Chapter 88 – Field Training to Decide the Winner (6)

Inside a dark and damp cave.
Aleksandr Sergei, a second year student at the Knights Club of Parenzia Academy, was waiting for his new students with his eyes wide open for the second day.
Height 2 meters and weight 130 kg.
The two ax blades held in both hands, the size of pot lids, are blue.

Hehe… “What kind of people will come in?”

Recently, during training, he caught a giant centipede on Mt. Hover and even received an earnest offer from the Knights to join, so he had nothing to fear.
All the monsters in the dungeon that the soldiers had left for the new students had been slaughtered to the bone.
Unfortunately, he will show the bitter taste of the world to the poor lamb who chose the place he guards.
He truly looked like an apostate monk who broke the commandment to kill, or a warrior drunk on blood.

Turf, plod, trudge.

My keen senses caught the sign of the cave entrance.

‘Are you alone? Tsk, what a loser. ‘A poor guy got caught.’

A guy who abandons his colleagues and tries to pass the practical training is trash.
The hand holding the ax went into strength.

In fact, luck was very influential in this exercise.
No matter how good your exploration skills are, there is no way to beat the second year student you encounter in the dungeon if he or she is a very talented person.
Especially if a first year student attacks Sergei, a warrior from the Shakel Alliance.
Finally, just in time for a black figure to pop out around the corner, he gave a light greeting.

“Die, freshman!!!”

〈Black Magic: Sura Gwangpung Daejeon Pier ⌜修羅狂風大回轉斧頭斬⌟〉

The ax, loaded with magical energy and thrown with all its might, flew down the wall and stuck in the hilt.
A destructive force that can cause injuries that require at least a month of recuperation no matter where it hits.
However, Sergei immediately sensed the strangeness of the situation.

‘Did you avoid it?’

As always, I couldn’t hear the sound of the other person flying after being hit by the ax I threw.

“Wow, fuck. Hey, are you just throwing yourself to death?”
“… Who is it? “You’re not a freshman.”
“I’m not like that, so please give me the doll behind you for a moment.”

A man I see for the first time.
But strong.

I can’t let down my guard.
As the man approached, Sergei swung the axe’s blade sideways.
A devastating blow that separates the head from the heart.
But——

Sigh!

“Damn. Hey, are you really a student? “Some kind of engineer club is full of monsters.”
“W-What on earth…?” … !”

The hand holding the blade does not move even an inch.
The ax blade aimed at the neck moves further and further away.
He whimpered with both hands because one hand was not enough, but the difference in power that could not be seen on the outside was absolute.

“Nenoom!! “A strange hex!!”
“Oh, get out of here. “Someone like Ronnie Coleman dipped in white chocolate.”

Luis roughly shook off his hand and Sergei was thrown away.
Ignoring the man who rolled on the ground in unison with the ax he had thrown, Lewis picked up the doll placed at the end of the dungeon.

“Where did you get this?”
“Call, Cough! I received it from my sister! “It’s not something that someone like you should dare touch!!”

The strong exploit and the weak are robbed.
In the first place, Sergei had no intention of giving even a strand of his hair to the weaker first-year students.
That’s why he placed the most precious thing he had – the doll his sister gave him when he left his hometown, telling her not to forget him.

“You’re saying that’s all black magic, dude. Are you being deceived now?”
“Conflict!!!! “Are you insulting my sister now?”

A doll that looks just like my sister, made with great care by the hands of a hard-working married woman.
After a grown man rejected the doll and asked if he wanted it, his sister, who was crying, took it secretly.

“Look at this? Even though it looks like a doll on the outside, if you take off the hair…”
“I can’t let go of those dirty hands right now…” … !!”

Squeaky.

“…”
“…”

The two men stared blankly at the doll with fluttering cotton for a moment.
Lewis was the first to break the silence, making eye contact with the doll with a dangling neck and a nervous expression.

“What, is it real?”
“Click — — !!!”

***

As the sun set on the second day, Erzsebet, Adela, and Karl discovered the entrance to the dungeon.
The first thing I did was search around and there seemed to be no other teams nearby.
It was getting dark, and the dungeon entrance was quite well hidden by rocks and grass.
Just as Hergé Bette was wondering whether he should spend the night and go home tomorrow, Adela walked straight in front of her.

“Ah, Adela! Wait a minute… !”
“?”
“It’s dangerous if you go in blindly. “Is there a plan?”
“I don’t have any.”
“Then wait a moment. “We don’t even know what’s inside yet.”

The three sat on the floor for a while, filling their stomachs and planning a strategy.
There are two main enemies to deal with in the dungeon: monsters and second-year students who take on the role of guardians.
The possibility of other traps cannot be ruled out.

“First, send Pii to scout.”
“That… “Princess.”
“Yes?”
“Can you do it?”
“What do you mean, Carl? That’s the role of a familiar. “You can do it, right?”
“…”
“P, pee… ?”
“Pi—.”

Just looking at it, it seemed like he didn’t want to do anything.
Erzsebet is king… No, I could no longer show my teammates how Sovereign had fallen to the ground.
So, as I approached the dungeon entrance while holding on to Pii, he started flapping his wings and screaming ‘pipipipi!’ I started crying.
Extreme crisis detection ability.
It was the same reaction as when I first met Lewis in the past.

“Just go in.”

Adela said, looking at Pii who was scared.

“Because the people inside won’t change anyway.”
“…”
“…”

The three cautiously entered the dungeon.
Although the western forest is called a forest, it is a rocky area that was formed before Parenzia was cleared, so the shape of the dungeon was closer to a natural cave.
Listening to the sound of dripping water, the three moved further and further inside.
As the eerie air passed over my body, the amount of light gradually decreased.

“There isn’t a single ray of light.”
“Shall we light the torch, princess?”
“Would you please?”
“Yes, I understand. Adela?”

At Carl’s request, Adela handed over the entire bag she was carrying.
Carl lit the oiled wooden perch inside and sensed something strange.

‘The ceiling… ‘Is it black?’

The walls and floor were all brown, but the light from the torch did not reach the ceiling.
There’s a fishy smell that slightly tickles your nose.
The moment something startled and attacked his raised hand as a group, Carl hurriedly pulled out his sword and shouted.

“It’s a wombat!!”
— Kieeeee!!

The giant bats that were hanging from the ceiling rushed towards the three people.
Before the strong wings and sharp claws could scratch her body, Erzebet hurriedly activated 〈 Wind Blade 〉 and 〈 Barrier 〉.
Carl also struck down the bats with his sword and shouted to Adela, who was standing blankly.

“Adella! First, retreat… !”
“…”
“Adella!?”

Even in these situations, his classmate, whose thoughts were always unreadable, remained calm and only gazed beyond the long, bottomless pit.
On the one hand, that calmness was a source of will, but on the other hand, Carl felt an unexplainable sense of foreboding.

“Leave this to the two of you.”
“Ah, Adela!”

Adela made her way through the wombats, holding her ice pick in one hand as if it were her walking stick.
She knew who was waiting for her at the end of the cave.

A dark shadow fell on the aquamarine-like eyes.
With a cold gaze and an even colder voice, she spoke to the other side of the darkness.

“Don’t hide, come out.”
“… “Who is hiding?”

What appears is Liv, who spreads beauty like the queen of the night even in this dark cave.

“Welcome, junior.”
“…”
“Do we have much to talk about?”
“There is only one.”
“If you think about it, yes, but…”

She also raised her staff and glared at Adella with her black-purple eyes.

“The results will be very different from last time.”

***

Coo!

Sergei’s body fell with his eyes closed and made a loud sound.
I threw the broken ax blade on the floor and slapped his hand away.

“No, this bastard is so big and distracting, why does she carry around a real doll?”

Let the sun shine. You were in vain.
I was even surprised that they were trying to kill me like an enemy of the Buddha.
Have you ever met before?
I don’t remember very well.

Anyway, as she was about to go to the coordinates she had obtained by threatening Lehel, a crystal ball she had kept in her pocket fell to the floor.
It illuminated the dungeon where Liv was staying, and when I picked it up, I saw two familiar figures.

“… “Have you really met?”

Adela and Liv were standing facing each other, just like Sergei was when I pulled out the doll’s head a moment ago.
It’s definitely not a good atmosphere.
I thought that someone might get seriously hurt if I did that.
As I was wondering whether I should go stop them, I heard Lehel’s voice coming from the crystal ball.

— Oh, boss? The difficulty level has increased here?
“What do you mean?”
— You told me to tell you if anything happens. Monsters are evolving at one of the coordinates you asked me about earlier!
“But why are you just watching?”
— Four?

Now that I think about it, wouldn’t it be faster if Lehel, who has a teleportation gate, went directly than if I ran by foot?
It also seems that her crisis management skills have dropped to the bottom.

Those with inherent magic are insane.

For Lehel, who had become numb to most stimuli for a long time, real life seemed like a show on TV.
Whether or not sand is mixed into the soldiers’ pay, or whether monsters turn into magical beasts.
If it’s fun, you just laugh and show curious reactions.
After all, gambling addiction needs to be treated.

“It’s not going away quickly!?”
— Heehee! Go, I’ll go! I’m going now!
“Go and clean them all up, and if there are dolls inside, don’t destroy them. Bring them to me.”

First, after sending Lehel away, I sighed and checked the coordinates of the location where Liv and Adella were shown.
I wanted to leave it to each other to resolve the issue, but the atmosphere was unusual.
I was worried that a blood-spraying slaughter might break out at any moment, so while I was running while checking the crystal ball, I made eye contact with Liv, who was looking straight at me through the crystal ball.

“Huh?”

Did you notice the familiar planted in the cave?

Pop.

“Ah.”

The screen of the crystal ball that illuminated the two was completely cut off.