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I ended up playing Starlight Step with Monica.

However, since it was Monica’s first time playing Starlight Step, we decided to start with a simple practice round.

“I’m ready!” she exclaimed cheerfully.

The lively mini-game began with an exciting BGM, but in reality, all we heard was Professor Marea’s whistle.

“Monica seems to be a much healthier Saintess than we expected,” Esme commented naturally.

Monica stepped on the starlight quite normally, earning Esme’s praise.

“Her judgment seems pretty good too. She’s not recklessly aiming for the distant red stars,” Citrine noted, impressed.

Nicasia clapped her hands, acknowledging Monica’s decent performance.

Monica, with her pink hair damp with sweat, looked proud as she fiddled with her hair.

I, Murmur, wasn’t surprised by Monica’s performance since I knew she had average physical abilities.

“Hmph… She’s doing well enough to start the stamina test,” Professor Marea said, scratching the back of her head with a pen.

At the same time, the magic stone embedded in her prosthetic arm glimmered.

“Did I do well? I’m curious, Professor Marea!” Monica asked, her eyes sparkling.

She secretly enjoys being praised.

“… You did better than I expected,” the professor admitted.

“Ehehe…”

“I heard you spent your afternoons confined in the tower… For that, you’re doing quite well.”

Professor Marea gave a thumbs-up and nodded.

It was a simple gesture, but Monica’s smile grew even brighter.

“Sister Anna played with me every day,” Monica explained.

“I should thank that nun for how well you’re doing,” the professor said.

Monica clenched her fists in excitement.

She then politely bowed to Professor Marea and approached me, Murmur.

“Aren’t you being too nice to Professor Marea, Monica?!” I asked.

“Well, but Professor Marea isn’t really a bad person, right? Of course…”

“Esme isn’t wrong! Professor Marea is a bad adult who bullies Murmur!” Citrine chimed in.

If you asked me, Murmur, I’d say Professor Marea is a good person.

She’s completely different from the evil and rotten ‘middle school vice principal.’

She’s just not the right fit for me, Murmur.

Given that her fiancé, a changeling, betrayed her and wiped out the knights she was part of, it’s no wonder she hates and distrusts demons.

“Next, Murmur! Get ready quickly!”

I, Murmur, trudged over to the gray circle, the home base, where Monica had already dashed.

Though Monica and I were playing Starlight Step together, we weren’t cooperating or competing.

Since we started back-to-back, our areas were completely separate.

“Murmur! You can do it!”

“Well… I shouldn’t do too well, right? Let’s make sure we fail perfectly!”

“Ohohoho! Just aiming for the red stars should be enough to fail!”

I could already see the future, but I gave up.

It was a bit of a mess, but it was also kind of fun.

There was no reason to seriously say, ‘Murmur, I don’t like this. Stop.’

“Then… let’s start now!”

─ Wheeek!

With the whistle, the classroom dimmed slightly.

At the same time, blue stars appeared on the stepping stones.

As soon as Monica saw the 1-point star, she moved her foot.

“Eight!”

Monica stepped on the blue star with her right foot and immediately turned back to the home base.

Then, several more blue stars appeared.

Some were close to the home base, while others were a bit farther.

“Yah! Bam!”

Monica quickly stepped on the nearest blue star and returned to the home base.

Our Saintess hopped around like that, collecting 2 points.

Meanwhile, I, Murmur, felt a bit dizzy but moved my legs quickly.

“Ugh…!”

Instead of aiming for the 1-point blue star, I deliberately went for the green star, even though I knew my steps were slow.

“Tsk…”

Professor Marea looked frustrated as I, Murmur, moved slowly.

“Perfect calculation, Murmur!”

“I, I also made mistakes during the stamina test!”

The green star disappeared before I, Murmur, could step on it.

Since I couldn’t earn points, I had to quickly return to the home base.

Once back, I pretended to make another ‘wrong judgment.’

“Oops…”

Meanwhile, Monica was steadily earning 1 point after 1 point, hopping around.

I, Murmur, pretended to feel anxious and moved my legs toward the green star again.

“Ah, too late…”

I added a bit of clumsy acting to the mix.

Though, to be honest, my head was spinning a bit, so it wasn’t entirely acting!

“Ha…”

Professor Marea glared at me, Murmur, with boiling eyes.

But what could she do?

“We might not even need to help Murmur this time.”

“Right? Monica has 5 points, and Murmur has 0.”

“Ohoho! Murmur is truly amazing~! Getting a perfect score and getting zero require similar effort!”

This is actually a good thing.

I don’t need to move around awkwardly because of the pet’s evidence.

“… Ugh, Murmur! Do it properly!”

“Mur, Mur is… huff, running hard right now.”

“If you’re going to try, at least aim for the 1-point… Aaah!”

As I, Murmur, barely stepped on the 1-point blue star and struggled back to the home base, Professor Marea screamed.

She must be heartbroken by the unexpected results.

But what can I do?

I, Murmur, completely abandoned combat skills when creating this character!

With stats set to the lowest, good results were impossible!

“Ah! A shiny golden star has appeared!”

A golden star?

There’s no such thing in ‘Starlight Step’!

I’ve been feeling dizzy; am I hallucinating?

“Yah!”

Monica actually stepped on the golden star with both feet and turned around.

The golden star disappeared the moment Monica stepped on it, just like the blue, green, and red stars.

“Monica, that…! No!”

Instinctively, I pointed at the stepping stone Monica had stepped on and shouted.

When I came to my senses, my body was moving toward Monica.

“Huh?”

The golden star Monica stepped on had disappeared.

But unlike before, the golden star reappeared on the stepping stone right next to it.

Luckily, Monica’s foot landed on the stepping stone where the golden star reappeared.

“You have to keep stepping on the golden star! Otherwise, you’ll fall!”

The golden star wasn’t a hallucination or an illusion.

I don’t know why the golden star from the ‘Falling Stepping Stones’ game appeared now!

“Monica! Look behind you!”

I, Murmur, pointed to the stepping stone where the golden star had first appeared.

─ Kugugung!

With a loud noise, the stepping stone fell into the abyss, just like in the game.

“Dangerous… dangerous…”

What is Professor Marea thinking?

During the test, there should be soft, fluffy beds below instead of rising flames!

“Murmur? I’m not in any danger, am I?”

“No! Monica, you don’t understand! If you fall, you’ll get seriously hurt! Murmur will help you!”

I, Murmur, accurately stepped on the golden stars and ran to where Monica was.

─ Kugugung!

The stepping stone I, Murmur, had stepped on fell just like in the game.

At this rate, I’m not fast enough!

I had no choice but to use the ‘Acceleration’ magic I could use thanks to Magic Theory lv.2.

“Murmur? What are you talking about?”

“I think it’s acting.”

Esme and Citrine’s voices reached me, unaware of the danger below.

“Monica! Let’s count together! One, two, three! Step on that stepping stone and turn around!”

“Ah, okay!”

Monica smiled brightly, held my hand, and jumped onto the stepping stone with the golden star.

“Next, over there!”

The golden star appeared on the gray circle, the home base, but that was actually good.

We comfortably returned to the home base and stomped both feet.

“10 points! 10 points!”

“No! Monica! We need to go a bit further to finish!”

If I, Murmur, hadn’t been there, Monica would have been seriously hurt.

First the piñata, and now this. What is Professor Marea thinking today?

She’s not the type to create a dangerous environment for students!

“Yah…! Yah! Ah! Murmur! There’s a golden star over there too!”

“Murmur will… ugh! Take you to a safe place! Just run with me!”

I, Murmur, diligently stepped on the golden stars appearing everywhere with Monica.

─ Kugugung!

─ Whoosh!

Each time, the stepping stones fell to the ground.

Every time I saw the red flames rising dangerously, my head spun even more.

“Haa…! Haa! Haa!!”

Monica was breathing heavily but had to keep moving quickly.

‘Falling Stepping Stones’ is different from ‘Starlight Step.’

The test only ends when someone steps on all the stepping stones.

So, you’re supposed to do the test alone, but…!

This is too much, Professor Marea!

“Whoa…!”

“Haa, haa… It’s over… We, we stepped on them all…”

Wiping the sweat dripping from my forehead, I, Murmur, plopped down.

Maybe because I was sweating so much? The dizziness I felt earlier was gone.

“Murmur.”

Professor Marea approached me, Murmur, who was sprawled out.

“Murmur is… tired…”

“You were hiding your strength after all.”

What is she talking about?

“Mur, Mur used Acceleration Magic, so… it’s a disqualification.”

“That’s because you wanted to act that way.”

“Murmur wasn’t acting.”

“It doesn’t matter that you used Acceleration Magic to get 100 points in Starlight Step.”

What is she saying?

100 points?

Didn’t the test lose its meaning when it switched to ‘Falling Stepping Stones’ halfway through?

“Murmur thinks Professor Marea is…?”

I was about to get angry, but…

I, Murmur, saw perfectly intact stepping stones.

There were no burning flames, and the stepping stones were completely stable.

They didn’t even shake. It seemed impossible for them to fall.

“… Hallucination?”

“Yes, it was a hallucination. Murmur.”

Professor Marea looked down at me, Murmur, and spoke.

“I thought you would definitely exaggerate your struggles.”

“Murmur is…”

“As I expected, you showed a pathetic performance. But that’s not the important part.”

Wait…

Did I just pass two tests with perfect scores?

“I thought you would keep acting to deceive me until the end…”

“Mur, Mur and Professor Marea…”

“Contrary to my expectations, you saved Monica. You even accurately understood the ‘Falling Stepping Stones’ test, which you’ve never done before.”

“I, I don’t want to fight.”

I, Murmur, quickly got up and hid Monica behind me.

“This is impossible, Murmur. You’ve never done the ‘Falling Stepping Stones’ test before, have you?”

“Murmur is…”

“This is a test designed for high school students to prepare for trials.”

Professor Marea moved her left hand to her prosthetic arm and spoke.

“Murmur. Answer me. How do you know how to perfectly counter the Falling Stepping Stones test?”

The white smoke coming from her prosthetic arm stopped.

“Why are you acting so friendly when you have the ‘Eye of Argos’? Why did you save Monica?”

The magic stone embedded in her prosthetic arm stopped glowing.

“Murmur… What are you? You saw through my swordsmanship at a glance, and you used Acceleration Magic in a critical situation even though an elementary student shouldn’t know it…”

Professor Marea’s prosthetic arm was no longer a prosthetic arm.

It was just a heavy lump of metal attached to her right arm.

“Yet, you didn’t abandon Monica. Why? Did you think it was fun to act that way?”

“Murmur is… just Murmur. And saving a friend is the natural thing to do.”

“… If that’s your answer.”

Professor Marea threw a wooden sword hanging on the wall at me, Murmur.

“As someone with the duty to train heroes, I, Marea von Manstein, must test you.”

A minor hidden event in the stamina test.

『A new event has been confirmed!』

《Marea von Manstein’s Test》

〈Reward: A hero wields their sword justly, never shedding innocent blood.〉

An event that only opens after scoring perfect marks in two tests appeared before me, Murmur.

 

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