"Heh heh, rest assured. Aren't I here? I promised I would protect you until you complete the test."
Seeing Edel's downcast expression, Fíliya reached out again and patted her head. This time, she controlled her strength very well, making Edel feel only a sense of comfort.
"..."
Just as she was interacting with Edel, Miss Ehre by the side seemed somewhat puzzled. She slowly leaned in.
"I still don't get it..."
Miss Ehre spoke thus, and her words successfully attracted Fíliya's attention.
"Hm?"
Fíliya looked at her.
"Fíliya, you and Edel didn't know each other before, right? Listening to what you said earlier, you only knew each other's names... How did you suddenly become so close?"
Ehre was very curious about this point.
"Well... Ehre, have you heard of something? That is... [Secrets that belong only to two people can make feelings heat up rapidly], you know? That's pretty much how it is with Miss Edel and me."
As Fíliya spoke, she winked at Edel again.
"Secrets belonging only to two people?"
Ehre muttered, her expression changing from confusion to something slightly distasteful.
"Say, am I right? Have you fallen for me a little? Miss Edel."
Fíliya seemed not to notice Ehre's reaction. Still wearing a playful grin, she gently bumped Edel with her shoulder.
"Uh... um... a little bit, I guess... just a tiny bit... the kind of like for a friend. Thank you for being willing to help me pass the test."
A touch of crimson dyed Miss Edel's face.
Edel's reaction made Ehre even more unhappy. But just as she wanted to explore further what kind of relationship Edel and Fíliya had turned into, a powerful mana fluctuation suddenly came from the distance.
This kind of mana fluctuation with a huge radiation range proved only one thing: someone had used a very large-scale magic.
"This direction... it's the largest lake within the barrier!"
Wirbel stood up first and pinpointed the source of the mana.
"Mm, indeed. To actually cause such a commotion... Oh, I think I understand."
Fíliya also stood up, pinching her chin. After a brief thought, she seemed to understand the intention of the person who did this.
"What do we do now?"
Since there was an emergency, Miss Ehre knew it was time to be serious, so she immediately gripped her staff tightly.
"Well, since they've invited us, wouldn't it be rude not to go over and take a look?"
Fíliya chuckled lightly and stepped forward directly.
Seeing her do this, everyone else naturally followed quickly.
...Soon, the group arrived at that massive lake. At the time of their arrival, the young girl floating above the lake surface seemed to have just completed the operation of freezing the entire lake. She was none other than Miss Lawine, who was on Frieren's team.
Seeing many squads surrounding the lakeside, Lawine immediately retreated under the cover of her teammates. Because the distance was too great, no one from the other squads could stop her.
"What is she doing... trying to control the water source so other squads can't drink? But in doing so, won't they make enemies of all the squads..."
Miss Edel looked confused.
Naturally, Fíliya's group wasn't the only one rushing to this lake. As if to verify Edel's words, many surrounding squads with weaker strength seemed to harbor the same thoughts as Edel.
Those small-fry squads began to channel mana one after another, attempting to use fire magic to thaw the frozen lake before them.
Watching this scene, Fíliya could only shake her head silently.
They agreed that those coming to the First-Class Mage test would be elites more or less, right? How could there be so many idiots...
"Truly foolish... let's go. The Stille won't appear here anymore."
Just as Fíliya was looking at those small-fry squads with a face full of disdain, an aged voice came from her front-right side.
This wasn't a voice that was merely old-fashioned in tone like Edel's.
So Fíliya turned to look. She saw an old man wearing an exquisite robe and a monocle, looking solemn. Just looking at him gave one a strong feeling of [Nobility].
After the old man spoke, he left with his own squad. Some of the small-fry squads, hearing the old man's [Hint], seemed to react as well. They used Flight Magic one after another, levitating themselves in the air above the forest, appearing to intend to fly away.
"Holy crap! There are experts!"
Seeing this scene, Fíliya was instantly startled. She hurriedly followed those small fries and flew up as well.
This scene left both Ehre and Wirbel stunned.
"Eh? Fíliya... what is she doing?"
Edel was also very confused.
"Who knows... I can't guess the thoughts in her brain... It couldn't be..."
Wirbel gritted his teeth lightly, then thought carefully about Fíliya's expression just now.
"Then let's go support her too."
Edel proposed.
"No, the sky is very dangerous... Did you not notice?"
Wirbel looked solemn.
"Eh? D... Dangerous?"
Edel was startled again.
"Tsk, I really don't know how you guys survived the first day... But seeing as even those even more idiotic guys could survive, it doesn't seem incomprehensible..."
Wirbel helplessly scratched his hair with his right hand, then pointed towards the sky.
"Watch closely."
As soon as Wirbel's voice fell, dozens of huge bird-type monsters swooped down towards those small-fry squads.
"That is the [Corpse-Luring Bird]... a type of monster that is very difficult to deal with. Once someone flies into the sky, they have already entered their hunting range... Those idiots couldn't even sense this much; I really don't know how they have the nerve to come for the exam."
"Eh! Oh... No wonder Fíliya didn't let us fly over earlier..."
Only then did Miss Edel realize what was happening with hindsight.
"Mm, that's it... But what exactly did that fellow go up there for?"
Wirbel narrowed his eyes. Although he already had a guess in his heart, he still somewhat dared not believe that answer.
...
"Wait! Why are there monsters in the sky! Defend quickly!"
The leader of the small-fry squad issued orders in panic.
"No... it's too late, their speed is too fast... w... we're going to die!"
A girl with long braids wore an expression that gradually turned to despair.
Just then, Fíliya caught up to the Corpse-Luring Birds, arriving later but striking first. Before the Corpse-Luring Bird could launch its attack, she took the initiative and pierced the Corpse-Luring Bird's head with Ordinary Attack Magic.
"Eh?"
Under the astonished gazes of the small fries, Miss Fíliya performed another series of dodges and maneuvers in the air. That flight posture was enough to overturn the worldview of these few squads of small fries anyway.
After a dazzling magic show, Fíliya shot down over a dozen Corpse-Luring Birds all at once.
"..."
Watching Fíliya's feat of killing over a dozen [Corpse-Luring Birds] alone, the total of 12 small fries present—members of four squads—were choked with silence, their faces full of shock.
"Um... thank you for lending a h—"
Before the last word could be spoken, the leader who tried to strike up a conversation was directly kicked to the ground by a flying kick from Miss Fíliya.
Among the remaining 11 small fries, except for the girl with the braided hair, the other 10 males were also kicked down from the air by Fíliya one after another.
The last girl was grabbed by the back of her collar by Fíliya and brought back to the ground.
After landing, Fíliya ignored the screams. She directly used a magic that turned mana into ropes to tie these 12 small fries up firmly, then snapped these guys' staffs in passing.
"Since you can still yelp, it means the injuries aren't heavy. Listen up, you four teams are disqualified. You are not allowed to move from now on. Someone will come to release you when the sun goes down."
"On what basis! The First-Class Mage test is once every 3 years... Even if you saved us, you can't strip us of our qualifications."
Hearing that someone seemed unconvinced, Fíliya immediately turned and walked in front of that person, then launched another flying kick.
"Yo? Very good, you have backbone. I admire heroes with backbone. Come, little hero, tell me your name."
"Lichid..."
After taking another kick, the young man who had spoken up seemed to finally realize that the person in front of him was someone he couldn't afford to provoke, so his tone lost its earlier confidence.
"Very good. You ask on what basis I strip your qualifications... Mm, on the basis of these clothes. And you're still asking why here... You mean you don't want to live anymore? Didn't send yourself to death enough, remembered and want to continue sending, is that it? Can't even sense monsters hovering in the sky; with this level, hurry up and roll home... Honestly."
Fíliya looked at this guy with a face of disdain. Seeing that he finally dared not speak, she continued.
"Alright, the others are stripped of their qualifications for this exam. As for you, Hero Lichid, right? I've remembered you. Come back in 9 years."
Fíliya tossed out this sentence directly, then walked towards her own team without turning her head back.
...
While walking on the road, Fíliya recalled her dashing appearance just now and couldn't help but straighten her lapels.
"Sigh... for a guy who dares to talk back like that, I only penalized him 9 years... How can there be a guy as great and kind as me."
Fíliya spoke narcissistically.
___
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