Chapter 43

"A… a slave mark!"

"I just wanted those girls to avoid the same fate as me. But if I were to be found guilty, I would bring trouble to my owner. And please, keep this slave mark a secret. No one should know of it. My owner might kill me if he found out that I showed it to you."

'Let's try to move her through empathy. Someone managing an orphanage seems like a perfect target for such a strategy.'

Hearing such touching words, the nun frowned.

'She's about to concede. I just need a little push… but what can I make use of? I have no intention of spending any more than I already have. Let's try a common marketing tactic. Giving a sense of urgency.'

"Well, girls, it seems we are causing the nun a lot of trouble. I think we should go and turn ourselves in. At least that way, we might avoid the death sentence. You can keep the money. At least that way, it'd go to a just cause and not in some corrupt official's pockets."

'This is my last bet. If this doesn't work… I might have to switch over to plan B. I'd prefer to avoid doing it that way, though...'

"W-wait! I'll try to convince the other nuns! Just… give me twenty minutes."

'The bet was successful… Giving people a sense of urgency will not give them enough time to consider all the alternatives, and thus they might end up doing something out of impulse.'

***

After a while, Vince and the girls went back to Gero. An hour or so must have passed.

"S-So, how did it go?"

"Everything went without a hitch. A nice and smooth sail on a sunny day, I'd dare to say."

"Phew… I'm glad."

'Now we have to hide the girls already with a slave mark to make our version of the facts believable. Since we were saving the girls from being kidnapped, it'd be suspicious if some of them already had slave marks. Luckily that old pig didn't bother with having his own marked.'

"Well, I think it's about time we called the city guards. I'll hide the few girls already with a slave mark in the orphanage, and we'll go and pick them up later. Well… the nuns have an altered version of the facts, so I'll have to brief everybody."

Thus, everyone set in motion.

'Now my job is done. I've already explained everything to the nuns. Officially I wasn't here when this happened. It was all Gero's doing. The guards were his, after all. Now the only unknown variable is whether this massive lie will hold or not. I should have tied up most loose ends, but it's not guaranteed to work. Well, if push came to the shove, I only killed some outlaws, not the official.'

Not long after, a guard patrol came back together with Gero, who had already explained everything as Vince had said. They then went to the orphanage to collect the nuns' testimony.

Considering they were nuns from the temple of light, the guards didn't even bother checking thoroughly, as their testimonies had almost the same weight as a public official's. It was virtually inconceivable for a nun of the temple of light to lie in a deposition.

***

The investigation was quickly over. Surprisingly few cared about what happened to the official. The investigation was closed just with one more testimony from Gero.

The guards who died were made honorary knights of the kingdom, and their families given an annuity.

The official version of the facts was as follows: "Government official Kian Robbins was attacked by bandits. Gero Harlow, who chanced upon him, ordered his guards to assist him. Unfortunately, his intervention wasn't enough to save him.

Kian Robbins was robbed of his possessions by the bandits. Five of the six Harlow Guards died in the attempted rescue. The surviving bandits managed to get away, but the city guards were already on their tracks. Justice shall be delivered in the name of His Majesty the King."

Reading the official statement, Vince laughed.

"What a load of bullcrap. No testimony was given on how the surviving bandits looked like. They are simply making it seem like justice will be delivered to keep the faith in the institutions high."

Gero, who was running around the track, couldn't hear him. Behind him were two more people, a Crimson-haired girl and a black-haired boy.

It was a slightly rainy day. Being almost winter, the weather was pretty cold too.

As Gero ran, Vince was happily enjoying tea on a wooden chair while one of his newly gained attendants was holding an umbrella for him to not get wet.

After a while, the black-haired boy fell face first in the mud.

"Big brother!"

One of the attendants behind Vince immediately rushed to help out her brother.

"That's some endurance he got. He lasted two hours on a sustained run. He wasn't a bad investment at all. I just hope he won't die early due to overwork…"

His newly gained attendants looked at him as if he was a demon.

Not long after, Nicole and Gero also stopped. They didn't faint, though.

As soon as those two stopped, four girls rushed at them. They were Gero's attendants.

"Milord! Are you alright?"

"I-It's fine; I'm just exhausted."

Christa, the first one who was bought by Gero, was also the first one to reach Gero.

"Why do you follow that guy's ridiculous training schedule? It's not going to make you any good!"

"You saw how he fights, right? I wouldn't have been able to do any of that. I listen to him because he's stronger. Also, I was the one who asked him to train me and accepted I would endure no matter how harsh the training got."

Hearing that, she could say no more. Though she still found Vince's attitude annoying. How much of a hypocrite had one to be to stay dry and sit comfortably while the others were sweating blood?

"I'm sure one day you'll surpass him, milord!"

Then Vince shouted something.

"Well, since you all are exhausted, we'll take a half an hour break. Then we're moving onto weapons practice."

'Even though I don't know how Zack and the other guy are doing, with how much Nicole and Gero improved, we should be able to compete for one of the top spots in the next exam. It's not that far away…'

And so the training went on.

***

But Vince wasn't the only one training for the subsequent placement exam.

Estelle and her fellow party member, Artemisia Wernher, were training in a training facility. One of the most significant advantages of being ranked in the top 10 was reserving whole facilities for oneself.

Thus, right now, there were only the two of them and a few of their attendants in the facility.

Their training schedule started with some physical exercise, then they each practised their own weapon of choice.

Thus, Estelle practised her swings and stabbed with her sword, while Artemisia practised with her spear.

"Four hundred and ninety-seven!"

"Four hundred and… ninety-eight!"

"Four hundred and ninety-nine!"

"…Five Hundred!!!"

"Phew, we're finally done. Isn't that right, Elle?"

"But training isn't over yet, Arty! We still have to spar, right?"

"Yup! Let's go!"

After that, the two of them went to the fighting arena to spar. It wasn't immense, but it was a respectable arena.

They stopped using wooden swords and spears to train as they were too lightweight. They now used dummies with dull blades instead. Luckily for them, being both in the Dawn Stage, they weren't likely to suffer severe injuries with such dummies.

Their bones were resistant enough to withstand a direct hit. This was also one of the reasons that set cultivators so much apart from mortals. And the two of them were just in the second stage of the first realm!

Once the two were on guard, they started circling around each other.

Fush.

Artemisia tried a surprise stab, using her superior combat range, but Estelle dodged just in time for the stab to not connect.

'I have to get closer as quick as I can. Otherwise, she will hold onto the advantage.'

Fuuu.

This time a slash came. But Estelle, reacting instantly, used the chance to close the distance. She was hit on her side. But, as she had planned, it was the shaft of the spear, not the tip.

Even though she felt a little bit of pain, this single move was enough to disrupt the opponent's rhythm. Using this chance, she closed the distance.

'There!'

Seeing an opening, she immediately tried to stab the opponent.

Too bad the opponent jumped so high she had almost surpassed Estelle's height. The stab went way below the target. Using this chance, Artemisia made some distance again.

'These moves! She always pulls those stunts when I less expect it.'

The two of them fought like this until both of them were exhausted. Estelle managed to pull some great counters for the whole time, but due to Artemisia's incredible acrobatic moves, she could never capitalise on them.

The sun was already setting outside. The two of them were now lying face up on the ground.

"It was as exhausting as always, wasn't it, Elle?"

"Mhmh."

"Want to go eat some sweets?"

"Yeees!"

The once exhausted Estelle immediately woke from her slumber at the mention of 'sweets'.

***

Soon, the time for the placement exam came. A whole semester had flown by without as much as a hitch.

Estelle and her party were currently sitting in the arena where they had first been reunited at the entrance exam.

The placement exam was a mere two weeks away, and today the headmaster was to announce what it consisted of.

The most common exam for the first semester was a Party fighting tournament. At least, that's what they heard from their seniors. That would consist of the majority of points. The rest of the points would be given with a practical and theoretical exam similar to the first ones.

This was a tradition that was rarely broken… rarely.

The headmaster, stepping up on the stage, started speaking.

"Welcome, everyone! It's been already six months since I last saw you. All of you have grown. So much, in fact, many of you have already become cultivators!

Those who didn't, don't worry. Since this school year is so full of talents, I've decided to spice things up a bit. Everybody can pick between two examination methods.

The first is the traditional one that most of you must already have heard about. But that will give at most eight hundred points instead of its usual one thousand. Alternatively, the other exam will be a dungeon dive!"

At his words, the arena was filled with chatter.

"A dungeon dive? What? That's usually something the second years do! And only the best ones!"

Elene Bauer, Estelle's party archer, expressed her doubts.

"Ahah! This is turning interesting! We'll go dungeon dive!"

Andre von Rais was fired up instead.

"Everyone! Quiet down!"

Once the crowd quieted down, the headmaster went forth with the explanation.

"As you might guess, even for the best of you, a dungeon dive is a severe challenge. That's why you all will receive some assistance. Those who decide to dungeon dive will also have a theoretical exam and a practical exam before the dungeon dive.

They won't give any points, but you shall be given assistance in the dungeon dive proportional to how well you do in them. May it be items, information or other things. The dungeon will, of course, be the easiest one the academy has rights over, the Kobold dungeon.

You have all already fought against kobolds a few times during the party combat lessons. I look forward to seeing who chooses to dungeon dive! See you in two weeks!"

Once the headmaster left, the rumbling resumed.

"Kobolds, is it? Now it kind of makes sense why we trained so much against them. It felt like we were facing them too often. That's the reason why."

Everyone then left in a hurry —they all had to prepare for what was coming, after all.