Avoid Former Co-Workers

20 – 20. End of Semester Assessment (8)

End of Semester Assessment with four levels.

Compared to the previous three steps, which were so simple and concise, the last step had to deal with nature, which was difficult even if you bumped into it with your whole body.

“Is everyone okay?”

─Thanks for helping me.

However, the remaining test takers also have their own goals, so they are not taken lightly.

Michelle joined forces with her partner Erica to escape from the situation, and joined forces with about twenty students who were confused around them.

Even if they weren’t the faces I was used to seeing, I couldn’t just watch the unstable surface of the soil rise and roll in mud, get swept away in an avalanche, or fall into an overflowing river.

Although his clothes are a little dirty, he doesn’t hesitate to save people.

A man named Michelle Granodia was such a person.

‘All of them are D and E class students…’

It meant that the test was so desperate.

Because, more than anyone else, you don’t want to face the words D and E again in class assignments.

“I’ve managed to make some of the injured people better. But Michelle… I think you’re right.”

“…Really?”

Since everyone here is from Class D and E, most of the students from Class C, B, and A seem to have already passed the 4th stage of the exam.

As much as I had made a map with Erica, I knew of course that the field wasn’t this narrow, and if the test went on like this, there was a high possibility that the remaining students would be injured or isolated.

“The bleeding has stopped. However, it can’t stop the symptoms of anemia. Please rest for the time being.”

“Thank you.”

The wounds that had opened unsightly and deep returned to their clean skin with new flesh. It is thanks to the strength of Michelle’s partner, Erica.

‘I didn’t know you were a healer.’

As the dark demonic energy circulating on the Kemfreton continent affected various ecosystems, a roughly similar effect occurred to humans.

That was the point of being able to use magic by training one’s magical power.

Since then, humans have trained only in magic-related fields on fictitious days, but sometimes there are people who use noble and noble power because they are not heterogeneous.

Those who can convert mana into holy power to heal the wounds of injured people.

Those who have the rarest healing magic among the buffer types in the middle position.

I call them healers.

It belongs to a buffer position that reduces the damage of allies, infuses the body with regeneration and vitality, and plays an active role in both offense and defense.

No matter how hard you try, most of them are nothing more than adding a lasting effect that promotes regeneration and increases recovery for a short period of time.

However, you cannot ignore the effects of regeneration, vitality, empathy, and continuous recovery, but a healer’s ‘healing’ magic is of a different class.

Healing in the literal sense, not conditional like hemostasis, acupressure, or regeneration.

Even if you have suffered a serious trauma that makes you shake your head, the situation will change when a healer comes, and if new skin grows and the lack of blood is solved, there is a slim chance of surviving.

Those who shake the fate of life and death, who can even save the life of a dying person in an emergency if they try hard enough.

That was the great strength of healing magic.

“All the serious injuries have been treated. If you rest like now, there will be no problems after the exam is over.”

As Michelle gathered the students together and Erica healed the injured, all the students who had been terrified from the landslide and heavy rain succeeded in regaining their composure.

In other words, it means that if you fall alone, it is even more dangerous, so Michelle said, tying her loose hair back together.

“Then Erica, could you watch Chui for a moment?”

“You really want to go…? Are you okay, Michelle?”

“I have to go. If this is a test, it must be the people who have no choice but to take it.”

Yes. D, E class students never want to miss the opportunity to be promoted to class.

If you look at the people who are left now, that’s the case. It endures even when it is old and has a large thorn stuck in its back.

The coaches who were watching the test won’t intervene, so unless the rest reach out and help each other, their bodies won’t be able to recover.

Michelle set out to find the students who were enduring far from the bad weather.

And it must have been a few minutes since I looked around the field through the rain.

-‘We have confirmed all of this. What’s left is…’

Princess Ophelia has already built a large relief camp with her own hands. Thanks to that, there weren’t many places for Michelle to look.

The only place left was the south field, close to one of the four starting points at the beginning of the 4th stage test. And…

“Damn… Where is this…!”

“Is this enough?”

“It’s nice that it’s bright! How long can it be maintained?”

“I think I’ll keep it for a few hours unless I suddenly collapse.”

“You’re strong? First of all, I need to go and raise my body temperature, so start the fire.”

I could see Junon carrying Sylvia.

“…Am I wrong?”

Michelle rubbed her eyes, muttering a couple more times that she hadn’t seen something wrong.

Junon carries Sylvia on his back along the road illuminated by a band of bright light from a distance.

Looking at it again, it is an unmistakable reality.

For several minutes, Michelle couldn’t take her eyes off the sight of Junon disappearing with Sylvia on her back, who was in a mess after rolling on the mud floor.

In the end, the shadow of the boy holding the female student disappears into the shelter-like entrance made by forcibly covering pieces of tent fabric, wood, and leaves.

“Doesn’t make sense…?”

It was a contradiction.

There was no way to express it in any way other than a single word, contradiction.

***

Did my ears feel weird right now?

What is he talking about??? What??? Sorry???

“I… Was wrong…”

Again.

Sorry? Did it wrong

It was completely different from the Sylvia I knew.

I wonder if the Talbrt Arc was deliberately giving me hallucinations… But that could be the case.

Although it is different from the original color due to being stained with muddy water, how can a person change if that one thing is changed?

No matter how you look at it, the one in front of me is the same Sylvia that once bullied me.

But… His eyes were closed.

Like someone having a bad dream, these were the words that jumped out of her as she grunted and talked in her sleep.

‘It must have been something you said in your sleep.’

Well, it could be.

At least having nightmares is something that everyone is likely to have.

I tried to concentrate on the sound of the rain while holding her chin, but this time she is dozing off over there.

‘Come to think of it, Rhenias suffered a lot too.’

Today, Renias vigorously resisted the congenital symptom of fear of heights with his entire body, and overcame it by draining all his tears and runny nose.

That alone must have already exhausted my mental strength. Even there, even the body moved without rest, how severe the fatigue must have been.

It was understandable that he slept with his head on one side of the wall at the entrance.

“Ugh…”

I wondered if one side was on the verge of falling asleep, and the other side seemed to have a nightmare.

Soon after, Sylvia, who was sweating profusely, took a deep breath and couldn’t stand it. Her eyes flashed open.

“Are you awake?”

“What… Why are you…”

“I warn you in advance, but it was built with great effort, so don’t think about destroying it. If it breaks, it’ll be a nuisance to the kid over there. It was built with me.”

Actually, I wanted to say it differently.

It’s not the place you made to rest, but it was lying on the side of the road, so I picked it up. So, you know how not to let go if you get hit. Do.

But, seeing Sylvia’s condition, she didn’t think she needed to say such a thing, so she used Rhenias as an excuse to give her a warning.

If it’s only me who has bad feelings, I might be able to play it… I don’t want to scratch it and make a boil.

If Sylvia is said to have been built by Renias, who deserves to make her eyes shine, at least she won’t ruin this place.

“─── Huh?”

Then Sylvia covered her eyes and she turned her back to me and asked me something in her rat tail.

She said, but you have to speak straight so that you can hear it… Nope. She’s not in the mood to talk to him right now.

Because I was carrying a person who was soaked in the rain on my back, and her stamina was drained.

“Talk to you later. After the exam, you said…”

“You always bullied me when I saw you. Why did you save me when I could just leave you alone?”

“Ha… I’m tired, so I didn’t hear you tell me later…?”

“Answer me…”

While I was getting irritated, Sylvia, who was lying down, got up awkwardly and grabbed me by the collar with both her hands.

Normally, she should feel bad about being grabbed by the collar, but she didn’t.

…Since I couldn’t feel any strength in Sylvia’s hand.

“Didn’t you want revenge? No matter what happened to me, you could have just turned a blind eye and said you’d sue me. But why… Why did you save me…?”

And Sylvia’s tears were dripping down her face, and she looked intently at me saying that she would have to listen to my answer.

I wonder if I was so curious about this when I couldn’t even scream straight and could barely speak.

Do I really have to listen to the answer even though I’m not holding on to the collar, but I’m almost clinging to it, and even trembling?

Unlike back then, she didn’t have a single expression on her face. Was she suffering enough to have to shed tears?

So I was convinced.

“I think you should first explain why you relaxed while dealing with me.”

“…!”

Swaying eyes and dilated pupils.

For those whose lungs are slightly exposed, you can see various reactions such as evasiveness, shame, and anger.

However, a person whose lungs are completely exposed will not be able to say anything and all movements will stop.

Like Sylvia right in front of her nose.

The reason Sylvia reacted like that was because she probably had a heavy burden of guilt nestled in the corner of her heart.

“At first, I didn’t like it because it was only me who was persistent, but I didn’t know that.

“That… How…”

“It’s okay. Whatever the process, I don’t have much ill feelings toward you. I just thought it must have been because you also had a story.”

“…”

It was not because of her feelings that she felt uncomfortable with Sylvia before her return. And, she has now found the answer.

For now, close your eyes.

And with her head turned and clearing her throat, the complex story is put off for later.

“I’m sorry I missed you. Aren’t you cheating on your underwear?”

“Ah…!”

In an instant, the soft hand that was barely holding on to her clothes dropped and a fluttering sound was heard.

I think the cloth that was covering me must be covering my body, which is like underwear.

Perhaps by this time, the clothes Sylvia was wearing were also dry?

“I’ll go to the entrance and wake up my partner. In the meantime, put your clothes back on to dry by the campfire.”

I told Rhenias to take a deep breath as I would wake up my partner who was sleeping and take turns, and I would watch the progress for the rest of the time.

Sylvia didn’t say anything to me until this time, her exam was over. She only talks about this and that with Renias.

Whatever it was, I felt that the discomfort that had been scratching my insides had disappeared a little.

***

Time for Junon to shake off his sense of incongruity and wait for the final exam to end.

In the southern field, no one lags behind Junon Fair, and no student arrives later. Michelle’s footsteps did not have to be long there.

However, a sense of incongruity was creeping up in Michelle’s heart.

“…Erika. Can I ask you something?”

“Yes, ask me. What is it?”

“Assuming there is a person who has been terribly harassing you all the time… Can you go out to rescue that person when they are in danger?”

“Huh…?”

This was a bit difficult.