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Chapter 05.
Right. The headmaster’s interview. The written test.
Of course, it wasn’t that there was no way to deal with it—but that method ran into a wall right from the start. As proof, Ruin frowned at the scene before him.
“Gaaah!”
“Aaagh!”
In other words, people were screaming and collapsing. Right at Haven’s main gate.
It was a massive gate, like a triumphal arch. Well, the gate itself had been there ever since Ruin signed the contract for this place, but the difference now was that the damn hero’s filth—no, Haven’s symbol, the twin wings—had been attached to it.
And then…
[You are unqualified!]
“Looks like it’s gained a strange function.”
Ruin glanced up at the arch. There was a suspicious statue there. The statue’s eyes rolled around as if it were alive. Around it, roughly twenty people were sprawled on the ground, crying. All of them were either covered in blood, completely naked, or pounding the ground in despair. It seemed they had been stopped by that statue.
“Haven wasn’t an ordinary school to begin with.”
As a place that cultivated outstanding heroes and magical talents, it wasn’t easy to even get inside.
“But my precious retirement money is in there.”
As Ruin moved toward the gate without a care—
“Hey! Give up on going in!”
Someone nearby grabbed him. Ruin looked at them pitifully.
“I’m here for the headmaster’s interview.”
At the looks that clearly said Isn’t this guy just some peddler?, people flared up.
“So are we!”
“!”
The disheveled applicants snarled.
“You passed the paperwork and came for the interview too, right?”
“We were all tricked by Haven!”
“There was a practical test before the interview!”
Ruin tilted his head.
“A practical test?”
At those words, the statue on the arch let out a snickering laugh.
[That’s right. Professors are people entrusted with the important role of obtaining the ‘Wish Stone.’ Those without strength have no qualification to become Haven professors. Go back.]
Ruin frowned.
“Wish Stone.”
An anomalous phenomenon that had appeared between Union and Pride, whose relations had spiraled toward catastrophe like the U.S. and the Soviet Union. The Wish Stone was, quite literally, a stone that granted any wish. It was a decisive weapon that could overturn the tide of war—but accordingly, it wasn’t easy to obtain.
“It only forms after killing a certain number of enemy soldiers.”
Even that was just speculation; researchers were still trying to determine the exact conditions. There were all kinds of theories—“sacrificing one million souls with the same wish,” or “once the population drops below a certain number, it automatically appears in the opposing camp,” and so on. The one thing that was certain was this: kill the enemy, but your own side must never suffer casualties beyond a certain point.
That was why Union and Pride, rather than wasting soldiers to fatten the enemy, tried to cultivate exceptional heroes capable of fighting a hundred men alone—and the teachers who raised such heroes enjoyed extremely generous benefits.
Sure enough, the applicants, clearly here to reap that reward, ground their teeth.
“Damn it… is this really the test of prestigious Haven?!”
The difficulty seemed extreme; everyone around was in shambles. There was even a headless corpse lying around… Had this school really decided to go this far?
As if sensing his gaze, a woman answered.
“That person tried to force the gate open and got punished. That axe suddenly fell from the sky… judging by that level of power, that statue must be Haven’s guardian.”
At those words, Ruin frowned. A guardian? Guardian my ass. He’d thought the design looked familiar.
“That’s my house’s door lock.”
How did he know?
“Because I’m the homeowner.”
It was a security system that had been installed since he first bought the house. It was even written in the manual.
“That’s the hidden spell ‘No.199: Summon Gatekeeper.’”
Well, even though it was a hidden spell, it activated just by reading the ancient script carved into the door. The problem was the separate note attached beside it—the gatekeeper was absurdly fond of money, and because of the maintenance costs, Ruin had abandoned summoning it. The upkeep alone cost a fortune every month.
And yet it was active now…
“Hero. What kind of taste do you have, waking that thing up?”
Must be swimming in money… damn rich bastard. Whatever. If the applicants weren’t being treated as invited guests and were instead being blocked, then this was just another part of the interview. If you got scared by something like that, you didn’t even qualify to become a Haven professor.
That was why Ruin stepped forward.
“You’re the gatekeeper, right? How do I get you to open the door?”
The gatekeeper snorted.
[The door? No idea. There’s no precedent for opening it.]
“No precedent?”
[That’s right. Among Haven’s professors, not a single one has passed through this gate. Ah—except for the Hero, but he wasn’t a professor.]
“Then how did the others become professors?”
[They all lost bets with me, so I let them in through that dog hole.]
Dog hole? Ruin turned his head. Sure enough, there was a small side door in the wall near the gate. The problem was that the dog hole—
[—is a demon-tribe detector.]
Ruin was dumbfounded.
“If it’s just a detector, shouldn’t we go in through there from the start?”
[Ah, you can! But that door charges a toll. Just pay the money—it’s simple, right?]
At that, shouts erupted from the crowd.
“Simple? The toll is way too expensive! A whole year’s salary!”
“And that’s without any guarantee of becoming a professor!”
“…I could do it, but still!”
Ruin was speechless. Well, aside from the demon detector, there was a bigger problem.
“I don’t have a single coin.”
Damn it. If I had money, would I be here pulling this crap to find some? And a demon detector—sure, the level is about what I expected, but better safe than sorry.
So he asked,
“And that bet you mentioned?”
As Ruin stepped forward, the other applicants hurriedly tried to stop him.
“Stop! You’ll die if you challenge him!”
“Die?”
The gatekeeper’s eyes flashed, and dice dropped before them.
[To pass through this gate, you must win a ‘dice game’ against me. A luck test to see whose fortune is better. The rules are simple: if your number is higher than mine, you win. I’ll give you ten chances. If you win just four times, victory is yours.]
So that was the bet.
[However, each time you lose, you must hand over one thing you own.]
Ruin understood. No wonder everyone was stripped bare. He’d thought they were beggars.
As expected, the applicants cried out in disgust.
“That thing’s luck is insane!”
“That guy lost all ten times and got ten things taken—down to his underwear…!”
Ruin cut them off impatiently.
“What if I don’t have that many possessions?”
[Then I take one of your internal organs.]
Ah. That explains it. That’s why they said you’d die.
[Of course, once I take your organs, I’ll let you inside for free. So either give up from the start and go through the small door, or just beat me. But…]
The statue grinned unpleasantly.
[It just so happens you’re carrying fewer than ten items.]
Ruin couldn’t miss the implication.
“Loan shark ripping out organs, huh.”
The statue’s gaze slithered over Ruin’s body obscenely. But Ruin wasn’t about to back down here.
“Luck, huh.”
Ruin smiled coldly.
“Fine. Do it.”
[That’s the spirit! I fancy your pretty eyes—I’ll take those. You go first!]
With that, the dice were thrown into the air—by Ruin. They spun before falling to the ground.
Clatter, thud!
The result was—
<2>
The onlookers laughed. After all that advice, he ignored them—was he really that confident? Did he think he could beat the statue with a roll like that?
“Two?”
“He’s lost.”
Everyone predicted Ruin’s defeat. The statue’s luck was abnormal; it always rolled five or higher.
And yet the statue’s dice showed—
<1>
Huh? The statue lost. The crowd looked stunned.
“One?!”
The statue blinked in confusion, then chuckled. Well, regardless of luck stats, rare “variables” like this happened sometimes—like a natural disaster.
[You’re a lucky one. But you’ll cry next time.]
They threw the dice again.
Rattle!
The next results were—
<1> <2>
“Uh? Huh?”
Once again, the statue lost.
[Consecutive variables? That’s impossible! Again!]
The dice traced another arc through the air—
<1> <2>
[What is this?!]
The statue screamed. The crowd was speechless. Only Ruin smiled.
“One more win until the door opens.”
[Grk!]
At that taunt, the statue’s eyes gleamed savagely. The dice were thrown again—
<1> <2>
[Aaagh!]
Ruin won all four times. The people watching stared as if they couldn’t believe it.
“He won every time!”
“And consecutively!”
The statue looked utterly shocked.
[Impossible…! No one but that mad Hero has ever passed!]
The Hero. The statue couldn’t forget him. The Hero who had paid an enormous sum to summon it had said, “A useful gatekeeper. So, can you make me unlucky?” and then thrown the dice. Even with his eyes closed, he always rolled the highest number—six. Ten times out of ten. The statue had never seen such luck. Even the Hero’s mere presence boosted the luck of his companions.
“I’d heard he was the strongest in Union.”
And now it was seeing something similar again. This one beat it with the lowest possible rolls—but winning at all was extraordinary. The statue felt the same aura it had felt from the Hero.
The crowd murmured as they looked at Ruin. A bandaged mummy—what kind of lunatic was this?
“Could it be… luck on the same level as the Hero?”
The applicants were aghast. They were all high-caliber people just to be interviewing at Haven—heroes who normally wouldn’t lose in luck.
“…But how?”
[How? Obviously he cheated—!]
Ruin shot the statue a cold look.
“You’re the one who cheated.”
[W-What did you say?]
