Ladder

After defeating the first giant, we quickly left the place, fearing that the sound and the smell of blood would attract monsters. Still, having defeated a monster for the first time, both of us were feeling reasonably excited and positive.

After running for a while, our bodies began to feel strangely hot. Our breathing became erratic and it was getting harder and harder.

I was running ahead of her, but I finally fell to my knees and started to lose my breath.

“Haa. ...Sorry. I can't keep up with my stamina..."

"Are you okay?"

I continued to be vigilant of my surroundings even as I regained my breath. Still, I felt pathetic. I haven't exercised properly since I graduated from college. Nevertheless..., it's hot.

"The house there isn't too broken down..., so why don't we take a break?"

I wondered if she was concerned about my condition. That might have made her more polite. I took advantage of it and peeked inside a nearby cozy building.

...Yeah. No problem. I looked around once more, and after confirming that there was no issue, I went into the building.

"Should we go further in?"

"I don't know. If we go too far back, we might not be able to escape in case of emergency."

"Yes, that's right. Okay, then, just in the shadows here."

"Ah…"

The inside of the building was not in such a bad state of disrepair, perhaps because there were not many things inside to begin with. Still, there were no chairs to be found, so Kimishima sat down in a shady spot where she could not be seen from the outside, and leaned against the wall.

Kimishima looked inside her bag, pulled out a hand towel, and clutched it. As soon as I saw what it was, water began to drip from the towel. She squeezed it and held it out to me. As I took it, I asked.

“…Magic, huh?”

"Yes, Sensei, your face is burning a lot, so I thought a wet towel would be best."

"Oh, ah ... sorry. I guess you don't just have magic to control plants. That's amazing."

“Water seems to go well with plant magic. It's not as strong as it, but maybe a little."

"I see... Thank you."

I wiped my face with the chilly wet towel. This felt pretty good. I even wiped the sweat from my neck. I felt her eyes on me and looked to the side to see Kimishima looking at me.

"Oh, no. Sorry, you look like an ... old man wiping his face with a hand towel from a store. ... Oh, I'll give you my towel afterwards, since I didn't use it."

"Fufufu. It's okay. Don't worry about it."

"I-I see... No, even so. It's just ..."

The wet towel temporarily eased the burning, but it didn't calm down. If I got a cold in the unfamiliar world, it would be bad. It would be bad if I caught a cold in this unfamiliar world. How embarrassing would it be to escape from this place if I were to get sick? I was inwardly impatient, but I gave Kimishima a look of assurance that I was okay.

"Still, it's burning."

"Is that so? But... ah."

Suddenly, Kimishima looked like she remembered something.

"What's wrong?"

"Um. Yes. Maybe, Sensei. Maybe you've moved up the Ladder?"

"The Ladder? Oh, like the levels in a role-playing game?"

"Yes, I believe that when you move up the ladder, people react differently, but I've heard that you can get a fever, dizziness, and other physical problems."

"I see... but I only defeated one, you know?"

“But aren't the monsters here pretty strong? Even in games, if you suddenly defeat a strong monster, you can raise your level several times. In this world, there are only 10 levels or steps of the Ladder, but the first two are relatively easy to get up to."

"I see... is that so?"

"Can't you see it on your Divine Citizen Card?"

As Kimishima told me, I looked at the Divine Citizen Card on my arm, but it only has my name and a number on it. ... Oh, this was the ranking, and when I looked at it, the number at the top was different, meaning that my ranking was up! I got a little excited and looked at the number.

"I don't know about the ladder, but my ranking has gone up. ...The digits haven't changed, but I'm up to ...30 million! Maybe I'm moving up the ladder after all!!"

"I knew it! Still... about 30 million. ... I can't believe you could perform an attack like that."

"Huh? Oh, yeah, it's because a skill of mine from our original world. It's called <Swordsmanship>, but it's a little bit different now. Maybe that's not reflected in the ranking."

"I see you can't put a standard on the skills of other worlds, I hope our <Kenjutsu> will be useful too."

"Ah, kendo,... yeah, I think that footwork will be quite useful in a fight,... By the way, what rank are you, Kimishima?"

“Ah, me? I'm about ..., uh, ...9 million."

"Huh? ... Ah ... I see ... I see ..."

...I shouldn't have asked. The ranking of the youth, for example. I had a little mixed feelings about Kimishima, one rung up the ladder but one digit off...

Then, after a while, my burning subsided. I've calmed down a bit and the two of us discussed our plans for the future. Kimishima was also beginning to move her thinking forward in order to survive. Just seeing that made me feel glad I was here.

"Sensei, do you know what a ghillie suit is?"

"Gh-ghillie? No, I don't know."

"Um, there's a game on my phone that's kind of a survival game, and it pops up..."

"Huh? Surprisingly, Kimishima, do you play games?"

“Eh? Oh, ... Akira likes ... games a lot."

"Oh..."

I see. I might have said something unnecessary. I didn't know that Kimishima and Kohinata were dating, but it seemed normal that Kohinata would let his girlfriend play the games that he likes to play.

"Well, let's forget about Kohinata for now, so what's this something suit?"

"Oh, yes. It's a kind of camouflage suit with leaves attached all over it."

"... I see, ivy, is it possible to make it with your magic?"

"Yes, I'm thinking of making something like that."

"Yes, we should do whatever we can do now, thank you."

After that, it took some time, but we made two ivy clothes like ponchos. Next to where Kimishima was working, I opened a portable food package and found that it contained seven sticks of what I would call "Calorie Mate-like" food. I wondered how many calories one of these would provide.

I told Kimishima to eat, and I took a bite of the portable food, and as for water, we filled each other's water bottles with Kimishima's water magic. I felt like I was relying on Kimishima for so many things that I was ashamed of myself for only being able to get a little carried away.

"But, according to you, when you slashed, you concentrated the magic you had and used it, right?"

"Hmm? Well, from what Karimah-san had said, it seems that's the case."

"It's enough. Don't waste your magic power, please save it for an important moment."

"Ah, yes."

An important moment.

I was not thinking about the dreamy idea that we could go to the human village while still in hiding. There would probably come a time when I would have to fight again.

At the time, I hoped to be able to protect Kimishima well again. I guess.

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