Everyone doubted their eyes. 

It was an astonishing speed.

Amelia, who had dashed like a flash, rushed forward with her spear, her golden hair trailing behind her in a blur.

However, what surprised the villains and Siwoo was not that. 

No, of course, they were surprised by that tremendous speed, but…

Amelia had clearly stabbed the villain with her weapon.

… But why wasn’t there any wound?

“Ah, you’re tougher than you look. Why are you so thick?”

“Die!!!”

“Kyaaah?!”

Kwaaang!

Taking full advantage of his massive body, the villain slammed his hand down towards Amelia.

However, Amelia had already fled while screaming, and only the ground was struck, kicking up dust.

She was undoubtedly fast.

…Fast, but why didn’t her attack land?

“This is really annoying! Why are you so tough?!”

“…I see. You need a price for that speed.”

“You figured that out from just one attack? You’re pretty smart, huh?”

A price?

What in the world…?

“You increased your acceleration but also took away from your strength. I can understand now why your dad couldn’t catch you. However, the price is too high.”

“Haa. Yeah, that’s right.”

Weaken?

When Siwoo looked at her figure after hearing those words, he finally noticed.

The spear she was holding in her hand was trembling slightly. Was it heavy?

Despite the strain, she had always been able to hold the spear straight before.

The tip of the spear was shaking.

“But it’s strange. Why don’t you just run away? Unlike what you said, your ability is not at all advantageous for a drawn-out battle. You were just putting on a front.”

“Ah, ahahaha. So my bluff was seen through also? I can’t act, can I? I definitely need to practice when…”

“Even  if I can’t catch you, you can’t defeat me either.  If you run away, we have no way to catch you. Why don’t you just go?”

“No, scratch that. You were dumber than I thought.”

“What do you mean? I don’t think I’ve said anything wrong.”

In response to the puzzled leader, Amelia smiled at Siwoo and shouted.

“Can someone aiming to be a hero abandon their friend?”

“…”

“If I did that, I’d have no excuse with Dad!”

Siwoo blankly stared at her confident, smiling expression.

She was a hero. 

The hero that Siwoo aimed to become.

The heroic spirit Amelia embodied was what Siwoo sought.

Certainly, she preferred extreme methods.

Siwoo clearly sensed that as he got caught up in her outrageous plans. 

But Amelia, who enrolled in the academy to become a hero, had her own beliefs.

I have to help her.

As Amelia said, a hero does not abandon their friends.

But how? 

No, don’t think about it.

There’s no time to wonder  if I can or can’t. 

I just have to do it.

Having shielded the senior and taken attacks he could, his whole body ached.

Perhaps because he had only avoided the dangerous attacks until now and taken most of them, his body was screaming from the unfamiliar pain.

But it didn’t matter.

While waiting for the Association and police to arrive at any moment, he had to protect the senior. 

The opponent is stronger than the grunts who came earlier, and they also seem to have gotten stronger.

But it didn’t matter.

Amelia has become so weakened from overusing her ability that she can no longer deal meaningful damage to the enemy. He may even have to protect her.

But it didn’t matter.

None of that mattered.

Because abandoning a comrade in danger is something a hero must never do.

‘I have to do something, no matter what!’

“…Ha. For students, you’re quite principled. Let me tell you something good. That’s arrogance.  If you die, you won’t have any friends.”

“It doesn’t matter. Running away here would only make me a loser, wouldn’t it? I don’t like that. I’ve decided to save my friend by any means necessary.”

“I see. Then die. My apologies. This, too, is for survival.”

But it was too much.

Far too much.

Siwoo had to defeat all these villains and help Amelia.

But that was too much. 

Not impossible, but it would take too long.

He could win. He was sure of it. 

They couldn’t inflict any damage on him.

The injuries he’s sustained were all from defending the immobile senior.

However, it would take too long.

Siwoo’s ability is intuition. 

A defensive ability focused on evasion.

As such, fighting multiple opponents like this inevitably takes a long time.

Until now, he hadn’t considered it a drawback.

 If only I had an enhancement-type ability like Amelia’s, albeit not as powerful. Then…!

“Geez, why am I like this… Ah, I know. I understand. It’s my fault.”

Tap, tap.

Even amidst the fighting, he heard a cheerful footfall.

…A voice he had forgotten until now.

“Ah, Arte…?”

“Yes, Siwoo. It’s me, Arte Iris. When you’re in trouble, don’t try to solve it alone—call a friend!”

She appeared as  if out for a stroll in the park near home.

Reeking of blood.

“…What have you done? Don’t tell me…”

“Aah. So this is how it turned out? …Umm, what should I say? Ah, this is good.”

Where had she been until she finally showed up?

Could this be part of her scheme?

He had a mountain of questions I wanted to ask but decided not to for now.

Relief spread across Siwoo’s face.

She certainly wouldn’t want them to die in a place like this.

“It’s the ever-timely Arte Chance!*”

“Attack quickly! Now!”

Wuhdook.

With that sound, the villains’ necks snapped in an instant.

***

Ah, I expected too much.

Since Siwoo had completely avoided my threads during our last match, and these guys couldn’t avoid them, I thought he could easily handle it.

The variable was the senior.

No, did I underestimate the death throes of the puppets trying to survive?

Despite the perfect ambush, Siwoo reacted, but Amelia didn’t.

And because of that, the senior got taken out trying to protect her.

Siwoo, burdened with protecting the senior, couldn’t avoid the attacks and got injured.

As for Amelia, I thought she was a full-fledged heroine, but she turned out to have penalties galore, just like me.

The sense of kinship was no joke.

It was my mistake not to check the details of her ability despite knowing it. 

Or rather, since it was called acceleration, I thought that was all there was to it.

What did the Author say in response to whether it violated the laws of physics?

[There’s mana and abilities, so what does it matter!]

Fair enough.

But still, that’s not right. 

Getting faster the more she fights, but weaker attacks? What kind of…

Equivalent exchange? 

I’ve heard that while the increase in speed outweighs the decrease in strength, it’s meaningless  if the attacks are too light.

Siwoo and Amelia would be monsters  if their basic specs supported them, but right now, they’re just flailing around like perpetually premature products.

It’s not like they’re holding a coin, hoping it’ll moon someday.**

Geez, Author really loves penalties, huh?

And amid all that, Siwoo is the only one without penalties? Is that a protagonist buff? It pisses me off.

“You bitch! I’ll kill you with like you–gack?!”

“Oh? Suddenly stopping mid-sentence…Is there a problem?”

Whoa there.

You dare spout nonsense in front of the protagonist?

Don’t you know better than to use that foul mouth?

I wanted to snap his neck, but this time, I decided to yield him to the protagonist.

“Now, Siwoo. It’s your turn.”  

“Me, me…?”

“Yes. I don’t have the hobby of snatching prey someone else has already caught, you know?”

It was nonsense. 

Amelia was on the verge of death, having not even made a scratch on her opponent.

Even  if Siwoo wins, it will be a problem for the supporting characters to die.

That’s why I intervened.

But  if I take out the leader here, too, it would make the story go awry.

The protagonist should be the one to do that.

Even Arte Chance has its limits.

“…Got it. I’ll ask you for whatever you’ve been up to later.”

“It was nothing, really…”

Ah.

I had a slight hope he might have forgotten.

Doesn’t seem to be the case.

Well, just being smart isn’t enough.

I’ll have to think slowly about how to make an excuse.

“…Phew, here I go!”

[Oh, intuition! Excellent! A chance to witness the protagonist’s exploits!]

Come to think of it, that’s right.

I could almost see the Author’s delighted expression.

It wasn’t a complete waste after all.

She seemed inspired by Amelia’s demeanor.

Hopefully, she picked up a bit of that heroic spirit.

***

“Shit, shit…! I’m unlucky as hell!”

He slid down the mountain at a speed that made it feel like he was slipping.

His entire body was already covered in blood, a complete mess with no uninjured areas.

But he had no time to worry about that.

Who knew when that crazy woman would be on his tail!

“Huff, huff…!”

He was lucky.

For some reason, that woman didn’t kill him and instead talked with that boy.

It was an incomprehensible act.

Perhaps the reason she attacked us was because of that?

But that was fortunate for me.

He had time to unleash my special talent of evading detection.

She didn’t want the students to know about her deeds, so she played along.

Taking advantage of her lapse in concentration, he thrust his neck into the tip of the student’s sword, destroying the necklace he had.

Only then could he slip away, leaving his defeated subordinates behind. 

A snicker escaped his at the woman’s look of bewilderment as  if she hadn’t expected such an action.

As always, the survivors are the strong ones.

And today, Marmo survived.

“I thought I was gonna die. What the hell was that woman doing?”

When he goes to another branch, he’ll have to gather information on that crazy woman.

He couldn’t remember her face, but he’d memorized the other students’ faces.

She must be someone lurking around them.

He’ll have to watch my steps from no–

“…? Hey, did someone else survive? You alright?”

At the entrance to the mountain, a woman with wolf ears and a tail was sitting on the stairs.

An Übermensch member.

Luckily, it looks like one of them survived.

That bitch was more careless than he thought.

“You seem alright. Here are my orders. Quickly get us a means of transport–gack?!”

“I’m sorry, but no can do. Orders are that no one leaves this place alive.”

Only then did Marmo notice her neck hidden under her clothes.

…Careless my ass.

She never intended to let anyone live in the first place.

“Ha, really. I’m so fucking unlucky.”

That was the demise of the rat who had survived by crawling on the ground.

Author’s Note

Physically speaking, it’s only natural for someone with greater strength and muscle to be faster. 

Unlike in games where high agility lowers attack power, the person with high attack power also tends to have high agility and endurance.

But what  if mana and abilities come into play?

Translator’s Corner

We get the fastest toothpick in the west.

-Ruminas