chapter 34
* * *
“If you are confident in your bravery, go to the left, if you want to show off your wisdom, go to the middle door, and if you want to use your accumulated knowledge, go to the right door.”
Philip nodded at the bear’s explanation.
“yes.”
He first opened the door with the word ‘knowledge’ on it.
As soon as I opened the door and stepped in, a light came on in the dark room.
In the middle of a room lined with bookshelves, like a library, I saw a fox with two adorable tails wagging its tail waiting for the first visitor.
“… Alas!”
As soon as the fox saw Philip, it spun around in excitement and quickly wagged its tail.
“I thought I was going crazy after rotting forever in this small space!”
Then, it jumped at Philip, put his front paw on Philip’s dagger, and rubbed his head. Philip silently accepted the intense display of affection.
Those talking animals that exist in this ‘Hall of Achievement’ are artificial life forms created by the magic of the great sage Asla.
Knowing about this place, Philip couldn’t help but feel pity for them.
He grabbed the fox by the side and lifted it up. Then the fox stuck out its tongue and licked Philip’s face, then suddenly came to his senses and struggled with his legs and fired at him.
“Leave this. I am the examiner who supervises the test on behalf of the great sage, Asla-nim.”
Philip put down the fox and made a puzzled expression.
‘They put it first.’
However, Philip was able to accept that level of rawness.
“This example. I’m sorry.”
When Philip apologized, the fox with a raised nose nodded with a calm expression.
“Please be careful next time.”
Only after he answered that he understood, Philip was able to hear an explanation of the test.
“This is a space to test your ‘knowledge’. Depending on how many of the five questions I give you get right, you can get a better reward.”
“okay.”
Philip nodded, and the fox added a quiet voice.
“It’s not going to happen, but if you get all five questions right, you can choose the best item from Asla-sama’s leftovers and take it with you. Among them, I recommend Asla-sama’s key.”
Philip laughed at the fox’s shallow tricks.
The ‘Asla’s Key’ was a key that symbolized the ownership of the Hall of Achievement here.
Of course, I couldn’t touch the rewards here, and the only things I could do with it were selecting people to challenge the test and being able to handle artificial life.
The fox wanted Philip to choose the key and release him from this place.
Philip’s goal, of course, was the key. In fact, if I had to say another reward, it was a famous sword, magic staff, or materials, and those were things he could get enough of if he set his mind to it.
However, the artificial life created by the Archmage could not be obtained anywhere. Philip knew how strong that respectful bear or this fox was.
‘I pressed alt-tab to search the Internet, but I was surprised to see a sudden battle.’
Crossing over to another window during the test of knowledge was considered cheating, and a battle ensued right away. I still remember that all the students I had raised until the middle were in a dying state with that fox’s torso head-butt. It was clear.
“Then, I will test your knowledge.”
As the fox declared, hundreds of thousands of books slipped out of the decorated bookshelves and passed before Philip’s eyes.
And one of them stopped.
[This flower grows only in fog, and has the effect of disorienting people when consumed. It is used as a raw material for confessions and aphrodisiacs, and elves use this flower as a paralyzing drug. Please tell me the name of this flower.]
A glowing crest suddenly appeared in the air, and Philip recognized that this was the first problem.
‘It’s easy.’
The first problem was as expected easy. Philip gave the correct answer without thinking for a second.
“Lunarius.”
This was a level of problem that anyone who had ever fostered a wizard character could answer. Philip was a little taken aback when the questions were randomly presented, unlike what he had been through, but he wasn’t without confidence.
“That is correct. Then the second problem.”
When the fox checked the answer, the books started spinning again.
[The Manticore is a monster that knows how to use magic. Most of these live in old ruins or underground dungeons, preventing uninvited guests from approaching them. Because of this habit, the ancients called the manticore #%@$.]
This time it was a matter of filling in the blanks.
In the case of ancient knowledge, the opportunity itself to access was limited, so it could be said to be a fairly difficult problem.
“Secret Devourer.”
However, Philip gave the correct answer without hesitation. So far, it’s been easy.
“That is correct. Let’s move on to the next one.”
[Ah, he was once a symbol of justice and judgment and served by all knights, but it is so difficult to find traces of him today. $%^$%, ancient forgotten god. I hope that one day your light will shine on us again.]
Originally, the difficulty of this test increased geometrically when the questions were answered consecutively. This was a bit tricky even for the late Philip.
‘… what was it roo? What was it like?’
It was so insignificant information that I couldn’t remember it completely.
The name of an old god like this used to be attached as a modifier to the item that goes through, not the final item in the game.
Philip, who frowned and pondered for a moment, gave the correct answer cautiously.
“Rubetus?”
Then the fox jumped out of place.
“That is correct!”
When he got the third question right, the fox’s eyes looked at Philip with respect.
The great sage Asla asked the professors and instructors of the Faculty of Magic and Humanities to solve this problem first, but few people got the answer right.
‘Maybe this person can get all the questions right at once.’
The fox thought so, and her eyes twinkled.
And the following question was raised.
[This organization was established for the purpose of subjugation of mankind from a very long time ago… .]
“Ah, Changseonghoe.”
Philip gave the correct answer without even hearing the whole question. This was a problem that came up while playing the game.
Watching Philip pass 4 out of 5 steps in an instant, the fox nimbly chewed his tail hair.
“That is correct. I… text? Forget Asla-sama’s key I mentioned earlier. that’s true… It won’t be of much help to you. You can’t get the treasures of this place just because you have it.”
It must have been pricked by conscience. Philip responded with a smile.
“That is for me to decide. Give me the last question.”
“… joy. This is going to be really difficult. No matter how many books you’ve read, it’s hard to guess unless you’re someone who lived hundreds of years ago.”
The fox scared Philip with a pointed tone.
And exactly five minutes later, Philip came out of the door of knowledge holding the ‘Key of Asla’ in one hand and supporting the fox’s butt with the other hand.
“Kkkkkk.”
A fox that came out of the ‘gate of knowledge’ for the first time in hundreds of years waggled its tail and enjoyed freedom.
“Visitor, is that?”
The bear opened its mouth in surprise when he saw the reward Philip had chosen. Philip looked at the bear and notified.
“Now that I have transferred ownership of these halls, you must do my bidding. Please call the rest of the examiners.”
The two examiners in charge of the Trial of Valor and the Trial of Wisdom also came out after being called by the bear. Each was a large tiger and a monkey wearing glasses.
“Meet the new owner.”
As soon as the artificial lifeforms saw the key to Asla held by Philip, they showed their obedience in their own way. Looking at them, Philip felt reassured as if he had won a thousand horses.
“Don’t call me master, call me manager. You will be free except to do my bidding, or when the students use this hall. Let me explain the basic policy first… … .”
Philip explained his plan to the animals.
From now on, they would be of great help in effectively nurturing Lua and the children who would become her companions.
‘Even when I’m not paying attention, these animals should stimulate the children’s spirit of improvement.’
In other words, it was turning automatic hunting back to these animals while Philip was taking care of other things.
“To sum up what the new master said, it makes sense that we are now to be examiners and teachers. Is my understanding correct?”
the bespectacled monkey asked, and Philip nodded.
“Oh my, I want to meet cute kids soon. Oh my gosh, how lovely!”
The tiger spoke in a thin and modest voice.
‘I don’t think the kids would think so.’
Philip smiled awkwardly and nodded.
“I will see you soon. Well, I’d rather bring a few right now, so hang on.”
‘I’ll have to bring Cheryl.’
* * *
“Is this where the insolvency will be?”
“Here… It looks like it needs some cleaning.”
Sheryl blinked at the dusty warehouse. Johnny, who was reading a book with her at the library, also followed her into the storage room.
“Cleaning can be done later. Actually, I found something here, and I want to show you guys a tour.”
“… ?”
Sheryl tilted her head and walked carefully through the dusty warehouse. Then he touched the stacked boxes, and the dust that spread from them entered Johnny’s narrow nostrils.
“Etchu!”
A reflex sneeze came out. Mucus and saliva spurted out and hit the back of Philip’s neck.
“… sorry… do.”
Johnny’s face flushed red, and he hurriedly took out a handkerchief and held it out to Philip.
“It’s okay. Things like that happen, too.”
But Johnny’s wasn’t all right. She felt ashamed and wanted to die.
It was an aristocratic girl’s instinct to want to look pretty to a handsome and kind young man like Philip, and Johnnys, who owed his life to him, was no exception.
“There it is. It’s dark, so I won’t lead.”
Philip went down the stairs and the two girls followed him. As the group entered the ‘Hall of Achievement’, now owned by Philip, a bear greeted them.
“Ah, manager. As you said, you are back with plenty of guns and beautiful ladies.”
Cheryl and Johnny were surprised by that polite and thoughtful tone and voice and held each other.
“Mom!”
“The bear said… ?”
Soon, the girls heard the explanation about the Hall of Achievement, and their eyes lit up with curiosity and a burning spirit of challenge. It wasn’t strange because he was at an age when his desire for recognition was in full swing.
“I want to take the test of wisdom. Actually, although I work in the library, I haven’t had time to read much.”
Cheryl declared that she would enter through the Gate of Wisdom.
“I will take the Trial of Valor.”
As Johnny’s voiced her aspirations, Philip’s anxious gaze pierced her tender heart.
“Is that okay?”
Philip asked cautiously. To Johnny’s ears, it sounded like asking if a mannequin like you would be okay.
“profit… are you okay. At that time, I was so surprised that it was like that. I’m a direct descendant of the Murella family, which produced two great sages, so this kind of test is just… !”
She clenched her fist and opened the door of valor before Cheryl did. Soon, the door closed by itself, and after a while, Johnny’s scream came out.
The first step in the ‘Test of Valor’ is to overcome fear. Perhaps Janice had seen what she feared the most.
“Kyaaah!”
“Oh my gosh! Hey, baby! Are you okay?”
The door burst open with the tiger’s urgent cry. The friendly female tiger took a soft bite at the fainting Johnny’s clothes and delivered her to Philip.
“If I knew you were going to be scared like this, I would have scared you in moderation, but it’s my fault. I joked with her because she was so cute.”
“It’s not your fault. The kid is a bit scared.”
Philip comforted the tiger and sat down on the ground so that Janice could lie on his lap.
“… … Am I going to be like that too?”
“The test of wisdom is not taken like that, so don’t worry. If you go through a few steps, you will get a pretty nice gift.”
With Philip’s support, Cheryl opened the door of wisdom. Philip waited patiently, watching Johnny’s condition until she came out again.