After the wood camouflage was complete, I opened the lid of the water bottle and put it to Kimijima’s mouth. However, Kimijima lost consciousness without drinking it.
…What’s going on?
Did she have some kind of anemia? Her lips seemed to have turned blue. I lifted her hand and saw that her nails had indeed turned white. I checked her clothes for any signs of blood, being careful not to touch her body too much, but there were no such marks. Could she have been affected by some kind of frog poison?
Not knowing what to do, I tightly hugged Kimijima, who was shivering slightly as if cold. While my own body was uncomfortably hot, I hoped that heat could warm Kimijima…
…
After about thirty minutes, my feverish feeling subsided considerably. But Kimijima was still sleeping quietly inside the wooden tent, breathing softly. Her complexion was still poor, but perhaps a bit better than before.
Even though I thought my level had gone up, I couldn’t feel happy at all due to Kimijima’s poor condition.
“Hang in there… We’ll definitely escape…”
I could hear monster roars in the distance. My hand holding Kimijima tightened its grip.
…
About four hours must have passed. The sun had already passed its zenith. Kimijima was still asleep. What on earth happened? I couldn’t help but think of the worst, and my heart was restless.
“Mm… mmm…”
“Ki-Kimijima?”
“Ah… Sensei… I’m sorry…”
“Don’t force yourself to talk. Water… Do you want some?”
I took out Kimijima’s water bottle and opened the lid. As I brought it close to her mouth, she took a sip or two. Her complexion had visibly improved. I finally relaxed, feeling relieved.
“Take it easy, okay? With this tent so well-made, we should be fine.”
“Yes…”
After drinking some water, Kimijima seemed to feel a bit better and closed her eyes again.
When I next opened my eyes, more than an hour had passed.
“I’m sorry…”
“What are you saying? Don’t worry about it. Don’t push yourself.”
“But I think I’m feeling better now…”
“R-really? Yeah, your expression looks much better.”
“I’ve caused you so much worry…”
“No, don’t worry about that. Oh, right. Yeah. It seems I’ve gone up another level. If my base stats increase a bit more, things should get easier.”
“Your level? You’re progressing fast, Sensei.”
“Yeah. Just a moment… Oh, my rank has gone up too. Look… Wow. I’ve reached 9.8 millionth place, dropped a digit. Yeah. That’s right, Kimijima, you were in the 9 million range too, wasn’t it? I might catch up to you soon. Hehe… Maybe I’ve already caught up.”
Not fully understanding but feeling anxious, my mood lifts as Kimijima’s condition improves, and I become more talkative. Kimijima also looks happy at the news of my level increase.
“Hehehe… My rank was… a bit lower in the 9 million range. What was it again…”
Kimijima jokes while sitting up to check her own status.
“Huh…?”
“Hm? What’s wrong?”
“Um. Somehow… I’m sorry…”
“Eh? H-hey. What’s the matter?”
“This condition… It seems I’ve gone up a level too.”
“Eh? R-really? Well, you don’t need to apologize…”
“…I’ve gone up to about 1.5 millionth place.”
“Eh? …Seriously?”
…Yeah. In this world’s standards, that’s how young people are. …But it’s still a bit embarrassing. The difference in spirits causes such a gap in rankings. It’s quite a blow.
Moreover, Kimijima’s ranking after going up one level is something I probably can’t reach unless I go up two or three levels, right? …When will I be able to go up next?
Although we lost a lot of time, we started moving early in the morning, so there’s still time before sunset. After a while, Kimijima says she can move, so we start moving. It’s probably best to get as far away from the farm as possible.
“Sensei… are you angry?”
“Hm? No, I’m not angry at all.”
“…Really?”
“…Yeah.”
I was shocked, but I’m not angry. Kimijima’s level increase will make it easier for us to escape. I should be happy, not angry. Yeah. Though I can’t say there’s no shock at all.
“…You really are angry, aren’t you?”
“Eh? I told you I’m not… It would be quite something if you managed to make me angry.”
“Hehehe…”
Ugh… Was I making such a shocked face? I need to be careful.
“…When you draw your sword, Sensei.”
“Hm?”
“I can’t see it at all.”
“Eh?”
“Really, it’s so fast. For a moment, your figure blurs and… the monster is cut.”
“I-is that so?”
Hm? I am consciously drawing my sword quickly, but… is it invisible?
“Yes. Sensei, I’m sure at that moment of drawing, various things are… concentrating, right?”
“W-well, I suppose so…”
“Physical abilities, magic power, even if your level is lower than ours… if you can use it that condensed… I’m sure it’s much… stronger than our level increases.”
“Much…?”
“That’s what I think!”
Did I make Kimijima worry about me somehow? I feel an indescribable embarrassment layered on top of my pathetic self for making a student worry about me.
“By the way, now that your level has increased, has anything changed?”
“Hmm. I’m not sure yet, but maybe my magic capacity? It seems to have increased.”
“What kind of spirit is Kimijima’s guardian spirit?”
“Mine is…”
Kimijima’s spirit is a great tree spirit called Sephirot. The spirits in this world are classified into twelve levels. It’s a ranking system by Fael Raven, who received the protection of [God].
The spirit called Holy Extreme that Domoto obtained is ranked first among spirits, the spirit called Holy Crown that Ikeda and Sakuragi obtained is ranked second, then from third to fifth are upper-rank spirits or great spirits, sixth to eighth are middle-rank spirits, ninth to eleventh are lower-rank spirits, and twelfth are the spirits of Zen, including spirits that Fael Raven, the child of God, couldn’t organize in his lifetime, and spirits discovered later.
“Fifth rank… That’s amazing.”
“But it’s different from spirits that increase combat power, so compared to Domoto-kun and Ikeda-kun…”
“We’ve survived thanks to your wood magic. Isn’t that enough?”
“…I guess so.”
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.PAGES.DEV
Sometimes we climb up the slight slope to check the walls surrounding the farm. The farm is larger than expected. After the wall stretching for several kilometers ends, we see a road extending from the farm gate continuing into the forest.
There was talk about human living areas, but looking at this farm’s outer walls, it seems like they forcibly created a human living space within the monster-inhabited zone. Although the forest had encroached quite a bit over fifty years, the boundary is still visible. We decided to head towards where the road is.
However, as we walk through the underbrush along the slope towards the road, we spot something moving on the road. It looks like monsters heading for the farm.
“They’re there… No choice but to go around.”
It’s time to start thinking about where to sleep at night. While quietly walking away from the monsters, I check my remaining magical power… The capacity has increased a bit, and it’s recovering somewhat. But once I can draw multiple times, my thinking changes to saving one shot for emergencies.
Avoiding the monsters’ shadows, we finally reach the road after some progress. Here too, a material like asphalt is laid, clearly showing traces of the road.
We’ve made good progress, and the sun starts to set. As we begin looking for a campsite, we find a strange structure on the road. It’s shaped like a small hut, with thick stone pillars arranged in a circular pattern around it.
“Is this… some kind of magic?”
I peek inside cautiously, but there doesn’t seem to be anything there. The hut is completely covered in vines, and while there’s some grass inside, it doesn’t look too overgrown.
“A shelter… maybe?”
“Looks like it. Judging by the pillar arrangement, humans can pass through, but large monsters probably can’t.”
“Shall we rest here for the night?”
“Yeah, if we’re attacked while sleeping, this place might be good.”
As I circle the hut to check the surroundings, I hear a small scream from Kimijima, who had entered the hut first. “Eek!”
“What’s wrong?!”
I rush into the hut to find Kimijima standing still, staring at one of the walls.
“Sensei…”
In the direction of Kimijima’s gaze, two decayed human skeletons were leaning against the wall side by side.
“…They escaped here… and got surrounded?”
We don’t know the situation, but they might have been injured. In any case, they probably died unable to move, surrounded by monsters. Kimijima seems shocked at seeing human remains up close, standing there dumbfounded and at a loss for words.
“Should we… leave this place?”
“…No. They died here like this… because it was safe here, right?”
“…That’s right.”
She’s a strong kid. Or rather, she has to be strong. She understands that to survive, you need the resolve to even sleep next to corpses.
While Kimijima prepares a sleeping area, I examine the bodies a bit. Judging by the difference in bone sizes, they might have been parent and child, or perhaps a male-female couple.
Around the chest of the smaller skeleton, a necklace with a large ruby-like gem was caught. Noticing this, I check beneath the two. As expected, I find a gem-studded ring, a plain metal ring, and something like an earring. Near the male skeleton’s bones, there’s something like a silver bracelet. These decorative items probably fell off as the flesh decayed and lost its grip.
The spear leaning to the side has a completely rotted wooden shaft.
After some consideration, I notice the spear tip is single-edged, resembling a naginata blade. It’s a bit rusty and hard to tell, but if it’s good quality, Kimijima might be able to use it with a new shaft. With that thought, I pick it up. The deteriorated shaft comes off easily when pulled.
“Are you taking that?”
“Yeah, it might be a good one. For Kimijima, who uses naginata… Oh, do you mind?”
“Huh? No, it’s fine. What about those ornaments?”
“Yeah, I’m not sure, but they might be valuable.”
“I see… Oh, in a magical world, they might even be rare magical items.”
“Magical items? I see. Well, I was just thinking we might get something if we sell them.”
“Hehe.”
She was quite shocked when she first saw the corpses, but Kimijima is becoming more resilient. We cleaned the area around the wall opposite the corpses and decided to spend the night there.
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