Chapter 73
A golden weekend morning, right after the midterm exams.
The front gate of Keyzen was bustling with students trying to head down to Rochest.
On one side of the gate, carriages that had been booked in advance were lined up, waiting. Students hoping to go for picnics to the valley or the beach were busy haggling with the coachmen.
While some students were excitedly looking forward to a blissful holiday,
“Ah—seriouslyyy! What is this!”
There were also students hanging on to a rampaging wild hippo from the early hours of the weekend.
Maelyn was on the verge of tears.
“I must be crazy! Monster cooking recipes, my ass...!”
To be stuck in a mess like this on a golden weekend.
She felt like going back in time and smacking herself on the head, just like someone once said.
Here’s how it all started.
Maelyn and Kamibarez had begged Simon to teach them Hongpeng’s monster cooking recipes, and Simon sent a letter to Hongpeng.
Hongpeng responded gladly and informed them of the time and meeting place.
And when Simon’s group, fully prepared, arrived at the meeting spot, four hippos were grazing leisurely.
…That was it.
“Hey, Maelyn! You know you’re in a pretty dangerous position right now, right?”
Dick, hanging from the rear hippo, teased her as usual, but Maelyn shot him a look full of scorn.
“I’m wearing shorts under today, you lunatic!”
“Oh, so that’s a no-go.”
“Get off and try it yourself, I swear.”
Growling as she crushed Dick with sheer force, she turned her head slightly.
Kamibarez now hung with a resigned expression, while Simon—
‘…Ugh, seriously, why is he always so good at riding these things.’
Simon had his legs wrapped firmly around the hippo’s torso, keeping perfect balance. Only instructors rode like that, it was another level of stability.
After that exhausting ride, the four finally reached their destination.
“Haah! Whew! Ugh, that was brutal! We just got here and I’m already out of energy.”
Dick bent over, hands on his knees, panting. Maelyn and Kamibarez were already lying flat on the grass.
Only Simon stood upright, calmly reviewing Hongpeng’s letter.
“Let’s rest a bit and then head out.”
Hongpeng had said that while teaching monster recipes wasn’t difficult, they’d need something to cook first. So she’d proposed a mission: to hunt a monster called the Nusluck.
According to Hongpeng, the Nusluck was an invasive species causing ecological damage and wreaking havoc in the forest of Roke Mountain.
It originally lived inland, but somehow made its way to Roke Mountain, and its population exploded due to its monstrous appetite and reproduction rate.
Hongpeng’s task: hunt down the alpha specimen of the Nusluck.
Since they would be butchering and eating it after the hunt, it was crucial to capture the boss monster with as few injuries as possible.
“Ugh, no matter how I think about it, this feels like a scam.”
Maelyn muttered as she sat up. Simon soothed her with a gentle voice.
“I’m sure Professor Hongpeng has her reasons. It’s good practice for us too, right?”
“…Well, that’s true.”
“Simon!”
Kamibarez came running over to him in a hurry.
“What’s wrong, Kami?”
She darted behind Simon’s back and extended a trembling hand, visibly tense.
“Th-there!”
Simon turned his head.
Three Nuslucks, having caught the scent of humans, were shambling toward them.
They had short, stocky builds covered in teal fur, and their faces looked like a cross between a gorilla and a pig.
“This is insane. We’re supposed to eat those things today?”
Maelyn grimaced, while Dick chuckled.
“Honestly, I think it might taste alright. Kinda like monkey meat?”
“I’ve never had that before!”
—Grrruk!
The Nuslucks began charging.
‘Ah, come to think of it.’
Simon glanced back at his teammates.
They were busily preparing black magic and now stared at Simon with wide eyes, wondering what was going on.
‘This is our first time actually fighting together like this.’
During the Cyclops evaluation, they were restricted to set positions, but today was different. They could fully cooperate as a team.
Simon felt a strange thrill at the thought and turned to face forward.
“Let’s begin.”
Simon pulled an imaginary lever.
From subspace, he summoned skeletons armed with spears and shields. The shield-bearing skeleton rushed forward, clashing directly with the Nusluck.
Clash!
The Nusluck’s main weapons were sharp claws and teeth. While the shield skeleton blocked its attacks, a spear skeleton circled behind and drove its weapon forward.
With a thunk, the spear tip dug into the Nusluck’s torso. But its dense muscles kept the blow from piercing through.
“Excuse me.”
At that moment, Dick approached smoothly and lightly tapped the skeleton’s spear.
‘Enchant.’
The spear turned pitch-black and shot through the Nusluck’s body, bursting out the other side. Its eyes rolled back as it collapsed, limp.
“Watch out, more incoming from the sides.”
“We can see that!”
Fwoosh!
Standing on the right, Maelyn swung her arm, and black flames leapt onto the Nuslucks, causing them to thrash in agony.
“Haah!”
To Simon’s left, Kamibarez took a kneeling stance and fired a Bloodshot.
As soon as the Bloodshot hit the Nusluck’s body, it exploded with a boom, violently tearing apart its upper half in one blow.
Simon also sprang into action.
He summoned three skeleton archers from subspace, and drew out a 1-gold bow he’d received for free from a weapon shop.
‘Load.’
Srrk.
Simon and the skeletons nocked their arrows in sync and pulled their strings taut.
‘Fire!’
With the command, Simon released the strength from his right hand, and not one but four arrows flew through the air.
Fwwsh!
They struck the oncoming Nusluck mid-charge.
Two in the head, two in the chest, the creature died instantly and collapsed.
‘Reload.’
Click. Creak.
Simon and the skeleton archers smoothly reloaded their arrows.
‘Fire!’
This time, each arrow flew in a different direction. Nuslucks emerging from the bushes dropped one by one, each struck cleanly by a single arrow.
“Front! More coming from the front!”
Dick shouted. Over six Nuslucks were charging at once from the thicket.
Seeing that, Maelyn called out,
“Simon! Kami and I have the firepower covered, so focus more on tanking!”
“Okay.”
One of the summoner’s strengths was the ability to adapt fluidly to the flow of battle.
Simon recalled the archers back into subspace and summoned regular skeletons again.
Then, using alternating deployment, he lined up six shield-bearing skeletons in a single file.
“Enchant going in!”
Dick pulled a shield from his subspace, cast an enchantment, and handed it to a skeleton without one. In the blink of an eye, the defensive line was complete.
Thud!
Boom!
The charging Nuslucks slammed into the shield wall with their full weight. Simon gritted his teeth and held the formation together.
Hold!
He connected to the thoughts of skeletons 1, 3, and 5, then to 2, 4, and 6, repeating the cycle.
Even a momentary lapse in connection would weaken the defense, so he had to maintain the formation through continuous alternation.
“…Ugh! We can’t hold for long!”
“Time to swap the skeletons, Simon!”
Simon looked up. Maelyn had risen high into the air, a black flame blazing in her palm. She spun once in the air and slashed her arm downward.
<Dark Flare>
Fwooooosh!
The black flames descended over the Nuslucks’ heads, erupting in a massive explosion. The skeletons pulled back just in time, escaping the blast.
It was near-perfect control. Ashes, charred pitch-black, crumbled before the shield wall.
“Nice, Maelyn!”
“Of course.”
She landed gracefully, swept her side bangs behind her ear, and smiled.
Grrruk!
Then, from behind her, a Nusluck lunged.
She whipped around, her sky-blue hair swirling.
BOOM!
A bright-red explosion erupted in the monster’s body, dropping it to its knees. In the distance, Kamibarez could be seen lowering her hand.
“Thanks, Kami!”
“Yes!”
Having cleared the first wave, Simon’s group began advancing. They pushed deeper into the forest, taking down the Nuslucks one by one as they emerged.
Maybe it was thanks to the Cyclops evaluation. The four of them were working together almost flawlessly.
“Damn, this is intense.”
Dick, having just cleaved a Nusluck’s torso, turned to speak.
One part of the forest had already been scorched black by Maelyn’s firepower.
“But hey Maelyn, is it really okay to use fire-element black magic in such a dense forest? What if it causes a wildfire?”
“Idiot.”
Maelyn frowned as she drew another magic circle.
“Flames of the Dark Flare element are artificially generated. They die out on their own over time.”
“Ah—got it.”
“So you can die out too.”
“Ooh~ nice rhyme!”
“Ugh.”
Meanwhile, Kamibarez was panting, having used too much blood. Her head started to spin, showing signs of anemia.
“Kami. Are you okay?”
Simon quickly approached and checked her condition.
Suddenly, her gaze shifted down, to the smooth nape of Simon’s neck.
Her heart began pounding wildly, and a deep thirst overwhelmed her. Her nose tingled, and her mouth opened instinctively.
Just once.
Even if just once, she wanted to sink her fangs into that spot and—
“Kami?”
“…Ha!”
Startled, she recoiled backward in a sitting position and covered her mouth. Simon tilted his head.
“What’s wrong?”
“N-n-no, it’s nothing! I’m just a little dizzy.”
“Then let’s take a break.”
Simon waved to Dick and Maelyn ahead, signaling a rest. The two, also starting to feel the fatigue, nodded in agreement.
‘Ugh… what the hell is wrong with me.’
Kamibarez buried her face in her palms.
It had been nearly five years since she last felt the instincts of a vampire. She thought she had completely suppressed it by now. But Simon kept shaking that belief.
“Kami! You okay?”
Maelyn came running. Kamibarez forced a smile and nodded.
“Hmm.”
Meanwhile, Dick was inspecting some tracks on the ground.
“There’s a good chance the boss Nusluck is nearby. There are footprints much bigger than the usual ones, looks like it was just here recently.”
“Really?”
Simon pulled something large from subspace and dropped it on the ground.
It was none other than a golem core.
“Then while we’re resting, I’ll prepare the golem. Let’s punch through the forest in one shot with this.”
“Oh, good idea!”
Simon dug slightly into the ground and placed the golem core atop it. Then, he connected his thoughts to the core and began invoking Darkness.
Creeeak. Creak.
Soil began clumping magnetically around the golem core. Everyone watched with awe, it was their first time seeing a golem being formed.
Thud! Thud!
Just as one-third of the golem was complete, they heard an especially heavy footstep.
Dick drew his sword and shouted.
“Everyone, be careful! Something’s coming this way!”
Superb.