Certainly not the kind of skill I'd want to go up against. Since it looks dangerous as a whole let's return - is what I was thinking, but unless I kill that thing who knows how the exam will turn out. My first plan was to edit the instant death part of its skill, but removing it was expensive beyond expectations so I gave up on that idea. That's when I created 「Thickheaded」 and pa.s.sed it on to the dead reaper. I was left with 200 LP. The feeling of exhaustion was dreadful and my body ached for rest.

"Hooh, let's do this."

Thanks to the bestowed skill my opponent's movements became noticeably dull - it most likely wasn't a nimble enemy in the first place.

Did the bestowal only require 100 LP because the compatibility was there as well? Either way I next attacked with stone projectile.

Dopang! Kang!

I targeted the great scythe and hit it perfectly, causing the dead reaper to lose its grip on it. Next I'll turn up the projectile's size to its max.

Boulder Bullet! The speed was certainly slower than before, but thanks to the monster's languidness the boulder hit it dead on and with cracked bones it collapsed. Ah, I'm feeling some dizziness. Looks like my mana is pretty much used up.

"Wait, is it still not dying...?"

Its skull kept moving while making a rattling noise. The bones nearby also started shaking and clattering. I approached it while readying my sword and then struck the skull with a firm downwards slash. As expected of father's blade it easily cut bone in two.

Once more a wave of heat went through my body - a regular level up couldn't compare to this time's feeling. After performing a.n.a.lyze I saw that I went up ten levels, all the way to 33!

"I hope having split its skull won't be an issue..."

Upon closer inspection there were a bunch of black rashes on the white bone, which made it uncomfortable to look at. I put the cranium and other bones in my bag nonetheless and returned to the second floor.

"Master, I defeated a monster called dead reaper."

『That's some nice work~, you barely meet those things on this continent.』

"Ee... so turning it in would be weird."

『'Barely', you see. They pop up around graveyards here and there. Definitely less weird than gold slimes~』

Hearing that made my efforts feel rewarded.

『Well, it's just some small fry so no problems there."

"I guess it's pretty straightforward if you just have the appropriate resistance."

『By the way, how's the time?』

"Ah-, might be bad. I'll be back, bye!"

『I'll be waiting, oh my knight Sir Noir~』

Yeah, yeah; leaving with those words I made my way to the room's exit. In doing so I stole a sideways glance to master, but, as always, her eyes were closed and her face deathly pale. Those chains really are the only things holding her alive right now. It must be harsh.

If the day ever comes where Master――― No, now's not the time for that. Let's get back to the royal capital quickly.

"Noir, where did you go!? It's about to turn 6 o'clock!"

"My bad, let's hurry."

After meeting back up with Emma we hastened back to hero school. We somehow managed to make it in time and handed over our gathered monster materials at the reception desk. Apparently the results will be announced tomorrow.

As we were about to head back home our team mate Lenore called out for us.

"You two did gather some materials, right?"

"More or less."

"I see. Well, my contribution alone should already result in a solid score."

"I'd sure love to have you teach me the meaning of 'team' sometime."

That made me receive a glare. Hm, I think I just realized anew that I prefer modest women.

"Where might you have heard my name from? No, more importantly, that was discourteous."

"That?"

"You, you know, t-that."

Aa, the thing about her having food stuck between her teeth.

"I'd say that having been discourteous goes for both of us. Let's take care in that regard together."

"What's that supposed to mean! I'm telling you, you better not get a low score!"

"See you tomorrow."

She seemed to enter an angry mood so I waved my hand and took my leave. On our way home Emma was worrying quite a bit.

"Is it really fine like this? What if she does something mean to get back at you. Maybe I should go back and apologize in your stead..."

"It's fine, we'll get a bunch of points after all."

Probably. I mean, with a skill like 'Reap of Instant Death' it should be evaluated fairly highly.

And that hope of mine solidified tremendously the next day. The chairman announced all the teams' scores and rankings.

"Third place: Team Genos with a score of 5890!"

The teams below tenth place were all within triple digits so this could be considered quite the score. Still, our team had yet to be announced.

"Second place: Team Elizabeth with a score of 11550!"

This time the cheers were louder than for all the other teams. Truthfully, it was a monstrous number. Just what kind of materials did you have to submit to acquire this kind of score?

"Wh-what's the meaning of this? How come our team hasn't been announced?"

"R-right? Noir, don't you think we might've been skipped?"

Lenore and Emma were trembling badly, but I could only feel the rolling of cold drops of sweat. This was beyond bad.

"And finally, first place, but... This might turn into a historical record. Team Lenore: 128000 points!"

Everyone's expectations were so far off they must've been too stunned to cheer. The campus turned quiet as though someone poured cold water on the excitement from a moment ago. After seeing that, the chairman quickly continued.

"There is no mistake. Among the materials were the bones of an extremely vicious monster called dead reaper. Accordingly the score turned out like this!"

So I was the cause after all.

Master, didn't you call that monster a small fry?

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Thanks for reading. Next chapter sometime this week. Special thanks to everyone pointing out typos and mistakes.