episode_0038

Asel told the two he would go meet the group members and stood up. Since the assignment would start in just two days, it seemed best to meet them today when there were no classes. The two seemed to think similarly, as they scattered to meet their respective group members after Asel left.

‘Location is… probably outside the academy building.’

Asel moved according to the arrow written on the paper, looking around.

Students holding papers were actively roaming the academy grounds, perhaps because the orientation sessions for other departments had also finished. Some groups had already gathered all their members and were discussing, while others openly showed disappointment upon seeing their members.

“…Ah, damn it. Why are they all non-combat lowlives except for me? How are we supposed to solve the request with this!”

“Uh, uh… maybe we can gather herbs? I’m from the Alchemy Department, so I know herbs well…”

“Like hell you’ll get a high grade with that. Huh? You’ll easily snatch the top spot, damn it.”

It was natural for voices of complaint to arise since the group members were randomly selected. But what could be done? From the start, luck was one of the important factors in group assignments. It was an unreasonable system where even if you were good, you couldn’t do anything if the whole team was substandard. That’s why professors liked this assignment method the most.

Occasionally, there were people who somehow managed to solve it on their own even if all the group members were screw-ups, but such cases were extremely rare. Mostly, it was common for everyone to sink together due to team members dragging them down.

‘Please, just not me.’

Thinking that, Asel completely left the academy building.

As he came out to the street, the arrow started pointing towards a certain cafe. He walked into the cafe without hesitation. The door opened with a jingling sound, and the staff member making drinks spoke to him with a bright expression.

“Welcome! Did you come for a group assignment?”

She spoke as if she already knew everything, and guided Asel, who nodded with a hesitant expression.

“The people gathered for the assignment are in there. You must order one drink once you sit down.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

“Yep, have a pleasant time!”

The staff member said with a cheerful expression and went back to focusing on making drinks. Asel entered the noisy cafe’s inner area and stepped into the space the staff member had indicated. Unlike the noisy outside, it was an extremely quiet space. They had partitioned the area like rooms so that conversations held inside couldn’t be heard from outside.

‘Was this the reason they chose this place?’

He had wondered why they gathered in a place like this instead of other good locations. It seemed they had chosen a decent spot in their own way.

Asel took out the paper and walked with brisk steps towards the room indicated by the arrow. As he stood in front of the room, the arrow started blinking at short intervals. That meant it was right ahead. He put away the paper and knocked lightly on the door.

There was no answer. Instead, someone abruptly opened the door.

“Oh my, look who it is?”

The first thing that caught his eye when the door opened was a pair of twitching golden fox ears. Asel looked at the soft ears swinging back and forth and unconsciously muttered.

“Beastkin?”

“Hehe, what’s with the reaction? Is this your first time seeing a Beastkin?”

She was a girl with impressive golden fox ears, hair, a tail, and captivating eyes. She swayed her large tail and smiled gently.

“Are you Group 2?”

Then she took out a paper from her pocket indicating the leader of Group 2. Asel also collected himself, showed his paper, and nodded.

“You were the leader.”

“Coincidentally, it turned out that way. More importantly, it’s a bit awkward talking out here, so please come inside. Everyone but you is already gathered.”

“Which department are you in?”

Asel asked as he followed her into the room. The girl puffed up her cheeks petulantly and answered.

“That’s for the self-introduction time, top student of the Magic Department. So for now, just take a seat.”

She went behind Asel and pushed him towards an empty seat. Asel briefly considered activating a shield to block her but just passively let her push him. Perhaps due to the unique strength of Beastkin, Asel’s body moved along exactly as she wished.

“Sit.”

Pulling out a plush chair, she gently seated Asel on it. Asel sat with a calm expression and met the gaze of the two people who were staring at him with bewildered looks.

One was a wizard, and the other was a spearman (槍術士). Asel looked directly into the wizard’s eyes among them and opened his mouth.

“Spirit User.”

“…!”

“Spirit-specific mana is mixed with your magic power. Judging by the energy… Earth element, I presume. Spirit users themselves cannot use magic other than spirit arts, but since you have a good bond with your spirit, it doesn’t seem like it will be a major problem.”

“…The top student of the Magic Department can even tell that?”

“Just a minor trick.”

The Spirit User wore a wry smile at Asel’s reply. He summoned the spirit he had contracted with and carefully placed it on his head.

A low-level spirit made of earth. A lizard-shaped spirit with a self but not overly developed consciousness, it flicked its tongue and settled on his head.

“Warren Brundel. A wizard who has mastered spirit arts, just as you said. It is an honor to meet the disciple of Master Gaebyeok.”

“You’re flattering me too much.”

Asel chuckled and replied. Warren continued speaking with a serious expression.

“I saw you using magic during the entrance exam. The image of you striking down high-level magic against Master Fernan is still vivid in my eyes. You must be around the same age as me, but I feel respect for you having already reached that level.”

“Hey, hey, is he really that good?”

The spearman, who had been silent until now, interrupted Warren’s words. Warren frowned and growled softly.

“I’m speaking. Don’t interrupt.”

“Ha, your attitude is so different? Is this a magic cartel? If you act like this, I can’t cooperate either.”

“Stop it, both of you.”

The fox-eared girl sighed deeply and snapped at the two who had started glaring at each other. She smiled awkwardly and looked at Asel.

“I’m sorry. They said they clashed during the entrance exam. It seems that grudge is still lingering.”

“Clash? That wasn’t a clash, it was a unilateral robbery. That bastard took our group’s backpack containing the core and ran away when we were exhausted!”

“Is it a problem to rob in an exam where robbery is allowed? You’re just squawking needlessly. Are all wizards that petty? Or just you?”

“You son of a bitch!”

Warren leaped up from his seat and shouted. The spirit sitting on his head resonated with Warren’s emotions and widened its eyes. The spearman faced the sticky magic power head-on and smiled.

The conversation that followed continued with them blaming each other. Although the girl kept trying to stop them, the argument showed no sign of ending.

If left alone, they would likely just keep fighting all day. Asel sighed deeply and leaned back against the chair.

He quite liked watching fights. However, that was only if it was in the form of a duel where they tested each other’s skills. A verbal spat like that, where they simply blamed each other, only made the observer feel unpleasant.

It was the same now.

He was staying still, thinking they would stop after a while, but as time passed, they looked like they were about to physically attack each other. It was a situation where they wouldn’t listen even when the girl mediated.

‘This group assignment is ruined.’

Asel thought that to himself and sighed deeply. He had thought maybe not, but to think this kind of mess would happen right from the first group assignment. He openly showed his displeasure and drew magic power into the air.

The formless magic power split into two. Asel simultaneously swung the divided magic powers and collided them.

Craaaash!!

A massive roar filled the inside of the room. Warren and the spearman, who had been talking loudly, stopped their conversation for a moment, and the girl covered her ears with her hands and looked at Asel. Asel met the gazes of the three and muttered in a low voice.

“I believe the self-introductions haven’t finished yet.”

“…”

“Spearman and Group Leader. I’d like to know your names, specialties, and departments. It will be easier to choose which request to take that way.”

His tone and actions were as if he were the group leader himself. However, no one could argue against him.

Warren and the spearman were intimidated by the overwhelming pressure felt from Asel’s magic power, and the girl’s eyes sparkled as if she had discovered a treasure.

Her dark eyes widened completely as she opened her mouth.

“I’m Saya, from the Magic Engineering Department. I run a small merchant guild, and I can use a bit of sorcery.”

“Sorcery?”

“Yes. I specialize in disruption, like hypnosis or illusions. Although I’m from a non-combat department, I’m not completely incapable of fighting.”

That was good news. Asel didn’t know much about sorcery, but seeing her say that herself, it seemed she had some tricks up her sleeve. With this, it didn’t seem like taking on a high-difficulty request would be a big problem.

Asel thought so and turned his head towards the spearman. He met Asel’s gaze and glared, but was soon overwhelmed by his presence.

“…Quill. I use a spear, and I’m a former mercenary. I can definitely handle the front line.”

“Good.”

Asel nodded and leaned his upper body slightly forward.

“I’m Asel. I’m a wizard, mainly using lightning and fire magic arts. I can handle other types of magic to some extent as well.”

“…Meaning you possess multiple attributes?”

“Yes.”

“Crazy. This is my first time seeing it in person.”

Warren muttered that and stared intently at Asel. Asel calmly received his gaze and looked at Saya, speaking.

“This should be enough, right?”

Saya did not ask ‘enough for what’. Some things could be understood without being explicitly told.

Clearly, he had sorted out the situation on her behalf as the leader, so it must mean he wanted her to lead the situation from now on.

That was what she wanted. Saya smiled gently and expressed her gratitude to him.

She took in each of her group members with her eyes and opened her mouth.

“First, our goal is to create a magic tool. Since I, the only member from a non-combat department, am from Magic Engineering, we can’t help it. Thanks to that, we can’t accept easy requests like herb gathering.”

“Doesn’t matter, does it? With this lineup, most requests… well…”

“Yes. Fortunately, our group members have quite significant combat power, so we can easily handle requests like monster subjugation. That means getting the materials needed for creating a magic tool won’t be very difficult.”

Saya said, taking out a magic engineering blueprint from the backpack she had placed on the floor and putting it on the table.

“So, we plan to build a machine that requires many materials but has reliable performance as a result. Its name is ‘Blood Duplicator’. It’s a magic engineering machine that can duplicate the blood of any subject and use it for transfusion, regardless of whose blood is put in. Since it’s often used on battlefields, the blueprint is already widely distributed. I’ve also had experience making one.”

“Needed materials?”

“Metal materials can be bought appropriately with the money from completing requests, and I think we just need to decide what to do about the important materials, the self-regeneration factor and refined doppelganger blood.”

As soon as Saya finished speaking, she turned her backpack upside down onto the table. Request forms scattered across the table instantly, and she swiftly sorted out the necessary ones, lining them up neatly.

“In the case of the self-regeneration factor, it costs 40 gold coins based on market price. Doppelganger blood is 10 gold coins. Based on refined blood, it’s 20 gold coins.”

“That’s damn expensive.”

Quill grumbled. Asel agreed with him.

He had never hunted monsters before. Because of that, he knew nothing about the prices of byproducts obtained from hunting monsters. From his perspective, the prices of the materials Saya mentioned were astronomical.

Requests flowing into the academy had much less risk than those taken by mercenaries or hunters. This was because only requests that weren’t too dangerous were brought in for the students’ safety.

However, because of that, the amount of compensation received for completing requests wasn’t very much either. To buy those items with that small amount of compensation, they would have to complete dozens of requests.

“Absolutely impossible within two weeks.”

Warren said. He looked at Saya and continued.

“A total of 60 gold coins. Unless we can use private funds, there’s not enough time to purchase them with just the compensation from completing requests. It’s impossible.”

“It would be if we tried to save up gold coins.”

Saya smiled gently and replied.

“So, I was thinking, how about we go hunt doppelgangers?”

She smoothly pulled out a small piece of paper hidden among the request forms.

A piece of paper shabbier than the other request forms. It wasn’t worn from use. It was made from low-quality paper from the start. Asel narrowed his eyes and read the contents of the request form.

[Recently, more and more residents have reported seeing deceased villagers moving around exactly as they looked in life. According to the testimonies of those who have spoken with them, they could not communicate properly, often repeating the same words or suddenly screaming and running away, exhibiting strange behavior.]

[And those who spoke with them began suffering from high fever a week later. Eventually, people even started dying. My wife died that way. Now my son has also caught a high fever.]

[Please. Please resolve the strange phenomenon in our village. As compensation, we will give you 5 gold coins and a dagger that has been passed down in our village for generations. Please, please help us.]

“The compensation is low.”

Quill spat out as soon as he finished reading the request form.

“Where do 5 gold coins get us? We can’t even buy doppelganger blood.”

“Of course. But we plan to focus on doppelganger hunting, not the compensation.”

“…Doppelganger hunting?”

“Yes. The content of the request, it’s clearly the work of a doppelganger. The deceased returning exactly as they looked, people getting sick and dying after encountering them, and their inability to think or communicate properly because their cognitive abilities have regressed. These are all characteristics of doppelgangers.”

Saya smiled alluringly and fluttered the request form.

“We can buy metal with the request compensation, and we’ll get the doppelganger blood by hunting them ourselves and extracting it. If we extract a large amount while we’re at it and sell it, we might even be able to buy the self-regeneration substance. Since I can refine blood, if I spend some time refining it and selling it, I could earn even more.”

“…This is the plan you came up with immediately after confirming the group members today?”

Warren muttered in a hesitant voice. Saya chuckled and nodded.

“Spontaneous judgment and adaptability are essential virtues for a merchant. So, does anyone else have another plan?”

There was no answer. Saya smiled and put the request form back into her backpack.

“Then let’s plan to depart in two days. The sooner, the better. And Asel?”

“…?”

“How about you come with me tomorrow to buy some items needed for the request? Since we’re going monster hunting, I think it’s most important to get a wizard’s opinion. You can come, right?”

Asel hesitated for a moment, then nodded. There was no reason to refuse.

“Alright.”

“Okay. When does your class end tomorrow?”

“3 PM. Yours?”

“Mine ends at 2 PM. I’ll go ahead and wait. Is that okay?”

“Don’t wait too long.”

“Okayyy.”

Saya replied, drawing out the end of her sentence.

The corners of her eyes curved into an arc.