The scholarship-debt was repaid directly to the Martial Union. This made sense, since the Martial Academy was owned, staffed and even funded by the Martial Union. What interested Rui was how sophisticated the economic framework seemed to be. It wasn't something he would have expected, but it was remarkably realistic, grounded and pragmatic.
The functioning of the Union, the Academies and Martial Artists in relation to each other was quite rational, and not of the vague, ambiguous system one would normally encounter in fictional fantasy settings.
"What happens to these debt-contracts once it's been fully paid?" This was an important matter to Rui.
"The debt contracts include a condition and agreement of termination of the contract once the debt has been fully paid, of course. No need to worry about anything on that front."
"What is the typical time period needed for a Martial Squire to repay their incurred debt through these debt-contracts? The information booklet does not mention anything about the interest rate." Julian inquired.
It was quite possible that the debt incurred would be so high, and the interest would be so overwhelming that it would take Martial Squires half their life to pay back their debt. Signing an exploitative contract that would haunt you for decades was a truly horrific possibility that Julian was determined to not allow happen to Rui.
"The reason the information booklet does not mention an interest rate is because we do not charge an interest rate. The interest to be paid is the principle amount incurred as debt."
Rui narrowed his eyes. This meant that the scholarships weren't a system meant to farm larger amounts of money through snowballed debt of hapless victims. On first glance it seemed like plain philanthropy, but Rui was certain that this wasn't the case.
('It seems the Martial Union's interest in maintaining a constant fresh influx of new Martial Artists was stronger than I'd suspected.')
This was quite the sweet deal for students like himself, if true. The Martial Academy was basically willing to make losses in order to ensure a greater number of Martial Artists successfully graduate.
"As for the first question you asked me.." The man continued. "It generally takes graduates several years of work with the general debt contract to fully repay their debt and re-negotiate a standard contract with the Union. Though there are some who manage to repay it within six months while those who fail to repay it for one reason or the other. Typically, due to low rates of mission completion, crippling injuries or death. It all depends on what kind of occupation you take, and what kind of competences you possess."
"I also noticed that collaterals are not a necessary condition for being eligible to scholarship-debt." Julian pointed out.
"Indeed, the kind of students who usually need a scholarship never have any collateral in our experience." The man replied.
"So, the Academy just readily offers scholarships to all students who are unable to pay the fees?" Rui asked with a confused expression. This was honestly too good to be true.
"Yes, However you will need to provide a financial statement. We do not permit students who possess the financial security to pay the fees to enter based on a scholarship."
This was easy enough. Rui had already verified that there was absolutely no way in hell the Orphanage had the funds necessary to foot the bill of the fees.
"Then from what you have clarified as well as the information available in the guidebook, Rui here is fully eligible to apply for and receive a scholarship." Julian noted.
The support staff member nodded his head as he flipped through Rui's profile.
"There are no problems, as long as you have the documents at hand, you can submit an application for a scholarship for student Rui Quarrier."
While Julian began the process. Rui was left to his own thoughts.
('Part of the reason the Martial Entrance Exam was this difficult was probably because they wanted to a high degree of certainty that the students that end up passing and applying for a scholarship are worth the money invested.')
Rui suspected that part of the reason the Martial Union was so liberal with their scholarship policy is because the fact that the students applying managed to pass the exam meant there was already a somewhat high degree of confidence that a decently large enough proportion of students who passed the exam and applied for a scholarship would likely graduate.
Otherwise, such liberalism didn't make sense. Some financial losses were fine as long as the yield of Martial Artists were high enough. These were likely long-term investments into the growth and development of the Martial Union.
Thus it made sense that the Martial Exam was served as not just a test for whether people were worthy of becoming a Martial Artist, but also as a filter that weeded out as many incompetent applicants that would be no more than bad investments and money drains that would sap away the funds of the Martial Union.
('Especially the first round, people who lack the resolve and determination, the type of people who least deserve a scholarship, would have been filtered out.')
Regardless, Rui was grateful for the scholarship program. The odds of him successfully becoming a successful Martial Artist without scholarship was truly bleak. He'd have to engage in manual labour for extensive periods of time, decades probably, before he had enough money to pay the fees. By the time he was a full-fledged adult, it was probably far too late to begin his Martial Path. He suspected there was a real reason why the Entrance Exam capped of at the age of eighteen.
They wouldn't reduce the pool of potential Martial Artists pointlessly unless the detriments of doing so drastically outweighed the incentives. Unless he found himself a Master Martial Artist independently of the Martial Academy, he had no hope. And the notion of Rui being accepted as a Martial Artist outside of the Martial Academy was absurdly ridiculous.
('I have a higher chance of becoming a Martial Artist by myself.')