Chapter 14 – Encouragement
“Oh hey, Ash-kun….”
When I was sitting while leaning my back against the wall of the third arena, I heard someone weakly called my name. The owner of that voice was my unlucky cla.s.smate — Ninsan.
“Ninsan, is this also your test site?” (Ash)
“Yup….” (Nina)
Ninsan nodded, sat next to me, and then deeply sighed.
“My turn is the second last. The waiting time is too long, even though I want to get over with it as soon as possible….” (Nina)
Ninsan showed me her ticket. Her opponent was Noire-san and the order was [14].
There seems to be an order in this practical test, and it"s written on the ticked. By the way, my number is [15].
“If [14] is the second last, does it mean I"m the last? I cannot wait!” (Ash)
“You"re amazing, Ash-kun! You cannot wait to fight that Felminsan….” (Nina)
Ninsan said it in an impressed tone.
“I want to be an excellent wizard after all. If I fight a strong opponent, I"m sure I can learn various things from it…. I mean, don"t you want to be stronger too?” (Ash)
“Of course I do! I want to be strong enough to be able to survive no matter what kind of monster attacks me…. I just want to be able to protect myself. I want to avoid battles that I know I will lose. If my opponent is too strong, then my priority is to run away.” (Nina)
I see. Ninsan is the opposite of Felminsan.
“This Noire-san, is she that strong?” (Ash)
“She is really strong to the point I couldn"t see the meaning of doing this….” (Nina)
“Your opponent is just a human not a monster, but are you still scared?” (Ash)
“I"m glad that my opponent is a human — I always tell that to myself when I"m in this kind of situation. If it"s a monster, I will be killed after all.” (Nina)
Ninsan seems to be too imaginative. If she uses her imagination for something positive, she may be able to overcome her fear of fighting a strong enemy.
“Then, how about this….” (Ash)
“Hmm?” (Nina)
“If there is a monster that you cannot defeat, I will take care of it for you. You don"t need to be afraid of being killed by monster anymore.” (Ash)
“However, doesn"t that mean that you have to become many times stronger than me?” (Nina)
That"s exactly just as Ninsan said. “I"m strong enough to defeat a demon lord with one punch!” — I don"t think she will believe me even if I explain it like that.
“Then, I will defeat Felminsan to prove that I can do it. I will do my best during this promotion test, I hope you will do your best too!” (Ash)
Hearing that, Ninsan face was slowly getting brighter.
“Yeah, that"s right…. I"ve got some courage now! I feel like I can do my best in the battle against Noire-san. Thank you, Ash-kun!” (Nina)
“Oh, that"s the spirit! However, I think you"d better to aim higher, maybe something like defeating Noire-san.” (Ash)
“You"re right, I should aim higher. Yeah, I will defeat Noire-san today!” (Nina)
“….are you Nina Alrival?”
Suddenly, an indifferent voice cut off our conversation. When I raised my face, I saw an expressionless pet.i.te girl with bluish long hair stood nearby.
“No-Noire-san!?” (Nina)
Ninsan called the girl name with a trembling voice.
Hmm, so this is Noire-san that we"re talking about….
"….are you planning to defeat me?" (Noire)
Noire-san asked with a voice without intonation.
“Ye-Yeah! I will defeat you and say goodbye to my weak self!” (Nina)
Oh, that"s the spirit! Keep it up!
Ninsan finally found a courage to face a strong opponent. Therefore, I will only watch over her quietly from the side.
“I see…. but I"m not going to lose. I have a reason to not lose.” (Noire)
“Th-That reason, I"m sure it"s just something trivial.” (Nina)
“No, it"s not something trivial. I cannot lose because I done bad in the written test!” (Noire)
"I was also the same, I could barely solve the questions!" (Nina)
This is, what a low level conflict….
“I will be demoted to the intermediate cla.s.s if I lose.” (Noire)
“That"s still better! I will stay in the lower cla.s.s if I lose after all!” (Nina)
“The intermediate cla.s.ses are far from the cafeteria!” (Noire)
“The lower cla.s.ses are the farthest!” (Nina)
“The popular product [♪crispy on the outside, ♪soft in the middle, and ♪creamy in the inside, the special melon bread deluxe], I won"t be able to get it if I don"t immediately run from the advanced cla.s.s"s cla.s.sroom when the lunch break starts. Therefore, I shan"t lose to you!” (Noir)
Noire-san gallantly walked away after saying that.
“Yeah, I did it…. I was able to say it directly to Noire-san…. Did you also hear it, Ash-kun?” (Nina)
“Yes, I heard everything. You did a good job!” (Ash)
Hearing my praise, Ninsan smile widely.
“I was able to stand against Noire-san because Ash-kun pushed my back. I don"t know if I can win against her though…. Yup, I think I will lose. However, I won"t run away this time, I want to change myself!” (Nina)
Ninsan declared full of determination.
Ninsan believed in my words and found the courage to change. In order to answer her feelings, I should win against Felminsan.
I was waiting my turn with burning spirit.