Chapter 49

The battle that had begun at dawn finished as the sun fully rose into the morning sky.

The result was a complete victory

"Are you sure they all escaped?"

"Yeah. I'm pretty sure."

"Hah. These bastards. They ended up running the whole time."

Our team had no casualties and the 15-person team was completely dissolved.

Dylan Marken and Sherki.

Other than these two magicians, the other nine had been completely eliminated.

"Then how many are left now?"

"I don't know for certain, but there's probably less than ten."

The ranks of the event started to take shape.

Just under 24 hours after the game had started, over twenty people had already been eliminated.

If my predictions were correct, the current survivor count was just around ten people.

Dylan and Sherki had just barely escaped the encirclement and hidden somewhere after juking the pursuit group.

The 3 survivors that had fought with us had also hidden themselves away when attention was taken off of them.

The same was true for Doom Prime.

'...'

When the hunt came to a close, he silently disappeared into the brush once more.

As he said to me before, it seemed as if he didn't want to end it just then.

"...In any case, he's really a self-centered guy."

"Hm? Did you say something?"

"No. It's nothing."

"Kuaaaaah... I'm tired! I want to stretch my legs and take a nap."

Seta just flopped back onto the ground and Irene clearly looked quite tired as well.

The surroundings were dead silent.

Maybe this was what they meant by the quiet after the storm.

This state of lull would probably continue until soon before noon.

In these sorts of times, you needed to take a rest.

I kicked off the ground and stood up.

"Aite! Rather than being out here, let's find a place to take a rest. We'll get some sleep and eat some meat."

"What? Meat?"

At the word 'meat', Seta showed a big reaction and abruptly stood up.

"What? Really?"

"Of course. Let's go."

* * *

"Seta, how long does it take?"

"It's nearly done, so wait a second."

"..."

Sizzle—

It had only been a day since I hadn't had meat but why did I miss the sound of it cooking so much?

My tummy was making a ruckus, saying it was hungry.

My eyes were fixated on the piece of meat being flipped by Seta.

My mouth kept asking Seta, like it was a broken record,

"Seta, are you done yet?"

"Ah, dude! I said it's nearly done."

"Ha... I can't stand still when it smells so good."

"It wasn't that long ago when you said we shouldn't cook because the smell would spread... Stop disturbing me, and if you have nothing better to do, go fetch me some water."

"...Sure."

Ok, ok.

The assistant chef should listen to the chef's orders.

We had left the western area and moved a little towards the center of the island.

It was the 'B base' that was a little ways away from Central Village.

Thanks to the large trees that completely surrounded it and the small stream that flowed right in front, it made for an ideal place to rest.

When we first found this place, there were traces of human activity, but they seemed to have been eliminated as there was no presence of humans.

That was why we just bunkered down.

As soon as we arrived at the base, Seta prepared our brunch, I was tasked with miscellaneous jobs, and Irene, who had declared that even three days without sleep meant nothing to her…

"...I should wake her up, right?"

"We'll separate her portion, so let's just leave her to rest for now."

"Hm... That's probably for the best."

She had collapsed on the sofa and fallen asleep as soon as we arrived.

Even if it didn't show, she was probably the most tired of the three of us.

Unlike us, who had at least 1 hour of sleep while doing the night shift, she hadn't been able to sleep at all.

"Ok! We'll eat first!"

"Then, thanks for the food!"

I separated Irene's portion and took a bite of the meat that Seta had cooked.

Nom.

"Nom nom... Oh! It's so tasty!"

There was no need for a special sauce or ingredient.

With salt and hunger as the seasoning, it was as delicious as a steak made in a professional kitchen.

We finished the 2 chunks of meat in an instant and fell back onto the ground while clutching our full bellies.

"Hah... I'm full."

"So am I. It makes me want to just sleep. Who cares about the game?"

"Go take a nap. We'll need to fight at full strength later."

"Hm, sure. How about you, Ruin? Aren't you tired?"

"I'll sleep later. I'm fine, so go first."

Seta stood up and walked toward the bed, but he suddenly stopped in his tracks.

Then, he turned to face me, an uncharacteristic expression on his face.

"Ruin."

"What?"

"I wanted to tell you this before... but thank you. For being in a team with me."

"..."

"My original goals weren't this high. But thanks to you, I was able to become a top 10 survivor. It's an honour."

"Hey. I'm cringing a little, so please..."

"Hmhm… Sure. Then, I'm going to sleep."

Seta also looked inexperienced saying these things and went into the room, scratching the back of his head.

I smiled, even though I had goosebumps all over my arms.

"...That guy. He's a total child."

For me to hear something like a teenage girl's confession from that tough-looking guy.

Well, it wasn't that bad.

Except for one thing.

"Kuaaaah—! Phoooo—! Kuaaaah—! Phooo—!"

"..."

As soon as Seta went into the room, he started to snore like a thunderstorm.

To get away from this noise, I came out to the front yard of the lodging.

I did some stretches to warm up my tired body.

"Hoooo... Then, should I do some quests that I skipped out on?"

To stop my tiredness, and maybe for digestion too.

It was to do the quests that I couldn't do yesterday and today.

Kicking.

Spin Kicking.

Punching.

For the running, I replaced it with just running circles around the area.

And after finishing up this quest and drinking some cold water to quench my thirst, the door to the base opened.

It was Irene Prius.

"Have you woken up?"

"Ah, yes."

Looking at my sweaty appearance, she narrowed her eyes.

"...You. Did you exercise?"

"Yes. My body was getting itchy."

"Even after fighting like that in the morning?"

"..."

Hmm. Now that I thought about it, it was a weird excuse.

Rather than answering her, I just lightly smiled and pointed to the separated portion of food.

"Please eat. We left your share."

"Ah. Yes. Thank you."

"I'll go and wash up."

I gave my sweaty body a light wash in the stream and walked into the base.

Irene was chewing on a piece of meat and looked at me vacantly.

"Is it good?"

"Ah. Yes. I apologize for going off and sleeping first without saying anything before."

"You would've been the most tired. And, thanks to you, I'll be able to go take a rest tool. It's fine, right?"

"Ah. Sure."

Rather than going into the room, I chose the sofa in the living room.

The room was still…

"Kuaaaah—! Phoooo—! Kuaaaah—! Phooo—!"

"..."

It was filled with Seta's thunderous snores.

Also, that 'Kuaaah'.

It was nearly enough to make me worried.

"That Seta… We shouldn't need to take him to the med bay, right?"

"Pft."

As I lightly joked about our situation, Irene ended up bursting into laughter.

"It would be pretty loud trying to sleep next to him."

"Yeah, so I'll be sleeping here."

"An excellent choice."

"Would you like some tea? I went and picked some leaves from herbs while I was exercising before."

"That'd be nice."

I boiled some hot water and gently poured it into the teacup with herbs.

"Hmm... It's bland."

"Well, it's still good since it's relaxing."

There wasn't any special taste, but just as Irene said, the warm tea slowly relaxed my tired and bloated body.

And in that period where we were both silently sipping on our tea, Irene asked me something.

"So, Ruin."

"Yeah?"

"I had a question I wanted to ask you before as well... If you think it's impolite, you can choose not to answer."

"What is it?"

"After you graduate, what are you thinking of doing?"

Graduation...

It was an unexpected question.

We usually only talked about 'public' matters, such as events or strategies.

That was why I jokingly asked back,

"Why are you curious about that?"

"It's just personal curiosity. Your steps looked exceptionally unique... so I thought that you wouldn't take the normal path."

The 32 students that had gathered here.

Ignoring the rankings in this competition, they were all elites that were recognised by society.

They were competing here, but as soon as they graduated, they would live a 'symbiotic' life.

All for one purpose.

Maybe for a knight order in a territory, or maybe protecting the nation under the imperial army.

Maybe becoming a member of the Magic Tower.

Some would join a special, magician-only group and earn money that way.

These were the 'normal' paths.

But what about me?

"I don't really know. I haven't thought about it yet."

"Really?"

"I don't know if you know, but just until last year, I was a failing student. The worst failure that couldn't even become a magician. That was why I didn't have the leisure to think about my future. Rather than, 'What kind of magician will I be?' I was more concerned about if I could even become a magician."

"...I apologize, for asking something unnecessary."

"No, don't worry."

I was smiling on the outside, but it was a rather sorrowful thing to say.

To call me a failure of a student myself.

I tried to brighten the mood by smiling.

"After this competition ends, wouldn't I get some idea of things I want to do after I return to school?"

"That'll happen for sure. The Ruin of now has changed a lot from the Ruin of last year."

"But how about you, Irene?"

"Me?"

"Yeah What type of magician do you want to become?"

"I don't know myself either."

"Heh. You're lying."

"It's true. I had never been certain of what kind of magician I should become. I was just told by those around me. Like, 'Irene, you must become a great magician'."

Irene Prius.

She showed her silly acting as she sipped on her tea.

And then,

"Ruin, another thing."

"Yes."

She asked me something with a serious expression.

It was also an unexpected request.

"I want to fight against Doom Prime before you."

"..."

"I think this will be how I find out my path for what type of magician I would like to become."

A fight against Doom Prime.

This was a mountain that Irene, the rank 2 of every year, had to conquer, but also homework that she needed to complete.

I respected Irene's desire and drive.

It was only natural that everyone had a problem that they needed to solve for themselves.

I gave Irene a refreshing smile.

"Sure. Let's do that."

——