Chapter 6 – The beggar noble wants to earn money

There was a resting time of 30 minutes scheduled between the first and second exam, but the moment that break began we were flooded with people grouping up around us.

“Lady Bluedon, where did you find that dead reaper? No, rather than that, how amazing is it that you defeated it without any injuries!”

“No, that was-…”

Before she could involve me in the discussion I slipped away from there and changed location to an empty corner of the campus, together with Emma, who handed me some boxed lunch. Even back in youth rearing school she would always prepare one for me along with hers.

“Thanks for always.”

“No problem~, but more importantly than that, hey, did you defeat that dead reaper?”

“Only as a secreet between you and I.”

“I knew it… You’ve been rapidly getting stronger recently, haven’t you? Does it have to do with the great sage?”

“That’s not it. It’s because I found an excellent master.”

“…A woman?”

“You could say that.”

“Muuh~, if I’m not good enoughー”

She put on a moping look and pouted her lips. Ah-, please stop snatching pieces of my side dishes.

Trying to get her to stop being suspicious I explained that it’s not some kind of weird relationship, nor is master some kind of dangerous person, but to no avail.

While we were killing time like that the second exam started. This time, points were earned by demonstrating one’s speciality to an examiner. A lot of them were scattered all around the area, waiting on standby.

“――Next, Noir Stalgia.”

“Here.”

“Member of the number one team, huh. What will you do?”

“Right, about that――”

To no surprise, being placed first by such a large margin caused a lot of spectators to gather. The people around us far outnumbered the ones at the other examiners. Honestly, wouldn’t it be fine not to aim for a lot of points here? Whether you pass or fail is decided based on the sum of both the first and second exam, so even without trying hard an S rank was pretty much guaranteed.

“I will fire a stone projectile.”

“Go ahead.”

I fired at the scarecrow that was prepared for me as a target. I took away some of the shot’s power, but still made sure it hit the mark.

“W-wasn’t that projectile pretty small just now!?”

“It might be that he’s bad with magic, there wasn’t a whole lot of power behind it either.”

“And I thought stone projectile’s shots were a fixed size… I see.”

The examiner was surprised as well and wrote down a score on his sheet of paper. Well, even if I’m considered an irregular it shouldn’t cause a point increase. At any rate, with this my exam was over. Now all that was left was to wait.

Several hours later we all gathered in the school yard again. Everyone that passed received a hero school badge and Lenore, Emma and I also properly received one.

With this, unemployment has been officially escaped!

Apparently the top ten scores were to be publicly announced by the school director. Although I had already passed I was still curious about the final order, so I stuck around.

I wasn’t among the ranks from tenth to fourth. Of course, neither were Emma and Lenore.

“――Third place, Noir Stalgia. Second place, Emma Brightness. First place, Lenore Bluedon!”

Seems like the first exam’s points were too high after all. Good thing I took it easy with the second one, standing out by getting first place would have been awkward.

“Noir Stalgia! Was it you who defeated the dead reaper?”

Rank one Lenore came to question me with a serious look.

“My memory isn’t so good, anything more than three minutes before gets a little fuzzy.”

“Like you’re that kind of old geezer!”

Nice quip, Emma.

“Isn’t it fine either way? You got first place. Congratulations, Lenore. Since we’ll be in the same class from now on let’s forget the tension at the beginning and get along well. Not that I’m trying to force you though.”

“…No, I’m the one that should say that. I apologize for my impoliteness. The fact that I looked down on you for being of baronet status is the truth.”

She displayed an unexpected amount of sincerity and initiated a handshake.

To avoid the commotion caused by submitting the dead reaper I also asked her if she could take the role of the one that defeated it and she gladly accepted the proposal.

“I mean, as far as actual ability goes I could have defeated it on my own just as well, so I suppose I will grant your request.”

“That’s a relief.”

She sure is the type to want to brag. That personality saved me this time.

――And thus, my enrollment into hero school was decided and I was in a pleasant mood. Until I arrived at the reception desk, that is.

“Congraulations on your enrollment. Please prepare the school fee of 300,000 Ria until the school entrance ceremony in one week.”

“…Pretty expensive.”

“Since those of S rank receive special lessons the price also goes up accordingly. However, since Sir Stalgia is of nobility, that amount of money should be…”

“Ah, yeah, that nobility…”

“Right? The monster materials will be returned once the school entrance fee has been paid.”

On our way home I was getting melancholic. It’s not like my parents wouldn’t be able to provide the money if I asked them, it’s just that I’d rather not burden our familiy’s finances like that. For nobles 300,000 Ria is an amount where they’d shout “So cheap! Seriously cheap!”, but that wasn’t the case for us.

If I were to tell father about the fee he would lose all strength while going “Eh? Aah, pretty cheap, isn’t it… my, how cheap it is…” and mother would probably tell Alice “We’ll have to save on food and live in poverty for a week, sorry.”

On top of that, father said he’ll be going somewhere this month so he probably wants to avoid unnecessary expenses.

A local angel that was well aware of House Stalgia’s circumstances offered a helping hand.

“You know my family could just lend yours some money?”

“It makes me happy to hear that, but it’s fine. I’ll earn it on my own.”

Having said that, it’s not like I can walk through town selling gold slimes without raising a huge commotion, so let’s go around looking for a place to work.

『400LP』

Incidentally, my LP went back up. I wonder why that is, maybe because my aspiration to pass the entrance exam was achieved? With a happy mindset I thought about which adventurer guild to join.

◇ ◆ ◇

In the end I visited the biggest one, 『Odin』.

They had a large amount of accomplished adventurers and their scope of activity was also broad. From gathering plants to monster subjugations to dungeon capturing.

The reason I chose to become adventurer was because it was the quickest in regards to making money. Fulfill a request and receive a reward.

Furthermore, it’s also a precious activity for making connections for the future. I might even find a good place to work at through good offices made here.

Well then. I entered the guild, but there were a bunch of open reception counters. I consulted one of them to ask about guild registration.

“There is a test before registration, will that be fine?”

“Certainly.”

“Very well, please follow me.”

“Oh, will the test be carried out right away?”

“Even with a lengthy interview, there’d be no meaning to it if you end up not passing the test. Apologies, but this is how Odin does things.”

“I’ll gladly abide.”

I’m being caught up in something lengthy.

We went outside, to the guild building’s rear, where an outside training field was set up. This is probably part of the reason the place was in the city’s outskirts.

“Gamon, you have an applicant.”

“Aiyo-”

A man with long, wavy hair and a stylish beard. After whirling around a long cane he landed on the ground with a thump.

“A noble, eh?”

“Of the baronet House Stalgia.”

“I appreciate courteousness. However, we don’t concern ourselves with social status here. If I consider you lacking in problem-solving skills you’re sent home either way.”

“I understand, I’ll be in your care.”

“Very well, it’s good that you’re obliging. Now, about the test itself, eh. You are to make me speak within three minutes.”

Speak? – I looked at him puzzled.

“As long as it’s my voice anything goes. Be it screams, groans, giggles.”

“So it’s not a simple battle?”

“That’s the usual approach. Although a while ago there was also a boy that told a funny story, made me roar in laughter.”

Aa, so that method is also valid. Pretty amazing, that guy. I wouldn’t have come up with anything beyond making him groan by hitting his stomach or something.

It’s often said that adventurers aren’t all about strength, occasionally quick-wittedness is demanded. The right way doesn’t have to be limited to one path, basically.

“Okay, let’s begin. Start!”

As if to demonstrate that he’s not planning on giving me time to prepare he gave the start signal. While unsheathing my blade I analyzed Gamon’s data.

Name: Gamon Chokochifu

Age: 32

Race: Human

Level: 82

Occupation: Adventurer, Brothel Receptionist

Skills: 「Cane Mastery B」 「Thrust」 「Earth Shield」

Ah-, I might have found out how to defeat this guy!?

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Thanks for reading. Special thanks to everyone pointing out typos and mistakes.

Next chapter sometime next week.