Ch.8Class Placement Exam (3)

Crack, crack.

The campfire crackled with a steady rhythm.

Embers flashed as small flames rose up, colliding with each other and spreading into larger flames.

It was Ruide’s handiwork. Not stopping there, he gathered mushrooms from nearby and began grilling them on a thin mana plate.

He looked quite practiced at it, as if proving he hadn’t just been sleeping at Dellin’s Lake.

Hersy fidgeted, unsure how to help. Her eyes met Ruide’s as he flipped a mushroom with telekinesis.

“Mushrooms taste best when grilled.”

“Ah, yes, yes…”

“I’ve removed the poison with detoxification magic, so they’re safe.”

“Th-thank you.”

“You can eat them now.”

Ruide lifted a mushroom with telekinesis and shook it vigorously. Once it seemed cool enough, he picked it up and took a bite.

The aromatic mushroom juice filled his mouth richly. It was a snack Ruide often enjoyed. He usually grilled them with a fireball, but having made a campfire yesterday, he tried cooking them directly.

‘Not bad.’

It was much better than using a fireball. Was it because of the wood’s aroma? Nature really is better than artificial methods.

“Wow… this is delicious.”

Hersy covered her mouth as she chewed and swallowed.

“How can it taste so good when it’s just grilled over fire?”

‘Of course it’s delicious. It’s a shiitake mushroom.’

The secret was detoxification magic.

Since they didn’t know what poisons might be in the mushrooms here, they used detoxification magic before eating, but magic lacks flexibility.

It eliminates all components that are even slightly harmful to the body. Things like cholesterol, sodium, excessive sugar.

Nobles in particular worry a lot about their health, so they cast detoxification magic even on ordinary food. Ruide still remembered his first meal after the possession.

It was a terrible experience. He couldn’t taste anything at all. It felt like chewing a tire rather than a steak. He even suspected the author had set the world in England.

Once he realized detoxification magic was the cause, it took so long to convince everyone. They thought they would die if they ate sugar.

So Ruide lied about casting detoxification magic on the mushrooms.

“I’m skilled. When your magic becomes as excellent as mine, you can create flavors like this too.”

It took six months to convince his family, so how could he convince a complete stranger?

“I, I have pretty good skills too, you know?”

Hersy bristled but quietly ate her mushroom. Anyone who had witnessed his magic earlier would have no choice but to be humble.

‘Just how many spells can he cast simultaneously?’

Earlier, when making the campfire, Hersy nearly fainted. Controlling dozens of pieces of wood simultaneously? She’d never even heard that was possible.

It was amazing that someone with such skills, who lacked nothing, was protecting her.

“……”

Hersy looked at Ruide.

He was eating an apple. Perhaps because his mouth was small, the apple barely seemed to diminish despite his continued biting.

‘C-cute.’

Hersy stared blankly at Ruide for a while.

“…?”

Ruide tilted his head and offered her the apple beside him. Hersy kept staring at him, so he thought she wanted some.

“Ah, th-thank you.”

Hersy accepted it politely. Ruide looked across the valley and took a crunchy bite.

‘I wonder when they’ll come.’

Originally, Hersy, wanting to secure a good spot, would find this place late and discover Justin’s group had already claimed it.

But as seen earlier, Justin’s group included Sophia, Hersy’s old friend.

Having lost her feather and unable to make a proper staff, Hersy couldn’t give up this excellent location.

Hersy would form a “temporary alliance” out of respect for Sophia.

‘It was the next day, if I remember correctly.’

This test wasn’t simply about endurance. If it were, students who hid in corners would take the top spots.

There were events throughout. The first event was a monster attack. It would suddenly attack in the early morning.

That’s when Hersy would discover Justin had the feather, and the conflict would truly begin.

“…Thank you for earlier.”

Just then, Hersy awkwardly expressed her gratitude.

Ruide snapped out of his thoughts and looked at Hersy. Her face was red.

“No need to thank me.”

“It’s the first time anyone has taken my side.”

Hersy shyly placed her hands on her knees.

“Thank you for the delicious food too. I’ll forget about the Phoenix Feather incident. I never expected you to do so much for me.”

‘She’s polite.’

Ruide yawned.

‘Hard to believe she changes so much later.’

People really are shaped by their environment.

‘What should I do about the Phoenix Feather?’

Today’s events had merely postponed a future conflict. As long as she hung around with her friend Sophia, she would eventually learn that Justin had picked up the Phoenix Feather.

‘Maybe I should have held back earlier.’

With voices rising everywhere and stress building up, he had just pushed through…

He wasn’t sure. Ruide was getting sleepy.

“And this might be presumptuous, but…”

Hersy cleared her throat and carefully continued.

“That kind of attitude can make too many enemies. The Phoenix incident was with me, so I confronted you directly, but other students might be cursing you behind your back. And about the earlier incident…”

‘You’re one to talk??’

It was absurd hearing this from Hersy, who was known for making enemies.

But he didn’t really care.

Ruide was looking for a suitable place to sleep.

“Huh?”

But then.

“…What’s that?”

Near the waterfall.

He spotted a Phoenix Feather, strangely concealed.

Ruide checked his pillow in confusion. There was no way it could have slipped out. That meant the feather wasn’t his.

“Ruide?”

Seeing Ruide’s confusion, Hersy looked puzzled. Following his gaze, she jumped up.

“A Ph-Phoenix Feather!”

Hersy exclaimed in surprise and ran toward the feather. Ruide wore a dubious expression.

‘How did that get here?’

He slowly considered why it would be there. It definitely wasn’t there before. Ruide’s genius mind didn’t forget even fleeting scenery.

So it must have appeared suddenly, but that couldn’t be…

‘Justin?’

Suddenly, a scene flashed through Ruide’s mind.

Hersy’s attack in anger.

Justin falling down.

The feather slipping from his pocket due to the impact—

“…!”

“This is definitely my feather. I put a magical mark on it just in case.”

It didn’t take long for Hersy to reach the same conclusion as Ruide.

Grr.

“That commoner…!”

Having figured everything out, Hersy was furious.

Ruide scratched his head as he approached.

“I’m glad you found your feather.”

“This is why I can’t help but be prejudiced against commoners. I didn’t insult him because he was a commoner; it turns out he was a commoner because he deserved to be insulted!”

Ruide thought for a moment before speaking. He needed to calm Hersy’s anger.

“Don’t be too angry. Stress is bad for your skin.”

“What?”

“There’s no need to think about revenge or anything like that.”

“What are you saying…?”

Ruide blinked.

“Weren’t you thinking about tearing him limb from limb?”

That was definitely how she had responded in the novel.

Hersy was startled and tried to calm Ruide down.

“I-I appreciate your anger on my behalf, but there’s no need to go that far. N-no matter what, that seems too extreme.”

“??”

‘What’s going on?’

Ruide couldn’t understand how he had become the bad guy in this situation.

“He stole your feather, right? A commoner daring to touch a noble’s property. Aren’t you angry?”

“That’s presumptuous, but…”

Hersy sniffled.

‘I can’t admit I’m a little grateful for the connection with Ruide!’

At first, she had thought she wouldn’t let whoever stole it get away with it—

But regardless of the intent, it had allowed her to form a connection with Ruide. She had even eaten food prepared by the aloof genius fairy who rejected everyone’s advances.

For Hersy, this moment of conversing with Ruide felt like a dream.

“I’ll just report him and let it go.”

That’s why Hersy could forgive him so easily.

Ruide was quite shocked.

Of course, this was the desired outcome. But somehow, it felt empty.

‘Was she always this kind of character?’

She was supposed to have contempt and disdain as passive traits.

But from what he’d experienced so far, she was excessively considerate and sensible.

“If that’s what you want. I won’t say much… but let’s prepare. It’ll take time to get everything ready.”

The ground near the waterfall was damp. He couldn’t sleep as usual and was about to gather leaves or something similar.

But he was too curious to let it go. Ruide expressed his curiosity.

“Weren’t you upset that Sophia was friendly with a commoner?”

“What?”

“Aren’t you two friends? There was a conflict earlier, and she didn’t take either side. For a commoner she just met a day ago.”

Hersy’s expression stiffened slightly.

“I was disappointed, but that’s how nobles are. We categorize and judge people according to necessity.”

Hersy smiled gently.

“I don’t know how the three of them formed a party, but they’re party members, right? It’s true that Sophia and I are acquainted, but she needs them right now. Sophia must have been in an awkward position.”

‘…She’s so mature?’

How could she be a villainess? It was unbelievable.

How considerate was this child?

Ruide tried to divert his embarrassed gaze by taking out his frustration on Justin.

“And.”

Hersy wasn’t finished speaking. Ruide looked at her.

Hersy brushed back her hair and turned her head slightly to the side.

“…It’s okay because Ruide understands.”

Ruide finally realized why Hersy’s reaction to Justin differed from the original story.

Hersy simply needed someone who understood her.

That person didn’t exist in the original story but existed now.

That was the difference.

**

The forest nights are cold.

Magic could solve this, but without a medium, magic wouldn’t maintain while sleeping.

However, Ruide and Hersy’s night could be warm. Ruide was overpowered enough to maintain magic just by thinking ‘it would be nice to stay warm until morning.’

Wanting to be helpful, Hersy cast alarm magic around them. Yet she apologized five times for her magic being inadequate.

They were sleeping at a reasonable distance from each other. But then, Ruide opened his eyes.

‘The monster should be coming soon.’

Without a clock, he couldn’t know the exact time. But it was certainly after the darkest part of night, approaching dawn.

Ruide rubbed his eyes and sat on a large rock. He was basically nocturnal because he slept so much during the day.

“Ruide…?”

Hersy’s sleep-drunk voice was heard.

“Morning is still far away. Go back to sleep.”

“What about you?”

Despite Ruide’s suggestion, Hersy got up.

“I can’t sleep. I said go back to sleep.”

“…I can’t sleep either.”

Hersy looked obviously sleepy.

But she stubbornly stood beside the rock where Ruide sat.

Just then, Hersy’s mind buzzed.

“…Someone’s coming.”

“Really?”

Ruide answered nonchalantly. But Hersy was different. As the one who cast the alarm magic, she recognized the severity of the situation.

“It’s the presence of a powerful monster! From this feeling, it must be at least an ogre!”

“Don’t make a fuss. Whoever it is, I’ll win.”

Ruide poked Hersy’s cheek from atop the rock.

Hersy blinked and answered like a wooden doll.

“Yes.”

Ruide narrowed his eyes and looked at the forest across from them. Soon, the ground shook enough to feel without alarm magic.

The monster revealed itself. A giant with huge green skin—a troll.

While Hersy froze upon identifying the monster, Ruide did some light stretching and thought.

‘That’s a big goblin…?’

Indeed, seeing something in person feels different from reading about it in text.

Ruide aimed at the troll, making a circle with his thumb and index finger.

‘Perfect. I’ve been wanting to try this.’

He imagined an impressive scene from an anime he enjoyed watching during his unemployed days.

Ruide spoke cynically in his youthful voice.

“Bang.”

Simultaneously, he clenched his fist.

Crunch—!

A blue dragon made of mana emerged and devoured the troll.

“Gasp…!”

Hersy drew in a sharp breath.

She rubbed her eyes, wondering if what she’d just seen was a dream.

And when she opened them—

Half the forest was gone.