Chapter 268

Side chapter – Rimuru’s Elegant Escape Play – 07

On our way back, Marsha suddenly let out a yell.

“Hey! I was casually checking the bracelet just now and something crazy is going on with my points! For some reason my points have risen to 44?!”

Their attention drawn by her statement, everyone else checked their bracelets, as well.

“Uwo! I am only 19 points, eh?”

“I am 26.”

“I only have 15 points?”

George and the others unanimously informed each other of their points.

Following Marsha, Mondo had the highest points.

Hmm? Even if we did get points from our activities today, I thought it would have only been a few points….

When I hurriedly checked my points as well, surprisingly enough, it was at 41.

And when I checked how I got those points—it was listed that I got about 33 points from monster subjugation and 8 from aid actions.

Oi, oi, fish also count as monsters?!

And what’s this 8 points for aiding actions? Because I made a fishing rod for each of them?

Like 2 points for each? It’s more of a shock that I only got 2 points for that painstaking work.

But still, this is too unfair, this way of earning points… even I am astounded.

“If cautious actions gave 2 points then—we get one point for each fish we catch?!”

“I see! I also caught about 24, if I remember correct, so there’s no mistaking it.”

“Don’t put on airs just ‘cause you won in fishing, Mondo. However, that settles it. I also remember catching 17 so each fish gives 1 point.”

I heard George and Mondo conversing.

Oh, shoot.

With this, scoring points becomes super easy.

I started panicking inside.

“Hahaha, this is stupid. Earning points so easily, the person who set it up must be an idiot. Those Greed Circus guys are quite the foolish bunch, huh?!”

“Right? I also think so. I was thinking it would be quite hard~ But this makes it a piece of cake, right~?”

George said with a laugh and Aina also followed up with a nod.

Their words hurt my ears.

Why? ‘Cause I was the one who set it up.

It’s just a bit, no, actually, quite a bit embarrassing.

I had set the 30 points to be the passing limit so Marsha has already passed.

Mondo only needs 4 more points and even Aina who has the least points among them has earned about half the points needed.

<<Fufufu, exactly as calculated, huh, Rimuru-sama?>>

Ciel spoke to me happily while I was sulking.

What are you talking about?–when I asked her that, she replied with an atmosphere of ‘I know what you are planning’.

<<After today’s activities, Mondo, who is a dropout, will be viewed in a better light. And also Marsha, who has a talent for magic will be given a different role, right?>>

Wh-what?!

In other words, this grouping wasn’t appropriate, as I thought. It seems they just grouped the problematic ones.

Well, that is fine now but the problem is what Ciel just said.

—A different role for Marsha… you say?

<<You will feign ignorance, I see. What exactly are you planning, keeping it a secret from me, as well?>>

Ciel answered, sounding like she was really enjoying herself.

Hahaha, it seems she has misunderstood, thinking that this is something I schemed.

Needless to say, neither have I calculated for this to happen nor am I scheming anything.

All of this is just Ciel’s misunderstanding but… I guess I will use that for now.

—Fufu, as expected of Ciel. I can’t hide things from you, can I? Mondo seemed like he lacked confidence so I just helped a bit, you see.

<<As I thought. However, that was too lenient of you. To use your valuable trick which you were saving for something like this– >>

Ah, hmm.

This isn’t a valuable trick I reserved or anything, you see.

It’s something even I didn’t notice, you see.

I mean, who would think that E rank giving 1 point would apply to fish as well, right?

There are no fish inside the labyrinth, after all.

And even if there were, they would be man-eating fish or demon fish living in the wetlands.

Well, even I kept small insects like mosquito or fleas to be not applicable.

Although the ones living in Apito’s territory are different….

It was a complete mistake on my part but as Ciel-san saw it as one of my strategies, my dignity has been upheld for now.

I did think of changing the bracelet’s settings by using the master command but I stopped.

If I did that, the points we got just now would look weird.

Besides—even regarding the fish strategy, since we caught this much today, surely the catch will be less tomorrow.

It’s something like a one-time bonus stage.

Just like Ciel said, a trick of a sort.

Even if the other students were to try and imitate, it wouldn’t go as easily.

In the first place, it’s difficult making the fishing rod.

That’s probably not something they are taught in school and definitely not so simple that they can make it after seeing it once.

There’s surely no one who thought—’oh, something like this might happen so let me bring my fishing rod along’.

And, above all, the only reason we were able to have such a big catch was because I, being a gentleman as I am who likes fishing, went to all the trouble of making the fishing rod using Ciel-sensei’s calculation abilities.

It will probably be fine to not worry about that.

And like that, with a total catch of 123 fish, we had made a triumphal return.