The Exiled Knight Takes Up Life as an Adventurer — A Former Captain's Secret Power and His Carefree Days in a Distant Land - Chapter 3

“W-Wait! H-He’s the Threadmaster!”

“Huh? Threadmaster? Wait… you mean that knight commander?!”

“That’s right! That’s Mardin—the Knight Commander of Ilgrad!”

The three men who had confronted me just moments ago suddenly turned pale with panic.

“I don’t know about this ‘Threadmaster’ business, but the knight commander part’s true—well, former knight commander. Hahaha.”

“M-My deepest apologies, sir!”

The three of them bowed their heads in unison and quickly retreated into the guild lobby.

“So even adventurers know my name, huh?
What a hassle.”

Maybe exile wasn’t so bad after all.
A disgraced former knight had no place to belong—and made for easy gossip fodder.

“Yeah. Maybe I should look at this exile in a positive light.”

With my arms folded, I made my way to the reception desk.

“Excuse me—do you have a moment?”

“Yes, how can I help you?”

A young woman responded politely.

“I heard an Adventurer’s Card can be used to cross borders. Is that true? Could you tell me more?”

“Yes, of course. Adventurers are ranked from E to A. To cross a national border, you’ll need at least a C-rank Adventurer Card.”

“C-rank, huh? And how do I obtain that?”

“You’ll need to take a qualification exam.”

“An exam?”

“Yes. First, you’ll take a common test. Depending on your results, you may then proceed to a monster subjugation test. Here’s a breakdown of the fees.”

She handed me a document, which I reviewed carefully.

◆◆◆

■ Common Exam – Fee: 1 Gold Coin

• Written Test: 6 subjects
• Physical Test: 5 categories

■ Subjugation Exam – Fee:

• A-rank: 200 Gold Coins
• B-rank: 100 Gold Coins
• C-rank: 50 Gold Coins
• D-rank: 20 Gold Coins

■ Passing Criteria:

• A-rank: 90+ on the common test + Subjugation Test
• B-rank: 80+ on the common test + Subjugation Test
• C-rank: 70+ on the common test + Subjugation Test
• D-rank: 60+ on the common test + Subjugation Test
• E-rank: 50+ on the common test

“So, I pay one gold coin to take the common exam, then pay again for the subjugation test. C-rank is… fifty gold coins. F-Fifty?! That’s steep!”

“Adventuring requires a certain level of funding. And since Adventurer Cards are internationally recognized, the fees are set high to reflect their value.”

“Fair enough. Still, fifty gold coins is a lot…”

In this town, you could live comfortably for a month on just two gold coins.
I had one hundred gold coins on me right now, but spending half of that in one go would be painful.

Even so, considering the future, obtaining the card was probably worth it.

“How do I take the exam?”

“Coincidentally, the common exam is being held later today. It includes both the written and physical tests. If you pass, you’ll qualify for the subjugation exam. Please note, the subjugation exam requires you to defeat a monster alone.”

“Alone? So, it takes some time, huh?”

“Yes. For the C-rank subjugation exam, it typically takes about a week.”

“A week, huh… That’s a problem. I need to leave the country within ten days.”

“I see. The fastest record we have is someone completing the C-rank subjugation in five days.”

“Five days… Cutting it close.”

“First, please take the common exam. Your results will remain valid for one month, so you can always take the subjugation test at another guild branch later.”

“Got it. Then let’s go with that plan.”

I decided to take the Adventurers’ Guild’s common exam.

If I couldn’t earn a C-rank card in time, I could always leave the country through regular procedures.
Still, it had been a long time since I’d taken any kind of test—probably not since I joined the knight order.

“Well, I’ll manage somehow.”