“Hannah! You’re out!”
The announcer’s voice declared the end of the test.
Rita confidently sheathed her sword, strode past the few people who were already standing up, cursing, placed a hand over her chest and saluted the examiners on the stage, then boldly walked out of the testing area.
What—what was that about?
Running around a few pretentious laps, then kicking four people out in less than ten seconds, and even someone else got kicked out along with them?
Even if this test had some backstage dealings that everyone tacitly understood, there was no way it would be so blatant!
“Hmph.” Dorothy snorted coldly, crossing out a few marks on her scoring sheet in front of her. “Cheating.”
“I don’t think so.” Angus explained, “Five people chased each other for three full laps in the arena. Rita, who was the one being chased, was still breathing normally. Not many candidates can manage that.”
Angus earned his position as city lord through military achievements, and having led countless troops, he naturally knew that while such a feat wasn’t impossible, it certainly wasn’t something anyone could casually pull off.
“Hmm.” Cecilia nodded, unmoved. “I already have a clear idea in my mind.”
As soon as Rita left the arena, Valfis immediately came over, giving her a thumbs-up.
“Awesome, sister! You actually beat them all! Though you might not get many points.”
“No worries.” Rita didn’t dislike the person in front of her but remained cautious. “Why? Specially came to congratulate me?”
“What? I’m about to go on stage.” Valfis put down her hands and strode toward the arena.
“Where’s your sword?” Rita asked, noticing Valfis hadn’t brought anything.
Valfis looked back. “Sister, you didn’t use your sword to take down your opponents either.”
Rita found an empty spot at the edge of the arena and sat down, watching the five candidates for this round gather on the field and take their positions at a distance from each other.
“Round Six, begin!”
At the host’s order, except for Valfis, the other four immediately moved, pairing off into duels.
Valfis quietly crouched at the edge of the field.
Why is it that I’m the one being chased by four people? Why is no one going after her?
Rita grumbled inwardly but didn’t lose track of the action.
A winner was quickly decided; the victor glanced at the trembling Valfis, then raised their sword and charged toward the other side to join forces with the losing candidate against the last opponent.
However, the last person’s swordsmanship was extraordinary.
Facing two opponents alone, they pushed both back.
After a fierce clash, it was the two who joined forces that were eliminated.
This person then locked onto Valfis’s position, and within a few steps stood before her.
Rita had assumed Valfis was conserving her strength to face this opponent at full power, but unexpectedly, Valfis gave a sharp “Hey!” and jumped out of the arena.
“Don’t cut! I give up! I surrender!”
I thought you were a champion before you went on, how are you just a fragile pretender!
Well, a true champion wouldn’t need to talk about cooperating with me anyway.
Though it seemed a bit chaotic, the winner of this round was undeniably fought for with real skill, and given how careless Rita was in the previous round, there was little discussion about it.
Valfis then walked directly over to Rita and sat beside her, unhappily pursing her lips.
“Hmph, a hair’s breadth difference.”
You basically surrendered without fighting at all, didn’t you?
The following rounds were comparatively more normal.
Although most were routine, there were some outstanding performances, indirectly proving Valfis’s words true.
Indeed, many truly capable people were taking the test.
Rita had been naive to think the whole test was just a grand farce.
A girl wielding a long spear swiftly defeated four opponents at once; a sturdy man dressed plainly reached the end relying solely on his fists; a man with twin daggers invited each opponent to spar one after another and secured victory.
Most dazzling of all was a silver-haired girl swordsman.
The moment she drew her sword, powerful wind pressure swept across the arena, carrying sand and dust that enveloped the entire field.
When the dust settled, only she remained standing.
“Ah, that little silver-haired one is Promi. Didn’t expect her to come to Solus City. Oh, and if you don’t know her, her sister is the famous Silver-grey Fang Brownie, one of the top among the Sacred Knights who bear Crests.”
Rita’s poor performance last round hadn’t dampened Valfis’s enthusiasm to cooperate with her.
She chattered nonstop, introducing the competitors to Rita.
Rita noticed that even those with connections were preparing seriously for the exam.
There were almost no obviously useless or silly candidates.
“Almost” meaning there were exceptions—like herself, and Valfis, who surrendered after just watching the show.
As the test concluded in the sunset, Rita had seen every candidate.
With Valfis’s commentary, her only thought about her own situation was:
Tsk tsk, the road ahead is long and hard.
After saying goodbye to Valfis, Rita hurried back to her room in the city lord’s mansion.
Recently, there had been assassination attempts on Cecilia, rumors of incubi infiltrating Solus City, and just last night she had encountered a demonic hound.
Rita wasn’t about to risk hunting, and running away was out of the question.
Better to accept the status quo.
Not to mention hunting or running away, she decided not to leave her room at all tonight.
She just didn’t know if Cecilia’s earlier words were true—that if she became one of her people, she could obtain the identity of a Sacred Knight.
Before long, someone knocked on her door.
“Lady Rita.” The maid’s voice came through.
“Leave dinner at the door. I’ll get it myself later.”
“No, the princess asks you to come.”
Ah? Cecilia?
“I’m coming now.”
Rita swung her legs off the bed, tidied her clothes and hair, then opened the door and followed the maid.
Had she performed so badly today that Cecilia wanted to reprimand her?
With questions in her mind, Rita was led to the treasure-filled reception room where she had been earlier that afternoon.
She knocked on the door.
Cecilia’s voice came from inside.
“Come in.”
Rita pushed the door open, and her heart skipped a beat at the sight.
More than ten people were squeezed into the not-so-small reception room, mostly grouped in twos or threes, standing in five or six groups.
Their faces were sullen, as if soaked underwater.
Only Cecilia, seated in the center, looked normal.
Most of the people Rita didn’t recognize, but a few younger ones—
Rita wasn’t so forgetful.
They were the very opponents she had kicked out of the arena one by one today.
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