Armored Monster (Panzer-Monstrum)

In the gloomy forest without a single light.

Click, clatter─

Wolf, holding an oil lamp that alone emitted light in it, moved his legs slowly and advanced forward.

“Tsk.”

With furrowed brows and twisted lips.

‘The more I think about it, the more pathetic it is.’

Constantly mentioning the duel she won by chance last time, daring to advise me about fighting monsters, saying she’ll cook with a pan…

Anger rose against Yena, who kept acting arrogantly.

Isn’t it not knowing her place as a commoner to dare give me advice and caution?

‘It’s not like I was scared.’

The part where she said not to be afraid of monsters and fight was just a misunderstanding.

I wasn’t scared.

I just suggested retreating for a moment to regroup and rejoin, I had no particular intention of running away.

I was going to fight.

Wasn’t it Yena who was reckless? She started the battle recklessly without any special strategy when there were giant monsters, creatures even I was reluctant to deal with.

‘If it weren’t for Rina…’

She probably would have been seriously injured or fainted from those monsters. The cadet called Erika who always hangs around Yena seemed to be nothing special either.

It must be thanks to Rina.

Convinced that winning against two giant monsters and entering combat without me while no one got hurt was all due to the merit of the princess with innate talent of Grade 2 mana,

Thud, crunch─!

Wolf sat down on a nearby stump without advancing further and tore open the packaging of the combat rations he had been holding to his chest.

“As expected, it tastes bad.”

And he stuffed the food into his mouth with eyes full of determination.

It was a taste he wanted to spit out right away.

The biscuit was so hard it could shatter molars, and the canned soup had a strong fishy smell of vegetables.

The rest was the same.

The minced meat in the can, the few seasonings contained in one corner of the packaging… every single thing tasted bad.

“Tsk.”

After stuffing food into his mouth several times, Wolf seemed unable to continue eating due to the astringent and fishy taste. He spat out the lump of biscuit in his mouth into the can,

Thud, crunch─!

After shoving the ingredients like soup and biscuits back into the cloth bundle that had been used to store the combat rations, he threw it into the bushes.

‘Ha, she says she’s cooking this?’

Perhaps because of the terrible and disgusting taste of the food, Wolf looked towards the clearing where Yena would be cooking with an even more grim expression.

‘To do such a thing even during survival training.’

With a displeased expression.

In fact, there was nothing strange about trying to make combat rations taste better, whether it was survival training or not.

Isn’t it an act of cooperating with team members?

However, because Wolf viewed her through colored glasses, he found Yena disagreeable no matter what she did.

“It’s ridiculous.”

Like now.

That was also the reason he left the clearing and came to this quiet place.

Seeing her manipulating the cast iron pan with eyes full of her characteristic pride made his teeth grind.

‘But I can’t fight.’

He left like this because he could get into an argument with Yena, and shouldn’t he at least keep the promise not to cause more friction with Rina in this training?

Unlike other cadets, he didn’t want to cause harm to her, who exuded the nobility and brilliant appearance of a noble daughter.

Even if conflict arose only between me and Yena, Rina’s training score would also be deducted despite not being directly involved in the fight.

‘That can’t happen.’

He didn’t care at all if Erika, whose appearance he could barely remember, and Yena were harmed, but Rina was different.

How could he let harm come to the only child who understood him? Even this morning’s discord, he stayed with the team without deserting only for Rina’s sake.

‘I can deal with Yena later anyway.’

Wolf smiled faintly, recalling that the day when Yena’s refined gaze would be colored with bewilderment and shock was not far off.

‘No, the day after tomorrow.’

There were exactly two days left until the plan conspired with the equipment manager would be executed.

When that time comes,

He would be able to vent all the negative emotions that had piled up until now. While exacting a miserable revenge on Yena, who gave him looks as if looking down on him every day.

“It’ll be fun, won’t it?”

As he finished his thoughts, his face, which had been clouded with gloom, suddenly brightened.

Thud─

Wolf maintained that cheerful mood as he stood up.

To head back to the clearing soon.

Staying out in the open for too long tends to cause problems, so he stepped towards the bushes to move to Rina’s side, aside from the purpose of safety.

“…Huh?”

However, he couldn’t move beyond one step.

‘Wh-What?’

A sudden pressure constricting his whole body.

A chill that momentarily stopped his breath.

A sticky killing intent as if a snake’s tongue was wrapping around his body.

An overwhelming and vicious aura that surpassed even the giant monsters seen in the morning and all the small monsters eliminated so far was emanating from right behind him.

Instinct sounded an alarm.

Don’t turn around at all and just get out of here immediately. Whatever is watching you with fierce eyes is definitely an opponent you can’t win against.

Right now,

“Grrrr──”

Run away.

---

“Gyaaah──!”

A scream that could split heaven and earth.

“U-Ubbu?”

“Hm?”

“…What on earth was that just now?”

At that sound strongly striking our eardrums, Erika, I, and Rina stopped our hands holding spoons and raised our heads.

“Ugh, uwaah!”

Then this time, another roar was heard from a closer distance.

The voice was too clear.

As the sun had completely set and twilight had fallen long ago, the forest was enveloped in complete silence, so the noise that burst out in the midst of it could only sound louder.

‘Wolf?’

So we realized quickly.

That all too familiar voice, that the owner of that voice was none other than Wolf.

“Ye-Yena?”

“What on earth…”

There was no hesitation.

I immediately stood up, throwing the soup on the ground.

“Follow me.”

Then I muttered briefly to Erika and Rina, who still looked dumbfounded, and stepped towards the area presumed to be the source of the previous scream.

Patter patter─!

With a small oil lamp in one hand.

‘Surely all the monsters should have been driven away.’

Didn’t we spray the blood of the Langarm-Gynäkus and giant fire bear everywhere? Unless it’s a specimen stronger than those two, no monster should be able to break through this scent.

The surrounding scenery proved this.

Weren’t we not encountering a single monster while running through the forest towards Wolf? It meant that the blood of those two monsters was doing its job well.

“…No way.”

I still didn’t know if the reason for that cry was because of a monster. Well, it could be that a centipede-like insect had burrowed into his body, or a moth had entered his mouth.

But,

What if a high-ranking specimen really appeared? What if the man presumed to be Wolf was crying with his vocal cords torn because of that?

‘It’s dangerous.’

An alarm rang in my brain.

I tightened the tension I had loosened for a moment.

A monster that could enter this area ignoring the scent of two Grade 4 monsters was no ordinary creature.

And Wolf encountered such a being?

Alone at that?

Although there might not be much danger to life as it was training conducted by the military academy under thorough supervision, he could sustain injuries that would make it okay to drop out of this training.

No, given that no more sounds were coming out, he might have already been done in by the unknown monster.

‘I need to check quickly.’

If Wolf really fainted, the responsibility would be transferred to the team members as one team member dropped out, which would ultimately have a considerable negative impact on my training score.

In simple terms, it meant that I could not only forget about ranking first in the joint training but could even fall to the lower ranks. That’s how important it was for a team member to drop out of training.

Whoosh, whoosh─!

The reason I was moving my feet at a speed difficult to follow even with the eyes, while completely removing any trace of a smile and drawing up mana from within my body, was for this reason.

What does it matter if Wolf gets hurt or not? It’s too much to say that, but whether I like it or not, we belong to the same team. There is a very good reason why I’m running like crazy like this.

‘It would have been good if he just stayed stuck in a corner of the clearing.’

He’s neither talented like Rina nor good at applying techniques like me, so why does he stupidly go around alone and cause trouble…

“Haah.”

I sighed heavily and shook my head.

‘This is when mana recovery ability comes in handy.’

That was somewhat fortunate.

The characteristic of being able to recover mana and regain energy faster than others was a great help in the current situation.

If I didn’t have this special ability, I would have lacked stamina and strength like Erika and Rina who were chasing far behind.

The mana recovery ability superior to others became the driving force that allowed me to move my legs nimbly at this moment.

“Huff, huff…”

Thanks to that, I can arrive early, right?

“Ugh, uuuh.”

In front of Wolf, who was trembling with his hands and unable to open his mouth properly, enveloped in fear.

‘He’s not injured.’

I stopped walking and took a deep breath, feeling relieved.

It was fortunate in the midst of misfortune.

“D-Damn it.”

Although he didn’t seem normal, panting and gasping for breath while leaning against a tree and spewing curses, at least he hadn’t lost consciousness, right? The worry about getting points deducted had lessened.

“Hey.”

“Wh-Who is it!”

“What did you see to be like that?”

Of course, there was another problem of figuring out why Wolf had screamed, but.

“Don’t speak so impertinently.”

“Put all that aside and tell me quickly. What kind of experience did you have to be so anxious and cry out at the top of your lungs?”

While inwardly marveling at Wolf trying to criticize my tone of speech despite not being in a normal state, I lightly ignored that behavior and approached closer to ask.

“Hah, hah. Why did you scream, Wolf?”

“Yena! Are you okay?”

“…Erika, you always worry about me first.”

“Yeah! Because you’re my most important friend, hehe.”

Erika and Rina, who had arrived just in time, also chimed in.

“Um, that…”

As all team members except me were staring at Wolf, he seemed unable to back out now and opened his mouth.

Boom─!

But it was okay not to hear the answer to the end.

Boom!

As soon as Wolf started to speak, the monster that had thrown him into confusion revealed its form, cutting through the trees soaring high into the sky with footsteps that shook the earth.

“Th-The light seems to be going out!”

“Erika, take good care of that.”

“Okay!”

How severe must the vibration have been for the lamp on the ground to almost fall over? I gestured to Erika and Rina to step back while glaring at the front where the monster appeared.

“…Interesting.”

And the moment I confirmed its appearance,

“It’s so interesting, I’m going crazy.”

I raised one corner of my mouth and let out a laugh.

I hadn’t expected this guy to appear here at all, even if it was a survival training ground with various monsters, I hadn’t thought this one would show up.

It wasn’t a specimen that first-years should face, and in the year 133 of the Imperial calendar, I never imagined I would see this bastard.

‘It’s been a while.’

Until just before entering this world, I had seen this guy, so it’s been about a month or two? The memories entangled with that monster are still vivid.

‘Was it being researched from this period?’

I raised my hand to head height with a sense of welcome.

Whoosh, whoosh─

“Hello?”

And I waved it side to side in greeting.

With a size easily exceeding 5 meters in width, length, and height, boasting a solid and thick body like a hippopotamus, and a face with a long horn like a rhinoceros,

“Grrrr──!”

Armored Monster (Panzer-Monstrum)

Towards the creature classified as a special weapon of the Federation during the Great War.