We were face to face with that flashy girl from earlier. 

Her long and flowy purple hair gently swayed against the passing forest breeze. She still looked stylish with her wizard's robe that was fashioned as a miniskirt while behind her stood the twin sisters with their large sickles dangling from their backs.

I was surprised to see these girls again. 

I tossed a glance at Diamond beside me, she too looked quite taken aback by their sudden appearance.

"Amethyst, why are you here?" Diamond asked in a hushed voice. It was only then that I found out that the purple haired girl was named Amethyst.

But, why is this Amethyst person here, right now?

The Seven Colors Forest that the Adventurers' Exam is being held in, compared to other places, is quite large. Therefore, the chances of meeting other exam participants in this area was very slim.  Furthermore, casually running into the same girls who had caused us trouble at the beginning of the exam didn't seem like it was just coincidence.

Had they followed us?  That certainly can't be true, was it?

Amethyst started talking, "I was surprised from the very beginning when you agreed to join up with this guy in the exam.  You've done well to stay safe up to now, Diamond, you piece of garbage."

Amethyst then laughed cruelly at Diamond.  Diamond, after hearing this, uncomfortably shifted her gaze away from her.

I had noticed since the start of the exam, that Diamond and Amethyst do not have a good relationship.

From behind Amethyst, the two other girls watched in amusement.  It seems that just like Amethyst, they too were not fond of Diamond.

Still, there is no way Amethyst came here just to jeer us!

Thereafter, Amethyst's sneering gaze was casted at me. She started addressing me in a condescending manner, "And you!  You didn't listen to my advice, and instead took Diamond with you.  You're a true fool.  How does it feel to be dealing with this incompetent Diamond?  Or maybe you fell in love with her at first sight? Did you?"

I know that she's obviously provoking me. 

This scene is giving me feelings of nostalgia.

Since I was young, I've always been bullied.  I've been bullied by Helio and other kids so much that I've grown tired of it. I silently took a deep breath and looked over at Diamond who was standing next to me. I mustered up all the confidence inside me and spoke in a determined voice, "It probably is love at first sight."

"Huh?"

"You're right I am in love with Diamond.  I invited her to team up with me so I can go together with her."

"R-Rust!?" Diamond turned red in embarrassment as she exclaimed in shock. 

While she stood there speechless I quickly looked at her indestructible large shield and continued on with my conversation with her bullies, "And, as for the shield sacred weapon, it has amazing abilities, different from other sacred weapons.  When I saw Diamond holding it, I knew then that I absolutely wanted her to join up with me.  I don't know why other people wouldn't want her in their party."

"I-is it really that way..."

Diamond dropped her shoulders in defeat as she realized I had no plans in relenting against them.

I knew my statement could send their feelings on a roller coaster, but nevertheless, I didn't think it was enough to assuage their conscience, so I then declared to Amethyst, "The more you know about Diamond, the more you'll realize how amazing she is.  She isn't the piece of garbage you keep saying she is.  She is kind and reliable.  She'll stand in front of you and protect you.  She is a girl who should become an adventurer."

"...Rust!"

It's been a little less than an hour since the exam began.

Although I had only been with Diamond for less than an hour, I found her good points without even trying to look for them. Also, she had not changed her timid personality since I met her.  Regardless of the situation, in just an instant I was able to see her kindness and dependability, and I was moved by it.

Girls like her most definitely should become adventurers, this is what I thought.

I only told Amethyst my honest opinion of Diamond, so I did not feel any sense of shame.

"Aha!  You do have a crush on her.  You've done well to support this crybaby from our village up to this point.  Despite your help, you should know that there is no way she'll ever become an adventurer."

"You say that, but we actually already have one of the exam dolls.  Diamond has the qualities of an adventurer.  This is irrefutable proof of that!" After I said this, I took the exam doll that we had just obtained and showed it to Amethyst.

In just a second, Amethyst's eyes widened in surprise and then her gaze thinned to the width of a thread and started speaking to me in a sharp tone, "Well...a doll.  Looks like you got one."

"That's right! But in order for both of us to pass the exam, we need one more.  We are going to look for another one.  Since there isn't much time left, we have to go now. See you later."

After I said my reply, we tried to separate ourselves from them and get out as quickly as we could. Ever since we started talking to Amethyst there was this nagging feeling that has been bothering me for a while and telling me that we should flee as fast as we could. I couldn't shake off the feeling of uneasiness.

I wanted to get out of that place as soon as possible.

It's true that the most important thing right now was for us to complete the exam.  From this point on, it was important for us to focus as we had to get one more doll before we could return back to the guild.  Truly, we did not have time to spare on quarreling with these three.

I felt a sense of urgency, so I pulled on Diamond's hand rather forcefully and dragged her with me.  

Seeing this Amethyst called out to me, "Speaking of which, we also still need to get one more doll."

I reflexively stopped when I heard her sudden outburst. 

Why was she telling us this?

I glanced back at them and when I did, she turned and stared at us like a hunter aiming at its prey. In addition to this, she sneered at us the same way she did when we first met. 

Amethyst started talking again, "Come to think of it, the examiner had said that all we had to do was bring back a doll?"

"...Huh?" What is she saying?

"Where we get it and how we get it doesn't matter, right?"

"Wh-!" Before I could process what was going to happen, Diamond had already reached for her shield and took a defensive position.

"Get out of the way Rust!" She called out and pushed her right hand in front of her.

"Lilac!" Amethyst exclaimed and instantly a purple lightning was released from her hand.

Together with a thunderous sound, lightning came flying towards us!

The cracks of light were charging towards us at frightening speed. Despite this, Diamond raised her large shield and caught each of the blasts, it was as if she could see the future and defended against each attack perfectly. 

Crashing sounds of thunder began to echo due to the impact.

"Uuuh...!" With just a slight grimace, Diamond managed to stop Amethyst's purple lightning.

She was amazing!

It's likely that if I had taken that blow, I would have fainted immediately.  But Diamond acted swiftly and received each attack without faltering at all.

Still, our opponent's attack was very powerful.

I wonder if this purple lightning was magic?  What's weird, Amethyst was releasing strips of lightning directly from her hand!

I mean, she had turned towards us, and shot the lightning knowingly at us.  This isn't an attack you should be shooting at your fellow examinees. 

"Stealing from other examinees isn't expressly prohibited.  Plus, accidents and injuries are each person's responsibility.  Isn't it natural for an exam like this, that one should expect that there is the possibility of something getting stolen from you?  Isn't that so girls?" After saying that, Amethyst continued to release purple lightning at us.

One attack.  Two attacks.  Three times we were attacked with purple lightning.

All of her offenses were caught by Diamond's large indestructible shield.  I was stupefied by the amazing spectacle in front me.

This is not the kind of thing one sees in an Adventurer's Exam.

The two of them visibly had great powers. But I had to pull myself together! This was not the time to gawk at their battle like a disoriented fish.

Amethyst gritted her teeth at us, "This is what is expected of someone wielding a shield.  But you can't win this match by just defending yourself.  Furthermore, do you honestly believe that you can become an adventurer by only being on the defensive?"

"Dammit...!" I sighed. Although Amethyst wasn't the most pleasant conversationalist, there was truth in her words. We had no choice but to fight. 

The examiner had definitely told us that all we had to do was bring back the doll. They did not put any limits to the methods we would use. Technically, there wasn't a prohibition from stealing the dolls from one's fellow examinees. It was also highly likely that fighting with other examinees was taken into consideration when deciding on this exam. After all, when it comes to adventurers, capturing 'renegades' is also part of their job.

There are people who use the weapons they have received from the gods to commit malicious acts. Generally speaking, those people are called 'renegades'.

It's to be expected that shortly after one passes the adventurer's exams, they would go on missions and battle against renegades. That's why they say one should probably get used to fighting human opponents as early as one can.

More or less, as a general principle, if you aren't strong enough to fight against other sacred weapon wielders, then you can't work as an adventurer.

If you're strong you pass, and if you're weak, you fail.  

This exam made all of those theories make sense.  

It made it simple!

At any rate, this is no time for me to hesitate.

"Diamond, Amethyst's sacred weapon..." I called out.

"Huh?"

"If it keeps going on like this, we have no choice but to fight.  We need to destroy her weapon and incapacitate her!"

I quickly made a plan. I would rush towards them and destroy Amethyst's weapon.

To do that, we had to know about Amethyst's weapon first.

Because Diamond was an acquaintance of Amethyst, and they had grown up in the same village, perhaps Diamond knew about Amethyst's weapon.

It was likely that Amethyst's sacred weapon was used as a 'catalyst'. Since a 'catalyst' usually functions by allowing its wielder to use magic simply by being equipped by it. However, the problem was I could not see it. I did not know where it was equipped on her, nor had I any idea what the thing actually looked like. Therefore, I tried to ask Diamond, but she was clearly bewildered by my question.

I briefly wondered if my assumption was wrong and in truth Diamond did not know anything about Amethyst's sacred weapon. But after looking at her more closely I started to suspect that this wasn't the case.

When I had said, "...we have no choice but to fight," Diamond had appeared truly perplexed.

I could almost see what she was thinking.

In her mind, it was unthinkable to fight with the girls.  Even though we have only known each other for a short time, I understood that, that is what her expression had meant.

Ah, that's right, I could tell that Diamond really wasn't up to fighting with Amethyst.

If I was the one being told to fight against Helio, I also would hesitate due to our history. As predicted, Diamond thought it better to not have to fight against these girls. It's regrettable but, if we want to be safe, then it's best to hand over the doll and leave this place peacefully.

And as I was secretly thinking of weakening our stance, Diamond resolutely shouted, "The bracelet on Amethyst's right wrist is called the Lilac Bracelet.  Please get it, Rust."

Diamond's sudden outburst meant that if we wanted to become adventurers, then we had no choice but to fight.  The message that if we didn't stand up to these there, we wouldn't be adventurers, was clearly received by me.