh, before that—this is just a test, so attacks that could kill your opponent are prohibited. Be careful.”

 

“Understood.” Agreeing to Carmen’s warning, Kouhi approached, stopping about three meters away. Seeing this, Carmen glanced briefly at the female staff member before returning her focus to Kouhi.

 

“Let’s begin!” the staff member announced, and instantly the atmosphere in the room changed.

 

Carmen, sensing this shift, broke out into a cold sweat. “I see. So that’s why he sent me here,” she muttered, glancing at the staff member who did not seem to perceive the same change that Carmen did.

 

The staff member looked at Carmen’s motionless form with suspicion.

 

Carmen turned back to Kouhi. “Sorry, but this is just a test. Would you mind coming with me?”

 

Kouhi immediately understood Carmen’s meaning. “Yes. I understand.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

Carmen rushed toward Kouhi, wielding her one-handed sword—the same type Kouhi had chosen. She approached at what would be the fastest speed an ordinary person who did not make their living through combat could manage, and swung down at Kouhi.

 

The attack, which left the watching staff member staring in amazement, was completely parried by Kouhi.

 

“Hahaha. You parried that attack so cleanly.” Carmen’s face lit up with delight as she continued her assault.

 

Kouhi calmly dealt with each attack, parrying and dodging with her sword. Though Carmen’s strikes would have been outrageous by normal standards, none managed to touch Kouhi’s body.

 

Suddenly, Carmen paused her attack for just a moment. In the next instant, a fist-sized ball of fire flew toward Kouhi.

 

Despite the surprise magic attack, Kouhi showed no sign of alarm. She simply cut through the approaching fireball with her sword.

 

Seeing this, Carmen halted her attacks.

 

“Haha. You managed to avoid that perfectly.”

 

Kouhi tilted her head. “Do you really need to use magic attacks?”

 

“No. But I thought you could block it properly, so I used it. Of course, magic attacks are normal in real matches.”

 

“I know.”

 

“That’s good… Well, that’s enough.”

 

After Kouhi nodded in confirmation, Carmen turned her gaze to the female staff member.

 

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The female examiner watched the battle in stunned amazement. Despite having witnessed countless fights in her line of work, she could confidently say that combat like this was normally only seen between high-ranking fighters—not someone taking a test for the first time.

 

Yet Kouhi had parried Carmen’s attacks flawlessly, even cutting through a magic attack with her sword.

 

“Hey. Snap out of it already.” Carmen waved her hand back and forth in front of the staff member, who finally snapped out of her daze.

 

“Huh?! I’m sorry.”

 

“Well, I understand how you feel, so that’s fine. But what about the result?”

 

At Carmen’s question, Kouhi’s gaze sharpened slightly.

 

“No problem. You passed,” The staff member declared. “I’ll go into more detail, so please come with me.” She pointed to the door she had first entered through.

 

After Kouhi nodded and followed the staff member out, Carmen muttered to herself: “Man. One ridiculous person has just joined us. Things are going to get rough from now on.”

 

Despite her words, Carmen’s expression as she spoke was one of pure, joyous delight.