I am standing in line for the knight examination at the royal castle in the capital. I arrived in the capital yesterday and spent a leisurely day at an inn.
"But, there are really a lot of people."
Looking around, I am once again surprised by the number of people. Apparently, there are 5,000 to 10,000 applicants for 100 successful candidates, so this might be expected.
The knight examination is held on different days for graduates of the knight training school and the general public. Today is the examination day for the general public. Most people from knight families, like me, attend the knight training school, but since my older brother Aldio did not attend, the younger siblings naturally did not attend either. By the way, for graduates of the knight training school, 100 out of 150 graduates pass, so it's not that difficult if you graduate from the school.
The "power of the Great Saint" has been verified over these three months. The result is that I can use almost the same healing magic as in my previous life. The "almost" part is because there were some things, like "magical attack defense" and "curing diseases," that couldn't be reproduced due to a lack of test subjects. At least, I can use all the magic that was verified, so I'm hopeful that I can use it as in my previous life.
In my previous life, my magic power was about a thousand times the average, and it seems to be the same in this life.
It might sound impressive, but powerful techniques consume a lot of magic power, so some can only be used a few times. In my previous life, I could use magic with a 9:1 ratio of magical elements to magic power due to a contract with a spirit, but now I can only use 1/10th of what I could in my previous life because I can only use magic power. This means I have to be extremely frugal with my magic power.
The verification itself took only a week, so I spent the rest of the time training in magic. In my previous life, I never directly fought anyone, so it was quite difficult to cast body enhancement on myself and use it smoothly.
However, after three months of carefully facing my abilities, I gained confidence. Today, I want to see how far I can go... I'm a bit in a trial mood.
The first exam is a test of blocking strikes from a knight. The test is simple: if you can block 10 strikes from the knight examiner, you pass.
By the way, my sister mentioned that new members are always used for the entrance exam in their first and second years, so this must be it. The examiners are probably young knights.
The lines are divided by the first letter of the examinees' names, so I am in the F line. Looking at the front of the line, I opened my eyes wide.
"Hey, your strength isn't enough! Try harder!!" The examiner said, knocking the examinee's wooden sword away.
That brown hair and narrow eyes...
"Is there no one who can knock this Leon's sword away!"
...Yeah, he introduced himself. It's my brother Leon. By the way, is it okay for an examiner to be so distinctive?
Watching him, my brother is knocking away the swords of examinees one after another.
...Is this what the first exam is like? No, I understand that they need to weed out the unqualified here, but with about 50 consecutive disqualifications and all of them being knocked away after just one strike...
Looking at the examiner next to him, he is engaging in 1, 2, ... strikes and knocking away the examinee's sword on the last 10th strike. Moreover, about one in five passes.
Yeah, my brother Leon doesn't seem to want to pass anyone. Or, has he forgotten that this is an exam?
As a sister, should I point this out...? I was thinking this when someone tapped me on the shoulder from behind. Turning around, I saw impressive pectoral muscles. Wow, muscles that can be seen through the clothes are amazing. Also, turning around to see the chest means the person is tall.
Looking up, I saw a handsome man with silver hair, who looked like a prince.
...Ah...
...I, I just want to say that, including my previous life, I've never had any romantic feelings. I have no immunity.
...Is, is making eye contact at such close range not a bit too high level? Isn't that something couples do?
I was momentarily flustered, but then I realized something.
No, no, if such a handsome man has something to do with me, it must be a warning or a lecture.
"...D, Do I have something wrong with my clothes? H, Have I got egg on my teeth from breakfast?!"
The silver-haired handsome man lowered his eyebrows in a troubled manner and pointed to the back of the line.
"If it offends you, I'm sorry. Our examiner is a bit unique and is disqualifying all the examinees. However, in the first exam, each examiner is required to pass 20% of the examinees. I think examiners like him, when there are few examinees left, will be warned by the examiner next to them and start passing people in a hurry. So, I think the pass rate will be higher if you stand at the back of the line. Look, all the women are standing at the very back."
Indeed, the women were gathered at the back of the line as the silver-haired handsome man pointed out.
Wow, impressive. I saw chivalry in the knight examination. As a woman, I should follow the handsome man's advice...
"Thank you very much for your kindness." I bowed slightly, trying to convey a sense of gratitude, and was about to move to the back of the line...
"Fia, don't run away! Come forward!!"
I was spotted by my brother Leon.
Ah, brother, you've ruined the handsome man's kindness...
I made a worried expression to the silver-haired handsome man to show that I'm not angry at him for making my turn come sooner, and explained with a smile.
"It's my brother. I'll go now."
It's rare for an examinee to be called out by name by an examiner. In the midst of the gathered gazes (at least, I think all the examinees in the same line saw me), I ran to my brother's side.
"Trying to run away from me, huh? You have some nerve! Are you getting too cocky because you subjugated the Black Dragon King? ...Come on, attack me!"
"...Black Dragon King? What's that?"
"Did you say subjugate? Do you mean subjugating monsters?"
"...Ha, no way. Monsters only subjugate to someone stronger than themselves, and it's not something even a full-fledged knight can do easily."
The surrounding examinees started to murmur, picking up on my brother's shouts.
...This is the worst, brother.
I don't want to be revealed as the saint until my safety is guaranteed, so I was planning to stay quiet and low-key, but what are you doing!
I picked up the wooden sword and climbed onto the raised examination platform.
"Please be kind to me."
I bowed slightly and closed the distance.
I want to finish this quickly before he says anything more stupid.
"Body Enhancement: Attack power 1.2 times! Speed 1.2 times!"
I whispered and strengthened my body. At the same time, my brother struck.
With a dull "thud," the wooden swords met, and I took a step back.
"Hmm..."
For the first time, my brother couldn't knock my wooden sword away on the first strike and looked surprised.
On the other hand, I was a bit impressed by my brother.
Brother, you're strong!
Even with both attack power and speed enhanced, he was still stronger. Although my sword wasn't knocked away, I was pushed back a step.
"Body Enhancement (Update): Attack power 1.5 times! Speed 1.5 times!"
I overwrote the magic. Let's see how this works.
I held the wooden sword firmly with both hands and engaged in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th strikes with my brother. Unlike the first strike, I didn't waver and started to engage in a balanced exchange, which made my brother look puzzled. He gradually increased his speed.
5th, 6th, 7th, 8th! 9th!
On the 10th strike, I stepped forward and pushed back with my weight.
With a dry "snap," my brother's sword flew away.
...Oops.
I realized that the examinees' gazes were clearly focused on me, and I froze for a moment... but after some thought... I gave my brother a forced smile.
"Of course, Sir Examiner. Thanks to your restraint to ensure a certain number of passers... in other words, thanks to your considerable, significant, and generous restraint, I was lucky, by a miracle, and by chance, able to block 10 strikes."
I glanced at my brother, who was looking at me with a disbelieving expression, his mouth agape.
...Oh no, with that expression, my sincere performance is ruined.
I should leave as soon as possible.
"Thank you very much. I appreciate your leniency."
I gave a forced smile and hurried towards the door as quickly as possible.
I heard a snort from where the silver-haired handsome man was, but I didn't look back and fled from the venue as fast as I could.