“Five people formed a team, and two of them turned out to be villains?
What kind of nonsense is this?
When I heard Kallian had become personally acquainted with someone, I was curious about what kind of person it was.
Even if the person turned out to be an extra, I was willing to let it slide this time.
But of all people, he brought a villainess.
And not just any villainess, but a lunatic like Elia Belmore.
‘Wade, your expression doesn’t look good. Are you okay?’
‘No, I’m not okay. Kallian, that woman is…’
‘What about her?’
Of course, Kallian, who didn’t know anything, just looked at my decaying expression in confusion.
I swallowed my words.
I wanted to tell him to stay away from that woman immediately, but it was already too late to find a new teammate.
Besides, Elia was pretending not to know anything, but she was undoubtedly eavesdropping on my conversation with Kallian.
‘It’s nothing,’ I said.
For now, I’ll let it slide.
Although there aren’t many alternatives, the goal of this lesson remains unchanged.
I will make Kallian help Lumia in her time of need.
Elia and Eveline already possess strong powers, so they shouldn’t interfere with this kind of event.
Felgard Forest.
In this dangerous area teeming with beasts, our group of five—me, Kallian, Lumia, Eveline, and Elia—strolled through the forest to achieve our goal.
Our mission from the professor was to ‘eliminate the leader of the Kragnols village located in the forest.’
Kragnols are fearsome beasts known for their physical prowess, intelligence, and cruelty.
As intelligent creatures, they tended to lay traps throughout their territory.
While searching for the village’s location, we had to be careful not to fall into their traps.
While Kallian examined the ground, Elia assisted him.
‘Here, judging by the footprints, it seems we’re heading toward their hideout.’
‘Kallian, are you experienced in this sort of thing? I can’t make sense of any of this.’
‘I’ve loved studying beasts since I was young. Elia, are you not interested in this sort of thing?’
‘I wasn’t before, but I think I’ll start taking an interest today.’
Tsk.
Lumia should be the one standing there.
But Lumia herself kept to the back, quietly following along. She seemed very awkward with Elia and
Eveline, as they were strangers to her.
Screeeech! Crash!
After walking for a while, sharply-carved wooden stakes and rocks suddenly flew at us from various directions—traps set by the Kragnols to eliminate intruders.
‘Damn.’
Kallian drew his sword and swung it.
Though he muttered as if troubled, the well-honed mana blade eliminated all threats in every direction.
None of the other four of us had a chance to do anything.
‘You’re amazing. As expected from the top of our class,’ Elia remarked.
‘Hmph, as I thought, a man worthy of my attention,’ Eveline added.
‘Wow…’ Lumia murmured in awe.
As we advanced toward the beasts’ village, we encountered increasingly varied traps. But every time,
Kallian solved the problem with a simple swing of his sword.
This was convenient—no, I mean, it was still too early to let my guard down. The real threats hadn’t appeared yet.
When the time came, Kallian wouldn’t be able to handle it all alone, and the others would have to step in.
Let’s wait.
When Lumia falls into danger and screams, I’ll call for Kallian to help her, setting the stage to
increase his favorability toward her.
‘Aaaahhh!’
Finally, the moment I was waiting for arrived.
Lumia had fallen into a slime trap.
It looked like shallow mud at first glance, but as soon as she stepped in, she sank in. The trap seemed to have a will of its own, pulling her in.
Judging by the slime’s appearance, it was definitely a Drainshimmer. Someone had to help in such a case.
‘W-Wade! Help me!’
Instinctively, she looked to me, the closest person.
But this was a rare opportunity.
Saving her myself would mean nothing, so I decided not to help her.
‘Aaahhh!’
Instead, I pretended to panic and “accidentally” fell into the trap as well.
‘Save me! Help! I don’t want to die like this!’
To make my performance more realistic, I flailed and screamed in despair, as if on the verge of death.
To my surprise, Lumia, who had been panicking, calmed down and tried to reassure me.
‘Wade, calm down first.’
‘I’m going to dieee!’
‘It’s not that bad. If you stay still, you’ll sink more slowly. It’s okay.’
‘Kallian! Help me, Kallian!’ I called out to him, who was up ahead.
‘Squeak!’
Before he could reach us, however, Elia, who had been observing, suddenly fell into the slime trap as well.
‘Help me~ Kallian~,’ she called out in a sweet, coquettish voice.
…What the hell are you doing?
You’re ridiculously strong—capable of wiping out entire armies on your own—so why are you acting helpless?
Especially now of all times?
‘What’s going on? Oh no… everyone fell into traps.’
Kallian finally arrived and began rescuing Elia, who was closest to him.
As for Lumia, she was rescued by Eveline, who had been scouting nearby.
‘What are you doing? Falling for such a simple trap?’ Eveline said.
‘Thank you!’ Lumia replied.
‘Don’t bother me like this again. If you’re in the same team as me, solve these things on your own,’
Eveline scolded.
‘Yes…’
While pulling Lumia out, Eveline glanced at me, puzzled by my “clumsy” act.
‘And what are you doing?’
‘What do you mean?’
While I exchanged glances with Eveline, Lumia, who had gotten free, pulled me out of the trap.
‘Are you okay?’ she asked.
‘No.’
‘Don’t be too scared. It’s okay now.’
This wasn’t how it was supposed to go.
Lumia was supposed to be saved by Kallian, but why is she saving me instead?
Meanwhile, Elia was showering Kallian with gratitude.
‘Thank you so much, Kallian,’ she said, lavishing him with compliments.
“You don’t need to thank me. I didn’t do anything remarkable.”
“No, without you, it would have been really dangerous. You saved my life. I’ll make sure to repay this favor someday.”
What kind of damned situation is this?
Get out of there right now.
That spot should be occupied by Lumia, not you.
Rustle, rustle.
As I watched the overly saccharine scene, a beast poked its face out from between the branches.
It was a Kragnol.
The creature scanned the five of us one by one, then quickly climbed a tree and disappeared.
“Let’s chase it.”
At Kallian’s command, we pursued it without hesitation.
After hours of only examining traces left by them, we finally found a direct lead. By following it, we’d immediately know where their village was.
Huff, huff.
After running for a while, Lumia started gasping for air. She had the weakest stamina among the five of us.
The problem was, if we slowed down here, we’d lose the Kragnol we were chasing… What should I do?
Of course, Kallian showed no signs of fatigue, nor did Eveline.
Even the insufferable Elia wasn’t pretending to be tired this time.
“Kallian!”
“Hm?”
“You guys go ahead! I’ll catch up with Lumia.”
I had no choice but to let Kallian go on ahead.
When I pointed at Lumia, he immediately understood, nodded, and sped off, disappearing with Eveline and Elia.
Huff, huff… huff… Are you okay…?
After we stopped, Lumia lowered her head and took deep breaths.
Her eyes reflected guilt and helplessness, clearly feeling like she was holding back the team.
There was also fear that I might scold her.
Lumia the failure.
Because of past trauma, she had sealed away her own power and was known among the students as useless.
Though she kept up in theory, she was at the bottom of the barrel in practical skills like mana manipulation and swordsmanship.
She was ridiculed by everyone, mocked as a peasant unfit for Arcana, an idiot who couldn’t even handle mana properly.
I could guess why she came alone to this lesson with me and Kallian.
She must’ve been scared.
Afraid that if she showed her weakness and ugly side to her new friends, she’d end up alone again.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry… I’m useless…”
Once she caught her breath, she slowly looked at me.
I… was lying sprawled out on the ground.
“Huh…? Wade, what’s wrong?”
“I ran too fast. I think I’m gonna die. Help me.”
“Huh…? Wh-what should I do?”
“Water. Give me water.”
“Oh! Okay!”
Confused by my behavior, Lumia hurriedly pulled out her water bottle.
I grabbed it and started chugging it recklessly, spilling water all over myself.
Gulp, gulp, gulp… cough.
“You can drink it slowly, you know.”
“Ah, I feel alive again. Thanks, Lumia.”
“I didn’t do much…”
After drinking, I flopped back onto the ground.
Lumia looked at me and let out a small laugh.
“What are you gonna do if you’re this tired? You just told Kallian you’d catch up with him.”
“I was just saying stuff. How would I know where he is? He’ll handle everything anyway. Let’s just sit here and collect points.”
“That’s so unfair.”
“What’s unfair about it? They left us behind first. If they have complaints, they can come back and carry me.”
“Ha-ha, that’s too much.”
If she’s a failure, I’m an underachiever.
Though I managed to get into Arcana, I’m always at the bottom, barely avoiding failure. That’s my whole persona.
So this level of acting should be fine.
“You’re quite unskilled, huh? You’d better train harder, or you’ll fail like me.”
“You don’t have to worry about me. You wouldn’t know this, but I’m actually hiding my true strength.”
“Hiding your strength?”
“The power I’ve shown so far isn’t even one-ten-thousandth of what I’m capable of. No one can stop me when I’m at full power.”
“Ha-ha, what’s that supposed to mean?”
“I’m serious.”
“Then hurry up and catch up to Kallian.”
“My legs still don’t have any strength.”
We joked around to pass the time.
Once Lumia’s stamina was fully recovered, we could catch up to Kallian without being too late.
That is… if nothing happens.
Rustle, rustle.
Rustle, rustle, rustle.
“Wade, get up.”
“Why? I was just about to fall asleep.”
“Get up now! We’re in danger!”
“What danger?”
As I pretended to sleep, Lumia shook me roughly.
She didn’t need to tell me; I already knew.
The sounds all around us weren’t from Kallian’s group returning.
Nor were they sounds that humans could make.
When I slowly opened my eyes, I saw them.
The Kragnols we had been searching for.
Not just one, but the forest was filled with them.