So, here's what's going on.

　Suzu says, smiling.

　Speaking of the show....
　Maybe you're going to fight Suzu... or something?

　It's not an impossible story.
　It's a common story in these trials and...
　I can understand why they went to the trouble of moving the place to the outside.

　That's what I thought...

Let's play tag.
Well...?
It's a game of tag. Don't you know what it is?
No, I know, but...

　Why are you playing tag...?
　What does this have to do with the point at which we need to bring home the canade?
　I couldn't help but put on a dumb face.

　Everyone else was similarly quizzical.

'Hey, Mom,'
What is it?
'What does that have to do with you having to bring me back...?　Nothing to do with it at all...?
It's all right. Your escape route is very important.
Running away?
'When you continue to be an adventurer, sometimes you meet enemies you can't match, no matter how you try, right?　At that point, you will have no choice but to run away, but if you are not fast enough to escape, you will be caught. To avoid such a situation, I want to check how fast you all are running to avoid such a situation.
I don't know if I understand the logic, but...
It's kind of a delicate feeling to be tested on the runway...

　I make an indescribable face with Tania.

'I hope you'll join us this time, Kanade.
Nya. Am I with you?
Kanade-chan was too slow to run, so what's the point?
'Hmm?　Well?
So let me explain the rules. The time limit is three minutes. If I don't catch any of you during that time, Mr. Lane and the others win. If I catch all of you, I win.
'It's only three minutes?　It's that easy.
Phew, she's a healthy girl.
'You shouldn't underestimate your mother. When it comes to physical activity, mom, you're going to be out of line.
'Hmmm ... a question. Can I use magic?
Yeah, that's fine.

　The time limit is three minutes.
　And we're allowed to use magic to escape.
　It's a pretty good deal for us.

　Even so, Suzu's smile hasn't wavered.
　Do they have confidence that they can win even under these conditions?

　I mean, normally, we'd be winning this thing, but...
　I'd better not let my guard down. Let's brace ourselves.

Are you ready?
Yeah.
Then, when I give you the signal, run away as you please. I'll be after you in thirty seconds.
I understand.
Now ... okay, let's go!

　At Suzu's signal, we scattered in all directions.

　Tania ran furiously, using the physical abilities she possessed.
　In the blink of an eye, I couldn't see her back.

　Sora and Luna used their magic and flew high in the sky.
　Although they said that magic was an ant, but that, as expected, there's no way to catch it.......

　Nina had been moving farther and farther away from the transition.
　There was no way to touch her while she was transitioning.
　In a way, Nina might be the most troublesome.

　Me and Kanade were running through the forest side by side.
　If we acted in a coherent manner, there was a risk that we would be swept away, but.......
　To some extent, I want to keep track of my allies' movements, so I decided to work with Kanade for a while.

''Rain, Rain. What do we do now?　Can we get away with just running normally?
''Suz-san is the most powerful of the cat spirit race, right?
Yeah. He's so strong.
I'm afraid I'm going to have to send out a scout.

　Contract with a little bird nearby.
　Assimilate them and fly them to Mr. Tin.

Well, here we go!

　It seemed that I had just finished counting for thirty seconds, and I saw Suz-san start to move.
　Suz bent over lightly and....
　Suddenly, the figure disappeared.

"What?

　As I hurriedly ran my gaze around, I saw Suzu-san's figure in the distance.
　That distance in an instant........?

　Stunned, Suz caught up with Tania.
　Tania was surprised.
　Suzu-san, at her own pace, with a smile on her face, easily touched Tania's shoulder.

''No way...''

　It's crazy fast.
　How does he move that fast?
　Instead of breaking common sense, you've gone out of the box....

　After catching Tania, Suzu-san scurried around to look for her next prey.

　
　If they were that far apart, I wouldn't normally be able to keep them in my sight.......
　Mr. Tin says it's 'not normal'.

　He says he found them right away.
　He looks up and makes a troubled face.

　That's right.
　As expected of Suzu-san, what to do with a partner flying in the sky.......

Yes!

　I can't............................and then Suzu leapt.
　She rushed furiously through the air as if a shell had been shot out.

　I saw Sora and Luna, noticing Suzu-san charging through the air, looking jittery.
　They hurriedly changed their flight course.

　With this, Suzu-san has no choice but to land once.
　No matter how much, changing the trajectory in the air is........

Yes!

　Suzu kicked the air.
　Correcting his trajectory in an absurd way, he closed in on Sora and Luna.

　And then........touch.
　They both get caught too.

''Well, let's make the child of the god race next.

　Having landed on the ground, Tin now ran to Nina.
　She was so fast that she could lose sight of him if she wasn't paying attention.
　How fast is it going...?
　I feel dizzy just thinking about it.

'Hiya!
Yes, I got him.

　Nina was easily caught as she was targeted between transition and transfer.
　The rest........

.....

　Suzu looks at me, assimilating the little bird.
　Our eyes meet.

　Oh no.

　With an instinctive sense of urgency, I immediately break the assimilation.

''Rain?　What's going on?
Let's get the hell out of here! We've got to get out of here, guys!
What?

　I dashed as fast as I could with Kanade.
　He ran in the opposite direction of where Suzu was.

'Mother, you've already got everyone!
Oh, that was quick!

　No matter how strong the opponent is, no matter how strong the strongest of the strongest species, how could they all be caught so easily...
　It's just not what we were expecting.
　And if we don't hurry, we're going to have to...

　I was just getting impatient when I felt a presence behind me.
　The sound of footsteps approaching at a tremendous rate.
　I didn't need to look back.
　It's Suzu.

"Ki, it's here!
We're splitting up!　Just to buy a little time...
I won't let you!

　Just as they were about to split off to the left and right, Suzu-san came around to block their whereabouts.
　There must have been a good distance between us, and yet I can't believe he's already caught up with me...
　That's a lot of speed.

That's it.

　Suzu is closing in.
　Neither I nor Kanade have any way to prevent that from happening.

　Still, we can't give up.
　At the very last moment, I was trying to figure out a way to get to the bottom of this.

Oh.

　With a snap, Suzu-san's hand, which was about to catch me, stops in front of me.

''........?''
I'm sorry, but it looks like it's been three minutes.
Is that...?
Yes. So you've passed the second test, too. It's a pity we were so close.

　........Thus, we've broken through the second ordeal at a very close call.
　However, it's not something to rejoice over, as it's something that can be called a close call.