The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 165
After finishing the discussion about the missing persons, we talked about the Royal Academy matter.
Gaspar nodded ambiguously about the Royal Academy issue.
He agreed with me learning magic, but wondered if the circumstances were too favorable.
“Ars, learning magic wouldn’t be difficult for you… But that old man who said he’d write you a recommendation letter. Is he trustworthy?”
“I’m not sure about that either. Well, anyway, the goal is to go to Baien. Even if the Academy admission turns out to be false, I don’t think it matters much.”
“Hmm. That’s true.”
“Gaspar, you stay here in the Northern Continent and find the missing persons. Then guide them so they can come to Baien.”
Gunther for the Southern Continent. Gaspar for the Northern Continent. I’ll take care of the Western Continent.
As thorough as it is, if we do well, we should be able to find all the missing persons in half a year.
The problem is if they still can’t be found despite this.
Gaspar shook his head, perhaps considering even that worst-case scenario.
“I’ll leave some people here separately. I’ll act alone.”
“…Don’t tell me you’re.”
“Yes. I’ll search the Lost Lands.”
“That’s too dangerous!”
We didn’t know how strong the monsters there could be. According to documents, there were monsters that wiped out 300,000 adventurers, soldiers, and civilians in just one day.
Inhuman demonic realm. That expression suited the current Lost Lands.
But even in such places, people are living. Every time the Lost Lands are explored, people who have been living there quietly are discovered.
Gaspar was saying he would search for such people.
It was because of the worry that Yumir might be there.
“Trust me. I’m not someone who would lose my life over something like this.”
Indeed, apart from Master Ilya, only Gaspar could take on this role.
I nodded with a sigh.
“Alright. I’ll send replacement personnel as soon as possible, so move carefully.”
“Leave it to me. You be careful not to get backstabbed.”
“What do you take me for?”
“Heh, that’s right.” Gaspar says with determination. “I will definitely find that child before she gives birth. So Ars, don’t worry too much.”
“That’s my line.”
Gaspar silently grasped my hand.
I found myself nodding at his reliability.
After parting with Gaspar, I returned to Ramdamen and immediately set out on a journey to Baien, holding the recommendation letter written by the old man.
The recommendation letter written by the old man was a five-page document.
I wondered what content could fill five pages, but most of it was filled with the old man’s career history.
Which academy he graduated from, which dungeons he conquered, what commendations he received… Such self-praising content was written at length.
That was natural. For a recommendation letter, who the recommender is is most important.
‘It looks impressive just by looking at it…’
I couldn’t tell how great this was.
‘The content about me is brief.’
It just said that I showed talent for light magic and potential for arcane. That was all.
Well, there probably wasn’t anything more to write.
After arriving at Kaigan, a northern coastal city of the Western Continent by ship, I spent about 3 days gathering information.
I was hoping to find the vassals, but there was no success.
I continued gathering information even while taking a carriage to Baien, so I ended up arriving in Baien at dawn on the day of the transfer examination.
Since missing this transfer examination meant waiting another year, I had to hurry to the academy without even getting a room.
The Royal Academy of the Ellan Kingdom was larger than I had imagined.
I secretly thought there wouldn’t be an academy that could overwhelm Fensillon Academy, but this one surpassed that dimension.
“Is this for real…”
The academy occupied half the proportion of the city. Moreover, noble family mansions and the royal palace were located within the academy.
The academy was the city itself.
This was due to historical significance.
200 years ago, the Ellan Kingdom, which was on the verge of destruction, was humanity’s last bastion.
Therefore, adventurers and magicians from all over the world, as well as all kinds of scholars, gathered here in the capital, Baien.
They decided to leave their knowledge and know-how for future generations, which is why the city itself transformed into an academy.
“Oh my, I don’t have time for this.”
Being this huge, there was a possibility of getting lost.
I asked people around for directions to find the place where transfer procedures were being conducted.
In the process, I was able to meet someone in the same situation.
“What? Are you also a transfer applicant?”
It was a man who looked to be in his late 20s. He frowned when he saw me.
“Looking at you, it seems you came relying on that face. But if you think you’ll be selected because of that, you’re greatly mistaken.”
The man suddenly showed hostility towards me.
I didn’t feel good about it, but this guy had information.
Since I only knew what the old man had told me about the transfer due to the missing person search, I decided to try and extract information from this guy.
“Why should I tell you that!”
However, perhaps because my intention was too obvious, the man left angrily.
Looking at him, he seemed quite on edge.
‘That old man said everything would work out well if I had his recommendation letter…’
It seemed pointless to gather information now at this late stage.
‘It’s a bit concerning, but…’
Since it didn’t matter much even if I couldn’t get into the academy, I headed towards the place where the transfer procedures were taking place with a relaxed mind.
* * *
As Ars worried, the Royal Academy of the Ellan Kingdom operates in a unique way.
The academy accepts students twice a year: new student admissions in February and transfer student admissions in March.
The difference lies in social status.
For new student admissions, only nobles can enroll. Commoners can never enter as new students, no matter what.
The selected nobles receive basic education, not magic, and then pair up with one of the transfer students entering in March.
It’s called pairing, but it’s more like having an attendant.
Therefore, there are variables in the admission of transfer students.
No matter how skilled they are, if they don’t catch the eye of a noble, they can’t be admitted.
Although it’s an unreasonable system, because the merits of entering the academy are substantial, tens of thousands of transfer applicants appear every year.
“Please, let me be chosen this time… Please…!”
“Oh heavens, please…!”
Among the transfer students, while some pray desperately like this, others are relaxed.
These are the ones who have already lobbied the families of noble freshmen.
Since over 80% of people were like this, the door to transfer was as narrow as a needle’s eye.
Ars was in the position of having to pass through this needle’s eye, but naturally, he was just standing there blankly.
His attitude was simply that he brought a recommendation letter, so please handle it accordingly.
The receptionist, seeing this confident attitude, thought he might have brought an extraordinary recommendation letter and examined it in detail.
“…Hibert Crosnel?”
“Yes, that’s the name of the person who wrote the recommendation letter.”
“Crosnel… Crosnel…?”
The receptionist tilted their head several times. It was a name that seemed familiar, but they couldn’t immediately recall anything specific.
“I understand for now. Please wait.”
The receptionist intended to read the recommender’s background in detail later, but as often happens with people who routinely do such work, they got busy and forgot about it.
Ars was leisurely waiting, thinking everything would work out fine.
Meanwhile, a simple test began.
“Huh.”
Ars, who thought everything would be resolved just with the recommendation letter, couldn’t help but be flustered.
History, geography, culture. Since he didn’t properly know any of these, he had no choice but to guess or submit blank answers for most of them.
On the second day, there was a magic test.
In this test, it was fine to use aura, but Ars didn’t know that. There were hardly any people among those coming to transfer here who used aura.
So, mistakenly assuming he had to use orthodox magic instead of aura, he cast the magic he had learned on his own.
It was light magic learned from books.
“Haaah!”
Ars focused with all his might to create a small sphere of light.
However, pop! Even that sphere of light disappeared after 2 seconds.
“Phew! I succeeded.”
Nevertheless, Ars was satisfied and wiped the sweat from his forehead. He felt accomplished for succeeding in casting magic after only about a week of learning how to accumulate magic from the old man who wrote the recommendation letter.
This was actually an impressive feat, but there was no way the examiner would know that.
“What’s with this guy.”
The examiner snorted and gave him the lowest score.
And on the third day when the test results were announced.
Ars was proudly ranked at the very bottom.
It was natural for Ars to be last since everyone who comes here studies their best before coming.
However, Ars looked rather happy.
“Last place. …How refreshing?”
For Ars, who had always been first in the academy, it was rather a refreshing shock.
Fortunately for Ars, failing due to poor test scores didn’t happen.
After all, these scores were merely indicators to help freshmen make their choices.
Afterwards, in-depth interviews were conducted, but due to the large number of applicants, interviews were only given to those who applied for them.
Applicants who had already lobbied skipped the interview since the results were already determined.
Ars also didn’t apply for an interview, saying he’d rather go inquire around the city than wait for this.
As a result, Ars’ test ranking was solidly at the bottom.
And so, on the 8th day. The time comes for the freshmen to select their transfer students.
***
The Kingdom of Ellan had quite a long history.
The recorded history of the nation exceeded 500 years, and the number of kings who had passed through was as many as 30.
Naturally, the royal authority was strong, but recently that authority had been shaking.
From the beginning, the reason the Kingdom of Ellan was able to maintain royal authority was because of the external threat of monsters.
However, for the past 10 years, the defense line had been drawn based on the Porlan Strait that crosses the southern continent, so there was less worry about monsters.
And this immediately brought a threat to royal authority.
As the clan leaders who ruled the southern continent gained some leeway, they began to build up their power.
This was also partly due to the Salvation Alliance.
The Salvation Alliance gives the right to govern the land to those who reclaim it from monsters.
It was a natural progression for the nobles who reclaimed the southern continent from monsters to want the right to govern that land.
As a result, the Kingdom of Ellan was currently in a situation where several factions were engaged in a war of nerves.
This influence was also present in the selection process for Academy transfer students.
“Haah…!”
Joseph Divine, the 4th prince of the Kingdom of Ellan, let out a deep sigh.
As a new student at the Academy, he was in a situation where he was about to choose a transfer student to become his attendant.
However, he had no freedom.
There was already a pre-selected candidate belonging to the royalist faction.
For him, who had someone he wanted to choose, it was a sigh-inducing situation.
‘She just won’t leave my mind.’
Unable to resist the temptation, Joseph headed to a room in the royal palace.
Knock knock! In response to his knock, a gentle voice from inside told him to come in.
Joseph opened the door, trying to compose his excited heart.
There were three women inside.
One was Joseph’s twin sister and third princess, Rosa Divine. Another was Rosa’s nanny.
And the last one was Erina, a maid that Rosa had recently brought in.
“What brings you here, brother?”
Rosa asked in a voice that suggested there was nothing to see.
Joseph’s gaze was already fixed on Erina.
“Ah, no. I was just wondering if preparations were going well. You’re practically the star among the new students, Rosa.”
“You don’t need to worry. I can handle it myself. Besides, I’ve already decided on the transfer student. Right, Erina?”
Erina made a troubled expression.
“Princess, as I’ve said before, I…”
“I know. You’ll leave when you find your husband. But until then, stay by my side. I’ll help you find your husband as you asked.”
“Hehe, yes. Thank you, Princess.”
Joseph unknowingly let out a sigh.
He didn’t think Erina was a commoner.
‘Someone with this kind of grace can’t possibly be a commoner!’
As Joseph stared blankly at Erina, Rosa indirectly cautioned him.
“Brother. If you have time to worry about me, why don’t you double-check the order of ceremonies?”
“Uh, um. I should do that.”
There was no way Rosa wouldn’t know Joseph’s ulterior motives.
“Really…”
Rosa shook her head and said, “Then I’ll be going.”
“Princess, shouldn’t I go too?”
“It’s okay, Erina. You’ve been recommended by the royal family, so you don’t need things like tests. So just study. You haven’t fully mastered the writing system yet, right?”
“Yes, thank you for your kindness.”
And so, Princess Rosa headed to where the transfer students had gathered.
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