TUS Vol. 1 Chapter 1 Part 3

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Chapter 1 Part 3

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☆★☆★☆★

A few minutes later, the steaks arrived on cast iron plates with wooden bases, along with the savory smell of garlic.

A sizzling and appetizing sound could be heard, and the overflowing juices seem to dance on the still hot cast iron plates.

The meat seems to be more than five centimeters thick as well.

Good good, this is it, this is just what I wanted. I’d like to eat it whole heartily, like gobbling up big chunks of meat.

Then, as I start to stab the meat with my fork, Anastasia let out a silly voice.

“……I-Is it really okay for me to eat such expensive-looking meat?”

I nodded at Anastasia’s words.

“Can I really……”

Anastasia’s face tensed up as she thinks about the thick-looking steak.

That’s when Anastasia grabs hold of the knife and fork in both hands, but inexplicably her hands are shaking.

“Why are you shaking?”

“It has been so long since I’ve had such a sumptuous and luxurious meal…so…I’m nervous…”

“We’re going to be together for a while, you know. Well, just think of it as a celebration, so don’t hold back and eat it. I’m looking forward to getting to know you, Anastasia”

Hearing my words, Anastasia—

“Um, uh…I will be—in your caaa……!”

Ah, she bit her tongue.

Immediately, Anastasia’s face flushed a bright red—

“Um, uh, er…for biting my tongue…I’m s-s-s-sorrie!”

She bit her tongue yet again.

Anastasia became teary-eyed and began to quiver.

I mean, she bit her tongue twice in a row, didn’t she? She must be really nervous, I guess.

“Well anyway, again, I’m looking forward to getting to know you”

“Ah, yes! Um, er…uh…I-I-I will be in your caarrrc!”

That’s when I couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

There she goes, biting her tongue again.

So I smiled gently at Anastasia.

“Don’t be too nervous”

Hearing those words, Anastasia relaxed her stiff expression a little and smiled. But then she bit her tongue again, “Ah, yes…uh…I-I-I’m…sorit!”.

“Haha, it’s fine, it’s fine”

Anastasia laughed shyly and stuck out her tongue with a teehee in response.

“By the way, Anastasia?”

“Yes, what is it?”

“Oh, don’t worry, you can eat while you’re answering me. So, you know, it sounds like you’ve been through many terrible experiences as a slave”

“Yes. That’s right”

“There must have been some absurd treatment. I can’t say that I won’t ever accidentally treat you that way. So if that ever happens, and I am being unreasonable, then it’s okay for you to get angry at me”

“Eh? Get angry at you…?”

“Yes, it’s okay for you to get angry at me. It’s also okay for you to say no to things you don’t like”

“Hmm…?”

Aaghh, this is going nowhere.

She’s been oppressed for so long that she doesn’t even seem to know the word ‘rebellion’.

“Yeah, you seem like you don’t even know how to get angry………oh, that’s right. Now is a perfect time, let’s practice on that”

“Practice?”

“Yeah. Try getting angry at me”

“Uh, but to do that to master…”

“It’s fine, it’s fine. Just try it”

Anastasia remained silent, deep in thought.

After a short while, taking a big, deep breath, she responded with, “Pun-Pun………”. |TL Note: SFX in romaji form, for when girls are pissed off|

“Eh?”

Then Anastasia remained silent again before taking another big, deep breath for, “Pun-Pun………”.

“Eh? What is that supposed to be?”

Anastasia and I look at each other.

“………”

“………”

Anastasia then said as if she had made up her mind.

“………………hey”

“………”

“………”

And after a few dozen seconds of mutual silence, the silence was finally broken by Anastasia.

“Um, uh…er…I’m sorriiee!”

Damn….

It was really unintentional that I thought of Anastasia being kind of cute after the past series of interactions we had.

☆★☆★☆★

On the next day.

And so we came to take the entrance examination for the Magic Academy—

“The exam is a battle royale”

After completing the initial examination procedures, we were ushered into the examination venue. The venue itself looks like a coliseum.

On the battle stage, there stands majestically a short-haired man in his forties in a tank top.

So, the entrance examination for the Magic Academy is known for its low acceptance rates.

That’s because generally there are about three paths a graduate of the Magic Academy can take.

The first path is being an elite in court services headed by royal court mages. The second is work as a researcher or an alchemist at a University of Magic. 

And the third is to register with the Adventurer’s Guild to become an adventurer.

The Adventurer’s Guild is always fraught with danger, but magic professions are so scarce that the rewards are often great and always in great demand.

The elites in the court services are rich. A researcher and an alchemist are often associated with high skill jobs as well. 

That’s why, basically, graduating from the Magic Academy will secure one’s future financial security to some extent.

And that’s also why the acceptance rates for the Magic Academy entrance examination are terrifyingly low.

Well, even though the acceptance rates are terrifyingly low, there’s no way I’m going to lose against the examinees who might as well are fledgling mages.

Anyway, according to the explanation given, the first stage of the exam is a battle royale with a total of 30 people.

A mock sword would be provided, and we have to defeat the people around us with magic or a sword or anything else that you can think of to place in the top 5.

Incidentally, there are a total of 600 examinees taking the exam this time, and that 600 is divided into 20 different groups with 30 people in each one.

“Er…it’s a battle royale style? That’s too unfair. What if there are five examinees who are at the level of passing in this group?”

With that, the proctor laughed at Anastasia’s legitimate concern. 

“Those who can do that come to the Magic Academy with a letter of recommendation, and they’re exempted from the first stage of the exam. My job is to look for diamonds in the rough, like cleaning out mud from a ditch or drain. It won’t take much effort to do that at the beginning of the exam either”

Well, I see what you’re saying there, but…….

By the way, as for Anastasia, excluding me, she only has herself to rely on, so we decided to take the examination together to help her get a job in the future.

I mean, this girl does come from Demon Royalty. Even though she’s only self-proclaimed, it seems that she has a rather unusual magic background, too.

“Don’t worry, you damn kids. I may look like this, but I’m still a B-rank veteran adventurer sent by the Adventurer’s Guild. In the unlikely event that this group is the only one with an unusually high level of bad luck, I’ll make an exception and let you pass the first stage of the exam. So don’t worry. I have a good eye for that sort of thing”

And so the 30 of us dispersed as we were prompted to get up to the battle stage.

“……Master? Actually, I…can’t do any close-quarter combat at all”

Well, I thought so. She looks rather delicate with her slim figure after all. 

“All right. Just stay close to me then”

“……In that case, I will be at the rear preparing for my ultimate magic”

Ultimate magic? I wonder what it is?

For the time being, I have no intention of using magic in the first stage of the exam. If I did use magic, I might stand out too much.

Though, swordsmanship is something that I learned purely as the 《Me》 in this life. 

As for my swordsmanship, even if I were to use them seriously, well, it probably won’t matter much.

“Now then—let the exam begin!”

Everyone on the battle stage started off by looking at me and Anastasia.

“Anastasia? Why is everyone looking at us…?”

“……Master looks feeble and I look delicate”

“In other words?”

“We look……weak, don’t we?”

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