Sword, Magic and Academic Society

The reception room on the first floor of the association headquarters where Allen had an interview with Satowa was a room devoid of any type of monitoring magic tool like the ones used during the Royal Academy's exam.

It was arranged in such a way that nobles who visited here could have their secret discussions without worry.

As if to say "You can be rest assured about your privacy", the lounge suite was placed at a considerable distance from the walls and the whole room was missing any kind of painting or vase.

◆◆◆

"So, how did it go?"

Shellbour Mounstell, the president of the Yugria Kingdom's Explorer Association, stared at his subordinate, Satowa, with a sharp gaze and urged him for the details.

Appearance-wise, Shell looked like a stern person with bursting muscles, with a shaved head and a big scar running from his right cheek to his chin.

To speak of his career, it was nothing short of impressive. Rising from the bottom of the barrel G-rank, he earned fame as a monster hunter and climbed his way up to A-rank explorer. When he was at his peak as an explorer at the age of 40, he was courteously invited into the kingdom's Knight Order where he joined as a squad leader.

Even in the Knight Order, he demonstrated his excellent combat skills and eventually rose to the rank of commander. However, no matter how prestigious the Knights were, they were still just servants of the palace. He couldn't stand the rules and endless reports, so when he was once again invited by the Explorer Association, he quickly left the Knight Order and returned to the association, this time as its president.

On that occasion, he was recognized for his achievements as an explorer and a knight and was rewarded the one-star medal by the King. Due to this, his explorer rank was raised to S-rank— proof of an exceptional explorer. Within the kingdom, such people could be counted with one hand.

On paper, depending on the medal awarded, there was SS-rank and SSS-rank. However, those who received such high-ranking medals couldn't possibly continue their explorer activities in the present day. They've become legendary explorers, appearing only in stories.

When the news first came that "Allen Rovenne", the talk of the royal capital, had come to register, Shell had insisted that he, the president, would be conducting the interview personally. However, he was soon stopped by his two vice presidents— Satowa and Odilon.

Odilon, his white hair done in a braid swept behind his back, was a man in his prime exuding an aura of a master. And the truth wasn't far from it as he was in fact a master swordsman. Speaking of which, he just fitted the image that Allen had in mind whom he'd think of as "Someone like him would conduct an intimidating interview."

Though their results were unremarkable, both were A-rank explorers who graduated from the Royal Academy. While serving as an official and a knight respectively, they continued their explorer activities in their spare time and achieved many valuable accomplishments, climbing to A-rank.

That being said, graduates of the Royal Academy were normally raised to C-rank upon graduation. Their number of requests, and even the difficulty level, was far from Shell who had risen through from G-rank.

Unlike Shell, who still actively hunted monsters, they had essentially retired from explorer activities. With their outstanding abilities worthy of the Royal Academy's graduates, they quickly shone like diamonds among coal and became people who covered up for Shell.

Shell was, as one could imagine from his background and appearance, a hot-tempered person.

A few years ago, when one of the Royal Academy's students had come for registration half out of amusement, it just so happened that there was no other staff with an open schedule. So, following his curiosity, President Shell personally went all the way to the Eastern Branch of the capital to handle the case.

But there, the quick-tempered Shell lost his cool facing the student's impertinent and insincere attitude and beat him to a pulp. To further fuel the matter, a few familiar explorers from the past were present there, so he, leaving behind that collapsed student, began having a drinking contest at the branch's dining hall, leading to quite a huge matter.

'I gave in to my rage. But I have no regrets.'

This was what Shell said in testimony during the subsequent investigation.

Needless to say, Satowa and Odilon, who had worked hard to cover up the incident, forbade Shell from interviewing Royal Academy students. In the first place, Shell himself had no particular interest in interviewing a mere student, and he had not expressed any desire to conduct an interview so far. But......

'It's the brat that old man Godorfun had set his eye on, you know? You guys don't know just how insane that old man is! Let me handle this!'

Shell tried to rush out of the room saying that. Odilon held him back from behind and the receptionists Mika and Maya clung to his legs and somehow they managed to pin him down.

The problem left was to decide who would conduct the interview.

Though Shell had given up, albeit begrudgingly, this was what he said.

'...He is the brat in the rumors who hadn't flinched even while facing the old man's intimidation. On the contrary, he even talked back and was about to challenge him. Having Odilon conduct the interview won't make any sense. Satowa, you handle it.'

In this way, the candidate Allen's interview was decided between coercion (Odilon) and a laid-back approach (Satowa).

◆◆◆

"So, how was it?"

Shell, who was still sulking about not being able to conduct the interview himself, asked Sattowa in a disgruntled tone.

On a side note, there was also a proposal of having three instead of one making the interview but it was rejected on the grounds that having the top three of the association present at a student's interview would be inappropriate.

"He is an endearing young man. But also startling… That's how I felt."

Satowa, who excelled in bureaucratic work, began with his conclusion before giving a detailed report.

"Starting with <Unceasing Prudence>. As far as a roguish attitude was concerned, I didn't sense an atom of it. I believe it took a considerable amount of time to enter the room after handling the outburst of the President, but he stood upright without moving a muscle and facing the entrance.

When I entered, he gave me a scrutinizing gaze for a fleeting moment but he didn't flinch. Even when I introduced myself and offered him a seat, he didn't show any intention of sitting down for some reason. Instead, he waited until he saw me sitting down before politely bowing and introducing himself. After which he sat down. He mentioned that it was natural to show respect to one's superiors."

"...Hmm, he sounds like an interesting person."

"Indeed, as expected of someone who achieved the highest score in the Royal Academy's exam. After learning about his rude take against Sir Godorfun, I was worried that he would remain stunted, no matter how talented he was. Though it turned out to be a groundless worry."

Shell and Odilon had differing opinions on that.

"From there, I tried to lighten up the atmosphere and praised his abilities and achievements while bringing up the rumors surrounding him. However, he only humbled himself, never showing a hint of arrogance, and he didn't even appear pleased. He kept making self-deprecating comments about his own shortcomings."

"Oh~! Not bad indeed, but... For a kid, he should have more confidence and act a bit more cocky. Kids these days are so dull."

"Heh. He knows what becoming the top scorer of the Royal Academy's practical exam implies. It's not something anyone can do, disciplining oneself to such an extent at that age."

Shell shook his head, and Odilon nodded.

"That's not something I'd like to hear from you, President. Not after you thrashed that haughty kid… Anyway, it seemed like they had gone through gathering and hunting from yesterday to this morning, and his first battle was against Horner Rabbit, who became a part of their food supply. Riyad-kun chased it down while Allen-kun dealt the finishing blow.

Riyad-kun mentioned that while the horned rabbit tried to escape up the cliff, Allen-kun leaped down from above and, in passing, delivered a blow to break its horns using a wooden sword."

Satowa placed the broken horns, which he had received from Allen, on the table.

"Hmm~? Even if their goal was just meat, a broken horn is useless in other cases. If it were me, I'd catch it and pull the horns out."

"Oh? It seemed to be a horned rabbit with an attribute. It's enough to say he has acquired combat skills equivalent to a C-rank. There's nothing to criticize about his potential with this result for his first battle."

While Odilon was getting more and more impressed, Shell showed an attitude of indifference and was picking earwax from his ears.

...

To be frank, Satowa had taken a fancy to Allen, which was why he had been careful about the order of information and how he explained things to ensure Shell wouldn't get too interested in him, much less do something troublesome.

But Shell's indifferent attitude had him a bit miffed so Satowa followed up with a little piece of information that was to Shell's liking.

"I don't think it makes any sense to compare yourself with a student who had just come for registration, President... Oh, right. I forgot to mention that he did sit down on the sofa following after me but in a strangely unnatural posture with his thighs barely touching the cushion. It was a quiet posture that reminded me of a carnivore about to leap out of the grasslands.

He hadn't budged from his posture for the entire hour or so we conversed no matter how cordial I tried to spin the conversation. I'm not sure what it means, but he took this posture after saying, 'It is natural to show respect to one's superiors.'"

Odion looked surprised upon hearing this piece of information, but Shell immediately broke into a grin.

"Oh dang, now that's what I call interesting. You should have said that in the beginning. I bet he might be thinking 'Like hell, I'm gonna sit on the sofa with legs outstretched facing a stronger opponent, if you wanna make a move just do it' or 'I will immediately knock you out if you dare say anything audacious'.

I was just wondering that there's no way a brat who that old man has set on his eyes is going to be a stuck-up person... So, did he punch you?"

Seeing Shell getting more excited about the topic than he expected, Satowa once again shifted the mood using deliberate words.

"As if! He's not you, President. Ah, right. I asked why he wanted to become an explorer and apparently, he was awed by Riyad-kun. He said after accompanying Riyad-kun on his gathering trip, he was impressed with his profound knowledge and wanted to improve himself as well by working as an explorer.”

"Tsk, scaredy cat. Brats these days lack guts. Who wants to hear such a perfunctory motive, right?"

"Haha. I'll say he has an excellent spirit to want to work hard as an explorer when it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say his future is already set to be bright. This goes to show he knows the value of practical experience at a young age."

Shell's interest dropped as he picked his ears again while Odilon was once again impressed.

Satowa continued, weaving his words carefully to ensure Shell's evaluation didn't swing too high or too low.

For Satowa who had served to balance things as an excellent mid-level manager before coming to the association, handling such banter was as easy as turning one's hand over.

EN - Dang, Satowa was a lot more impressive than he let on in the interview chapter.

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