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“Thought I was a goner!!” I shouted as I shot my body up.

My memories only lasted up to the point where I fell into the cold river dyed with the Mountain Serpent’s blood. Crashing into the wall and the shock of hitting the water’s surface had sunk my consciousness into darkness.

That earlier shout was my first reaction after waking up.

“Oh, thank goodness! You woke up, Nicole!”

Letina rushed to my side and clung to me. I was all wet and sticky so it felt quite indescribable. She was wet and slightly tinged with red, so it was most likely her who had dragged me out.

“Are you alright? Does it hurt anywhere?”
“Yeah, I’m okay.”

I tried to move my limbs, and while there was still some creaking pain in the joints, it didn’t seem like my tendons and bones were damaged. I was probably just feeling the recoil from that mad rush.

“Actually, where’s Michelle?”

Then I finally noticed that my puppy-like childhood friend, who should’ve normally been the first to cling to me, hasn’t shown any reaction. Letina answered my question by pointing behind her while breaking out in a cold sweat.

And Michelle was there – twitching on the floor like a freshly caught fish.

“Ughhhhhhh…”

She had slender limbs and a budding yet already impressive chest. A healthy and hygienic girl like her was now convulsing on the floor, and it was captivating in its own way. Her pained expression was elevating that feeling even more.

But I was well aware of the hellish muscular pain that she was going through now.

“I-Is she okay…?”
“According to her, it’s just muscular pain. She said there was no danger to her life, so I’m not that worried.”
“Why did she know that… Did she secretly attempt it before?”
“Seems like it.”

Good grief… But well, using it in combat without prior experience would make you uneasy, so I can understand why she attempted it beforehand… But I’d have preferred for us to have been by her side just in case something went wrong.

Well, not that I’m the one to talk after soaring up in the air without thinking of the consequences.

“Up we g-, ouch… Michelle, are you alright?”
“Ughh…N-Nicole… You’re awake?”
“Looks like we both have it rough.”
“Yeah… Ouch ouch…”

It seemed that her muscle pain wasn’t as severe as mine back then. This was probably because her body was closer to an adult’s compared to mine at that time. Still, there was no changing that it was painful.

Kabby was casting Heal on us as we leaked painful moans. It hardly proved effective for muscular pain, so it was at most to give us peace of mind.

No, actually, it was effective in my case. I did crash to the wall, after all, and my body was full of scratches from running through the forest.

Cortina would probably flip out if she saw my current appearance, so I was thankful to Kabby.

“Thanks, Kabby.”
“Squee~”

It squealed back as if to say “you’re welcome” while turning around and showing me its belly. That action landed a critical hit on me, so I went and gave the giant hamster a big hug. Though it’s a Carbuncle.

“Agh, that’s so sly of youu!”

In my previous life, I loved fluffy things, but I hesitated to act on my instincts to preserve my stoic image. But it was fine now. I could hug and rub my cheeks into its fur to my heart’s content.

“Uehehehe.”
“If the boys from the academy saw your current expression, they would get disillusioned.”
“Actually, her sloppy expression might make her more popular instead.”
“You be quiet and continue squirming on the floor.”

Looks like Michelle had enough leeway to join in on the jokes despite her current state.

I stood up while hugging Kabby. If we didn’t return they’d find out that we had slipped out. Or actually, they probably did already.

Still, we had to return fast, or Cortina would worry.

We were shouldered by Letina and followed the road back to where we came from. Kabby did the tactful thing and didn’t hop onto my head as it usually did. It was pretty heavy so I was quite thankful for that.

“Cortina would get mad at us if we don’t return fast.”
“I believe she would get mad at us regardless of how fast we return…”
“Gh, we did a good thing, that’s just unfair.”
“We did go against her orders, so we should be prepared for that much.”

I feel like she indirectly helped us there a bit, but she did that assuming we were ready to face the consequences.

We limped towards our destination. The students moved towards the evacuation while forming lines, so their pace wasn’t that fast. It should’ve been easy to catch up to them. Just as I was thinking that, a silhouette appeared ahead.

Their twitching cat ears and tail were enough for us to realize who it was.

“Ah, Cortina!”
“Nicole!? What are you doing here…!”
“Huh…?”

Wait a minute, why is she surprised? Didn’t she mention that plan to let me hear it?

“Err… Because you said to lure it into the valley, I guess?”
“Huh, you heard that!? Why was it you girls that acted on it…”
“Did we do something wrong?”

I became worried that I misinterpreted her plan, so I asked for confirmation.

“Uhh, well, it was intended for Reid. Like, he said he’s always watching me from nearby, so I thought maybe he was around to overhear…”
“Ah, so…”

So basically, when I said “I’m always watching you (with starry effects)” just to show off, she took it literally and expected me to go and subjugate it.

No well, in that sense, her speech reached the right ears… I mean, I did go to defeat it.

“I thought he’d have a hard fight alone so I came to support him… But I didn’t expect for you to overhear it and come here.”
“Ah, well. About that…”
“And you’re in an awful state. Are you okay? Injured anywhere?”
“Kabby healed me, so it’s fine now.”
“I see, in that case… I suppose it’s time for scolding?”
“Ehh!?”
“You might think it’s unreasonable, but you’re not Reid! If you’re reckless you’ll die, you know?”

Now wait a minute there. To begin with, I am Reid, and I’ll also die if I’m reckless, you know? Actually, I already did die once.

Thus, while I was embracing the biggest feeling of unfairness among us three, Cortina continued to scold us while leading us to the rest of the students.

And of course, though she did yell at us, she still worried about our physical condition. Eventually, she patted our heads with “You did great!” so it all ended on a good note.