Chapter 41

Chapter 41: Killing the Talented Freaks (3)

After eliminating the Grade 2 Karin.

“Ehehe…….”

I put Karin’s band and the bands of the students she had defeated into the small bag, then lifted the corners of my mouth in satisfaction.

All of these bands added up to 150 points.

If I added the score of the band I was wearing as well, that made a total of 180 points.

I only needed 20 more points to reach my target score.

And 20 points were enough to fill up even by catching only a Low-Grade Student.

Things had gone better than expected.

After finishing the score calculation, I glanced at Viole, who was smiling brightly.

“Ahaha…….”

“What are you doing?”

Even though the situation was over, Viole still had not taken her eyes off me and was maintaining a posture as if she were ready to swing her mace at any moment.

“I just feel like you might try to take my band too?”

“Huh?”

My face twisted on its own.

“If you really think that, isn’t there no point in being on guard like that? If we are only talking about combat ability, you are the easiest one to deal with among the Grade 2 students here.”

“Urgh…….”

Viole’s lips pressed tightly shut after I struck right where it hurt.

“I do not know about the other Grade 2 students, but you cannot beat me.”

When I told her nothing but the plain truth, Viole’s face grew gloomy.

“And yet, you still did not want to have your band taken from you? Hah, that is funny. Truly.”

“Do you have to say it like that? I know. I know that much…….”

“I am sure you do. That is why you should team up with me.”

“…Huh?”

Viole’s eyes widened into circles.

“A t-team? After saying all that, you are saying you want to team up with me?”

“I am saying we should get through this safely together. You do not want to be eliminated either, do you?”

There was a reason I had tried to read Viole’s location with the Detection Curse.

It was easy to overlook because everyone was so busy taking and losing bands, but this class was not only about earning points. 

We had to enter that Ice Castle over there before we would finally be recognized as having passed.

In the first place, during the previous round, more than half of the first-year students had failed to reach that Ice Castle and ended up eliminated in this joint class.

I knew that because I had been one of those eliminated students too.

The second-year students stationed throughout this jungle would block and interfere with us when we tried to pass through the jungle.

On top of that, I also needed to be careful of the Grade 2 students. 

Especially Yulia, who was Grade 1.

My surprise attack had worked earlier, but if I encountered another Grade 2 in this physical condition, one wrong move would mean elimination.

“All you have to do is stand behind me and cast blessings on me. I will take care of the rest.”

However, if I received Viole’s blessings, even if we ran into a senior from a higher year or another Grade 2 student, I could significantly lower the chance of being eliminated.

“If we form a team, we will split the points we earn from now on in half. I do not think those are bad conditions.”

Perhaps my offer had been quite unexpected, because Viole sent me a suspicious look.

“It is good for me, but……. Why are you going this far for me?”

Well, this was an offer I could make because I knew this joint class’s system from beginning to end.

But I could not exactly tell her I had experienced it in the previous round.

After briefly thinking about what to say, I came up with a suitable excuse.

“I do not like seeing you in trouble.”

“…W-what?”

Viole froze as if she had broken down.

That was harsh. 

Just how low had my image fallen for her to react like that?

“Even among Grade 2 students, everyone is good at different things, right? Your combat ability is lacking, but you received Grade 2 because the blessings you grant are excellent, didn’t you?”

I shrugged.

“It feels a bit wrong to treat you the same way as the other Grade 2 fellows. At the very least, I should make it fair.”

This was half sincere.

Objectively speaking, she was still not skilled in combat.

Viole was probably somewhat dissatisfied with this class method as well. 

If I said it like this, she would accept it in her own way.

“And I was able to eliminate a Grade 2 student just now thanks to your blessing, so won’t our synergy be good?”

Thinking I had made up something suitable, I observed Viole’s reaction.

“What is this? You were worrying about me like that?”

Her complexion, which had stiffened for a moment, gradually brightened. 

It was proof that my words had worked well.

“Ahem……. All right. Then let’s team up.”

Hmm… But what was this? 

The way she avoided my gaze, the way her eyes moved around……. Viole’s mood had softened quite a lot. 

It seemed my proposal had worked better than I expected.

Well, it probably did not matter.

All was well that ended well.

“I nearly misunderstood you…….”

What was there to misunderstand here?

I was about to ask her what she meant, but I could not exchange any more words with her.

“It is a Grade 2!”

“There is a Grade 3 too!”

Because the group of students who had found Viole and me began approaching us all at once.

After exchanging brief glances, Viole and I took formation.

In any case, this had let me catch my breath.

I had formed a team with Viole too. 

Now, should I comfortably fill up those 20 points?

Just as I licked my lips and began calculating how many points the fellows rushing at us would be worth.

“Haha, well now.”

It was a manner of speech that seemed somehow polite, yet also sounded as if he were speaking down to others.

At that peculiar voice, the students around me, including myself, stopped moving and turned our heads toward the direction the voice had come from.

“I heard loud noises continuing from this direction, so I came to take a look……. It seems I did well to come.”

A male student with a large hammer as tall as himself braced on his shoulder leisurely appeared from between the trees.

WHOOSH…….

The body of the hammer, which looked heavy just by looking at it, was covered in swaying crimson flames.

“To think there would be this many people who could become my points. This puts me in a very good mood.”

Red hair and a lean build.

His narrow eyes, through which his pupils could not be properly seen, were especially striking.

Highsmith’s disciple, Jaeger Maximov.

Another Grade 2 talented freak currently attending the Weapon Department.

“T-that is…….”

“Damn it… Of all people…….”

At the appearance of another Grade 2 student, the nearby students were startled and hesitated to move.

“Hmm…….”

Jaeger, who had been looking over the students, fixed his gaze on Viole’s band and mine, and his narrow eyes opened slightly.

Was it because his eyes were unusual? 

I already knew he was strong, but somehow, he looked even stronger.

“To think I would meet a Grade 2 and a Grade 3 together……. I really am quite fortunate, aren’t I?”

“Haha.”

Even though I had run into another Grade 2 student, I laughed emptily with an expression of resignation.

At this point, I was too tired to curse every single time.

My fate was simply miserable, that was all.

After recognizing me and letting out a brief exclamation, Jaeger’s face brightened.

“Oh, now that I look at you, you are the person who confessed to a senior and got rejected, aren’t you?”

“Ah, damn it! This bastard and that bastard, all of them.”

There was no way curses would not come out. 

This was why students were like this.

It seemed that talented freak would not let me go peacefully either.

“Viole, focus on Strength Enhancement this time.”

***

Yulia ran toward the Ice Castle visible in the distance.

When the joint class had first begun, a few students had rushed at her to take her band, but she had subdued them without much difficulty.

As that process repeated, the students nearby no longer dared to even think of approaching her.

Since she had not been especially inclined to take other students’ bands in the first place, this was actually better for her.

There was also something personally bothering her.

‘What exactly was that……?’

Even during the Survival Joint Class, her mind was filled entirely with thoughts of her spar with Senior Lucia.

‘During the spar with Senior Lucia… the Holy Power refined inside my body trembled, even if only very slightly.’

There were two situations in which Holy Power trembled.

When one handled a great amount of Holy Power inside the body at once.

And when one came into contact with a user of Black Magic or Demonic Aura.

Senior Lucia was not a Black Magic user. 

Even when they sparred that morning, had she not used only pure combat techniques?

The intensity of the tremor had been so weak that no one but Yulia herself would have detected it, so there was a high chance it had simply trembled because she had overexerted herself, but…….

There was no harm in checking one more time.

If there was a Demonic Aura user inside this Saengterminum… it was not a matter she could ever take lightly.

‘Should I ask Senior to spar with me one more time after class ends?’

As she thought that, the distance between her and the Ice Castle gradually narrowed.

“Huh?”

Soon, she saw an interesting sight.

“Aaaagh!”

Shrill screams and shouts rang out from various places.

They had been audible from the beginning, but this time, the frequency was noticeably greater than before.

“Why are second-year seniors here?”

“Run! If we get caught, we are eliminated!”

“They will not let us pass quietly!”

Second-year seniors?

Could they have stationed second-year seniors throughout the area for the sake of this joint class?

If that was the case…….

A strange light appeared in her eyes.

‘Is Senior Lucia here too?’

She probably was. 

When Yulia had sparred with her that morning, that senior’s skills were clearly considerable even among the second-year seniors.

When Yulia had actually looked into it, Senior Lucia’s grade was Grade 2.

If they had stationed second-year seniors, it made no sense for Senior Lucia, who was Grade 2, to be absent from them.

‘I might be worrying for nothing, but…….’

Her eyes grew colder than ever.

They were cold eyes like those of an Inquisitor who judged heretics.

SHING.

The sword at her waist was drawn from its sheath with a chilling sound.

‘If my worry is true… then the matter changes.’

Having made her decision, Yulia kicked off the ground.

To find Senior Lucia, who was somewhere in this place.

***

“Ugh……. Hahat, well now…….”

Jaeger Maximov rose to his feet with a sly smile.

However, the sight of him standing up while using his warhammer as a cane clearly proved that his stamina had fallen considerably.

“I managed to protect my band somehow, but…….”

Jaeger looked down at the band on his wrist, then swept his gaze over the surroundings.

The surrounding environment, including the trees and vines, had long since been torn up or gouged out, and fires had even caught in a few places and were burning.

Professors who had appeared at some point were casting magic to extinguish the fires, but it was clear that a fairly large battle had taken place here.

The devastation caused by the battle between himself and Damon.

“…That was dangerous.”

Jaeger recalled the battle with Damon.

He mainly used a combat method in which he swung his large hammer in a circle to increase centrifugal force, then made flames burst from the hammer’s end to increase its instantaneous acceleration.

It lacked grace, but he could pride himself on having raised its destructive power as high as anyone’s.

“But to read all of those moves and oppose me by increasing the size of the greatsword created with Holy Light Forging… Just how much Holy Power do you have? It is fascinating.”

Even if the Grade 2 Viole behind him had covered his physical ability with blessings, there was still a limit.

To notice that his attack trajectory was simple, then let the attack slide past and try to counterattack just like that.

If Jaeger had not forced himself to generate a massive amount of flames, his band would already have fallen to the ground.

The best he could do in that moment had been to use the heat of the flames to force Damon completely away from him.

For a first-year student like that to be treated temporarily as Grade 3? 

It made no sense.

“Hehe……. As Master said, the world truly is vast.”

Jaeger sincerely thought he had done well to enroll in Saengterminum.