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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“Certifications…”
“Let’s start from tomorrow. Fortunately, this city has all sorts of guilds gathered, so if we arrange the schedule well, we can visit around twenty places.”
“Twenty places?”
Isn’t that too many?
Does that literally mean poking everywhere that can be poked?
Well, in this situation, the best method is to submit resumes everywhere you can.
Renny bent over and took out a stack of papers that looked terrible just by looking at it from the desk drawer, then took out a pen from her cleavage and handed it to me.
Why do you keep it there?
“…Why are you staring so intently?”
“…It’s nothing.”
I shifted my gaze from her cleavage to her face.
This was inevitable.
How could I not stare when she took out a pen from there?
I never even thought someone would actually put a pen there.
“Don’t react like that. I do this because it’s comfortable. If I put it somewhere else, I keep forgetting and can’t find it. I’ve even put two pens there once because I forgot, but…”
It was quite an interesting TMI.
“Anyway, let’s move on. That’s not what’s important right now, right? You’re going to fill out the documents from now on, so get ready to sign. You can’t leave this room until you sign all the documents here.”
“Got it.”
There was no reason to refuse when an acquaintance offered to help with my job search.
I pulled a chair and sat across from Renny, holding the pen.
…But I don’t know how to write the letters here?
Does the translation skill compensate for writing too?
How do I sign?
It’s been more than 10 years since I last held a pen, so I don’t know what to write.
Should I write my name? Johann Quartz? What was my name before possession?
I’m dizzy.
My vision is blurring.
What was my name?
“Johann? What’s wrong?”
“It’s been 10 years since I’ve written anything.”
“Ah… I’ll write it for you, so try copying it exactly.”
Renny opened the drawer again, took out a sheet of paper, wrote large letters with a pen, and turned it halfway, handing it to me.
“Practice a few times and try copying it.”
“…It’s in Korean?”
“What?”
“It’s nothing.”
At least the guy who possessed me had a conscience and did a language patch for the letters too.
I imitated the letters I hadn’t seen in a long time a few times with crooked handwriting, then started writing on the signature line.
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“Johann, Johann! Look at that! It’s breathing fire!”
“It is…”
How intriguing.
We stopped for a moment to watch the man breathing fire.
People also seemed to find such a spectacle quite interesting, as they surrounded the man in a circle to watch.
It seemed to be a rare sight even here.
I stared at the man spewing fire from his mouth like a wyvern, then looked at the woman next to him who was floating a water droplet in the air and rolling it around.
Is that a skill?
Or magic?
Do the performances put on by traveling troupes in a fantasy world also use magic?
That’s amazing.
With such a skill, there would be no worries about drinking water or washing.
And in case of emergency, it could be used to extinguish fire or wash wounds.
But by what principle was that water generated?
By gathering moisture from the surroundings?
Does mana transform into water as it appears and disappears?
“Johann?”
“Oh, sorry. It’s quite interesting.”
“We should get going! You said you’re busy today!”
“Thanks.”
“Hehe. I’m the only one, right?”
“Yeah, yeah…”
I patted the head of Millia, who was clinging to my arm and rubbing her head.
She really was like a puppy.
We lifted our paused feet again and arrived at the guild where we would take the first certification exam today.
The Builders Guild.
It was the first destination I chose.
Among the guilds that seemed worth applying to and the ones that made me wonder why I applied, such as architecture, civil engineering, sewing, woodworking, masonry, blacksmithing, combat, magic, medicine, exploration, excavation, archaeology, minstrels, theater, etc., the Builders Guild seemed to have the most potential.
“Wow…”
As expected of the Builders Guild, it has a bizarre appearance.
We entered the building with an impressive twisted shape like a wrung-out rag, marveling at it.
The Builders Guild was bustling with people.
Maybe there were many people who came to find work in the morning.
Or maybe there were many people who came to take the exam like me.
Looking around the proctor, I saw people muttering something while holding papers, people praying with clasped hands, and people staring intently at a bulletin board that seemed to have requests written on it.
It felt more like an employment agency than a Builders Guild.
“Johann, I think that’s the line over there!”
I looked in the direction pointed by the genius Millia who had learned to read in a few days, and saw a sign that said ‘Builders Guild 3rd-grade Artisan License Exam’.
That must be it.
We walked straight to the end of that line and stood there.
There were about a dozen people in line.
All of them were men.
Well, there wouldn’t be any women in a guild like this…
Oh, there are.
I glanced at the female examinee at the very front of the line, caught at the edge of my vision.
Although the ratio of men was very high, it wasn’t that there were no women.
“Who are you looking at?”
“I’m just surprised that there are women too.”
Ouch, it hurts.
I looked at Millia, who had pinched the back of my hand.
Millia was looking up at me with a displeased expression.
“Don’t get distracted.”
Unlike usual, her dark gaze pierced through me as if she was glaring.
I immediately patted Millia’s head and said,
“There’s no such thing, so don’t worry.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Really really?”
“I said so.”
“Hehe.”
The gazes were stinging.
The gazes that seemed to say why are you making a scene here were very stinging.
I wanted to leave right away, but I came to take the exam today.
I can’t leave here.
When I deliberately glared at the surroundings with a fierce expression, the stinging gazes disappeared with the sound of fake coughs.
A fierce face comes in handy at times like this.
“When will it be our turn?”
“It’ll come if we wait.”
“Can I look around the guild?”
Even though the line had decreased by about a third, Millia already seemed bored.
“Just don’t go into places you’re told not to.”
“Okay!”
I just hope she doesn’t cause any trouble.
But she’s a pretty deep kid, so she probably won’t.
“Next applicant, please come forward!”
Ah, is it my turn?
I took out my recommendation letter and placed it in front of the receptionist.
The receptionist read my recommendation letter carefully, scanned me as if examining me, and gave me a small tag from the desk, saying,
“Your examinee number is 7, so you can go straight to the exam room. Go inside and show your examinee tag to the man wearing a yellow armband.”
“Where is the exam room?”
“Over there.”
Ah, that door.
I lightly bowed to the examinee and left the line.
Where did Millia go?
As I looked around, I spotted Millia surrounded by a few young men.
Seeing them talking and laughing, it doesn’t seem like a serious situation?
But I was still worried.
I walked up to Millia and spoke to her.
“Millia. I got the examinee tag.”
“Really? Then when do you take the exam?”
“They said to go in right now.”
What are you looking at, punks?
Your eyes.
Before I gouge out your eyeballs.
When I glared at them once, the cowards scattered, clearing their throats.
Where were they trying to touch?
“Can I watch too?”
“I don’t know.”
“I want to see it too~”
“We can ask and find out.”
I immediately opened the door leading to the exam room.
Beyond the door, a wide space that seemed to be able to accommodate about a thousand people was revealed.
Seeing the chairs around and a structure that looked like a spectator stand, I wondered if spectators were allowed.
I approached a man who was fiddling with his mustache, striking a pose.
“I came to take the exam.”
“Hmm. You came to take the exam?”
The man’s gaze swept over me once, then swept over Millia, who was clinging to my side.
His condescending gaze was a bit unpleasant.
But since he was the proctor for now, I couldn’t split his head in half.
I gently pushed Millia behind me and asked,
“Is spectating also allowed?”
“Ah, it doesn’t matter. As long as you don’t cause a commotion.”
“Millia. Sit over there. I’ll finish quickly and come back.”
When I sent Millia over there, a disgruntled voice was heard from the side, not sounding pleased.
“Hah, does this look like child’s play to you? Do you think you can finish it quickly? With that attitude, you won’t be able to pass.”
“We’ll see when we try.”
“Hah.”
I didn’t like this stereotypical unpleasant guy.
I clenched and unclenched my fists a few times, swallowing my annoyance.
If this were a deserted island, I would have dismembered his limbs and buried him alive in a grave by now.
“Seat 7 is over there.”
I moved to the seat the proctor pointed to.
People standing at roughly 15-meter intervals looked at me with curious gazes.
Is it because I don’t look like I have much connection to architecture?
Either way, it doesn’t matter much…
Now I need to check this strange floor material first.
I immediately sat down on the floor and felt the soil, no, the unknown substance that covered the floor.
“It’s not ordinary soil…”
“It’s soil infused with mana, commonly used in modern architecture. It has good viscosity and becomes stronger than rock when hardened, so it’s a widely used material.”
“Thanks for the explanation.”
“Haha. Originally, we should help each other in these things, shouldn’t we?”
What a rare, solid young man.
The guy on the opposite side was so scared that he couldn’t say a word.
Anyway, the man who spoke to me started talking with a good-natured smile.
“This is my third attempt, and I hope to pass this time.”
“…Is it very difficult?”
“You must be a first-timer. Of course it’s difficult. This is the headquarters, so it’s a place where they mainly recruit outstanding talents. Last time, it was about creating blueprints, and it was so demanding. This time, they changed the exam method to build a small building and test it, so they laid out mana-infused soil on the floor, but honestly, I think this will be even more difficult.”
It was good news for me.
If it were drawing blueprints, I would fail without a doubt.
I made things by feeling, not really drawing blueprints.
While we were chatting like that, it happened.
“Attention, everyone!”
Is it starting soon?
“Examinees who have come for the 3rd-grade architecture license! Welcome to the exam site!”
I heard applause.
Looking closely, I saw a group of elderly men gathered in the spectator stand behind the proctor.
Were they guild members?
On the other side, Millia, who was sitting there, really stood out.
Millia was waving her hand vigorously towards me.
“This exam, according to the opinion of Guild Master Norman, who said that just knowing the theory only makes you a useless know-it-all, has been changed to a practical exam where you create a 3-pyeong building within half a day!”
Can we make anything?
That was good for me.
I waited for the exam to start, half-listening to the proctor’s explanation.
“This is boring…”
“He always says the same thing every time.”
After spending the boring time with a brief chat, finally, the sound signaling the start came out of the proctor’s mouth.
“Then, I will now begin the exam!”
“Crafting.”
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