Chapter 68: Five Exams

When the subordinate came and told Rouge about someone incredible showing up, Rouge quickly asked his subordinate about the whereabouts of that someone incredible.

But his subordinate didn't tell him. Instead, the subordinate just said that Rouge should follow him and he would lead Rouge to that someone incredible.

At first, Rouge didn't want to follow his subordinate since he seems to just be exaggerating things.

After all, it's not like every subordinate in this place would know what they are looking for.

Not every subordinate would know what standard that the organization has set.

It might just be that his subordinate saw someone light up the place or something like that, and his subordinate thought that this person was amazing to do that.

Not every single member present in this place was an examiner and Rouge knew that very well since he was the one to handle these things for today's project.

In the end, Rouge decided to just give this subordinate a chance and followed right after him.

It's not like he can just ignore him when he said that there was someone incredible that showed up.

If they lost this someone incredible just because Rouge didn't trust this subordinate, Rouge would lose his life right off the bat.

And that was why...if this someone wasn't really incredible, the subordinate would lose his life at Rouge's hands.

That was only natural. At least, it was for Rouge whose hands were dirty.

And now, Rouge and his subordinate were finally able to reach their destination.

Their destination was...a dark alleyway that was surrounded by buildings.

It was so dark that there was nothing much to see here, and besides, this was not a place of examination for people in the first place.

It was weird that his subordinate brought him here, which is why Rouge has his guards up as he prepared himself in case his subordinate...actually wanted to kill him or something like that.

However, it seems that his subordinate didn't have any plans of that sort as he just spoke while pointing to something.

"Captain! This is the one that I'm talking about!" He said.

And this made Rouge turn his head towards the direction where his subordinate was pointing at.

As soon as he did, his eyes sharpened and his face turned into a frown.

Why? It was because...there was no one. He couldn't see anyone at all, and this made Rouge raise his guards to the maximum as he thought that his subordinate would make a move using this as a distraction.

However, he was wrong. After a second passed, Rouge's field of vision saw something appear as someone suddenly appeared out of nowhere!

It was so fast that even Rouge was confused about what happened!

Right, Rouge couldn't even notice any movement at all, and he couldn't even sense that anyone was there!

That was why Rouge had his eyes wide open as he...held his sword that was shining with his mana.

After all, Rouge was alarmed when someone just appeared like that.

"This is him, Captain! Isn't he incredible! He showed up just like that when I first met him, too," Rouge's subordinate said as he looked at the man who just suddenly appeared with high spirits.

And the man who suddenly appeared was...it was obvious, but it was Lucifer.

However, he was covered in too much dirt that Lucifer didn't look like Lucifer.

In fact, the usual elegance that Lucifer had disappeared as dirt replaced that.

What's more, Lucifer's clothes had changed to rags that were torn here and there.

And this...this was a common look in the slums, which is why Lucifer even allowed dirt on his body.

Otherwise, Lucifer wouldn't do this shit at all.

It was then that Rouge was able to calm down and pull back his mana and sword as he snapped back to reality.

"This is the guy? Hmm...interesting," Rouge murmured as he squinted his eyes to observe Lucifer better.

He could tell that Lucifer was quite strong, but he could also feel that Lucifer was not a threat to him.

In other words, Rouge could tell that Lucifer was just really good at hiding himself that he was able to hide from his senses, but...he wasn't that strong in fighting.

'He seems good overall, but stealth seems to be his forte,' Rouge thought as he finished his assessment.

"So? What does he want to do? Does he want to take the test, huh?" Rouge said as he turned his eyes towards his subordinate.

Of course, when his subordinate heard that, he quickly came to attention and straightened his body, "Yes, Captain!"

"This guy wanted to take the exam and as you can see, he's quite special and that's why I specifically called you!" He continued.

And as soon as Rouge heard that, his eyes turned cold and the atmosphere in this place became filled with killing intent.

"Oy," Rouge said as he began to walk towards his subordinate.

And when he reached his subordinate, he grabbed his head and pulled him closer to his eyes.

He then spoke as he looked at his subordinate straight in the eyes, "When did we allow commoners to order us around? Huh?!"

"Did he tell you that he wanted to take the exam, and you just did as he told you and came to get me? Huh? Is that it?! You incompetent bastard!" Rouge then threw his subordinate away as he pushed him.

"Kuhk!" The subordinate coughed up blood as he fell to the ground.

However, without even minding the pain that has coursed all over his body, the subordinate quickly stood up and saluted Rouge.

"N-No, Captain!" He shouted out loud for everyone to hear, but Rouge was no longer looking at him as he was looking at Lucifer.

"Did you not hear that we started the exam during the day? What do you think you are doing, huh? You think we are available all day and that you can just ask for an exam?!"

"Stop acting like a spoiled brat!" Rouge shouted once more as he started to walk towards Lucifer.

"Bastards like you that act arrogantly just because they think they are a little bit special than the others die early!"

"If you understand thi-" Rouge tried to say something else, but he was abruptly cut off when Lucifer...interjected.

"Will you let me take the exam or not?" Lucifer said as he looked at Rouge.

No...it would be wrong to call this man Lucifer right now. Lucifer was so good in his acting that his eyes...looked like they belonged to a dead man that had given up on his life.

As this place was the slums, people who gave up on their lives are common.

And Lucifer's eyes were exactly just that. It was to the point that Rouge was amazed.

'He's perfect. Given up on life, but seems to be willing enough to try and change his life...good,' 

Rouge thought as he looked at Lucifer. He then...decided to change his approach and just let Lucifer do the exam.

"Alright, I will let you take the exam. However, if you do not pass all the trials, I will kill you on the spot," Rouge said threateningly with a grin on his face.

Even though Rouge said it like that, he didn't actually mean it. He just knew that the man in front of him would do anything for a shot like this.

What's more, Rouge has already determined that the man in front of him would be able to pass the tests that he would give and if that happens, then...the batch that they recruited for this time would be the best of the best.

Right, just the man in front of him was enough to call this batch the best of the best, and Rouge already knows that by just observing him.

In a way, Rouge's observation skills were top-notch as it was indeed the truth.

And it was then that the man in front of Rouge answered him.

"Heh, you will kill me on the spot, eh? Whatever, I will take on whatever exam you got, as long as you give me one." Lucifer said as he looked at Rouge's face.

And while he was looking at Rouge's face, Lucifer was thinking about something.

'This guy...he already finished assessing the character that I'm playing,' Lucifer thought as he squinted his eyes a little bit.

It was fair to say that Lucifer was amazed by Rouge's observation skills, but well. He didn't really care about it.

He just thought that it would be best for him to have his guards around Rouge so that he wouldn't be found out that he's impersonating or something like that.

Lucifer then continued to speak, "So? What will the exam be? The day is ending, I'm sure you want to go home already. Give me the exam and I'll pass it in a jiffy."

And what he said...made Rouge widen his smile a little bit more.

"Keke, you are arrogant, aren't ya. I like that," Rouge said as he put up five of his fingers in his right hand.

"Five exams - pass all of that and I'll let you join in the project."