Ch.2020. End-of-Term Evaluation (8)

# The End-of-Term Evaluation Exam in Four Stages

Compared to the first three stages that were incredibly simple and straightforward, the final stage required facing nature’s overwhelming force head-on.

“Is everyone alright?”

—Thanks to your help.

However, the remaining examinees still had their own objectives, so they weren’t going to give in so easily.

Michelle joined forces with her partner Erica to escape the landslide, and they managed to team up with about twenty students who were scattered in panic around them.

Even though these weren’t familiar faces, Michelle couldn’t just stand by and watch as they tumbled in the mud from the unstable soil surface, got swept away by landslides, or fell into the overflowing river.

Her clothes might have gotten dirty, but she never hesitated when it came to saving lives.

That was the kind of person Michelle Granodia was.

‘They’re all students from Classes D and E…’

It meant they were desperate for this exam.

After all, no one wanted to face the letters D and E in their class assignments again.

“I’ve managed to heal the injured. But Michelle… I think you’re right.”

“…Really?”

Since everyone here was from Classes D and E, it seemed most of the students from Classes C, B, and A had already completed the four stages of the exam and left.

Having created a map with Erica, Michelle naturally knew the field wasn’t this small, and if the exam continued like this, the remaining students were likely injured or isolated.

“The bleeding has stopped. However, I can’t prevent the anemia symptoms. Please rest sufficiently for a while.”

“Thank you.”

The wounds that had been horrifically deep were now healed, with new skin forming to replace them. This was thanks to the power of Michelle’s partner, Erica.

‘I didn’t know she was a healer.’

Just as the dense magical energy circulating throughout the Kempton continent affected various ecosystems, it had a similar effect on humans.

That effect was the ability to train magical power and use magic.

Humans had since trained exclusively in magic-related fields, but occasionally there were those who wielded powers so different that they were sublime and noble.

Those who could convert magical power into divine power to heal the wounds of the injured.

The rarest among the mid-position buffer types were those with healing magic.

They were called healers.

They belonged to the buffer position that reduced damage to allies, infused regenerative power and vitality into the body, and excelled in both offense and defense.

Most healers, no matter how hard they tried, could only provide temporary effects that accelerated regeneration and increased recovery for short periods.

But while regeneration, vitality, pain relief, and sustained recovery effects couldn’t be ignored, a healer’s “healing” magic was on a completely different level.

It wasn’t conditional like stopping bleeding, applying pressure, or regeneration—it was literal healing.

Even with injuries so severe that one would shake their head in despair, if a healer arrived, the situation could change. New flesh would grow, and if the blood loss could be addressed, there was a slim but real chance of survival.

They were people who could alter the fate between life and death, potentially saving even those on the brink of death in emergency situations if they tried hard enough.

That was the tremendous advantage of healing magic.

“I’ve treated all the seriously injured. If they rest like this, they should be fine even after the exam ends.”

With Michelle gathering the students together and Erica healing the injured, the students who had been scattered in panic from the landslide and downpour managed to regain their composure.

Conversely, this meant that those who were isolated were in even greater danger, so Michelle retied her loosened hair and said:

“Erica, can you keep an eye on things here for a while?”

“Are you really going? Will you be alright, Michelle?”

“I have to go. If this is an exam, there are people who have no choice but to take it.”

That’s right. Students from Classes D and E would never miss an opportunity for class promotion.

Just look at the people who remained. They endured even with their skin scraped off and large thorns stuck in their backs.

The exam supervisors wouldn’t intervene either, so unless the remaining students reached out to help each other, their bodies wouldn’t remain intact.

With that, Michelle set off to find students struggling in the harsh weather.

After searching through the rain for several minutes…

-‘We’ve already checked this area. The remaining places are…’

Lady Ophelia had already taken action and set up a large relief camp. Thanks to her, Michelle didn’t have many places left to check.

The only area remaining was the southern field near one of the four starting points for the fourth stage of the exam. And then…

“Damn it… I can’t tell where anything is…!”

“Is this bright enough?”

“It’s nice and bright! How long can you maintain it?”

“Unless I suddenly collapse, I should be able to keep it up for a few hours.”

“That’s reassuring! Let’s go ahead and light a fire first to raise your body temperature.”

She could see Junon carrying Silvia on his back.

“…Am I seeing things?”

Michelle muttered to herself a couple of times, rubbing her eyes, wondering if she was mistaken.

From a distance, following the path illuminated by a bright band of light, was Junon carrying Silvia on his back.

Looking again, it was undeniably real.

Michelle couldn’t take her eyes off the sight of Junon carrying Silvia, who was covered in mud from rolling on the ground for several minutes.

Finally, the shadow of the boy holding the girl disappeared into the entrance of what looked like a makeshift shelter covered with tent fabric, timber, and leaves.

“This doesn’t make sense…?”

It was a contradiction.

There was no other way to express it except with that single word: contradiction.

***

Is something wrong with my ears?

What is she saying??? What??? She’s sorry???

“I… did wrong…”

There it is again.

Sorry? Did wrong?

These words were completely disconnected from the Silvia I knew.

I wonder if Talbert Arc is deliberately making me hear things… but that can’t be.

Although her color has changed from being soaked in muddy water, would a person change just because of that?

The person in front of me is definitely the same Silvia who once bullied me.

Except… her eyes were closed.

Like someone having a bad dream, those words came out as she moaned and talked in her sleep.

‘So it was sleep talk.’

I guess that makes sense.

Having nightmares is something that happens to everyone.

I was about to focus on the sound of rain when I noticed the other one nodding off over there.

‘Come to think of it, Lenias had a tough time too.’

Lenias had struggled hard today against her innate acrophobia, overcoming it with tears and snot running down her face.

Just that alone would have drained her mental strength. And on top of that, she kept moving without rest, so her fatigue must be immense.

I understood why she was dozing off with her head against the entrance wall.

“Ugh…”

Just as one was about to fall completely asleep, the other seemed to be having a worse nightmare.

Soon, Silvia, who had been sweating profusely, took a sharp breath and couldn’t hold on any longer as her eyes suddenly opened.

“You’re awake?”

“What… why are you…”

“Let me warn you in advance, this was hard to build, so don’t think about destroying it. If this collapses, it’ll cause trouble for her over there too. We built it together.”

Actually, I wanted to say something different.

This wasn’t made for you to rest in, I just picked you up when you collapsed on the road. So don’t cause trouble or you’ll regret it.

But seeing Silvia’s condition, I didn’t think those words were necessary, so I just used Lenias as an excuse to give a warning.

If she only had ill feelings toward me, she might still cause trouble… I don’t want to create unnecessary problems.

If I tell her that Lenias, someone she seems to admire, helped build this, she probably won’t try to destroy it.

“—Huh?”

Then Silvia, covering her eyes and turning her back to me, asked me something in a tiny voice.

But she needs to speak clearly for me to hear… never mind. I don’t feel like talking to her right now anyway.

I’m exhausted from carrying someone soaked in rain.

“We’ll talk later. After the exam ends…”

“I always bullied you whenever I saw you. You could have just left me alone, so why did you save me?”

“Sigh… I said let’s talk later because I’m tired, didn’t you hear…?”

“Answer me…”

While I was getting annoyed, Silvia, who had been lying down, raised her unwell body and grabbed my collar with both hands.

Normally, having my collar grabbed would make me angry, but I wasn’t.

…Because I couldn’t feel any strength in Silvia’s hands.

“Didn’t you want revenge? You could have ignored me no matter what happened to me, thinking it served me right, telling me to go to hell. So why… why did you save me…?”

And Silvia was crying, determined to hear my answer with eyes that wouldn’t let go.

Despite barely being able to speak properly, was this question so important to her?

Looking more like she was clinging to me rather than grabbing my collar, even trembling, did she really need to hear the answer?

Unlike her expressionless face before, was she now in so much pain that she had to shed tears?

That’s when I became certain.

“I think you should first explain why you held back when dealing with me.”

“…!”

Eyes wavering and pupils dilating.

Someone whose inner thoughts are slightly exposed might try to gloss over it, or show embarrassment, anger, or various other reactions.

But someone whose inner thoughts are completely exposed can’t say anything and freezes completely.

Just like Silvia right in front of me.

Silvia’s reaction was perhaps due to the heavy burden of guilt that had settled in a corner of her heart.

“At first, I disliked how you targeted only me, but I didn’t realize. I noticed later that you were holding back when dealing with me.”

“How did you… know that…”

“Never mind. Whatever the process, I don’t really have any ill feelings toward you. I figured you must have had your reasons.”

“…”

The sense of discomfort I felt about Silvia before my regression wasn’t just my imagination. And now, I’ve found the answer.

Let me close my eyes for now.

Turn my head away, clear my throat once, and postpone the complicated conversation for later.

“By the way, I’m sorry for seeing, but aren’t you in your underwear right now?”

“Ah…!”

In an instant, the delicate hands that had been barely holding onto her clothes fell away, and I heard a fluttering sound.

She’s probably covering her underwear-clad body with the fabric that had been covering her.

By now, the clothes Silvia was wearing should be dry, right?

“I’ll go to the entrance to wake up my partner, so in the meantime, put on your dry clothes by the bonfire.”

I woke up my dozing partner for a shift change, and told Lenias to get some sleep while I kept watch for the remaining time.

From that moment until the end of the exam, Silvia didn’t speak to me again. She only talked with Lenias about various things.

Whatever happened, I felt the nagging sense of discomfort fading a little.

***

While Junon shook off his sense of discomfort and waited for the end-of-term evaluation exam to finish…

There were no students behind Junon’s pair in the southern field, so no one would arrive later. Michelle had no need to linger there any longer.

However, a sense of discomfort was gradually growing in Michelle’s heart.

“…Erica. Can I ask you something?”

“Sure, go ahead. What is it?”

“If there was someone who constantly bullied you… do you think you could go save them if they were in danger?”

“Hmm…?”

This was a rather difficult question.