39 Episode 38 Exams and Marathons (2/2)

There's a straight path running through it. You want me to carry it here?

About 50 meters away, you see a black wolf, about a meter tall. It's hard to distinguish between a dog and a wolf, but it looks vaguely like a green wolf.

”I see a black wolf over there!　Kill it!

What, out of the blue?

What's wrong!　If you can't do it, you don't pass!

Sir!　Yes, sir!　Sir, yes, sir!

It's your superior's order. I'll use wind magic to accelerate and get close enough to kill him with my sword.

You used magic!　You used magic! What if you use magic in a stupid situation and you run out of power when you need it?

”Sir!　Don't worry, sir!　Sir!

You'll find out when you're done!　I'll take the test for now, you've passed the test, decide how much you want to pack.

Oh, that's normal. You look like a sergeant because you had the same line at the beginning.

What should I do? I answered in a weird way. Let's hope the translation magician is using common sense.

”Weight?

Oh, it's the weight of the cargo you're carrying at one time, you're supposed to keep your cargo within that range when transporting it, and you're supposed to take the test fully equipped and carrying that amount of weight.

...... Hey, why are you talking like you're carrying your own luggage?　Isn't it an escort?

I'm not sure if this is a good idea, but I think it's a good idea.

”I have an item box, is it possible to use it?

”...... You're a swordsman with magical abilities?　I thought magic was just for non-combat assistance.

No, I use both, in combat.

No, I use both, in combat. ...... Are you already a Desi Battler before you took the exam?

I don't know, I feel like if it was a book or something, it would have been written as ”freak”.

”No, I'm just an average magic swordsman.

I'm not lying. If I'm the only one, then I'm the average.

All right, I was wrong to try to teach common sense to the Decibator Trees, so I'll just carry a 0kg item box, and we'll measure the capacity later.

Accepted. Something doesn't add up, but it was probably accepted.

”Okay, what's the test like?

”First, you'll take this card and do 50 laps around the perimeter of Photoren, and then, if necessary, a combat test.

He handed me a board slightly smaller than a guild card. It says ”0” on it. It may be a similar system to the guild card.

”Okay, is it now?

Yeah, it takes a while, so the test will be in the morning.

The distance from the entrance to the Photoren to this side is about one kilometer. If it's a square, it's 4 kilometers per lap, or 50 laps, or 200 kilometers.

At 80km/h, that's 2.5 hours, which is a long time. And the speed may be slowed down by demons. ...Hmm?

Well, even if we run, there'll be demons, right?

Of course, you have to run by kicking them away or running away, that's what the test is for. If you kill a single demon along the way, it will be recorded on your card, and you will not be rewarded, but depending on the number and type of demons, you will be exempt from the D class and below combat tests.

How many will be exempted?

Fifty Kuro Wolves, a hundred Hami Crabs.

That's a lot. I guess I'll just kill the ones I see with magic.

I'm going for a run.

Yeah, go ahead.

And so I start off.

I don't have any particular meaning, but to make me feel like an athlete, I crouch start.

...... I didn't feel like I was getting any faster. That's true. The main source of acceleration at the start is magic.

I'm going counterclockwise from the front of the wall, the side with the demons. My speed, accelerated by wind magic, is about 100 km/h, so it shouldn't take me more than three hours to complete a lap, even if I have to slow down for corners and kill monsters. That's about three minutes per lap.

It was two minutes later that I reached the first corner.

It's not a mile wide by any stretch of the imagination, this fort.

Well, it's still the same thing. Taking advantage of the fact that I wasn't tired and had plenty of magic power, I didn't slow down and went around the corner as fast as I could.

What?　I've lost my footing. I hurriedly used magic to fly back to the course.

There seems to be an ocean next to the fort. The path seems to have been made by shaping the cliff. It may have originally been a rocky beach or something.

It's not very wide, only about three meters, but it's not a bad road.

As I regained my composure and ran, a further threat fell on me.

It was a beach, a training facility familiar from sporty comics. Halfway down, the road became wider, but it turned into a sandy beach. It was extremely difficult to run.

I gave up running and flew away, floating slightly above the ground. Finally, the sandy beach was over, and we came to the next corner. The narrow road and the sandy beach made a total of about one kilometer. It seemed like a long time, but in fact it took less than a minute.

This was the same grassland that we had seen when we first came here, with some trees here and there. The grass was low and it was very easy to run.

After about three minutes of running, I was grateful for the terrain and came to the next corner. After another combo of sandy beach and narrow road, we turned the last corner and reached the starting point in about a minute. It took me less than 9 minutes to get here. The distance is about 12km.

...... How many hours does it take to do 50 laps of this?