Lacelle!

　When I returned from the martial arts arena, it was Sarasa who greeted me.
　She came running up to me, swinging her blonde hair in a mess.
　Just when I thought it would be time to stop, unexpectedly, Sarasa jumped at me with her hand outstretched.

　Mugou........!

　The soft twin hills pinched my head.
　As it was, Sarasa said, "Lacelle-kun! And he calls out my name.
　As I flailed about, my head dug further into Sarasa's chest.
　I went under to step into the undeveloped land.

　Mugogo......... Guru-ji.........
　But it's soft.
　What is this?
　Softer than cow's milk.........
　Even the smell is something sweet and sour.

　--I'm going to die!

　I push Sarasa away.
　I finally catch my breath.
　I almost died before I became the strongest.

"Well, Sarasa... You'll be glad to see me, but you have to learn to control it.

　Attention.
　Then, suddenly, Sarasa's face turned red.
　She seems to have finally realized her shamelessness.
　She moved her eyes behind her glasses in a circular motion.
　They built up steam like a boiled octopus.

'Yes, Sarasa. You're too happy.'

　The voice came from behind me.
　Me and Sarasa turn around at the same time.

　It was Cecil.
　She was standing with a bandage on her leg and a crutch under her arm.

'Cecil-chan!'

　Sarasa ran up to her best friend number one.
　I supported Cecil, who was still unfamiliar with the crutches.
　Eventually, she comes up to me.

'I saw you, Lacelle.... You're too cool. You're not going to be able to get away with it. --Ouch!

　I fed my hand sword to Cecil's head.
　With slightly teary eyes, Cecil looks up.
　The wintry-colored eyes reflected the face of a man with his mouth bent to a single letter.

　He understood what I was going through right now by looking at that face.
　Eventually, he dropped a paragraph.

''I'm sorry...''

I buy into your spirit. But what if this is a real battle?　Have you been able to protect the salsa behind you?

"Uh-- Oh, right. I was wrong again, wasn't I?

　Cecil made one mistake.
　That's when we first met.
　Instead of running away, he took on multiple bandits.
　As a result, even my best friend, who is my best friend, was put in danger.

''Cecil, your goal isn't to defeat those d*mn nobles. It's to pass the test, graduate from the Adventurer's School and take over the family business, right?　If I owed you a debt and you refused to recover, you should have abstained.

You're right. I'm such an idiot. I'm sorry, Racel.

'And..... You and I are rivals, I'm sure, but we're never enemies. Rely on me when you can.

Yeah. Thanks. And I'm sorry about Sarasa. I shouldn't have bothered you.

It's okay. No, thank you. I should have stopped this time, too. I've made Cecil-chan do dangerous things again. So, Cecil-chan--

　Sarasa takes Cecil's hand.
　She looked at her best friend with soft, compassionate eyes.

'Let's be strong together. We're not quite there yet.''

...yes!

　Cecil nodded widely.
　There were a few tears in her eyes.

　I wished with all my heart.

　I want you to be strong.

　It's not just your body and skills.
　It's also strength of mind.

　Because that is the most important thing in becoming strong.

'More importantly, Cecil. Is your leg okay?

He's okay. It's almost healed. Until the swelling goes down, though, this is what I'm wearing.

　Cecil lightly moves his leg to show that he is safe.
　Even if you use recovery magic to heal your injuries, swelling and pain are not something that will go away easily.
　But if you rest for a couple of days, you'll be back to normal.

''Hey. If Lacelle had been injured, would she have relied on us?

'I'm not interested in hypotheticals. But if I'd been injured like you were, I'd have kept my mouth shut. But.....


　Still, I have no intention of losing.


　Thus my adventurer's school entrance exam came to an end.


　◆◇◆◆◆.


　Three days later.....
　It's the day of the acceptance announcement.
　Me, Cecil and Sarasa left the inn first thing in the morning and headed to the Adventurer's School.

　The reason we left early in the morning was because if we were not accepted, both Cecil and Sarasa would have to leave immediately.
　If they took the regular carriage that left at noon, they would reach their hometown before dusk.

　For the same reason, the candidates had already begun to gather.
　A large number of students and their families were crowding the bulletin board where the announcement of their acceptance was posted.
　They were waiting for the announcement now.

　One of the instructors arrived.
　With the students at his side, he reads some notes.
　Then he activates the magic.

　[Automatic writing]

　It's the magic of the [scholar (professor)].
　Magic that transcribes information from your head and what you see into another information medium.
　It is a beginner's level of magic, but the more the capacity is, the more difficult it is to handle.
　It's a magic that requires a high level of magic control.

　The instructor hums and writes in shorthand on the board.

　What came to mind was a number that seemed to be a passing number.
　And the score that can be placed for each exam.

　Then, suddenly, the students cheered.
　Before looking for their numbers, they looked at the names and scores posted at the top of the bulletin board and buzzed.

'Hey..... What's that name?''
Yeah. That's the guy. That's him.
Oh, come on. What was that score...?
''I......... You lost to [villager]?

　Everyone turned to me.
　The corners of my mouth lifted involuntarily as I looked at them.

　It's not a bad feeling....

　That's right.
　The top of the board.
　It was inscribed with the name of the top passer with the highest score in this exam.

　Beside her, Sarasa holds her mouth down.
　Cecil was also stunned.

''Amazing......... That's amazing, Lacelle-kun.''

I kind of expected that.

　So--.
　The name at the top of the board.
　The one written there was.....


　First Class Acceptance, Lasser Singh Stark.


　--It was.

　Well, I guess it's no surprise.
　The result was obvious, but I'm honestly happy.
　I'm going to be the strongest.
　I have no intention of losing, no matter how well I did at school.

　In addition, I also checked my test scores.

　Practical test 100 points / 100 points
　Basic Ability Test 100 points / 100 points
　100 points on the written and essay exams?　/ 100 points (supplementary exam)

　A perfect score on all exams.
　Clearly, the "100" is in line.

　...................

　......................

　Huh?　A make-up test?

　I mean, why the "?" next to 100 points? What's with that?