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Chapter 43: Of Planning and Detailing (2)

It had now been two days since the promotions began. Only after a crowd of people flocked in like a thunderstorm did Henry begin the entrance exam.

“Is the exam hall ready?”

“As you’ve requested, I’ve rented the entire vacant square in the back of the city.”

It had been worth waiting for two days. In the huge empty space in front of the exam hall, there was a long queue of people extending off into the distance, waiting their turn.

“Then, let’s start! The exam is divided into three stages!” the assistant in charge of the exam shouted at the top of his lungs.

At that moment, someone who was waiting for their turn in the queue asked a question loudly.

“Hey! Is it true that even if we fail the exam, you’ll give out something like an interview bonus?”

The crowd buzzed. An interview bonus… something like that was unheard of. Henry had prepared a small event, using this ‘interview bonus’ to entice and attract more talented people.

“Of course. Those who pass the first stage will receive an interview bonus of one silver.”

One silver was by no means a small amount of money. It was more than enough for a night’s lodging and a day\'s worth of food and drink.

‘How generous does he intend to be?’?Ten thought as he clicked his tongue and shook his head. No matter how he looked at it, it seemed like nothing but a complete waste.

“Then, let’s begin the first stage of the exam. The first test is straightforward. All you have to do is pass through the small room in front of you and enter the second-stage exam center.”

The crowd buzzed once more.

“What kind of exam is this?”

“Is there a monster inside there or something?”

“Man, they’re looking down on us too much, aren’t they?”

“Kekeke, this is way too easy.”

It was just as the assistant had said. The first test was just to pass through the special room that Henry himself had prepared.

“Oh! For those who are unable to continue with the exam, you may leave through the exit on the left.”

And with that, the assistant officer’s explanation was over. The applicants all looked confident, but Henry couldn’t help but burst out in laughter at them.

‘Shall we take a look at how good everyone really is?’

Before long, the first volunteer stood up.

“I’ll show you how good I am.”

He was a swordsman with a slim figure, carrying two short swords at his waist. He stepped forward toward the first exam room, looking confident as ever.

‘Why is it so dark?’?he thought to himself as he approached the entrance.

It was a very dark room, more like a long and narrow hallway. The only light that shone through was the sunlight at the end of the hallway, which was barely visible. Of course, there was also the exit on the left, for participants who wanted to forfeit.

‘Calling this a test, isn’t this a bit too lame?’

The test looked so straightforward and easy that the man burst into laughter as he took his first steps into the room.

However, at that moment…

Zoom~

‘Whoa! What the hell is this?’

He suddenly felt an intangible aura that weighed down his entire body with incredible power. Feeling as though a giant had stepped down on him from above, he had no choice but to pull his outstretched foot back out of the room.

‘W-what the hell was that?’

As soon as he stepped backward, the tremendous force disappeared. It was only then that the man realized what this first test was.

‘Indeed… I see.’

The first test was a test of stamina. After grasping the nature of the test, the man took a deep breath and another step forward.

Kwooong!

‘Just as I had expected! But this won’t be enough to stop Sylvesron!’

The pressure was bearable. Sylvesron believed in his own strength and quickly ran toward the warm sunlight shining from the exit in front of him.

* * *

“Mm, what is…”

The dazzling sunlight hit his eyes. Had he succeeded in passing through the dark test room and coming out of the exit? He tried to get up to check his situation.

“Mm?”

As he sat up straight, he inadvertently touched the floor. However, what he felt on his hand was not the hard floor, but the soft texture of skin.

“W-what is this?”

As his pupils adjusted to the brightness of the sunlight, the man began to make out his surroundings. He was on a mountain. A human mountain, made up of unconscious people piled on top of each other.

“Hey, you. If you’re awake, get down here.”

“H-how did this happen?”

“What do you think? Don’t you remember? You fainted in the first test room. That’s why you were moved here.”

“Huh?”

Sylvesron was certain that he had sprinted forward, enduring the pressure to get to the exit. However, with each step he had taken forward, the pressure had become more and more intense, and he had eventually passed out in the end.

“That means that everyone here is…?”

“Stop asking the obvious. Anyway, you can try the first test again, so if you’d like to have another go, get back in line,” the assistant explained as he pointed toward the long queue.

It was endlessly long, those at the back of the line just specks on the horizon.

“H-how can this be! What kind of bullshit…”

Meanwhile, Henry stood waiting at the second test site for those who passed the first test. Henry called the first test site the Strainer. In it, he had activated an incremental gravity magic, whereby gravity became stronger the closer one was to the exit. Right at the exit, gravity was dozens of times stronger than normal.

‘I don’t need anyone who can’t even pass the first test.’

The reason why Henry had prepared the Strainer was simple. He needed someone physically strong enough to endure that level of force, or, if they were a magic user, he needed someone who could notice the trap and escape the first test room with defensive magic. However, even though it had been several hours since the exam began, a single challenger had yet to arrive at the second test site.

‘Incompetent bastards.’

The test continued. The test, which had started around noon, continued until sundown. Still, not a single person could overcome the Strainer.

“Sir Henry, is it really okay for us to continue like this?”

“What do you mean?”

“I heard that no one passed the first test even after one whole day?” Vant asked worriedly, taken aback by the difficulty of the exam.

“It’s fine. Let’s wait for one more day.”

Henry had never had any intention of accepting all the participants, anyways. The purpose of this test was to find the diamond in the rough. All those who had failed the first test complained about its difficulty. However, on the other hand, there were some who accepted the difficulty of the test, saying that it was on a level proportional to the good treatment they were getting.

As the first day of the Million entry exam ended, those who had failed began to wander around the city.

* * *

“It has begun.”

Shortly after the exam ended, Henry, alongside Vant, looked down at the applicants from Vivaldi Tower.

“This is just the beginning. We plan to proceed with our plan for a month, so let’s try to make as much profit as possible during this one month.”

“Understood.”

With the agreements set in stone, all sorts of taxes that were once unheard of began to appear around the city, including in the arena. Of course, the existing residents of the city, except for the arena fighters, were exempt from these taxes. The targets of this tax agreement were basically just the new fighters.

Two of these new fighters strolled through the streets.

“Since we’ve come all the way to Vivaldi, should we try our luck in the arena?” asked one of them.

“I think it would be better for me to participate in it than to bet on it.”

“Have you found a place to stay for the night?”

“I barely managed to find a place, it was so difficult to get a room because of all the new people flocking in.”

“Oh yeah, don’t even get me started on the bars. How is it that a city of this caliber doesn’t even have a place to drink?”

“Aren’t you an F-grade too? How about we make a bet on who gets to D-grade first?”

“Sounds good. Loser pays for the drinks tonight, yeah?”

“Great!”

Thanks to the sudden influx of people, the economy of Vivaldi began to churn at a rapid pace. However, just as Vant had expected, the existing fighters began to express their dissatisfaction one by one due to the sudden admin fee in the arena.

“What the hell is this? Matching used to be free! Why is there suddenly a matching fee?”

“That is… due to the sudden increase in new fighters, there is a shortage of manpower. In order to make up for the shortage of manpower, we have no choice but to apply a special fee, just for the time being.”

Whenever the existing fighters complained, the staff responded swiftly as if they had expected such a response. Of course, this was all a stopgap, while the groundwork for something bigger was being set up.

“Why are we getting screwed because of all these newcomers?”

“Fuck… and it’s not like we can kill them off either.”

One by one, complaints continued to pop up. However, just as Henry had expected, nothing major happened on the first day of these new tax measures.

* * *

Those who were not able to find a room ended up lying drunk in the streets. However, those who stayed in good spirits had refrained from drinking and waited patiently in front of the first test room early in the morning.

“Today, I will definitely break through.”

“Are there any tricks to it?”

“I did plenty of research last night.”

“What’s the trick?”

“If you’re successful, let me know what it is as well.”

Those who had gathered early in the morning were the relatively more hard-working ones of the bunch. However, even if they were to put in extra effort, it wouldn’t be so easy to pass Henry’s test unless they were well prepared for it in advance.

The second day of the exam began. However, this time too, there were many dropouts. Some gave up early and returned to the arena to recoup their expenses.

Still, the exam continued. By the end of the lively afternoon, the applicants were roughly divided into four distinct categories.

First were new challengers who had yet to take the test. Second were challengers who had failed but vowed to keep on trying. Third were challengers who had given up early and turned to becoming an arena fighter to come away with a profit. Last were full quitters, who had given up everything and returned to their hometown.

As time passed, the number of applicants who turned to arena fighters instead increased, and at the same time, so did the number of applicants who decided to return home.

Everything in Vivaldi was comparatively a lot more expensive than other places. Most of the applicants who had gathered in Vivaldi had come with dreams of success. For such people, Vivaldi was a difficult place to stay for a long time. Henry felt the greatest pity for them. They had no choice but to turn toward the arena fights to make a living and stay in Vivaldi for just a little longer.

On the second day after the special tax measures were imposed, complaints from existing fighters finally exploded.

“Well, fuck! I’m done! You take fees from me, then what do I have left with? How do you expect me to survive!”

“The payouts have dropped because the number of fighters have increased? What kind of bullshit is this?”

“Fuck this shit, I’m done! Ptooey!”

Some of the dissatisfied fighters even began protesting in front of Vivaldi Tower. It was the exact outcome Henry desired.

“Sir Vant, as soon as dawn arrives, execute the plan I told you about.”

“You mean giving tax-free benefits only to existing fighters?”

“That’s right.”

“But will that really be okay? If we do that, it will be the new fighters that will be kicking up a fuss this time.”

Henry had enough countermeasures for this as well, including a certain degree of tyranny, but all of these were just temporary measures. After all, these new fighters would be the ones to leave should that moment arrive, and of course, he had also perfectly prepared countermeasures for that as well.

Turning toward an anxious Vant, Henry said, “You don’t have to worry about that. I already have a contingency plan in place.”

* * *

Day three arrived.

This time, the long-time applicants, mixed with new challengers, flocked to the testing location early in the morning to be first in line. The place was, of course, the spacious vacant square located at the back of the city. However, this time around, the applicants found another Strainer built next to the first test room.

One of the long-time participants’ curiosity got the better of him, and he spoke up.

“Assistant officer, what is this?”

“Ah, from today onward, there will be another new rule added.”

“A rule? What new rule?”

“This test room here is the exact same one as the existing room. However, this new one is only available to those with special qualifications.”

“And what are those special qualifications?”

“This test room is a special test room that can only be used by arena fighters of B-grade or higher.”

“What?”

In other words, it was a testing room for fighters only. Henry was symbolically encouraging the long-time applicants to expand their careers as arena fighters by setting up a special fighter-only test room.

The reaction was fierce. Everyone cursed at the appearance of a privileged fighters-only test room. However, the long-time applicants, who were tired of waiting every day in the queue, began to head towards the arena under the excuse that they had to earn their living expenses.