The Rankings Are Out [1/3]

The next morning.

At daybreak, the final rankings for the field assessment were officially posted on the training ground's chain-link fence.

Recruits kept arriving as word spread, eager to see their performance statistics and rankings.

A crowd had gathered before the fence, shoulder to shoulder. Many latecomers had to stand on tiptoe just to make out the words on the list.

Luckily, Shiryu and Rosinante had no such problem.

The two had arrived late as well, but their height gave them an advantage. They could see from the back without pushing through the crowd.

"Rossi, Rossi, Rossi... Found you! Tenth place..."

After searching for a while, Rosinante finally found his entry. "Took part in twelve combat missions, defeated 375 pirates, total bounty value of 130 million Beli..."

He broke into a grin. "Not bad. That's even better than I expected. What about you, Shiryu?"

"Second."

Shiryu looked away from the list, his expression calm, as though he had expected it. "They deducted all my marks for the second month. Otherwise, my numbers would've looked better."

According to the figures, he had defeated 764 pirates with a combined bounty of 220 million Beli.

Those were astonishing numbers. Even after a third had been deducted, he still stood comfortably ahead of Kesha in third and Shiya in fourth.

"That's you for you, Shiryu. Second place is impressive."

Rosinante looked toward the top of the list. "And first... Yeah, Noah, of course. He took part in dozens of combat missions, defeated pirates numbering in the thousands, and racked up a total bounty value of 312 million Beli."

"Wait. Did they leave William's bounty out?"

Rosinante glanced at Shiryu in confusion. "I thought it'd be at least four or five hundred million. How is it only a hundred million higher than yours?"

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