Ten minutes later, I could hear something moving in a nearby bush. I stare cautiously at it.

This is bad, if more demons appear now, this will be the end…

"Lute, you"re okaayyyyy!"

Ah, it is a demon…..No, it"s just Sensei.

"Ah, Bagiran Sensei….."

I recognized the figure of Bagiran, relief swept over my body.

Ah, this isn"t good. I can"t pa.s.s out now, Sensei will try to carry me back!

I managed to focus the remaining energy I had left and forced myself to stay conscious

"I"m fine, but I don"t have enough magical power to finish it off….."

I say this and move my eyes toward the fallen demon.

The demon had come close to escaping the traps, but because I had squeezed out every last drop of magical power and had placed several traps on it, the demon still remained on the ground.

Fortunately, it seems the demon was out of magical power as well. It has only been able to let out the occasional groan and claw at the ground.

It"s also gasping for breath, it seems the demon has used its last remaining energy trying to escape from the traps.

However, I don"t have enough strength left to finish the demon off.

"Leave it to me. Hmph!"

Just like that, Bagiran activated his strength enhancing magic.

Bagiran"s already ma.s.sive body increases even further in size.

Skilled users of strength enhancing magic can make their skin as strong as iron armor.

And Bagiran proceeded to beat the demon with all of his strength.

Ah, truly Sensei. His strength is amazing and he"s only using strength enhancing magic.

"I can carry this thing. Can you walk?"

Bagiran says this while carrying the dead body of the demon.

"Somehow, if I take it slow."

"If not, I"ll have to lend a hand and you"ll be disqualified."

That"s right, I"m in the middle of the time trial. I completely forgot…

For the other three, I need to finish.

I slowly stand up, and begin walking to the finish.

***

I speak to Bagiran as I continue advancing through the forest.

"Sensei, that demon used water and lightning magic."

"What…..?"

Sensei"s voice became serious after hearing this.

“There are such demons in the world.”

There was no demon like this in the forest under the house where I lived.

There was a strong Big Bear, but that demon was nowhere near as strong as this demon.

After this experience, I had become keenly aware that the world is vast.

"That"s right, there are demons in this world that you and I do not know….Come on, just a little further."

"Right."

I have to finish first.

For those three people, I can"t get disqualified.

***

Then, dozens of minutes later, I reached the finish.

"Haa…haa…I"ve arrived, haa…."

Finally, I somehow reached the finish. I sat down right at the goal line.

I can see three people running towards me.

"Lute, are you alright!?"

"Everyone….I"m fine, I"m glad that everyone made it back safely."

I raise my trembling arms and try to tell them I"m fine.

After this I am supposed to go with Bagiran to the doctor, so I don"t want to worry these three anymore than I already have.

"I"m so glad…..!"

Luluna sighs with relief.

I"m kind of happy to see she was so worried about me.

I noticed that something cold was gently patting me….Is this….a hand?

"What are you doing, Patricia?"

As I noticed her, Patricia continued patting my body.

"Kerokero, are you really fine, kero? Even if you don"t notice it while fighting, you might be injured and not realize it kero."

"Gah, stop it that tickles, I"m really okay."

I"m glad that she"s worried, but this is really ticklish.

As I was trying to get Patricia to stop tickling me, Tsurugi spoke to me.

"Lute-dono, they wanted to express their grat.i.tude to you."

As she said this, she turned to the people from the general cla.s.s standing behind her.

"Umm, thank you very much! Honestly!"

Ah, are these the students that were injured back there?

It seems they"ve all received treatment, and they appear to have all recovered completely.

With this bright atmosphere, I"m guessing n.o.body died or has been seriously injured.

I feel relieved knowing this.

I felt a heavy burden fall from my shoulders. If any had died I would have regretted it for the rest of my life.

"Thanks, but I wasn’t the only one that helped you…."

After I responded to the student I could feel my consciousness slowly start to slip away.

Huh? Am I really this tired….?

I could no longer remain awake, and collapsed on the ground.

"Ah, Sensei! Lute!"

"Oh, don’t worry about him. He’s used up all of his magic and is completely exhausted."

Ah, I get it.

Sensei answered my question.

"Don’t worry, take as much time as you need to rest."

As I was just barely able to make out Bagiran"s face, my consciousness faded to black.

***

"…..Hnn."

Apparently I was asleep. The last thing I remember is the face of Bagiran…..I was so tired it was like I fainted. No, I may have actually fainted.

Well, either way it’s fine.

I still feel a little groggy. I get up slowly and rub my eyes.

My blurry vision gradually begins to focus—

"Hey, Lute-kun."

"….Eh?"

For some reason Elgil was sitting in a chair next to my bed.

….What kind of situation is this?