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I’m A Villager, So What? – Chapter 36 – part 5

In the end, Saegusa gave up without running a single kilometer. 

「Uwaa…」

Not just me, everyone was speechless.

Even the instructor couldn’t close their open mouth.

It seemed to be an unheard-of event, and for a while, he forgot to be angry and stood there, gazing at the sky in a daze.

「For now, your team members… will only have half of their breakfast. As for your own treatment… I will discuss it with my superiors. This is just too…」

Leaving those words behind, the instructor staggered into the school building before disappearing.

And so, we returned to the dormitory, took a quick bath, and moved to the large dining hall.

Putting that aside, collective responsibility, huh… this is tough. After all, half of our breakfast is taken away.

To be more specific, there’s no bread.

We only have two pieces of dried meat and a soup made from dehydrated vegetables.

I’ve heard of low-carb diets for diabetes management, this meal is probably something like that.

Or rather, there’s no staple food, so we’re simply lacking in calories. If this continues, I won’t be able to move properly due to hunger.

「…Why is there no bread?」

Five of us team members are sitting at a square table.

Lilith, who took a seat next to me, asked in a puzzled tone.

「There was a girl who couldn’t do the exercise. And she was quite… on a different level.」

「I see… So Koharu messed up, huh? I understand.」

With just those words, Lilith silently skewered the dried meat with her fork and brought it to her mouth.

「Oh? Aren’t you going to complain to Saegusa? There’s a high chance that our meals will be halved from now on, you know?」

「…There’s no point in complaining about something that won’t change. Even if I complain to Koharu… if she can’t do it, she can’t. So, in that case… it’s faster to figure out a way to satisfy our hunger by ourselves when it arises.」

Certainly, as Lilith said, we have an unfair secret technique.

Due to traveling through various magical and unexplored territories, our survival skills have become quite formidable.

Ordinary students can’t enter the Forest of Confusion due to its dangers, but for us, it’s not a dangerous area at all.

Consequently, we can easily hunt and gather resources.

However… I looked at Arthur and Brian.

They have been silent since earlier, but their expressions and demeanor revealed a considerable level of built-up anger.

And that’s when Saegusa spoke up.

「Um… well… Arthur-kun?」

「…What is it?」

Saegusa, looking apologetic, spoke with a pleading look in her eyes to Arthur, the blond-haired third son of a poor noble family.

「Do you… want a piece of my dried meat?」

「I don’t want it.」

「But… I… can’t apologize like this.」

Saying that, Saegusa pierced her fork into a piece of dried meat and tried to bring it to Arthur’s plate.

But at that moment, the sleeve of Mizue’s miko attire got caught on the vegetable soup dish, causing its contents to spill onto the table.

To make matters worse, a considerable amount of broth flowed off the table and spilled onto Arthur’s lap.

「Oh no…」

I covered my eyes with both hands right there.

「Awaa… awawawa…」

Saegusa then reached for the cloth on the table.

「I-I-I’m s-sorry. I’m so sorry!」

As she reached out her hand toward Arthur’s lap, her hand was stopped by Arthur himself.

「You got lucky… I’ve been taught since I was a kid not to hit women.」

Saying that, Arthur grabbed Saegusa by her collar and glared at her.

“On the other hand, if I hadn’t been taught that… I’d be knocking you down… you useless girl!”

Upon hearing those words, Saegusa froze completely.

And then, with teary eyes and a voice that couldn’t come out, she said:

「Au… ahh…」

With that, she covered her mouth with her hand and hurriedly ran off somewhere—probably the restroom judging by the direction.

Perhaps she was crying or perhaps she felt nauseous due to the sudden shock.

I looked around, sending glances at the surroundings.

Lilith and Brian silently continued their breakfast.

And Arthur, irritated, wiped his knees with the cloth.

「…She’s really not good.」

Saying that, I shrugged my shoulders.

After finishing breakfast, we were gathered in the gymnasium.

Normally, we would have a 30-minute meeting after breakfast, but it seemed that things were different on the first day.

Or rather, the 30 minutes would be used for explaining the gymnasium facilities instead.

In essence, it was a facility for strength training, but the ceiling of the gymnasium was unusually high.

Presumably, it was designed to accommodate magical combat, including aerial battles, and the height was about 30 meters.

And what drew our attention was a rope, about 5 cm in diameter, hanging from the ceiling.

The instructor smirked and asked as we looked at the rope with interest.

「The challenge is to climb this rope barefoot, using only the strength of your hands and feet. There have only been a few who have been able to overcome it so far. Well then, any challengers?」

The gymnasium fell silent.

It was a well-known fact that if you made a mistake, everyone’s food would be halved as collective punishment.

Considering that Saegusa Koharu from our group had already messed up during the morning run, I couldn’t raise my hand carelessly.

「Instructor, may I ask a question?」

「Yes.」The instructor nodded.

「Permission granted. What is it, Arthur Markham?」

「From the instructor’s previous statement, I assume that it is quite challenging. However, if one succeeds… will there be any rewards?」

「Hmm…」The instructor put his hand on his chin.

「I’ll give extra points during the final exam.」

Everyone’s excitement surged at that moment.

「Instructor! I also want to challenge it!」

「Instructor, please let me try too!」

The instructor raised his hand to silence the students who were declaring their participation one after another.

「However, if you can’t climb up to one-third of the way… you’ll lose points. And quite a lot of them.」

As he said those words, the students’ enthusiasm rapidly declined.

But then Arthur started walking and stepped forward towards the instructor.

「Instructor… May I take on the challenge?」

「Oh… you’re quite confident, aren’t you?」

「I am the third son of a poor nobleman. I am lacking in magical talent, lacking in swordsmanship, lacking in money, lacking in wisdom… I lack everything. That is who I am.」

「Hmm?」

「But… that’s why I’m doing everything necessary to become stronger… including training my pure physical strength.」

With that, Arthur began walking towards the rope.

He took off his shoes and stood barefoot.

「May I start now?」

「Yes, go ahead.」

And so, Arthur grabbed the rope and started climbing. He used both of his hands and feets to grip the rope. There may be some tricks in how to climb, but this is akin to a oneshot sprint.

In other words, it could be described as an irregular pull-up.

Soon after starting, murmurs spread among the audience.

It was to be expected, as Arthur was climbing the rope at an incredible speed, clearing the 10-meter point demerit mark that the instructor had mentioned in just a few seconds.

「Amazing! Arthur is amazing! Keep it up!」

Minemori exclaimed with a beaming smile.

Didn’t he just grab her by the collar a moment ago?

Why is she cheerfully supporting him now…?

Doubts about her being an idiot grew stronger, but leaving that aside, I glanced at Lilith.

She was also shaking her head left and right, seemingly thinking the same thing as me.

And then, when Arthur reached 15 meters, his speed suddenly slowed down.

If you try doing pull-ups, you’ll understand that you can do a few without much difficulty.

And then muscle fatigue will strike suddenly and unexpectedly.

With pull-ups, you go from thinking “This is tough…” to “I can’t do this anymore” after just a few reps.

From there, you can resist with sheer determination for maybe the last one.

After that, your arms won’t move no matter how hard you try.

In other words, it’s over for Arthur.