Chapter 38: The Exam and The Marathon

When I completed the preparations in the workshop, I headed to the Guild.

I planned to get a good escort request.

The Guild was incomparable to both Herrera and Ain.

First, the building was very long. It looked sturdy because it was made of stone. There were about 15 counters. They were lined up in a row, and I saw many adventurers. I noticed a vacant counter among them all.

The number of requests were similar, since there were many of them too. I saw many requests for B-rank. It was my first time seeing requests from the B-rank, since the previous towns did not have them. As expected, there was none for the A-rank.

I searched for an escort request from among them.

Nothing.

I saw escort requests to other cities such as Tsubai and Dorin, but none of them was to Decibator.

I looked around from the G-rank to the A-rank boards, but I could not find the letter “D” of Decibator in neither of them. I had no choice but to ask the receptionist.

「Excuse me. Where are the escort requests for Decibator? 」

「Then it’s over there. Are you qualified? 」

The receptionist pointed to the request board hanging in a remote place.

Why did I need a qualification? The adventurer rank was not enough, I wonder.

「Do I have to be qualified? Are not the ranks enough in the Adventurer’s Guild?」

「Yes. The qualifications are set independently because there are many differences in the required abilities from the ordinary escorts that adventurers receive.」

Was carrying a luggage together with the carriage in the item box from the sky included in those ordinary escorts?

「Where can I get that qualification? 」

「The registration will be at that counter, but the exam is only in the morning. Please note that it will take a whole day.」

It sounded like a big exam. I thanked the receptionist and headed to the specific counter. I saw a transportation request window between Photoren and Decibator.

Transportation? Was it not an escort?

The receptionist was an old man. I felt a little down to be honest.

「Excuse me. I’d like to take a qualification exam. 」

「What is your adventurer rank? 」

「It’s E. But people said that my fighting power is already enough, so I was told to do this type of escorts to raise my rank.」

「So you mean the Decibator transport. Are you an idiot? 」

How rude. I’d rather had him say that I was courageous or funny.

「No, I’m not mistaken…The Decibator requests were recommended to me by a Guild branch manager because you lack manpower in here.」

「It’s true that we lack manpower right now, but… I don’t think it’s wise to accept someone like you because we’ll just be sending you to your death. Which branch manager said that kind of playfulness?」

「The Herrera branch manager. 」

「Herrera…? The Herrera branch manager is an excellent person with incredible wit, but…Oh well; it’s okay for you to take the exam at least. It takes a whole day. It begins in the morning, but when do you like to take it?」

He sulked just now. I was a critically acclaimed leisure person, but I didn’t want to show this person such weakness.

「Then I’d like to do it tomorrow. Is there an examination fee? 」

「It is supposed to be 3000 Tael. If you pass the exam, the amount will be returned to you. If you fail, the amount will be confiscated.」

Was it free if I passed the exam? Was it to prevent mockery?

「Okay, then can I come tomorrow morning? 」

「Of course, the person in charge of tomorrow’s exam is… Oh, are you the only one applying for the exam with “that” examiner? You have such great luck.」

「Eh. What kind of person is he? 」

「Well, as long as you complete the exam, it will be okay, yes okay. 」

It didn’t sound like it would be okay…

I went to the inn while feeling quite anxious.

—

The next morning.

「From now on, you are going to conduct a transporter certification test between Photoren and Decibator!」

An old man with a weird hat stood in front of me.

「Answer me! 」

「Yes. 」

「Don’t joke with me! Louder! 」

I had no choice but to reply like this.

「Sir! Yes! Sir! 」

I understood the ironic words that person said yesterday.

This person was not an examiner, but a sergeant. He was a little milder than the sergeants I knew, but it was probably the difference between a senior sergeant and a regular sergeant.

「Okay! Then follow me!」

The sergeant took me and we went out of town.

We were on the Decibator side, and of course, there were still battles with monsters.

There were 20 monsters in the visible area, which was much denser than the forest. These monsters seemed to be strong as if they were in the Gargon class.

The walls of the city seemed to be reasonably sturdy, and I could see adventurers fighting in the distance.

A straight road ran through it. Was this the place to evaluate me?

About 50m ahead, I could see a dark wolf with 1m high. It was hard to tell the difference between a dog and a wolf, but it looked like a Green Wolf.

「You can see the Black Wolf over there! Kill it! 」

Eh, all of a sudden?

「What’s wrong! You’ll fail if you can’t do it! 」

「Sir! Yes! Sir! 」

I could not avoid it. It was an order of a superior after all. While accelerating with Wind Magic, I approached the monster quickly and killed it with the magic sword.

「You used magic! What if you use magic in a useless scenario and the magic power runs out when you need it for real!」

「Sir! It’s okay! Sir! 」

「If so, keep using it now! For the time being, you have passed this phase of the exam. Now the next phase will be the weight of your luggage.」

Oh, he spoke normally. It looked like the sergeant thing was disappearing little by little.

What should I do? I got a strange reply.

「Weight? 」

「Yeah, it’s the weight of the cargo you carry at one time. You’ll have to keep it within that range when you’re transporting it, and you’ll have to carry the weight on your back for the rest of this second phase, fully equipped.」

…Why did I have to carry luggage? Was it not an escort job?

Perhaps, it had become a reality to run through the monster’s den and break through.

「I have an item box. Can I use it? 」

「…Are you a swordfighter even though you have magical qualities? I thought you used magic only as an aid during a non-combat endeavor.」

「No, I use both magic and a sword during battle. 」

「…Are you a Decibator person? Why are you doing this exam? 」

What? Somehow, I felt that the current “Decibator people” were definitely seen as “eccentric”.

「No. I’m just an average magic swordsman. 」

I was not lying. If I was the only one, then I was the average.

「Okay. I was only trying to understand if you were a Decibator person or not. So I was wrong. You can use your item box. I will measure the capacity later on.」

He accepted my explanation. It did not make sense for him, but he accepted it anyway.

「Yes, what is the content of the second phase of the exam? 」

「First, take this card and go 50 laps around Photoren. If necessary, fight the monsters you see. It will be a battle test.」

He gave me a card that was a little smaller than the Guild card. It was written 0 laps. It may have a system similar to a Guild card.

「I understand. Do I have to do it now? 」

「Yeah. The exam begins in the morning because it takes time.」

It was about a kilometer (0.62 miles) from the entrance to Photoren. If it was a square, then it would 4 kilometers per lap (2.48 miles), and 200 kilometers in 50 laps (124.27 miles).

Even at 80 km / h, 2.5 hours was a good time to complete it. There were also monsters, so the speed may slow down… hmm?

「Sorry, but will there be monsters while I run? 」

「Of course, this part of the exam is for you to run while kicking the monsters around you. If you defeat the monsters alone on the way, it will be recorded on the card, and there will be no reward. But depending on the number and type, you will be exempted from the battle test of D-class or less.」

「How many do I have to defeat to be exempt? 」

「You have to defeat 50 Black Wolves and 100 Hami Crabs. 」

So many. Well, should I just kill the monsters that I see with magic?

「I see. All right. I’ll run now. 」

「Yeah. Go. 」

I got off at a good start. I felt like an athlete after crouching at the beginning.

…I didn’t feel that the speed had increased. Of course. The main source of acceleration at the start was due to magic.

I went counterclockwise from the front of the outer wall, the side where the monsters were lurking around. My speed accelerated by Wind Magic was about 100 km / h, so it would take less than 3 hours to slow down at the corner and defeat the monsters. It was about 3 minutes per lap.

I started running triumphantly, and it only took two minutes to reach the first corner.

Well, the pace didn’t change. The good thing was that I didn’t get tired and had a lot of magical power…What? The scaffolding was gone. I hurriedly flew with magic and returned to the course.

Apparently, the sea was next to the fort. It seemed that they made the road by the cliff. This place was probably a rocky shore before.

Well, the width was not as wide as about 3m, but it was not bad as a road.

The width widened from the middle of the course, but the road turned into a sandy beach. It was hard to run.

I gave up running and flew a little above the ground. Finally, I passed the sandy beach and reached the next corner. Was it a total of 1km on narrow roads and sandy beaches? I felt it took a long time going through the narrow road and sandy beach, but it did not even take a minute.

I reached a meadow with trees; similar to what I saw when I came here. The grass was not a hindrance since it was undergrowth. It was easy to run.

After running for about 3 minutes while appreciating the terrain, I reached the next corner. After a combo of narrow roads up to a beach, I turned the last corner and reached the starting point in about 1 minute. So far, it probably took less than 9 minutes. The distance was about 12km.

…How many hours would it take to go around this course for 50 times?

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Author’s Note: 50 laps is about 14 hours of a full marathon distance. Adventurers in Decibator carry their luggage and run through it in up to 20 hours. In the case of the main character…

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