Alert!: this chapter has been translated by Mangademon / demonicscans.org, this is a premium translation, not mtl
"We have to conquer the world? That's nonsense."
Chelsea shook her head as she walked behind Leo.
"Even for Lumerne students, conquering the Hero's World is difficult. Do you think they would ask entrance candidates to do it?"
She was right.
Even for hero candidates who received the best education at Lumerne, conquering the Hero's World was not easy.
But asking that of examinees?
It was an absurd idea.
However, Leo had a different opinion.
"We're being tested to see if we're qualified to be heroes, right?"
"Yeah."
"Then we should be able to do what heroes are supposed to do, shouldn't we? Besides, if it's a test, the trials should be within our capability."
Chelsea hesitated at those words.
'He's not entirely wrong.'
"Hmm, so what are the conditions for conquest? If the trials are at a level suitable for the candidates, it would probably be about Albi's early achievements. But there's barely any information about the Mage of the Evil Eye."
Leo chuckled as he watched Chelsea fold her arms and ponder.
'She's quite impressive.'
She was a talented and proud girl from a noble family.
Normally, such individuals don't listen to their peers.
But Chelsea found Leo's words reasonable and immediately started thinking about strategies.
'She's flexible in her thinking. That's a good trait for a mage.'
Though still inexperienced, Leo thought she suited the role of a hero candidate and said,
"It's probably a subjugation task."
"That sounds about right."
Chelsea nodded.
If it was an achievement related to a monster outbreak, it was likely about defeating something.
Leo also had an idea about the target they might need to defeat.
'Considering the timing, it could be someone else.'
Just moments ago, as Leo observed the monster corpses, he clenched and unclenched his fists. Suddenly, he grabbed Chelsea's wrist.
"What are you doing?"
Chelsea frowned at Leo's unexpected action.
Whoosh-!
Leo pulled Chelsea toward him.
Thwack-!
Two arrows struck the spot where Chelsea had just been standing.
Her eyes widened at the sight.
And then...
"Huh? Huh?"
She staggered and fell with a thud.
"Ouch!"
Rubbing her sore backside, Chelsea glared at Leo with teary eyes.
"If you pull me, shouldn't you catch me so I don't fall?"
"Oh, sorry. I thought you'd get mad if I held you too long."
"It's more annoying to fall like this!"
"So, no thank you?"
"Hmph! I would have been fine even without you. Those arrows wouldn't have hurt me."
"They were imbued with Aura."
Chelsea hesitated at Leo's remark.
"W-Well, I would have blocked it with the shield spell I memorized!"
Despite her words, Chelsea muttered in a sulky tone.
"Anyway, thanks."
Leo burst into laughter at her reaction.
"Tch!"
"We could've taken out Chelsea Lewallin already!"
Other examinees appeared from the bushes, glaring at Leo and Chelsea.
"You guys."
Chelsea stepped forward, causing the group of five examinees to tense up.
"Let's not fight. How about working together?"
"What?"
The group looked confused by Chelsea's sudden proposal.
"Your party only consists of knights, right? Having a mage like me in your party would be beneficial. Cooperation makes sense, don't you think?"
Even after being attacked, Chelsea proposed cooperation without any sign of annoyance.
After all, this was an exam, and eliminating others was natural.
'If the test were about eliminating others, I would attack without hesitation. But now, we need to conquer the Hero's World.'
Chelsea glanced back at Leo, seeking his opinion, and he nodded.
"If we cooperate..."
"Even though we're all knights, we can handle ranged attacks, so our party balance is fine, right?"
"Huh?"
The examinee who seemed to be the leader sneered.
"You two are only a pair. If we fight, we have the advantage."
"Yeah, you're from a famous hero family, but you're the same age as us!"
"You think we can't tell you're proposing cooperation because you're scared?"
Thinking Chelsea was backing down, their confidence grew.
"If we take you down, we eliminate a strong candidate! So why should we work with you?"
"Exactly! Exactly!"
As they prepared for battle, Chelsea tried to speak.
"Forget it. They won't listen anymore."
"But..."
Chelsea looked frustrated.
As a brilliant girl, she found it difficult to deal with others who refused to listen.
Drawing his sword, Leo said,
"If they want a fight, we'll give them one."
"Guess there's no choice."
Chelsea sighed, raising her staff.
Leo looked at her and said,
"Support me from the back."
"What?"
"Wasting your magic on weaklings like them is pointless."
"Are you serious? They're using Aura!"
"Leave it to me."
"Hmph. Don't blame me if you lose."
Though she sounded indifferent, Chelsea was ready to help if Leo got into trouble.
'I still owe him from earlier.'
Chelsea fiddled with her staff.
Meanwhile, the other examinees scowled at Leo.
"Who do you think you are?"
"Are you planning to face us alone?"
"Yeah. Looking forward to it."
"This guy!"
One of the examinees, armed with a bow, immediately drew his bowstring, thinking Leo was underestimating them.
Whoosh-!
An unimbued arrow flew toward Leo.
To save their Aura arrows, they held back for now, preparing for a decisive moment against Chelsea.
'If he dodges, he'll create an opening! Then we'll surround and finish him...'
Grab-!
"...!"
"You shouldn't be conserving your strength right now."
Leo nonchalantly caught the arrow and snapped it in half.
"N-No way! He caught my arrow with his bare hand...!"
Whoosh-!
Before the examinee could finish speaking, Leo charged forward.
"S-Stop him!"
"Surround him!"
As swords came at him from all sides, Leo's sharp eyes quickly assessed the situation.
But the examinees couldn't focus solely on him.
'Even without joining the fight, her presence alone is intimidating.'
Unlike the unnamed Leo, attention naturally shifted to Chelsea, a named-level examinee.
'Works for me.'
Clang- Thud!
"Ugh?"
Leo deflected a sword and then drove his fist straight into his opponent's solar plexus.
"That guy! He doesn't seem to be using Aura?!"
"Of course not. I'm bare-handed."
Leo calmly replied to his confused opponent and spun his body around.
The opponent aiming for Leo's back was startled as Leo dodged like he had eyes on the back of his head.
Thud-!
"Argh!"
Leo kicked his opponent's side and turned his attention to the two remaining examinees.
"Use your Aura!"
"Damn it!"
Leo overwhelmed the five examinees all by himself.
Meanwhile, Chelsea, watching from behind, widened her eyes.
'Wow, how can he move like that without even using Aura?'
Although she was a mage, Chelsea aspired to be a battle mage and trained diligently in martial arts.
Thus, she could vaguely understand how extraordinary Leo's movements were.
'He's amazing!'
Feeling her heart race, Chelsea quickly shook her head.
'No! He's someone who hung out with Celia Zerdinger! Get a grip, Chelsea!'
Even as she shook her head, Chelsea couldn't take her eyes off Leo.
***
Examinees were quickly eliminated.
They had overexerted themselves in their attempts to eliminate competitors.
'They probably think they acted proactively.'
Albi observed some of the students.
Some boasted about how many they had taken down.
Of course, that had no bearing on the test.
After an hour had passed since the test began, only about 50 out of the 569 examinees remained.
"Sir Albi, those examinees are all..."
"Eliminated."
The Lumerne assistant looked flustered at Albi's cold declaration.
"B-But Sir Albi, they are all excellent talents. And usually, about a hundred students pass each test..."
Albi's icy gaze fell on the assistant.
The assistant drew a sharp breath at that look.
"When the principal appointed me as an examiner, I told him the same thing. I said that if I were the examiner, anyone who didn't meet my standards would be eliminated. Yet he still entrusted me with this position."
"Ugh!"
"As an examiner, deciding which students pass is my authority. So let’s not discuss this further."
Albi decisively cut off the conversation and turned his attention to the magical mirror.
What appeared in his view was none other than Leo.
'It seems he's noticed the anomaly in the forest.'
Albi absentmindedly touched his left eye.
'I wonder if he can conquer that world.'
***
"Chelsea, you’re safe."
"Of course, brother."
Two hours after the test began, Leo successfully joined Celia and Avad's party.
"I knew you'd be safe. But you were with Chelsea Lewallin?"
"We met early in the test and decided to cooperate."
"Really? She has quite the pride and stubbornness. She agreed to cooperate so easily?"
"I persuaded her well."
As Leo flashed a meaningful smile, Celia muttered inwardly.
'He must’ve done something.'
From spending a week with him, Celia had come to understand her cousin's devious nature well.
"You criticized her for being a snob, but you still stuck together."
"We couldn't fight recklessly without knowing the criteria for passing."
Celia brushed her hair back and answered.
"You’ve gathered quite the group."
"Avad and I are fast, so we moved through the forest gathering people. Most of them are from the Rodren Empire."
In the Rodren Empire, with its two major noble families—Zerdinger and Lewallin—recommending cooperation, no one dared refuse.
"Good work."
"Oh? Why?"
"I think I know how to pass this test."
"Oh? You figured it out?"
Celia's eyes sparkled.
"It's about conquering the world."
"Conquering the world?"
Celia tilted her head but then nodded.
"Well, this test does feel unusual. A world conquest wouldn’t be surprising."
"Exactly."
"But there’s one issue—what are the conquest conditions?"
The Hero's World always had specific conditions for conquest.
This was why the study of heroics was so important.
Researching and analyzing the deeds of heroes often led directly to strategies for conquering their worlds.
However, while some heroes left behind detailed records, others did not.
Especially for living heroes, their worlds were rarely conquered.
Even if someone managed to do so, there would be no reward, as only the hero themselves could open their world.
The worlds others could conquer belonged solely to past heroes.
"Albi is a highly renowned hero, but there’s barely any information about his past deeds. We don’t have any clues for conquest."
"I have some guesses about that too."
"Really?"
"Yes."
Leo sighed.
"Right now, the Forest of Demonic Beasts is experiencing an anomaly."
"An anomaly?"
"Yes. Don't you think there’s been an unusually low number of monsters appearing for a forest like this?"
"You're right..."
Normally, monster attacks should be relentless in such a forest.
But in Albi's world, the monster spawn rate was unusually low.
'As if they’re afraid of something.'
Realizing this, Celia’s expression turned serious.
"A high-ranking monster capable of intimidating all the others must have appeared."
"And Albi must have defeated it to achieve his feat?"
"Exactly."
"But what kind of high-ranking monster could terrify the entire Forest of Demonic Beasts? There’s no record of such an anomaly."
"That’s..."
Just as Leo was about to answer Celia’s question—
"Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
A scream echoed from the distance.
"It seems it's finally appeared."
End Of Chapter
