Ch.8Entrance Test

A brief exchange of attacks went back and forth. Theo’s eyes grew serious in response to Seorin’s rather sharp sword strikes.

Seorin’s gaze moved urgently. Her hearing, listening for her opponent’s breathing, became exceptionally keen.

Theo’s breathing changed. The breath he had been holding in preparation for an attack flowed outward, momentarily stopping. Seorin reacted instantly.

Swoosh-!

An attack aimed at the upper right. The force behind the sword diminished just before impact, as if being considerate of the opponent. Seorin found this irritating, but couldn’t show it. She knew her skills were far inferior to Theo’s.

Clang-!

Sparks flew once more as the swords locked together. Theo’s claim about his excellent skills was true. At the very least, he was better than Seorin herself. He was much stronger than the civilized people who had been pestering her until now.

‘To gain the upper hand, I need to change my approach.’

The moment Seorin made her decision, the form of swordsmanship displayed in her hands changed. Her movements, which had been focused on flashiness and unnecessary motion, became more linear and significantly faster.

Unnecessary movements disappeared. Like a predator’s fangs targeting a decisive strike at a crucial moment, her fierce sword strikes pursued Theo’s blade.

Tang-! Clack-!

However, despite the change in approach, Seorin’s attacks didn’t connect. Theo, having steadied his breathing, stepped back and deflected all her attacks.

Swish-

Seorin retreated significantly. Not to prepare for another attack. She exhaled the breath she had been holding and calmly looked at her opponent.

The sword that had been pointed at Theo lowered.

“I admit defeat.”

“Huh?”

Seorin readily acknowledged her loss. She realized that unless they were on the pure white snowfields, she couldn’t defeat Theo with sword skills alone.

“You have reason to be confident. You are strong.”

Theo’s face flushed red at Seorin’s praise. After hesitating for a while, he retrieved his sword and spoke.

“You, you might have been better off focusing on just one thing.”

He offered advice, acting like a victor. Seorin nodded slightly with a crooked expression. She knew this too. But what could she do? This was the type of talent she possessed.

Reading others’ memories and reproducing them exactly. There was too much to gain to focus on just one thing. Seorin let Theo’s advice go in one ear and out the other.

“Am I considered strong?”

“Uh… well…”

Theo couldn’t properly answer Seorin’s question. It was somewhat ambiguous. She was strong, but her movements were awkward and stiff. Like someone who hadn’t been practicing swordsmanship for long.

As Theo struggled to answer, Seorin, unable to wait any longer, frowned and said:

“Is it difficult to answer?”

“Ah, no! You’re strong! It’s just that…”

“You mean it’s a bit ambiguous.”

“That’s right.”

“I suppose I lack strength. It seems I need to build muscle to properly execute swordsmanship.”

Seorin said this while rubbing her wrist. The skin visible beyond her disheveled clothes was as white as snow.

That evening, Seorin and Theo found a suitable place to set up camp. They gathered firewood, dug into the ground to prepare sleeping spots. Dinner consisted of two rabbits that Seorin had hunted.

Of course, Seorin didn’t share her catch with Theo. Having no food of his own, Theo could only watch and drool as Seorin roasted the rabbit meat.

Crackle- Crackle-

“C-can’t you give me just one?”

“It’s barely enough for me alone. If you really want to eat, go catch your own.”

Theo looked at Seorin with pitiful eyes. But it was no use. Seorin had absolutely no intention of sharing her food with him.

This body was in its growth phase. During such an important period, she needed both adequate sleep and plenty of food.

“I’ll pay for it!”

Theo said, holding out his money pouch. Judging by the substantial sound it made, there seemed to be a considerable amount of money inside.

But Seorin refused.

“I have plenty of that too. I don’t need it.”

Seorin had a lot of money. She didn’t know exactly how much it was worth, but it was heavy, so it must be a lot.

Seorin glanced at her bag and nodded.

Whether Theo was burning with hunger or not, Seorin pulled out a rabbit skewer and began munching on it.

The nicely browned rabbit meat crackled as it was sucked into Seorin’s mouth. She even sprinkled spices on it. These too were spoils she had obtained after beheading those who had tried to attack her.

After eating about half of one rabbit, Seorin said to Theo, as if doing him a favor:

“If you lend me your sword for a moment, I’ll give you some rabbit meat. What do you say?”

“My sword…?”

“Yes.”

“No way!”

Theo’s refusal was adamant. Seorin’s eyes widened at his response. It was just borrowing a sword. She hadn’t asked to keep it, just to use it briefly and return it.

But was this something to refuse so strongly?

Seorin couldn’t understand. She would have gladly let someone look at her sword in exchange for meat.

“To hand over my sword to someone else. I absolutely cannot do that.”

“Hmm…”

Seorin nodded with a disappointed expression. What could she do if he refused? Then she’d have to eat the other one too.

Seorin took out the other rabbit meat skewer and put it in her mouth.

“Nom.”

“Ah…”

***

On the third day since Theo and Seorin began traveling together, the two of them faced an enormous city wall side by side.

“It’s massive…”

“We finally made it…!”

Seorin kept exclaiming in admiration as she looked at the towering wall. Compared to the walls her tribe built to defend against external invasions, this made them seem utterly insignificant.

‘What technology was used to build this? How do they manage the weight distribution at such heights? I’d like to find an engineer and ask.’

“What are you doing? Aren’t you going to get in line?”

Lost in thought, Seorin nodded at Theo’s call. The two of them lined up side by side.

The line to enter the Imperial City was extremely long.

‘It seems we’ll have to wait quite a while to get in…’

Seorin nodded to herself. She was used to waiting. She had once spent hours buried in snow on the snowfields to catch prey. This level of waiting was nothing.

Time passed and the sun began to set. Finally, it was Seorin and Theo’s turn. The two approached the guards protecting the city gate.

“Put down your weapons and submit to a baggage inspection. If you have any objections, speak now.”

They had no objections. Seorin and Theo followed the same procedure as everyone else. After handing over all their belongings to the guards, they stood close to the wall for a separate body search.

“What’s with this kid having five swords?”

“Maybe they’re spares?”

“What kind of spares come in different varieties…?”

“Just check the swords to be sure.”

After the body search, the conversing guards brought a stack of papers. The papers listed precautions that should be observed inside the city.

Unlike Theo who read the papers, Seorin just stared blankly. Though she understood the spoken language, she hadn’t learned the written characters of the civilized people.

Seorin was illiterate.

“When you’re done reading, turn to the next page.”

Theo turned to the next page as instructed by the guard. Seorin, watching carefully, followed suit.

The next page was also filled with dense text. But even Theo, who had read the first page’s precautions well, couldn’t read this one.

Unable to hide his confusion, Theo asked:

“Excuse me, what kind of script is this?”

“If you can’t read it, you can just turn the page. Keep going.”

“Ah, yes…”

Seorin and Theo obediently followed the guard’s instructions.

Flip- Flip- Flip-

With each turn of the page, unfamiliar scripts appeared. The five pages of paper were quickly flipped through.

The guards watching them said:

“They couldn’t read anything except the first page.”

“They didn’t even look like they recognized it.”

“Then let them pass.”

Theo and Seorin exchanged glances. It seemed they had passed some sort of screening criteria without realizing it.

After retrieving their belongings, Theo and Seorin passed through the massive city gate.

“Wow…”

Seorin let out an exclamation as she gazed at the grand cityscape. It was populous, massive, splendid, and noisy. Seorin had never witnessed such a large crowd before.

Even if all the tribes residing in the frigid snowfields were combined, they would still be fewer than this.

The next thing that surprised Seorin was the solid stone bricks paving the ground. Not just a few, but these cut stone bricks were densely laid throughout the entire city.

‘Impressive… It means they have the luxury of mobilizing an enormous workforce just to pave the ground.’

“We’ve finally arrived…! From now on, this place will be my…!”

Seorin ignored Theo, who was lost in his own fantasies. Having reached their destination, she no longer felt the need to move together.

She considered thanking him for keeping watch, but simply turned away instead.

***

After securing a room at an inn, Seorin gathered information about joining an organization called Cheongik. As a result, she learned that an entrance exam for the Imperial Knights would be held in two days.

If she failed the entrance exam, that would be the end for this year. The entrance exam was held only once a year.

She was lucky. If she hadn’t hurried along the way, she would have had to waste a whole year in this city.

Two days later.

Having completed all preparations, Seorin left the inn. Five swords rattled on her back.

The place Seorin arrived at was in front of a very spacious colosseum. This was where the Imperial Knights entrance exam would be held.

The small girl walked confidently toward the reception desk.

“Please state your name, age, origin, and the swordsmanship you use.”

“Seorin. I’m fourteen. I come from the frigid snowfields. The swordsmanship I use has no name.”

“Huh…?”

The receptionist looked up and examined Seorin at her response. Wearing glasses, he pushed them up as if he couldn’t understand.

“The frigid snowfields? Beyond those mountains? So you’re a barbarian?”

“That’s right.”

Seorin revealed her origin without hiding anything. She even thrust her meager chest forward, as if proud of it.

“Hmm… There’s only one knight order that barbarians can join for the entrance test…”

“I know. I came here to join Cheongik.”

The receptionist nodded at Seorin’s words. It happened occasionally. Barbarians from beyond the mountains coming here to join a knight order.

However, there was only one knight order that barbarians could enter.

Thump-!

After completing the paperwork, the receptionist stamped it. The word “Cheongik” was boldly imprinted on the pristine document.