Bonus chapter thanks to '@Botjudy' for subscription to 'Sword Lacquer' tier on Ko-fi.

Swish, swish-.

Baltan waved his hand toward me.

I tried hard to ignore him, but I couldn't because he was already approaching me.

Baltan, who had reached me, shook my hand and opened his mouth.

"It's been almost a week? Judging from your appearance, you seem to be badly injured."

"......The target was so strong, but Mr. Baltan looks fine."

"Hmm, he was quite strong, but the target was such an old man that he got tired and collapsed when I pointed my sword at him."

"......"

I felt my jaw drop.

Baltan's target, the King of Mercenaries, was a character who was said to have been active during the Great War between Humans and Demons, and was once one of the strongest in the human world.

Although his reputation had faded due to the aftereffects of the war and the aging of his body, he was by no means someone who could be defeated by a student.

...How could such a strong person collapse from exhaustion?

He must have collapsed because he couldn't defeat Baltan.

However, I didn't have the energy to refute Baltan's words, so I decided to keep my mouth shut.

Swish-.

Baltan, who had been looking at my body, opened his mouth.

"But you're pretty badly injured? It seems like you met a pretty strong enemy if someone as skilled as you could handle it."

"He wasn't an easy opponent, but fortunately, luck was on my side."

"Haha, no need to be humble. I think luck is also a skill."

Baltan burst into his characteristic cheerful laughter and patted me on the shoulder.

He must have thought he was controlling his strength, but it hurt quite a bit...

As I rubbed my shoulder where Baltan had patted me,

Before I knew it, the instructors had finished their preparations and Ares was walking up to the platform.

"I will tell you about the upcoming schedule."

Baltan frowned as Ares opened his mouth on the platform.

"Oh, I have to go now. Let's definitely spar next time. Don't avoid me this time!"

"I'll be looking forward to it."

I greeted him, pretending not to know what Baltan was talking about.

As Baltan disappeared from my sight, Samuel, who had come out of Fron's hand, muttered in disbelief.

[What's that monster's problem? Why does he keep pestering you to fight him?]

"That's what I'd like to know..."

"Pfft, I can already see your future."

"......"

Fron's mocking words made my hands and feet tremble.

Should I kill this woman or let her live

While I was lost in thought about Fron's treatment,

Ares, who was on the platform, began to explain in earnest.

"I will tell you the results of the test in two days. The scoring criteria are..."

I looked down from Ares on the platform.

- Beep!

Sijo was chirping cheerfully on Samuel's thorns.

What am I going to do?

Ares doesn't seem to have noticed yet that I brought Sijo to the human world without permission.

If he finds out, I can't even imagine what kind of thunderbolts he'll unleash.

It was like setting up surveillance on a student, so the school couldn't openly punish me, but

'Scary.'

I could already hear Ares's roar ringing in my ears.

- Beep beep!

As if it knew my anxiety, Sijo just chirped cheerfully.

A little time passed like that.

Ares finished his explanation.

"...Everyone has worked hard. Now, return to your dorms."

Ares, still with a cold look in his eyes, stepped down from the platform.

I could only watch him, drenched in cold sweat.

* * *

After leaving the auditorium.

- Huaaa, I feel like I'm going to die. I'm going to go back to my room first...

Fron had returned to her dorm, saying that she needed to rest for a while.

I could guess how hard she had worked on this test, so I sent Fron back to her dorm first.

Originally, it was my role as commander to do that, but Fron took over and even seduced all the students to strengthen their power.

That alone was a great thing, but Fron also became the mental pillar of the students...

'I could never do that.'

I was barely able to take care of myself, let alone have the energy to look after others.

This was something that could only be called Fron's strength.

If I think about it, there will probably be a lot of things I will have to rely on Fron for in the future.

I wonder if Fron will be able to stay as active as she is now.

Luna asked me with concern, thinking that my expression was not good as I thought about this and that.

"Are you okay? Just hold on a little longer. We'll be at the infirmary soon."

Luna was supporting me, who was on the verge of collapsing, as we headed to Sytan's medical facility.

I nodded at Luna's words and groaned as I checked my condition.

Can this really be healed?

Thanks to Lunas first aid, all the minor wounds had been healed, but the broken bones remained.

Since I had never used the medical facilities of the Demon Realm before, I couldnt help but worry.

Even in the modern world, it would take at least half a year to heal the injuries I had sustained.

On top of that, I would need to undergo constant rehabilitation.

With Lunas healing abilities, it would be possible if we could just set the bones, but

Adel, Im sorry.

As I was lost in anxiety, Lunas heavy voice rang out.

What do you mean?

Its just that if I could control my healing abilities a little better, I would have been able to heal this too.

Luna was truly sorry for me.

I waved my hand dismissively.

You dont need to apologize. I was prepared for this level of injury. You did your best. Why wouldnt I know that?

Luna was not at fault for me being injured to this extent.

Rather, compared to the effort she had put in to accommodate me, hadnt she done her best?

Not only that, but without Luna, the damage to the A-class students would have been even greater.

But I couldnt help but be bewildered when she apologized to me.

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