At the same time, some kind of combat sounds echoed repeatedly in the Suya Mountain Range underground. It was a confined space with the slight characteristic of sound carrying, but naturally not everyone could hear these sounds. Only those nearby could hear them.
(Something… there’s a sound? This is… metallic sounds?)
Will happened to be walking near that area searching for Black Cats. He noticed the metallic sounds and ran toward that location.
(I have a bad feeling…)
He ran and reached the place where Tamika and Ruta were fighting. Tamika was holding her stomach and had spit up blood. However, her eyes were not dead at all.
(I have to help her.)
Will immediately had that thought. Though just moments ago he had thought she was higher level than him and probably existed in a completely different dimension from someone like him, she immediately became someone he should protect in his mind.
His head was coolly calm like it had been chilled. The moment someone became a target he needed to help, his body could literally give its all.
(Right now, she’s surely injured, holding her ribs with her hand. Are they broken? She’s hurt. Looking at this roughly, I need to guide this to the optimal solution as much as possible)
In extreme concentration, he stood in front of Tamika who had been cornered against the wall, and threw a stone at Ruta.
“Huh!?”
He drew his sword toward Ruta, who had dodged.
“So it’s you.”
“Let me help, Tamika-san.”
He swung his sword but was avoided as expected, nearly taking a counter. However, Will blocked it with his sword.
(He didn’t seem like the type to jump into this kind of fight. He was clearly trembling with nervousness in front of the statue earlier… is he a different person…?)
The movements were so battle-hardened and his expression so different that for a moment, she mistook him for someone else. Will’s timid figure from the written exam was nowhere to be found.
(Well, he’s still below my level. But he might be able to hold his own against that thing for a few seconds… then)
“Will, hold out for a few seconds.”
“Y-yeah.”
Tamika concentrated her magic power and began chanting.
“Foundation of flames – birth ash – bestow upon my body.”
In the previous battle, she couldn’t spare the chanting for spell activation, magic unification, and concentration for magic power. But now that Will had joined the fight, she could complete it.
“Flame Enchant – Blaze Sword”
With a sword wrapped in flames through magic, she charged forward. Ahead of her, Will had already bought those few seconds and was starting to get beaten up.
“Get away.”
She spoke to both Will and Ruta. Will immediately moved away, but Ruta also sensed that sword was bad news.
Third-tier magic, Flame Enchant – Blaze Sword. Simple in function, adding flames to the sword, but it grants tremendous effects of increased sword power and burning while cutting through skin.
He tried to distance himself from the sword that could probably cut through even claws, but at Ruta’s feet was the sword of beginning stabbed into the ground.
(This brat threw his sword the moment he retreated!?)
“Don’t get cocky, brat!”
“Agh!”
Will’s thrown sword had pierced his foot, hindering his escape. However, Will, who had been punched by the enraged Ruta, took damage from the brief combat and fell unconscious.
“It’s over.”
“Guaaahh!!”
Tamika slashed his torso with flames. The demon Ruta’s body was engulfed in explosive flames and died. Tamika also collapsed from exhaustion.
Both Will and Tamika had lost consciousness. Less than two hours remained in the exam.
Their problem seemed to be only waking up within the remaining time and catching a Black Cat. However, that wasn’t all – a threat still remained.
The demon whose torso had been slashed, Ruta, immediately revived. His torso reconnected and he stood up.
(D-damn, that was close! If I hadn’t had the Heal Stone bestowed by the Four Heavenly Kings, I would have died!!)
“Hah hah, fufufuhahahaha. But I’m alive. And I’m certain now. I must kill both of you here.”
The demon approached the unconscious pair. He raised his arm, intending to split their heads with his sharp claws and kill them instantly.
“Split their heads and scoop out their brains, then for sure—”
“—Wait just a minute there.”
A vacant voice echoed through the cave in the tense space.
“Those two are literally candidates, you see.”
Where he looked stood a black-haired man with spiky hair. His face was soft yet hard, an indescribable face like a weed you could find anywhere. It almost made one lose their fighting spirit.
“A human… If you tuck your tail and run now, I might let you go?”
“No no, if I leave, you’ll kill those two. That would really trouble me.”
“What?”
Ruta tilted his head at the man’s statement that it would “trouble” him. However, the man was still grinning while acting carefree.
“Still, that’s quite something. To think they’d defeat a demon in a two-on-one fight, even if temporarily. Tamika was happy recently that she could use new magic, so that was it.”
“You were watching?”
“Well yeah. Not everything, but…”
“Oh? Then why come out now?”
“That’s obvious, isn’t it? Because—”
The human man opened his mouth lightly as if it were nothing, as if it were the truth of the world.
“—Because everything will end once I show up. I wanted to give the youngsters a chance to grow, you know.”
The man began walking slowly toward the demon. With his hands thrust into his pockets in a defenseless posture.
“Fool!”
Saying that, he directed his iron-hard claws toward him. He intended to tear through his body and dye it bright red, but—
—The demon was dancing through the air.
(Eh…? I, what happened? Was I thrown?)
Heaven and earth reversed in an instant. He mistook it for being thrown but immediately realized the correct answer. On the ground was his own body with the head separated from the neck. And his own head was in the sky.
(I-impossible, w-what is this!?)
The demon was shocked. He saw nothing, felt nothing in between. While his eyes widened, he stared at the source of the abnormality. The man had simply kicked him in the face while keeping his hands in his pockets.
Confirming this fact, he increasingly couldn’t comprehend the impossible situation.
(S-such a thing, for a human to do such… Such a monster!)
“Hmm, this feeling. Quite a low-level demon? But well, defeating him is still defeating him. Those two did quite well.”
“W-who are you?”
“Well, demons spawn infinitely anyway.”
“W-who are you?”
“Hm? What’s that?”
“Who are you?”
“—Why, I’m the Hero.”
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.GITHUB.IO
When Will woke up, his whole body was screaming in pain. Actually, no – it felt completely normal.
“Huh?”
“Ah, you’re awake?”
“Ban-san. Um, I…”
“I don’t really know, but when I arrived, both of you seemed to be unconscious.”
Next to Will was Tamika with a bitter expression. Seeing her face, Will roughly understood. They had slept too long. The adventurer exam was either already over, or even if it wasn’t, there was no way they could make it from here.
Finding a Black Cat and stealing its ribbon, then returning to the guild from there. Other examinees had already taken ribbons so there were few left, and finding them would be quite a struggle.
“Ah!? What about the exam!?”
“Ah, the exam. There’s probably less than an hour left.”
“Eh!? That means…”
“You’ll probably pass.”
“Right… wait, pass!?”
“Here, I’ll give these to you two.”
Ban said that and held out blue ribbons to both of them.
“Right now, eighteen people have reached the goal, so you should hurry.”
“Eh!? Um, but what about you, Ban-san…”
“I’m fine, I have a plan. More importantly, what will you do? Do you want them? Don’t you want them?”
“Um, well… but…”
“I’ll take it… It pisses me off that I couldn’t get it with my own power, but I can’t keep hesitating here.”
“There you go. You should take one too.”
Saying that, Ban tossed the ribbons to them. Though hesitant, both grabbed the ribbons. Then all three headed to the guild. First, when they reached town, they could see the initial staff member and the Black Cat that had been with him during the explanation.
“Well then, I’ll take this cat’s ribbon. Any problems?”
“…No, sir.”
Easily getting the ribbon from the exam proctor, he walked toward the reception with light steps as if nothing had happened.
To Ban’s departing back, the exam proctor couldn’t help but call out.
“You noticed, didn’t you? Why did you bother going to the mountains to get one?”
“…Ah, no particular meaning. I could have passed either way. If I had to say, maybe I was watching something interesting?”
“…If you have that much confidence, I have nothing to say. I can only admire your excellent observational skills.”
The exam proctor bowed. He was probably showing respect to Ban for brilliantly reading between the lines.
“Well then, you’ll all be the final successful candidates. Please apply at the reception.”
“Yes yes.”
Will and Tamika couldn’t hide their surprise at Ban, who had easily obtained a third ribbon.
“What’s wrong?”
“Um, getting two ribbons is amazing.”
“Ah, I’ve always been liked by specific monsters like Black Cats. When I was walking around the mountain range randomly, they came to me on their own.”
“Eh!? That’s surprising too, but being able to notice taking the exam proctor’s Black Cat’s ribbon is also amazing!”
“I agree with that too. You have broad vision.”
“Well yeah. My vision is pretty broad.”
Laughing cheerfully, Ban went ahead. Will felt he was truly an elusive person, but his gratitude for being able to pass thanks to him was greater.
“I’m grateful. My name is Tamika-Trelvarner. I’m the First Princess. I will definitely repay this debt.”
“M-me too.”
“Thanks. I’ll have you pay me back eventually.”
Ban casually raised his hand, calmed the two down, and walked away alone. The remaining two were enveloped in a unique atmosphere.
“I defeated it, the demon.”
“A-as expected of a descendant of the Hero!”
“…That should be the case, but there’s also a strange sense of discomfort.”
“I-is that so?”
“Ban… He’s like a ghost, impossible to pin down.”
—Will, Tamika, Ban, and eighteen others, twenty-one people total. Practical exam breakthrough.
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