“Are you hurt anywhere?”
“Senior…”
I smiled and waved at Yuni and Rie.
Yuni frowned and looked at me, while Rie smiled.
Rie slowly walked towards me and checked my body.
"Are you hurt anywhere?"
“Just a little? The injuries aren’t that serious.”
I couldn’t avoid all of Evan’s attacks due to low mana.
I had to escape while maintaining a safe distance, so some minor injuries were inevitable.
“Look…”
Then Yuni came up to me.
She looked at the injuries I had.
It was surprising to see Yuni, not Rie, acting like this.
“Sigh… Really…”
Yuni looked at me with annoyance.
“Why did you try to save me? It was just bad luck that I met a strong opponent. I should have just failed the assessment and that would be the end of it! It was just an unavoidable accident… due to bad luck…”
Yuni looked upset, rambling as she gazed at my wounds.
I smiled at her.
“If it’s bad luck to meet such a guy, it’s good luck to meet me. Just think of it as good luck.”
“Are you an idiot? Senior, don’t you think about your own benefits?”
"...Just living to help others is good enough."
“…Huh?”
Rie tilted her head at Yuni’s behavior.
She squinted, as if something was strange.
Yuni’s behavior was odd, but there was no reason for such an expression.
It wasn’t strange to become emotional after a significant event.
I looked around, wondering if someone else was nearby.
But there was nothing in sight.
Why is she making that expression?
I asked Rie.
“Is something wrong?”
“…No. Nothing at all.”
In response to my question, Rie shook her head.
Yuni, looking confused, poked at me.
“Anyway, let’s go back to where we were. Emily is there, so you can get some treatment.”
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})“Oh, right. Emily knows healing magic.”
That worked out well.
Getting treated by Emily and increasing our numbers would reduce the danger at night.
“Shall we move then?”
“Yes, Senior.”
Rie kept looking at me with suspicion.
I looked back at her.
“Rie?”
“…Ah, yeah. Shall we go?”
…Why is she acting like that?
I was puzzled, but I started walking to join Emily and the others.
“Yuni…! Rudy…!”
Emily was hiding near the valley with Diark.
It seemed they hadn't gone far because Diark was injured.
“Emily, are you okay?”
Yuni slowly approached Emily.
“Yes, I'm fine thanks to Yuni’s protection... But…”
Emily looked at Diark, who was sitting in front of her.
“Has senior arrived…”
Diark, wrapped in bandages, looked quite pitiful.
“Can you continue the assessment in this state…”
"We have to try as much as we can. We can't just give up."
It seemed Diark was satisfied just to have not been eliminated.
In fact, it wouldn't have been surprising if he had been eliminated after being attacked by Evan earlier.
Evan's strikes could be fatal for first-year students.
Still, Diark had managed to hold on, likely because he was not just a wizard but a magic swordsman with physical enhancements.
“Yes, you’ve had a tough time…”
I patted Diark’s shoulder a few times.
This guy was also aiming for the top rank among the first-year students.
He must be heartbroken about this unlucky situation.
Yet, seeing his determined demeanor made me want to support him.
“Shall we prepare to spend the night?”
I couldn’t do much to help, but I thought of creating a comfortable environment for them.
The first to respond to my suggestion was Yuni.
“I’ll go to the stream. I can quickly catch something like fish.”
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})“Oh, would you do that?”
I was a bit surprised to see Yuni being so proactive, but I didn’t stop her since she volunteered.
“Then shall we also get ready?”
We needed to make a space to sleep in and make space for a bonfire.
It would be too uncomfortable to sleep on the bare ground without anything.
We needed to gather leaves or something to make a bed-like structure.
“Rudy, come with me. Emily should stay and take care of Diark.”
“No, it’s okay! You can go without me. Take Emily with you…”
Diark quickly responded to Rie’s suggestion.
Rie looked at Diark with cold eyes.
“Is that so?”
Diark sensed the threat and gently laid down.
He lay down gently, but his movements were swift and concise.
Then he suddenly groaned.
“Ah, ah… I suddenly feel unwell… I need to lie down…”
“Is that so? Emily? Could you take care of Diark?”
“…Yes.”
Diark and Emily quickly reacted to Rie's words.
It was curious that they reacted like that without Rie having to do much.
They were quick-witted, indeed.
“Rudy? Shall we go?”
Rie spoke to me with a smile in her eyes.
Seeing Rie like that, I sighed.
“Don’t be too hard on the kids…”
“Hm? What’s wrong? Is something the matter?”
Rie gave a sly smile and tilted her head, pretending to be clueless.
Since I wasn't really asking the kids to do anything but rather telling them to rest...
“It’s nothing. Shall we go?”
“Sure!”
Rie left the shelter with a bright face.
We had to go a bit away from our campsite to gather short branches and leaves.
As we walked away from the shelter, Rie spoke.
“It’s getting darker.”
“Yes, it is. Let’s gather quickly and return.”
After hearing my response, Rie sighed and spoke again.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})“In a forest with no one around… and with the weather turning dark… it feels a bit cold and eerie.”
“…Right. Let’s gather quickly…”
Before I could repeat my earlier response, Rie quickly turned her head.
“That’s not what I’m hoping for.”
It was cold, dark, and spooky, so we should hurry back and light a bonfire, right?
“So, what do you want?”
“Sigh, you can be so clueless.”
Rie sighed and reached out her hand to me.
“Give me your hand.”
“What?”
“Hold my hand.”
Rie extended her hand towards me confidently.
I stared at her and then firmly said,
“No.”
I felt like I had been pushed around too much by Rie lately.
I couldn’t just keep doing everything she asked; it would spoil her.
Rie's eyes widened at my firm refusal.
“…You mean no?”
She stepped back as if she couldn’t believe it, her face full of disappointment.
“Why not…”
Gone was her confident demeanor, replaced with a pitiful look as she gazed up at me.
“Ugh…”
Seeing the usually assertive Rie with such an expression weakened my resolve.
How could anyone remain unaffected when someone as attractive as Rie looks up with such an expression?
I pressed my lips together and turned my head away.
I mustn't give in here.
This was just a trick of Rie's.
I turned my head sharply.
“Let’s… gather some branches…”
I resisted well…
Just as I was about to turn and walk away,
Rie grabbed my sleeve.
She looked up slightly with a sad expression.
“Hold it…”
She repeated.
“…”
My resolve wasn’t that strong.
“♬~♪.”
Rie hummed a tune while holding my hand.
One should know when to refuse, but...
How can I say no when she makes such a face and asks?
So, I ended up holding Rie’s hand as we went to collect branches.
However, there was a problem.
To pick up branches, I needed to let go of her hand.
It was obvious that Rie wouldn’t just let it be if I simply released her hand.
I glanced at Rie, with the branches right in front of me.
“We can’t pick up the wood if we keep holding hands…”
I hinted subtly to Rie.
But Rie was unfazed.
“Sylph.”
She immediately summoned a spirit to gather the surrounding leaves and branches.
In no time, Sylph had collected all the leaves and was holding them.
I thought we didn’t need to come out here if she was going to do this, but it was clear her aim was just to be alone with me, so I didn’t say it out loud.
But Rie overlooked one thing.
“Now that we’ve gathered everything, shall we go back?”
“…!”
After all, our purpose of coming out was to collect leaves and branches.
Now that we had everything, there was no reason to stay outside any longer.
“…The breeze is nice. Why don’t we walk around a bit more?”
“It’s dangerous outside. What if we encounter other people or beasts?”
“With you and me here, what’s there to worry about?”
Rie spoke confidently, but I couldn’t spoil her any further.
“No. It’d be a headache if we run into a strong beast. Let’s go back and rest. Tomorrow is going to be very busy.”
I didn't mention Sylph since it didn't use much mana, but we needed to conserve as much mana as possible.
We have a busy schedule starting from tomorrow morning so we need to conserve both mana and physical strength.
At my words, Rie tilted her head.
“What’s happening tomorrow?”
“Yes, there’s a slight change in the plan. I’m moving some things forward.”
“Moving things forward?”
My plan.
A plan known to Rie, Luna, and everyone.
“Tomorrow, we’re going to hunt the Red Dragon Hatchling.”
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