The World’s Finest Assassin Gets Reincarnated in Another World as an Aristocrat - Volume 2 - Chapter 4

Chapter 4 | The Assassin Meets the Hero

All of the students crowded around a board where the written exam results were posted.

“Huh? Lord Lugh, they posted two pages for the written test results.” Tarte cocked her head to one side.

“The servants’ results are posted separately,” I explained.

Because servants were placed in the same class as their masters and didn’t count toward the class’s registry, their scores were only recorded for reference. For that reason, their results were also posted on a different list.

“Yes, I did it! I ranked number one among the servants! I’m so relieved I didn’t bring shame to Lord Lugh. ‘Sixth’ is written next to my name. What does that mean?”

“That means you did sixth best among all students. That’s a rank to be proud of. You would be in a good position to make it into Class S even if you weren’t a servant.”

“That’s really impressive, Tarte. Don’t think I’m going to lose to you, though. Awww, I can’t see the results at all through this crowd. I could just blast everyone out of the way with magic…”

The throngs of hopeful students were keeping us from our rankings. Dia was hopping up and down to see her results from the back, but her height gave her trouble.

“Don’t get any dangerous ideas. Here, get on my shoulders.”

“Wha—?”

I picked Dia up and sat her on my shoulders. As I did, she made a cute little squeal that was quite unusual for her.

“Thanks, but this is a little embarrassing… Also, I’m your older sister. Don’t treat me like a child.”

“Right now, you’re my little sister, so it’s okay. Can you see the results?”

“Yeah, I can see them. Let’s see; you’re number one, Lugh. Wait, no way, there are two people in first place. That pretentious boy from earlier is tied with you.”

…I see, so Naoise isn’t all talk.

“I’m number three. Aww, I’m disappointed. I really wanted to be number one.”

“That’s still an exceptional score, Dia. The practical portion tests magic and physical prowess. You’ll get a very high score on the magic section, and your physical capabilities aren’t bad, either. You’re sure to make it to Class S.”

“No one’s going to beat me at magic. You’re the one person I’d be slightly worried about,” Dia admitted.

“No, you’re better than me at magic,” I replied.

Dia was so skilled that her incantations and her control of mana may as well have been art. I was superior when it came to simple mana output, but she had the advantage of subtle manipulation. Thanks to the goddess’s intervention, I had the most excellent parameters an average human could possibly have, yet I still couldn’t beat her. Dia was a spellcasting genius.

“Oh yeah, where did the hero place? You can probably see from up there,” I asked.

“I don’t know the hero’s name, so I don’t know,” Dia answered.

“It’s Epona. Epona Rhiannon.”

After I’d heard the hero had appeared, I did some research. My efforts rewarded me with the knowledge that a hero wasn’t born, but instead, awakened. He was a regular person, and then one day was suddenly reborn as the hero.

Epona Rhiannon was, like me, the child of a baron. Despite being a noble, he was born without mana, making him a disappointment. Baron Rhiannon had trouble producing another heir, so the house seemed to be in quite a bad situation. There were also several other things about Epona Rhiannon that were quite strange.

He was listed as male on his family register, but the more I looked into him, the more I wondered if he might actually be a girl. Seeing him in person did little to dissuade my doubts.

“Let’s see… Epona, Epona… I can’t find him at all. Ah, there he is. He’s eighth from the bottom.”

“…Thanks. That’s all I wanted to know.”

I set Dia back down.

Such a grade was typical of a normal baron’s child. It hadn’t been that long since he became the hero, and I’m sure he wasn’t given the best education.

“I thought the hero would be an amazing person, but it doesn’t look like he is,” said Dia.

“I wonder what his life has been like. You can’t get by on off-the-charts power alone,” I responded.

That’s exactly what the academy is for.

“Um, my lord. I feel like everyone’s really been staring at us…”

“That’s to be expected with the grades we got.”

I’d become an object of attention for many girls from renowned noble families. There was nothing unusual about Naoise, the son of a duke, achieving the top rank, but it was strange for the lowly son of a baron to accomplish the same feat. Several people seemed vexed by it. Some clearly didn’t care, however.

“I thought I was going to run away with this, but to think I might have an equal… You’re just as brilliant as I thought you would be.” I felt an overfamiliar pair of hands on my shoulders and turned around to see Naoise and his beautiful blond hair.

“Let’s both do our best in the second half,” I said.

“Of course. My goal is to become head of the class, and I won’t lose… I’m saying this just in case, but don’t even think about letting me win just because I’m the son of a duke. Being head of the class would hold no meaning if it was handed to me,” Naoise replied.

“Got it. I won’t hold back.”

That wasn’t entirely a lie. I planned to limit my power to a level that was okay to show, but that was the extent of my self-imposed restraint.

The bell announcing the end of our break rang, and the professor returned and proclaimed the start of the second half of the test.

The practical exam was now halfway over. The first half had been a test of our magic abilities.

To begin, we declared our strongest element, and then we were graded on our ability to chant and perform three predetermined spells.

We were graded on our mana output volume, amount of mana maintained during elemental conversion, incantation speed, and our spells’ accuracy.

I performed my incantations while repressing my power down to the high end of what a typical mage would’ve been capable of. I ended up placing second.

“Hmm-hmm, as I said, no one can beat me when it comes to magic,” said the self-satisfied girl who placed first.

“I knew you would top the chart, Lady Dia! The beauty of your incantations entranced me,” Tarte praised.

“No matter how many times I see you do it, I still don’t understand how you pull off elemental conversion while losing so little mana,” I said.

Mana had to be converted into magic. Conversion was an essential skill, and despite the aggravating amount of time I’d spent trying to get better at it, I just couldn’t surpass Dia.

The standard mana retention for a typical mage was about 60 to 70 percent, but I could get to a little under 90. Dia, however, always achieved 95 percent.

This wasn’t only important for keeping your mana consumption rate low and increasing your spells’ force. Unconverted mana hampered your casting, so a skilled elemental conversion also increased your accuracy.

There was only about a 5 percent difference between my elemental conversion and Dia’s, but that 5 percent made a big difference.

“I only placed sixth… Lord Lugh has taught me so much. I should have done better,” Tarte bemoaned, her shoulders drooping.

Tarte achieved such a good grade because I’d been teaching her. More specifically, I’d been using my Tuatha Dé eyes to observe her mana and identify points where she needed to improve. Because I could see mana, something a regular person could only feel, I was able to instruct and give corrections at an extremely efficient rate. The combination of Tarte’s hard work and my special training had allowed her to become as skilled as she was.

“You did well. The only people ranked above you are veritable monsters when it comes to mana.”

The people who placed above Tarte were me, Dia, Naoise, the hero Epona, and the prodigy of a family known for specializing in magic.

Watching Naoise’s incantations confirmed how hard of a worker he was. He possessed a keen sense for magic, and there was no doubt he had an elite teacher. But he couldn’t have achieved all he had without blood, sweat, and tears.

On the other hand, it was preposterous that Epona ended up ranking as high as he did. His elemental conversion was terrible. He only retained 50 percent of his mana at best, which was lower than average. His incantations were also slow, and his accuracy was lacking. However, his mana output was absurdly high, and with that alone, his overall grade passed Tarte’s.

Dia and I both watched his test in astonishment.

“Dia, I can’t believe what I just saw. How did a basic spell like Fireball end up turning into that?”

“Yeah, I don’t want to believe it, either. He achieved that level of force despite how clumsy and unskilled his casting was. What would have happened if his incantation was decent?”

As the name suggested, Fireball was a spell that produced a fist-sized ball of flame. The ball drifted softly through the air and was hot enough to burn skin.

That didn’t quite describe the hero’s Fireball, though.

The hero’s spell was so scorching hot that it looked like a compressed sun. It instantly surpassed the speed of sound and turned everything in its path to ash before disappearing off into the distance. It ended up blasting a hole through the bulwark that served to repel invasions. It was a miracle there were no casualties.

…This is what he is capable of with a beginner’s spell. He probably doesn’t just have ridiculously high mana capacity, but also a skill that strengthens spells.

Just the thought of fighting him made me shudder.

At the moment, his slow incantations and poor accuracy made his spells unusable in battle. If the academy’s teachings brought him to even an average skill level, he could quickly become too much for me to handle.

Next, the physical test began. Proctors tested us on various measurements, including physical strength, leaping ability, stamina, reaction time, and more.

Tarte shone on this part of the assessment.

At first glance, this portion appeared to be a simple competition of physical strength, but it was more than that in actuality. To a mage, the technique of increasing your body’s physical capabilities was essential. Instead of using mana to enhance every part of your body, it was better to focus on portions that were connected to movement.

Not many people were capable of focusing their mana only on specific body parts, though. As far as I could tell, the only participants who could were me, Tarte, Naoise, and three others. Dia was still learning.

The hero, however, as if in mockery of that advanced skill, displayed overwhelming ability and placed first in every category despite his clumsy talent with mana.

I didn’t feel like I had any chance of beating him. It felt wrong even to compare myself to someone so exceptional. Calling him a monster didn’t even begin to describe him.

Those who’d lost interest in the hero after his pitiful score on the written test immediately returned to praise him.

What caught my eye was how suffocated the hero seemed by all the attention. It looked like he didn’t handle personal interaction very well… That hardly created any problems for me, though. For people who had an expert grasp of human nature, that kind of personality was easier to deal with.

Before long, the final part of our exam began. This last bit tested our combat skills.

Knights in active service from the Royal Alvanian Order served as the students’ opponents. Their weapons were blunted, and there were doctors at the ready.

The majority of students weren’t expected to have any chance of defeating a knight. More than victory, proctors were observing what sorts of actions students took during the sparring matches.

The arena at the Royal Academy was huge, with six rings set up within it. Tarte had to leave for the waiting room because her match was one of the first. This left Dia and me alone to watch from the stands.

A few matches had already ended.

“It looks like there are a lot of impressive people here,” Dia observed.

“Yeah. I’m glad at this chance to see the strength of our classmates so soon,” I answered.

House Tuatha Dé wasn’t the only family that valued combat education. Other clans were known for producing knights. They staked their statuses on military prowess and trained their offspring in the ways of war from an early age. There were even some students who matched the active knights in skill.

“Lugh, do you think Tarte will be okay?” Dia asked.

“She’ll be fine. You know how strong she is. Actually, now that I think about it, you haven’t seen Tarte in a real fight yet, have you?”

“Hmm, I guess not. So she’s that strong, huh? I need to watch closely.”

Tarte used a spear and surpassed the strength of most active knights. I had trained her as a Tuatha Dé and instilled in her knowledge and techniques from my previous life.

Tarte entered the ring. She was already holding the spear that she usually concealed beneath her skirt.

She faced her sparring partner, but before the match began, the knight suddenly bowed. The action caused a stir to run through those in the stands. It was clearly not a customary courtesy bow. The knight appeared to be genuinely thankful for something.

Tarte looked bewildered and unsure of what to do. The knight then said something to her, and Tarte’s face flushed deep red, after which she frantically made some kind of request. The arena grew noisy as people wondered what was going on.

Tarte and the knight immediately began the match as if nothing had happened, and Tarte ended up winning. She attracted everyone’s attention; the shock that a female servant defeated a knight was palpable.

Many people were suggesting that Tarte had seduced the knight into throwing the match. They couldn’t believe that someone who was both a girl and a servant could’ve won in a fair fight. Two students sitting next to us were among those spreading rumors.

“I have to get out of here for a bit. What these people are saying is too terrible,” Dia said.

“Hey, don’t worry about them. Anyone who can actually fight can easily tell Tarte’s true skill from the way she handles her spear. The people who don’t get it don’t deserve your attention,” I responded.

“That’s true, but…”

“Relax. They’ll get what’s coming to them. More importantly, your turn is coming up.”

If Dia let her emotions get the best of her now, it could affect her performance. Unlike her, I could use those feelings to enhance my capabilities. I’d said what I did to calm her down, but I was just as angry at all the people insulting Tarte. I promised to make them regret making such accusations.

“Ah, I have to go. Cheer me on…and take care of Tarte, okay?”

Dia left, and Tarte returned shortly afterward. I asked her what she and the knight had been talking about before the match.

“Um, he recognized me from when I was getting combat experience on the battlefield. He said I saved his life once, and he thanked me.”

“…So you met back then, huh?”

While we were in Milteu, I’d decided that Tarte didn’t have enough combat experience. Using some of my connections, I got her onto the battlefield for proper action.

“Yes. I would never have expected to see someone I fought with back then, so I was surprised.”

“It looked like you made some request. What was that about?”

“Um, well, he said he was going to tell the professors about my service on the battlefield and the embarrassing nickname I was given during that time. He meant well, but I asked him not to do it.”

“You do realize that now you have to tell me what your nickname was.”

“You can’t share this with anyone, my lord… It was the Electric War Maiden… I really don’t want to be called that in front of anybody.”

The Electric War Maiden. It fits her fighting style.

Tarte’s physical strengthening was exceptional, and her mastery of wind allowed her to reach incredible speeds. Her flexibility and reflexes even afforded her full-body control at top speed.

The Electric War Maiden was quite a fitting moniker. Tarte did possess lightning-fast speed.

She wasn’t without her weaknesses, though. Tarte was still growing, which could cause problems as she got even faster. At her current top speed, she could only barely maintain full-body control. Any swifter, and it would no doubt become difficult for her to execute her attacks.

If things continued as they were, her speed would surpass her ability to perceive objects in motion. She’d probably need Tuatha Dé eyes before long.

“Oh yeah, when is your fight, my lord? I’ve been looking forward to it so much!”

“I’m one of the last, so it’s gonna be a little while. For now, it looks like Dia’s match is beginning, so let’s cheer her on.”

“You should have told me that sooner!”

Dia’s match commenced. She was wielding a sword. It was clear from the beginning that she was at a disadvantage. She put up a good fight, but the match ended in defeat after five minutes.

Dia’s main fighting style was with magic. I’d started instructing her on the basics of close-quarters combat, but she was still a learner. She also got really unlucky with her opponent. He was very talented, even for a knight. He wasn’t the sort of opponent Dia could best.

“Aw, she was so close.”

“She did well enough to get a good score. What’s important is she demonstrated her capabilities. At her current strength, we can’t ask for more than that.”

The crowd clapped for Dia. She had given it her best effort, after all.

Dia left the ring, and Epona took her place. His opponent was the commander of the Royal Order. The man was top among the knights not just in rank but also in strength. He was wearing a full suit of armor. It wasn’t any ordinary plate, either. It was made of a scarce metal called mithril, which was significantly stronger than iron armor.

To some, it might’ve seemed excessive, but I thought it was a wise decision. Even with the commander’s elite equipment, the risk of being killed in a match with the hero was high.

No sooner had the bout begun than the hero disappeared. Immediately, he reappeared in front of the commander with his little fist raised. The commander instantly vanished from sight. A moment later, there was an intense boom.

As I scanned the area, a second thundering sound echoed through the arena. I finally found the commander collapsed in the stands.

Peering at Epona, I saw broken fragments of mithril scattered around him.

…He smashed that armor with his fist.

The hero was terrifying. I’d thought I understood that already, but this was ridiculous.

Not even my Tuatha Dé eyes could register his movement. If it had been me standing there in place of the commander, I would’ve suffered the same fate. Unfortunately, Epona was only going to get stronger from here on out.

“Epona’s not quite at Setanta’s level yet, but he’ll surpass him within a year. Actually, it might only be a month,” I muttered.

I wasn’t sure assassinating him would even be possible.

“I need to become stronger,” I vowed to myself.

My turn was fast approaching, and I needed to head down to the ring.

“Tarte, I’m heading down.”

“Okay, I’ll cheer as loud as I can!”

My test results all but guaranteed my placement in Class S at this point. I’d planned on playing it safe by losing intentionally while making it look like I put up a good fight, but seeing the hero’s absurd strength left me fired up.

I might just have to put in a little real effort.