Chapter 113: Promotion Exam 7
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“What do you mean by ‘wonderful’?! Why did you try to kill him just for the sake of testing me?! If… If my skill was lacking, he’d already be….”
The tremble I had experienced before had subsided and so I briskly stood up and lashed out at Claudios-san.
He’s towering over me because of my short height! How frustrating!
“Ah…. He’s not going to die though? I already told you about it beforehand to avoid misunderstanding, didn’t I? I said ‘a normal guy’, didn’t I?”
“By ‘normal’ you meant…”
Completely not baffled in the slightest at my outburst, Claudios-san calmly explained.
Huh? Not going to die? A normal guy? What does he mean?
“Fufu~ What a nice face you got there. Come on Lizzani, say your greeting to him.”
“Huh?”
Claudios-san was smiling from ear to ear, he looked like he was enjoying this situation so much. Then he turned his attention toward the man who was still laying on the ground.
No, no… He was literally dying a little while ago. You shouldn’t disturb him yet….
“Haah… I’m sorry for tricking you.”
“Huh? What?”
He was able to speak normally, even though I had thought he wouldn’t be able to give me any response. Contrary to my expectations, he stood up abruptly and then he bowed to me with an apologetic look on his face.
“My name is Lizzani…. I’m this guy’s summoned beast.”
「「「「What?!」」」」
He was able to introduce himself but…. What?! He pointed at Claudios-san with his thumb when he said ‘this guy’ but what? He’s Claudios-san’s summoned beast?! But no matter how I look at him, he looks like a human being and I can converse with him normally?!
Chris-san and the others were as surprised as me too.
“Pfft…. Bu-hahahahahaha! The other three’s faces also look amusing… Fufu… You know, for a demonic beast… After living for about 3000 years, they can transform into humans and talk with humans… Well… As far as I know, Lizzani is the only summoned beast who can do this and there’s only a few people who know about him so it’s not surprising if you guys don’t know about it.”
What?! Is that so?! Wait, does that mean Lizzani-san has already been living for more than 3000 years ?!
“And so, because I’m a summoned beast, I won’t die over injuries like that. I can recover as long as I receive magic power, although it might take some time for me to get healed completely. But since you handled it properly, there’s no need for me to take any magic power…. I must’ve surprised you,huh? Really. This guy really has a wicked personality…”
Lizzani-san explained.
“Indeed. His personality is indeed wicked. I didn’t expect he’d pull the same trick as he did to me years ago.”
Ah, but I’m glad… He looked like he was dying a moment ago but now he looks completely fine. Ah! Maybe the people here, except for the four of us, they all know Lizzani-san is a summoned beast?! That’s why they didn’t look panicked at all! It’s all because they know Claudios-san purposely planned all of these for the test…! But for Lizzani-san himself to say Claudios-san has a wicked personality… What a harsh thing to say to his own contractor…
In response to Lizzani-san’s explanation, Ljudmila-san readily agreed. It seemed she also had gone through the same test as me.
“Boy, you did wonderfully. At that time, I failed to save this guy. I almost killed him because of that.”
“Back then, I poured my magic power into him at the most crucial time though. That’s why he’s still alive and kicking now.”
Both Ljudmila-san and Claudios-san said that while laughing but….
I don’t think this is a laughing matter in the slightest. Look! Lizzani-san also has a mixed expression on his face!
“Ah… At that time, I thought he was already dead but then he suddenly returned to his beast form. This ram who’s dressing up as a lamb… I immediately lashed out at him, pressing him for answers.”
“But at that time, you were still pretending to be innocent and oblivious. You went on saying, what should I do? What should I do?? Because of me… Then you pretended to cry like hiks! Hikss!! Then after Lizzani recovered and I explained it to you, you went… Oh is that so?! I’m glad!”
“I did fail the test after all. I need to keep a good impression otherwise I won’t get promoted, you know?”
“No, that’s why ──────”
Oh, they’re fighting again. They’re really close, huh.
“Excuse me… Are you really alright?”
I ignored the two of them and asked Lizzani-san. He had looked so tattered before but after casting [Clean] on him, he looked so neat now. His beard was also gone. Even though I knew he was actually a summoned beast, his golden hair and the slightly slanted red eyes made him look like a very handsome man.
“Ah, I’m perfectly fine. You’re a really kind boy. You know you can get a bit more upset about all of this, you know?”
“Somehow… The shock overwhelmed the anger in me…. Umm… I don’t mean to be rude but why were you so dirty?”
As I thought. When Lizzani-san stroked my head, I could feel piercing gazes from behind me. No matter how handsome or beautiful someone was, I would never falter so you guys can rest assured. In the first place, Lizzani-san was not even human, he was a summoned beast.
I slowly moved Lizzani-san’s hand away from my head, for the sake of the three of them who were probably feeling jealous right now. The anger I had experienced really disappeared because of the shock. Somehow my heart just gave up like… It couldn’t be helped since Claudios-san was this kind of person after all.
But I was a little bit curious about Lizzani-san’s earlier tattered appearance so I asked him about that.
“Hmm… It’s just that guy’s selfish whim.”
“Huh?”
“He said that he doesn’t want to pollute something so clean with his own hands. The dirtier it is, the easier it is for him to stab. Resisting him is more pain than it’s worth so I just went along with it.”
“Aah…..”
Ah… I knew it… Claudios-san… No one can stop him from doing anything he pleases. He still has the nerve to ask such a thing even though he’s going to stab Lizzani-san with a dagger.
“I’m sure that guy is the one who will be deciding your nickname but… I hope you will get something a little bit more normal.”
“Yes… Though I’m not sure if I will get promoted or not.”
Nickname, huh…. Based on the previous nicknames so far… I think I’m going to get another cringey name. But… Will I even get promoted? I mean at least my buff magic is good, right? The one I failed is the summoned beast match… I don’t know if I did well on my interview though and I did receive help with the [Heal] part I guess?
“I’m sure you will. I hope to see you again one day then?”
“Y-Yes.”
After he said that, Lizzani-san went to where Claudios-san and Ljudmila-san were. He was probably trying to stop them from continuing fighting.
“Ren, did you take a liking toward that guy?”
Hugging me from behind, Sig-san leaned close to my ear and whispered.
“Fufu~ He’s very beautiful but you’re wrong, Sig-san.”
I knew it, he was feeling jealous after all. Lizzani-san was indeed very beautiful but I wouldn’t fall for him just because of that.
“Hey Sig~ Don’t you have more important thing to say to Ren-chan?~ Ren-chan, thank you for your hard work~”
“That’s right. Ren-kun, thank you for your hard work. For now, let’s see if we can leave since the test is already over. Ren-kun must be feeling tired.”
Chris-san knocked on Sig-san’s head lightly and stared at me sympathetically. Fer-san was also staring at me sympathetically but was it really alright for me to return home now?
“Thank you. That’s right… I think I feel a little bit tired. Even though I didn’t do anything too strenuous, there’s so many things happening… I wish I can return soon but…”
I wasn’t the one doing all the fighting so I shouldn’t have spent so much energy but my mind felt so drained after saving someone from dying.
“Well, I will go ask them then. Please wait here.”
Fer-san said before he went to where the examiners were sitting. Fer-san really chose the right option by not going to where Claudios-san and Ljudmila-san though. Those two were still arguing… Lizzani-san seemed like he didn’t have any intention of stopping them either…
“Ren, sorry about that. Thank you for your hard work. You did good holding on there.”
“Fufu~ Thank you.”
After being reprimanded by the two of them, Sig-san apologized to me and softly kissed me on the cheek. His touch was so fleeting, I wasn’t even sure if his lips actually touched my cheeks or not. I couldn’t stop myself from giggling because of this.
“Oh my, Ren-kun. You don’t mind if I join in as well, right?”
“Ah, Fer-san. Yeah.”
Fer-san who had returned from talking with the examiners then also kissed me on the same cheek as Sig-san.
“Ah… Ren-kun. Can I talk to you for a bit?”
“Huh? Ah! Yes…”
I didn’t notice Griffith-san had been following Fer-san from behind until Griffith-san called out to me.
Uwah… What have I just done in front of other people?! Also the examiners who are sitting over there are now staring at us while grinning to themselves!
Feeling flustered, I immediately released myself from Sig-san’s hug.
“Yeah. I’ve seen enough to know how close you guys are.”
“Uuhh…. I’m sorry for showing you such an embarrassing thing….”
Griffith-san said that while laughing but I was still feeling so embarrassed. I bet my cheeks must be flushed red like an apple.
“Regarding your promotion, we will need to have another discussion about it. The result should be ready tomorrow. You can come back to the guild around noon.”
“Yes. I understand. Thank you for today! See you tomorrow….”
I see, tomorrow huh…
I bowed my head to the examiners and I was about to say my goodbyes to Claudios-san and the others but they didn’t look like they were close to finishing yet. Griffith-san also said I didn’t need to worry about them and it was alright for me to just leave. So I left the guild as it was.
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Claudios’s POV
“Claudios-dono, are you done yet?”
“Ah, my apologies. Huh? Where is he?”
“I sent them home a long while ago.”
“What?! But I have so many things I want to ask him about!”
I was having fun….. Talking… With Ljudmila when Griffith-kun came to talk with me.
He already went home?! I have LOADS of things I want to ask about!
It seemed he had a lot of original buff magic he created himself and I also wanted to ask about the buff magic he cast on Lizzani since I never heard anything like that before….
“Anyway, we need to talk about his promotion so let’s return to that room we were in before.”
Griffith-kun said that so we went to the conference room with him but it was pretty obvious that guy was going to be promoted to A-rank.
“Yes, yes. Ljudmila, come with us too. We need to hear your opinions on him. Ah, Lizzani. Thank you. We may need your opinion as well so please come with us too.”
“Yeah…”
Even though his summoned beast couldn’t win against Tatyana, he was doing excellent on all other parts and he even had so much original buff magic.
“Now then… We can all agree he’s going to be promoted to A-rank, right? If there’s any objection please raise your hand…. “
After we reached the conference room, I made sure everyone was seated before I shot them the question. Having a discussion about it was too troublesome so I just asked them the conclusion right off the bat.
“…. And there’s no objection. Okay. From tomorrow on, he will be an A-rank adventurer.”
I looked around, waiting but look, as I expected, there was no one objecting to it.
Okay, it’s decided.
“Fufu~ Then let’s decide on a nickname for him.”
“If that’s the case, what about something lovely in accordance with his look?”
“I’m reminded of the empress when I saw him surrounded by strong men like that. How about something related to ‘empress’?”
“His beautiful black hair. I want to include it in his nickname.”
“You can easily tell he’s an otherworlder from his hair.”
When it came the time to decide on a nickname, which was the most exciting part of the whole promotion examination, everyone who had been silent a moment ago started opening up all at once. We didn’t have anything much to talk about since we always had a meeting every 3 months.
About 5 people took the promotion exam every year so there was always a promotion exam whenever we met and about half of the examinee passed the test. That was why everyone got so excited when it came to deciding on a nickname.
“Okay. Let’s go with this one then. Tomorrow, we shall go on with the procedure and put up a notice to every guild.”
It took us 2 hours to decide on his name.
Fufu~ In the end we all agreed on my suggestion. Isn’t my suggestion just perfect for him? But I wonder why Lizzani, who’s sitting beside me, is sighing so heavily like that?
With that thought in mind, I started to contact the guilds in each country.
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Name: Lizzani
Claudios’ summoned beast. No one knows his exact age since he stopped counting his own age after he passed 4000 years. Currently, he’s the only summoned beast in Alsar who can transform into human and speak with humans. A gentle and mature fox-shaped summoned beast who goes along with Claudios’ whim everyday.
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T/N: Man… Now I want to have a story about Lizzani and Claudios! One of the strongest elf mage and his unparalleled summoned beast! And Claudios is the capricious type and the ever patient Lizzani always willing to go along with Claudios’ whim! (´ｰ`* )
Chapter 113: Promotion Exam 7
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“What do you mean by ‘wonderful’?! Why did you try to kill him just for the sake of testing me?! If… If my skill was lacking, he’d already be….”
The tremble I had experienced before had subsided and so I briskly stood up and lashed out at Claudios-san.
He’s towering over me because of my short height! How frustrating!
“Ah…. He’s not going to die though? I already told you about it beforehand to avoid misunderstanding, didn’t I? I said ‘a normal guy’, didn’t I?”
“By ‘normal’ you meant…”
Completely not baffled in the slightest at my outburst, Claudios-san calmly explained.
Huh? Not going to die? A normal guy? What does he mean?
“Fufu~ What a nice face you got there. Come on Lizzani, say your greeting to him.”
“Huh?”
Claudios-san was smiling from ear to ear, he looked like he was enjoying this situation so much. Then he turned his attention toward the man who was still laying on the ground.
No, no… He was literally dying a little while ago. You shouldn’t disturb him yet….
“Haah… I’m sorry for tricking you.”
“Huh? What?”
He was able to speak normally, even though I had thought he wouldn’t be able to give me any response. Contrary to my expectations, he stood up abruptly and then he bowed to me with an apologetic look on his face.
“My name is Lizzani…. I’m this guy’s summoned beast.”
「「「「What?!」」」」
He was able to introduce himself but…. What?! He pointed at Claudios-san with his thumb when he said ‘this guy’ but what? He’s Claudios-san’s summoned beast?! But no matter how I look at him, he looks like a human being and I can converse with him normally?!
Chris-san and the others were as surprised as me too.
“Pfft…. Bu-hahahahahaha! The other three’s faces also look amusing… Fufu… You know, for a demonic beast… After living for about 3000 years, they can transform into humans and talk with humans… Well… As far as I know, Lizzani is the only summoned beast who can do this and there’s only a few people who know about him so it’s not surprising if you guys don’t know about it.”
What?! Is that so?! Wait, does that mean Lizzani-san has already been living for more than 3000 years ?!
“And so, because I’m a summoned beast, I won’t die over injuries like that. I can recover as long as I receive magic power, although it might take some time for me to get healed completely. But since you handled it properly, there’s no need for me to take any magic power…. I must’ve surprised you,huh? Really. This guy really has a wicked personality…”
Lizzani-san explained.
“Indeed. His personality is indeed wicked. I didn’t expect he’d pull the same trick as he did to me years ago.”
Ah, but I’m glad… He looked like he was dying a moment ago but now he looks completely fine. Ah! Maybe the people here, except for the four of us, they all know Lizzani-san is a summoned beast?! That’s why they didn’t look panicked at all! It’s all because they know Claudios-san purposely planned all of these for the test…! But for Lizzani-san himself to say Claudios-san has a wicked personality… What a harsh thing to say to his own contractor…
In response to Lizzani-san’s explanation, Ljudmila-san readily agreed. It seemed she also had gone through the same test as me.
“Boy, you did wonderfully. At that time, I failed to save this guy. I almost killed him because of that.”
“Back then, I poured my magic power into him at the most crucial time though. That’s why he’s still alive and kicking now.”
Both Ljudmila-san and Claudios-san said that while laughing but….
I don’t think this is a laughing matter in the slightest. Look! Lizzani-san also has a mixed expression on his face!
“Ah… At that time, I thought he was already dead but then he suddenly returned to his beast form. This ram who’s dressing up as a lamb… I immediately lashed out at him, pressing him for answers.”
“But at that time, you were still pretending to be innocent and oblivious. You went on saying, what should I do? What should I do?? Because of me… Then you pretended to cry like hiks! Hikss!! Then after Lizzani recovered and I explained it to you, you went… Oh is that so?! I’m glad!”
“I did fail the test after all. I need to keep a good impression otherwise I won’t get promoted, you know?”
“No, that’s why ──────”
Oh, they’re fighting again. They’re really close, huh.
“Excuse me… Are you really alright?”
I ignored the two of them and asked Lizzani-san. He had looked so tattered before but after casting [Clean] on him, he looked so neat now. His beard was also gone. Even though I knew he was actually a summoned beast, his golden hair and the slightly slanted red eyes made him look like a very handsome man.
“Ah, I’m perfectly fine. You’re a really kind boy. You know you can get a bit more upset about all of this, you know?”
“Somehow… The shock overwhelmed the anger in me…. Umm… I don’t mean to be rude but why were you so dirty?”
As I thought. When Lizzani-san stroked my head, I could feel piercing gazes from behind me. No matter how handsome or beautiful someone was, I would never falter so you guys can rest assured. In the first place, Lizzani-san was not even human, he was a summoned beast.
I slowly moved Lizzani-san’s hand away from my head, for the sake of the three of them who were probably feeling jealous right now. The anger I had experienced really disappeared because of the shock. Somehow my heart just gave up like… It couldn’t be helped since Claudios-san was this kind of person after all.
But I was a little bit curious about Lizzani-san’s earlier tattered appearance so I asked him about that.
“Hmm… It’s just that guy’s selfish whim.”
“Huh?”
“He said that he doesn’t want to pollute something so clean with his own hands. The dirtier it is, the easier it is for him to stab. Resisting him is more pain than it’s worth so I just went along with it.”
“Aah…..”
Ah… I knew it… Claudios-san… No one can stop him from doing anything he pleases. He still has the nerve to ask such a thing even though he’s going to stab Lizzani-san with a dagger.
“I’m sure that guy is the one who will be deciding your nickname but… I hope you will get something a little bit more normal.”
“Yes… Though I’m not sure if I will get promoted or not.”
Nickname, huh…. Based on the previous nicknames so far… I think I’m going to get another cringey name. But… Will I even get promoted? I mean at least my buff magic is good, right? The one I failed is the summoned beast match… I don’t know if I did well on my interview though and I did receive help with the [Heal] part I guess?
“I’m sure you will. I hope to see you again one day then?”
“Y-Yes.”
After he said that, Lizzani-san went to where Claudios-san and Ljudmila-san were. He was probably trying to stop them from continuing fighting.
“Ren, did you take a liking toward that guy?”
Hugging me from behind, Sig-san leaned close to my ear and whispered.
“Fufu~ He’s very beautiful but you’re wrong, Sig-san.”
I knew it, he was feeling jealous after all. Lizzani-san was indeed very beautiful but I wouldn’t fall for him just because of that.
“Hey Sig~ Don’t you have more important thing to say to Ren-chan?~ Ren-chan, thank you for your hard work~”
“That’s right. Ren-kun, thank you for your hard work. For now, let’s see if we can leave since the test is already over. Ren-kun must be feeling tired.”
Chris-san knocked on Sig-san’s head lightly and stared at me sympathetically. Fer-san was also staring at me sympathetically but was it really alright for me to return home now?
“Thank you. That’s right… I think I feel a little bit tired. Even though I didn’t do anything too strenuous, there’s so many things happening… I wish I can return soon but…”
I wasn’t the one doing all the fighting so I shouldn’t have spent so much energy but my mind felt so drained after saving someone from dying.
“Well, I will go ask them then. Please wait here.”
Fer-san said before he went to where the examiners were sitting. Fer-san really chose the right option by not going to where Claudios-san and Ljudmila-san though. Those two were still arguing… Lizzani-san seemed like he didn’t have any intention of stopping them either…
“Ren, sorry about that. Thank you for your hard work. You did good holding on there.”
“Fufu~ Thank you.”
After being reprimanded by the two of them, Sig-san apologized to me and softly kissed me on the cheek. His touch was so fleeting, I wasn’t even sure if his lips actually touched my cheeks or not. I couldn’t stop myself from giggling because of this.
“Oh my, Ren-kun. You don’t mind if I join in as well, right?”
“Ah, Fer-san. Yeah.”
Fer-san who had returned from talking with the examiners then also kissed me on the same cheek as Sig-san.
“Ah… Ren-kun. Can I talk to you for a bit?”
“Huh? Ah! Yes…”
I didn’t notice Griffith-san had been following Fer-san from behind until Griffith-san called out to me.
Uwah… What have I just done in front of other people?! Also the examiners who are sitting over there are now staring at us while grinning to themselves!
Feeling flustered, I immediately released myself from Sig-san’s hug.
“Yeah. I’ve seen enough to know how close you guys are.”
“Uuhh…. I’m sorry for showing you such an embarrassing thing….”
Griffith-san said that while laughing but I was still feeling so embarrassed. I bet my cheeks must be flushed red like an apple.
“Regarding your promotion, we will need to have another discussion about it. The result should be ready tomorrow. You can come back to the guild around noon.”
“Yes. I understand. Thank you for today! See you tomorrow….”
I see, tomorrow huh…
I bowed my head to the examiners and I was about to say my goodbyes to Claudios-san and the others but they didn’t look like they were close to finishing yet. Griffith-san also said I didn’t need to worry about them and it was alright for me to just leave. So I left the guild as it was.
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Claudios’s POV
“Claudios-dono, are you done yet?”
“Ah, my apologies. Huh? Where is he?”
“I sent them home a long while ago.”
“What?! But I have so many things I want to ask him about!”
I was having fun….. Talking… With Ljudmila when Griffith-kun came to talk with me.
He already went home?! I have LOADS of things I want to ask about!
It seemed he had a lot of original buff magic he created himself and I also wanted to ask about the buff magic he cast on Lizzani since I never heard anything like that before….
“Anyway, we need to talk about his promotion so let’s return to that room we were in before.”
Griffith-kun said that so we went to the conference room with him but it was pretty obvious that guy was going to be promoted to A-rank.
“Yes, yes. Ljudmila, come with us too. We need to hear your opinions on him. Ah, Lizzani. Thank you. We may need your opinion as well so please come with us too.”
“Yeah…”
Even though his summoned beast couldn’t win against Tatyana, he was doing excellent on all other parts and he even had so much original buff magic.
“Now then… We can all agree he’s going to be promoted to A-rank, right? If there’s any objection please raise your hand…. “
After we reached the conference room, I made sure everyone was seated before I shot them the question. Having a discussion about it was too troublesome so I just asked them the conclusion right off the bat.
“…. And there’s no objection. Okay. From tomorrow on, he will be an A-rank adventurer.”
I looked around, waiting but look, as I expected, there was no one objecting to it.
Okay, it’s decided.
“Fufu~ Then let’s decide on a nickname for him.”
“If that’s the case, what about something lovely in accordance with his look?”
“I’m reminded of the empress when I saw him surrounded by strong men like that. How about something related to ‘empress’?”
“His beautiful black hair. I want to include it in his nickname.”
“You can easily tell he’s an otherworlder from his hair.”
When it came the time to decide on a nickname, which was the most exciting part of the whole promotion examination, everyone who had been silent a moment ago started opening up all at once. We didn’t have anything much to talk about since we always had a meeting every 3 months.
About 5 people took the promotion exam every year so there was always a promotion exam whenever we met and about half of the examinee passed the test. That was why everyone got so excited when it came to deciding on a nickname.
“Okay. Let’s go with this one then. Tomorrow, we shall go on with the procedure and put up a notice to every guild.”
It took us 2 hours to decide on his name.
Fufu~ In the end we all agreed on my suggestion. Isn’t my suggestion just perfect for him? But I wonder why Lizzani, who’s sitting beside me, is sighing so heavily like that?
With that thought in mind, I started to contact the guilds in each country.
ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
Name: Lizzani
Claudios’ summoned beast. No one knows his exact age since he stopped counting his own age after he passed 4000 years. Currently, he’s the only summoned beast in Alsar who can transform into human and speak with humans. A gentle and mature fox-shaped summoned beast who goes along with Claudios’ whim everyday.
ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
T/N: Man… Now I want to have a story about Lizzani and Claudios! One of the strongest elf mage and his unparalleled summoned beast! And Claudios is the capricious type and the ever patient Lizzani always willing to go along with Claudios’ whim! (´ｰ`* )
