Cooperation. (1)

“The girl is a student at the Royal Labyrinth of the Imperial Academy. Thank you for helping me!”

“… Nora.”

The silver-haired princess and the black-haired magician were climbing a tall, thick tree together, taking a moment to gather their things.

In the past, Coty would have criticized whoever she was for not helping her sooner, but somehow she felt a sense of kinship with the man she liked and the woman with a sly appearance, and now that she had no reason to lower her own reputation by yelling at anyone, she greeted him normally and took out a potion and bread from her bag to give to her as a reward.

“You… are a black magician?”

“Ong! Net! Can you tell at first glance?”

“Well, roughly.”

And Nora awkwardly answers after receiving her bread and potion and then thinks.

If it were me before, I would have had no idea what color of magician my opponent was, but after learning the truth about Rudis, thanks to training in magical power control every single day, every single hour, every single minute, and every single second, I can now roughly figure out which direction my opponent’s magical power is most affected by.

Furthermore, before coming here, I was certain that the magical tool I had touched had reduced my magical power, which was three times that of a normal person, by nearly 20%, and if I met a contestant whose magical power, stamina, or aura had been completely reduced because of it, I was planning to unconditionally disqualify them, but unfortunately, I met a pretty black magician who seemed to be lacking something, so my resolve became dull.

“Soboro?”

“Whew! This is the best bread ever! Crispy on the outside and moist on the inside! Plus, if you add cream puffs, it becomes a meal of the three gods that includes a soft sweetness! A girl could live for three years with just this!”

“Yeah, yeah… “

Moreover, even if this guy’s magic power recovers, it seems like he’ll just fall off on his own if we just leave him alone.

Although it would be okay if I knocked her down with my own hands right away, I thought it would be foolish to use my magic power against her, who showed favor rather than hostility, and who did not seem to have any outstanding skills, so Nora decided to just focus on recovering the magic power she had consumed.

‘… It’s about 5km in diameter. It’s incredibly wide.’

But recovery is recovery, and being vigilant about your surroundings is another matter.

Even if the silver-haired woman next to him isn’t an enemy, she’s not the only one around him.

As I spread my sensing magic and gauged the size of the fantasy world, I found myself swallowing a breath without even realizing it.

There are roughly 100 people who have entered this world. Some of them erased their magic powers as soon as they sensed my detection magic, and some of them showed the ability to detect my magic before they could even determine my location.

Perhaps because they are strong people gathered from all over the continent, their ability to hide their presence is considerable.

“… Oh wow. Did you use magic?”

“Okay?”

“Just about anything.”

He may look like a fool, but he’s actually a more capable magician than I thought, and he was able to sense the sensing magic I had spread.

It seems like he doesn’t care much about my magic, doesn’t even try to hide his recovering magic power, and before I know it, he takes out some bread and starts munching on it. I can’t understand if he’s just really brave or just really stupid.

“There are 5 people in this forest, including us. And there are 2 people I know outside this forest.”

“Wow! But is it okay to tell that to a girl?”

“Why, do you want to fight me?”

“Don’t fight now! Even if you fully recover, you’ll still lose 100%!”

It’s not that he has guts, it’s that he’s definitely stupid.

I asked this question to tease him, but he’s definitely going to fight someday, and he doesn’t show any caution, so it’s clear that he’s lacking something.

If you answer like that, it means you don’t know that I can eliminate you at any moment.

I regained my magical powers, feeling relieved at her stupidity and not letting my guard down, and started preparing to move as I looked at the sky where the sun was starting to set.

“Huh? Huh? Where are you going?”

“That’s all I can help you with. Stay alive.”

Black magicians prefer to move at night.

The silver-haired woman, who had even started taking out a blanket as if she was going to sleep here since she had fallen right next to me, seemed to not know even such basics, but I was planning to find the two people in the forest that I had sensed earlier and eliminate them right away.

So, if you say goodbye to her and try to move on.

“Okay, wait a minute!”

“Why again.”

She continued speaking with an expression that looked almost like she was about to cry, hastily stuffing the blanket she had taken out in a panic into her bag without even putting it away.

“Young girl, you can’t come down from here alone!”

“… Magic power recovery?”

“Okay, it’s almost finished!”

“Haa… I’ll just give you the drop, so go separately. If you don’t, I’ll definitely eliminate you next time.”

“Eek! Oh, I got it!”

Nora couldn’t understand why a person like this was a black magician, and how he even got into the ranking match. She put the princess down and walked into the dark forest.

*

“[Lv. 1] [Sword of Darkness]”

-Pipipipit!

“Ugh?!!”

“Damn it! Where are you! Where the hell are you…!! Bam?!”

There were three people detected in the forest earlier this afternoon.

One of them had completely lost all magic and presence, leaving two others.

These two, who didn’t realize that they were being detected by me, seemed to have joined hands and attacked the person who was alone, eliminating him.

“It’s a fantasy world, so there’s no need to touch it, so it’s convenient.”

If you pierce the hearts and heads of those two men with simple black magic, they will disappear like dead monsters without leaving a single drop of blood.

Perhaps the person who planned this ranking match wanted to see the true abilities of those who were not able to show their full abilities or who were not considering the others, and I checked the luggage they left behind.

“… Nothing much.”

Potions, dried meat, and simple clothing. It’s ridiculous that this is all I have, even though I was clearly informed before the start that it was a survival game.

If you don’t have the ability, bring some magic tools. That way, I can defeat him and use him.

After taking only a few potions and dried food, I put out the campfire they had lit and used my detection magic once more.

“What? Did he fall?”

Several minutes had passed since we broke up, and I could no longer feel the silver-haired woman’s magic at all.

And in the direction the woman went, the magical power of several monsters was detected, and it seems that she met a troll and was eliminated on the spot.

Still, since he helped me quite a bit as a fellow black magician, I had a small hope that he might be useful somewhere later.

It ended up being a truly meaningless action.

“… Ha. No. I didn’t really want that. “

I was sure that she was a far inferior magician to me, and I didn’t have high hopes that she would be of much help.

To be honest, I just unconsciously imitated the actions of Rudis, who helped me that day, because the image of that woman sniffing and cracking bread between tree roots reminded me of myself when I was young.

If he had been there, he would have helped me instead of just eliminating me without any reason. I just imagined it and acted accordingly.

‘In that respect… I guess I won’t end up like Rudis.’

If that was the case, he would have definitely taken her with him until the end. Even if it meant holding her back, even if it meant nothing.

Even if people around him criticized and cursed him for his meaningless actions, he certainly would not have turned his back on someone who was struggling alone.

Feeling the self-loathing grow stronger again, I concentrated a little more deeply, wondering if any of the people I could sense were Rudis, the one who had called me here…

“[Red Magic] [Lv. 3] [Heat Bomb]”

“?!”

-Kwaaang!

As soon as I heard the considerable magical control that I had not felt until I chanted the magic, and the incredibly fast chanting of level 3 magic, I rolled on the ground to dodge the attack, but I could clearly feel that I had not dodge the attack due to the burning pain on my back.

“Ha. You idiots, your opponent is a level 4 magician, so you told me to do my best to erase his magic power, and you even lit a bonfire and prayed for him to be eliminated.”

“Huh… Were all three of you colleagues?”

“Yeah. Luckily we all fell into the forest. But thanks to you, I’m alone now, you black magician bitch.”

[Enemy Magic] [Level Lv. 3] The enemy magician, who had prepared his spell in advance, checked the campsite where his comrades had been, clicked his tongue in annoyance, glared at me, and raised his hand.

“Ha. Damn it. I was looking for him separately, thinking I could recruit him as a companion if he was useful, but the opponent was a black magician of all people? That’s why those guys who use the same magic as the demons… “

-Clang!!

“[Lv. 2] [Thorn Needle]!!”

“[Explosion]”

-Kwaaang!!

“What?!!”

I even took out Rudis’ magic book and immediately used a short spell, but it seemed like he knew from the beginning what kind of attack I was going to use, and he blew away my magic with an explosion using the ground, getting me involved as well.

This guy, I guess. He’s at least level 5 in enemy magic.

“You beggarly black magician. If you’re human, do your magic properly. Don’t you know that erasing your magic and using magic like a demon idiot is a dirty thing?”

“… Sob. You’re being sarcastic. Gulp…! It’s like other magicians don’t cancel their spells with their magic tools. “

“And in return, the power of magic decreases. But you guys aren’t like that, right? How is that any different from the abilities of the demons!!”

-Bang!!

“Gyah!!”

Not only in the Kingdom of Frisia, but also in other countries, the hatred for black magicians is deep-rooted.

It seems that the opponent is a discriminator who equates black magicians and demons, but this has been completely dissuaded.

On a subject that could have finished me off in one go while I was rolling around on the floor, the guy continued his torturing attacks, such as deliberately blowing up the ground around my limbs or hitting my back with a fireball that wouldn’t kill me, as if he was deliberately trying to stop me. I couldn’t take it anymore, so I held onto my magic book and tried to block it with magic until the very end, but the fight wasn’t even started when I was surprised by a magician with a higher level than me.

“Ugh… “

“Ha. You cockroach bitch, if this place was real and not a fantasy, I’d bust your balls open and kill you. Tsk. Go out and apologize 100 times to my colleagues for acting like a bitch at night and then go home.”

How could I be eliminated so absurdly in the Imperial Ranking Match that Rudis had called for?

I was becoming so absurd that I couldn’t even get angry, and I was starting to not know how to apologize to Rudis.

The moment the magician, who was grimacing as if he was trying to get rid of a bug while looking at me like that, was about to finish his spell.

-Phew!

“…? Cool!”

“Wow! The feeling of stabbing someone is creepy!”

“Huh?”

-Thud!

Suddenly, a red lump of iron appeared on the man’s chest, and as I was collecting the hooks, unable to shake off my bewilderment at the stupid voice that I had heard before, the owner of the voice looked at me with a sword that had come out of the body of the magician he had stabbed and disappeared, smiled broadly, and continued speaking.

“Hehehe. I’ve never fought a girl monster before. Could you help me survive until I meet a commoner I know? “

“… … “

And I hope this is the last time I stab someone. The silver-haired woman continued to speak, her crimson eyes sparkling in the dark forest.