Episode 113. Final Evaluation (3)

“We’re doomed….”

“No, seriously, are they insane? How are we supposed to fight and win against the professors?”

“Can’t we just give up on the test?”

In front of the warp leading inside the ruins.

The expressions of the candidates gathered by party were as dark as if they had just arrived at a funeral home, even before the test began.

“Alright, alright, enough chit-chat.”

Professor Lucas looked around at the candidates and continued.

“They say we have to fight to win, but just holding out will earn us a token, so don’t worry too much.”

“T-then, can we just run away without fighting?!”

“Of course, it’s possible. But.”

Professor Lucas smirked and glanced at the trembling thigh of a candidate.

“Only if you can still run after your legs are broken.”

“……”

“Hahaha! Just kidding, just kidding! Now, hurry up and get into the warp!”

The candidates shuffled toward the warp like livestock being led to a slaughterhouse.

“Let’s get going too.”

I pointed to the warp and looked around at my party.

The party members, dressed not in their usual candidate uniforms but in combat gear.

Iris, wearing a pure white priestess robe and sacred relics.

Camila, clad in thin steel armor with a long claymore on her back.

Yuren… no, Yurina, wearing comfortable leather armor with a sword made from a One-Horned Beast’s horn at her waist.

‘Wow, just looking at them makes me feel secure.’

A healer, a holy knight, a swordsman, and me, capable of both close combat and long-range magic.

It was an ideal combination, hard to believe it was formed in the shabby environment of Reynaldo Hero School.

“U-uh! Let’s all do our best!”

Except for one.

“I-I might hold everyone back… but I’ll do everything I can!”

Albert clutched the hilt of his sword at his waist, his legs trembling.

I walked over to the tense Albert and patted his shoulder.

“Don’t stress too much, just relax. Professor Lucas said it earlier, right? It’s not about who’s in the party.”

“T-thanks, Dale.”

Albert nodded repeatedly, his expression easing a bit.

“…Unexpected.”

Camila, who had been watching me, crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

“What’s unexpected?”

“That you’re capable of being kind to others. I’m genuinely surprised.”

“…What kind of person did you think I was?”

Well, Camila’s assessment wasn’t entirely wrong.

I wasn’t exactly the type to be kind to others by nature.

But.

‘Looking at Albert reminds me of my own awkward past.’

His hesitant demeanor, worried about making mistakes and being scolded in a party beyond his level, reminded me of my past self.

‘Back then, no one gave me a single kind word.’

It might have been a clumsy sense of sympathy.

But at least I didn’t want to repeat the same terrible experience for someone else.

“I’ll do my best to find what I can do!”

Albert clenched his fist and shouted with determination.

I chuckled and turned around.

My party members were waiting for me.

‘In the past, I was the one following behind.’

But now, it’s different.

“Let’s go.”

I took the lead and stepped into the warp gate.

* * *

A flickering black field of vision.

The sensation of floating, followed by the reversal of the darkened view.

“Ugh…”

“…I’ll never get used to this feeling.”

Camila and Iris, having completed the warp, held their heads and frowned.

Warp travel often caused dizziness, similar to motion sickness, with varying degrees of discomfort.

In severe cases.

“Ugh, bleeeh!”

Some, like Albert, ended up vomiting.

“You okay?”

“Ugh… s-sorry.”

“Here, drinking some water will help calm you down.”

“…Dale.”

Albert took the canteen I offered, his eyes glistening.

“It’s as huge as it looked on the map.”

Yuren kept his hand on his sword hilt, ready to draw it at any moment, as he surveyed the surroundings.

As he said, the interior of the ruins where the final evaluation was taking place was incomparably vast compared to the ‘Cave of Red Tears’ we had explored before.

“It feels like we’ve entered an underground labyrinth.”

Iris, having recovered from the warp’s aftereffects, slowly looked around beside me.

The towering rock formations in the massive underground space, with its sealed ceiling, indeed resembled a giant underground labyrinth.

“So, where do we go now?”

Camila asked, looking around at the party members.

“Wait a moment. Let’s first figure out where we are.”

I turned on the Hero Watch.

*Bzzzt.*

A holographic map appeared in the air as I activated the Hero Watch.

It was the same map Professor Lucas had shown us in class.

Our party’s current location was marked with a yellow dot.

‘Slightly northwest of the center.’

Not a bad starting point.

After all, our destination was the ‘northernmost’ point.

‘The diamond-grade token was found at the northernmost point of the ruins last time.’

Of course, the future was constantly changing, so I couldn’t rely entirely on my past life’s memories, but it was still worth investigating.

“Let’s start by slowly moving and surveying the outer parts of the ruins.”

“You’re planning to survey from the outside inward?”

“That’s the plan.”

It was just a matter of where to start, but ultimately, to find the ‘secret space,’ we’d have to explore the entire vast interior of the ruins.

“So, we’re obviously aiming for… the diamond-grade token, right?”

Yuren turned to me with a grin.

He must have remembered our competition over the One-Horned Beast during the midterm evaluation.

I swallowed a chuckle and nodded.

“Of course.”

“Great. I’m all for it!”

Yuren nodded with a confident expression.

I forced a bitter smile as I watched Yuren, burning with enthusiasm.

‘Now that his family issues are resolved, I thought he wouldn’t care so much about grades.’

I guess I underestimated him.

“If our party gets first place this time… you’ll be able to move up from the bottom, right, Dale?”

Yuren approached me, his eyes sparkling.

He grabbed my hands and shouted energetically.

“I’ll definitely make you number one, Dale!”

“……”

Suddenly.

Yuren… no, Yurina’s words flashed through my mind.

-Now, you’re my sun.

Yurina, who had smiled brightly while saying that.

I let out a low chuckle as I recalled that memory.

‘…I really did underestimate him.’

So, Yurina’s enthusiasm was all about making me number one.

‘At least he’s not obsessively aiming for first place like before.’

I chuckled as I watched Yuren, still holding my hands tightly.

As long as it’s not excessive, it’s not harmful.

In fact, it’s only natural for a candidate to strive for good grades.

“…That arrogant brat.”

Then, a small voice from the side.

I turned to see Iris, her cheeks puffed up, snatching my hand away from Yuren.

“I’ll do whatever it takes to make Dale number one too!”

“Ah, thanks, Iris.”

“Even if I have to sell the seven gods!”

“No.”

What happens if a saint sells the gods?

“Sigh.”

Camila held her forehead as if she had a headache.

“…Let’s stop the drama and get moving.”

“Yep.”

I let go of Iris’s hand (Iris glared fiercely at Camila for a moment) and headed north, following the map.

‘I heard the secret space was around here last time.’

Of course, I only knew the general location from rumors in my past life, so I didn’t know the exact spot.

“Huh? Dale. Look over there.”

Yuren pointed between the towering rock formations.

“Isn’t that… smoke?”

“Yeah.”

As he said, black smoke was rising from beyond the rocks.

“Let’s check it out.”

“Okay!”

As we moved toward the source of the smoke, what we saw was.

[Ch-chk. Ch-chk-chk.]

[Error. Error.]

Dozens of shattered guardian golems scattered across a valley.

“Eek! W-what is all this?!”

Albert, shocked by the scene before him, collapsed to the ground.

Though not as dramatic as Albert, the other party members were also quite startled.

“Aren’t those the guardian golems the professor mentioned?”

“Y-yeah, they are.”

“There must be dozens… who destroyed all these golems?”

The party members frowned as they looked around at the scattered remains of the golems.

“……”

I also narrowed my eyes as I examined the golem debris.

‘There are no signs of battle around.’

Unless someone destroyed dozens of golems in the blink of an eye, it didn’t make sense for only the golem remains to be left without any other traces of combat.

‘Even we couldn’t destroy dozens of golems without leaving any traces.’

Which meant.

Someone had ‘intentionally’ moved the golem remains here.

‘A candidate wouldn’t do something like this.’

Leaving only one possibility.

“Wait here for a moment.”

“O-okay.”

“Cover your ears.”

“…Huh?”

I left the puzzled party members and moved to the center of the valley filled with golem debris.

“Huuu.”

I slowly inhaled and gathered my magic power.

I spread my arms wide and then clapped them together with all my strength.

Berald Martial Arts.

Hand Thunder.

*BOOOOM!*

With a deafening explosion, the scattered golem debris was flung in all directions.

And in the spot where the debris had been.

“Bingo.”

There was a door leading to the secret space.