“Now then, we will begin the final examination for the last candidate, Orion-shi! The remaining examiner, Bazara-san, will be in charge!”
The final figure, a man masked and cloaked, descended into the training grounds. Right after he landed, he tore off both his mask and cloak without hesitation. His true identity was that of a middle-aged man in his mid-30s.
(What? Just some uncle? How boring.)
『What exactly were you expecting from an examiner…?』
As I let my disappointment show, the man called Bazara looked equally exasperated.
“Honestly, I don’t see the point of this mask and cloak.”
“It’s obviously part of the presentation. Not knowing what kind of examiner you’ll face until the test begins makes it more exciting, doesn’t it?”
Randia shot back at him.
“So if some completely unremarkable middle-aged man like me shows up, it just kills the mood…”
Hmm, he’s pretty reasonable.
I agreed, of course. Unless the person under the mask turned out to be a stunning beauty with a generous figure, there wasn’t much of a surprise to be had.
(Still… that uncle felt strangely familiar, like I’d seen him somewhere before.
Hmm. I couldn’t remember though.
Well, whatever. No point remembering an uncle anyway.)
『That’s rather harsh, coming from an old fossil yourself. Is this what they call self-loathing?』
Linlin could be merciless too…
“Please carry yourself with a bit more confidence. You are an S-rank adventurer, after all.”
“…A newcomer who only just reached that rank. Were there no seasoned veterans available?”
So he was a freshly minted S-rank adventurer.
“Well, it couldn’t be helped. We had three candidates make it to the final test this time. But an S-rank is an S-rank—there’s no difference between you and the others. If anything, you should praise us for managing to gather three of them at all. Most S-rank adventurers are such eccentrics that no one even knows where half of them are.”
It sounded like preparing examiners was a challenge in itself.
“And with that, let us begin Orion-shi’s final examination at once!”
This uncle is strong.
He didn’t possess the flashy, easy-to-grasp power of Goritia or Fia, and in terms of raw stats, there honestly wasn’t much difference between him and Orion. But what truly set him apart was his defense.
Harnessing lightning as propulsion, Orion launched a relentless, high-speed assault—yet the uncle deflected every strike without so much as a flicker crossing his face. And every so often, a perfectly timed counter would slip through Orion’s guard, steadily wearing him down.
Before long, Orion—who had gone all out from the very start—ran out of steam. That was when the uncle shifted to the offensive, ending the match with a single decisive blow.
“That’s enough. At seven minutes and fifty-six seconds, Orion-shi is no longer able to fight. Therefore, unfortunately, Orion-shi has failed the final examination.”
“Oniichan, that was close. In terms of ability, you didn’t seem inferior to that uncle at all.”
I spoke to comfort Orion when she returned. I expected her to be frustrated but her expression was bright and clear instead.
“No… it was simply a lack of skill on my part. I’m nowhere near Fana-san or Anje-san, yet I let myself get worked up, thinking I couldn’t afford to lose to them. I ignored my pacing and went full throttle from the start—that was my downfall. He handled it perfectly, and before I knew it, I was dancing in the palm of his hand. As expected of an S-rank adventurer… the difference in experience between us is overwhelming.”
Still, judging by how she carried himself, she would surely seize the next opportunity when it came.
“I’ll try again next year. Could you hold onto the hero’s gear for me until then?”
“Okay, got it. I’ll come cheer you on again when the time comes. Oh, and next time, let’s take a bath together, all right?”
“I’d rather decline that.”
Despite being such an adorable baby, why would anyone refuse? …Honestly, it was beyond my understanding.
『Master’s sexual desires are far more difficult to understand. And obviously, you’ll be one year old in a year, so you should call yourself a toddler, not a baby.』
(What?! So I won’t be a baby in just a year…? …Okay, I’ll do whatever it takes to learn the rejuvenation magic that Meltera successfully used. That way, I’ll remain a baby forever and be able to continue enjoying her breasts.)
『I spoke with Meltera-sama a bit, and it seems she won’t teach it to Master.』
(What?! How stingy…!)
『It’s not that she’s stingy, it’s to stop Master from abusing that power.』
But I am a great sage!
If that’s the case, then I should discover and learn it on my own.
(For me, who has made everything possible, there is no such thing as impossible.)
『You say that in a cool way, but your motives are terrible.』
◇ ◇ ◇
My name is Bazara.
I’m thirty-six years old, and I’ve been an adventurer since I was twelve—giving me a solid twenty-four years of experience. For most of that time, I worked alone. Parties never quite suited me; I simply wasn’t good with them.
Three months ago, I finally took the promotion exam to become an S-rank adventurer. It was my first attempt, and though I struggled in many ways, luck was on my side—I passed. What I never expected was that, in the very next exam, I would be called upon to serve as an examiner.
Randia appeared suddenly and asked me to take on the role, insisting it was the right choice. When it had been my turn, I was alone, but now, to my astonishment, three candidates had made it to the final stage.
Watching the trials of the two candidate before only heightened my anxiety.
“They’re this strong… What if I, as the examiner, end up being completely humiliated…?”
Honestly, I was on edge the entire time, but fortunately—or perhaps luckily—the third candidate wasn’t nearly as skilled as the first two.
In the end, the exam was cut short, and the third candidate failed. I couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for him… but he was still a young boy. There would be other chances for him to prove himself.
“Now then… even so…”
I felt a wave of relief after completing my duties as the examiner, yet at the same time, I found myself bewildered by something entirely unexpected.
“That baby over there… No, it can’t be… I could’ve sworn I saw the same one on the sixtieth floor of the Vegaltia Dungeon… N-no, that’s impossible. I must have been hallucinating from exhaustion back then…”
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.
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