Seeing that Rohan hadn't answered, the person who had stopped him said, "I know what you must be thinking, but don't worry. I won't spread your note around. I won't take up any more of your time either. Good luck on your mission."
Rohan then realized that the person was still talking to him and said, "Thank you. I'll do my best."
The person walked away from him, and Rohan headed towards the gate.
After a few minutes, he got there and saw that someone was standing in front of it. As he approached, he saw that the person was Uson, one of the city guards.
Upon seeing him, Uson's eyes widened, and he said, approaching him, "I can't believe it. You're alive?"
Rohan said, "Hahaha, I don't believe it either."
Uson got even closer to him and started squeezing his arm and pinching parts of his body, which made Rohan say, "Hey! What are you doing?!"
Uson said, "Wow, you're really alive. How did you manage to survive? From what I heard, the scene of your test in the death palace was quite shocking, to say the least."
"I don't know how I survived either. I just know that I never want to go through pain like that again. Although it seems I have no choice in the matter."
"Hm? Why do you say that ... Oh, that's right, you haven't gone through the rune enhancement yet."
"Yes, I still have five enhancements to do from what the crazy ... Master Christopher said."
"Yes, that's normal. All schools use the rune phase to make five enhancements to their students' bodies, but as far as I know, the enhancement process is more relaxed than the initial training. In your case, then, it will certainly be smoother. After all, it can't get any worse."
"... That's not what ... Master Christopher said, but I hope you're right."
"You bet I am. Now, don't waste your time. Hes is on the other side of the gate explaining the mission. He must have just started, so there's still time for you to catch most of the explanation."
"Okay. I'll be going then."
Uson opened a small part of the gate, and Rohan passed through.
Immediately afterward, he began to look around and realized that several people were standing in front of him. They were arranged in several rows and looked straight ahead while a person on a small raised stage said something.
Watching the person on the stage, Rohan realized that it was Hes who was there and thought, 'He must be explaining the rules of the test. I'd better get into one of those queues and pay attention.
He started towards the nearest queue, but before he could enter it, Hes said, "I saw the gate open. It looks like someone was late for the explanation. Come to the front. I need to register your name and school."
Rohan then began to walk past the people in front of him until he arrived in front of Hes.
He looked around and noticed that the other four who had taken the test with him and six other people were at the front of the queues, sort of detached from them.
When they saw him, the people around them looked at him, some with curiosity and others clearly annoyed that he had interrupted their explanation. Only five people had different expressions on their faces: Hes and the four people who had taken the initial test with Rohan.
After some time in shock, Hes said, "Rohan? You're alive? How is that possible? Everyone said you died doing the Palace of Death test."
Rohan said, "I thought I had died too, but for some reason, here I am. Oh, before I forget. Thanks for recommending the Palace of Death, Hes. I don't know if there's anywhere else I'd be able to go through pain as great as what I've been through."
"... I understand your frustration, Rohan, but this was the only viable option for you."
"You could have explained to me what the test would be like or at least told me that the owner of the school is a madman!"
"I have no excuses. I can't even imagine what you went through, but at least it all worked out in the end, didn't it?"
"Well, I guess you could say that."
"Good. Well, lend me your test sphere so I can register you. After that, I'll explain the mission to you from the beginning."
"Okay, here."
Rohan threw the sphere as hard as he could toward Hes, but he caught it with the greatest of ease and said, "Have you forgotten how easily I stopped your punch the day you arrived in town, Rohan? You'll need a lot more training to be able to take me by surprise."
Hes then wrote some things down on a piece of paper on the table next to him and said, "Done. I've written down your details. Now, you just have to choose a line to stand in. You can choose any. It makes no difference."
Rohan said, "Okay, in that case, I'll stay here. After all, my test companions are here too."
"Unfortunately, Rohan, this is the only place you can't stay."
"Hm? Why?"
Hes was about to answer him, but before he could, Dominic said, "Because this place is exclusively for people who got an 'S' on the test. So you clearly can't stay here, can you? After all, while 'S' is the highest grade, 'F', which is your grade, is the worst. So please stop wasting everyone's time and get in one of the queues, or even better, get in the back of all the queues. After all, if the best grade is highlighted at the front, it's only fair that the worst grade is highlighted at the back."
Rohan then said, "Well, in that case, there's no reason for me to leave."
Dominic said, "Hm? What are you talking about? Do you really intend to waste everyone's time here because of stubbornness?"
"I'm not wasting anyone's time. I'm already where I should be. If you want proof, just look at my sphere."
Upon hearing this, everyone looked in the direction of Hes, who was holding the sphere of Rohan in his hand, clearly confused.
After a while, he showed everyone the sphere of Rohan and said, "I didn't expect the purification process of the Palace of Death to be this strong."
Everyone then saw the letter 'S' inside Rohan's sphere and looked in the direction of Dominic, who was clearly perplexed.
Dominic said, "What have you done? How did you change your grade in such a short time?"
Rohan said, "I didn't have to do anything. I just ate that black ball."
"Are you saying that that black ball of poison improved your body like that?"
"That's what it looks like, but anyway, I guess there's no problem with me staying here anymore, is there?"
"Tsk."
Dominic turned away, and Rohan said, "You can start the explanation, Hes."
Hes then said, "Well, let's start from the beginning. Your mission is quite simple. There are five types of runes in the forest behind me. White, blue, green, red, and black runes. Each of you needs a specific amount of runes to be able to go through the procedures offered by your schools. That was the information you each received from your schools, right?"
Everyone nodded, and Hes continued, "Perfect. Well, let's move on to the next part. First of all, the rules. Number one, you can't steal other people's runes in the forest."
On hearing this, some people sighed while others grumbled.
"Number two, you can't attack the other participants."
"Number 3, the first person to touch the rune owns it."
One of the people in the queue then raised his hand and said, "What if two people touch the rune at the same time?"
"In that case, the rune multiplies, and both people get one, but make no mistake. Both people need to touch the rune literally at the same moment for that to happen. Feel free to try."
"Well, those are the rules. Now I'll talk about the services."
A person in one of the queues then said, "Services? What are you talking about?"
Hes then said, "It's simple. During the time you're here looking for runes, the city guard offers you some services, such as food, room, bath, and other daily necessities."
Another person then said, "Isn't that obvious? How would we stay here without that?"
"That's true. Without these services, it would be impossible to stay here looking for the runes but make no mistake, that doesn't mean the services are free."
Another person in the queue said, "What do you mean? Are we going to have to pay? I don't have any money on me."
"Me neither."
"Neither do I."
"It's not fair that we have to pay. We didn't choose to be here."
"That's true."
Hes then said, "Well, I know you're unhappy, but unfortunately, that's the way things are around here. Now, on the subject of money, don't worry. Payment isn't made with money from your world, but with the runes you'll find."
One person then said, "With the runes? But we need them to finish the mission."
"Don't worry. The value is quite reasonable. It won't hinder you in your missions. I'll pass on the price table to you later. Well, that concludes the explanation. You're free to explore the forest."
As soon as Hes said this, several of the people in the queues started heading towards the forest, to the point where only Rohan was there.