CH 66

Leopin was not enraged.

Even though he was exposed to the schemes of evil and tyrannical, he continued to run.

“I used to not like running marathons, but now that I’m doing it, it’s surprisingly fun.”

He smiled and blew away the wind.

It was a refreshing sight but behind him,

“Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”

The screams of being run over never ceased.

The men were being rolled around and crying out with dust and sand all over their bodies.

“Stop! Stop! Stop! Please!”

“Please stop! Leopin-kun! No, Master Leopin!”

“I’m going to die!　I’m gonna die! I’m gonna die!”

He was wearing real earplugs, so Leopin couldn’t hear him.

The ropes that held them together had a “weight ignoring” effect, so no matter how hard they were dragged, Leopin couldn’t feel it.

The men resist, stomping like dogs who don’t want to come home from a walk, or clawing like cats who don’t want to go to the hospital.

But these actions were meaningless to Leopin, who ran like a horse.

Leopin kept running, completely forgetting that he had his classmates behind him, who looked like dried persimmons.

Through the jagged wasteland, jumping over streams, leaving footprints in the sand, and clambering over stepping stones in the swamp, Leopin entered a strange forest.

Then, as he entered a strange forest, he felt a slight resistance in his waist.

Finally, Leopin slowed down and looked back.

◆　　◇　　◆　　◇　　◆

I looked behind me for the first time in hours, and my heart jumped.

The scene was so horrifying.

Nick Bakker-sensei and the boys had turned into mud puppets.

They were reaching out as if to drag me into the mud.

If someone’s body hadn’t accidentally gotten caught in a tree, I wouldn’t have noticed.

I took off my earplugs and crouched down beside the muddy figure.

“Are you okay, Nick Bakker-sensei?”

Nick Bakker-sensei said breathlessly.

“Ugh. …… Ugh! Mee- MEAT! Hee “Hell Marathon” is …….”

“This is the end of …… and …… to …….”

“What? But isn’t it supposed to go on until the last person goes down ……? I can still run, can’t I?”

Then Nick Bakker-sensei got scared and said, “Hiya”

As if it was a forbidden word, he covered his face and started to cry.

“Ugh! Ugh! ……! Mee, meat ……! No, don’t run ……! Don’t run anymore. ……!”

I felt like a marathon runner who had just been diagnosed with a serious illness, and running any further would shorten my life expectancy.

But I couldn’t keep running if I had to.

I untied the rope around my waist and took the mud dolls by the hands and tried to make them stand up.

But they immediately fell like a newborn fawn.

It seemed that their legs and feet were hurt pretty badly.

The boys crawled to their feet and let out sobs.

“Ugh ……! Ugh ……! If it’s true, if it’s true,……!”

“That guy●● should have been like this,……! Ugh!”

“Hiccup, gosh! Why, why, we’re the …… ones!”

“Ugh, ……!”

Everyone finally started crying, and I was in trouble.

“Hmmm, I’ll go for a run and call for help.”

But immediately, the mud dolls clung to my legs, “Don’t go!”

“You’re going to leave us here and go back alone!”

“It’s not fair!　It’s all Leopin’s fault we’re in this mess!”

“Take responsibility! You’re going to send us home in one piece!”

“Yes, yes, yes!　If you don’t, I’ll tell the vice principal!”

The mud puppets united in their condemnation of me.

I was about to abandon them and go home, but then I thought of something.

“Oh, yes, the ‘distress signal’ ……. If I use that, I can call for help.”

As I reached into my pocket, I realized that I wasn’t wearing a coat.

“Oh no, I left my distress signal with my coat.”

I ask them.

“Hey, does anyone have a distress signal?”

But the mud puppet students shook their heads, saying, “Of course not, it’s a gym uniform.

But the bigger mud puppet says, “Meat! Then I’ve got it!” He raised his hand.

Nick Bakker-sensei reached into his jersey pocket and pulled out a dirty red tube.

“I can’t lift my arm because I hurt my arm because of Celebrity-sama.”

“And you’re going to take the blame for that.”

He said it in a way that caught me off guard, but I accepted the distress signal.

“I understand. I’m going to launch it outside the forest because there are trees above us here and it might get caught.”

I left the mud dolls and headed out of the forest.

I raised the red tube toward the sky in the approaching evening darkness.

But suddenly, the vice principal’s words came to mind.

“Oh, just so you know, it’s useless to launch someone else’s distress signal without permission and try to downgrade it!”

In order to prevent fraud, the magic device confirms not only the name of the firework launched but also the appearance of the person who launched it.

Only when it’s determined that it’s not a prank will help arrive!

Also, the size of the rescue team and how fast they come depends on the rank of the student who launched them!

“If you want help in a hurry, use the distress signal of a student with a high rank.”

“If you want help in a hurry, use the distress signal of a higher-ranked student?”

I mumbled and tried to return, but the group of mud dolls deep in the forest were sitting in a circle, whispering to each other.

They were glancing at me from time to time.

I became suspicious and activated the “Dexterous Body” skill of “Dexterity.

I increased the “five senses” parameter to make my hearing more acute and tried to listen in.

“Nick Bakka-sensei, you were actually planning to drag that trash bastard around and half-kill him, then leave him here in the woods, right?”

“Meet! That was the plan. I was going to do just that. The magic effect of evasion doesn’t work at all when it comes to the forest around here.”

“Besides, at night, the monsters are everywhere.”

“I see, that’s why you made me take off my coat, which seemed to contain a lot of equipment!”

“Meat! That’s right.”

“And then, when you leave them behind, just give them that distress signal and say goodbye. ……”

“So it’s one of two things: get killed by a monster or quit the school. ……”

“Uhyaa! (wheezing). Either way, it’s hell for that bastard!”

“Meat! My plans have changed a bit, but I’m pretty sure he’s going to quit this school now!　MEAT!”

I thought to myself, “No way ……,” and changed my job to “Appraiser”

I used my “Appraiser” skill to appraise the red tube I had on hand.

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Distress signal

Quantity 1

Quality Level 3 (Material Level 8 + Occupation Penalty 5)

A firework made by mixing gunpowder.

When shot off, it creates a text in the sky.

The content of the sentence is.

“Onegai dakara tasukete! I was an idiot to ask you for help! I’m going to quit GAKUEN now, so please take care of me! Leopin.”

(t/n: I wanted to translate this, but… I think it looks funnier this way, it was a very bad mix of katakana)

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“That’s what it was all about ……!”

It all made sense to me.

As soon as I set off this firework, help will surely come.

After that, they’re probably going to use the text of the distress signal to force me to leave school voluntarily.

After thinking about it for a while, I started to feel a little depressed.

“……, it’s okay to just abandon them and go home, isn’t it?”

It’s not like I have any obligation to help them.

“Hmmm, but I don’t like the idea of them dying……”

I thought about it for a while, and then a good idea hit me.

“I didn’t think it would come in handy here. ……!”

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Occupation Ninja ⇒ Artisan Fireworker

Occupational skill

Create toy fireworks:  Creates toy fireworks

Create fireworks:  Creates a firework

Making fireworks:  Create a trick firework

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I used my “make fireworks” skill to tweak the mix of gunpowder for the distress signal I had.

Then I went back to the mud puppets and threw the red tube back at the mud puppet boss.

“I’ve changed the name of the distress signal to Nick Bakker-sensei. I’ll leave you to it.”

I raised my hand in a shooing motion and started to run quickly out of the forest again.