"Ku, Tsurugi!"

I yell toward Tsurugi who has collapsed on the ground.

But there is no answer.

I glared at the man that defeated Tsurugi —

"Do you have time to be worried about someone else?"

"Wh-!?"

— In an instant, the man was already behind me.

The man uses his hand like a sword to chop the back of my neck and I consciousness slowly fades.

"Well, I can"t say either of you pa.s.s."

Bagiran criticizes Tsurugi and my efforts in the battle we just finished.

Today"s lesson involved fighting against Bagiran two-on-one.

"Sensei is fighting seriously…."

I say this to Bagiran as I continue to breath heavily.

The traps I used to defeat him in the entrance exam were completely useless this time around.

As expected of a former world-cla.s.s adventurer.

The pair of Luluna and Patricia have already lost. Even though Bagiran had to fight two battles in quick succession, he doesn"t seem even remotely tired.

His body is completely different than ours.

"Hmm? Seriously? Me?"

Bagiran curiously tilted his head. Cute……absolutely not. There"s nothing about him that is cute.

…..No, more importantly, he"s saying he hasn"t even been fighting seriously!?

"As expected of Sensei! You"re amazing!"

"Well, strength enhancement magic is perfect for solo battles. There"s probably no magic that can match it in those types of battles."

Bagiran gives a serious answer to the excited Tsurugi.

Certainly, strength enhancement magic has few weaknesses, but I don"t plan on losing to the average user of this magic.

However, Bagiran Sensei is a world-cla.s.s user.

When I first entered this school, I may have been a little arrogant.

Apart from the level of magic research here, at least the teacher"s magical skill is beyond my imagination.

—And so, I looked into Bagiran"s eyes.

For a moment, I thought Bagiran could tell what I was thinking, but it seemed he was just looking over each of us.

"Anyway, even if I fought all four of you at once, I don"t think I"d need to fight seriously. You all are progressing well. All that you need now is experience."

Bagiran continued,

"Well, there"s no reason for any of you to be worried. You"re all still young. There"s no need for you to rush; you just need to move forward one step at a time."

"Sensei…..!"

Bagiran Sensei is actually acting like a sensei for once…..!

After all, our sensei is actually a sensei…..!

This is such an incredible sight to see!

"Oi Lute, are you thinking something very rude right now?"

"No, I"d never do that."

…….That was close! Sensei is too perceptive!

I"m glad I was able to calmly respond to him. If I even showed a small hint of me lying, I would have been found out.

Tsurugi suddenly speaks up in front of me.

"Sensei"s inspiring words really touched me."

"Is that so? Then it was really worth saying that."

Sensei looked a little happy.

Well, who wouldn"t be happy after receiving praise.

Sensei is human after all.

Tsurugi keeps on smiling at Bagiran.

"So I want you to say it again into this microphone and I can use it as my alarm every morning."

"Sorry, but absolutely not."

Sensei"s smile disappeared.

"Why not!?"

"That"s only the natural response to a question like that…."

Tsurugi falls to her knees and punches the ground.

Is it really that bad……

Bagiran also watched Tsurugi"s strange behavior with a keen eye.

Patricia began speaking to Bagiran at this time.

"Sensei, Sensei. How many frogs live in your nose?"

"I never actually considered that a place where they would live."

Patricia is hard to understand as usual.

As usual, she"s showing a serious poker face.

Patricia answers while touching her frog hood like a child trying to come up with excuses.

"Because it seems like there"s at least two living in Lute"s nose….."

"!? Where are they living!?"

There"s a frog"s home in my nose!?

"Lute…that"s amazing."

"Don"t believe her, Sensei! How would that even be possible!?"

In the first place, why does he seem so impressed by that!?

Seriously, this ridiculous joke has gone on too long —

"…No, it is possible."

No it isn"t! Why are you saying something like that with such a serious face, Luluna!?

Luluna goes on to explain in an incredibly serious voice,

"Lute is using a new type of magic unknown to any of us. If that is the case, it"s no wonder it would be possible. Right, Lute?"

"There would only be wonder!"

And why does she have such a smug face right now?

"As expected of Lute. You"ve completely defeated me."

"How did I manage to defeat Sensei now!?"

This is the first time I"ve not been happy with a victory….

….What do I do? I"m really not happy about this.

"Sensei, you can"t give up! If it"s you, I"m sure you can easily do three frogs!"

Tsurugi was desperately trying to encourage Bagiran.

I don"t feel like I can keep up with everyone"s mood….

A few minutes later.

After the chime indicating the end of the lesson, everyone returned to normal.

"For now, I should say it again now that the lesson has ended. You don"t need to rush. Of course you need to try your hardest, but there is no point in being impatient and potentially injuring yourself. You can gain practical experience later."

Bagiran ends today"s lesson with these words.

Well, his words are very true.

I decided that I"d progress step-by-step at my own pace.

The next day.

Bagiran came into the cla.s.sroom yelling like usual.

"So today, I have mission for you guys! So you can practice!"

Oi, what happened to, "You don"t need to rush!"