Chapter 38: The Fast-Track Trial II

The officer hesitated.

"All of them?"

"The middle-section gates. And get me Captain Rovan."

Keane noticed the man’s expression change. It was brief, but noticeable.

"Yes, Guildmaster." He said and left the room.

Keane looked back at Ersla.

"Middle-section?"

"The gates are divided into three broad sections: entry, middle, and deep. Each section represents a substantial increase in the difficulty and danger of the encounters within."

"How substantial?" He asked.

"Entry gates are used for training and routine work. Middle gates require experienced parties and are where most serious adventurers make their living. Deep gates are reserved for high-ranking teams and specialized operations."

"I see. So you’re not sending me into a training dungeon."

"No." Ersla said it without hesitation.

Keane leaned back. "Good."

She studied him for a moment. ’Not concerned, huh? You at least have a backbone.’ She thought to herself.

The officer soon returned with a stack of papers.

Behind him was a man Keane hadn’t seen before.

He was tall and broad-shouldered, with dark hair tied behind his head and a scar running from his left cheek toward his jaw. His armor was worn but well-maintained, and the sword at his waist looked like it had seen plenty of use.

He walked and stopped near the desk.

"Guildmaster." He said, in greeting.

Ersla nodded.

"Captain Rovan. I need your party for an assessment."

Rovan glanced at Keane.

"What kind?"

"An unranked registrant whose Realm cannot be measured."

The man’s eyes moved over Keane again. "Unranked?"

"Yes." She answered.

"And you want my party to observe him?" He asked again, still glancing at Keane.

"Correct."

Rovan looked back at Ersla.

"Which gate do you have in mind?"

Ersla who had been going through the paper given to her turned another page.

"A mid-section."

The room went quiet, not that there was any noise before, but this time it could be felt, as Rovan stared at her.

"You’re joking, right? Miss. Ersla—I-I mean, Guildmaster.."

"I’m not."

"Guildmaster, with all due respect, that’s not an appropriate assignment for an unranked adventurer."

"He’s not an ordinary unranked adventurer." She answered, her tone still very plain and seemingly without any weight to it.

"How are we so sure?"

"We aren’t, isn’t that the reason for the test?"

Rovan’s expression tightened.

"Your party will observe his performance. You will not interfere unless the situation becomes dangerous to the team."

"That is precisely what I’m concerned about." Rovan looked at Keane.

Keane watched the exchange, sort of amused.

He was starting to understand why the staff downstairs had been so careful when they mentioned Ersla. She wasn’t just another adventurer who happened to be filling in for the Guildmaster, she had her own authority, and she was very comfortable using it.

Rovan on the other hand, took a breath, "Guildmaster, the last party that underestimated a middle-section gate lost four people. They were experienced."

"Are you trying to tell me how your guild has incompetent members?"

"N-No, that’s not it. It’s just—"

"That’s why I’m asking you, isn’t it? Captain Rovan."

Rovan’s jaw tightened.

"If he’s genuinely capable, a middle-section gate is a reasonable test. If he isn’t, I’d rather find out now than have him enter a contract where other people’s lives depend on him." She said.

Keane looked at her, and she wasn’t bluffing. She genuinely believed that this was the most practical way to deal with him, and she was willing to take responsibility for the decision.

’Haha... this is exactly what it feels like to have an unreasonable boss.’ He thought to himself. How wouldn’t he be able to relate? When he was under one himself before waking up in this world.

Rovan looked like he wanted to argue further, but he eventually lowered his head.

"Understood."

"Good." Ersla nodded.

She turned back to Keane.

"Do you accept?"

Without hesitating, he responded, "Yes."

Rovan looked at him, partly confused, partly annoyed. "You understand what you’re agreeing to?"

"Yes."

"Middle-section gates aren’t training grounds."

"I heard."

"People die in them."

Keane nodded. "I know."

Rovan could only sit with his rising frustration without voicing it out. He studied him for a moment, then he looked toward Ersla.

"You’re certain about this?"

"Yes."

Rovan exhaled.

"Then I’ll make the arrangements."

He turned toward the door, his gaze momentarily falling on Keane.

’I guess this is how one of the strongest adventurer in the kingdom think.’

Rovan had heard enough about Ersla Knight to know that she wasn’t someone who made decisions lightly. She had arrived from the capital only a week ago, yet the Guild’s senior staff already treated her word as final more than they did their actual Guildmaster... and now she was sending an unranked stranger into a middle-section gate without blinking.

Rovan looked Keane over again.

’Does this man actually have the strength to do it?’

In the end there wasn’t much point to worrying, the gate would provide the answer soon enough.

Ersla picked up the assignment papers and began writing as Rovan left the office.

"Your trial will begin tomorrow morning. Captain Rovan’s party will meet you here before departure. They’ll explain the gate, the objectives, and the conditions of the assessment."

Keane nodded. "Understood."

"Don’t be late."

"I won’t." He said, standing up.

Ersla looked up at him one last time. "Keane."

He paused.

"If you have any abilities that could endanger the party, tell Captain Rovan before entering the gate."

Keane nodded once again, "I will." not that he had any such ability, heck, he had no skills yet.

Outside, Keane walked back through the Guild hall.

He’d come here looking for a way to become independent, instead, he’d been given a none way ticket to the skies. This would only mean him skipping a ton of unnecesary rankings and getting to the meatier portions.

How could the feeling now be described? It was like logging into a new game your buddy has been grinding for days, only to be assigned a starting rank far above his... bliss.

Keane couldn’t help smiling a little.

’At least things are moving forward.’