Chapter 253: The End of the Survival Test and the Ninjas
Arc 26: What can be done for tomorrow
Chapter 253: The End of the Survival Test and the Ninjas
「First of all, these guys are out of question. They have merely been chit-chatting since a little while ago. They lack tension」
「This guy and that guy are carefully paying attention to the surroundings. Let’s overlook them this time」
「Those three are...I’m hesitant to judge them. Let’s decide after fighting」
Whom to overlook and whom to disqualify is mostly being decided at this point in time with both the hopeless ones who are to be disqualified and those who are fine to be overlooked be taken down with a single blow. We can decide whether or not to take their badges after that.
We’ll decide for those whom we hesitate to judge after fighting them for a bit. They’ll be overlooked if they exceed a certain minimum level and be disqualified if they don’t. Well, everyone will be forced to faint in the end.
Our strategy will consist of everyone moving in to crush them.
Especially those discriminating guys, we don’t feel the need to hold back against them. Well, this is an examination, so we will make sure to make them leave quickly without much torment.
「Then, shall we go?」(Touya)
Everyone holds stun rods having the length of their favorite weapons like swords or spears in their hands, put on the masks and stand up.
We split in three directions in the forest surrounding the bonfire as we’ve planned. The arrangement is to knock out those whom we’ve decided to disqualify with a single hit first after ultimately making a surprise attack on the group.
Each of us arrives to our respective positions, and Baba-jii-san, Nicola-san, and I will match our timing with the smartphones we are holding. We will then jump on them from all three sides at the exact timing we’ve decided upon.
「......3, 2, 1, 0!」(Touya)
We jump out from the shadow of the forest towards those guys around the bonfire all at once.
「!! It is Oni!」
「An attack! It is a raid! Let’s welcome them!」
「T-they are coming from here as well?!」
「From the other side too?!」
The people who were standing on guard raised their all at once, but most of the other guys couldn’t immediately respond, causing them to be delayed.
The stun rods sank into the stomachs of the examinees who were attempting to pull their swords in panic as we passed by them. Too slow! The difference in response between those who are keeping watch and those who don’t are coming out at times like this.
「Guhaaa！？」
「Hiiiiii！」
「Ugoeee！？」
The rattling examinees were being defeated by a mere ten Oni.
There were females examinees among them as well, but we knocked them down as well without question or feelings of guilt since this was work. Even so, the blows on them were slightly lighter. As for men, there was no need to hold back against them.
「Fuck!」
「Oh?」(Touya)
Hee. He took that first attack even though I’d held back. Oh well. He still went down with the second one. I should remember his badge number for now. Let’s leave this guy.
I’ve defeated him while feeling that way. Nicola-san, on the opposite side and holding a two-meter stun rod shaped like a cane, confronts those guys who have driven away the demihumans and demonkins.
「Damn! Oraa!！」
「...unacceptable」
He thrust the rod without mercy into the belly of the guy who threw himself to Nicola.
「Guhoee！？」
The blown man collapsed in his place with his eyes wide open, having fainted. He would’ve fainted even without the effect of the stun rod due to that strike.
「Fuck......！」
Being overwhelmed by Nicola-san, the men gradually retreat backward at an extremely slow pace.
「...What’s wrong? So you can’t do anything against one demihuman even with that numbers, huh? You’re all talk」(Nicola-san)
Even if wearing a mask and black clothes have somehow managed to hide his fox ears, it’s impossible to hide his bushy tail. They should’ve released that their opponent is a demihuman as well.
Nicola-san is the only demihuman with a fox lineage in our country, so they should’ve been able to find that out if they’d investigated that fact. You may then ask what is the meaning of having the appearance of an Oni. Well, that’s a stylistic beauty
「S-surround and take him out all at the same time!」
「Hou」(Nicola-san)
About six examinees surround Nicola-san. Moreover, Baba-jiisan and the other Oni have noticed it, but they don’t venture out to give a helping hand. There’s no need for that.
「Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaa！！」
「Take thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis！！」
Nicola-san, being faster than all the others lunging at him, thrusts his cane into the ground and jumps right above them, using the ground as the focal point.
And just like that. He landed outside the guys who were surrounding him, and unleashed deadly thrusts one after another, rendering them unable to fight.
「Gaaa?!」
「Bufuuuu?!」
One person, who received a blow to his stomach, vomited its content that didn’t seem to have been digested onto the ground and gracefully collapsed with his face inside that mess. Was that the content after a meal? How gross.
The examinees fall down one after another without being able to land a single hit on Nicola-san. He certainly looks like an Oni with that merciless way of fighting. The Oni has descended.
Nicola-san steps forward, facing the last one.
「Hiii......i！」
「Don’t underestimate the Knight Order of Brunhild. It’s not lenient enough to let you narrow-minded guys in」(Nicola-san)
「Waaaaaaaaa！！」
He easily dodged the examinee who attacked with a sword, and gave a single blow to his neck using his cane. The last person sank onto to the ground while twitching and widely opening his eyes.
The place was mostly cleaned up when I looked around. I then approached Nicola-san and called out to him.
「Hey, Good job, good job」(Touya)
「...I’ve ended up being a little worked up. I am sorry. My training is still not enough. I still have a long way to go...」(Nicola-san)
「Isn’t it fine? We are Oni right now. If it was me, I would’ve undressed all of them and hung them on tree branches」(Touya)
I meant to comfort him who was a little depressed as well as I passed what I’d just said as a joke, but Nicola-san only showed a stiff smile. Huh? He took me seriously?
A short time later, all examinees who had gathered around the bonfire were stunned. The stun rods, which I and Professor had made, not only could paralyze the target but could also reap its consciousness. There’s a difference in its effectiveness though depending on the level of resistance of the target’s personal magic power and the toughness of the body.
Every Oni takes the badges of the examinees whom they have defeated. We’ve decided to overlook promising guys this time though, but there are hardly ten of them despite them numbering around a hundred.
They should tentatively wake up in about 30 minutes. The Oni return to the forest and observe the examinees from a distance until they wake up to make sure that those examinees’ badges aren’t stolen from them while they are still unconscious.
「We will watch over here, so please go see the other examinees, Your Majesty」(Nicola)
「Really? Then I am going」(Touya)
I then leave that place, accepting Nicola-san’s offer.
I move through the forest, jumping from one branch to another. It’s late to mention this now though, but have I always been able to see so well in the dark? I can see quite far in the dark if I concentrate. I guess a strange ability is waking up inside me...
I’ve defeated several magic beasts that attacked the examinees that night (Though I’ve also defeated the examinees who couldn’t defeat the magic beasts as well), and also helped the examinees who were stuck in the traps that had been planted inside the forest (Of course those guys who got stuck are disqualified as well). With this and that, the morning came.
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The three days of survival have finally passed at last, and the voice of the knight commander, Rain-san, resounded from the badges the examinees were wearing.
『The examination ends now. Congratulations. The ones who still have their badges passed the second examination as of now. Please remove your badges and transfer to the headquarters』(Rain)
The applicants, who’ve passed the exam, transfer from inside the forest one after another to the headquarters. Of course, I also remove my badge and transfer.
Those same applicants report their numbers and full names after transferring. The interviews will take place in two days.
When I paid more attention to those applicants, I could see the figures of the ninja whom I had my eyes on, the armored man, and the potato boy. The last one did well to survive thus far... He looks quite worn out. He has probably been hiding somewhere.
Then, I notice the woman from the Lion Clan, the man from the Winged Clan, the wardog youth and the female Arachne, who were driven away from that bonfire event, have also passed. Good-good.
Just in case, I confirmed whether there was still anyone inside the forest with search magic. Yup, it seems everyone has returned.
While pretending to be passed applicant, Tsubaki-san approaches me, and I indirectly acquire the number of passed applicants from her.
「There are 416 qualified applicants. We will narrow that number to roughly 150 during the interview in two days time」(Tsubaki)
「I’ve also asked Yumina to help, so we will drop out the guys who are questionable and the ones with suspicious ideas at that time, but the problem is whether as many as 150 will remain. Even so, I don’t intend to employ people with incompatible characters」(Touya)
In a certain sense, it’s the real deal from here on out. We’ll carefully examine if they are people appropriate for our knight order.
I had the professor make a lie detector “The Keeler Polygraph”. Along with Yumina’s magic eye, it shouldn’t be difficult to find out their true characters.
By the way, my fiancees asked a lot of questions one after another when I’d introduced the lie detector to them. Of course, I didn’t answer dangerous questions, you know!?
It’s an artifact that judges whether something is true or false, so it won’t react if you don’t answer. It is my right to remain silent!
Do I like large breast more? Which undergarment color I like more? It shouldn’t be necessary to answer questions like those! Though I was made to answer the question whether I liked everyone.
「Come to think of it, there was a person who looked like a ninja among the successful applicants. Was he one of those recommended by Tsubaki-san?」(Touya)
I’ve told them to invite anyone they would recommend for the position of an officer for the knight order, but I still had those who have been recommended to take the examination at the same time just in case. If they had an ability or two, they should’ve been able to pass the examination. The only merit of them being recommended is that the interview will be slightly more advantageous to them.
「Perhaps. I’ve reached out to some shinobis from Ishen. Due to the recent accident with Hideyoshi, a few houses have been crushed which resulted in several people wandering the roads, so I’ve called out to them and welcomed them to come here」(Tsubaki)
「Eh? You say “several people”, but wasn’t there only one person? Are all of them ninjas?」(Touya)
「Yes. One from Kouga, one from Iga, and one from Fuma」(Tsubaki)
From Kouga, Iga and also Fuma? They are schools that are extremely scattered. Furthermore, aren’t Iga and Kouga on bad terms?
When I made such question to Tsubaki-san, I heard there it wasn’t like that in particular. There may be some who see each other as rivals as they have the same level, but I heard those two people are different. They originally served the same house, and after house was crushed, they apparently drifted here. It seems that house was quite close to Hashiba.
「Hmm, I also took part in that fight. I have complicated feelings about that though......」(Touya)
「Those two left the Sanada house whom they had been serving and came to Brunhild as a new destination for their samurai service. Therefore, I don’t think his majesty needs to feel obliged to them」(Tsubaki)
「You say so but... Sanada?」(Touya)
By Sanada... Do you mean the Sanada house? The Kouga and Iga ninjas who served the Sanada... don’t tell me!
「By any chance, are the surnames of those two Sarutobi and Kirigakure?...」 (Touya)
「Eh? That’s right but... how did you know that?」(Tsubaki)
Are you serious?