I Thought Your Friend's Sibling Wasn't a Girl? - Chapter 22

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 22
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Shriek!
On instinct, I drew the Defensor and swung it, only to have a viscous liquid splatter across my face.
“What—what is this—”
“Combat positions!”
The moment we entered, combat began? Even for the notoriously brutal Final Practical Exam, was it necessary to be this merciless?
The question flickered through my mind, but there was no time to dwell on it.
The Magic Faculty students who’d been pounding their chests, insisting we trust only them, looked bewildered and fumbled about in panic, and Daisy and Bennett were equally startled—they were too busy dodging the immediate assault.
“Sirius! What are you doing!”
“J-just a moment. The casting is going—”
“Bennett! Buy us time!”
They were a pack of plant-type Lower-grade Monsters. These creatures were called Rafflesia—their outward appearance matched the flower perfectly, but once they’d undergone monsterification—
“T-teeth!”
“If you don’t want to be chewed up and digested by those teeth, attack now, you idiot!”
The central stamen split with a sickening crack, and from within emerged layers upon layers of teeth dripping with blood.
Shriek!
Whip-like leaves stretched and lashed down toward where the group stood. I lunged forward, grabbed Gillion by the scruff of his neck, and rolled us both to the side.
“Hng!”
“Gillion. Focus. What magic can you use right now?”
“I-I can manage a Flame Sphere, at least.”
“Throw it over there. At the densest cluster. Bennett, Daisy—drive them to one side!”
Sirius had clearly made an assessment: he was a liability. His expression flickered between disgust and something that looked almost like fear.
The one thing certain was that he wasn’t going to be much use in a real fight.
Academy students naturally had plenty of encounters with monsters. Living ones, preserved specimens, ones illustrated in texts.
But those had all been ‘refined’ in some way. Wild monsters were bound to be different.
They’d charged in without even considering that much? It was infuriating.
“Ready?”
“J-just a second.”
“Hurry!”
Rafflesia had a clear weakness. They were vulnerable to fire. That was precisely why they were classified as Lower-grade despite those intimidating teeth.
Bennett and Daisy seemed to have realized this; their earlier panic had melted away, and now they calmly herded the Rafflesia toward one side.
I’d heard Daisy was a healing-type mage, but she proved far more skilled at directing the monsters than I’d expected. She was using the items she’d brought quite strategically.
‘…So the only ones I can’t rely on here are the ones who were beating their chests about trust.’
Whoosh!
Right on cue, Gillion’s Flame Sphere fizzled pathetically. That was his third failed casting.
‘Trust what you can trust.’
My decision crystallized instantly.
The sooner you abandon false hope, the better—that way you have room to think about what actually matters.
“Hey, where are you going!”
“Over there. I’d rather handle this myself than rely on you.”
I left Gillion behind and sprinted toward Bennett and Daisy.
“Be careful, Olivia!”
Several of the Rafflesia’s tendrils snapped toward me as if they’d been waiting for this moment. Daisy’s face went pale as she watched.
That concern quickly evaporated, though—Bennett clicked his tongue and patted Daisy reassuringly.
“Daisy, don’t worry about her. Worry about yourself.”
A cold wind brushed my cheek—the sensation was fleeting, but the attacks surging up from below, the intensity in my allies’ eyes, all of it suddenly crystallized with perfect clarity in my vision.
Thump.
My heartbeat drummed in my ears. Was I excited by this? I felt strange about myself—and oddly fascinated.
The thought didn’t linger. My airborne body hurtled straight toward the Rafflesia cluster.
Squelch, squelch!
My palm felt the sickening sensation of piercing through something alive—even the writhing as it gasped its last breath.
I gripped the sword tighter, but I didn’t hesitate.
Before long, lost in the rhythm of my strikes, the number of monsters had dwindled considerably.
That’s when Gillion’s voice cut through. He let out a roar, his face flushed crimson.
“Got it!”
“Bennett, Daisy—fall back!”
The Flame Sphere radiated intense heat. It was massive enough to engulf the entire cluster and more.
‘So his Circle rank really was that high.’
The enormous sphere rocketed toward the tangled mass of Rafflesia and slammed into it.
Shriek, shriek!
A horrible screech like fingernails on a blackboard pierced the air, but the monsters couldn’t withstand the inferno—the cries gradually faded.
Only then did the tension ease. I managed a smile for my teammates, who looked somewhat dazed.
We’d stumbled at first, caught off guard, but all in all our coordination wasn’t terrible—
“…Is it over?”
—or so I thought!
“For crying out loud, what did you just say?”
“W-what did I—”
Bennett’s eyes narrowed dangerously, and he turned to snarl at Gillion.
Shriek! Shriek!
A single Rafflesia that hadn’t been there a moment before bounded toward us, leaping with horrible speed.
“Ahhh!”
This is the thing, right? Saying ‘Is it over?’ in the middle of a fight actually awakens the dead.
‘Do the Magic Faculty students lack common sense or something?’
Who in their right mind speaks such a stupid phrase on an active battlefield?
Of course, the Rafflesia would have appeared regardless of whether Gillion had spoken—but throughout the entire fight, he’d been nothing but an eyesore, and now I despised everything about him.
Bennett seemed to feel the same way. After peeling the Rafflesia off Gillion’s clothes and disposing of it, his face was twisted with contempt.
“Is that what comes from being well-born?”
“What?”
“Sir, the most forbidden phrase in active combat is ‘Is it over?’ or anything like it.”
“What kind of—”
“Olivia… I think he’s actually an idiot.”
I didn’t even glance at Gillion. I just shrugged. He did seem to be an idiot.
“L-lady. Are you hurt? I mean, Olivia. No injuries? You must have been terrified!”
“That’s ridiculous nonsense. Worry about yourselves for once.”
“I was just startled! It was a mistake!”
“Sure, if you say so. I’ve never seen a Flame Sphere collapse like that before. It just sort of… shriveled.”
“Ugh…”
Bennett spun around, needling Gillion relentlessly—venting frustration he’d been holding back. I let him have it.
“Daisy, look here.”
“Huh? Oh, right! M-Mana Stones. Are these how team scores are tallied?”
The Mana Stones embedded in the Rafflesia corpses had taken on a yellowish hue. These would probably be counted toward the team’s score.
The two of us examined the stones, verifying that every creature had been properly scored.
“Looks like we got them all?”
“All except this one. I can’t tell if this one registered or not.”
I pointed at the monster I’d found.
“There’s no Mana Stone in it at all. Was it destroyed?”
“There are traces where one was embedded. Here—the surface is rough, but…”
This Rafflesia alone was mangled. The spot where a Mana Stone should have been was torn to shreds, and the stone itself was gone.
Other Mana Stones had survived the Flame Sphere intact—how had this happened?
My eyes flicked toward Sirius, who’d been glancing over at this corpse all along while keeping his distance.
“Sirius, do you know anything about this?”
“W-what?”
“You were watching the entire fight without participating. You were standing closest to this specimen too. Do you know why it ended up like this?”
“How would I know something like that?”
Why not just say he didn’t know instead of getting defensive?
He’d contributed nothing, couldn’t even manage to observe properly—I couldn’t help but despise his incompetence as a teammate.
“You think I find you pathetic.”
“That’s not—”
I shrugged, brushed off his gaze, and stood. And I didn’t forget to add the words that had been circling in my head all this time.
“And another thing, Sirius.”
“What?”
“If you felt that way, then it’s probably because… something touched a nerve.”
Sirius’s face flushed in rapid succession through several colors.
But he seemed to know what he’d done wrong—he didn’t bother defending himself.
Which was correct, really; if you have any conscience at all, you should have nothing to say.
“Anyway, let’s try our best, yes? Understood?”
I wielded both the whip and the carrot with admirable balance.
Stung by my words, Sirius called out forcefully.
“This time it was just a mistake!”
What nonsense.
“Next time, I’ll make sure to protect you!”
Same tired lies, every time.
As I clenched my fists quietly, Bennett sidled up and poked my closed knuckles with his finger.
“Hold on, Olivia. You get disqualified if you ‘remove’ a team member.”
“Why?”
“Well… apparently those are the rules.”
“That’s unfair.”
An irritated sigh scattered into the air.
This exam was going to be harder than I’d thought.
I let out a short, weary laugh.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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