First of All, I’m Drinking - Chapter 56

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 56

 

Joseph’s voice was so loud that the attention of people around us was focused in this direction.

 

“What are you doing! Hurry up and kneel!”

 

Joseph, who showed tremendous obsession as if he had some grudge against my knees from a previous life.

 

I’d rather not receive any more attention.

 

Smack!

 

I stretched out my arm and covered his mouth with my hand.

 

“Mmph! Mmph!”

 

“Now, our great noble lord.”

 

“Mmph! Mmph mmph!”

 

“I don’t know what kind of flatulent family’s young master you are to openly act like a crazy bastard in a public place. Seeing how you pick a fight the moment you see me, you seem to have quite a lot of resentment toward me.”

 

“Mmph! Mmph!”

 

“They said we have to take the first screening right after submitting our applications, right? How about we do this? The winner gets to land a satisfying punch on the loser’s face.”

 

I grinned and removed the hand that had been covering Joseph’s mouth.

 

“Puha! This… this insolent commoner bastard dares to be so impudent…!”

 

Joseph’s face turned red and blue as he contorted it and ground his teeth.

 

“You really want to die, don’t you!”

 

“Of course I want to live. Who would want to die?”

 

“Someone who says he wants to live dares to act like this?!”

 

“So you won’t take the bet?”

 

“Why would I accept such a trashy bet!”

 

“You’re scared, you bastard. A guy who’s supposed to be a noble is scared of a mere commoner. Tsk, what a coward.”

 

“Th-this…!”

 

Joseph was so frustrated that he stamped his feet with a face like a demon.

 

“Fine, good! I’ll play along with your tune! But if I win, you’ll have to pay with your life for daring to insult a noble!”

 

He took the bait.

 

How nice that he’s simple-minded.

 

Looking to the side, I saw Kise watching Joseph with a pitying expression.

 

“Asel is really going too far.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“You could just turn a blind eye and let it pass at least once, couldn’t you?”

 

I leaned close to Kise’s ear and whispered quietly.

 

“Do you think it would really end with just once?”

 

“…”

 

“Don’t you remember what that coachman said earlier? What kind of state this school is in.”

 

Advocating equality was only on the surface.

 

In reality, it had long become a stage for political fights among nobles, and commoners were suffering all kinds of injustice and discrimination.

 

“If I let every single thing like this slide, there would be no end to it. I need to establish discipline from the very beginning.”

 

For a quiet daily life, it was necessary to make the hierarchy clearly recognized in advance.

 

In other words, I didn’t act like some third-rate thug for no reason.

 

“Next person, please come forward.”

 

Before we knew it, the line had cleared and our turn was approaching.

 

I submitted the application I had prepared to the female staff member at the reception desk.

 

“Mr. Asel from Harten. No separate surname…”

 

The female staff member read through the application carefully.

 

There was no need to worry about my status.

 

How many orphans are created in the Empire each year?

 

They wouldn’t have the luxury to verify all of them individually.

 

“Yes, you’ve been registered. Please move to the 3rd Floor Auditorium for the first screening.”

 

The female staff member handed me a number tag.

 

A number tag with 176 written on it.

 

Even though I arrived early in the morning on the first day of registration, it meant that 175 people had already registered before me.

 

“I’ll go ahead first, so take your time coming.”

 

I patted Joseph’s shoulder, who still seemed upset with a frowning expression, then went up the stairs.

 

* * *

 

“Is this the place?”

 

I entered through the entrance indicated by a sign that read [Swordsmanship Department 1st Screening Examination Hall].

 

The auditorium was very spacious.

 

But with so many people, there wasn’t much empty space.

 

Bang!

 

A sudden explosive sound.

 

I stared at the platform in front.

 

On the platform, 10 crystal orbs were placed, and 10 applicants stood in a line in front of each crystal orb.

 

The applicants struck down, stabbed, or slashed horizontally at the crystal orbs with their swords.

 

Their respective scores appeared on a huge screen hanging on the wall.

 

[Swordsmanship Department 130 – 290,343]

 

[Swordsmanship Department 131 – 45,782]

 

[Swordsmanship Department 132 – 170,568]

 

[Swordsmanship Department 133 – 216,945]

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

Watching this, I could understand how the first screening was conducted.

 

‘It’s just a simple power test.’

 

It seemed like they measured and evaluated the destructive power when attacking the crystal orb as a score.

 

Indeed, since it was just a process to filter out unqualified candidates before the actual entrance exam, it was a simple and intuitive method.

 

The screen also displayed the rankings of people who had taken the test so far.

 

[1st Place Swordsmanship Department 31 – 772,940]

 

[2nd Place Swordsmanship Department 49 – 718,029]

 

[3rd Place Swordsmanship Department 26 – 681,107]

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

No wonder there were so many people.

 

It seemed like everyone stayed to watch the results of the remaining people even after their turn was over.

 

Ding-

 

With a notification sound, the numbers of the next 10 people appeared on the screen in a row.

 

The people whose numbers were displayed lined up and went up to the platform to take their positions.

 

Among the test-takers was a girl with a huge axe.

 

A delicate-looking girl with blue hair tied in a ponytail had an axe larger than her own body strapped to her back.

 

Although it was called the Swordsmanship Department, I heard that there were elective courses for most cold weapons, so occasionally there were students who used axes or maces as weapons.

 

“That girl is amazing. Can she even lift that thing? A regular sword would shatter the moment it collides with an axe like that.”

 

Kise said while looking at the huge axe that would make Diago’s spear look like a toothpick.

 

Since no one around was paying attention to us, his speech was back to formal language.

 

I too observed the girl with the axe with interest.

 

That’s when it happened.

 

“You just arrived, didn’t you?”

 

A man with a gentle impression and blonde hair reaching his shoulders spoke to us.

 

“I am Bael de Ernst of House of Ernst.”

 

The man revealed his identity and smiled warmly.

 

I also revealed my name to him.

 

“It’s Asel.”

 

“Don’t you have a family name?”

 

“No. I’m an orphan.”

 

“Ah, I see… I’ve been quite rude.”

 

“It’s fine. You don’t need to worry about it. Rather, this is unexpected.”

 

“Pardon? What do you mean?”

 

I was secretly surprised by Bael’s attitude.

 

Unlike Joseph whom I met downstairs, he maintained a very gentlemanly attitude even after I revealed I was an orphan.

 

“The noble young master I met downstairs went into a rage the moment he heard I was an orphan, asking where a commoner gets off holding his head up high.”

 

“Good grief…”

 

Bael clicked his tongue and shook his head.

 

“That’s typical behavior of a pathetic person who has nothing to rely on but their background. As long as one hopes to enter Millennium Academy, what matters is not background but ability. That fool must not have sensed the tremendous qualities you possess, Asel.”

 

Bael looked at me with a meaningful smile.

 

His eyes seemed confident that unlike such trash, he could accurately assess my true worth.

 

“Have you already taken the exam, Duke Ernst?”

 

“Yes. I finished early and was watching the results of those who came after.”

 

“What kind of score did you get?”

 

Bael raised his finger and pointed to the top of the screen.

 

It was the section where applicants’ rankings were posted.

 

[1st Place Swordsmanship Department #31 – 772,940]

 

“I’m Swordsmanship Department #31.”

 

Bael smiled as if it was nothing special.

 

I had guessed he would have received a fairly high score, but I didn’t expect him to be in first place.

 

“That’s impressive.”

 

Of course, whether he could maintain his position in the upper ranks until the end of the first screening remained to be seen.

 

Bang! Bang!

 

Explosive sounds erupted consecutively from the platform.

 

The test takers were attacking the Crystal Orb with their respective weapons.

 

Bael and I observed them taking their exams.

 

Bael asked.

 

“Who among them do you think will receive the highest score?”

 

That was an easy question.

 

Without a second’s hesitation, I pointed my finger at one test taker.

 

“That person.”

 

My fingertip pointed to a girl holding an axe, preparing to strike the Crystal Orb.

 

Bael tilted his head.

 

“I’m not so sure. From the looks of it, she seems to struggle just swinging that axe. Do you have a reason for choosing her?”

 

What insincere words.

 

I had noticed that Bael had been glancing at the girl and staying wary of her from the start.

 

Was he testing my judgment? How presumptuous.

 

“It’s intuition.”

 

“Oho…”

 

Bael’s eyes lit up as if he found this very interesting.

 

In truth, they all looked about the same to me, but at least among the people here, that girl’s skills were the best.

 

Meanwhile, the girl raised her axe high.

 

The axe fell toward the Crystal Orb at incredible speed.

 

Kwaaaaang-!

 

A thunderous roar on a completely different level from all the previous test takers.

 

People startled by the sound all turned their heads to look at the girl.

 

She indifferently slung the axe across her back as if she couldn’t care less about others’ gazes.

 

With the girl being the last, this group’s exam was completely finished.

 

Soon after, their scores were tallied on the screen.

 

“…”

 

A quiet silence fell over the auditorium.

 

The other test takers’ scores weren’t much different from those who had taken the exam so far.

 

Except for one person.

 

[Swordsmanship Department #137 – 1,230,941]

 

“O-over one million two hundred thousand points?”

 

“Crazy bastard…”

 

Murmuring noise spread throughout.

 

The rankings at the top were also updated according to the test results.

 

[1st Place Swordsmanship Department #137 – 1,230,941]

 

[2nd Place Swordsmanship Department #31 – 772,940]

 

[3rd Place Swordsmanship Department #49 – 718,029]

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

While the score difference between second place Bael and third place was only about 60,000 points, there was a gap of nearly 500,000 points between the axe girl and second place.

 

It was truly an overwhelming difference.

 

“Why the hell is someone like that taking the transfer exam! Don’t tell me she didn’t take the entrance exam?”

 

“That must be it. No matter how tough Millennium Academy’s entrance exam is, there’s no way a monster like that would fail.”

 

“Damn it. How are we supposed to beat something like that…”

 

Bael listened to the surrounding conversations for a moment, then spoke with a grave expression.

 

“The first screening is merely a process to filter out the unqualified. Probably quite a few people will survive and advance to the main exam. But among all those people, only a few will ultimately be permitted to enroll. Precisely-.”

 

Bael pointed to the girl who had finished her exam and was walking down from the platform.

 

“-people like her.”

 

“…”

 

His words couldn’t be denied.

 

Certainly, if the gap was this severe, unless some unexpected variable occurred, the girl would be able to secure her enrollment without difficulty.

 

“Asel, let’s join hands.”

 

Bael extended his hand to me.

 

I looked at the hand Bael offered.

 

“The main exam proceeds as a thorough individual competition. But forming a team isn’t meaningless. We’ll have to fight each other in the end, but I’m suggesting we cooperate until then.”

 

It wasn’t a bad proposal.

 

I don’t know how the main exam is conducted.

 

But from his reaction, Bael seemed to know.

 

It must be his family’s information network.

 

I grasped the hand he offered.

 

This could be useful.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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