I walked slowly past the wounded and unconscious knights. Some were lying on the ground, some were leaning against trees. I attacked them mercilessly, splattering their blood all over the place. They were unconscious, but I didn't know if they were still alive. As I walked, I was suddenly stopped by a voice.

  "Y-you truly are a monster! H-how could you win against the 22 knights Lord Duke ordered to kill you, and you're not even injured?" said a knight lying on the ground.

  This knight was the one who fought me in the first and second trials.

  "Just to be sure, did Lord Duke tell you why you had to kill me?" I asked.

  "Lord Duke said you had to be killed because you were interfering with his plans, but I don't know what those plans were," the knight said.

  "I didn't expect you to be honest," I said.

  "I-I won't last much longer, so I have to at least tell you this. I-I don't know what you did to disrupt Lord Duke's plans. Once you disturb Lord Duke, you will be targeted until you die. W-We are currently unable to finish you off, but Lord Duke will probably send someone stronger to finish you off next. Y-You won't be able to escape from Lord ?Duke," the knight said.

  "Thank you for your concern. I admire you for worrying about someone like me instead of yourself," I said.

  "Y-you're still young, you should still have a long way to go," the knight said.

  Then suddenly a horde of monsters appeared, consisting of goblins, slimes, plant monsters, and flower monsters. They seemed to be attracted to this place by the smell of blood. Their sense of smell is very sensitive to blood and they immediately attack anyone who is bleeding. Normally, if someone falls or faints in the wild, monsters won't attack them unless they're bleeding. But it's a different story if, while someone is unconscious, a monster is already nearby, ready to devour them.

  "I-It looks like this is the end of our story. You should leave immediately," the knight said.

  Instead of leaving immediately, I approached the knight.

  "I have a dream of uniting this divided world into one. To start, first i'll transform this kingdom. I will eliminate slavery system in this kingdom and eliminate the corrupt nobles and the nobles who always act as they please. Once I do that, this kingdom will surely be a better kingdom. At that time, knights like you will no longer be subjected to arbitrary orders from your superiors, such as being ordered to kill innocent people," I said.

  "I-I see. I-If you can do that, as you said, this kingdom will surely become better and more peaceful. B-but unfortunately, I won't be able to see that changed kingdom," the knight said.

  "That's right, unfortunately you can't see the kingdom once it's transformed," I said.

  I readied my sharpened sword and slashed it across the knight's neck. The knight's body and head immediately separated after I cut them off. The knight was dead.

  "I could have healed you and kept you as a knight, but I don't know what consequences you will receive from Lord Duke if you stay alive and fail to kill me. There's also the possibility that you might attack me again after I heal you."

  "As a sign of respect, I chose to kill you quickly rather than let you be killed by those monsters," I said.

  Then I slashed my sword to remove the blood on it.

  "This is my first time killing someone, but I don't feel anything after killing."

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  "If I don't feel anything after killing someone, that would make things easier for me, because I'll definitely kill people again in the future," I said.

  With that, I immediately left the scene. The monsters began to approach the knights, biting and eating their bodies. Some of the soldiers regained consciousness after feeling their bodies being bitten and devoured by the monsters. But even after regaining consciousness, they remained immobile. The monsters devouring their bodies might have been weak, but those unable to move remained helpless against such weaklings monster. They could only watch helplessly as their bodies were devoured and eventually died.

  -

  An hour later.

  I had emerged from the forest I'd been in before and was now in a meadow. Seeing the sun directly overhead, it seemed to be either 12 or 1 PM.

  "We started the exam around 9 AM, so if it's already 1 PM, that means 4 hours have passed. There are 5 hours left, and I've only collected 6 medals. Since it should be lunchtime, I think I should take a short break," I thought.

  I decided to find a place to rest. Since the meadow was too obvious, I decided to return to the forest and find a side of the forest with a river. I could take a break, drink some water, and eat some fish. While searching for the area I wanted, I sensed several auras gathering, seemingly from other students. Among them was one from someone I recognized. I decided to head there.

  -

  On the other side of the forest, Lillian was surrounded by about 10 students.

  "What are you guys going to do? We're in the same class, right?" Lillian asked.

  "We may be classmates, but that's all. Stop talking, Lillian. Hand over your medals. I know you already have plenty. Even if you hand over all your medals and end up with nothing, I'm sure your boyfriend from Class A will help you," said one of the students.

  "Even if I have a boyfriend from Class A, there's no way I'm going to rely on him. I'll do my own thing on this exam," Lillian said.

  "Then we'll take your medal by force," said the student.

  ~Wind Slash~

  The student launched a wind slash at Lillian, but before it could reach her, it was suddenly cut off and vanished.

  "What happened?" the student said in surprise.

  "So you're here, Lillian," I said, suddenly arriving at their location.

  The aura of the one person I recognized was Lillian's, which is why I decided to go to this place.

  "Rid?!?!," Lillian said in surprise.

  "Rid Archie?!?!," the students surrounding Lillian were also shocked.

  "Ahaha, this is a golden opportunity. Seeing as the first-year's number one is here, we might as well defeat him. He must have a lot of medals already," said the student who had attacked Lillian earlier.

  "What's he talking about? I started the exam late and only collected 6 medals. Why does he think I've already collected that many?" I thought.

  "Those are your classmates, right, Lillian?" I asked.

  "Yes," Lillian said.

  "It seems you're quite hated by your classmates, even though you're a Marquess's daughter," I said.

  "I have some friends I get along with in class, but I'm not close to these people surrounding me," Lillian said.

  "I see. Then it's okay if I defeat them all and take all their medals, right? Since I happen to have only a few medals left," I asked, holding my sword and preparing to attack.

  -

  On the other side of the forest, where Leandra and Lily were.

  Ray had already fallen along with three other Class A students. Glenn, Troy, and Ciaran were left.

  "Damn, Ray. He's so weak he's already fallen. Is he really the 10th ranked student?" Ciaran asked.

  "Don't worry about that weakling, we have to defeat them both. They both look exhausted," Glenn said.

  Meanwhile, Leandra and Lily looked exhausted and covered in wounds.

  "Haaahhhh... Haahhhh, we did manage to defeat the other four students, but those three were too strong," Leandra said.

  "Haaaaahhhh... Haaaahhhhh, you're right, so this is the strength of the 7th to 9th ranked first-year students. Even though we've been trained by Rid, our strength isn't even close to theirs," Lily said.

  "Stop resisting, you two. You can't win against the three of us. Surrender and we'll treat you well," Glenn said.

  "You pervert," said Leandra.

  Leandra quickly fired a magic ball at Glenn, but Glenn easily dodged it.

  "Then, at least I'll immobilize you first," said Glenn.

  He quickly moved toward Leandra and prepared to attack her with his sword. But...

  ~Glacier Strike~

  Suddenly, Irene appeared and attacked Glenn with her technique. Glenn was hit squarely by the technique and sent flying into a tree.

  "Miss Irene?!?!," said Leandra and Lily, shocked.

  "Ice Princess?!?!," said Troy and Ciaran, also shocked.

  "Finally, I've found you two. You both seem to be having a hard time, so I'll help you out even though I'm tired of fighting the students all the time," said Irene.

  -

  Meanwhile, in the forest where Noa and Kotaro were.

  They were both still unconscious after being suddenly attacked by Enzo. And now, not far from them, a horde of monsters was approaching and heading towards them.

  -To be continued