Chapter 04
By the window of the office overlooking the training ground.
Damon, who had walked up beside Calix, burst into laughter.
“Haha, just as expected. The former low-ranking knight and the ex-miner are dominating. They’ve already passed five laps. Meanwhile, that former priest trainee is only on her second lap and already in that state…”
Calix’s gaze shifted to Riana, running alone on one side of the training ground.
It was strange. Judging by her movements, she was clearly running—but her speed was barely any faster than walking.
Despite moving so slowly, she looked visibly exhausted, gasping for air and staggering as if she might collapse at any moment. Each time she wobbled, her brilliant platinum-blonde hair fluttered in the air.
“Oh, look at that. She’s about to drop any second, isn’t she? Just two laps and she’s already like that. Honestly…”
Damon clicked his tongue in disdain.
“At that rate, she wouldn’t be able to fight—or even run away in an emergency.”
Calix’s eyes quietly followed Riana. She truly looked like she could collapse at any moment. His eyes narrowed slightly.
“Come on, let’s just fail her here. There’s no point watching any further.”
“This test is a long-distance run.”
Calix, who had been silent until now, finally spoke.
“Pardon?”
“It’s not a test to see who runs the farthest in the shortest time.”
“Well, sure, but just look at her. She’s clearly about to collapse.”
“Let’s keep watching.”
Calix’s gaze shifted to the other applicants. They had sprinted at full speed early on, but after passing five laps, their pace was visibly slowing.
“Alright, fine. But I’m telling you—she’ll collapse soon. Just watch.”
Calix didn’t respond. He simply continued observing the training ground. Damon, determined to prove his guess right, stared just as intently.
After some time passed, the sun rose. As the world brightened and the applicants’ shadows grew clear on the ground—
“Huh?”
The former miner, who had been struggling forward, suddenly collapsed onto the ground. His face twisted in pain as he gasped for breath.
Behind him, Riana—still staggering as she ran—noticed him late, hopped over his fallen body, and continued forward.
“…W-what is that…?”
“She passed him.”
The corner of Calix’s mouth lifted slightly. Damon, clearly unwilling to admit he was wrong, scowled.
“No way. A miner couldn’t last? Well, the knight will be different.”
Indeed, the former knight had restrained himself after the early sprint and was running at a steady pace.
But once the sun fully rose, even he began alternating between walking and running, barely moving forward. He had reached his limit.
As Calix watched the knight, his gaze returned to Riana.
She was still gasping and staggering—but even so, she passed the knight, inch by inch, continuing to move ahead.
Calix’s eyes slowly closed and opened again.
“The first test ends here.”
“What?”
“And the highest score goes to… the priest trainee.”
“W-what?!”
Calix turned his gaze to Damon.
“This test was meant to measure stamina and mental endurance. She met those conditions most precisely. Wouldn’t you agree?”
His eyes lingered on the knight, who had nearly stopped completely, then on Riana, who was still moving forward—slowly, but without stopping—before returning to Damon.
Damon shook his head, clearly struggling to accept it, then let out a small sigh.
“Well… I suppose that’s true, but still—”
“But still?”
“…No. If that’s your judgment, Captain, then it can’t be helped. I’ll score it that way.”
“Is the second test ready?”
“Ah, yes! We’ve prepared it so we can depart immediately after the first test ends.”
“Good.”
Calix calmly turned away, his gaze lingering for a moment on Riana running in the distance.
Damon opened the second-floor window and shouted loudly.
“End of test! We’re coming down now, so everyone stop and gather in front!”
And so, the first test ended.
***
“Whew… it’s finally over.”
At the vice-captain’s voice, I slowly came to a stop. Even then, my insane healing power was busy circulating through my body.
‘You can stop now. Seriously. That’s enough.’
But it wasn’t something that listened to me in the first place. The healing power kept restoring my stamina, apparently deciding that I still wasn’t in peak condition.
‘Well… at least I feel refreshed.’
Thanks to that, I actually felt better than before the run as I walked forward. Seeing me like that, one of the men finally broke his silence.
“What are you? Do you even know what running is?”
‘Wow. Rude.’
Then the muscular man spoke with a bright smile.
“Still, that was impressive. Watching you crawl all the way to the end without giving up was really moving.”
‘Is that a compliment or an insult?’
I responded with a soulless smile instead. Just then, the vice-captain came out of the building, looked us over, and paused as his eyes settled on me for a moment. He let out a small scoff.
‘What was that about?’
Then he spoke again.
“Alright, good work, everyone. The scores will be announced later all at once. Now get on that carriage. I’ll take you to the second test site.”
“What? Right now?”
The quiet man wiped sweat from his forehead and spoke weakly. The muscular man quickly chimed in.
“I-immediately is a bit much. Couldn’t we have even a short break—”
“Then do you want to go home?”
“N-no!”
“No, sir.”
“That carriage is already special consideration from the captain. Normally, you’d have to go from here on your own… tsk.”
After briefly suppressing his irritation, the vice-captain pointed toward a distant mountain.
“The second test is to descend as fast as possible from the midpoint of Henes Mountain to the destination.”
“What?!”
The muscular man shouted in shock.
“H-Henes Mountain is famous for being dangerous. That side especially has lots of rocky terrain, and civilians aren’t even allowed in—”
“Are you civilians?”
“What?”
The vice-captain took a deep breath and bellowed.
“What kind of jobs do you think come to a mercenary corps? The most dangerous, most avoided missions—those are exactly what come to us!”
“Ah, I-I just…”
“No more talk. Get on the carriage. If you want to quit, get lost right now.”
“No!”
We hurried onto the carriage with the others, steeling ourselves.
‘Henes Mountain really is dangerous. I’d better be careful. One wrong step and I could go tumbling.’
The carriage climbed a steep road and stopped at a certain point. When I got down and looked back at the path we’d taken, it looked surprisingly manageable.
Just as I thought it seemed doable—
“Applicants will descend using the path on the opposite side. Go down to the clearing where the Henes flag is visible. The faster you get there, the more bonus points you’ll receive.”
The man who had brought us wasn’t a coachman, but a mercenary. After pointing to the opposite side, he coolly climbed back onto the carriage and drove back down the way we’d come.
“The opposite side…?”
The quiet man took a few steps toward the dark path ahead.
“Damn it.”
He cursed immediately. When I followed and looked, I understood why.
A sheer cliff stretched downward, with jagged rocks jutting out everywhere. A narrow ledge ran between them, slick and muddy from recent rain.
“They’re telling us to go down there fast? That’s basically telling us to die.”
Grumbling, the man stepped onto the cliff path first, carefully finding cracks to place his hands and feet. The muscular man followed, pulling out a small dagger and driving it into rock crevices as he advanced step by step.
‘No way I’m losing.’
But… why were they all heading for that narrow path? There was a wider route right next to it.
I spread my arms for balance and started sidestepping along the wider path.
‘Oh. This is manageable.’
I was moving along steadily when—
“Hey, that way—”
The quiet man turned back to speak to me.
“…Huh.”
The moment I turned my head toward him, the ground supporting one of my feet gave way.
My body tilted, my foot slipped into empty space, and my hair whipped through the air.
“The ground’s unstable! Be careful!”
He shouted.
‘That warning is a bit late!’
Cursing the delayed advice, I started rolling downward.
‘Ah. I’m falling.’
No scream came out.
Thud.
I was sure my body slammed into a rock, and for a split second it felt like something had gone terribly wrong—but when I bounced back into the air, a refreshing energy wrapped around my entire body. I didn’t even have time to feel pain.
‘Huh?’
Crack—
I think I hit a tree too. It even felt like the tree snapped—but again, my wounds healed instantly before I could process the pain.
‘This healing power is seriously insane…’
I’d never been injured like this before, but the recovery speed was unbelievable.
Roll—thud! Roll, roll, roll…
Just when I started wondering how long I was going to keep tumbling—
BOOM!
With a massive impact, my spinning body finally stopped.
And just as I felt my body refresh again, someone’s arms quickly caught me and lifted me up.
“Riana!”
“…?”
When I opened my half-lidded eyes, a pair of familiar blue eyes was quietly looking down at me.
“Are you alright?”
It was him.
Calix Reinhardt.
