Seeing the Lich Knight appear, Reina pretended to be somewhat bewildered.
Yes, it was an act. Her expression and tone didn’t at all resemble someone who was genuinely confused.
“Seems like something went wrong with the coordination. This is really a big deal.”
“Your tone doesn’t sound like someone who’s worried about a big deal.”
“Well… It’s a bit off, but it’s still within acceptable limits.”
Her definition of “acceptable” is pretty broad.
“Then, Rudion. I’ll prepare for the capture, so I’ll leave the rest to you for now. It doesn’t matter if you get hurt, but do be careful for now!”
Well, since she said she’s preparing, I should draw the aggro.
I ran toward the Lich Knight, poking its side with my sword to get its attention, then dashed in the opposite direction of where Reina was.
“Gwoooahh!!”
Whether my provocation worked or not, the Lich Knight quickly started chasing me. The sound of its heavy armor clanking was loud with every step it took.
The Lich Knight. Literally a mix of a Lich and a Death Knight.
It’s a creature that couldn’t be encountered with normal methods in the original work, but here it is.
Its appearance was no different from a Death Knight wielding a sword, but what set the Lich Knight apart was its use of magic.
Thanks to the Death Knight’s armor, it was extremely resistant to physical attacks, and with the Lich’s characteristics, it also had exceptionally high magic defense.
It could be said that it was a creature that maximized the strengths and complemented the weaknesses of both mages and warriors.
A monster that embodied the concept of balance.
Boom!
Kwang!
The massive sword of the Lich Knight swung toward me.
It wasn’t as fast as I expected, so I dodged it without even needing to use my evasion skill. However, thinking about it now, I might have been too slow to react to an attack that could’ve been dangerous.
But honestly, it didn’t feel all that dangerous.
I wonder if the training I did with Lilith affected me.
Anyway, the Lich Knight was trying everything to hit me—swinging its sword and casting spells—creating all kinds of chaos. But compared to facing Seria’s serious magic barrage, it felt more like child’s play.
“Professor, how much longer?”
“Almost done.”
I was getting tired of stalling, so I asked, and that was the response I got.
So, it seemed like it was almost over, but then someone barged in between me and the Lich Knight.
“Hold on!!”
I saw someone running toward us from a distance, and it turned out to be the Necromancer who was playing the villain in this episode.
A whiny voice. Wild, unkempt hair. Thick, horn-rimmed glasses. A short and chubby body. Scruffy, ragged clothing that looked like it had been thrown together.
There was no mistaking it—he looked utterly unlikable.
Wow, he’s really ugly… Maybe it’s because I’ve been seeing handsome people at the academy lately, but seeing someone below average was kind of fascinating. How could someone be so uniquely unattractive?
The ugly guy started whining and demanding something from me.
“I-I did it! I did everything here! So this one is mine too!”
It seemed like he was claiming ownership of the Lich Knight, arguing that he was the one who contaminated this land and therefore it belonged to him.
The way he looked at the Lich Knight with sparkling eyes made it clear he was imagining controlling it and going on a rampage… Unfortunately, such things weren’t going to happen.
If he had the ability to control it, he wouldn’t have been a villain who got taken out early on.
At that moment, the Lich Knight let out a roar.
“Gwoooohhh!!”
I’m not sure if it felt anger for the first time after being toyed with by my dodging and parrying.
To be honest, with its skull helm and armor combination, I couldn’t even tell if it was capable of feeling emotions.
But one thing was certain… The necromancer who had blocked its path was, unlike me, a perfect piece of meat that was easy to cut down.
“Wait! Stop! Follow my orders!”
“Gwoooohh!!”
The necromancer tried casting some useless magic in an attempt to control the Lich Knight, but the result was inevitable.
Screech—
The Lich Knight’s sword neatly severed the necromancer’s left arm from his body.
“Uh…?”
I could have helped, but I didn’t particularly want to throw myself into saving a villain.
Unlike the main characters, I didn’t really feel any attachment, so I didn’t feel any particular emotion either.
It might have been because Reina, who could heal, was right next to me. At least I didn’t feel any sympathy for seeing the guy in pain.
“AAAHH!! My arm!! My arm!!”
The loud screams and the blood flowing out were, however, quite disgusting.
When I saw his twisted limbs earlier, I’d been too disoriented to think much of it, but seeing it clearly now… I realized it was definitely nauseating.
But at least he wasn’t dead. Once the capture was over, Reina could treat him properly.
Just then, Reina shouted toward me.
“Rudion! I’m ready, so try to keep him from moving!”
It seemed like she was all set, so I lightly swung my shortsword.
Clang!
The attack from the Lich Knight, which had gotten close to me and swung its greatsword, was deflected, and the heavy armor-clad body was knocked backward.
At the same time, Reina threw the magic stone she had been fiddling with at the fallen Lich Knight.
The magic stone absorbed the Lich Knight entirely and began emitting energy as though it was about to explode, but once Reina picked it up and infused it with mana, it gradually settled down.
“Arm!! My arm!! AAAAAAHH!!”
Reina, who had been focusing on the magic stone without paying much attention to the guy screaming next to her, finally shifted her gaze to the necromancer once the stone had fully calmed.
She kicked the severed arm, sending it rolling toward the necromancer’s side, and then proceeded to heal him.
It looked incredibly half-hearted, but the results were anything but lackluster.
The severed arm reattached.
“AAAHHH!! AAAHH!!”
But he kept screaming as if he didn’t even realize he was healed… until suddenly, Reina performed a spinning kick and slammed her foot into the back of his neck.
“Ugh.”
Thud.
Once the loud screams were cut off, the area instantly became quiet.
“…Wow, that was bold. Our professor.”
“Don’t be sarcastic. I was going to knock him out anyway, even if he calmed down.”
Reina casually said this as she tucked the magic stone containing the Lich Knight into her pocket.
A magical beast in a pocket… It reminded me of some cartoon, though I figured it wouldn’t be good to say the name.
After successfully capturing the Lich Knight, Reina and I mounted our horses and headed back to the Empire.
I had decided to carry the unconscious necromancer, but as a result, the weight of the load, which had lightened due to the use of magic stones, returned to almost the same as before.
“Should we go back to the academy?”
“No. Please head to the knights’ order.”
When Reina returned to the Empire, she said this to the stableman.
It couldn’t be helped. I couldn’t bring the necromancer to the academy.
Even though the nearest knights’ order was quite far away, there seemed to be a lot of procedures to go through to hand over the necromancer, so we were delayed quite a bit… but with this, I could consider the incident resolved.
I ended up solving something I hadn’t planned on.
After returning to the academy as quickly as possible, it was already well past midnight, and dawn had arrived.
“Good job. It’s late, so hurry up and go rest.”
“Thank you, Professor, for your hard work as well.”
I parted ways with Reina at the entrance and was on my way back to the male dorm alone.
The messenger I had put in my bag buzzed.
Who could it be at this hour?
I pulled out the messenger to check, and it was the person who always sent me messages.
[Seria: Rudion.]
…Seria? Wait, why isn’t she asleep yet? She usually goes to bed by 10.
Seria’s messages continued.
[Seria: I guess you’re back.]
[Seria: I was worried because you were late.]
[Seria: What happened? Why are you just getting back now?]
[Seria: Actually, never mind. I’ll hear it from you directly, so you don’t need to reply.]
[Seria: Just come back to the dorm for now.]
She wants me to come back? Is she waiting outside?
With that thought, I quickened my pace, and as I was walking, I ran into Seria walking toward me.
When Seria reached me, she smiled with a tired face.
“…Rudion. Welcome back.”
“What are you doing up at this hour?”
“I was waiting for you, but you didn’t send any messages… I thought maybe you’d forgotten again, so I tried messaging you.”
Seria said this while pulling out her own messenger and showing me the messages she had tried to send.
There they were, all the messages Seria had tried to send me.
[Seria: Rudion? Did you get back safely? (Message failed)]
[Seria: Are you still not back? (Message failed)]
[Seria: It’s already past 10. (Message failed)]
[Seria: You still haven’t come? (Message failed)]
[Seria: Still not back? (Message failed)]
[Seria: Rudion. (Message failed)]
[Seria: Rudion. (Message failed)]
[Seria: Rudion. (Message failed)]
[Seria: Rudion. (Message failed)]
…What is this? It’s kind of creepy.
Maybe it’s because the “Message failed” notifications were highlighted in bright red, but seeing my name repeatedly like that sent a chill down my spine.
But Seria, unfazed, continued with what she was saying.
“So… I waited until you came back.”
“What would you have done if I didn’t come back today?”
“…Good question. But since you’re back now, isn’t that all that matters?”
Seriously, no plan at all. I’m grateful that she waited, but…
I couldn’t just send Seria off after waiting for me like that, so I decided to walk her to the girls’ dorm.
It’s against the rules to go near the dorms of the opposite gender, but at this hour, no one would see us.
I didn’t realize how naive that thought was until it didn’t take long to realize my mistake.
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