The Special Missions Department.
Shortened to the Special Dept, it was a department veiled in mystery even within the White Tower.
People knew it existed, but it didn't do anything publicly.
Because of that, only rampant rumors circulated among the mages.
"Word is that the Special Dept is an elite group that exclusively handles high-level commissions."
"R-Really?"
"Think about it. Who is the department head there?"
"Oscar Crucian."
"Right, the genius among geniuses who became a high-ranking mage in just a single year."
Even though it would be difficult for him to become the Tower Master due to the current Tower Master, Sasha Maestro, being exceptionally young.
He was the undeniable real power of the White Tower, and no one would argue against the opinion that he would become an elder.
"And you know who the department members are that are always going in and out of the Special Dept office, right?"
"Killian, Veronica, Fran..."
"Yeah. They're just overshadowed by Oscar; those guys are all formidable in their own right."
The ones called the next-generation leading figures of the White Tower were all a part of a single department.
And yet, since nothing was known about what they actually did, it was inevitable for all sorts of rumors to circulate.
"But I saw Fran finding a runaway cat in the city last time?"
"I also saw Veronica bringing down a puppy that couldn't get down after climbing onto a roof."
"Argh! You idiots! Do you really think such high-level personnel would actually be doing that? It's obviously a smokescreen."
"...Now that you mention it, that sounds about right."
Missions that were far too trivial for mages of Level 6 or higher to handle!
As rumors naturally grew rampant, an official notice was posted.
"The Special Dept is recruiting new members?"
"Wait, they're doing this as a public interview?"
The minds of the mages standing in front of the notice board spun rapidly.
Among those belonging to the Special Dept, there was no one who hadn't reached Level 6.
'It's been 3 years since I became Level 5... Level 6 is just barely out of reach, but if I join, could I reach it?'
'If the rumors are true, from the moment I join, I'll be heavily supported, right?'
'Even if that's not the case, being next to geniuses means I'll be able to see and learn something.'
The result.
"...All of them are interview applicants?"
Peeking out, Oscar let out a hollow laugh after checking the crowd gathered at the outdoor training ground through the office window.
Because there were far more people gathered than he had anticipated.
'No, why on earth is the Special Dept this popular?'
The current members were whining about not wanting to look for cats right now, so what was so cool about that?
No matter how hard to understand the kind known as mages were, this was truly unexpected.
"Oscar! Did you see the number of people gathered at the training ground?"
"There's a massive amount."
"Not all of those people might be applicants."
The troublemakers who arrived late to the office chimed in one by one.
Fran whispered with an appalled face as he stared out the window.
"It can't be, right? Most of them are just here to spectate... right?"
"Looking at the application forms, they're all mages who came for the interview."
"No, are they all in their right minds? Should I go and let them know the reality of the Special Dept?"
Veronica asked back as she took a seat.
"What's the reality?"
"No, it seems like they're having a huge misunderstanding. Our department honestly isn't all that."
"So isn't that actually a good thing? It's better than having no interview applicants."
Listening to their conversation, Oscar stroked his chin.
In truth, it wasn't as if the Special Dept had no merits.
Because this was the place where news about incidents and accidents occurring in Sirin came in first.
It was only because it was such a peaceful land, but as long as one's skills backed it up, it was incredibly suitable for undertaking high-level commissions.
"...Fran."
"Huh?"
"What missions did you handle this week again?"
"Me? Well, I just found Granny Hayden's cat that runs away every day, and sent a few drunks causing a ruckus back to their homes. That's all."
"Do you want to take charge of those jobs for the rest of your life?"
Flinching at those words, the area under Fran's eyes twitched slightly.
Looking at him, Oscar sank deep into the backrest of his chair.
"Didn't you say so last time? That you want to leave those kinds of tasks to the newbies now, and only handle the major cases."
"I-I did."
"Then let's prepare for the interviews. Why would we turn away people who came on their own two feet?"
"Yeah..."
At that moment, Killian turned his head and asked.
"On what criteria will we select the new members?"
"Hmm. Right, there has to be a criteria."
Since every organization and group naturally has conditions they pursue.
Oscar said, looking at the three of them.
"First, we'll check their skills. You never know when the Special Dept's work might escalate into a dangerous incident, so they must at least be able to protect themselves. Therefore, we will evaluate their combat abilities through a spar where the applicant designates one of us to fight."
"Uh, then..."
"Hmm..."
Veronica and Killian's gazes headed toward Fran.
He vented with an incredibly wronged expression.
"Why! What! I'm Level 6 now too! I'm not that weak, you know?"
"But people don't know you formed a contract with a spirit."
"Show them the spirit of a warrior. Fran Sirius."
Amidst expectations of a landslide vote for Fran as the sparring partner chosen by the applicants.
Oscar continued speaking.
"In addition to that, let's each add one category we want to focus on, and select by combining the scores. How about it?"
"Sounds good."
The first to reply was Killian.
Honestly, he felt like he knew without even asking... but he asked once out of courtesy.
"What part do you want to look at?"
"I will focus on how much of a warrior that person is."
"I see. For some reason, I thought you might say that."
First, he'd need to lower the weight of Killian's score a bit.
Next, Veronica tilted her head slightly and muttered.
"For me, soundness? Sincerity? I want to focus on those kinds of things... but I guess it would be hard to figure that out in a short amount of time?"
"Not at all."
Tap, tap! Oscar tapped a thick booklet placed on the desk.
"Come to think of it, this will be your first time seeing this."
"What is that?"
"...What kind of school is this? Something like that was being recorded?"
Leaving behind Veronica, who wore an utterly dumbfounded expression, Fran raised his hand.
"Umm... Then I want to focus on how good their sociability is."
"Are you an idiot? Since you're always eating snacks and drinking tea here every day, you really think this is a place to come play?"
As Veronica furrowed her brows and nagged, Fran also retorted in his own way.
"Hey, I'm saying this now, but do you know how hard it was for me?"
"What was so hard?"
"Honestly, all three of you have rock-bottom sociability! If I didn't initiate, you guys wouldn't say a single word to each other. I thought I was going to die from suffocation! I don't want to feel that kind of emotion with the newbies too, you know!"
For a moment, the atmosphere in the room turned solemn.
How should he put it, he felt a little sorry for Fran.
'Well, it's true that at first, Veronica and Killian didn't exchange a single word with each other, and I'm not the type to go out of my way to joke around first either.'
Come to think of it, Fran had really played the role of a lubricant perfectly back then.
"Alright. Let's consider that part too."
"Ahem, ahem. I agree."
"However, a warrior is better suited to be taciturn."
Within the quickly loosened atmosphere, Oscar opened his mouth.
"Not bad. Let's focus on those and combine them with the combat scores to make our selection."
"Wait, Oscar, what are you going to focus on? You haven't decided yet."
"Ah, right."
Oscar, who pondered for a moment, looked at Fran.
"You guys have checked most of the boxes, so let's ask Mu for the rest and take a look at their character."
"...Spirits have that kind of ability too?"
"Yeah, since spirits can recognize those who are pure."
"They could be someone who's pure evil, you know."
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
As long as there were no major flaws in their character, there was no reason not to pick them.
Having finished organizing, Oscar tucked the Life Record Book under his arm and stood up from his seat.
"Let's go down."
"Just when are they coming down?"
"Aren't they making people wait too long since morning?"
The applicants waiting at the outdoor training ground numbered a whopping 134 people.
Moreover, the levels of those gathered ranged from Level 2 to Level 6, a truly vast spectrum.
"Thank you for waiting so long."
As Oscar's group made their appearance at the training ground, the complaints bursting out from everywhere subsided like a lie.
Over a hundred pairs of eyes locked onto them all at once.
Oscar calmly brushed off those gazes and explained the interview method.
"The method is simple. The applicants will designate one of the four of us as a sparring partner, and each of you just needs to show us your best combat."
"A spar...?"
"So it really is a department where skill is important."
The mages' gazes changed.
Even those who were half-in-doubt due to the rampant rumors seemed to possess a strange certainty now.
Because the 'White Watchers' was just about the only department in the White Tower that required such skill verification to enter.
"The time limit is 3 minutes. Victory or defeat is not vastly important. We will evaluate you based on the sparring process and the combined scores from our internal assessments."
Of course, if they truly defeated an interviewer, they would receive a high score.
There was not a single applicant who didn't know that fact.
"Umm..."
At that moment, one of the applicants raised their hand.
"Please speak."
"Ah, hello. Excuse me, I'm Level 3, but. Is it impossible for people with low levels to be chosen?"
"As I said earlier, victory or defeat is not vastly important. What we are looking at is the process."
Following that, Oscar pulled out a wad of papers from inside his clothes and threw them straight into the sky.
The fluttering papers divided in an instant and rushed toward the applicants.
"What was just handed out are number tickets. Come up in order, and designate your sparring partner."
With those words as the end, the interviewers sat in front of the desks prepared on one side of the training ground.
The applicants all gulped down their saliva and stared at Oscar.
'Let alone a magic chant, I didn't even see the process of him drawing up his mana.'
'To deliver such thin papers to over a hundred people, exactly one to each.'
'It's a truly monstrous mana control ability.'
While Oscar Crucian was being erased as a sparring partner in everyone's minds.
The first applicant came up onto the training ground.
It was a young man with short black hair who gave off a somewhat fragile impression.
There were signs of nervousness, but his steps did not falter.
"I am Dante Lin, a Level 4 mage belonging to the 3rd Research Department."
Veronica, who was next to him, handed over the Life Record Book.
There were no special disciplinary records.
His training participation rate was high, and he also finished most of the tasks assigned to him in the Research Department within the deadline.
Veronica, who was reading it together next to him, also nodded her head.
"Please designate your sparring partner."
Dante's gaze brushed past the four people in order.
He avoided Oscar's eyes the moment they met, and Killian, who was famous as a Battle Mage, was also excluded.
The ones he was observing were two people.
'The Spell Shooter and the Wind Master...'
His gaze, which pondered for a moment, passed by Veronica and headed toward Fran.
"I will designate Sir Fran Sirius."
"Look at this."
Fran, who sighed lowly, slouched his way up onto the training ground.
The guy asked while lightly warming up his body.
"Could I ask the reason why?"
"Pardon?"
"I'm curious as to why you chose me."
"Ah, that's..."
Dante hesitated with an awkward expression.
"It's fine. You can speak honestly."
"I judged that my compatibility is best with you out of the four of you."
"Oh."
Fran grinned.
"Your sociability is quite good. It's fine even if you just say I looked the weakest."
"N-No, I didn't."
"Then come at me when you're ready."
"Hmm? I know that you use a whip as your main weapon, though?"
"Ah, that..."
Fran muttered, scratching the back of his head.
"I can't control my strength with that, so I only use it on guys I really have to kill."
Dante's eyebrows twitched slightly.
Because he felt as if the opponent was rather the one looking down on him.
"We will proceed as is. Ready."
As Oscar raised his hand, the mana circuits of the two people heated up quickly.
"Begin."
At the same time, wind began to rotate from Dante's lower body.
This was not simply a spell meant to make the body lighter.
Pabababat!
A powerful wind erupted from the soles of Dante's feet.
Due to the explosive propulsion created as a result, his figure floated about a span above the ground.
"Hoh."
Oscar stared at it as if he found it interesting.
'It's not simple flight, but a method of endlessly erupting wind through the soles of his feet to push off the ground?'
If so, his combat style was also predictable.
He was likely an enhancement-type mage who shook off and struck his opponents through those irregular movements.
As if proving that prediction right, Dante lowered his body and instantly cut through the air.
"Here I come!"
Like a balloon losing its air, Dante's figure flew dizzyingly around the training ground.
From explosive acceleration to smooth direction control.
Dante's eyes shone as he instantaneously seized Fran's rear.
'I've got you!'
Did he feel a sense of crisis? Fran transformed his entire body into the Wind Master a beat too late.
'But it's too late.'
No matter if it was wind, as long as a certain amount of mana was loaded, it could deal a sufficient blow.
Because he was a fellow wind mage, Dante, who knew that part, lunged at Fran just like that.
The moment his mana-clad shin cut through the wind and kicked Fran's side.
"...Breath of Steel."
Klaaaaaaang!
A sound that was hard to believe came from kicking wind rang out across the training ground.
At the same time, Dante's face contorted.
"Keuk, keu-eugh!"
Despite wrapping it in mana, a dizzying pain was felt in his shin.
A pain akin to having kicked pure steel.
Fran's hand grabbed Dante by the collar a beat faster as he hurriedly tried to step back.
"Gotcha."
Kwaaang!
Fran grinned as he slammed his opponent straight into the ground.
In a state where his entire body was turned into wind, he substituted its properties with steel.
This was the anti-Battle Mage exclusive combat method that Fran had perfected during his vacation.
"That's enough."
Oscar swiftly declared and opened his mouth.
"Next, Applicant Number 2, please come up when you are ready."
The minds of the applicants who were watching the first spar fell into chaos.
'No, what is this... wasn't Fran Sirius supposedly the weak one at least?'
'If it's like this, who on earth are we supposed to choose as our sparring partner?'
It only took a mere five hours for all 134 applicants to finish their spars.
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]

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