Chapter 76
Kingdom of Radius, royal capital, Rautern. (TLN: The name in raw is ラウテルン)
It was a spectacular city with vast land, suitable to be called as royal capital. However, surprisingly to say, there was no tall buildings.
Most of them were two stories high, and even the adventurer guild was also the same.
Well, although the area was vast, people might say that aspect of the buildings was meaningless in a sense.
Outside of the royal capital, the buildings were normally at least three stories high, so thus the royal castle. It was obvious that was technically not impossible, but… as a matter of fact, there was a reason why the royal capital was built in such a way.
To put it simply, in order to uphold the majestic appearance of royal castle, the height of all buildings existed in the royal capital was regulated.
It would be simple once people understood the reason. Nevertheless, such a regulation was necessary to preserve the dignity of royal family.
Especially when the people who got the royal family status was less than ten years.
Anyhow, such a regulation was clearly defined as law, but… of course, there were exceptions.
If people step into the royal capital to see what was the exceptions… No, actually, they would know in a glance as long as they could see the royal capital.
In a town that was uniformly low in height, the structures that were towering the surrounding were two buildings only.
The first one, of course, is the royal castle.
And the other one was the royal academy.
It was the only academy in the royal capital. Furthermore, it was the only academy acknowledged with the ‘royal' name.
It was a comprehensive academy with departments that specialized in each of seven basic skills including magic. That specializations earned the name of ‘royal academy'.
Let alone those who resided in the royal capital, there was not a single person who lived in the country and didn't know its name. It was the most prominent academy after all.
While it was located at the edge of royal capital, considering why it was given a vast land, then, it would be convincing to think how prominent it was.
Now, although it was given a name of royal academy, there were several reasons why it was called the most prominent academy.
First was the graduates.
Given that two of Seven Heavens were graduated here, there was no objection to the name.
Even at any other academy, none of them had such an accomplishment.
Of course, that matter depended on the talent and efforts of the graduates, but it was true that they were one of the reasons why the academy existed.
Well, strictly speaking, although the circ.u.mstances were somewhat varied, there might be no problem to include such circ.u.mstances in this matter.
Second was the facilities.
It received personal support from the king, so such a thing like budgeting didn't exist.
It had state-of-art laboratory equipment, weapons and armor. Let alone latest research, it also had the findings which hadn't been announced to the public yet.
Furthermore, its plot of land was extensive because the interior part had been spatially expanded several times by magic and magic tools. It was practically said to be wider than the royal capital.
There was also no objection in this aspect.
And the last reason was the manpower..
That was the quality of the lecturers.
"Now, this time of the year has finally come." (??)
There were huge number of buildings and rooms.
Among them, there was a soundproof room that was st.u.r.dy and it didn't leak even a fragment of sound from the inside to the outside at all time.
What echoed there was a voice that sounded young and somewhat cute.
No, it sounded rather cute.
The one who leaked such a voice was a complete girl on the appearance… No, if people made a wrong a.s.sumption, it wasn't exaggerate to say that she was a little girl.
In a large conference room, where a spot attracted attention from dozens of people who gathered there, there was a girl who quietly sat there.
However, those who gathered there weren't deceived by her appearance.
It was because people were trying to evaluate how remarkable she was.
She was the headmaster of the royal academy, Hildegard Lindworm. (TLN: The name in raw is ヒルデガルド・リントヴルム)
"How many people gather this time… and how many are going to leave?" (Hildegard)
Those who were there gave their respective responses because of the words Hildegard said that were somewhat provocative to them.
Some people were pretending not to know, and some others have similar provocative expression.
Some had a tense face, while others had a face of had given up.
They were all adults. They were lecturers who taught their respective subjects at this royal academy.
Then, if people asked why they were making such faces, there were several doc.u.ments presented before them and the reason was because of what was written there.
If they saw the contents, they would probably say like this.
Resume.
"Nevertheless, they are many of these in this year. Basically, it's going to be hard to verify them." (Hildegard)
"Perhaps, the cause is the ongoing dispute with the Kingdom of Veritas. As a result, the outflow of talented people is intense according to what I've heard." (??)
"Hmm… that's because of the sudden death of the king and the problem of throne succession. It is said that they will take at least five more years to sort out the problems." (??)
"Yes. People seem to immigrate to neighboring countries, but as expected, different countries
"In the end of the day, this country is currently having problem with manpower. It really helps if that problem is somewhat solved. Of course, this same goes to us." (Hildegard)
While interchanging such conversations, Hildegard and others scanned through the doc.u.ments.
Whether they should say that this was normal, there was also resume of people who wanted to be the lecturers of this academy.
The royal academy was boasted as the best academy. So not to mention the enrolling of the students, the lecturers also must be a high quality lecturers.
Under such a principle, every year around this time was the time when they recruited new lecturers.
If one could get work at the royal academy, the benefits were good even though it was hard work. More than anything, one could obtain prestige.
Those who had confidence in themselves applied for it.
However, the number of people who could become lecturers was limited and that number would include the number of existing lecturers.
That meant if the academy decided to employ a new lecturer, someone inside had to stop working as one.
Their expressions earlier was because of this reason.
"This year, half of the applications are very interesting, but… are these people misunderstand something like this as an event?" (Hildegard)
"Well, I don't think it can't be helped with that. Even if this is called as the final examination in the world, we seem to be able to use it as a selling point." (??)
"I would like you to stop making people taking the examination for the lecturers in my academy just because of that…" (Hildegard)
When it came to searching for a good lecturer, they were obviously unable to know according to the information on the paper.
Practically, it required face to face meeting. So, it was necessary to check their skills and knowledge but it would be necessary to spend time for it.
However, they had no time to go through all applications.
At the same time, they also had to screen the student applicants.
Although it was inappropriate to do it just by looking at the applications… it could be considered trying one's luck in this world.
Perhaps, this circ.u.mstance was like taking an entrance examination for an academy without regard for one's chances of pa.s.sing.
Anyhow, while Hildegard thought that they should stop asking if only they wanted extra manpower, she reached for the next doc.u.ment. The moment she saw what was written there, she obviously frowned.
"…Indeed, this is also unexpected." (Hildegard)
"What is it?" (??)
"Take a look at this. That way, you can understand my current feeling." (Hildegard)
"I'm concern why do you say so far… eh, what is this!?" (??)
Everyone's gaze arrived at the woman who was next to Hildegard when she was raising loud voice for a moment.
The woman noticed that she was looked with great interest. She coughed a bit while looking a bit embarra.s.sed.
Then, she regained her mind and looked back to the doc.u.ment at hand again, but… as expected, it was unbelievable to see what was written there.
"This is…" (Woman)
"For the time being, it is not fake. In order to confirm if this is a prank, it is possible to understand it by knowing who is sending this doc.u.ment. So, when I checked it, it seems that person really sent this." (Hildegard)
"When I think about it, that person is someone who will do that kind of thing…" (??)
To be brief, there was no standard format in the application doc.u.ment such as what one could try to show off, or what one shouldn't show off.
The reason for not having standard format was to let them to have a comprehensive judgment.
However, what was written there was too outrageous.
To be frank… it was very conclusive.
–Skill owned: Special Rank Swordsmans.h.i.+p.
If one wrote this, he or she would instantly be accepted.
That much was true, but…
"It is certainly difficult to handle this matter…" (Woman)
"Hmm, it is difficult, indeed…" (Hildegard)
"Yes? It is rare to see those two in trouble. What's the matter?" (??)
"Hmm? Ooh, something good has come. It's fine if you want to see this." (Hildegard)
"Eh? Can I really see it?" (??)
As the woman returned the doc.u.ment to Hildegard, it was given to a man.
The man was hesitated because Hildegard handed it over by hand. He expected that the a.s.sistant would handed it over.
This also happened before, so it was natural for the man to be hesitated.
However, since there was nothing in particular this time, there shouldn't be any problem.
The problem was something else instead.
"Eh, uhm, I'm going to look at this then… hmm? Special Rank Swordsmans.h.i.+p…? Eh, isn't this amazing? So, what's the problem? Well, I was wondering what was the problem, but…" (Man)
"Take a closer look. Especially the age column." (Hildegard)
"Age? Come to think of it, there is completely no personal history, but perhaps this person is very young… eh?" (Man)
The man's expectation was quite close.
It was true that Hildegard and the woman considered the main problem was that this person was young.
No, on the other hand—
The problem was actually that this person was too young.
"Uhm… if my eyes are not wrong, it is not possible to enter the academy at this age, right?" (Man)
"Your eyes are not wrong. So, rest a.s.sured. Anyhow, that's the problem." (Hildegard)
Basically, there was no requirement to become the lecturer at the academy.
If the academy thought that it was appropriate, they would hire people regardless of nationality, age and race.
Far from being an adult, the applicant was at the age that couldn't be admitted into the academy as a student unless if it was for next year admission.
This fact was the general idea of the academy.
It was possible to do so because it wasn't in the rule, but whether it had happened before or not, that would be another story.
"The safest thing to do is to drop the application, but…" (Man)
"But, to drop this person's application because of that reason… is a waste." (Hildegard)
"Well, that doesn't mean that this person has good teaching abilities just because of having Special Rank, and we wouldn't know unless there are samples." (Woman)
"Hmmm. …No, alright, I have decided. Let's call the applicant for the time being. And we will decide after making sure of everything." (Hildegard)
In the first place, they didn't have much time to worry about this matter too much.
A considerable number of doc.u.ments were handed to each lecturer who was there in that place. Ultimately, it was decided by Hildegard.
A day would go down if they relaxed too much.
In principle, if the headmaster had made the decision, there was no way other people could disagree.
When the both man and woman nodded at such things, the people there returned the doc.u.ments so that it could be processed according to the quota.
For a while, the sound of doc.u.ments being flipped over and occasional chattering voices echoed in such a place.
Eventually…
"Oh my… we're finally get to the point where we can rest." (Hildegard)
"Yes. Good work." (??)
"Hmm, good job everyone." (Hildegard)
When the confirmation of all doc.u.ments was somewhat ended, a slight relief came to everyone's face.
Although it was hard to do all that including own task, there was no difference in finis.h.i.+ng the work first.
When they nodded due to the words of appreciation, they let out a small breath.
"I feel that the level of those who applied is higher than usual. Maybe it was due to the influx from neighboring countries this year." (Woman)
"Well, you're looked happy. …With that being the case, I feel sorry for some of those who have applied." (Hildegard)
Whether some of the people in the meeting room knew her meaning, a bitter smile showed up on their faces.
Some of those, who had a relaxed face earlier, looked slightly impatience now. After all, the level was really high this year.
"There are unexpectedly surprising applicants such as people who have experience as lecturer at another academy, leading researcher, those who have t.i.tle, and up-and-coming adventurer. Especially that adventurer. I feel that it is unusual for those with experience to be recruited." (Woman)
"Well, I somehow think that there will be such an applicant. Perhaps, my ‘acquaintance' is about to enter the vicinity." (Hildegard)
"Isn't it still too early?" (Woman)
"Well. If you ask me, that person has good prospect. Even so, as someone who has t.i.tle, I probably will not care. By the way, I re-hired those who I had fired long time ago. So, there shouldn't be any complain." (Hildegard)
Anyhow, with this situation, it seems that the academy will stay at the highest prestige this year too.
As she nodded in satisfaction–
"…Somehow or rather, ‘that person' is coming here soundly." (Hildegard)
While saying so in small volume, Hildegard loosened her mouth a little.
—
TLN:
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