Chapter 12

**Chapter 12: Living as a Hero's Brother**

**Chapter 12: Departmental Exam (5)**

Benjamin felt quite content, yet at the same time, he realized how much time had passed.

It had been three days since the exam.

Just now, the last student had cleared the dungeon and come out.

During this time, many students failed to clear the dungeon, but the number of those who did was not insignificant.

Moreover, the reason that made Benjamin feel content yet also reminded him of the passage of time was the three students at the top.

First, there was Clayton R Shane.

He was a student who cleared the dungeon at an astonishing speed, causing a stir in the academy.

Surprisingly, two more students broke Benjamin's 20-year-old dungeon clearance record.

First was Bernstein Austen.

A student who had been ostracized by his family for being a mana-incompetent, cleared the dungeon 4 hours later than Shane.

Remarkably, his method of clearing the dungeon was strikingly similar to Shane's.

The only difference was that he did not use luminescent moss.

Austen successfully anesthetized the goblins in groups by mixing the anesthetic obtained from killing goblins into powder, and then easily eliminated them.

However, unlike Shane, he could not shorten the time using luminescent moss, which is why it took him 4 hours longer.

Even when it came to command, he displayed a seasoned and almost predictive command skill, clearing the dungeon.

The last one cleared the dungeon 3 hours later than Austen.

Although there was only a few hours' difference from Benjamin's past record, he cleared the dungeon faster than Benjamin.

Lindberg J Anais.

She did not use the dungeon's terrain like Shane or Austen but broke through with her excellent command skills.

Most notably, she quickly analyzed the level of the golems under her command and made sure there was no error in her commands.

Moreover, her charisma in command was the best among all the students.

While Shane drastically reduced the need for combat and Austen planned ahead with incredible foresight,

Anais was the type who assessed the battlefield in real-time and gave orders accordingly.

This was evidence that her overall view of the battlefield was superior to Benjamin's 20 years ago.

"Master's words were true."

With such a pool of talents, the current Command Department was indeed in a golden age, unprecedented in history.

Not only the Command Department, but other departments also had students who were outstanding in their respective fields.

In this regard, the passage of time felt frustrating,

But being their teacher in such an era could be considered the greatest fortune for a professor.

"These are the talents who will bring peace to the continent."

"Oh, such talents make my ears perk up, Sir Benjamin."

"…When did you come in?"

Benjamin slowly turned his head to the platinum-haired girl who had entered the room, asking with a low sigh.

He had not particularly noticed her approaching, but he did not pay much attention.

Or perhaps, he did not want to break out of his current thoughts.

The graceful steps could only belong to someone he could not fail to recognize.

"Well, since I'm already here, why don't you offer me some tea instead of asking such questions?"

Her smiling face was so beautiful that anyone would blush.

It was a smile that healed the heart like a freshly bloomed flower.

However, Benjamin's heart was as hard as a dry plateau.

"I didn't expect the princess to visit the academy herself."

"Tsk, you're just as cold here as in the palace. I thought you might have become a bit more approachable now that you're free."

Of course, only someone like Benjamin could speak to the princess in such a manner, and in their current situation, Benjamin had nothing to be envious of the princess.

"Is your mind still filled with thoughts of my brother?"

"As a royal knight, I will not provide any political assistance to either of you."

"So, you came to the academy to send talents to my brother? You underestimate me."

"…."

The two flowers of the empire.

Olesia Jepher de Arsha, with a gentle smile, saw through the essence of this conversation.

Even though she said nothing,

Benjamin quietly closed his mouth.

"Ah, the world is so unfair. Your brother has talents like you, but why do I only have wolves?"

"I don't know."

"Hmph, so you don't want to help me."

She pouted and turned her head, as if her interest had waned.

Benjamin knew that each of her actions stimulated a man's psychology and, more deeply, a person's protective instinct.

Was it just to charm people?

No.

It was to make people feel instinctively positive and to exploit the gaps created in the process.

It was her most powerful weapon, and no one he had ever met had such a natural talent for reading people's minds.

"Still, let me tell you one thing. I saw two interesting people on my way here."

"I haven't been at the academy for long."

"Oh, come on. Just listen. They seemed to be your students."

"…."

Benjamin wanted to argue that he was no longer the dean, but he did not bother.

He was already annoyed.

"I saw the brothers of the Clayton family. They were as impressive as the rumors suggested."

"Is that so."

"Especially… the one with black hair, the older brother, Shane. What kind of person is he?"

That piqued Benjamin's curiosity.

How did this young man, with his expressionless face, appear to the princess, who could see through people's essences?

Benjamin quietly spoke.

"I don't know much, but he's not just a rumor."

"Heh. If the dean says so, he must be talented."

Benjamin's eye for talent was well-known even when he was the head of the royal knights.

The princess, recalling the man she saw in the hallway, lit up her eyes.

She was not proud of her appearance but knew how to use it to her advantage.

No man had ever felt indifferent to her, at least not at first.

Even a hint of change would have been enough.

But this man showed no change at all.

It felt like talking to a wall.

His eyes, which did not see people as people, were so profound that they made Olesia's heart tremble.

It was not just cold or ruthless.

It was something more.

He did not see people as people, nor as objects.

Even those who saw people as objects showed some emotional changes when evaluating them.

Olesia, with her keen eye, could not miss such subtleties.

What kind of eyes did this man use to see the world?

This curiosity arose in her.

"Well, I get it. Now that I know why the dean came to the academy, that's enough. I don't need to worry about my brother, right?"

Benjamin felt a small sense of relief, and Olesia did not miss this emotion.

Always charming people with her gentle appearance,

At this moment, she envied her brother.

'If it's going to be like this, I should pay more attention to the academy.'

The academy, which Benjamin had come to, already began to interest her more than Benjamin.

She thought it was too early for these young chicks to be involved in politics,

But 'If there are people like that, things are different.'

What would happen if a man of unknown identity were involved in the political struggles of the royal family?

Her interest was already piqued.

'Still, I need to be careful. My greedy brother will try to take everything.'

With this thought, Olesia suppressed her interest.

* * *

A week passed quickly, and the written exam day arrived.

"Brother, are you okay?"

"Didn't I tell you before? There's no need to worry about their opinions. Those who can recognize it will do so soon enough."

The week was enough time for Shane's record to spread from the teaching assistants to the entire academy.

Students and even some professors treated the rumors as mere gossip.

The biggest rumor was:

"Is it really his own skill?"

"Do you believe that? How could a guy with inferiority complex set the highest record in the Command Department exam? Does that make sense?"

"Even if he could, is it possible to bribe the academy professors with money…?"

"Is there anything money can't do in this world?"

Such rumors began to circulate.

However, Shane did not pay much attention to them.

"Once the written exam scores are published, no one will be able to say such things anymore."

For the written exam, dozens of experts set the questions, and only a few of them were selected on the day of the exam.

Even if someone could be bribed with money, it was impossible to buy the questions from experts who were known only to a few people in the academy.

Even the department head did not know the source of all the questions, making cheating impossible.

"I don't fall behind anyone when it comes to using my head."

"…I'm sorry. It was an unnecessary comment."

"Why are you apologizing again?"

Thus, Shane and Klein entered the exam room together, where 50 students were already seated.

"Are you all here? If so, take your seats."

When Benjamin, who looked a bit thinner than before, entered the exam room, silence fell.

"As you all know, this exam will last a week."

The written exam was given a week, indicating the difficulty of the questions.

Unlike last year, the practical exam was already a hellish challenge, and the students who survived it were now tense.

While the practical exam might seem the most important, in reality, more students fail the written exam in the Command Department.

The reason is…

"This exam paper has five questions. During this time, you are not allowed to leave the library or the designated exam room. Keep this in mind. Unnecessary curiosity can lead to suspicion."

The five questions required a week to solve, and each answer was on par with a small-scale thesis.

The exam papers were distributed, and the exam began.

Sitting at his assigned desk, Shane slowly scanned the content of the exam paper and immediately faced a challenge.

'This is…'

The difficulty of the questions made Shane think in a different way.