Tamika thought: What is this guy talking about?
(I got it from the person himself, so there’s no way it could be fake. I see—he got tricked by an antique dealer. From what I can see, he gives quite a timid impression. Maybe he got pressured into buying it.)
“Hey, Will. Yours is the fake.”
“Uh, um…”
They each continued arguing. That the other’s sword was fake. But gradually, they both remembered something.
((But Hero Dan said to keep the disciple thing secret. If I say I got this sword directly from him, it might be discovered. It’s best to stay quiet.))
“Ah, um, maybe my sword is the fake one.” (It’s real though.)
“Well, mine might be the fake one too, I suppose. There was no need to get emotional about it.” (It’s real though.)
The conversation settled down for the moment.
“It’s about time. Well then, do your best.”
“Ah, yeah, let’s both do our best.”
“Yeah.”
Tamika and Will parted there. Once he calmed down, Will regained his nervousness.
(…Come to think of it, Dia is coming too. There’s even a hero’s descendant… I really am getting nervous… This is the place where Hero Dan’s legend began. If I don’t do well here, maybe I’ll be expelled as a disciple!? What would I do then!)
The girl who had spoken to him earlier was a hero’s descendant. The aura she carried and the way she spoke were different from his own. The other exam applicants also seemed like strong people—could he compete with such big shots and win?
(No, no, I learned swordsmanship from Hero Dan… It’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay.)
“Wow, so this is the hero’s statue. His legs are shorter than I thought.”
“Eh!?”
His body shook with a start. For some reason, he suddenly noticed another different person beside him. To Will, he looked like a young man with the same black hair and spiky hairstyle as himself. He was about a head taller than Will.
His outfit was a white shirt and black pants—the same clothing as Will. And when he looked closely at his face, it seemed familiar.
“Ah, hello there.”
“Ah, suspicious traveler person!”
“That’s right, I’m Ban the suspicious traveler. You seem pretty nervous.”
“Ah, yes. I have stage fright.”
“I get it, I get it. Unlike before, now there’s an exam.”
“Are you taking the exam too, Ban-san?”
“Of course. I thought I should check it out.”
Ban narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked at Will, then at Tamika who had headed to the guild ahead of him.
“Well, anyway, nice to meet you. Let’s both do our best.”
“Y-yes! Thank you very much!”
“Seeing Will made me feel relieved somehow.”
“Wh-what do you mean?”
“I thought I wasn’t the only one who’s nervous.”
“You’re nervous too, Ban-san?”
“Of course I am. And I bet everyone taking the exam today is too. Everyone’s just putting on a brave front.”
“You don’t look nervous though.”
“I’m just trying to put on a brave front. Well, the nervousness won’t go away, so in this situation, I just have to produce results.”
“Th-that’s true.”
“The hero in this statue was probably the same way. Oops, I talked too much. See you later.”
The young man who called himself Ban waved lightly and went inside.
(It might be rude to think this, but there are normal-seeming people like that too… Everyone’s nervous together. A-alright, I’ll do my best too!)
As he entered the guild, Ban muttered in a voice no one could hear:
“Geez, you’re the most troublesome one.”
■■
Three months had passed since I began training with Will. He was getting stronger rapidly, but honestly, he still had a long, long way to go. This was something I knew from the beginning. However, it was true that his strength was growing more than I expected… so I was somewhat surprised.
Looking at his battles with goblins and childhood friends, I wondered if he had the typical protagonist trait of being surprisingly strong in clutch situations—I couldn’t tell. In any case, I had decided to act like I knew everything all along.
Now, I’d like to say it was time for Will’s training today, but surprisingly it was a day off. Furthermore, Tamika’s training the next day was also canceled. The reason was the adventurer registration exam.
The exam date coincided with their once-a-week training sessions. This couldn’t be helped.
While thinking this, I pondered what to do with my day off.
That’s when I thought about something: What should I do after retiring as a hero?
Live as a NEET off my demon king subjugation assets? No way—my aging parents are still working, so their son being a NEET is unthinkable. Besides, this world doesn’t have subscriptions, smartphones, or Wi-Fi.
How would I spend an entire day? I’d die of boredom.
Which means I should probably get some kind of job and live a normal life in this world.
It would be much better than living as a hero, so let’s think in this direction. Hmm, in that case, it might be good to register as an adventurer and get a new ID issued.
Becoming an adventurer means registering as an adventurer with the guild—the organization that manages adventurers.
Unlike before, becoming an adventurer now requires passing an exam, and those who pass are apparently treasured as quite excellent individuals. It’s basically like having a Level 1 bookkeeping certification.
Hmm, Will and Tamika are taking the exam together, and I’m curious about their interaction… This is perfect timing—I’ll take off my iron mask and take the exam too.
Somehow, I’ve been active under the name Ban without being discovered. Well, I’ve never shown my face to anyone, so there’s no way I’d be found out. Even companions I’ve traveled with for years don’t notice. Plus, my aura changes from usual.
I change my way of speaking too… “Hey there, nice to meet you.” Something like that good young man vibe, and I’ve even changed my name to [Ban].
Getting an adventurer qualification under a new identity for my second life.
I can monitor my disciple too—killing two birds with one stone. I decided to go to the exam.
Now, I was worried about Will, but… as expected, he was getting nervous in front of my bronze statue, so I casually called out to him.
Will really is the most troublesome one.
Now, after encouraging Will as Ban, I completed the reception process at the guild and was guided to a large separate room. It was like a university lecture hall from my previous life.
There were lots of seats, but they were already assigned, so I sat and waited. I could see magenta hair in front—that’s Tamika. And the one taking deep breaths diagonally in front is Will.
It’s a written exam today, you know? What are you going to do getting so nervous?
The adventurer registration exam apparently consists of written exam, practical exam, and interview in that order. I heard from my guild-working father yesterday that the written exam has lots of common sense questions, so I think it’ll be fine.
There were pens and test papers placed face-down on the desks. It brought back nostalgic feelings of student days. As I sat with my hands on my knees waiting, a man in a black suit who seemed to be the examiner appeared.
He was quite an elderly man.
Huh? That old man looks familiar.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Toll, the guild master of this town. I’ll be conducting the exam supervision. First, looking at others’ answer sheets is naturally prohibited. I’ll immediately throw out anyone engaging in suspicious behavior, so keep that in mind.”
Well, that’s natural. As I was thinking this, the surroundings got noisy and bustling.
“H-hey.”
“The guild master who got Hero Dan into the guild is that guy, right?”
“The legendary narrator, Toll.”
Ah, right, there was someone like that. I became an adventurer when I was five, so I don’t remember much, but I did ask that person.
“Gentlemen. This guild is the honorable guild that produced Hero Dan. And I was the one who processed his registration. I knew from the beginning. That this small boy would grow to carry the world on his shoulders.”
“””””Ohhh”””””
Is this part necessary? That old man just wants to say something that sounds impressive. Because even though it’s an old memory, when I said I wanted to register, he tried to throw me out. Plus, he was picking his nose with a stupid face like he knew nothing.
Will is also listening with admiration—he really is easy to fool… No, but maybe it’s better if he stays pure forever, so even if he becomes a hero, he’ll keep doing it forever.
Will, stay stupid forever.
“I look forward to the birth of great figures like the next hero… Now, begin the exam!”
Saying this loudly, everyone flipped their papers over. Ugh, the sound of everyone flipping papers at once is nostalgic. I never really liked this sound.
Well, let me switch gears and solve the problems… Let’s see, “Among the characteristics of the monster in the picture, choose the incorrect one.”
It’s surprisingly easy. Will and Tamika should easily pass the written portion too. Thinking this as I solved the problems, I stopped my pen at the last two questions.
Q: Describe Hero Dan’s feelings when he defeated Demon King Satan.
When I understood that problem, I remembered a trauma.
The first demon king I defeated was named Satan. At the time, I thought “what an on-the-nose name.” But that wasn’t the problem.
When I defeated Demon King Satan, I felt accomplishment and excitement, and understanding that I had truly become a hero in the real sense…
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.GITHUB.IO
—I ejaculated.
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