Good. The results will be posted in front of the castle the day after tomorrow. You may all retire.
" " " " " " "

　The five people who had finished the interview responded to the voice of Rain, the leader of the knights, and left the room.
　After confirming that everyone had left the room, first Yumina opened her mouth.

''This one, this one, and this one. These three people are no good. These two people are transparent in their ambition. They will eventually think of pushing the others out of the way. The rest of these men are too rebellious. They may break orders that are not in line with their will, giving convenient reasons for doing so. This could cause a disturbance of harmony.
I had a hunch too, but that's how I felt. Also, all three of them seemed to exude arrogance in their words.... And there were a few lies.

　As I listened to Yumina and Rain's words, I shaded those three names on the list roster. 'Disqualified,' he said.

'How did the other two fare?'
'Yes, he tended to stammer a little in his responses, but he was honest and didn't seem to have a bad temperament. I'm sure he'll be fine.
'Indeed. I'm afraid I'm too serious and I'm going to fail somewhat, but I think I've surpassed the criteria for passing the test sufficiently.

　So, these two have passed the test.
　Two days after the survival, an interview was held in a room in the castle.
　The interviewers were me, Yumina, and Knight Commander Rain. I'm still disguised as "Mirage", though.
　We interviewed five people who passed the survival test in order, five at a time. Even if it's only one minute, we have to interview more than 80 times, so we split it up into two days, but even so, it's a lot of work.
　But that doesn't mean I can't cut corners. It's not us who suffer from the trouble of having a strange fellow join the Order, but the people.
　It's because the most important thing we ask of our knights is whether they can work "for the people", not "for the country". I don't want "for the king" or "for honor and pride.
　If you don't want to, you should at least try to bring me down when I do bad things to make the people suffer. Of course I won't do that.

Okay, then. All right, get the next five people up.
Yes, sir.

　As I urged them to do so, the dark elf, Spica-san, who was waiting next to the door, called the candidates in. Beside the door, Lamia's twins, Mullet and Charette, were also waiting next to the door.
　I'm sorry for the three of them, but I'm letting them be one of the judges of the candidates.
　We watched as three of the five people who entered the room frowned when they saw them, the demon race. The other two were surprised, but there was no contempt in their expressions. They seemed interested, though. Spica-san is a beautiful woman, and the Lamia twins have a snake on the bottom half of their bodies.
　At this point, I don't have much interest in the three who frowned at me. Nevertheless, I asked them all some bland questions, and mixed in some of them with core questions to check the reaction of the lie detector 《Keeler Polygraph》.
　Some were lying, some were answering honestly. I'm not saying that I should tell you everything honestly. A little bit of lying is inevitable in some respects. There may be things I don't want to answer, such as trying to make the other person think well of me. It's just a mixture of lies and truth, and we'll use that as the basis for our own judgments.
　After leaving the room, I discussed it with Yumina and the others, but after all, it seems like it's best not to be the ones who scowled. According to Yumina, the arrogance and vanity was very strong. One of the other two people were also misrepresenting where they were from and their history, and they lied a lot. As expected, I'm not going to hire this one. Out of the five people on the list, I'll shade four of them and pass the remaining one.
　Once again, Spica-san welcomed the next five people. Oh, hey.
　Of the five who came in, two of them were the man in armor and the potato boy I had found.
　I was surprised to see Spica-san and the others, who were both demons, but that was all. Maybe the potato boy was so stiff and nervous that he wasn't able to do that.
　They sat side by side on the far left and next to each other, as if they were close in number.
　Well the young man with short blonde hair and armor is Lantz Tempest and the potato boy is Karon?
　Lantz Tempest. His birthplace is the knight kingdom Restia. The third son of a lowly knight. You have two older brothers in the Knights of Lestia, huh?

How did you end up in Brunhild?
'Ha. We have long heard of His Majesty's activities and of the Order. The dragon slaying in Brunhild is echoing all the way to Restia. I would like to do my best to contribute to such a group.

　You wouldn't know that I'm the king in front of you, but I'm not lying. But well, let's just ask.

'You're not going to be a Restia, you're going to be a knight of Brunhild, are you okay there?
"His Majesty King Brunhild is engaged to Hildegard, Princess of the Knight Kingdom of Lestia. Brunhild is a friendly country to Restia, and having given my sword, I will do my best to be a Knight of Brunhild.

　I'm not lying. You sound serious, but you're kind of stiff. Is this what it's like to be from a knight's family?
　Next, I turn my gaze to the potato boy, Karon.
　Karon. Are you from the Belfast Kingdom?

''........According to the report from the member of the group who played the role of the demon, it seems that you collected various foods in the forest, where did you get such skills?''
It's not really a skill, it's just that my family was a medicine man, and we used to go into the woods all the time.

　You're too tense. Your words have gone funny.
　So you're a medicine man. That's how you knew all those plants. It's not a bad idea.

Why do you want to join the Order?
I heard that the Brünnhilde Knights are also working hard to develop the farmland. I see. I thought that I could help with that. I'm not a big fan of that. I can defeat a bear, at least.

　Matagi. Well, he's been through that survival, so I guess he can fight in his own way. It seems like a machete or something would suit you.
　It seems that they aren't even lying, so these two are ants, I guess.
　After the five of us left the room, I asked Yumina and Rain-san for their opinions, and their answer was still the same as mine: let's adopt those two people.

''The young man named Lantz is the one I want in the castle's security force. The boy Karon is in Naito-sama's custody, and I thought he would be the perfect person to explore the east.

　I guess I was thinking the same thing, Lane. Okay, we're both hired.
　The next ones to enter the room were the lioness, the winged man, the young man from Wardog, and the girl from Arachne, who had been chased away during that survival. There was another man in leather armor, but this one didn't seem to have any good feelings for the other four people in attendance, so he quickly lost interest in me.

　The lioness woman was Ashley.
　The winged man is Balus.
　The young man from the Wardog is Dingo.
　The Arachnean girl is Rifon.

　Ashley was traveling with Bals and Dingo with Rifon, respectively, and they said that they heard about the recruitment of the Knights through rumors in other countries and immediately went to Brunhild.
　Although there are Knights in Mismid and Xenoas (Mismid says the Royal Warriors), it's still difficult for a commoner to become a female knight in Mismid and Xenoas (Mismid says the Royal Warriors), and I can understand why Ashley and Rifon are there.
　It seems that Barus and Dingo, like Rain-san, heard about my activities and wanted to serve this country. To be sure, I reminded them that the pay is low, but they're not complaining. No response to the lie detector. It's really cheap?
　He asked a few more questions after that, and all four seemed to mean it when they said they would work for Brunhild.
　We let the five of them leave the room and checked with Yumina and she said there was no problem, so we passed the four of them without the man in leather armor.
　The next day we continued our interviews. Our infiltration group declined, so the number was down somewhat, but it was still a significant amount. In addition, there was no way to cut corners, so it was hard work.
　We made a good decision on who was going to be accepted, and we had a pretty good group of people.
　And the final three.....

Sarutobi [Sarutobi] Flame [Homura], Kirigakure [Kirigakure] Shizuku [Shizuku], and Fuuma [Fuuma] Nagi [Nagi].......

　The three ninja-dressed girls sitting in front of her. They were the ones Tsubaki-san had recommended.
　They are the daughters of Sarutobi, Saizou, Kirigakure, and Kotaro, Fuuma, respectively.
　Daughter...... I thought the person himself was coming. According to what I heard, the fathers of each of them are old enough to know better, so they're retiring.
　All three are two years younger than me, 15 years old. They are the same age as Else and Linse. Flame is a cheerful and energetic child. On the other hand, Shizuku is a calm and cool impression. Nagi is vague and elusive.
　Her hairstyle is also different; Flame has a shortcut, Shizuku has a long haircut, and Nagi has semi-long waves. The specialty is also different from each other: Flame is body arts, Shizuku is cloaking arts, and Nagi is throwing techniques, but it seems that she is good at that and has completed a full range of ninja training.
　By the way, I didn't recognize her because she was wearing a mask at the time, but it was Flame who found me on the tree.

It's hard to understand, but I have the magic eye. I can see things pretty far away. If it's just a small obstacle, I can jump over it to see.

　Indeed, Flame's right eye was browner than her left eye. At first glance, though, it was hard to tell. It seems that the flame has named this ability "Senri-eye". Indeed, it might be a useful ability for ninja.
　Because of their abilities, if they are recruited, they will be incorporated into the intelligence unit led by Tsubaki-san, but when I asked if that was okay, they said it was not a problem.

''I'm very good at disguise techniques, so I hope to be able to use my powers in undercover work or in gathering information in the city.

　And when Shizuku answered.

I'm a fast runner, so I could never lose in a game of tag.

　Nagi replied. Apparently, this girl passed this test with the speed of her feet.
　Anyway, this Nagi girl looks like someone else, it's our maid, Cecil-san. The way she speaks is similar, and I'm sure Cecil-san was good at knife throwing too. Originally she was also a member of an intelligence unit belonging to Belfast.

''It's nice to meet you~. I'm Cecil~
"I'm Nagi. "I'm Nagi.
"Uh-huh.
"Ahem.

　When I imagined the two of them meeting, I felt like I was going to be deflated. I guess they're both...brilliant...but... I don't think they're going to say they're sisters separated from their lives or something.
　I asked the three of them a series of questions from then on and finished the interview. They hadn't lied, and there didn't seem to be any problems with Yumina's magical eye. I have Tsubaki-san's recommendation, and all three of them passed the test, you know.
　Now everyone's interviews were over. Of the 416 people who passed the second test, 131 passed the interview. That's less than I had planned, but I'll have Kosaka-san test and interview the civilian officers and administrative vice-ministers instead of the knights.
　From here, they should be assigned to security knights, patrol knights, or secret knights, depending on their own characteristics. Some people have already been assigned to these positions, but the others are still undecided.
　Well, for now, the winners have been decided, so all that's left is the induction ceremony.




Congratulations to you all. As king, I am pleased to welcome you to the Knights of Brunhild.

　I greet the new knights on the stage in front of them. Those who saw me for the first time might have been a little surprised. The rumors that abound on the street say that you are the highest-ranked adventurer, a dragon slayer, a hero who controls the heritage of ancient civilizations (frame gear) and defeats crystal demons.
　It's no wonder you're so confused by that at such a young age. I'm not underestimating the fact that they're not underestimating you, but as expected of people who have met Yumina's expectations.

I'm not going to be able to say that I'm not going to be able to do anything about it. All of us here, you will fight me.

　For a moment, the newcomers looked like they had no idea what I was talking about, while the previous passers-by let out an indescribable, "Wow.......

''You're doing that thing again........''
You want to bet? How many do you think will be left?
Not a bet....
I hope it's not too traumatic...
　
　They moved to the large second training ground and the 1 vs. 131 battle began. Each of the newcomers had their own mock battle weapons, such as wooden swords, wooden swords, and tampo spears. I didn't mind if they were serious, but I didn't want them to feel guilty about me and not be able to take themselves seriously. Of course, I'm not going to be touched.
　I'll let this fight be a factor in deciding where they'll be assigned to, too.

Well, let's get started. Well.... Axel.

　I fired my acceleration magic at the newcomers coming towards me.




　Just like last time, no one was able to stand until the end; twenty minutes later, 131 beaten recruits were lying on the training ground.
　I gave them a 'mega-heal' and a 'refresh' to bring them back to full strength. We can't afford to let this happen.
　Some of them thanked me for it, but it hurt me when they thanked me too much. It's a good thing that I'm the one who hurt them, and now it's time for them to have their first ordeal....

''Well, I guess it's my turn now.

　Morobane sister comes into the training ground to replace me. Why is she smiling so much? I suppose it means that the training is worthwhile, though.

It's the advisory swordsmanship instructor of the Brünnhilde Knights, Morobane Mochizuki! Congratulations on joining the club! As soon as possible, we'll begin training now!

　In fact, for the next week, the rookies have a hellish training schedule set up by Morohana's sister, which awaits them. In order to stop her from wanting to participate in that survival test, this is what was offered in exchange for her request to join in.

"Then we'll have you run around the castle first, just 50 laps.

　The screaming newcomers. The perimeter of the castle is about two kilometers. It's roughly a 100 kilometer marathon. They're going to skip it from the start....
　Seeing the newcomers being chased out of the castle by Sister Morobane, I can't help but pray to God that they are safe.......well, it's God who is chasing them away.
　The Morohana sisters are forbidden to use their divine powers to interfere with the earth. That's why they say it's only a power within the range of humans, but the problem is that it's at the level of a super expert.
　That's a realm that a human being could reach if he or she cultivated for a thousand years or so. Before that, you'll usually die in your lifetime. You're ignoring time. Maybe an elf, demon race, or fairy race would be able to reach that height, though.
　Well, for sure, this will make those newcomers stronger. Let's have them work hard for the sake of this country, shall we?