DMHS 9

After that, there were no more questions he could answer.

‘My head is an empty can.’

Kian lowered his head on the desk, blaming himself.

‘So I was an idiot…’

But his self-reproach lasted only a moment. Kian quickly started comforting himself.

‘But I’m the best among everyone here at sailing out to catch fish.’

‘I’m the best at clearing snow piled up to the waist.’

‘Whether William III or XVIII, not knowing doesn’t matter in living.’

But as a person, he couldn’t help but think,

‘…I can at least score ten points, right?’

When the exam ended, Kian followed the official collecting papers.

“What is it, Candidate Kian Semes?”

Facing the official’s usual cold eyes, Kian bent at a ninety-degree angle. With both hands carefully held out, he extended his paper under the official’s chin.

“Please allow me to use a Pass Token for this test.”

Even Kian had to admit, when it came to cool-headed judgment, no one surpassed him. In the afternoon, the results of the written test were posted.

A white sheet with rankings, scores, and names was stuck onto the wall of the Caladium Palace.

‘This is a method fit only for someone with a heart of ice. Truly cruel!’

Kian, chest trembling, checked the results.

Pass

1st place 100 points Daisy Bernstein

1st place 100 points Gavin Gray

3rd place 98 points Benjamin Tierney

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.

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Fail

31st place 78 points Emma Chester

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50th place 2 points Kian Semes (But processed as Pass due to use of Pass Token)

‘Two points? Me?’

Even seeing the score with his own eyes, Kian couldn’t believe it. The one ranked just above him at 49th had scored 50 points. And no matter what, he had definitely answered the problem about the four heroes correctly.

Kian chased after the official standing on the platform.

“I object. I clearly got all the hero questions right. There’s no way my score is only 2 points.”

Some might say two points or ten points, either way it was pitiful. Others might say he passed anyway by using a Pass Token, so it didn’t matter.

But for Kian, this was about pride. Without much reaction, the official pulled Kian’s exam paper from the towering pile on the desk.

“Let’s check. Number 16, correct. Next, numbers 17, 18, 19, and 20, all wrong.”

A few other candidates gathered near the platform, curious about the objection of the one who had scored ‘2 points.’

“How so?”

“Number 17. Hero Edward never tended cattle. He was a man devoted to the Goddess. While praying at the temple, he received the oracle and set out to defeat the Demon King.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Number 18… Hero Rowan was never burned at the stake in a witch hunt. She was communing peacefully with spirits in the Spirit Forest when she heard the Goddess’s voice.”

Though snickers came from the back, to Kian’s ears only the official’s voice reached him.

How could he describe this feeling?

It was as if the world around him was collapsing into a single point. Shrinking smaller and smaller until it vanished.

“Number 19 is even more absurd. That Hero Betias exterminated the elves? Betias gained ancient knowledge in the Eternal Library and then met the Goddess. For someone as noble as her to stain herself with the blood of her own race is unthinkable.”

“……”

“Finally, number 20. The Goddess does not forgive those who kill for revenge. Such impure beings could never be called by her. The Goddess chose her heroes for their sincere faith, pure passion, and self-sacrificing spirit for good. Do you understand now?”

“Ahh…”

At last, an expression appeared on Kian’s face.

“Now I understand. This is… history.”

But whether it was a smile or tears, no one could read his feelings. The official stacked the papers with tap sounds.

“Correct. History means the changes of human society and the records thereof. Put differently, only what is left as record becomes history. If there are no more objections, we will end today’s test.”

The official disappeared after announcing that the second test would be held a week later. The people left in the banquet hall once again split into two sides, busy assessing the situation.

Unlike before, the results of the test were sharply divided. While Daisy embraced the shoulders of those who wept, Frederick laughed heartily.

“Hahaha! This trial is a complete victory for the South Party! Those North fools with muscles stuffed in their heads could never defeat us!”

“Of course, sir. Idiots who sweat every day in the training yard, would they even know how to hold a pen properly?”

“Not one of them has any learning. People grow through study. Tsk, tsk, tsk.”

The North Party’s base was the Royal Knights. The South Party’s base was the five Magic Towers.

Not every North member was a knight, nor was every South member a mage, but the differences of their leading factions were plain.

“It’s fine. You all know this. Just having ten people pass the first trial is already good. Leave the rest to us. We cannot allow the South to take the position of the dragon’s mate.”

Daisy’s eyes glowed with determination. It seemed certain that the second and third trials would flow even more interestingly.

Leaving the others behind to speculate about the upcoming tests, Kian went out through the back door. The garden connected to the rear gate of the Caladium Palace.

Set apart from the paths people used, and with tall trees blocking the view, this had once been where couples who met at banquets slipped away together.

Now, abandoned, its overgrown cedars had formed a small forest. Kian pushed through the sharp leaves pricking at his clothes and went deeper inside. In the middle of the grove stood a single neglected bench.

Ibrahim was there.

As soon as he saw Kian, Ibrahim said in a happy but reproachful voice.

“Why did you tell me to meet here, Sir Kian! The trees are so tall it’s pitch dark, no one passes nearby, and I had to wait alone, scared out of my wits!”

“That’s what makes it fun. Feels like we’re doing something secret. When else would we get to feel like this?”

Of course, if he wished, Kian could feel like that often. When Kian held out his hand, Ibrahim handed him the envelope he had been sitting on.

“Hearing you say that, it really feels like Dorian the attendant stealing information from the palace! From The Strongest Swordsman Who Stole the Identity Plaque!”

Stole the identity plaque…

Fuck.

So that was a famous novel?

“But why Dorian of all people? He’s the clueless one drooling because he thinks Sir Yan is handsome. Tch, he’s way too different from me.”

…Actually, not that different.

“So, what do you think of what I brought, Sir Kian?”

Kian turned his gaze to the documents Ibrahim had delivered.

“I’ll take a look.”

Blood Harvest Festival (Kingdom Year 400, October 1)

1. Overview

Large-scale massacre in the western city of Chronos, caused by Delian shaman Gimere Harkin.

2. Background

The kingdom’s southwest region had long suffered from drought. The Delian tribe, who lived there, crossed borders repeatedly to survive.

William I, calling the Delians “infidels” for not believing in the Goddess’s faith, enforced strict isolationist policies.

By contrast, William II pursued different diplomacy, known as the “Edward Peace Policy.”

Based on a line from the biography of the first king, Edward I — “Do not hate foreign tribes. They too have the same hearts as you.” — he enacted a policy of integration.

As a result, during William II’s reign, many Delians crossed the border and settled in the kingdom’s west and south.

(Scholars estimate their numbers at anywhere from one million to eight million.)

Kian read the next section with a serious face. The Delians had many naturally gifted in sensing and using mana.

Naturally, many Delian mages entered the Towers, and one of them, “Ivan Harkin,” became the master of the fourth Tower.

But three days before the Harvest Festival, “Ivan Harkin” fell to his death from the Tower’s summit. In his chest was lodged an arrow shot from afar.

His half-brother, “Gimere Harkin,” accused the Chronos Knights of murdering him.

The letter he sent to the Knights read as follows:

[ Souls accursed, that burn not in eternal flame and freeze not in eternal frost!

[ You said you feared us, but truly, the fear lies within you.

[ You flay your own flesh and blame the outside without looking within, how foolish you are.

[ I, Gimere Harkin, in the name of Celestia and Yahdreir, give you one last chance to repent.

[ On the coming Harvest Festival, open your gates and receive us.

[ If not, the name of Chronos will never be remembered by future generations!

The letter brimmed with fury and defiance. Curious about the full account, Kian quickly tried to turn to the next page. But the paper would not turn.

‘Hm?’

Kian felt a force holding the stack of papers from below. Thinking it was Ibrahim playing around, Kian quietly called his name.

“Ibrahim.”

But Ibrahim’s reply came from the bench a little distance away.

“Yes.”