Chapter 82 October 3, 2022
Chapter 82 – First Exam (1)
It was the day when the first exam was just around the corner.
Ludger finished reviewing his last exam questions that would be submitted in the professor’s office.
In the seat opposite him, his assistant, Sedina, was sitting and diligently organizing all kinds of documents.
“Sedina.”
“Yes! Fi—no, Professor Ludger!”
“Did anything happen recently?” Ludger asked Sedina while keeping his eyes on the exam questions.
“N-nothing in particular.”
“I see. What are the other guys in the organization doing?”
“Everyone is saving themselves. They’re all cautious about their actions, perhaps because of the recent visit by the Lord Protector to Sören.”
“Lord Protector, huh? I see.”
Ludger nodded his head.
Ludger was quite relieved by the fact that the Black Dawn Society was not immediately active and had stayed still.
He didn’t know what they were going to do, so he didn’t know if they would start to be active during the first exam.
If that’d been the case, then it would have been pretty awkward.
‘She’s helpful in times like this.’
Lord Protector Terina Lionhowl…
She was a bothersome opponent in many ways when they faced each other as an enemy, but right then it was different.
Because she’d visited Sören under the pretext of investigating Leathevelk’s case, members of the Black Dawn Society became busy saving themselves on their own.
She was the shield that protected the empire and the most dangerous security magnate for the Black Dawn Society.
Given the achievements she had made so far, it was no wonder that they wanted to save themselves.
There were many secret organizations that were smashed in Terina’s hands, and there were many criminals who’d died in her hands.
If Terina felt some suspicions and started an investigation, there was a high possibility that the power of the Black Dawn Society would be greatly reduced.
‘Of course, this is an unprecedented secret organization, so there must be a lot of hidden strongmen in it.’
If the two fought with each other, Ludger absolutely would feel no regret, no matter which side was defeated.
“Perhaps that’s why many people in Sören say that we should be careful. Even if they’re holding a meeting with each organization member, they’re meeting cautiously outside Sören…”
“A meeting, huh.”
“Yes. You can see it like that.”
“Sedina. Didn’t you go to such a meeting?”
“Pardon? Yes. I just…”
At Sedina’s sullen appearance, Ludger thought that he had asked a pointless thing.
It was because she had been left out in the Black Dawn Society that she’d met him directly in the first place.
But…
Still, Sedina would have been noticeably gloomy in the past, but that time, he didn’t feel much gloominess in her expression.
Because there was no one around her back then, but then she had Ludger.
Just as the conversation between the two was about to end, Sedina opened her mouth, as she seemingly had something come to her mind.
“Come to think of it, there was one unusual event.”
“Was there?”
“Yes. Actually, I don’t think it’s a good idea to report this to you, but…”
“Explain it. I’ll judge after hearing it myself.”
“Ah, yes. Just the day before yesterday, three members of the organization were caught by the police in Leathevelk, even though they all consisted of Third Orders.”
‘Caught by the police, she said?’
It was a little strange.
“Hmm. Even though they’re Third Orders, they wouldn’t have been so stupid as to be caught by the police.”
“Yes, you are right.”
“Someone else must have stepped into the case. Who are they?”
“Well… they were students from Sören.”
“Students?”
Ludger stared at Sedina while taking his eyes off the exam questions.
As she was seemingly embarrassed to receive Ludger’s gaze, Sedina nodded her head while cowering her shoulders even more.
“Yes. There are three students in total—two boy students and one girl student. I’m not sure if you know them, but they’re also students in your class.”
“They are students of my class?”
Two boys and one girl…
Ludger could immediately recall the unusual combination.
“Aidan, Leo, and Tessie Friad?”
“Yes. You are right. You remember them right away. As expected from First… Professor.”
“How can those students make the organization members outside of the city… No. I see. You don’t have to say it.”
Ludger belatedly recalled the existence of the ‘noticeboard’ in this world.
Its exact name was the ‘Commission Application Noticeboard’.
It was a legitimate money-earning method that was available to be used by Sören’s students.
“Was it because the students who were carrying out the commission found some traces?”
“Yes. It seems so.”
The commission was obviously similar to what mercenaries did.
Some difficult requests would be officially filed through the Mercenaries’ letter of request, but there were also miscellaneous requests that mercenaries did not want to even glance at.
Sören’s tuition was expensive.
Although there was a scholarship system, it purely covered the cost of education, not the cost of companionship or other materials for research and experiment.
It was said that research costs could be constantly paid when they entered a club, but the establishment of a club was not as easy as they wanted it to be.
‘At the end of the day, for cash-strapped students, this commissioned noticeboard is the way to cover their short money.’
Other than that, there were various ways where they could work part-time inside Sören.
Still, they were high-quality manpower who knew how to use magic, so wouldn’t that hurt their pride?
So it was the commission where they started to earn money.
‘Most of them are used by low-class students who lack money.’
Those from noble families or wealthy merchant families were not short of money in the first place.
They always got plenty of support, and they could get most of what they wanted.
Naturally, the students who primarily used this commissioned noticeboard were bound to be commoners or those who lacked money.
Some aristocrats also very occasionally applied for fun.
This ‘Commission Application Noticeboard’ was said to be available to anyone, but of course, there were some qualifications following the use of the noticeboard.
There was also a difficulty or risk in the commission, so the students’ year was important for them to be able to receive the commission.
The higher their year, the more difficult commissions that they could carry out, and if they had a lower year, they could only carry out easy commissions.
Of course, even though their year was low, a temporary certificate of issuance could be issued if they passed their own verification exam within Sören.
‘Even so, they’re only first-year students.’
Even though Aidan could use an Uncommon magic, he could not receive a high-level commission.
Nevertheless, while performing his given duties, he’d succeeded in catching as many as three Third Orders of the Black Dawn Society.
‘It was just an accident, but it’s also really a coincidental accident. It seems like fate leads him.’
That was what he thought of, but in fact, that was the reason why he was paying attention to Aidan.
As he felt during the last werewolf case, there was something about him that’d attracted the incident.
Ludger imagined a board within his head.
It was a large chess board made of black and white tiles
Ludger checked his pawns one by one on the large chessboard.
‘The pawns that I can use…’
The members of the organization,
, were all elite members with extraordinary abilities.
Rook, Knight, Bishop…
Those were their roles.
‘On the other hand, Aidan and his friends… it’s hard to call them pawns.’
They were still just idealist rookies.
However, the presence of pawns in chess was sometimes more threatening than anything else.
The pawns that survived to the end could become Bishops or Knights.
‘They can become Queens as well.’
Promotion…
Pawns were nothing but common soldiers, so they had a myriad of possibilities to become anything.
Ludger had evaluated Aidan fairly highly. He was indeed a talented person, but in particular, his mental strength and strong will were not comparable to other students.
The reality was different from chess, so even if they survived for a long time, they could not be promoted unconditionally.
But if it was Aidan…
If it was him, then probably…
Perhaps he could go beyond Queen and become King, Ludger suddenly thought so.
“Professor Ludger?”
“What?”
Ludger returned to reality with Sedina’s voice.
“I asked you about how to deal with those students.”
“How to deal with them, you said?”
“Yes. No matter how coincidental it was, it played a crucial role in capturing the members of our Black Dawn Society. Besides, doesn’t that student, Aidan, even use a strange spell to invalidate other spells?”
So Sedina was there to give a suggestion.
—To cut off the roots of a student named Aidan in advance.
—That he was dangerous.
Ludger shook his head.
“It’s alright. Just let them be.”
“Are you just going to leave them be like that?”
“Yes. He’s not a threat to us right now. Moreover, if we mess around with Sören’s students in the midst of an uproar, there’s a risk that it could reveal us.”
Above all, Ludger continued his words.
“Those who were arrested after only being caught by students are useless to our organization in the first place. Instead, it’s a good thing.”
“I-I see!”
Sedina admired Ludger’s words.
As expected, his point of view toward the incident was different from the others because he was the First Order.
Sedina, who had already been properly blinded by Ludger, saw such behavior as a virtue of an executive, although it would make Ludger seem to be a bitter, cold-blooded person to other people.
“Sedina. There’s nothing else?”
“Yes. The members are just saying low while saying things like they’re protecting themselves until the exams are over for now.”
“Is that so? Alright.”
Ludger rose from his seat as he said so.
Sedina also stood up as if she had been waiting for it and picked up a bunch of exam papers.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes!”
It was time for the first exam.
***
There was tension in the classroom where 80 people had gathered.
It was natural to be nervous when the first exam was near, but this time, the situation was a little different.
It was the first day of the exams and the first exam for them.
It was none other than Ludger Chelysie’s exam that opened the long-awaited exam period that would continue for the next three days.
It was not an exaggeration for the students to say that the final boss came out from the beginning, even when it was called an open-book exam.
“Aaaargh! I studied, but I don’t know anything!”
“Book… Won’t the answer come out if we read the book?”
“How hard is the exam going to be to make it an open book…?”
All the students sitting in the seats had no choice but to tremble while looking at the ticking clocks.
—Some shook their legs and the others bit their nails.
The moment the clock hands that were spinning endlessly pointed to the right time…
Finally, the promised time had come.
Sraaak.
The sound of the door opening reverberated like thunder inside the quiet classroom.
At least the students who were waiting for the exam had no choice but to feel that way.
Ludger opened the door and entered.
Unlike his usual coat, he wore a simple style with a white shirt, a gray vest, and formal pants.
But his sharp gaze still remained, and he never softened the atmosphere that he radiated.
“As you all know, today is the first exam.”
An assistant with a small body who was standing next to Ludger was grunting and groaning while putting the exam papers on the podium.
“Exam time is three hours in total. As I have notified you in advance, it will be an open book exam. It’ll start in five minutes, so if you haven’t gone to the bathroom yet, go now because when the exam begins, no one can go out until they hand in their answer sheet.”
It was to prepare for possible dishonesty.
In fact, many such cases were exposed every year.
“If you studied hard, you could do well on the exam. There’s partial scoring, so don’t leave the answers blank if you think that it’s too difficult.”
And the important warning was this:
“I will warn you about only one thing: If you get caught cheating on my exam…”
Ludger’s voice, which was usually cold, fell even heavier.
Goosebumps rose from the students’ skin.
“I promise you that I’ll make sure you pay the price.”
“…”
The whole classroom was frozen by Ludger’s warning.
They had originally known about Ludger’s scariness, so they couldn’t dream of cheating, but when they heard the warning in person, the horror became clearer.
They could never cheat.
“Of course, I’m the supervisor of this exam.”
As expected!
If he was the supervisor, no matter how confident they were in their magic skills, they could never dream of cheating.
Some students had no choice but to close their eyes when even that last hope was trampled.
“Now, let’s start the exam.”
As soon as Ludger finished his words, the wind blew on the podium.
Whirr.
Each sheet of exam paper on the podium…
Due to Ludger’s spell, all of them were blown away through the wind and scattered in all directions.
The messed-up exam papers slowly descended one by one in front of the students.
‘Whoa.’
He handed over the exam papers wind magic to 80 students.
They’d seen something similar to it last time, but at that time, they’d only hazily felt that it was great.
But after they’d learned magic in Sören, they realized what they didn’t know.
It made them realize how outrageous and great the magic that Ludger was showing was.
It had become visible as they knew it.
“Apparently, there are no students who want to go to the bathroom. Everyone seems to be well prepared.”
Ludger pulled a gold watch out of his pocket.
“The exam starts now.”
The first wall that Sören’s freshmen had to go through…
The first exam began with Ludger’s words.
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