TRM Vol. 1 Chapter 4 Part 3

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Chapter 4 Part 3

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“The third layer is a prairie?”

“Looks like it”

When we descended to the third layer, Lara looked around restlessly with her eyes wide open.

It is understandable.

The first layer has ruins, and the second layer was like a forest.

It is understandable to be suddenly perplexed by such a big space.

“The area up to this point will be used for the exhibition game, isn’t it?”

Marise asked.

She’s right, the exhibition game will be held from the first layer to the third layer.

As for me, I’m fine with diving deeper, too…but it seems to be for the safety of the students that they are narrowing it down to the first few layers.

“Oh, here comes the monsters”

“Wahhh, there’s a lot of bird-like monsters coming!”

When I strained my eyes, I could see a great multitude of monsters coming towards us from afar.

Are those Evil Birds?

Lara and Marise assumed a fighting stance.

“Alright, let’s make this the final test. Defeat the group of Evil Birds that are about to arrive with the chantless magic I taught you earlier”

“EH!? Isn’t that too sudden to try it on monsters?”

“That’s crazy!”

They panicked.

“What’s the matter? Since you’ll be forming a party with me, you’ll need to be able to do this much at least, else it would be troubling. That’s right…whoever defeats the most monsters can pass unconditionally, too”

“── !”

Hearing those words, Marise’s eye color changed.

“Don’t forget what you just said”

“Yeah. Besides, I’m saying this because I know you two can handle it. If by any chance that it gets dangerous, I’ll lend you a hand”

The Evil Birds are getting closer and closer, finally coming close enough to be clearly within striking range.

Lara and Marise shot Fire Spears at the flying Evil Birds.

They had difficulty hitting the Evil Birds with their magic at first, and seemed to have a hard time.

At this point, both of them are evenly matched in power. It won’t be surprising since either of them could win.

However.

“Haaa, haaa…”

Marise is breathing heavily.

She must be exhausted and reaching the end of her strength.

I wonder if that’s because ──

“Marise-chan!”

Lara shouted suddenly.

An Evil Bird attacked from behind Marise.

“Eh…?”

Marise couldn’t react in time to the attack from behind and is about to get hit at this rate.

However, Lara rolled over to grab Marise and sidestep the attack from the Evil Bird.

“Are you okay!? Marise-chan!”

There was some dirt on Lara’s cheeks, but she was more worried about Marise.

“W-Why did you save me? Didn’t you hear? This is the final test, and whoever defeats the most monsters will pass…”

“A-haha, you’re right…my body just moved on its own. But I’m going to be friends with…no, I can’t abandon my friend Marise-chan”

“Friend…?”

Lara and Marise stood up and stared at the Evil Birds.

A closer look reveals scratches on Lara’s right knee.

“I want Kurt to teach me magic. But I also want to get to know you better, Marise-chan”

“What merit is there by being friends with me…?”

“I don’t need any merits to become friends with you! Besides ── we’ll talk later! Now we have to work together to defeat the monsters”

“Y-You’re right”

The two changed their minds and mustered up the last of their strength to take down the few remaining Evil Birds.

Then…a short time later.

The sight of Evil Birds that had been there for so long, had finally disappeared.

“W-We did it…”

“Yeah, thanks to you, Marise-chan. I couldn’t have done it alone myself…”

They both sounded like they were exhausted.

“Oh, right! Kurt…which one of us passed?”

“We were so desperate that we didn’t even count how many we defeated”

The two suddenly approach me.

Hmm…although they are practically evenly matched, Marise was slightly ahead in defeating the Evil Birds. 

However.

“You girls don’t have to worry about who defeated the most Evil Birds. Because both of you passed”

“Eh…? Then does that mean…!?”

“Yeah, I’ll teach both of you the essence of magic. But be prepared, okay? I’m not used to teaching, so it can get a little tough”

Hearing that, Lara jumped up and down in excitement, and Marise clenched her fists in joy.

…I was going to teach them magic even before I gave them this test in the first place.

Judging from the entrance exam, both of them have a talent for magic. I can’t wait to see how far they will grow as I teach them.

But on the other hand, even if we are to form a party together, if we can’t trust each other, then we won’t be able to show our full potential. It’s not a very pleasant thing to watch if they are on bad terms with each other.

But surprisingly…

I did wonder what would happen at one point but looks like there was nothing to worry about after all. 

Lara’s willingness to sacrifice herself to help her friends was enough to reassure me.

“Lara…”

Marise gently holds out her hand to a happy Lara.

“Eh…?”

“Um, it’s a handshake! D-Don’t get me wrong. I just need to be strong on my own after all…but, if we are going to form a party, it’s better to get along with each other…and…it seems like there are various benefits to that!” 

“Geez, you’re not being honest with yourself! But…again, I’m looking forward to working with you, Marise-chan! And Kurt, too!”

Hmm, a handshake, huh?

Lara is trying to get along with me. It’s a bit embarrassing, but I can’t refuse her here.

She took Marise’s and my hand alternately.

“Since this is a good chance…why don’t you shake hands with Marise, too?”

“Eh? T…T-T-That’s right. Kurt is our friend too, right? I-I look forward to working with you”

I shook hands with Marise, too.

Lara continued to smile the whole time, but Marise shyly had her head down and averted her gaze.

“Now…this kind of thing is nice, but don’t let your guard down yet, you two”

“Eh?”

“A Behemoth is coming this way. Let’s engage it here”

Hearing my words, Marise let go of her hand and said in a panic.

“T-That’s absurd! When you think of a Behemoth, isn’t it a <<Disaster-Class>> monster!”

Behemoth is a <<Disaster-Class>> monster…?

Wasn’t it the kind of monster that children who just started learning magic used to hunt when they were practicing in my previous life?

Without a doubt, it’s stronger than a Lizardman or an Evil Bird.

But to me, they were more akin to small animals than monsters.

They aren’t even a threat.

“Hmm, what’s the matter? Perhaps both of you are excited that a Behemoth is coming?”

““I’m scared!””

cried the two.

In the meantime, the Behemoth came up before us.

“H-Huge!”

Lara looked up at the Behemoth.

Behemoth is a giant four-legged monster.

“GUOOOOO!”

Behemoth raised its front legs to intimidate us.

“Both of you stand back, I’ll settle this in 3 seconds”

“Even if it’s Kurt, 3 seconds is just impossible!”

What are you talking about?

For me, it’ll be as easy as yawning for 3 seconds. 

Behemoth came at us with a roar.

I unsheath my sword and jumped after covering myself with Body Strengthening Magic.

“You’ve got a lot of nerve to come at me”

I got over the Behemoth’s head in no time at all.

The Behemoth doesn’t seem to be able to keep up with my movements.

I enchanted the sword itself with |Sharpness| magic.

I immediately went to the front of the Behemoth, and then severed its head and torso.

“If it’s a Behemoth, then that is all there is to it, I suppose”

The Behemoth’s body slowly fell to the ground.

“W-What happened!”

“I don’t know. It was too fast for me to see”

Lara and Marise came running up to me.

“It’s called Enchantment Magic. Instantly strengthening the sword…hmm?”

I looked at the sword I had brought with me.

*Crack*

“Whoa! The sword cracked!?”

Lara’s eyes widened in surprise when she saw it.

The sword then shattered into pieces. It made a sound like glass shattering.

“Hmm…as I thought, the sword provided by the academy couldn’t keep up with my Enchantment Magic”

I stroked my chin as I looked at the sword with only the handle left intact.

The sword couldn’t withstand my magic power and disintegrated from the inside.

If it was a cheap sword, I wouldn’t be surprised that it happened.

Or rather, I’m amazed that it had endured this long.

“I’ll have to buy a new sword that’s a little sturdier when we leave the Labyrinth”

I muttered.

“Now…it’s about time we return to the Royal Capital. That’s all for today. It would be great if I could get to the 100th layer, but…”

“Please don’t say something so outrageous such as going to the 100th layer!”

“Strangely enough, if it’s Kurt, I can’t help but think that he might just be able to do it”

But I need money to buy a new sword.

I want to use the magic stone to process weapons and stuff like that….

In that case.

“Should I bring back the Behemoth with us?”

I shifted my gaze to the fallen Behemoth.

“How are you going to bring it back though?”

“Lara, it has to be dismantled first to bring it back. Even so, it’s not possible for the three of us to dismantle it completely…”

“What a waste”

“It can’t be helped”

What are they talking about?

“Let’s bring back all of it”

““Eh?””

“Yosh”

When I held my hand up to the Behemoth, a pale light appeared.

By the time, the light disappeared.

“T-The Behemoth is gone?”

“Where did it go!”

Lara placed a hand over her mouth, and Marise leaned forward in surprise.

“I used Storage Magic. This way, we can bring all of it back with us without the need to do troublesome jobs such as dismantling, right?”

That being said, I personally don’t really like Storage Magic. While using Storage Magic to carry things around, I would have to constantly consume my magic power all the time.

Although this isn’t enough to cause me to run out of magic power, it does make me feel somewhat uncomfortable.

“Storage Magic! Wasn’t that a lost magic!?”

“I’ve only seen it in books…”

It seems like Storage Magic isn’t common in this world either.

Just which one is the common one and which one isn’t common….

Well, let’s look into that slowly.

“With this, I don’t have any regrets left. Let’s get out of the Labyrinth”

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