Otaku Witch

Judgment Court Headquarters, training grounds. @@novelbin@@

The training ground, which is usually quite deserted, is exceptionally lively today, with a group of witches gathering early on, all dressed in uniform black Battle Robes, each with a completely different mask on their face.

Today is the beginning of the training for new recruits, something everyone on-site has been looking forward to for a long time, as only by passing this special training can they truly join the Judgment Court and become a member of the elite force under the Council of Sages.

Although the Judgment Court, an organization notorious for targeting their own kind, has a bad reputation that makes everyone’s color change when mentioned, nearly no witch would refuse an opportunity to join, considering the remarkable treatment and benefits a witch civil servant receives, not to mention that the Judgment Court is notorious for its lavishness even within the civil service system.

The saying "the end of the universe is all about the civil exams" applies to witches as well.

Explore more adventures at NovelBin.Côm

Now, the witches present are either heirs carefully nurtured by Former Judges or strong candidates specially recruited for their Talent in dueling. In short, none here is ordinary; any of them would be a famed prodigy outside, one in ten thousand, the elite.

And now, these talented elites from various places in the Witch World have convened here, waiting for the final test before taking the post.

Well, this is called training, but what do these geniuses need training for? They had already self-studied all the professional knowledge they should understand. So this so-called new recruit training is more accurately an entrance examination. If the test results are too poor, there’s a chance they might even be advised to leave—which nobody would want after already seeing the benefits offered by the Judgment Court.

However, after waiting for half a day, the young witches did not see their instructor arrive. Two Bronze Medal assistants showed up early, but the chief instructor in charge of this special training is nowhere to be seen.

And just as they were becoming impatient from the long wait, a slight noise sounded from beside them.

Snap...

It seemed to be the sound of a book closing. The sound wasn’t loud, but since none present were ordinary, they naturally noticed and immediately looked in the direction of the sound—only to be astonished to see a witch quietly sitting in a folding lounge chair in the middle of the training grounds, holding a "Training Manual" in her hand.

This witch wore a Battle Robe similar to theirs but slightly more refined and ornate. On her face, she wore a smiling Clown mask. The silver Identity Badge at her waist revealed her identity as one of the 108 Grand Inquisitors of the entire Judgment Court.

It went without saying that this person was their chief instructor for today.

What shocked the young witches was that none had noticed anyone in that spot before the sound of the book closing, yet from the way she had a lounge chair ready, it seemed she had been sitting there for quite some time.

Is this what one would expect from a big shot? This sort of stealthy approach, going unnoticed right in front of them, was indeed frightening.

In fact, not only the young witches, but even the two Great Witch Level Bronze Medal Judges were slightly surprised at that moment.

However, they quickly came to terms with it. Anyone who could become a Grand Inquisitor was a strong character. This Clown-masked Grand Inquisitor seemed to be a newcomer, but the fact that she was promoted to a Silver Medal as soon as she joined the Judgment Court showed that her true identity and strength must be extraordinary, likely another well-known big shot working undercover.

As for suspecting that the big shot might be nothing but a name or someone who got in through the back door, they never entertained such thoughts. After all, this was the Judgment Court, an agency dedicated to combating corruption within the witch community. If even the Judgment Court were corrupt, wouldn’t the entire Witch World be doomed?

In any other organization, there might be bribery and cheating, but in the Judgment Court, such things are absolutely impossible. Here, everything depends on ability and merits; there are no rigid rules as in other departments.

Moreover, Lord Clown’s dramatic entrance had certainly served as a wake-up call for them; had this not been a test but a battlefield, they might have already died without understanding why.

Immediately, everyone tensed up, standing tall and straight, waiting for the chief instructor to speak.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Dorothy, who had just finished gnawing through the training manual, also sighed in relief.

Yes, she had completely understood what this so-called special training was all about.

In short, stripping away all the flashy content, there were just two lines that ran through the entire manual.

Strength, strength and more strength; loyalty, loyalty and more loyalty.

What the Judgment Court needed were Judges capable of fighting and who would absolutely obey orders from their superiors—all other factors were less important than these two points.

Therefore, it didn’t matter what methods the Bishop used, as long as he could test these two aspects somehow.

Dorothy’s eyes whirled around a couple of times as she came up with a plan.

Then, she began to speak in a deep voice.

"You all disappoint me. Everyone present here is a one-in-a-million Talent. I had thought you would give me a surprise, but not a single person noticed my clumsy invisibility. That’s really quite poor. Everyone loses ten points."

Well, might as well start with a show of authority. And it wasn’t like she was nitpicking; although she had used the Akari Technique to erase her presence mostly to buy some time to read the manual, it was indeed a test.

She had deliberately not perfected the Akari Technique, leaving a slight weakness, and yet only a few had noticed her.

Of course, it wasn’t that nobody noticed at all. Among the crowd, Alice, Madeline, and Miss Ghost Mask did glance vaguely in her direction with a hint of suspicion. Other than those three, there were also four or five others who seemed contemplative.

It seemed that there were still quite a few promising recruits in this new batch, but unfortunately, no one stepped forward in the end.

So, she didn’t bother giving those promising seeds any special treatment. Let’s start everyone off with negative points. This way, the upcoming game—no, the exam—will feel more urgent.

As for her words, the atmosphere among the crowd suddenly grew tense. Starting with a deficit would be upsetting for anyone, and some were already suspecting the presiding Judge of making things difficult for them. However, there was no one foolish enough to openly complain or make a fuss.

This response both comforted and slightly disappointed Dorothy.

After all, she was quite looking forward to a classic scene of showing off and putting someone in their place at a time like this, but it seemed that no one brainless enough to do so could make it into the Judgment Court.

"Well, let’s not waste any more words. This assessment consists of two stages, both with point scores. A final total of 60 points is considered passing. Those who don’t achieve 60 can try again next year."

"Without further ado, let’s begin the first stage. I wish you all an enjoyable time."

With time pressing and the task weighty, Dorothy planned to finish this assignment in one night, so she decisively snapped her fingers. Subsequently, the environment of the training ground underwent a massive change.

...Setting up the field....