Early TBAGM Vol. 2 Chapter 2 Part 1

Full title: The Banished Advisor’s Guild Management

Note: If you found any typos/mistakes, pls write them in the comment. Thanks.

Translator: Canon

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Chapter 2 - Promotion Exam

At the same time, while we were traveling to the Magic Academy, Ellis and the others were about to begin their Promotion Exam.

“Mr. Orgus, I’ll be in your care today.”

“Yeah, leave it to me.”

Ellis and Rena arrived at the Adventurers’ Association, where Orgus was waiting at the entrance.

He had anticipated their arrival and came to meet them personally.

After handing Ellis over, Rena gave him a polite bow.

“Go get ’em, Ellis.”

“Yeah! I’ll come back as a proper B-rank!”

Seeing Ellis’s confidence, Rena smiled in relief and turned to leave.

The two remaining—Ellis and Orgus—headed for the examination chamber inside the Association.

“Just so you know, I’m not the examiner today. No special treatment or handicaps, got it?”

“Understood! I’m going all out, with everything I’ve got!”

“R-Right…”

Her overflowing enthusiasm made Orgus’s face tighten slightly.

Those were, in fact, Mr. Lloyd’s instructions; to make sure she didn’t rely on favoritism.

(Let’s just hope the examiner survives…)

Knowing Ellis’s true power, Orgus couldn’t help but groan internally.

Still, as Chairman of the Adventurers’ Association, he couldn’t possibly tell her to hold back.

“This is the testing chamber. There’ll be other examinees, so do your best not to lose.”

“Got it! I’ll blast them all away with my full-power 【Water Ball】!”

If she truly unleashed it, the Adventurers’ Association itself might not survive; it would literally collapse physically.

“Y-Yeah… maybe go easy on them, alright?”

Orgus tried his best to maintain composure, but his face was twisted into something between a grin and a grimace.

Ellis bowed politely and pushed open the door labeled “Promotion Exam Hall.”

“Whoa… there are this many people?”

Ellis let out a breath of admiration as she took in the crowd of examinees gathered at the testing site. She had expected a simple affair with only a handful of participants.

At a glance, however, there were well over fifty, and each examinee radiated a formidable fighting spirit. The air inside the hall matched that intensity, a taut tension prickling against the skin.

“Are you Ellis?”

“Ah, yes.”

“Got it. Your exam number is seventy-two. Looks like everyone’s here. I’ll begin explaining the advancement exam now.”

The male examiner checked Ellis’s name against his roster, then handed her a slip bearing the number 72. She was to affix it at chest level as a makeshift name tag.

“The C-rank advancement exam is different from what you’ve taken before; this is the test that formally recognizes you as a full-fledged adventurer. Bring your A-game!”

“““Yes, sir!”””

The examinees answered in unison, their voices so perfectly synchronized it felt rehearsed, the floor faintly trembling with the force of it.

This time’s exam was for promotion to C-rank; every examinee present was currently D-rank. As the examiner had said, D-rankers were the bottom rung, while C-rankers were regarded as standard adventurers capable of working solo; there was a decisive difference in how they were treated. Reaching C-rank also greatly improved one’s chances of being accepted into a guild.

Belonging to a guild meant a stable livelihood. That was why everyone seeking guild affiliation had come to take this advancement exam.

“First up is the written test. Take your seats.”

Following the examiner’s instructions, Ellis and the other examinees sat at the desks marked with their numbers.

Thus Ellis took the written exam alongside the rest. At the same time, Nick and Elna were sitting for their written tests at a separate facility.

Naturally, unlike the other examinees, none of the three had done any studying for this day.

All three would soon be shedding tears over their written results, but that comes just a little later.

—

The written exam ended after about an hour. Staff immediately graded the tests with magic, and scarcely ten minutes after the exam concluded, papers began being handed back.

“Exam number 20. Itona.”

“Yes!”

“83 points. Well done. Keep it up for the practical.”

“Y-Yes, I’ll do my best!”

The young man the examiner had called Itona accepted his paper with a grin.

The overall average seemed to be around 50 points.

One after another, the examinees received their tests back, and then it was Ellis’s turn.

“Exam number 72. Ellis.”

“...Yes.”

Ellis took her paper from the examiner, shoulders drooping.

She knew, of course, just how poorly she had scored.

The examiner’s strained expression told her as much.

“Th-Three points. In its own way, I’m impressed you even managed that...”

Naturally, out of a hundred.

“Th-Three points... what?!”

Ellis blurted out, unable to contain herself at the unexpected number.

She had known she hadn’t done well, but she’d still figured she had at least twenty. Had anyone ever posted a three before? No… surely not.

The examiner was past exasperation and simply stood there, dumbfounded.

“W-Were you sleeping?”

“I was not! I stuck it out to the very end!”

“You don’t get a score like this without nodding off. We even tossed in a few problems a child could solve, didn’t we?”

“B-But there were so many written-answer questions! The multiple-choice ‘mark-sheet style’ was barely ten percent!”

“Why are you getting mad at me... Ugh, whatever. You’re the last one. If you’ve got any fight left in you, move to the practical-exam grounds. Now.”

Deciding it was getting nowhere, the examiner left Ellis—cheeks puffed in frustration—and headed for the next venue.

Next was the practical exam, to be held not in this hall but at the training grounds.

“Three points? Why’d she even come?”

“Heh. That’s brutal. If this is just a commemorative attempt, she can go home.”

“Nice, we’ve already got one dropout.”

The other examinees, having overheard Ellis’s score, mocked her.

Ellis wanted to fire back, but three points were three points. All she could do was bite her tongue.

(Well, I’ll make up for it in the practical.)

Even so, she wasn’t crushed.

Mr. Lloyd had sent her off; that alone buoyed her. And little by little, she had begun to feel confident in her magic.

(If I fail to advance after this, Nero will never let me hear the end of it. I absolutely have to pass.)

† 

While Ellis was being mocked, Nick was getting the same treatment elsewhere.

“Are you serioussssssss?!”

“Very serious.”

Nick received his test paper—its score column bearing only a single digit—and slumped on the spot. He knew he hadn’t done well, but the blacksmithing written exam had been a mark-sheet from one to four. He figured if he bubbled “one” for everything, he’d at least net twenty points.

Yet the result that came back was a single digit. Apparently “one” had been correct vanishingly few times. There was nothing to call it but rotten luck.

“A blacksmith with no knowledge? Pathetic.”

“Think he can even handle the practical like this?”

“He’s bound to embarrass himself there; might as well go home now.”

The other blacksmiths made no effort to hide their irritation. Blacksmiths, by nature, tended to be craftsmen through and through; the presence of someone who clearly hadn’t studied rubbed them the wrong way.

Nick could feel those scorching stares, yet he showed no sign of panic.

Because, like Ellis, he believed.

(Well, Mr. Lloyd said I could do it. I’ll manage somehow.)

At first, Nick had grumbled about the towering wall before him.

But Mr. Lloyd would still make him climb it, offering the kind of advice that got him over.

Of course, Nick wasn’t just leaning on him. He strove constantly to exceed Mr. Lloyd’s expectations.

(In the practical, I’ll show them everything I’ve got.)

† 

Lastly came Elna’s written exam… and, well, it goes without saying.

“Nine points? Is that bad?”

“I—I think so, yes? It’s out of a hundred.”

Handed a single-digit score, Elna couldn’t even judge whether it was poor. The examiner gave a wry smile.

Hearing the word “nine,” the examinees around her began to mutter.

“This isn’t a place for kids.”

“And she’s a Dark Elf meathead who only knows how to fight, isn’t she?”

“The fact she isn’t even our kind—an Elf—means she’s already behind.”

Most of the alchemist examinees were Elves. Alchemy, to begin with, was practically their exclusive domain; the discipline aligned closely with Elven aptitudes. Many races were pigeonholed that way: Dwarves with blacksmithing and Elves with alchemy.

Among them, Dark Elves had the reputation of being muscle-brained people who could do nothing but fight. Some even held that Dark Elves were an inferior version of Elves.

A child and a Dark Elf, someone seemingly far removed from the path of an alchemist. Many whispered snide remarks at her.

She, however, didn’t grasp any of those slights. She wasn’t listening to begin with.

(I’ll work hard on the practical too! Then I’ll go home and get head pats from Lord Lloyd!)

And so the three of them each posted unprecedented scores on their written exams.

Yet not a single one of them was disheartened.

†

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