Chapter 55: The Knight Hates the Exam (2)

“I-Instructor, C-Could you please extend my training time…?”

“Hm?”

She’s… Chick Number 7… Her name was…Rose, right…?

Chick Number 7 was a passionate female cadet who appeared after the rise of Levy Fault. What she was trying to do here was admirable, but Lee Han knew that she wasn’t asking for such a thing because she was earnestly trying to become a knight.

“A-And if possible, I want to improve my physical strength and athletic ability… I-Is that okay…?”

“Achieving all those in such a short period of time will probably be difficult.”

“Y-You didn’t say it’s impossible. W-Whatever it is that I’d need to do, I’ll do it.”

“…I see. You’re struggling in those subjects, huh?”

“Y-Yes…”

This was her struggle for survival.

How many of these punks came to me with this kind of request again?

Today alone, there were more than ten cadets who asked him for more training sessions. Some of them even brought potions, high-quality chocolates, and whiskey as payment for their requests. However, since he knew that they didn’t do all that to grow stronger, but rather a desperate attempt to increase their stamina and athletic ability, Lee Han couldn’t help but feel empty inside.

This place isn’t a gym, you know…?

He felt like a gym trainer who was asked for a crash course from people who were desperately trying to build their abs because summer was coming.

But still…

“You guys, stop asking me for favors. Those who want to increase their stamina and athletic ability, just come here every morning at seven. Don’t miss a day. I don’t know if I could improve your athletic ability, but I’ll make sure to increase your stamina.”

-Y-Yes!!

Hearing his words, the chicks turned around with happy faces. Smiles bloomed in their faces, as if they had just won the support of a thousand troops.

However, anyone who had ever trained under Lee Han knew that what the chicks were trying to do was like stepping into a lion’s den to escape from a bear.

“Those girls are gonna regret that later.”

“It seems like many of them will end up dying tomorrow.”

Galand and Arno shook their heads, sending those girls pitiful looks. The sight of them wailing miserably was already visible in their eyes.

However…

“Ugh!”

“W-Why are there so many things I need to memorize?!”

“…Isn’t being good at sword fighting enough? Why does a knight have to study anyway?”

“Dude, we aren’t even a knight yet.”

“…You got a point.”

While the chicks would probably cry starting from tomorrow, some people had already started crying.

Scribble-! Scribble-!

In the training ground—where only the sound of wooden swords and jumping rope could be heard usually—a lot of the cadets were holding their pencils and graphite instead of their wooden swords. They sat down on the ground, studying, because all the seats in the library and study room were already taken by people from the other departments.

In the bear’s case, they cleverly used their bear skins as mats, which, Lee Han admit, seemed quite convenient, considering that these bear skins were supposed to be their armor.

“…I mean, at the very least, this is better than needlessly wasting money.”

He said, taking a jab at the young masters who went out of their way to buy desks and chairs to make a makeshift study room in the training ground. While Lee Han had allowed them to do whatever they pleased, he was still amazed that they could be so wasteful about this.

Because of that, he couldn’t help but tease the young masters.

“This is why I keep calling them Young Masters.”

“Instructor, I can hear everything…”

“Only because I want you to hear that. Seriously, you should’ve studied every single day. Why are you doing it now?”

“…I was busy.”

“Tsk tsk, bullshit.”

“…”

The young master had a lot to say to him, but he decided to just stop humoring him. Instead of doing that, he reckoned that it would be more fruitful for him to memorize at least one more thing.

“…Hmm.”

As Lee Han watched the training ground that was filled with students who possessed overwhelming desire to learn, a famous saying appeared in his mind.

“Indeed, life is a comedy when seen from afar, but a tragedy when seen up close.”

Just like the first part of the saying went, the spectacle in front of him was funny, but he just shook his head and decided to squat in silence since he didn’t have the heart to laugh at the cadets.

In his heart, he vowed to do just ten thousand squats this time.

The Pendragon Royal Academy exam was a famous ‘big-event’ for the citizens of the royal capital.

While yes, it sounded like bullshit, it was actually the truth.

Why did the citizens think that it was a big event? Well, it was for a similar reason to the War Game that took place the other day.

“Do you know when the debate will be held?”

“It’s been a while since the last time I watched polo, so I’m going to watch that. Huh? It’s at the same time with tennis?”

“Hmm, I think I’m going to watch cricket…”

“That boring sport? Pfft, even the yacht ‘exam’ is better than that.”

“Look, cricket has its own charm, okay?”

“I swear, there’s something wrong with your head…”

Due to the Royal Academy’s emphasis on focusing on both civil and military affairs, more than 90% of the cadets had to take sports as their compulsory liberal arts subject.

Within a healthy body, resided a healthy mind.

Such were the words that everyone had heard so many times to the point that they were sick of it.

Regardless, the important thing here was that, in order for the cadets to excel in both civil and military affairs, they had to show excellent performance not only in their written exams, but also in sports. In other words, to pass, they had to be at least average in both.

While this served as a desperate time for cadets, it was a different story for commoners. This was basically their chance to watch high-class sports matches. Yes, just like with the War Game the other day, the Academy opened its gates to the commoner during their exam periods, allowing them to spectate the exams.

They said that the purpose of this was so that the public could know the level of the enrolling cadets, and also to show off the royal family’s authority, but there were rumors that stated that this was all just an event for nobles to show off their superiority.

Nevertheless, watching these sports was a great source of entertainment for the commoners. After all, no matter what the era, nothing could penetrate the psychology of the crowds while creating a sense of camaraderie among them better than sports.

…Though, Lee Han suspected that there was someone up there who knew of this and deliberately included sports as a subject to gather the hearts of these people.

However, even all these sports events—which were huge events on their own—were just a sideshow for the bigwigs. The events that they were looking forward to the most were none other than…

“Jeez… Who came up with the idea of replacing written exams with debates and presentations?”

Debates, exhibitions, and presentations. These events were the events that the Academy used to evaluate the cadets’ worth.

To say that those events were terrible was an understatement. If someone actually picked laws, military science, literature, or art, they had to debate for at least 100 minutes long. Not only that, during those 100 minutes, they had to use all the terms, cases, and examples from the lessons they had learned in their classes.

The evaluation criteria were solely given to the professors and other prominent scholars who had received formal invitations from the Academy. If the cadets failed to leave a strong impression on those people during their debates, their score would be immediately reduced.

Of course, the exhibitions and presentations worked in the same way. The Academy gathered experts and professors from each field to evaluate everything the cadets had to offer. Just like the debates, they would test the cadets’ professionalism and preparation thoroughly.

On top of that, they’d also check on the depths of the cadets’ knowledge and the way they dealt with sudden situations by asking them questions that were related to their presentations.

It made Lee Han think that this was a ‘real thing’ rather than a mere test.

Toward that impression of his…

“This is what the Academy—no, what the kingdom wants. They don’t want people who just have good test scores, they want people who can perform well in real-life situations. After all, it’s easy to get good grades in written exams as long as you can memorize and comprehend the materials well, that’s why the Academy decided that they need to take a step further and check on how good the students are in terms of their responsiveness and judgment on a huge stage. Not only that, they also wish to check on the depth of the students’ understanding of the subjects that they had learned. It’s thanks to these tests that the Academy always managed to send so many great people out into the real world.”

“…”

“Why are you looking at me like that, Instructor?”

“Your words sounded condescending, I don’t like it.”

“Huh?”

Damien Paulet tilted his head, wondering if he had made any strange remarks just now.

I just stated the obvious thing, what is it that he’s fretting about…?

Despite his appearance, Damien Paulet was a genius. This was why Lee Han personally felt like the heavens were trying to make fun of him.

How the hell is a guy with that kind of rotten personality so competent?

Does that mean someone like me who can’t even memorize something properly is a fucking goldfish?

Demonstrating what you memorized and understood is something difficult to do. How dare he dismiss it so easily like that!

Lee Han had the urge to hit the guy right away, but he held himself back. He didn’t want the guy who was doing all his job to disappear just like that.

Whatever. Anyway, it’s true that this is a good method.

Instead, Lee Han decided to praise what needed to be praised. The kingdom’s zealousness to nurture their talents was indeed worthy of praise.

Letting talented people graduate through these practical methods was an outstanding decision from them, to say the least.

It effectively turned the Academy into the mecca of nurturing talents.

If I enrolled here though, I would have quitted right away.

Everything else is one thing, but I won’t touch shit like debates and presentations, like ever.

“Every cadet has to do at least five debates and presentations, right?”

“Not really. It’s just if the cadet doesn’t have confidence that they could show a good performance, they could make it up with quantity instead.”

“But they’ll still be expelled if they fail to show an above-average performance, no?”

“Yeah, but the thing is, rather than the debate or the presentation itself, it’s the scholars’ and the professors’ questions that determine whether you’ll pass or not. Those who failed to answer a single question will instantly get expelled. That’s why those who don’t study enough will be at a massive disadvantage.”

“How about you?”

“In case of us nobles, we usually studied the expected questions and debate topics in advance with our tutors before even entering the Academy. That’s why I’m relatively more relaxed compared to the others.”

“Huh, so that’s why…”

That answered Lee Han’s confusion regarding why the chicks—or rather, the noble ladies, were showing more interest in sports rather than preparing for their debates or presentations. They had a solid foundation thanks to their tutors, so they had less things to worry about in that regard. That was why they just focused on their weaker subjects instead.

“Clever punks.”

“That’s just how noble ladies are. They look innocent and pure on the outside, but they’re no different from foxes.”

“I’m going to tell them what you just said.”

“!!?”

“Kidding.”

“I-Instructor, p-please… I-I really thought that you’d do it for a second there…”

“Oh, stop overreacting, I’m not that evil.”

“…I-I’m not overreacting…!”

Ignoring Damien’s flustered reaction, Lee Han mulled over his newfound knowledge. He finally knew why there were so many students that dropped out of the Academy; it was because of this kind of exam system. With this kind of system in place, it was surprising that there were even 10% of them that managed to pass the exams.

“…Huh?”

While he was checking the grueling exam schedule, he couldn’t help but doubt his eyes.

That was how strange and out of place the thing that caught his eyes was.

“What is this? Why is it like this?”

“What do you mean?”

“Look at the last day of the exams.”

Overall, the exams lasted for almost two weeks, but on the last day, there were no other exams to be held except for…

“Why is our department listed there like it’s the main event or something?”

The Swordsmanship Department’s exam.

Their exam was scheduled to be the last one, and this revelation made Lee Han blink in confusion.

However, Damian just dismissed his concern, explaining in a light tone, as if it was obvious.

“Well, it’s only natural. After all, it’s the biggest attraction— I-I mean, it’s the biggest exam in the Academy.”

“Did you just say attraction?”

“I-I didn’t! A-Anyway, you left the scheduling to me and never checked up on it afterwards! I-I didn’t have the time to tell you either, s-so don’t blame me!”

“How dare you nag me, you punk.”

Bang-!

“Ahhhh!”

How dare a sla— A-Ahem, an assistant, talk back to their superior! This punk is still as rude as always!

After averting his attention from the assistant who was writhing in pain, Lee Han grabbed the back of the assistant’s head then read the schedule once again. He wanted to know the reason why the Swordsmanship Department’s exam was placed on the final day.

And it didn’t take long for him to find the reason.

“…So that’s why there are so many people who got expelled.”

It was ridiculous to say the least, but considering what was up, he understood why there were so many commoner cadets of the Swordsmanship Department who dropped out during the exam. The content of the exam was simply something that a commoner who hadn’t learned Combat Technique yet could ever pass.

[One-on-one battle with a ‘troll’].

Monster subjugation.

But…

“…For some reason, this leaves a bad taste in my mouth…”

Seeing how it was trolls that became the subjugation target, the monster that he felt ‘friendly’ with, a feeling of bitterness crept into his heart.

He didn’t know why he felt that way toward the trolls, instead, he could only tilt his head with a strange sense of reluctance.