The True Hell Marathon

On the day the new physical education teacher arrived, both the morning and afternoon were assigned to PE class.

The new teacher’s introduction was held on the school grounds, fitting for a PE instructor.

At that time, all the students had been gathered on the grounds, and everyone except Leopin was in gym clothes.

“Buiiiiiin! Sir’s name is Sir Vibe! Sir was an instructor in the Survival Department at the Leak Eight Kingdom Army Academy, but due to certain circumstances, Sir has ended up looking after piss-your-pants whelps like you! Now that Sir is here, Sir will turn every last one of you—except for a certain piece of trash—into first-rate soldiers! If you understand, then before that mouth of yours starts spewing crap, say Yes, Sir!”

Sir Vibe introduced himself while making the muscles under his camouflage tank top tremble.

As expected of an active-duty soldier, he had an even more impressive physique than the previous PE teacher, Nickbacca.

“Buiiiiiin! Sir does not like useless chatter! As survival training, you will head to the lake right now!”

Even though he was supposed to be a PE teacher, he suddenly declared survival training.

The students were confused, but he pointed to one corner of the grounds as if discussion was not up for debate.

“Now then, split up by class and get into those carriages! Which carriage is for which class is written on the side of each one!”

There were as many carriages parked in the corner of the school grounds as there were classes.

The carriages for the higher-ranked classes were luxurious roofed ones, while the lower-ranked classes got shabbier and shabbier roofless ones—this academy’s unique sense of consideration had not been forgotten.

And, as expected, there was no carriage for the Special Training Class.

At this time, Leopin had simply been standing blankly at the very back of the student crowd, but Sir Vibe fixed both eyes on him and clearly declared,

“Buiiiiiin! Fufufu, Sir has heard! You may be a failure, but apparently you are good at running! Sir heard that you defeated Nickbacca in the Hell Marathon! So Sir has decided to let you challenge the True Hell Marathon this time! This is a rare chance to experience one of the harshest training exercises in the Leak Eight Kingdom Army!”

Leopin had long since grown used to being unreasonably targeted by strangers, so he scratched his head and replied,

“Uh, sure, I guess… But is it just me?”

At that, two faces suddenly popped out from behind Sir Vibe’s massive frame.

It was the principal and vice principal duo.

“Extending a student’s strong point is a wonderful idea, isn’t it! Right! So since we have the chance, let’s make it the ‘Leopin True Hell Marathon Game’! Right, right!”

With impeccable timing, Kakerukun appeared and unilaterally decided the rules of the game.

First, Leopin’s torso would be tied by rope to the rear of the last carriage.

Then, as the carriage ran, Leopin would have to run along behind it as well.

Since the carriage would not stop until it reached the destination lake, Leopin would have to keep running all the way there.

Giving up was not allowed, and if he collapsed, he would simply be dragged all the way to the lake.

And as long as he did not touch the carriage, Leopin could do whatever he wanted while running.

So that he could have a certain amount of rest or freedom of action, the rope had been made an incredible four hundred meters long.

Kakerukun added jokingly,

“With a rope this long, you can do anything! You can sit down and rest, search for water and drink it! If you want, you can even take a nap or catch some wild animal around there and ride it! Kakakakaka!”

But the length of this rope was precisely the key to this game.

Because this time, Monaka and Kotone were there as well.

If Leopin were tied by a short rope and dragged around within sight of the carriage, those girls would never stay quiet.

Kakerukun inwardly sneered with evil delight.

—But if he runs through the forest with poor visibility on a four-hundred-meter rope, then even if Leopin collapses and gets dragged, it will not be visible from the carriage…!

Without receiving help from anyone, Leopin will be torn to shreds all alone…!

And hidden in this game was yet another terrifying scheme.

—And even if Leopin somehow manages to keep up with the carriage, we have prepared for that too…!

We’ll just keep making the carriage take detours and make him keep running until he finally collapses…!

Until Leopin gets dragged, battered to pieces, and starts screaming and crying, the goal will never arrive…!

Yes…! This was a game Kakerukun could never lose…!

Knowing none of that, Leopin tied the end of the long rope around his waist.

Seeing that, an even darker brilliant idea flashed through Kakerukun’s mind.

“That’s right! Leopin-kun! If you make it to the goal in this game without collapsing, I’ll specially give you three hundred million Ender out of my own pocket money!”

The surrounding students gasped, “Eeh!?”

“However, if Leopin-kun collapses even once, then all three hundred million in prize money you currently have will be confiscated! Right!”

“I take it I don’t have the right to refuse anyway?” Leopin asked.

“Of course not! Because this game is a perfectly legitimate part of the educational curriculum, approved by the Board of Education too! Right, right!”

Kakerukun, the vice principal, and Sir-sensei were not riding in a carriage, but all three were sharing the same horse.

Apparently it was so they could rescue me if I were left behind by the carriages and ended up in a life-threatening situation.

But Sir-sensei was holding a crossbow, and he did not look even remotely like he planned to help me.

“Buiiiiiin! Then we depart now! Run properly like gum stuck to the bottom of a shoe! If you collapse, I’ll finish you off with this!”

When Sir-sensei gave the signal to the carriages, they started moving slowly in a line.

I was tied to the rear of the very last carriage by a long rope.

In the carriage in front of me were Monaka, Kotone, and the others.

They should originally have been in a carriage much farther ahead, but it seemed they had negotiated to switch.

“Please do your best, Leo-kun!”

“Master, we are with you! If anything happens to you, Master, we will come rescue you at once!”

And since the carriage was carrying young ladies, it did not seem inclined to move very fast.

“So that means the plan is to make me collapse by forcing me to run a long distance…”

Before long, the carriages left the school grounds and entered the forest, where there was a paved road.

For the moment, I decided to leave my status as it was while I observed the situation.

If things got bad, I had been planning to raise my Endurance parameter, but…

“That might not be necessary after all.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I suddenly spotted something.

The moment the teachers acting as guards looked away, I leaped into a nearby thicket and activated Jack-of-All-Trades’ Dexterous Body.

I poured everything into the parameter on the opposite extreme from Endurance.

Then I activated Dexterous Job Change as well.

And unleashed that thing that could be called a forbidden secret technique…!

Just because I had vanished from sight for a moment, the trio of teachers started causing a huge commotion.

“Ah!? That failure bastard disappeared!?”

“He’s probably trying to run away because he knows he’ll lose! Don’t let him escape! Hurry up and find him, hmph!”

“To abandon the contest before even running one kilometer is disgraceful even for a Gambler…”

…Dodododododo…!

“W-What is that sound!?”

“L-Look! Over there! A cloud of dust is coming at us from far away!?”

“D-Don’t tell me, that is…!?”

At the sudden rumbling of the earth, not only the teachers but the students in all the carriages turned their attention toward it.

The next instant, I burst out through the bushes.

Together with the new companions I had just tamed…!

“H-Horsessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss!?!!?”