Leaving the corpse of the giant wyvern behind, I headed inward, and finally reached the core of the Rift.
In the middle of the empty space, the magic stone sitting alone exuded an unmistakable aura, clearly indicating it was the core of the Rift.
“President. Can I break that?”
“Hmm? Do as you please.”
Because I had left all the monster extermination to Alkine, I was worried about my contribution, so I decided I’d take the final blow. If I didn’t reach 40%, it wouldn’t be a waste of effort, but it would certainly feel a little anticlimactic.
I approached and stabbed the center of the magic stone with my knife.
To my surprise, it sank easily, almost like poking through frozen jelly.
The moment I struck the center of the magic stone, a red aura scattered in an instant.
[Congratulations! You have successfully completed the Rift challenge!]
[Calculating contribution…]
[Your contribution is 57%.]
[This feature is currently locked.]
[Unlock condition: Complete 5 Rifts with at least 40% contribution (2/5)]
Hmm, looks like I was in the clear even without landing the final blow.
But finding the path only accounted for about half the effort. Next time, I’ll have to pay more attention to my contribution.
While thinking that, I felt a sense of relief at the same time.
At least I had finished before the Rift could go out of control.
• Honestly, I had lightly said we could just ask the academy for help if we failed, but if the Rift had actually gone out of control, the consequences would have been serious.
Even though we had encountered so many monsters on the shortest route, how many more monsters would have been in the Rift itself?
If all those monsters had spilled out, it wouldn’t have ended with just a mess.
So even if my contribution had been lacking, just stopping the Rift’s rampage would have been enough to make up for the disappointment. Now that I had met the contribution requirement, the joy was double.
But then, the Rift didn’t disappear and suddenly began to vibrate.
Kugugugugu—
Startled by the unprecedented phenomenon, Alkine asked in a hurry.
“Rudion, was that really the core we just destroyed?”
“Yes. This Rift has definitely been cleared.”
To her, who could only distinguish the core with her magical sense, it might seem uncertain, but to me, who could see it directly, that magic stone was undoubtedly the core.
Then, even though the core was destroyed, the Rift hadn’t vanished…
Before I could finish my thought, a round symbol appeared on the ground where Alkine was standing.
As soon as I saw it, my body moved before my mind.
I grabbed Alkine’s arm and pulled her, and the spot where she had been standing exploded.
“…Huh?”
“Ah, seriously, nothing ever goes right.”
At that moment, I realized what was happening.
This was a rare final outburst pattern that occurred when the Rift was about to go into rampage after being cleared.
Because the amount of energy that needed to disappear was too much, it overloaded, condensed, and then exploded, destroying the surroundings. Wasn’t that the setup?
Regardless of the details, it was definitely dangerous.
Even the protagonist, who had prepared for everything, would be in a near-death state if they didn’t defend against it.
For Alkine, she’d likely be killed instantly.
But it was fine. The range was wide, but if you thought of it as a simple area-of-effect attack, it was dodgeable.
Of course, it could be dodged. Right now, though, it wasn’t a situation where I could avoid it alone.
Hey, President, you’re standing on the attack zone.
I figured it would be faster to just act rather than try to explain, so I picked her up and ran.
“Ugh.”
She let out a sound of surprise as I suddenly embraced her, but she had already figured out what was going on, and without saying anything, she leaned against me. It seemed like she was used to it from the one time we’d done this before.
Hmm… But did she gain a little weight in the past week? Still light, though. President.
With Alkine in my arms, I ran desperately.
Dodge and it explodes. Dodge and it explodes. The explosions kept going, leaving no time to stop.
As I focused solely on dodging, without worrying about anything else, I realized the Rift had disappeared.
There were no more circles on the ground, so I looked around and saw that the Rift was gone.
Breathing a sigh of relief, I asked Alkine if she was okay. She answered, surprisingly, in a small voice.
“…Let’s talk after you put me down.”
Ah. Right.
I looked around, and the entire student council was staring at us with expressions of shock.
I quickly set her down, but at that moment, Diggers started walking briskly toward us.
‘Why is he acting like that?’
But something was off.
He wasn’t heading toward the president, but toward me. And it looked like he was about to draw a weapon and strike… Wait, is he really drawing it?
Oh, damn, what the hell? Even though I openly showed Princess Alkine in my arms, is he really acting like this?
It wasn’t that threatening since I could dodge, but the fact that he was behaving like this was chilling. I knew what kind of person he was, but I didn’t expect him to react like this so soon.
And just as the sword he drew was about to strike me,
“…President.”
“What do you think you’re doing?”
Alkine’s mana sword appeared and blocked the space between me and Diggers.
Right. This is how it would go.
If he was openly trying to attack like that, our merciful President wouldn’t just sit idly by, would she?
She began to interrogate Diggers in a voice heavier than usual.
“I asked you what you think you’re doing.”
“…”
Diggers, perhaps realizing he had acted improperly, subtly sheathed his sword but couldn’t come up with a response.
He knew it was his fault but kept glaring at me, as if expecting something.
I couldn’t help but wonder what he wanted.
But… didn’t I tell him?
That I would stick by the President and irritate him to my heart’s content?
This was exactly that moment.
‘Take this!’
Every time Diggers glared at me, I stuck my tongue out at him with an obnoxious expression.
His face contorted every time, making it a spectacle.
“President! Look at what he’s doing!”
And, of course, Diggers immediately ran to complain to the President.
How embarrassing.
Sigh… Rudion. Why are you acting like this too?
“Ah.”
I got caught.
I thought she wouldn’t notice since she wasn’t looking.
Alkine looked back and forth between Diggers and me, then shook her head as if she couldn’t even begin to explain.
“Really, the saying that all men are children even when they grow up is true.”
Though, to be fair, most students at the academy were probably in middle or high school at best.
This was a time when they were at their most immature.
Of course, I’m technically an adult in a child’s body… but never mind. Age follows the body, after all.
Thanks to the exchange, the mood lightened a little, but that didn’t erase Diggers’ wrongdoing.
So, Alkine asked another question… but perhaps because her tone had softened, Diggers actually started to get angry.
“Diggers. I’m asking. Why did you do that?”
“…That’s the question I want to ask.”
“Huh?”
He didn’t answer her question, instead deflecting, and suddenly raised his voice, pointing his finger at me.
“Why were you in his arms? What business does the President have, being held by a guy like that in the Rift?!”
He kept bringing up the fact that I was in her arms, which was starting to sound a little weird.
…Your Honor, it’s a misunderstanding. I was just holding the princess.
Anyway, whatever… His outburst caused everyone to start paying attention, and it seemed like Diggers wasn’t the only one who had questions about it.
The atmosphere suddenly felt like I was watching a morning drama… but everyone, we’re in a serious situation.
The vice president just tried to stab me, right? Don’t forget that.
Alkine hesitated for a moment in response to his question, but perhaps thinking there was no other way, she revealed the truth.
“…Well. He was trying to save me.”
“That’s a lie!! Don’t lie! President! If you were saving someone, then fine, but what on earth would make me need saving from that guy?!”
But he desperately denied it.
Why even ask if he wasn’t going to believe her?
Alkine sighed deeply at Diggers’ reaction and, with a slightly angry tone, called his name.
“I really don’t understand. Vice President. No, Diggers Jibchack.”
“…Yes.”
Using his full name was definitely scary.
The once arrogant Diggers quickly lowered his attitude, switching to a much more submissive stance.
Alkine looked at him for a moment before speaking.
“I don’t know when you started thinking of Rudion as ‘that guy,’ but showing it like this is foolish. Didn’t I already tell you that?”
“…You’re right.”
“I won’t ask why you did this now. Sure, I’ve acted alone and made some decisions without consulting others recently. So, I’m not in a position to tell anyone off.”
“No, President. You have the highest authority on student council decisions…”
“Enough. I don’t want to hear it.”
With that, Diggers became quiet, unsure of what to do next, while glancing nervously at Alkine.
Alkine stared at him for a moment before continuing in a very subdued voice.
“And. I don’t know what kind of misunderstanding you have, but I’m also human. When I’m in danger, I expect someone to help me. Since when did I become someone who only helps others?”
“No, President. What I meant was—”
“Enough. The Rift has been successfully cleared, so let’s call it a day. Everyone, you worked hard.”
Diggers quickly tried to cover up his earlier words, but the situation was already over.
Right. Diggers had spoken without thinking.
No matter how strong he was, calling Alkine—who was just a student—someone who needed saving was foolish.
She was just a girl of her age. It was only because she was trying to follow in her father’s footsteps that she seemed so strong.
Regardless of how it ended, since Alkine had declared the meeting over, everyone began to leave one by one.
I also naturally tried to slip away into the crowd but was stopped by Alkine.
“Where do you think you’re going? You need to help me with the report now, so come with me.”
“Right.”
The mood was bad, but there were still things to do.
I obediently followed the President back to the student council room.
As we were walking back, I glanced over my shoulder and saw Diggers standing alone, looking dazed.
I stayed on alert in case he suddenly attacked from behind, but thankfully, that didn’t happen.
And after that day, Diggers disappeared from the academy.
He had declared that he was going to overturn the student council, but I didn’t think it would end up like this.