Chapter 31 : Capturing Monsters for testing

The protagonist’s training wrapped up more smoothly than expected.

Even though it was a lower-tier class, he still had some basic physical abilities.

“Is it really okay to just do this and get a meal?”

Since the protagonist seemed to be handling it just fine, I decided to have him do three sets starting tomorrow.

As for increasing the intensity? That’s something the protagonist will figure out on their own once they experience the taste of growth.

With that, the training for the day ended, and since there was some awkward time left, we decided to have an early dinner.

Artes asked if it was okay to have two servings, and I told him to go ahead, but honestly, he just gulped it down without chewing much.

Was this how players ate when they used consumption items in games?

Well… at least they ate well, so it was worth treating them.

For me.

I glanced at my plate, thinking it was my turn to eat, only to notice that Seria was sneaking a piece of meat from her plate onto mine.

“Rudion. Eat this too. I’m full after just one, so you can have the rest.”

“Then why don’t you just order the basic one and stop getting doubles all the time?”

“…I don’t know. Just eat quickly.”

She always acts like this.

Since she was offering, I couldn’t really refuse, so I accepted it, but honestly, there was no need for this.

I had money too. If she wanted more food, she could just order another plate, but she never changes.

Maybe it’s because she doesn’t have to worry about money? She doesn’t even think about how much she eats and just chooses the most expensive options.

With habits like that, she’s never going to learn to save money. But I suppose it’s fine since she’s a princess.

Anyway, just as I thought the day was over.

Ding!

Once again, the messenger in my bag went off.

I reflexively thought it might be Seria, but since she was sitting next to me eating, it couldn’t be her.

I wondered what it was, so I checked… and the long-awaited message finally arrived.

[Reina: Come to my personal lab right now.]

This was the first time I had heard from Reina in a long time.

But calling me right when I was eating? That was too much.

I couldn’t just waste the food I had brought, so I hurriedly ate and stood up.

Seria asked what was going on, but I couldn’t answer because I was forcing the last few bites into my mouth. Instead, I quickly showed her the message from Reina.

“After complaining about being bored, it looks like she’s finally going to do something.”

Mmm. I didn’t answer, but I nodded in agreement with her.

Over the past month, I had received money once more, but nothing had happened, and it was really uncomfortable. I kept wondering what kind of task Reina was going to assign.

“Take care. Make sure to message me when you get back to the dorm.”

“Mmm.”

“Don’t just say ‘I’ll do that’ this time. If you forget, I won’t let you off.”

Maybe it was because I had just gone through Seria’s real magic barrage today, but those words felt particularly heavy.

I exchanged a few more words with her and then left.

Reina’s personal lab was located in the upper-class building.

Originally, it had been somewhere else, but since she became the professor in charge of the upper-class students, it seemed she had moved here.

When I entered, Reina was already waiting for me with a pile of things packed up.

“You’re here?”

“Why did you call me?”

“Middle exams are coming up soon, right?”

As she said that, she casually handed me her bag.

Considering the weight, it wasn’t just magic scrolls, but various special tools seemed to be packed inside.

“I’m going to catch some monsters for the practical exam. If we wait too long, it’ll be tiring tomorrow, so let’s move quickly.”

“Then why didn’t you leave earlier?”

“They won’t come out unless it’s night, so it doesn’t matter if we leave early.”

I see…

Wait a minute. The monsters she’s planning to catch for the exam only come out at night?

“Are those monsters… Liches and Death Knights?”

“Huh, how did you know? When did I tell you?”

Wait, is it really appropriate to bring something like that for a first-year exam?

Even with a bit of leniency, Liches and Death Knights were definitely at the level of a second-year upper-class final exam.

And even then, you could never handle them alone; you’d need to form a party of 4 to 6 people to make it possible.

“I don’t know what you’re thinking, but it’s not like that. I’m just going to find a sturdy punching bag.”

“Ah, I see.”

As expected, the professor had a plan.

Liches have high magical defense, and Death Knights have high physical defense, so it seemed like she planned to measure the students’ attack power using those monsters.

I understood the general purpose, and we set out to leave.

As I walked with Reina toward the academy entrance, a carriage was waiting right in front of us.

The carriage started moving as soon as we boarded, and it sped off quite quickly.

Reina looked out the window at the passing scenery and explained.

“We’re not going too far. Recently, there have been a lot of undead near the Empire. I think we can handle things over there.”

With undead suddenly appearing, it was clear that a Necromancer was causing trouble.

I immediately understood what this was related to.

The Necromancer’s attack.

It was an event from the beginning of the second semester of the first year, where undead attacked the protagonist as they were leaving the lower-class building.

At that time, the protagonist had already become quite strong and easily repelled the attack, but then a wave of stronger undead monsters appeared, and they had to struggle.

After stalling for a while, Seria came by, wiped them all out, and the professors who arrived late caught the Necromancer, ending the incident.

That Necromancer was never seen again. Just a villain for the early stages of the story.

‘I was planning to deal with it by the second semester…’

I didn’t expect it to be tied in like this.

While I was thinking this, Reina, who had been looking out the window, suddenly turned toward me and spoke.

“So, how have you been with Seria lately? I hear you two are getting along really well.”

“I don’t know about ‘getting along,’ but we hang out together all the time.”

“People usually call it getting along when they spend that much time together.”

I see. We were just in the same upper-class group and spent a lot of time together helping with Lilith’s training.

But… for Seria, who normally has a passive-aggressive attitude toward others, it’s pretty rare for her to ask me to go with her, send messages, and the like.

So, maybe calling it ‘getting along’ wasn’t entirely off the mark.

Of course, I kind of wish she’d make more friends, but for some reason, it doesn’t seem like she’s all that interested in doing so.

“Please take care of her. She’s shy around people, but she’s a good kid.”

“I know. There’s no one as good as her.”

She didn’t have many lines in the original, but in every scene she appeared, she was always helping others, so how could she be a bad person?

From the beginning, her character description said “Alignment: Absolute Good.” She can’t be anything but kind.

Although, thinking back to the time she blew up the student cafeteria ceiling and blamed me for it… it makes me wonder if she’s changed at all… but probably not. Or at least, I hope not.

As we were talking about Seria, the carriage soon arrived at the gate leading out of the Empire.

We got there pretty quickly, but that was possible because the academy was so close to the border.

I guess you could call it a border… Once you step past the Empire’s boundary walls, it doesn’t lead to another kingdom but to what feels like wild, untamed land.

It’s a game-like geography system.

Inside the Empire, there are towns; outside, it’s more like a hunting ground.

So, each kingdom feels like it’s on its own, separated by vast distances.

After all, this is a world where monsters pop up everywhere.

People probably want to create safe zones to live without worry.

Of course, when they say “hunting grounds,” the roads are well-maintained, so if you follow the path, you can technically reach another kingdom.

The real problem is that even by carriage, it would take several days to get there.

Thinking about it, it’s impressive that Lilith managed to escape all the way here.

“Let’s go from here on foot.”

“Okay.”

Following Reina’s words, I grabbed my bag and got off the carriage.

By now, it was already late evening, and the sky was gradually darkening.

“You can ride a horse, right?”

“I’ve never ridden one, but I’ll try.”

Walking all the way to where the undead were said to appear would be a huge waste of time, so we decided to ride the two horses that had been pulling the carriage.

I was a little worried since I had never ridden a horse before, but my stats weren’t exactly terrible, and the load wasn’t too heavy, so it wasn’t that hard.

About 40 minutes later, a sinister energy began to rise on the horizon.

“We’re here. Let’s dismount. Tie the horses here.”

If the horses ran off, it would lead to a disaster where we’d have to walk all the way back to the Empire, so I made sure to tie them securely to a tree.

• Just to be safe, I tied the knot several times, making it impossible to untie.

“…You’re not very handy, are you?”

Reina said that, but hey… it’s secure, right?

If it turns out I can’t untie it later, I’ll just cut it. It’s better than letting the horses escape.

With the horses tied up, Reina and I quickly made our way toward the place where the sinister energy was strongest.

As we walked, I began to feel the ominous energy rising beneath my feet.

Of course, this energy was probably only visible to me, but even without that, it wouldn’t matter much.

The ground was already stained black, so it was obvious that it had been tainted by demons.

Normally, monsters would naturally spawn here, but it seemed that this land had been intentionally corrupted by a Necromancer.

“Hmm, the energy isn’t that strong, but I think we can use all of it if we need to.”

Reina muttered as she looked around and then opened the bag I was carrying. She pulled something out and placed it on the ground.

“Ugh, it’s heavy. Rudion, could you take this over there?”

What she had pulled out was a glass container filled with a sealed magic stone.

When she said they were going to work near the Empire, I had already suspected something like this, but seeing a magic stone the size of a person’s head in front of me definitely felt ominous.

I placed the glass container where she pointed, and Reina began pouring her magical energy into it.

It wasn’t long before the container shattered, and the magic stone began to glow.

As that happened, the ominous energy rising from the ground started to get sucked into the magic stone.

As the demon-tainted earth began to return to its original state, the purple-hued magic stone slowly began to turn black.

Just as most of the land had returned to its original appearance, a crack suddenly appeared in the magic stone.

Then, black smoke began to seep out, forming into a shape.

“…Huh?”

Seeing that, Reina murmured in surprise.

“What’s wrong?”

“No… it should’ve been two, but why is there only one?”

That’s right.

Reina had said she was going to capture a Liches and a Death Knight. The magic stone was probably set up to summon exactly those two.

But now, what was forming in front of us was only one.

And if that’s the case… could it be…?

“Uuughh… Grrr, Grrrrrr!!!”

Oh no, it really merged.

A Lich + Death Knight combo: the appearance of a Lichknight.

Reina glanced at me and asked quietly.

“Hmm… Rudion? Is this even possible?”

Uh, professor? A Lichknight is something that students preparing for graduation would only be able to fight if they were well-prepared.

But since I was her teaching assistant, there was only one answer I could give from the perspective of a graduate student.

“Well… I’ll try.”

If the professor says so, I guess I have no choice.