The practical exam at the [Hero Academy] is a round-robin competition, where the students were divided into groups of six.

The average time per match was about five minutes.

There were six of us, and we should have split into three groups of two and fought with each other, but I wondered if it was Reyna’s intention or the situation just amused her. The others seemed to be planning to watch this match between me and Reyna’s knight, Ellen.

Ellen was holding a real weapon that looked like it was made of mithril.

In contrast, I had an iron sickle in my right hand and an iron hoe in my left. This situation was a great way to make sure you are getting the most out of your money.

“…What’s with that weapon! Are you mocking me?”

“I’m a ‘Farmer’. This is my best equipment.”

“Oh, I see. I’m going to make you regret mocking me!”

Ellen stepped in and slowly tried to slash me diagonally from my shoulder. It’s too slow. Well, she just got her ‘Job’, and Ellen is probably not even over level 10.

I stepped aside lightly and swung my scythe lightly at the sword that Ellen had swung off.

“[Mowing] of the [Demon’s Mantle]”

With a high-pitched squeal, Ellen dropped her mithril sword.

I then pressed the tip of my sickle against Ellen’s neck. Ellen stiffens at the thought of being in a situation where her carotid artery could be cut off at any moment.

I looked at the fallen sword and saw that only half of it had been cut by the sickle. If it could be cut this far, I would say that the sword was as good as broken. It would be hard to repair.

Because the match was decided so quickly, there was a delicate atmosphere in the place.

“I won this match, right?”

“Uh, ye-yeah. One white star for Heid. One black star for Ellen.”

I lowered my scythe at his words, and Ellen trudged back to Reyna with a defeated look.

“I’m sorry, Princess Reyna.”

“…Ellen. You don’t have to be so discouraged. I’ve heard that at the age of five, Heid was already capable of overwhelming apprentice knights, and it’s inevitable that Ellen can’t compete with Heid now.”

Reyna gently threw words at Ellen that she didn’t know if it was encouraging. Ellen cried at Reyna’s words.

Was it frustrating to lose, or was it pathetic and sorrowful? I don’t know what Ellen feels, but I do regret that I have been able to win so easily.

“Heid. You’re still the same… no, you’re stronger than ever before.”

“Well, yes. But Reyna has gotten stronger too, hasn’t she?”

Maybe because he has completely beaten Ellen. There was no one to blame for calling Reyna out now. Reyna was smiling, looking a little happy.

“Yes. Today is the day I’m going to beat the crap out of Heid.”

“…Now, Reyna, you look very strong so please go easy on me.”

“You’ve got to be kidding!”

As soon as she says it, Reyna comes swinging at me with a large sword that glows a light golden color.

“…Bune!”

I quickly took a big step back to avoid it. What was that about a nerf to my speed? I’m so fast!

No, of course, I’m saying this with the understanding that the speed at which the weapon is swung down depends on the attack power, not the speed. But with this sword speed, Reyna’s slowness and other disadvantages didn’t seem like a problem at all.

Currently, there were no ‘Thunder Dragons’, which was really bad for the ‘Dragon Knight Princess’. But…

“[Lotus Field Cultivation]”

I thrust the hoe in my left hand into the ground, forming a knee-deep pit beneath Reyna’s feet. Right now, Reyna has no ‘Thunder Dragon’, and her weapon was not a ‘Thunder Sword’, but an Orichalcum sword.

Orichalcum is strong enough as a piece of equipment, but still, Reyna was still not that strong without the attack power-dependent lightning attack that comes flying.

“[Seeding]”

I scattered the appropriate seeds over the soil of the lotus field to create an improvised bush that would hold Reyna back. Reyna would be temporarily immobilized.

“Something like this!”

Reyna swung her greatsword and knocked the grass away.

…I’m weak without that thing, the magic of seeding. But my level was 17, and when a ‘Farmer’ reaches level 15, he or she acquires one new spell.

I held out my left hand to Reyna, who was still trying to escape from the muddy lotus field, swung her big sword around.

“Reyna, did you know? ‘Farmers’ are strong enough to fight physically, but they’re also strong enough to use magic.”

“Magic? I’ve never heard of magic for ‘Farmers’.”

Well, I guess so. We don’t get to learn much about farmers because the nobility and royalty discriminated against them, and… I found out that the ‘Farmers’ of this world have very low MP.

So, even if they learned it, the opportunity to use magic didn’t come often.

But not me, I’ve used my knowledge of [JRO] to properly train my MP and magic power.

“The roar of the gods that come down to the earth to announce the harvest of rice. [Lightning Bolt]”

“Aahnn!”

Bzz! What looked like a thin spark pierced Reyna. Reyna let out a strange seductive shriek. It’s a beginner level of magic that ‘Farmers’ learn, [Lightning Bolt].

The voltage was about 10,000 volts or less. The damage was as painful as a sewing needle that accidentally sticks in your finger.

Just for reference, I heard that a stun gun is about 50,000 to 1,000,000 volts.

The magic was so weak that even players in [JRO] couldn’t figure out how to use it, and it had little effect except to make Reyna scream a little seductively.

Reyna cleared her throat, her face flushing a little.

“…Heid, what is this? What’s this magic?”

“…According to one theory, this level of electric shock can promote the cultivation of shiitake mushrooms.  Isn’t that what this magic is for?”

“…Is that so”

In Japan, the shiitake mushroom factory has a process where they exposed it to static electricity… is what the [JRO] discussion board said.

So, Reyna. I don’t want you to look at me with those eyes.

Reyna let out a disgusted sigh of relief and walked over to me… then she drew her greatsword. I ducked and slithered behind Reyna and gently placed the blade of my sickle against her neck.

“…Another day, another loss. It’s frustrating”

“But I think the final blow was really good.”

It really caught me off guard. In interpersonal battles, the difference between victory and defeat was how well could the gaps in the opponent’s attention could be exploited. There was no such thing as cowardice.

It’s funny because Reyna sometimes does this to me.

“Instructor. It’s my loss…”

“O-oh. P-princess Reyna has a black star. The ‘Farmer’ is still alive and well, isn’t he, the Prodigy of the Marquess Family…”

The instructor muttered and came over to look at me.

At the very least, no one in the room was in the mood to make fun of me for being a ‘Farmer’.

After all, I had not only defeated Ellen but even Reyna.

As far as I know from [JRO], there was no character in this year’s [Hero Academy] freshmen that were stronger than Reyna, and now that I’ve defeated her, the strongest freshman was definitely me.

After that, she fought the other three but ended up winning all of them easily.

By the way, the battle between Reyna and Ellen was won by Reyna in a rather overwhelming victory.

I apologize for uploading this chapter a day late. Thank you for reading 🙂