Chapter 39: Tail Catching (1)

As soon as Alex snatched away the towel, Gunther declared the end of the second evaluation.

“The second evaluation, leadership, is over.”

“Hoo…”

I sighed with relief and turned around.

Both of my team members were looking at me.

It hadn’t been 30 minutes yet, and Winch’s towel hadn’t been taken, so if the evaluator declared it over, there could

only be one reason. I glanced at the blue towel in my hand and raised it high, shaking it from side to side.

Regardless of our relationship, I had to share this joy with them, as I wouldn’t have gotten this towel without their

help. Hynde raised his arms joyfully, Den smiled faintly and collapsed to the ground as if exhausted, and Muller

chuckled. Winch was far away, so I couldn’t see his expression, but judging from the slow rise of his chest, he seemed

to be catching his breath.

‘Maybe it’s because we prepared well.’

I had spent a week training the team, strategizing, and taming them, and it had paid off. Surprisingly, it wasn’t

harder than the first evaluation. Even though we had fought once, I wasn’t that tired.

‘Well, compared to the opponents I’ve fought so far…’

There was no need to look far—during the first evaluation, the character test evaluator was the vice-captain of the

3rd squad of the guards.

This time, however, it was an applicant who wasn’t even a knight yet, an arrogant fool relying on his background.

The level was completely different.

‘But I was surprised that he could use magic.’

I had heard that the children of the vice-captain of the guards trained in magic before their knight tests, but when I

tried it with Sophia, I realized how difficult it actually was.

It seems that Alex is a genius after all.

What a fool. With such talent, why hasn’t he worked on his skills?

Well, if he’s weak, it’s better for me.

The real enemies I need to fight aren’t petty thugs like Alex, but true villains.

‘Actually, the ones who suffered during this evaluation were those guys, not me.’

It’s true what they say: even if you dislike someone, you can’t help but feel proud when they try their best. Seeing

them covered in dirt from fighting so hard, I couldn’t help but feel a little fond of them.

I should buy them a meal after this.

I’m not sure if Winch will eat, though.

“Wait a minute!”

Just as I was about to head back, someone shouted urgently.

It was Alex.

“Evaluator! Isn’t it cowardly for the leader to hand over the important towel to another member instead of holding it themselves?”

“That’s irrelevant. The evaluation is about leadership. Entrusting the towel, which is like your life, to a team member

shows that trust has been built between you and that person, highlighting the leader’s leadership.”

“Ha!”

Alex, unable to accept the result, made a rebuttal.

But Alex’s defiance was immediately suppressed by Gunther.

Then Alex hesitated for a moment, grinned maliciously, and shouted again.

“Evaluator! I request an investigation into cheating!”

Upon hearing Alex’s request, Gunter immediately furrowed his brow and approached quickly.

“Cheating? Explain yourself.”

“Here, the applicant Luke used an unauthorized item!”

“Item?”

“That’s right! He used a sword that emits flames!”

Gunther’s gaze turned toward my sword.

The flames were gone by now, but there was still some soot on the surface.

“Ah.”

Gunther had participated in the Silver Sabertooth Expedition.

That meant…

He had seen me use the fire sword before.

“This is not an item.”

“What?”

“The evaluator knows that this is an ability of the applicant Luke. Since he used his own power, it’s not grounds for cheating.”

I was fortunate that Gunther was my evaluator.

If it had been another evaluator, they might have been suspicious and investigated as Alex suggested, but Gunther

firmly suppressed Alex’s outburst.

Meanwhile, Alex was gaping, as if he couldn’t believe what he had just heard.

“Luke’s ability? To set fire to a sword? I know he’s not a mage, how could…”

“Shut up.”

At this point, I was starting to feel more disgust than annoyance.

I couldn’t understand why he was acting like this.

How did he even pass the first evaluation? Was it just good luck with the evaluator?

But there’s always someone worse off, and while rising is hard, falling is easy.

Realizing that he couldn’t get Gunther involved, Alex latched onto the easiest target and kept whining.

“You bastard! How is it possible that a newbie like you, with less than a year’s experience, can use fire magic? Reveal

the truth now, you cheater!”

It didn’t make sense, but…

“Well, it actually happened.”

“You’re still joking?!”

“Enough.”

A heavy pressure descended, and the sounds around us instantly quieted down.

This feeling… I had experienced it before.

“Applicant Alex. A person who wishes to become a knight should accept the results and not show such envy. Your

attitude is unbecoming. As an evaluator, I disqualify you from this evaluation and revoke your qualification to take

the knight exam for the next five years.”

“What? Ha, but…”

“If you have a problem with my decision, solve it like a true northern knight.”

Gunther pointed to Alex’s hand.

“Throw me your gloves. I will catch them.”

Throwing a glove at someone was a signal for a duel.

Well, if there’s too much of a difference in skill levels, like now, it’s fine to refuse, but…

Refusing a duel from a northern knight would be like saying you want to socially die, so a northern duel request has a

100% success rate.

To be blunt, even if I, Grace, were busy with work and threw my glove, she’d accept the duel without a word.

Of course, I’d never do that, because I’d die right there and then.

At Gunther’s provocation, Alex hesitated, wondering if his life was more important than his pride, then lowered his head.

Gunther took his eyes off Alex and declared the end of the match, preparing for the next round.

As he passed by Alex’s defeated teammates, he started to look after our group.

I saw two heavily armored knights with halberds leaving the area.

‘If you’re going to act, at least do it properly. Isn’t that too obvious?’

However, they were the busiest people in the North, so I understood.

I was actually grateful that they took time out of their busy schedules to watch me.

At that moment, a tall knight following behind glanced in our direction.

I nodded slightly in acknowledgment.

The heavily armored knight silently observed me, then followed the person in front.

I was very curious about what expression was on his face under that helmet.

I’ll ask later.

After the judging concluded, as planned, I treated the four of them to a meal and praised their hard work.

For men, drinking is essential during a gathering, but since I was still abstaining and had things to do, we didn’t

drink. However, the four of them didn’t complain.

The meal went on comfortably and without awkwardness.

Whether it’s a group project or a company task, by the time it’s over, a strange camaraderie usually forms. Even if

there was awkwardness in the beginning, by the end, there’s an unexpected closeness.

And through this incident, I looked at these guys in a new light.

Is it true that the environment really matters for people, like in the story of Mencius’s mother moving three times?

They used to seem like simple third-rate punks, but…

Once I peeled back a layer, I realized they weren’t evil at their core, just immature.

Whether they’ll maintain this attitude going forward or revert to being trash, I don’t know, but at least they’re trying

to reflect on their lives and change. So, I decided to cheer them on.

“I’m sorry.”

During the meal, Winch, who had been quiet, bowed his head and apologized to me as we were about to part ways.

He said that this experience made him realize a lot and that he wanted to reflect on himself.

It was awkward for me to respond, especially since this guy, who had made a terrible first impression and an even

worse reunion, suddenly became so serious, but…

Anyway, if he’s going to change for the better, I’ll take it as a good thing.

“Live hard. I hope we can meet again with smiles next time.”

With those words, I said my goodbyes to the four of them.

It was a much better parting remark than saying, “It was dirty being with you, let’s never meet again.”

But somehow…

I had a feeling that I would meet those four again in the future.

They weren’t characters from a novel, so I didn’t know how we’d meet, but…

I hoped that it would be in a positive way rather than a negative one.

“Is this where the real start begins?”

As expected, nothing happened in the Winter Tower before the second test.

In the novel, Grace’s incident occurred during the knight’s test, so now, there was only one time left.

The third test: strength. It was the highlight of the knight exam, a major event attended by both Northern nobles and the public.

After the second test, the number of passers was tallied.

Out of 60 participants, 44 were eliminated, leaving only 16.

Coincidentally, 16 was a perfect number for a tournament, as it was a power of 2.

Again, the elimination rate was astonishing.

This was, after all, a Northern exam. It was fearsome.

Having 16 left meant that even those who won in the matches were eliminated.

The reason was either that the test was too intense, rendering them unable to proceed to the third test, or they had

failed to meet the leadership aspect of the exam.

‘The next test will give us two days of rest, and it will take three days to complete.’

It was indeed a large-scale test, and preparation had been extensive.

It seemed like we would have the next month to rest.

Two days of rest.

That was very good.

If they were planning something during the third test, they would likely begin making moves soon, so it was the

perfect timing to catch something.

It was time to catch the tail.

“Shall we start by harvesting some seeds?”

In a quiet tavern in the capital of the North, Winter Cannon, a middle-aged man with a thick beard and a warm

demeanor entered, shaking the snow off his fur cloak.

He looked around, seemingly searching for his companions who had arrived earlier.

“There you are! Ha-ha, sorry, it took me a while.”

Scratching his head, he sat down with a hearty laugh.

Across from him was a man in a brown robe, already sipping wine with some simple snacks.

“Heh heh heh, your face doesn’t look too good. Looks like work’s been tough, huh?”

“…….”

“Don’t tell me you’re upset because I’m late, are you? Cut me some slack. You know how cold the northern weather

is. I like the cool, but I absolutely hate the cold. Heh heh!”

Despite the middle-aged man’s boisterous laughter, the robed man remained silent, sipping his wine.

“I used magic to silence the sounds of this table. You can speak comfortably.”

He replied politely to the middle-aged man, who responded with:

“Welcome?”

“Of course.”

“That’s good enough.”

The middle-aged man’s expression faded, and he crossed his arms, placing his feet on the table. Even though mud-

stained shoes were placed next to the plate of appetizers, the mage showed no sign of displeasure.

This was because the middle-aged man, who had his feet on the table, had… no, the man’s face had already changed

into that of a young man. He was someone the mage couldn’t dare defy.

“Heh, I hate being back here. Damn it, if it weren’t for that bastard’s request, I wouldn’t have stepped foot in this

freezing town.”

“……”

“Is this all your fault because you’re incompetent? If you’re going to infiltrate, do the job properly, or if you’re not up

to it, don’t take infiltration assignments at all. What is this mess? Now I’m getting annoyed.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Tch, the delay in the plan is because of your incompetence, so if your employer throws a fit, you better handle it

yourself.”

The young man with red hair and a sharp, wolf-like aura, Low, grumbled irritably.

“The map of the tower?”

“It’s here.”

The mage respectfully handed over the map, and Low took it without saying a word, examining it closely before smirking.

“The Tower is still different from that fake little brat’s place. The fifth floor underground, where they have the Ice

Crystal, right?”

“That’s correct.”

“……I see.”

“Since they’re focused on the Ice Crystal, it’s actually good for us. The attention elsewhere will likely be weaker. The

main target was supposed to be the underground area here in the tower. Let me see… If we adjust the route like this,

we won’t run into anyone.”

“You just need to adjust the route and stick to the original plan. Even though the Ice Crystal is important, once they

start releasing cold magic to control it, they’ll have to go out in groups, right? We’ll just break the Ice Crystal then.

What’s so difficult about that?”

Unlike his previous flippant attitude, Low’s serious expression now showed that he was already analyzing the core

and making a plan. The mage, however, answered with a troubled look.

“But the Ice Crystal is important, so there will likely be at least an elder-level person left guarding it. And since

there’s only one way to access it, we’ll run into them on our way out. So, it won’t be easy to approach.”

“So what if it’s an elder? They won’t even sense me properly.”

Low sneered nonchalantly.

If anyone else had said that, it would have sounded arrogant, underestimating their opponent. But the mage felt a

chill crawl up his spine as he thought:

‘Is he really one of the legendary heroes?’

Who would underestimate an elder of the Mage Tower like that?

The ruler of the kingdom’s underground.

The king of criminals.

The Big Boss.

Only Low could say that.

The mage had infiltrated the northern region under a false identity, yet here was a man who casually entered the

castle and blended in with the northerners, effortlessly taking his place in this room. From the moment he heard that

Low would be coming as an ally, the mage had been tense.

“So, do I proceed as planned?”

“Yeah. I’ll take care of the Ice Crystal, so you handle your part. Once the job’s done, don’t stick around. The mission I

was given is to destroy the Ice Crystal, so I’m not obligated to help with your escape.”

“Understood.”

“But since we’re working together on this, I’ll give you a piece of advice. Don’t get caught. If you do, you’ll spill the

secret, so I’ll just kill you and be done with it.”

Low said it so casually that the mage swallowed a lump of dread, lowering his head like a subordinate. He seemed to

want to ask something but hesitated, glancing up briefly to ask:

“Excuse me, but… about the promise you made to me…?”

The mage couldn’t finish the sentence. There was no one around, yet he could feel the sharp, cold sensation of a

blade pressing against his neck from the darkness behind him.

“Ask your employer about that.”

“Ah, yes. Understood.”

Fear of anger made the mage shut his mouth. Once their business seemed finished, Low got up, and the mage

released the magic as instructed.

“Oops, my wife’s waiting for me. Let’s have a drink next time, my friend! I’m off now!”

The young man vanished, and in his place stood the middle-aged man, who grinned with yellow teeth as he left.

Only after the middle-aged man had gone did the mage release a deep sigh and reach for the wine, but…

“???”

The taste of the wine seemed to have changed slightly. Was it just his imagination?