CH 79

Tsk tsk, I even clicked my tongue and looked at the kids again.

“Cheshire! I’ll hold it as tight as possible so it can’t move…! You know, right?” 

Jem, whose gauntlets were full of mana, slammed her fist as if she were tearing the thick stem of a man-eating flower.

Then the movement of the flower slowed down.

Cheshire, who was aiming for a gap, stepped on the stem and quickly climbed.

“W, what should I do…” 

I stomped my feet when I saw it.

A man-eating flower wriggling as if it would open its mouth again and swallow Cheshire at any moment. 

I couldn’t take my eyes off of it, and my heart skipped a beat in a situation where it was scary to keep looking at it.

—Kyaaak! 

Cheshire stuck his sword into the bud, causing the man-eating flower to writhe in pain.  

A sharp sword coated with mana cut through the leaves of a flower that would soon die.

―Kyaaaaaagh!

The flower bud burst open with a horrifying sound, and Gerard, who was covered in sap from the flower, fell out.

‘All right, all right! We saved him!’

Cheshire ignited the sword he had stabbed in as soon as Gerard was safely out. 

The man-eating flowers burned in an instant, leaving ashes behind.

“G, Gerard! Are you okay?”

As I got closer, Gerard’s expression was unusual.

‘Is he hurt?’

Even though he pretends not to be sick as much as possible, his face shows it.

There must have been something in the sap of the man-eating flower.

‘Is it like hydrochloric acid?’

The white smoke rising from his body looked quite painful.

“That’s right, Rom!” 

“Y, yeah! Lilith!”

Rom came running as if he had been waiting.

“…What.”

Gerard was on guard.

“I, I will t, treat you!” 

“Gerard, you are sick right now. There are no healers among your teammates. Don’t let your pride get in the way and get healed by Rom.”

Gerard gasped and looked up at me.

“Rom, hurry up. It looks so painful.”

“Eung!”

Rom immediately sat down and began casting healing magic on Gerard.

Then. 

A shadow wriggling behind us.

All our gazes were directed towards it.

Sneakily.

It was Bruce, approaching the core from the man-eating flower.

“T, that thief?!”

Jem was shocked.

Caught, Bruce quickly tried to fling his body toward the core—.

Whoosh–.

“Aack!” 

Like a boundary line, it was blocked by the black flames that bloomed in a straight line on the floor.

It looked like it came from Cheshire. 

“Eik, Cheshire, you crazy punk! You almost burned my hair! Don’t you know that the rule is not to attack each other with abilities?!”

“What’s with this thief? There’s no such thing as this.”

Jem sighed and fought back without losing.

“T, thief? Speaking of lowly commoners, who do you think you’re talking about…!” 

“Hey!” 

Then, Gerard shouted.

Bruce closed his mouth like a clam.

“Leave it alone.”

So you have a conscience—.

At Gerard’s command, Bruce straightened his shoulders.

“Eung.” 

Then Cheshire glared at Bruce and walked over to pick up the core.

“This thief!” 

“Y, you!” 

Jem sticks out her tongue and teases Bruce once more.

“…Take it.” 

Upon returning, Cheshire wiped the sap from the core on his clothes and handed it to me.

“Uhm…” 

It was touching.

I’ve caught zero monsters since I entered the field.

“Thank you, Cheshire.”

Cheshire not only talked, but really, kept me from getting a drop of blood on my hands—.

“I’m touched…” 

“….” 

“But we should graduate together! You said you didn’t absorb the Grade C core and instead collected it to give to me? Absorb them all now!” 

“Eung, okay.” 

I watched happily as Cheshire absorbed the remaining core.

“….” 

Next to me, I saw Rom, who was still treating Gerard. 

“Rom, what do you think? Is it okay? If it’s hard to treat everything, should I do the rest?” 

“N, no! I, I can do it!” 

Rom has a really low mana. 

Maybe that’s why he was breaking out in a cold sweat, and it looked pretty pitiful. 

“That’s enough. Stop it.”

“E, eung? A, are you okay?” 

Gerard limped to his feet, as if he had improved enough to move roughly.

“Gerard, are you okay? You don’t need more treatment?”

“…Eung.” 

When I asked, Gerard answered while avoiding my gaze.

‘It looks like his conscience is stabbed.’

There was not much mana, but Rom, who treated him all by pulling them out, seemed to be worried. 

I nodded and told Rom.

“Rom, Gerard says he’s fine now. Good job. You did really well.”

“Hehe, well. I, I’m glad I c, can be of some h, help.”

“Hehe, you are the best. Now, take this.”

“Eung?”

I handed Rom the 1000-point core I was holding. 

Upon seeing this, Cheshire and Jem’s eyes widened in surprise.

Even Gerard, who was about to return to his team, stopped and looked back at me.

“What? Why would you give that to him?”

“L, Lilith? You are now 46 points.”

“Lilith.”

Gerard, Jem, and Cheshire spoke in turn.

Rom, who was embarrassed with his mouth open, waved his hand in surprise.

“N, no! No! I don’t need it! I, I, I didn’t do anything!”

“What do you mean didn’t do anything? Gerard was really sick, but you treated him. I’m fine, so absorb this quickly.”

“N, no! P, please d, don’t do this! I, it doesn’t matter i, if my graduation is delayed! R, really!” 

Perhaps he was really embarrassed, Rom stammered twice as much as usual.

“Lilith.” 

Then. 

Cheshire approached me with a rare angry look and grabbed my arm.

“I told you to go home quickly. If you give this to Rom now, you will stay here for another month.” 

“Eung. It’s not like that.” 

I grinned and pointed the magic wand at the bear beast on the cliff 60 meters away.

“I can catch that.” 

“What?” 

“Rom, absorb that quickly!”

I handed the core to Rom and moved on.

Suddenly, someone grabbed my wrist.

It was Gerard.

“What is this? Are you interfering again?” 

“None of us can catch that right now. You have to cast Grade A magic.”

“Whoa, who knows that!”

I put my hand on my waist.

“Did you interrupt us by catching all the magic tricks so that we couldn’t get points?”

“….” 

Gerard blushed and twisted his eyes.

I let out a wide sigh and tapped Gerard’s arm to ask him to match my height.

“Gerard.”

As Gerard staggered down, I put my short arm around his shoulder and whispered.

“You punk. You almost died because you were eaten by flowers, huh? Don’t forget that my children ran to save you without looking back.”

“….” 

“You know, Bruce and your crew didn’t even flinch when you were eaten?”

Gerard stared at me.

I could see a small wound on the tip of his chin, so I brushed it lightly and it healed.

“Ah.” 

It was not until his handsome face was cleared.

“You’re so pretty!”

“….” 

“How nice would it be to have a pretty heart as well as a pretty face? Right?”

I tapped Gerard on the shoulder one last time and started walking towards the bear beast again.

Now all the children shut their mouths and just watched me.

“Hmm, let’s see.”

I stood close to the cliff.

‘Because I am now 108 cm tall…’

Then, measuring the distance, I slowly took one step back. 

‘About this much?’

Standing roughly in my spot, I looked up at the bear beast far above. 

To catch that, as Gerard said, I have to cast Grade A magic. 

However, since I didn’t learn the Grade A magic formula at the training center, I shouldn’t use it. 

‘Then I’ll have to cast a Grade C, well.’

If I want to use low-level magic at that height, the formula gets a lot more complicated. 

But there was a way.

All I have to do is… be good at math.

That was why the height of the cliff was kindly carved.

To catch that with Grade A magic cast.

I needed an approximate straight-line distance between where I am now and where the Witchbeast is.

Who knows the distance. No one will know.

Except for me.

‘But I know how to find the length of the hypotenuse of a triangle using the Pythagorean theorem in the second grade curriculum at K-Middle School!’

A 1,000-point bear beast that can never be caught at the level of the current training center children.

However, I am the body that Oscar, Lord of the Wizard Tower, personally taught me in.

Even if I catch that with a Grade C casting, there’s nothing strange at all. 

‘Thank you very much, Master. Did you ever expect this to happen…?’

I thanked Oscar inwardly, then pointed the wand at the bear beast.

“Yap!” 

Time to use Princess Lara’s magic wand, which she was holding tightly even at the moment of desperation, for a splendid effect! 

“Poof!” 

I lightly burned the bear beast’s head.

The white flame melted the magic beast, and soon the purple core tumbled down the cliff.

“It’s easy.” 

I walked over and picked it up.

And looking back—.

“Ahem!”

All the children who were watching had their eyes widened as if they would fall out.

I absorbed the core with a calm mind.

At the same time, the score magic tool screen changed.

Lilith Rubinstein: 1046 points

Cheshire: 1000 points

Jem: 1050 points

Rom : 1000 points

All of us, we will graduate!