Chapter 24 – Put to the Test (10)

“The moment things don’t go your way, you try to solve it with violence. That is just like a yellow-hair. Do you think I’ll shrink back at that kind of cheap threat?”

As the man growled, the nine standing around as if to escort him clenched their fists as if they would rush in at any moment.

‘Does this bastard have the memory of a goldfish? Who raised their hand first just now?’

I was so dumbfounded that I couldn’t even speak. However, since I also had no intention of resolving the matter with violence, I loosened the grip of my hand and let him go.

“Violence? Who said they would make a reason with violence? I never said such a thing.”

At that, he was flustered. Given my background as a yellow-hair and my behavior of falling asleep long before the exam ended, his logic had naturally led him to the ignorant conclusion that the means of resolution I would choose would be violence.

Although this was practically a clever play on words using the circumstances, since he had fallen for it, the initiative in the conversation was mine.

“They haven’t collected the exam papers yet, so why don’t we compare answers? The one with the lower score will give up the exam right now and leave the testing room.”

Would examinees who came to take an exam use their fists or what? A pride battle between examinees was sufficient if done through scores.

“…Are you joking right now? Ridiculous.”

When I, a yellow-hair, took a direct approach, the crowd of ten, including the guy, burst into a fit of laughter. Even the other examinees who were watching with interest practically looked at me as if I were a madman.

However.

“Does it look like a joke?”

When I said that without adding any other words, silence fell over the entire testing room. As the situation took an unexpected turn, the guy, whose face had been overflowing with ease, also met my eyes with pupils that could not hide his panic.

He must be measuring whether this is a bluff or not.

However, there was no way my expression could be read by a greenhorn who had not even become a magic engineer yet. No, even if he did, it was fine.

Except for Herman Melville, who was said to have reached the advanced level, I would not lose to anyone at least in magic engineering.

“…Fine. I will do as you say.”

The guy spoke after contemplating for a long while.

He probably had nowhere to retreat. If he refused, it would look like he tucked his tail in because he was afraid of me, who was merely a yellow-hair.

However, the reason he had no choice but to contemplate was likely because he had no reason to accept such a risky bet. Even if he won against me, he could obtain nothing other than temporary satisfaction. In fact, betting a mid-exam forfeit with a guy who was bound to fail was unfair only to him.

In other words, his judgment was clouded in a situation where he could not retreat.

Still, as someone who claimed to be an aspiring magic engineer, he was not entirely stupid.

“Instead, let’s settle the bet on the day the report cards are released.”

“Are you afraid you’ll lose?”

“Not at all. I am neither a foolish human who feels low-class satisfaction against a yellow-hair, nor do I feel fear in the slightest. Preparing for the second exam is simply more important than a bet with a bug-like yellow-hair.”

“The losing side of the bet will have to give up the exam anyway, so don’t you think that excuse is pathetic?”

“Hmph. You might have come to take the exam with the casual thought that it doesn’t matter if you fail, but most of the examinees here have staked their lives on this exam. The mindset toward the exam itself is different from yours. There is no idiot who would kick away this priceless opportunity just to beat you.”

He dealt with it smartly. He brought up the irrefutable justification that preparing for the qualification exam was more important than the bet with me. Without avoiding the bet, he revealed the proper dignity of an examinee.

Furthermore, he expanded the matter between the two of us to one yellow-hair versus all the other examinees, pointing out the unfairness of the bet.

However, if the tilted scale was the problem, it was enough to balance it.

“You said you staked your life on the exam, right? Then I will also stake my life.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Let’s make it a fair bet. I will participate in the bet by staking my neck.”

“…!”

Not only the guy but all the examinees were astonished. A yellow-hair who was bound to lose was staking his one and only life on a mere bet, so their eyes truly looked as if they were watching a madman.

The only one who was not surprised was the boy.

“…If you want to die that badly, I will do as you wish.”

After going through a few compromises like that, our bet was finalized.

“We can’t forfeit after the exam ends, so shouldn’t you also offer an alternative that I can accept?”

“…An exam slip is absolutely necessary for the issuance of a license. Though it will never happen, if I lose, I will give you my exam slip on the day the report cards are released. Do as you wish with it, whether you tear it or throw it away.”

“That statement also has a contradiction. If you don’t pass the exam, won’t the exam slip have no value at all?”

I pushed him to the edge of a cliff with nowhere to escape. However, at least at this moment, the guy spoke with a voice filled with firm belief in himself.

“Although it is true that I complained about the exam being difficult, that will absolutely never happen. I will definitely pass. If I do not pass, you may also take my life.”

“…”

His eyes shone with conviction. It was an absolute belief beyond confidence that his life, in which he had dedicated everything to become a magic engineer, could never be wrong.

‘This guy… is serious.’

That will gave some resonance that transcended friend or foe even to me, who was no different from an enemy. It was the moment when his words about staking his life on this exam truly held meaning.

“Fine. Let’s do that.”

He was jumping into a pit of fire on his own accord, so there was no reason not to accept.

“What is your name?”

He asked me. We needed to know each other’s names at least, so we could collect the stakes from each other.

When I glanced to the side right before telling my name, the boy was already covering his ears with both hands.

“Ailen Vail. As you can see, I am from a nameless Ember.”

When I spoke, thrusting the yellow armband forward, he chuckled and responded.

“Ian Draco.”

Ian Draco. It was an ordinary name that did not remain in memory, just like any other name, but his subsequent origin had no choice but to catch my eye.

“I am from the Ember of Progress.”

‘The Ember of Progress…!’

Ian Draco—his origin was the third Ember where Jeremy Scott, the owner of ‘Night’s Haven’, had served as a general.

* * *

With not much time left until the second exam. Unable to sleep, I went out into the corridor outside the testing room, and the boy pattered out after me and asked.

“If it’s the Ember of Progress, that means the third Ember, right?”

“Yeah.”

“No wonder. It was strange that there were as many as ten people in uniforms that looked like they had been tailored identically.”

Hearing the origin, it was certainly so. The Ember of Progress was a place where the military ruled the city, and when I thought about it carefully, their clothes, which I had thought were white suits, had the form of military uniforms.

The number ten was the same. Only an Ember with strong influence would be able to raise such a large number of magic engineer candidates and send them in good health.

From what I knew, those who received recommendation letters were placed separately in the early-numbered testing rooms, so considering the influence of the third Ember, which would have many recommendation rights, they might just be a fragment.

By now, I felt foolish for not realizing it sooner.

“But… isn’t it dangerous? Of all people, getting involved with guys like that.”

The boy said with a worried expression.

“No, he won’t play any cheap tricks. Since he’s a guy with firm convictions, he will definitely keep his promise.”

But there was no need to worry. There were as many as a hundred examinees in that place earlier, and Ian had declared it while revealing his name and origin before them.

If he had only revealed his name it would be one thing, but since he even revealed his origin, it had ceased to be his personal matter alone.

Since Ian Draco, who could not possibly be ignorant of that, declared it himself, he would offer his neck even to protect his honor. That promise would be a promise to himself, not to me.

Perhaps, it was a declaration to himself that he was fine with dying if he failed the exam.

‘By the way, the third Ember…’

Ian Draco, Ember of Progress, Jeremy Scott… and the general’s magic rifle.

I could have pretended to know, but I didn’t. Because the reason for Jeremy Scott’s emigration, who had served as a general, would never be a pleasant story.

Whether a rebellion occurred, a purge took place, or he was abandoned…

Considering the characteristics of a military regime, that was the only reason he had no choice but to leave. Perhaps they were still tracking his location even now to kill Jeremy Scott, who might become a threat in the future.

“Let’s go in. It’s starting soon.”

After sorting out the thoughts wandering messily in my head, I entered the testing room with the boy, and the exam resumed immediately.

The second exam, a descriptive question, was about the ‘Magic Engineering Compass,’ which was likewise no problem at all to solve. However, perhaps for distinguishing ability, the question was twisted and twisted again.

‘I don’t know who set the question, but they made a really good question.’

It did not mean the question was dirty or abstruse. Unlike the multiple-choice section whose distinguishing ability was doubtful, it was designed so that one could describe as much as one knew, structuring it so that the level could be clearly understood from the answers.

In other words, anyone could write an answer, but the answer would differ according to depth and insight.

How could they set such a question in a half-engineering field like magic engineering, which was like arithmetic with predetermined answers?

‘Did Herman Melville set it directly…?’

It was a question that drew admiration even from me to the point of thinking so.

Scratch, scratch, scratch—

Perhaps that was why solving it was fun. As I said, it was a question where one could write as much as one knew, so escaping the framework of a beginner, one could write a corresponding answer even from a higher realm.

However, I stopped my hand, which had been writing down without blockages carrying the realization of an intermediate-advanced level.

‘Wait, this won’t do.’

I had been so distracted by the fun of solving the question that I wrote down the answers like mad, but I cannot submit the answer sheet like this.

While the multiple-choice section was five-option multiple choice, making it impossible to know the process of deriving the answer, the descriptive section was writing the process of deriving the answer, making it a structure where the grader was bound to notice the examinee’s realm.

“Number 78, please give me a new answer sheet.”

To leave no lingering discomfort, I drew diagonal slashes across all the answers I had written so far to make them unrecognizable, and then exchanged the answer sheet.

Facing the clean answer sheet, I had no choice but to fall into contemplation.

‘What should I do… To what extent should I write so that I appear as a talent worth noting, yet not look so regrettable to lose?’

Thinking like this before the questions might look arrogant. However, to me, this place had long lost the meaning of an exam.

‘Even for later, I have to make them interested…’

I had to maintain a tightrope walk between the interest of the first Ember’s magic engineers and forced co-optation.

“Hmm…”

The exam, which I thought could be finished quickly, gradually grows longer. It was not because of the time to solve the questions, but the time to adjust the level of the submitted answers.

“Tsk…”

As I continued my contemplation without writing a single character, I saw the proctors passing by me shaking their heads silently.

However, no matter what kind of gaze they cast on me, once the exam results come out, no one in this place… no, across all Embers, will ever be able to look at me with such eyes again.

After contemplating like that for a long while, I was finally able to find the middle ground.