There’s Something Special About Her - Chapter 63

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 63.
“……That much?”
Now it was clear that Vice-Director Shutalen had been coveting the very talent of Runelk Ains himself.
“I’m rather clumsy with orthodox training methods, so if I were to leave him in Grau’s hands and have him instructed…….”
“Wait, wait. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves about a candidate whose admission hasn’t even been decided yet.”
“Admission hasn’t been decided?”
Vice-Director Shutalen’s brow furrowed at once.
“You know as well as anyone how difficult it is to discover talent of this caliber, don’t you? Of course, he did seem to lack physical stamina and collapsed rather suddenly in the latter stages of the test…….”
“Collapsed? What do you mean by that?”
“He gradually showed signs of strain, then his performance dropped sharply. Since he’d already posted a sufficiently high score by that point, it didn’t greatly affect his pass, but…….”
“Hmm, I see.”
It was common enough.
The Practical Examination was designed, just like the Written Examination, to prevent any candidate from performing flawlessly from start to finish.
No matter how thoroughly one prepared, there were limits to what willpower alone could sustain.
Which meant Runelk Ains would be no exception.
‘Something doesn’t sit right with me.’
The unease lingered.
Vice-Director Shutalen’s offhand remark kept overlapping with the answer sheet from the Written Examination, which had struck him as oddly incomplete.
Then came the memory of what Kesler had said.
“It looks like an answer sheet written deliberately to earn just this much.”
He’d heard it half as a joke, dismissed it as absurd, and laughed it off.
After a moment’s thought, Padilla Bondeiz swiftly summoned Herta Vinter.
“You called for me, Director?”
She was an instructor who taught hand-to-hand combat at the Training Institute.
True to her knight-order background, Instructor Vinter’s uniform was as spotless and unwrinkled as always.
“About Runelk Ains’s Duel Examination tomorrow. You were scheduled to oversee it, weren’t you?”
“Yes, sir.”
“I’ll be taking that.”
“Directly, sir?”
“I’d like to verify something.”
Just then, Vice-Director Shutalen hastily interjected.
“Would it be permissible for me to observe as well? Since it’s a public duel with the trainees gathered, I have no classes scheduled.”
“Sure, do as you like. The more witnesses, the better.”
Padilla Bondeiz nodded readily.
Then she stretched broadly and smiled.
“I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
***
Day three of the Training Institute Entrance Examination.
I was leaving the Temporary Dormitory, now familiar enough, and heading toward the Outdoor Training Ground.
The sky was clear and the weather fine, but regrettably my mood was not.
“I feel uneasy.”
Deeply uneasy, in fact.
The reason lay in the examinations held yesterday and the day before.
“Why won’t they tell me my score?”
There was no reason grading would take this long, nor was admission decided by Relative Evaluation comparing my performance to that of other candidates.
Yet the instructors kept their lips sealed.
Whenever I asked about my score, all I got back was to wait.
‘I was trying to gauge my performance level by watching the instructors’ reactions.’
I’d spent the entire Physical Test yesterday observing the instructor’s face, but it had yielded nothing.
The man who introduced himself as Vice-Director Shutalen seemed to have turned his facial muscles to stone—his expression was utterly blank.
The only visible reaction was an occasional twitch of the scarred corner of his mouth, and I couldn’t tell whether that was an expression of emotion or simply a lingering aftereffect of an old wound.
Vice-Director Shutalen was a middle-aged man, taller than me by about a head and a half, with sun-darkened skin.
At first, I thought he might be a knight-order veteran because of his short white hair, but his gait and posture suggested otherwise.
“Where does someone learn that kind of expression control?”
In any case, he seemed to have quite an unusual background.
His face bore another scar besides the one at his mouth corner—this one running horizontally across his forehead and through his left eye—and despite its age, the mark remained deep.
An injury of that severity would have been critical at first, and preserving his sight was fortunate indeed.
He was a peculiar man in every way.
Just like the man now standing in the outdoor training ground.
“Huh?”
My eyes hadn’t deceived me.
Vice-Director Shutalen was truly standing in the training ground with his arms crossed, displaying muscular forearms.
There was no problem with that.
I’d have simply thought, ‘So that man is supervising again today,’ and left it at that.
The problem was what stood beside him: other trainees, other instructors, and even Director Padilla Bondeiz.
I’d expected a handful of observers given that it was announced as a public duel.
But this crowd was beyond what I’d anticipated.
Knowing that many eyes were watching wouldn’t change the outcome, but this was a matter of mood.
‘As if they’re here to gawk at a village spectacle.’
Muttering inwardly, the moment I stepped into the training ground, they all turned to look at me.
Brown, green, blue, gray…….
Eyes of varied colors, but every gaze was sharp and piercing.
“The candidate has arrived!”
Only Director Padilla Bondeiz remained cheerful in a training ground that had grown unusually quiet for so many gathered in one place.
“So tell me, Runelk Ains. Did you rest well last night?”
“Yes, I slept well thanks to the fine accommodations you provided.”
“That’s right, that’s right. In one’s growing years, good food and good sleep are what matter most.”
She smiled at me—not yet even a trainee—without ceremony.
Anyone would have thought her a kind person.
Yet there was one thing that nagged at me.
‘She seems to be in an even better mood today than last time?’
Why would that be?
It didn’t seem to be something harmless, like warm sunlight or a pleasant dream from the night before.
Rather, it resembled a mischievous smile with a scheme behind it.
“Well then, shall we begin?”
Director Padilla Bondeiz clapped her hands once, loudly, and spoke with a refreshing tone.
“You’ve all surely heard the rumors by now, but this candidate, Runelk Ains, is currently undergoing the examinations required for admission. Today’s gathering is for a public duel. If he manages to demonstrate good performance against the trainee I designate, Runelk Ains will become your peer. Understand?”
“Yes, understood!”
A resounding answer rang out across the training ground, military discipline sharpened and taut.
No trainee with any sense would dare contradict the Director, who held absolute command authority within the Training Institute.
Only a few whose composure faltered looked like they were grinding gravel between their teeth.
“Runelk Ains, who has earned numerous distinguished service records and even acquired the nickname ‘the Young Hero.’ All of you, watch carefully and learn!”
“Yes, Director!”
This time it was I who had to manage my expression.
I certainly couldn’t afford to glare at a Training Institute Director, one of the seven pillars of command.
‘So she means to humiliate me in front of the trainees using this public duel.’
That was why she was in such a good mood—she’d use me as a tool to tarnish the very face of the Dupon Clansher.
‘In that case, she won’t summon a trainee of insufficient skill. I’ll put on a show of a close contest, then…….’
My mind was already working quickly, strategizing how to end the examination, when——
“I ought to pair him with an opponent worthy of the Young Hero.”
Director Padilla Bondeiz, after a moment’s thought, snapped her fingers and called out a name.
“Maximilian Digrave.”
“……Yes, Director.”
With that answer, the one who stepped forward was none other than that same man who had provoked me before.
‘The young master of the Digrave Family.’
The young man, his face still unblemished, fixed me with his gray eyes.
I’d thought I’d wrapped that matter up neatly last time. Apparently not.
Into my puzzlement came the clear voice of Director Padilla Bondeiz.
“The Top Scorer in Martial Arts of this year’s intake—he should be well-matched to test his skill against the Young Hero.”

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