Chapter 32
<34화>
While the Marquis sat in his chair, lost in various thoughts.
The slow voice of Knox, acting as the master of ceremonies, rang out.
“The Crost successor examination will be conducted in two parts. First, capture a Werewolf within ten minutes. Second, prevent a pack of Werewolves from crossing the designated line for five minutes.”
The qualifications for a Crost successor were as follows.
First: the ability to regularly subjugate monsters.
And second.
While the Ice Wall exists at the End of the World to block monsters, the successor must be capable of personally halting the monsters’ advance to some degree.
“Then, first, Tex Lillis will participate in the exam.”
At the mention of his name, Tex entered the training ground with a confident smirk.
“Father. I’m going now.”
“Just do as you’ve practiced.”
“Yes!”
Soon, the far wall opened, and a Werewolf bound in iron chains appeared.
A Werewolf was different from an ordinary wolf, starting with its size.
It was twice the length of an adult male. It possessed a ferocious nature, jagged claws, and the eerie purple eyes characteristic of a monster.
Huff. Huff.
A bizarre sound emanated from the monster’s chest, as if it were enraged from being imprisoned for hours.
“The examination will now begin.”
The moment the whistle blew, the iron chains were released, and the Werewolf lunged at him with the gaze of a predator spotting its prey.
Tex’s expression soured at the sight of its larger-than-expected size, but—
“D-Die!”
Tex was an Ice Ability user.
Even without special training, he possessed a subjugation capability far superior to that of an average person.
Crackle—
With his eyes squeezed shut and a terrified expression, he stomped his foot. Sharp icicles began to sprout one after another around him.
Startled by the sudden obstacles, the Werewolf lost its balance and stumbled—
“Die! Just die!”
Unable to even look at the monster, he turned his head away and stomped his feet repeatedly.
The randomly generated icicles wedged between the Werewolf’s long snout and its four limbs, pinning it down.
“Capture complete.”
Along with the whistle, a lukewarm voice announced his passing.
However, the terrified Tex still couldn’t open his eyes.
“Tex, my son! You won! You won!”
Only after the impatient Marquis Lillis shouted did Tex open his eyes with a bright expression.
“I-is it over? I won, right?”
Tex skipped around the training ground with a triumphant look.
“That was nothing! Father! Look at me! Who else could be the successor of Crost if not me?”
He even kicked the wall repeatedly, as if unable to contain his excitement.
Tex also passed the second test without much trouble.
Though it was a mess of rapid-fire icicles, he managed to keep five Werewolves from crossing the red line.
The onlookers marveled.
Or rather, they were buzzing with whispers.
“As expected, an ability user is completely different from an ordinary person.”
“…To think such a frightened young master could subdue a Werewolf.”
“With that kind of power, even a three-year-old could take down monsters.”
Behind the seemingly complimentary remarks lay a hollow sentiment regarding the nature of ‘abilities’ themselves.
“Now, the second candidate, Lady Aisha Crost, will participate in the examination.”
“Yes!”
Regardless of the chatter, the exam continued.
As the small child waddled out, the crowd’s conversation shifted to worried exclamations.
“One challenge after another… now it’s a five-year-old.”
“They’ll stop the match if it gets dangerous, right?”
“Master Tex was one thing, but the Lady is so small we just want to protect her.”
Amidst the numerous gazes.
Though one might expect her to be intimidated, the child waddled in with a brave expression and took a ready stance.
People wondered if she was just mimicking the knights, but her posture was surprisingly professional.
Though all she had were small hands like a hamster’s paws, her aura was entirely different from Tex, who had squeezed his eyes shut.
With just her hands?
Moreover, what she held in her other hand wasn’t a greatsword, but a dagger crafted to fit a child.
“Your Excellency. You should prepare to stop the match now!”
Unable to hold it in, Marquis Lillis burst into laughter.
“The examination will now begin.”
Tweet!
The Werewolf lunged at the child.
As the Werewolf opened its maw in front of Aisha, who was incomparably smaller than Tex—
“I can’t watch.”
One vassal, unable to bear seeing what came next, squeezed his eyes shut.
However.
“L-Look at…”
Just before he closed his eyes.
“……?”
A small, insignificant shadow fell over the heads of the crowd.
When people looked up to see what it was—
“…Aisha?!”
“My Lady!”
Without even a stepping stone, the Lady had leaped into the air, cutting through the sky.
It was the so-called ‘Frog Tactic.’
It was a technique Aisha usually used to cling to Calips like a cicada, but today was different.
The child looked down at the wolf with her blue eyes.
Thuck—
She threw the dagger she was holding, striking the Werewolf’s left thigh.
Awoooo—
The Werewolf, brought down by a single dagger, collapsed with a whimper.
The Werewolf seemed to want to get back up, but it only struggled as if the strength had left its lower body.
Aisha checked the Werewolf with a satisfied face and landed lightly.
“…….”
They had thought the hand peeking out from her sleeve looked like a hamster’s.
The people, rubbing their eyes in disbelief, finally realized.
That hand was no hamster’s.
Though small, upon closer inspection, it was as sharp as a well-honed baby crab’s claw.
Coping ability. Skill. Even courage.
Setting aside the fact that she was a non-ability user, the performance was perfect.
Watching the scene, Knox chuckled and whispered into Calips’s ear.
“Your eye for people is as accurate as ever.”
“Of course.”
The Duke didn’t let it show, but his mouth twitched into a zigzag shape as he tried to suppress a rising smile.
“They bragged about a golden seed, but it turns out she was a diamond.”
“I agree.”
While the two Crost men shared a heartwarming conversation—
“Isn’t that cheating?!”
Tex, whose face had been turning beet red for a while, jumped up from his seat.
“It’s obviously smaller than the Werewolf I fought! And that! That!”
Tex.
The sound of Marquis Lillis trying to stop him could be heard, but Tex didn’t hesitate to point his finger.
“Collapsing from a single dagger? The Werewolf you sent her, isn’t it a weak one?!”
Inside the tense training ground.
Everyone was wide-eyed, looking back and forth between Tex and Aisha.
The child, who had captured a Werewolf with a single dagger, turned her head with an unfazed expression.
“W-What?!”
Tex flinched for no reason when his eyes met Aisha’s.
The little Lady blinked her blue eyes and asked.
“You don’t know anything about Werewolves, do you?”
“…They’re just things to be eliminated, so isn’t it enough to just crush them?!”
“Werewolves are a special type of monster that transforms into a human shape on full moon nights.”
Pluck—
The way she pulled the dagger out from the coarse fur was no ordinary movement.
Of course, being weaker than an average person, she had to pull with an ‘heave-ho’ like she was pulling up a radish.
Aisha covered the bleeding area with both hands and continued her explanation.
“Because Werewolves undergo a lot of strain on their weight when transforming into human form, the muscles in their hind legs tend to be coarse and tough.”
At the child’s explanation, the expressions of the vassals, which had been wide-eyed with surprise, gradually turned serious.
Except for Tex, that is.
“So what?!”
“That means it’s a weakness. If you just stab a dagger into the hind leg, the Werewolf loses its strength without you having to fire a hundred icicles.”
The surroundings grew noisy at those words.
“Is she really five? To understand the characteristics of a monster and act on them at that age….”
“No, that hand technique with the sword just now wasn’t the move of an amateur.”
Listening to their whispering, Aisha flinched.
‘Oops. Did I overdo it? But in times like this, I just have to act like a genius.’
Aisha proudly puffed out her chest and put her hands on her hips.
“You have to be at least this good to be adopted into Crost! Hahaha!”
“…….”
At the child’s words, the vassals looked toward Calips as if asking if that was truly the case.
Calips felt a bit embarrassed for no reason, but he turned his head away without showing it.
“Since the explanation is complete, Lady Aisha Crost, you have passed the first examination.”
Knox, who had been waiting for the conversation to end while leaning against the wall, announced her passing with a faint smile.
“…Damn it.”
Tex’s neck was red with a sense of injustice.
“She is certainly brilliant.”
“Subjugating monsters costs money and time. If we go in knowing information beforehand like the Lady, there will be no casualties and the work will be faster.”
Because of the vassals who were muttering things he couldn’t understand, he couldn’t even get properly angry.
‘If it goes on like this, that brat is going to win.’
Suddenly, fear washed over him.
