After confirming that Eulalia’s figure had completely disappeared into the dark forest, Sevitis immediately wiped the smile off her face, turned around, and patted Su Ling, who was still chewing loudly.
“Stop eating. While she’s away for a while, we need to hurry and leave.”
“Huh? Mmm…”
“Swallow what’s in your mouth before speaking.”
Su Ling blinked innocently, struggled to swallow the food, and then hesitated to speak.
“Do we really have to run? Her Highness the Holy Maiden doesn’t seem like a bad person.”
‘In Su Ling’s eyes, the black-haired loli in front of her, who kept bullying her, was more like the bad guy.’
‘In comparison, that Saint Candidate was practically an angel! Not only did she speak softly, but the cooking she made was even better than the grass cakes her mother used to make.’
‘I really like being around her!’
“Can we… not go?” Su Ling asked weakly.
Sevitis saw right through the greedy ox’s thoughts. She swallowed what was in her mouth and snorted coldly.
“Oh, is that so? Then you stay here by yourself.”
With that, she put down the bowl in her hand and began packing her things.
“Huh? Really?” Su Ling clearly hadn’t expected the other to agree so readily.
‘But once the words were out, she felt conflicted. Actually, staying with little Sevi wasn’t bad either. Although she looked fierce, she was still pretty nice, and there was endless black bread to eat.’
‘Besides, she was so small. What if she encountered dangerous demon wolves in the forest? She couldn’t bear to let her savior leave alone.’
But Su Ling looked longingly at the delicious cooking in her hands, caught in a dilemma.
Just as she was hesitating, Sevitis, who had already packed up, spoke up slowly.
“Oh, by the way, I forgot to remind you. That gentle Holy Maiden you mentioned actually has a powerful Guardian Knight by her side. That knight is extremely protective of her master and can’t stand even a speck of dust in her sight.”
“Once she sees any suspicious unknown person near her master, she will definitely draw her sword without mercy. Earlier at the exam hall entrance, just one glare from her sent a group of evil aristocrats fleeing in panic.”
“The ‘stray guard’ that woman mentioned earlier is that knight. Although she’s temporarily separated, she definitely has special means to track her master. If we calculate the time, she should be arriving soon.”
Sevitis reached out and gently tapped her cheek, tilted her head slightly, and looked at the ox demon girl with a meaningful gaze.
“So, what do you think would happen if that hot-tempered knight, in this desolate wilderness, suddenly sees an unknown ox demon by her master’s side?”
“If you’re lucky, you’ll just be cut out by random sword strikes and end up feeding the demons in the forest. If you’re unlucky, then…”
“Th-then what?” Su Ling swallowed hard, her cow ears unconsciously standing straight.
“Then directly…” Sevitis paused, then waved her hand. “Forget it, I didn’t say anything. You can stay if you want, good luck.”
With that, she ignored the ox demon girl holding the bowl and walked straight into the night.
“W-wait! I’m not eating! I’ll stick with you!”
Facing life and death, Su Ling gulped down the remaining food in the bowl and scrambled to catch up.
“Waah! Boss, wait for me!”
……
When Su Ling breathlessly caught up with Sevitis, the light from the campsite was no longer visible behind them.
“Huff, huff… Can we really escape like this?” Su Ling’s mind was still dazed. “A fourth-rank demon wolf should be a piece of cake for Her Highness the Holy Maiden, right?”
‘Although Eulalia had been hiding in the back during the day’s battle and rarely acted, Su Ling had actually been bathed in her holy magic all day. That’s why she could charge recklessly all day without a scratch.’
‘Su Ling knew very well how powerful that Saint Candidate was, and understood that she was the real pillar of the team, not comparable to a third-rank rookie like them.’
“I know.” Sevitis was the most qualified to comment on how strong that black-bellied woman was.
“Then why are we…”
“Do you think that demon wolf, after sensing our presence, why didn’t it attack directly but howled from afar?” Sevitis kept walking, not turning back.
“Because… it was hungry?” Su Ling tentatively gave an answer.
Sevitis sighed, then explained to the foodie beside her.
“It was summoning its companions.”
“You even knew that, little Sevi is so amazing.” Su Ling was full of admiration.
“Read more books in normal times and you’ll naturally know. Knowledge is the capital for survival. Don’t only have eating in your mind all day.”
With that, Sevitis curled a sneer of triumph.
“So, when Eulalia reaches the destination, what she will see is not a lone demon wolf, but a whole pack of hungry demon wolves. No matter how unfathomable her strength is, such a large number will definitely give her a hard time.”
“I planned all this while scouting nearby during the day, and the appearance of that demon wolf was naturally within my expectations.”
“Using the traces left in the forest, I easily deduced that demon wolves might be active nearby. By using this opportunity to send that bad woman away, the rest would be easier.”
“You don’t have to worry about her getting hurt. Although this is the Blood Burial Forest, it’s ultimately the academy’s exam hall. When it comes to life and death, the examiners monitoring in the shadows won’t stand by and watch her get eaten by demon wolves.”
As she spoke, Sevitis glanced meaningfully into the depths of the nearby thicket.
“Not to mention she still has her real trump card unused.”
“Then where exactly should we run now?”
“Why ask so many questions? Careful your tongue, just follow me.”
Reproached like that, Su Ling had to obediently shut up and follow the black-haired girl in a sprint.
Under Sevitis’s lead, the two dashed through the forest without stopping, and soon reached the cliff they had passed during the day.
Sevitis stopped at the edge of the cliff.
Behind her, Su Ling cautiously leaned forward, sticking her butt out and peering down. The night shrouded the bottom of the cliff in an even more eerie and terrifying manner, like a bottomless giant mouth.
“See, see… I told you, there’s no way out here.” Su Ling trembled and backed away.
“Who says there’s no way? Isn’t the road right ahead?” Sevitis calmly crossed her arms.
“Huh? Little Sevi, why are you talking nonsense at night…”
Su Ling didn’t understand the situation at all. Just as she straightened up to ask, she felt a sudden push on her butt.
“Huh?”
With an irresistible force, Su Ling lost her balance and lurched forward.
The terrifying abyss quickly filled her entire field of vision, her ox brain still in a daze. Then, gravity mercilessly pulled her body into a rapid descent.
“Hey!” A voice unable to suppress shock and anger suddenly rang out from the grass behind.
“Huh—Ahhhh! Help!”
The ox demon girl’s heart-rending scream pierced the silence of the night, echoing for a long time among the steep cliffs.
“Seriously, such a big ox, jumping off a cliff and still dawdling.”
Sevitis calmly withdrew the foot that had kicked Su Ling off, slowly turned around, and looked at the figure who had finally been unable to hold back and rushed out from hiding to save someone. A composed smile curled at the corner of her mouth.
“Then, Examiner teacher, I’ll be going first as well.”
“Wait! What are you, crazy girl, trying to do?!” The examiner’s eyes were wide with fury.
Faced with the examiner’s outstretched hand, Sevitis lifted her skirt and elegantly performed a noble’s curtsy.
Then, like a light falling leaf, she fell straight backwards, following Su Ling into the unfathomable abyss.
By the time the examiner rushed to the cliff edge, the two girls were long gone below. Looking down, only the bottomless darkness slowly churned.
“Hiss—that little girl’s glance earlier, she really noticed me! How ridiculously perceptive are kids these days?!”
The examiner grabbed his hair, utterly crushed.
“What kind of mess is this! I haven’t even done anything, and she jumped down on her own! It’s my first year as an examiner and I run into this… Forget it, better report to the higher-ups immediately!”
He fumbled to pull out a Voice Transmission Stone, infused it with magic. After a short wait, the connection was established.
“Hello? Hello? Is this Chief Examiner Kennisi?”
“It’s like this… a ‘small’ accident happened in the exam area I’m responsible for…”
“Yes, that’s right.” The examiner wiped cold sweat. “A test taker kicked another test taker off a cliff…”
“Apprehend the culprit? Uh… I’m very sorry, I didn’t catch her.”
“It’s really not my fault! Who would have thought that after committing the crime, the culprit jumped down herself!”
“Um… this shouldn’t count as a serious dereliction of duty on my part, right? Hello? Hello? Chief Examiner? Are you still listening?”
The other end of the Voice Transmission Stone fell into a long silence.
The young examiner could only stand silently at the cliff edge, the early autumn night wind tousling his messy hairline.
‘I wonder if my teaching license can still be saved…’