Chapter 74
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
The footsteps were growing faster. Simon's party quickly stood and scanned their surroundings.
Bursting roughly through the surrounding bushes, the monster that appeared was larger than any Nusluck they had seen before.
"That one's the boss!"
"......It really is huge."
It was two heads taller than the stubby regular Nuslucks, and its body was covered in countless wounds. Where it had been clawed, fur no longer grew, exposing raw, gruesome flesh.
—Guruk! Gururururuk!
The creature lowered its stance. In contrast to the bulging belly in front, its back was so lean and flexible that its spine was visibly protruding.
Its gaze was fixed on the golem’s core.
It had sensed the disturbance in the surrounding Darkness as Simon prepared the golem, and had come in response.
"It’s coming!"
The Nusluck charged. Simon also ran forward and shouted,
"Dick! Shield!"
"Okay!"
Dick threw the enchanted shield toward Simon. Simon grabbed the handle, pulled it up to his chin, and clashed head-on with the Nusluck.
Boom!
"Uwah!"
Simon was overpowered in the struggle and sent flying backward.
Possibly due to the impact, the clay forming the golem's arm crumbled and fell to the ground.
"Simon!"
Dick drew his sword and ran over, shouting,
"Leave this guy to us and focus on finishing the golem!"
"Got it."
"I'll cover you!"
As Simon retreated, Kamibarez fired a Bloodshot. The Nusluck, spotting the incoming projectile, casually leapt aside to dodge it. Seeing this, Dick broke into a cold sweat.
'Its reflexes are better than I thought!'
The Nusluck moved again, targeting the golem. Dick ran straight at it to block the way, but someone else leapt into the air even faster.
Fwoooosh!
With a flick of her hand, black flames rained down like a storm. The fire spread through the surrounding grass, and the Nusluck staggered back from the flames.
"That's going to be our food! Could you not burn it?"
At Dick's shout, Maelyn spun around angrily.
"Is that really what you're worried about right now? Besides! We're going to cook it with fire anyway!"
Flash!
The Nusluck began running in the opposite direction, away from the flames.
Maelyn and Dick chased after it, and Dick nodded with a serious expression.
"Now that I think about it, you're right. If it's already lightly roasted..."
"Focus, you lunatic!"
"I'm always focused."
Boom!
The Nusluck stomped the ground and leapt high, as if to jump over the two of them.
As it soared, Dick reached into subspace, pulled something out, and spun his body to hurl it behind him.
Whoosh!
A wide white net spread through the air, covering the Nusluck's path.
Dick activated a black magic spell.
'Enchant!'
The entire net turned pitch black with Darkness. Moving swiftly, Dick pulled out metal stakes and hammered them into the ground, securing the net.
"Move!"
Maelyn gathered Darkness into her elbow and struck directly on top of the stake.
Thud!
With a deep sound, the stake drove into the ground.
"Ouch!"
She winced and rubbed her elbow. Dick quickly looked up at the Nusluck.
The net stretched taut, and the Nusluck, now weakened, dropped to the ground.
"Got it!"
Zzzzt!
But due to its size and the many holes in the net, some sections hadn't been properly enchanted.
The Nusluck found one of the unenchanted tears and slipped through, charging toward Simon.
"Dick! You absolute idiot......!"
Boooom!
Before Maelyn could finish her sentence, a thunderous crash echoed as the Nusluck’s body bent into a right angle and went flying, crashing through several trees before tumbling to the ground.
Everyone stared with their mouths open, looking back.
"Been waiting?"
Simon smiled with his fist extended. Above him stood a massive Mud Golem in the exact same stance.
"Ahaha! Nice cover, Simon!"
"Finish it off, Simon. And Dick, we'll talk later."
—Gururuk! Gururururuk!
The Nusluck, now a bloody mess on the ground, suddenly sprang up and charged, screaming in rage.
"Makes it easier for me."
Simon took a fighting stance.
The Nusluck leapt at the Mud Golem with all its might. Its claws had grown to nearly the length of three palms.
Slash!
Three long gashes appeared across the golem's body.
But that was all.
The Mud Golem had its arms clasped above its head.
"Oh, Simon."
Dick spoke up.
"Just a reminder, that's our dinner, so go easy—"
CRAAASH!
The golem's clasped hands slammed down on the Nusluck. A huge cloud of dust rose, and the ground was deeply cratered.
"Ack."
"Eek!"
Dick and Kamibarez quickly backed away.
Even after taking that blow, the Nusluck's body was trembling.
This time, the Mud Golem raised its leg.
BOOM!
A follow-up stomp.
Dick watched and nodded solemnly.
"We can just make ground meat stir-fry."
"......Why are you so obsessed with eating it all of a sudden?"
* * *
Hongpeng's mission had been safely completed.
After taking down the boss and thoroughly sweeping up the remaining stragglers, Simon’s group was now resting.
As they chatted peacefully, someone emerged through the bushes toward them.
"There you all are."
A man with sun-kissed bronze skin, a short crew cut hairstyle, and an oddly sulky expression.
It was Bred, an assistant under Hongpeng.
"Good work. The teleportation magic circle is ready, so let’s move to where Professor Hongpeng is waiting."
"Yes!"
It was finally over!
Everyone smiled brightly and followed behind Bred, chatting happily. Beyond the bushes, a magic circle was spread across the ground.
"Thank you, sir!"
"I’m going first!"
Maelyn, Dick, and Kamibarez stepped into the magic circle one by one and vanished.
Simon was about to step onto the circle last—
"Wait a moment."
Bred raised his arm to block him.
"You, come talk with me for a moment."
"...?"
"It’ll only take a second."
Simon turned to face him.
"Well, if you’ve got something to say, let’s do it after we cross over."
"......."
Bred let out an irritated sigh and raised his right arm.
Crack!
With a loud, splintering sound, a whole tree toppled over. A cloud of dust billowed up behind him.
"Hey."
Bred’s gaze turned vicious.
"I won’t say it twice. I’m not here as an assistant or a Keyzen student or whatever the hell, this is just man to man."
"......."
Judging by the atmosphere, it was clear he came with a serious grudge.
Simon figured this wasn’t going to be something he could just brush off.
"Alright. Then, lead the way."
The two of them faced each other some distance away from the teleportation magic circle.
Bred set the tone with a menacing expression.
"Haaah, kids these days are so goddamn clueless. Back in my day, this kind of crap wouldn’t even be imaginable."
Bred pressed his fingers into his temples, trying to contain his rage.
"If I’ve done something wrong, please tell me what it is."
"You little punk, you really wanna die?"
Bred’s face twisted into a snarl.
"Who the hell do you think you are, bossing Professor Hongpeng around? The hell was that? ‘Please teach me survival skills’? Hahaha! What a joke. You’ve completely lost all sense of basic respect. What, you think Professor Hongpeng is your private tutor?"
Simon responded with a calm smile still on his face.
"I think it’s out of line for an assistant professor to interfere in matters between the professor and myself. Of course, I do sincerely apologize if we troubled you by dragging you out on the weekend to pick us up—"
Crack!
Simon shut his mouth. A stone Bred had kicked embedded itself in the tree next to Simon.
The tree dented inward, and faint smoke was rising from it.
"You think I called you out here to hear that kind of crap?"
Bred pointed a thick finger at Simon.
"You’re goddamn toying with Professor Hongpeng’s feelings right now."
"......Excuse me?"
"Ha! You don’t even realize it, do you, you little bastard?"
Bred spat on the ground.
"You think the world’s your playground just because you got in through Special Admission No. 1? I know about the personal apprentice offer the professor made to you. And what’ve you been doing? Playing coy and using her. Stringing her along."
Simon was dumbfounded.
What the hell is this guy going on about?
"You dirty little shit! Do you know how soft-hearted the professor is? And you're using that personal apprentice offer to manipulate her feelings like—"
"There's a misunderstanding."
Simon cut him off and corrected him.
"It’s true the professor offered to take me on as her direct disciple, but I declined."
Bred’s eyes went wide.
"You turned it down?"
"Yes. I didn’t give a vague response, I clearly refused. The professor respected my decision and told me she was simply curious how far I could go. She also said that even if I wasn’t her direct disciple, I could come to her anytime if I needed help as her student. So, what you’re accusing me of, playing with her feelings, is not true."
Bred didn’t respond. Simon continued right away.
"The time she invited me to her cabin, that was something she kindly offered. Again, I—"
"Hey."
Bred’s lip twisted.
"You really expect me to believe all that crap? So you’re saying Professor Hongpeng’s going out of her way and putting in effort for no benefit at all? Does that sound realistic to you?"
Bred thumped his chest with a loud thump!
"I’ve served the professor for five years. Five years! I know better than anyone what she thinks. And here you are, a newbie who's been here for a month, acting like you know everything?"
Simon let out a dry chuckle.
This was hopeless. He’s the type you can’t talk reason with.
No matter what’s said, he’ll keep going, convinced he’s always right.
‘No.’
Simon felt the battle aura seeping out of Bred.
From the very beginning, this man had no intention of resolving things through conversation.
"Put it on."
Bred pulled something from subspace and threw it to Simon.
It was a protective suit.
"This isn’t the kind they use for duel assessments or simulations. It’s a high-grade, pure-defense suit."
"......."
"Let’s stop yapping and settle it this way."
Bred swung his fist in the air.
"If you can land even one hit on me before the suit’s barrier breaks, I’ll drop all this. And I’ll give you whatever you want, an apology, compensation, even retirement. Anything."
"And if I can’t hit you even once?"
Bred paused. Then took a deep breath.
"Accept Professor Hongpeng’s offer to become her direct disciple."
"......!"
Simon’s eyes widened.
‘Well, that’s unexpected.’
He thought Bred was just another jealous idiot, but… could it be he actually cares more about Hongpeng than himself?
"That’s a noble sentiment, I’ll admit."
Simon scratched the side of his head.
"But forcing your opinion on others is low-grade, trashy behavior, no matter the reason. And besides—"
Simon put on the protective suit.
"I’m not the kind to back down from a challenge."
Time to act like he was playing along with the charade and then flip the situation on its head.
Simon’s mind was starting to spin at full speed.
Superb.