Not every interview was as easy as that. Most of them were lying about fighting for the empire and the like.
They didn't know, but because of his extrasensory vision, they couldn't afford to lie to Kinoya. And what appealed to him more was the one who was brave enough to say they wanted to make money or marry a girl they loved.
“Why do you want to join the army?”
“I... I want to… to prove… my worth.” The voice was unnatural. It sounded a little husky but felt forced.
The blue flame flickered in his eye sockets as the smile appeared on his face. “You don’t have to force yourself.”
The recruits were startled by Kinoya's unexpected words. The person couldn't help but take a look at Kinoya again.
Kinoya smiled, “You don't have to force yourself, you can use your voice. It doesn't matter if you're a man or a woman, as long as you can complete your training.”
“I am” She was unable to control herself, but was quick to correct her voice, “I… am a… man.”
“I never said otherwise.” Kinoya chuckled.
“What?” The woman frowned, looking at the expected expression on the teenager's face, standing in front of her. “Yes, I am a woman. So what? Can’t I join the army?”
“Who said you can’t?”
With a defiant scowl on her face, she stated: “I want to join the army as a soldier, not as a kitchen worker.”
“We don’t need kitchen staff.”
“Even if you need I won’t join.”
Looking at his seemingly expressionless face, she misunderstood, “I won’t do anything like that.”
She could no longer control her body as soon as the words left her mouth. She grabbed her chest and looked down. She couldn't understand what clenched her heart.
‘What was that?’ Looking at the child who hadn’t left his seat she couldn’t understand, ‘Why is it so hard to breath?’
“Put your hand on the orb.” The voice was the same, but she felt the air around him had changed. Her body moved on its own, carrying out the order.
[NAME: Armina Evoke
Age:14
Record: No criminal record.
Recommendation: None
Title: Overproted Princess.
Pseudo Title: Runaway Princess.
Job: None
Secondary Job: None
Element: ????.
Strength: 49
Dexterity: 67
Intelligence: 95
Health: 107
####:@@
####:@@
Skill: [Intermediate Problem Solving] [Intermediate thought accumulation] [Intermediate dagger mastery]
Magic skill: None
Innate Skill: [Strong Will] [Charishma (Level 3-Hidden)]
Weapon: None
Companion: None]
“What a messed up status you have.” Looking at the status Kinoya was shocked, ‘A level three innate skill! Three intermediate skills!’
Kinoya was forced to look at her again, “You are overqualified for my army.”
The pressure had vanished a long time ago, yet she was still on her knees.
“What did you say?” She couldn’t believe her ears.
“You're overqualified. A mere soldier would have a hard time using hidden stats like wisdom and concentration. It would have been better if you had agility or endurance.”
Even on the second time, she couldn’t believe her ears. ‘He could guess my hidden stats! But that's not important right now’, she gave an understanding smile, “You could have given a better excuse.”
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“There's no excuse for that. [Intermediate Problem Solving] and [Intermediate Thought Accumulation] were of little use on the battlefield. And a dagger is not a weapon we use in the war. You might have made a great scholar.”
“There is no better weapon than the human brain.”
“Even then it needs a hard skull to protect it.”
She wanted to refute but chose not to, so Kinoya added, “On top of that, you're the one with extra luggage. Even though I don't know which noble family you're from, it's going to be hard to accept a runaway princess.”
She couldn't refuse at all this time. But Kinoya wasn't finished, "Even if you found a way to hide your charism, that level 3 innate skill could be a double-edged sword.”
Armina was sighing. This was the first time she had received an honest evaluation, but it wasn't exactly what she had expected.
“I can give you a chance.” These words jolted her up, “You can choose not to respond, but if you answer the truth, I might give you that chance.”
Instead of happiness, her eyes were sorrowful. Somehow, she had been expecting what the question would be.
‘You're going to ask me a question, I can't answer. I was supposed to walk out now.' She sighed with a nod and was about to walk out, "Why do you want to join the army?”
“Huh!” She never expected a question like that. Looking at his face, she wasn't sure whether he was kidding or not. Still, she replied, “Because I want to prove myself.”
‘Wow! That's the strongest aura I've seen all day.' Kinoya smiled with satisfaction, "Come with me. Let's go to the final trial.”
“What is it? Are you going to be easy on me?" She was angry. "What was it? I've never seen a military trial like that before.”
Condolence was the last thing she wanted to receive. It was also the reason why she came here first.
“If you were in the army I would have punished you. First for disobeying an order, second for questioning your superior.”
Her anger was drowned in a bucket of cold water. She wanted to say something, but she knew it wasn't the place where she could do that.
“If you want to leave, take that door. If you're going to take the last trial, follow me. ” Kinoya didn’t wait for her.
“Palsa, tell everyone to stop now." She was able to hear Kinoya's order. She was hesitant, still, she followed him.
Sensing that Armina had followed him, Kinoya added, “If you're not going to pass the next trial, then you're going home. It won't change, even if you're a princess.”
Without much of a word, Armina followed him. The sun was about to sink into the horizon. Kinoya had announced that the trial would be over for today.
It was greeted by a wide range of emotions, but the girl didn't have the time to do so. She soon reached a dome-sized building.
“This is the last trial to be held. You've got 10 minutes to go through the room. If you can do that, you will be selected. If you don't, pack your stuff." Finishing the words Kinoya walked into the dome.
There were a lot of people around the dome, even some unconscious bodies. After a moment of hesitation, she stepped in.
She slammed on the floor just with the first step. It was so sudden that she felt that her organ had shifted. Even coughing of blood was painful. It's been hard for her to move. The only thing she could do was to look at someone's foot.
"A moment of carelessness could cost you a lifetime. No one's going to spare a thought of saving you." She knew who it was, but she couldn't move her head to look at him. Only the legs wrapped in worn-out leather came into view.
“Now, you can stop. You just can't move. The more you move, the worse your injuries are going to be.”
'Give it up? There's no way I could do that, this is my last chance. If I give up now, I'm going to be as good as dead.' Her voice screamed in her head, and she tried her best to stand up.
Kinoya, standing in front of her, looked intently at her. The azure flame flickering in his eye sockets. In his face, a smile appeared. "Well, do whatever you want to do. You've got 10 minutes.”
'I've got to cross the room. He never said anything about walking. I could crawl. I can still pass.' She didn't know whether her weight suddenly increased or whether it was just an illusion, but she didn't dare to waste any more time.
She moved her limbs a little bit. She wasn't ever able to believe that making so little movement could be so tiring, yet she moved. She pushed her body up from the ground at first, but she slumped again after a few inches.
Her body was soaked in sweat. Her white face was dirty with dirt but she couldn't care less about it. She's been struggling hard. She felt it was painful to think, so she gave up.
She had given up thinking about it. Her body was moving on its own. Crawling was too exhausting, so she kept dragging her body. She couldn't count it, and she couldn't tell where she was going. But she knew that the time was decreasing, and so was the distance.
She was in the middle of the room. Here she had been greeted by a talwar. A gorgeous black talwar with a beautiful silver pattern on the body. It was lovely. Alas! She had neither the time nor the effort to spare.
She had to move, a lot of time had gone by. It would be an impossible feat, but 'I must succeed.'
Lucky for her, her body was getting used to the pressure. Looking at the door, at the end of her vision, she struggled. The knuckles were red with blood, so were the elbows and the knees. However, she did not feel any more pain. And her speed has been increasing.
12 feet…
10 feet…
8 feet…
.
.
.
5 feet…
‘I can do it. I can do it.’ The goal was so close yet it felt so distant. ‘I can do it. I can…’
4 feet...
‘I will succeed. I can…’
And all the constraints of her body were gone. Even before she could feel the effect she had slumped on the ground again.
“You have failed.” Kinoya extended a pill to her, “Just take it. It's going to recover some stamina and heal some internal wounds. Just rest here. I'm going to send someone.”
She was trying to look up, but she didn't have any energy. She turned to the gate. 'Just a little bit more.' her heart cried.
“I can do it.”
“You can.” Kinoya waited before adding, “But the time is up.”
She was going to say she wants to try again. She's going to succeed this time for sure, but her body didn't listen to her at all.
Suddenly, Kinoya grabbed her face and forced a smelly pill into her mouth. She could no longer control her tears. It's like her tear ducts weren't listening to her.
"I think the pill wasn't smelly enough to make you sad." Those words made her sob more. Energy began to flow from the mouth to the body.
The warmth was blissful. She wanted to stand up and talk to him, but she was betrayed by her consciousness.