The Withered Treant’s writhing grew weaker and weaker, until it finally lost all movement, burned to a charred black lump, collapsing motionless on the ground.
“Ah?”
Liyakade pulled her hand back in surprise, staring at her small pink fist in confusion. Although she had compressed the Wind Attribute element in her hand just like before, the force behind this punch was far stronger than she had realized—even she hadn’t been aware of it.
She had only intended to drive the Withered Treant away, but this punch had nearly beaten it to death. Coupled with the full-body Fire Attribute magic BUFF, the once imposing and oppressive Withered Treant had been crushed like a stray dog kicked to death by the roadside.
Liyakade inspected her wounds with puzzlement, realizing her injuries were not as severe as she had imagined.
She had thought her abdomen was pierced, but now it seemed to be just a scrape. Her leg wasn’t broken either—there was nothing that would hinder normal movement.
So she had just been too scared, mistakenly thinking her wounds were worse than they actually were.
Understanding this, Liyakade sighed quietly. It seemed she was still too weak and lacked practical combat experience, leading to her misjudgment of her own condition. She still had a long way to go in her training.
“Liyakade!!!”
Field threw her sword to the ground and rushed forward with tears glistening at the corners of her eyes, wrapping Liyakade’s small frame tightly in her arms.
“Wa-wait!”
The sudden softness of the contact startled Liyakade for a moment. She instinctively tried to break free, but Field held on firmly.
“Didn’t you say you’d come back?”
“But I already did…”
“Nonsense! You looked like you were about to be killed just now!”
“Cough, cough… Do I look like I’m about to die now?”
“Huh?”
Field only realized after Liyakade’s reminder that she didn’t seem severely injured at all. On the contrary, Liyakade’s tone and expression showed no trace of weakness.
Field loosened her grip and placed both hands on Liyakade’s shoulders, scrutinizing her from head to toe.
“Well? I’m not lying, right? I just got a few scratches.”
“I don’t believe you.”
Field looked at Liyakade’s blood-stained, tattered school uniform, and the nearly shredded black stockings. There was no way she could believe Liyakade had only minor scrapes. Determined, she reached toward Liyakade’s waist for a closer examination.
“Hey, hey! What are you doing?”
“Don’t move.”
Feeling the warmth creeping beneath her clothes as Field’s hands moved slowly over her skin, Liyakade’s heart rate quickened and she nervously swallowed.
“I-I’m really fine!”
Unable to bear it any longer, Liyakade took half a step back and broke free from Field’s grasp.
“How could you say it’s nothing with this much bleeding?”
Field pointed toward the pool of blood where Liyakade had collapsed and then at the bloodstains on her body. “Don’t move, let me keep checking lower down.”
“Alright, alright! If I was really hurt, how could I not tell you? I was just pretending to be weak to make the monster let its guard down. Look at me now—I’m perfectly fine.”
Liyakade retreated another half step, unwilling to let Field continue searching under her clothes. She quickly changed the subject.
“By the way, Princess Field, why did you suddenly come back? Has Alice-chan already made it outside?”
“Alice-chan is safe. You want to know why I came back?”
Field poked Liyakade’s head with a finger, feigning anger.
“Because I was worried about you! After all, I’m LV.32 and have attributes that counter monsters, so I should be able to help a little!”
“Ah… I see.”
Liyakade felt a warm feeling in her chest upon hearing Field’s words. It seemed she wasn’t truly alone in this world after all. “Thank you, Princess Field.”
“Why are you still using ‘Princess’ and formal speech? If you really want to thank me, don’t say such stiff-sounding things!”
Field crossed her arms and turned away, clearly dissatisfied with Liyakade’s polite tone.
“Ah, well… If other people hear it, it might not be good. They might say I don’t respect Princess Field or something.”
Liyakade nervously twisted a strand of her hair, a little embarrassed.
“Then just call me that privately.”
Field paused, glanced back, and added, “Only when it’s just the two of us.”
Liyakade exhaled deeply and nodded.
“Okay, Field.”
She tested the name cautiously. Having used the full title for so long, it felt strange to drop the ‘Princess’ now.
“That’s better, Liyakade.”
Field smiled genuinely upon hearing her name said without honorifics.
“Oh, right! Since you two just came out of the forest, does that mean our group’s exam is over?”
Liyakade suddenly remembered.
“Yes, but who cares about the exam right now? The important thing is that you came back safely. Let’s get out of here quickly. Monsters like this have already appeared here—who knows what else might show up.”
As the two prepared to return, voices called out to them from nearby.
“Liyakade, Princess Field! Are you okay?”
Two figures ran up from not far away. Recognizing them, Liyakade and Field saw it was Alice-chan and the Mage Teacher.
“We’re so relieved you’re safe!”
Alice-chan looked at the defeated monster and then at Liyakade and Field, grateful.
After Field had escorted Alice-chan out of the forest, she had immediately rushed back. Alice-chan had gone to summon the Mage Teacher, explaining they had encountered a monster too strong to handle.
Upon hearing this, the Mage Teacher followed Alice-chan to their location.
Fortunately, the students didn’t appear to have serious injuries, and they had even defeated the monster.
“Withered Treant! You two actually managed to defeat such a monster together?”
The Mage Teacher looked at the blackened, carbonized remains on the ground, barely recognizing the monster’s original form. He was very surprised that Liyakade and Field had won.
“It was thanks to Princess Field’s attributes countering the monster that we could win.” Liyakade reported the situation to the Mage Teacher.
Hearing Liyakade switch back to formal speech, Field frowned slightly but said nothing. After all, she had told Liyakade to only use formal titles when alone together. Still, it was a little frustrating that their private moment had been broken.