#021. The First Team Assessment is Too Kind (2)

#021. The First Team Assessment is Too Kind (2)

Theresa of Motherhood.

The rising star of the Sodom Guild.

The Sodom Guild’s fastest achiever of Rank 4.

The Breaker of the Piggy Bank Commission Custom.

The adventurers’ envious gaze towards Theresa’s party exceeded Ian’s expectations.

The Ring of Wisdom.

He hadn’t anticipated that all the adventurers belonging to the Sodom Guild would challenge this strange test.

Well, even the entrance exam was unusual.

Normally, joining a party wasn’t such an interesting spectacle.

“Your commission performance this month is only three cases?”

“Ah, yes… Matching party members took some time…”

“And one case failed.”

“Well, the party members’ level was a bit lacking…”

“You seem like someone who blames their teammates when things go wrong. Why shouldn’t we see you that way? If there’s a reason, please tell us.”

Document screening and pressure interviews.

Of course, all of them are conducted in private.

“Hey, girl. Let’s fight with swords! If I win, you’re joining my party!”

“Is that adventurer from some backwater province?”

“I don’t know. I’ll put him on the party ban list. If he does that again, I’ll report him for stalking and make him pay a fine.”

“…”

Snatching a party member by force?

If you get caught in town and reported to the guild, the staff will stop you.

Unlucky souls might be handed straight over to the town guard, destined to rust in a cell.

Only a rare, no-holds-barred brawl between veteran fighters would draw enough of a crowd to be worth watching.

“Hoo… hoo… Not bad.”

“Haa… haa… You neither.”

Even if the participants themselves acknowledged each other’s skill and clasped hands in friendship, latecomers, drawn by whispers of the fight, would only shower them with jeers.

“What is this?! A three-minute fight? Are you some kind of premature finishers?”

“Have some decency! At least two more rounds!”

“Best two out of three!”

“Best two out of three!”

“Are you crazy lunatics?! We accept the result and want to party, what’s it to you?!”

“Boo! Lame party.”

“Boo! Trash.”

Showboating in public only meant you’d be stuck fighting to the death like puppets until the crowd was satisfied, even if you and your opponent had already reached an understanding. You’d end up in a sorry state.

Some groups held open sparring sessions as entrance exams, hoping to gain popularity, but the results were rarely ideal.

“Huff… huff… Applicant number seventeen… rejected… That’s all for today’s… evaluation…”

“But there are thirty more people waiting! How can you do this?!”

“You crazy broads, I’m only human! I need a break to recover my stamina!”

“Just take five minutes!”

“Five minutes?! How is five minutes going to restore the strength in my arms after all those matches?!”

What happens when an adventurer, skilled enough to impress, has their energy drained by disguised veterans from established parties, jealous of a potential rival?

The sparring session ends before all the hopefuls get a chance, and the party is branded a pathetic flop, fleeing with their tail between their legs.

And if they actually lose, and a member deserts, declaring the party too weak? Utter disgrace.

“So, I never thought I’d see one of these open tests again. It really is something, living this long. Tsk, tsk.”

“Who are you?”

“Tavern owner next to the guild. I’m off-duty during the day.”

While Ian was stuck listening to the tavern owner’s overly detailed history of open party recruitment exams, the thirty-ninth challenger of the day stepped up to the Ring of Wisdom.

Because challengers could keep coming until three minutes after the previous one, the line was endless, as bustling as a market square.

“Gorgo. Switch.”

“Ugh… Ian, Anna… I’m going to work…”

“Good luck.”

“You got this!”

Between controlling the queue, preventing cheating, and stopping lunatics from running off with the ring, the supervisors had to juggle all sorts of struggles, along with their caregiver role only to look after the Ian and Anna siblings.

Gorgo and Nina were realizing that the latter was overwhelmingly more convenient and even enjoyable.

Taking care of a handsome girl who resembled her mother and a well-behaved boy versus dealing with a noisy, chaotic crowd, constantly complaining about scams, curses on the ring, and that this was actually a wizard recruitment test.

The workload was obviously and disproportionately skewed to one side.

It’s not like Ian and Anna were those hyperactive, dizzy, always-getting-into-trouble kids. Ian sat quietly.

And Anna didn’t leave his side. If there was a party looking for easy childcare, Gorgo and Nina would choose Ian and Anna in a heartbeat.

Gorgo, with a gloomy face, carefully wiped away the handprints and smudges of oil from the Ring of Wisdom.

“Next. Uh… you look very familiar, who are you?”

“I deliver messages for the guild next door. Can I try this once before I go back?”

“Hmph. Just three minutes, try it.”

Wasn’t this supposed to be a recruitment exam for party members? It was starting to feel more like a local attraction’s game.

Goro pressed down the fatigue welling inside and extended the ring.

The messenger, thrilled to get a chance to participate in the latest trendy test, eagerly grasped the ring, pushing and pulling this way and that.

‘Waste your energy all you want. You’ll never solve it.’

Ian had told him that it required intricate dexterity, split-second mental processing, spatial reasoning—talents so complex they were hard to even grasp. There was a reason it was called the Ring of Wisdom.

Even mages, those high and mighty wizards, got caught trying to use strange magic to cheat and were kicked out. How could a mere messenger possibly solve it?

*Click.*

“Huh? It’s undone.”

But it was undone.

The news of the Ring of Wisdom, which had silenced hundreds of challengers, being conquered sent the guild into an uproar.

* * *

Among those attempting the Ring of Wisdom, little tips and strategies were quietly exchanged.

“Can’t you just break the ring with brute force?”

“Heard you have to pay a fine for damages.”

The muscle-bound warriors deflated.

“Melt it with magic, then?”

“Heard you have to pay a fine for damages.”

The wizards with their staves replaced their mage hats.

“Dexterity? Do we have a rogue in our party?”

“Of course not. Who’d include a thief like that in their party?”

“This is maddening. Is there no way to sabotage them? I’d rather have a sword fight.”

The established parties, commissioned by the deputy guild leader to stir up trouble, also slumped in disappointment.

The most infuriated of them all was the deputy guild leader of the Sodom Guild.

“Listen up, you lot. We’ve gotten word from the Noble Academy. They’re saying it’s outrageous that Teresa, some unknown woman with no background from a back alley with only brute strength is being considered as a candidate for hero. We have a responsibility to make sure she doesn’t make it. Our Chief Secretary understands what I’m saying, right?”

“Yes, sir. As it happens, Teresa’s eldest is currently recruiting party members. We’ll see if we can get someone on our side to join and destroy the party from within.”

“Good. Proceed with utmost discretion.”

Unlike the guild leader, who had a background in public service, the deputy guild leader was an aristocrat.

He had connections in the region and frequently secured lucrative commissions from prestigious noble families.

The guild leader valued his contributions and promoted him to the position of deputy, but the two had always been at odds when it came to guild operations.

The guild leader believed in the vocation of adventurers, aiming to contribute to public safety by responding to all requests quickly and impartially.

His intentions were good, but such fairness was a problem because it hindered the suppression of escaped criminals, the monopolization and profiteering of goods in the region due to restrictions on the movement of specific items, and the production of Lord-class monsters for knights to gain experience from.

“You don’t have to be good at everything. You can just avoid doing things you don’t have to do. If you don’t understand that, you won’t last long in that position, Guild Leader.”

Causing trouble with those higher-ups to the point where they had to take matters into their own hands even with his mother.

Though the deputy guild leader expressed his displeasure, he believed that the situation would soon be resolved.

Logically, wouldn’t adventurers who were connected to noble families be more skilled than ordinary adventurers?

Of course, they were.

There was also the loophole of using his authority to assign individual requests for unofficial missions that were not openly advertised, training up elites that even the rank-and-file adventurers and staff members working at the guild didn’t know.

If those elites were inserted into Teresa’s party recruitment test, they would undoubtedly succeed.

“If the guild leader perceives our schemes as being more amateurish on the surface, he’ll be at ease. Heh heh. He won’t even realize he’s been fooled by a diversion.”

Elite parties, boasting official subjugation records aplenty, could easily pull off such a deception.

Of course, among those numerous professions, not a single one involved thieving.

How could a rogue class, no different from common rabble, possibly intrude upon the tasks of nobles where credibility was paramount?

That was the misjudgment.

Dexterity being crucial for the Ring of Wisdom.

In the absence of a rogue class, everyone repeated meaningless attempts, vowing to be different the next time, plotting and scheming.

Then, a low-ranking guild messenger, participating merely for amusement, solved the Ring of Wisdom in a snap.

“Who the hell is that guy?”

“I-I don’t know. Just a plain messenger!”

“Damn it. Did the Guildmaster pull out a hidden ace?”

The Vice-Guildmaster gnashed his teeth.

Indeed, that bumbling public official of a Guildmaster had been concealing a trick up his sleeve.

Unable to conceal his fury, the Vice-Guildmaster’s ashtray went tumbling to the floor.

* * *

Unintentionally giving the Vice-Guildmaster a blow he hadn’t expected, and being mistaken for pulling out a hidden ace, the Guildmaster was speechless when he heard that the very messenger he needed to dispatch to another guild had taken a job with Theresa’s party.

“Wait, then who’s going to be the messenger to the other guild?”

* * *

The messenger, who had thrown so many people into confusion, also presented Ian with a dilemma.

This wasn’t a puzzle I intended to be solved.

How did he solve it?

Just in case, he effortlessly solved the prepared second and third stages of the Ring of Wisdom.

Thinking it couldn’t be possible, he gave him locks and pins, and he picked every single one.

“Uhm, I suppose a skill like this won’t do, will it? I’ll only be suspected of thievery, and unnecessarily raise suspicion among the other parties… I, uh, I’m satisfied just participating in the trial.”

The messenger bowed deeply and was about to leave, but the wicked hypnotist abruptly grabbed the hem of his trousers.

What does a messenger do?

Finds paths and goes around.

Excellent at finding paths, great manual dexterity, and skilled at picking locks.

This person, is a born rogue, destined to be one.

“No. I believe you are an invaluable asset to our party.”

“I’m just a messenger with rogue-like skills…?”

“Disarming dangerous traps and devices is just as important as a messenger delivering news ahead of everyone else, protecting the vanguard,” he replied.

It was only natural that tears of emotion welled up in the eyes of the messenger, who had spent his entire life being looked down upon for engaging in menial tasks, desperately trying to hide his dexterity.

The wicked hypnotist brought a woman to tears once again and succeeded in securing a candidate for Theresa Party’s first string.

It goes without saying that this attitude of not belittling lowly occupations but treating them with respect touched the hearts of many adventurers within the Adventurer’s Guild and earned him their favor.