Even a Scoundrel Gets Tired

31 – Midterm Evaluation (6)

It wasn’t difficult to find the source of the blood-tinged air.

The deeper we ventured, the more evidence of some sort of explosion remained,

Lingering traces of magic suffused the air.

With each step, the surrounding scenery grew more appalling,

Until a thick, acrid smoke veiled our eyes,

And the stench of something burnt assaulted our nostrils.

As the smoke cleared,

We could finally see the figures of several students.

It would be a barefaced lie to say any were unscathed.

Arms bleeding freely, legs splinted, filled the scene, cries of pain echoing.

Scraps of torn, black material lay scattered around,

Along with fragments of magic stones, shattered on the ground.

“Hey! Are you alright?”

“I…I can’t…anymore…sob…”

“I… I give up!”

Judging by the current state of things, it’s clear they fought against the magical beasts, but…

Could they have been hurt this badly?

The Academy’s purpose is evaluation, after all.

Two students should be able to easily defeat a single beast.

Especially since magical beasts lack true intelligence.

They are born from magic itself, and crave more of it.

Some say they yearn for a parental presence.

Others claim their bodies are, in fact, made of pure magical energy.

Still others believe they grow stronger by consuming sufficient magic.

The exact reason remains unknown, but

it’s an established fact that they crave magic,

and they choose slaughter as their method of obtaining it.

All living creatures, even if only faintly, possess magical energy within their bodies,

and the beasts absorb this energy by consuming them.

Their danger level can be assessed with magic stones embedded somewhere nearby,

categorized into the following ranks: Lowest, Low, Mid, High, Highest.

Among these, the magical beasts used for the Academy’s evaluations are

Lowest to Low rank.

Even Low-rank beasts could be defeated by students, albeit with some difficulty,

provided they worked together.

So, I can’t grasp this situation at all.

Dozens of students are visibly injured,

and the remains of countless magical beasts litter the ground.

It’s absurd for Low-rank or lower beasts to gather in such numbers,

and even more bizarre that so many students suffered severe injuries.

Nursing these questions, I cautiously advance towards the gruesome scene,

when a certain student catches my eye.

The man is surrounded by many people,

wearing numerous artifacts on his person,

calmly attempting to manage the situation.

Albert, the eldest son of the Iris Duchy, a man I always found somewhat imposing,

was there.

*

“Haha… Meeting you in a situation like this?”

“What happened?”

Seeing me, Albert visibly regained some color as he approached.

I immediately fired off the question I wanted answered.

Whatever variable caused this much damage, even with so many students involved…

I want nothing to do with it.

In this fight, resolved to avoid any variables as much as possible,

I inquired as to his identity.

And the truth that tumbled from his lips,

was more than enough to leave me reeling.

*

A few hours prior.

Albert was dealing with the stream of students crowding his group.

“Young Duke Albert, won’t you consider an alliance with our group…”

“Albert, a request for alliance…”

“Perhaps you already have an alliance…”

As the son of one of the four great ducal houses, and a top-ranked student,

he was constantly approached by students seeking to form alliances.

If Albert refused, the disadvantage was theirs,

driving them to him, nearly begging,

and for Albert, it was a proposition without a single drawback.

‘Even if it’s just to keep Isabella in check,

building a power base wouldn’t be so bad.’

Though not quite as sharp-minded as his younger sister,

he was still the eldest son of the Iris ducal house.

He was acutely aware of how to weigh his own gains and losses,

and as a result, he knew all too well how to ensure he only ever profited.

And so, he accepted all their offers,

before long, he reigned as their leader, molding their power,

his chest swelling with the conviction that he could now defeat those ranked above him.

Then,

a strange report came in from the reconnaissance team sent to scout the forest.

It seemed the monsters were converging somewhere.

Soon after, reports came in from other directions as well, speaking of monsters gathering,

and since monsters didn’t typically act in groups,

the mystery deepened.

Why?

Was there a reason?

There wasn’t an overwhelming amount of magic emanating from anywhere.

So, what reason could they have to move together like that?

The pondering didn’t last long.

Because of something one student uttered.

“…If we take down those beasts… how many points would that be worth…?”

It could have just been a question blurted out in simple curiosity.

Or perhaps a sentiment swallowed down, forced back into the depths of the heart.

But those who heard the words

soon began to contemplate it with earnest.

“Right…? They definitely give points for taking down beasts…”

“No, but that’s… that’s too many, isn’t it?”

“…We could earn that many points, maybe…”

They, too, knew it.

They had certainly taken down beasts along the way,

but it was nothing compared to that number.

If things went south, the gap between them and other teams

might be closed because of those creatures.

They couldn’t stop themselves,

and soon it spilled out in words.

“…How about we try taking them?”

“We… we won’t die, they said…”

“Maybe our ranking will go way up…”

Their desire became my choice, as their leader,

and I could understand the look in their eyes all too well.

Greed.

The most important emotion, the family had

constantly emphasized and taught.

A vomitingly repulsive and disgusting feeling

slowly bloomed in their eyes,

and before I knew it, it had

crept into my own heart as well.

‘If only we could take them all down…’

‘With that many, we could handle it, right…?’

‘We still have uses of the Artifact left… and those beasts have no intelligence…’

Someone seemed to be constantly

whispering within my mind.

I was overcome with avarice.

It felt like I could reach out and touch it.

My emotions heightened; I couldn’t suppress the excitement.

The thought that I could beat those above me wouldn’t leave my head,

and though I wasn’t sure if I was making the right decision…

‘I can’t betray their expectations…’

Using that cowardly excuse as justification,

I made the choice to hunt monsters, to sate my desires.

Of course, those who craved it raised their hands in joyful welcome,

and with a unified heart, went to inspect their gear.

Watching them, I questioned my decision until the very end,

but I couldn’t reverse a choice made purely from my own unease.

With that thought, I set out to find the monsters,

and word came that they were gathering in the eastern forest.

Everyone seemed to have already finished their share,

talking about bonus points,

excitedly predicting their rankings.

I had nearly arrived at the place where the monsters were supposedly gathering when

a sense of unease began to slowly creep in.

Rather than feeling a large amount of demonic energy around us,

the concentration of magic felt normal, almost mundane.

No matter how much I thought, there was no reason for monsters to gather here,

but I didn’t have the luxury of considering other explanations.

The monsters were vaguely visible,

and the surrounding students seemed to be itching to catch them.

It felt like they were ready to charge at them the moment I gave the word,

and I, too, couldn’t afford to forget about the bonus points

with that many monsters right in front of me.

Before I knew it, I was at the vanguard, charging toward them.

Many students followed close behind,

they too seemed to have nothing but the monsters in their sights.

The monsters noticed us and attacked,

and so the melee began.

Tentacle forms,

wolf shapes,

even plant-like figures.

Various monsters rushed at us head-on,

and I immediately shattered the jaws of the wolf lunging at me.

As the number of monsters I’d dealt with passed from one, to two, and climbed towards six,

a shared question arose in the minds of several students, including myself.

From a certain point onwards, the monsters were merely surrounding us, not attacking.

Weren’t monsters supposed to lack intelligence?

Wasn’t the very nature of a monster to rush forward without hesitation, driven only by the slaughter of living things?

The instant that thought flickered through my mind,

a scream echoed from the rear, from a space a little further away.

“aaagh!!!”

Wha… what *is* that?!”

It took mere seconds for terror to bloom in the eyes of the students positioned there,

and at once I, too, understood the source of the nagging déjà vu.

Why were mana-less creatures gathering in a single place?

Why would so many mana-less creatures congregate where there was no magic?

Could these creatures, so disparate in form, have reached some silent consensus?

Finally, the truth I’d known all along, yet willfully ignored, resurfaced.

The professor had once explained:

“[As a point of reference, when mana-less creatures gather en masse, it typically signifies one of two things.]

[Firstly, a concentration of mana so potent it drives them wild.]

[That’s the usual culprit, the most common reason.]”

That’s what the professor had said.

Moreover, it was the Academy’s mid-term assessment, so the second possibility

hadn’t even crossed my mind, but now there was no denying it.

The second possibility was unfolding before us.

“[And, well, secondly…]”

During the Academy’s assessments, we mostly encounter the lowest and low-tier creatures.

We had even been guilty of underestimating them, thinking they’d be manageable enough.

But the spectacle before me defied any such complacency.

Large.

Undeniably, overwhelmingly large.

A colossal wolf, easily three meters tall, clamped its jaws around a student’s torso, and

its crimson eyes sent a chilling premonition through our souls.

Despite being a wolf, the vertically slit pupils

were reminiscent of a dragon from legends, and

its pitch-black form, like a shadow given life,

allowed it to evade our attacks with unnerving ease.

The fluid dripping from its maw dissolved our armor, and

the shreds of flesh torn from its victims scattered across the ground.

Even a mere flick of its massive paw

shattered trees and sent students flying, crashing to earth.

With a single howl, the lesser creatures surged forward in unison, as if

their actions were dictated by even the smallest of its guttural growls.

“[A creature capable of commanding them has appeared.]”

An entity that could control the lowest and low-tier creatures,

the emergence of a Mid-Tier creature.