149 – Exam (5)

＊

I did it.

It didn’t go as planned at first, but thanks to the wits, tricks, and Pia’s help, I managed to pull it off, even though it was a mess.

Lately, my whole body started to hurt.

It was painful to have my shoulder pierced and the sharp pieces of metal stuck in my back, but the pain from the muscles all over my body was excruciating.

My two legs were shaking incessantly.

It wasn’t too much of a stretch, since I’d never moved this violently in my life, never fallen from such a high place, and it was my first time fighting this fiercely.

It hurts so much, it’s clearly terribly painful, but for some reason I feel joy in my heart.

I felt as if hot blood was rushing through my veins, flowing from my heart all over my body.

As soon as the hot air reached my head, I couldn’t hold it in any longer and screamed while laying Sylvia down.

“I did it!”

I just couldn’t stand it.

My emotions were boiling over, to the point where I felt like I was going to explode, more than I could handle.

A sensation I feel for the first time.

A miraculous victory where you throw everything at an opponent that you thought you could never win against, and yet overcome the difficult situation with a little luck.

The joy of struggle that seems to multiply the sense of accomplishment you feel when solving a difficult problem.

So that’s what it was.

I tried to raise both arms and cheer again.

“Eww!”

However, all he could do was scream because of the sharp pain he felt in his pierced shoulder.

“Ash, are you stupid?”

Pia, who had now turned back into a little girl, slowly approached me and spoke.

As Pia gently waved her hand to the side, small gusts of wind blew, ripping out the sharp pieces of dirt stuck in my back.

I felt a sharp pain piercing through my back, enough to cool down my hot head in an instant.

“Ugh, it hurts… Go easy on me.”

“Before that, there must be something you need to say first.”

Pia said curtly, turning the pieces back into soft dirt and throwing them on the floor.

I slowly pulled myself out of Sylvia’s body and collapsed next to her, looking at Pia.

Looking at Pia’s aforementioned ball, it seemed that she was in a good mood even though she was grumbling.

Well, Pia’s goal was to hit Sylvia, so she got what she wanted.

The floor, which had been turned over once, was a mess and uneven, making it extremely uncomfortable to lie down on, but at the same time, it felt more comfortable and cozy than any bed in the world.

No, it’s not that I feel comfortable, it’s more like I’m going to fall asleep at any moment.

I said, forcing myself to open my eyes that were about to close.

“Phew… haha, Sylvia. You see? I did it. Didn’t I?”

“…”

But there was no answer from Sylvia.

“Sylvia?”

What? Could it be that Sylvia was hurt more than I thought?

I turned my head towards Sylvia with an uneasy heart.

Sylvia was staring blankly at the sky.

I wondered if there was something wrong, but fortunately, her breasts were rising and falling at a regular pace, so it seemed like there was no major problem.

But still, her blank expression bothered me for some reason, so I spoke to her cautiously.

“Sylvia… what’s wrong?”

“…”

Sylvia looked up at the sky without saying a word to my question, then slowly turned her head and stared intently at my face.

Her expression was thick with confusion, doubt, and confusion.

“…Sylvia?”

That was when.

“What did you guys do?”

Not mine, not Sylvia’s, not Pia’s,

A rare, yet very familiar female voice, a little low and husky, could be heard from far away.

Sylvia and I quickly raised our heads and looked in the direction where the voice was coming from.

“What are you doing lying there covered in blood and with the floor turned upside down?”

Dark brown hair that was slightly longer than the last time I saw it.

Golden eyes set like jewels on a stern expression, with anger sinking deep beneath the surface of determination.

Alice approached us, looking down at us, carrying a backpack larger than her armored torso, her hands and waist belt full of luggage.

＊

“Sister! It’s okay… Aya…”

“Don’t get up, stay lying down.”

As I tried to get up, groaning in pain, Sister Alice shook her head and slowly approached me.

At my bedside, my sister put the backpack she was carrying on her shoulder down on the floor.

Even though I clearly had dropped it slightly, the backpack fell to the dirt floor with a heavy thud, as if a large piece of metal had been dropped.

Just by looking at it, you could tell that it wasn’t an ordinary weight.

Sister Alice slowly approached me and gently placed her hand on my bloody shoulder.

“Sylvia, can you heal yourself?”

“… okay.”

“…hmm?”

Sister Alice looked surprised for a moment.

“Uh… What’s wrong? Am I badly hurt?”

“No, that’s not it. Why? Does it hurt a lot?”

“Because your expression looks a little surprised.”

“Because I was surprised.”

“… So why?”

Sister Alice took her hand off my shoulder in an instant.

He just touched my shoulder, and the penetrating wound on my shoulder, the scars on my back, and the muscle pain that had been twitching and cramping all subsided in an instant.

My sister grabbed my hand and helped me up, saying:

“I was surprised to see how much my body had changed since I last saw it.”

“I worked hard”

“Yeah, it looks like that at first glance. What kind of training did you do to get covered in blood like this?”

“No… Today was a little special… Now that I think about it, you said it would take about a month. Has it already been a month?”

“no,”

“You probably didn’t say anything, but you came pretty quickly…”

“It’s been way over a year, it’s already been six weeks since we left here.”

I looked at Sylvia with my eyes wide open.

Sylvia shrugged her arms as if she didn’t even know.

Before she knew it, the scars that had remained on her body had completely disappeared.

“I was already worried that you might have left first since I was late, but I guess I was worried for nothing.”

“If you live in the forest for a long time, you lose the concept of time.”

“I didn’t know.”

“I didn’t know until I experienced it.”

As Sylvia slowly got up, Sister Alice lifted the backpack that was lying on the floor with one hand and said.

“Let’s go in and talk. I need to hear what the hell you were doing.”

“That’s a good thing. I had something to brag about too.”

“I have a lot to tell you too.”

＊

“…”

“…”

Alice and Sylvia sat in silence as the flickering campfire scattered a dizzying crimson light.

Sylvia was pulling the blanket that Ash had kicked off while he was fast asleep back up to his shoulders, while Alice was organizing the numerous luggage she had brought.

The numerous bags and pockets that covered her entire body to the point where she seemed to be wearing armor on top of armor naturally contained more than just Alice’s belongings.

Alice said as she handed Sylvia one of the items she had been sorting for a long time.

“I’ll have to check tomorrow to see if I missed anything, but for now, this should be enough for the rest of the trip.”

“A portable whetstone… a flint, a spare pair of shoes… potions? You brought a lot of things.”

“I brought the armor too, it needs to be adjusted… but I can do it tomorrow.”

Alice slowly raised her arms, stretching her arms.

Sylvia looked at the items Alice had handed her, then picked up a black bottle.

“What is this disease?”

“Weapon maintenance oil, inside the bottle it’s like an oiled cloth.”

“Is it linseed oil?”

“…”

Alice glared at Sylvia silently.

It was natural that the oil used during the warrior party was high-quality flaxseed, but it was an absurdly high-quality product to obtain in the outside world that had become a mess.

To Alice, who did not look kindly on Sylvia, Sylvia’s question sounded like a complaint that did not make sense.

As if she had read Alice’s mind, Sylvia nodded quietly and muttered.

“Well, I guess it wasn’t a situation where you could afford such a luxury item.”

Ash fell asleep while mumbling about the duel with Sylvia that had taken place today.

Naturally, I didn’t talk much about the training before today, and I didn’t hear anything from Alice.

Even with the help of divine power, the fatigue from moving around so intensely that it causes injuries does not easily go away, and since fierce fighting is mentally quite exhausting, it was not so strange that Ash, who was not used to fighting, quickly fell asleep.

Alice, who was looking at Ash sleeping silently, slowly opened her mouth.

“so?”

“So that’s why,”

“When I saw you today, it seemed like Ash did something, but why does your expression look like you just chewed on dog shit?”

“…”

Sylvia kept her mouth shut and her eyes closed.

Alice said to Sylvia like that.

“… wasn’t it satisfactory?”

“…”

“Well, since you’re a warrior, you wouldn’t be disappointed. I’ve even eliminated you, so how could you not be disappointed? But now, for us…”

“no.”

Sylvia said with her eyes closed.

I could see his eyes, which were not closed tightly but were squeezed shut with all his might, trembling.

“I… tried to beat Ash… seriously.”

“…”

.