Academy Entrance Exam (6)

1.

“Kyaa!”

I screamed involuntarily at the voice that struck my ears without warning.

I pressed hard on my ears and turned to the side.

There was the man I saw yesterday.

A man from the Southern Kingdom with blonde hair and tanned skin.

Surely… Hoth Lagtree, the barbarian’s son.

“Tsk.”

I clicked my tongue softly.

If this battle maniac was in my party, my prey would decrease.

I wanted a lousy party, but to think this guy would be a party member.

Looks like I’ll just be healing from behind.

“Ah…! You son of a bitch! I thought my eardrums were going to burst!”

A girl cursed and snapped, out of the blue.

A large robe dragging on the floor.

I’m not short, but she was a small, puppy-like girl, even smaller than me.

“What? You wanna fight?”

Hoth drew his sword and thrust it at the girl.

He was grinning, like a large dog eager to play right away.

“Are you confident? I was craving pork belly.”

The large dog and the small dog glared at each other, growling.

Magical power began to rise from both sides.

It looked like they would clash any second.

“N-Now, hold on!”

I wanted to watch the swordsman and Wizard fight, but as the Saintess, I stepped in to mediate.

“Please calm down, you two. Party members who need to cooperate should get along.”

The gazes of the two people who had been glaring at each other turned to me at the same time.

“Ooh…!”

Hoth’s eyes widened.

He had the eyes of a child who had found a new toy.

“So, you’re the Saintess from the rumors?”

Not everyone uses honorifics for the Saintess.

She is high in status.

In countries where the Celestial God Church is the state religion, that is.

In the Southern Kingdom, which follows the God of Battle, the existence of a Saintess was just one of the clergy of another religion.

Of course, not all people in the Southern Kingdom think that way.

Some treat her according to the name of Saintess, but some don’t.

“A body built for easy childbirth that would make a good mother! I am Hoth Lagtree. Nice to meet you.”

Hoth held out his hand to me.

What the hell is this bastard saying?

What does he mean, ‘nice to meet you’?

“You crazy bastard! What kind of bullshit are you spouting to the Saintess?!”

The girl kicked Hoth and charged at him.

The power was weak.

Hoth didn’t budge.

The girl looked up at the giant Hoth, panting.

“Why? Did I say something wrong?”

Hoth blinked, as if he really didn’t know.

“There’s a limit to being ignorant. It’s true that the Southern Kingdom guys have empty heads.”

“A true warrior should use his body instead of his head.”

“You moron, you’ll be handed over to The Papal Court for Blasphemy.”

“Haha, then I’ll get to tour the Holy Nation.”

I thought he was a charismatic guy when we sparred yesterday.

Looking at him now, he was just a simple idiot crazy about battle.

“Wow… what is this guy really?”

The girl chuckled in disbelief and grabbed the back of her neck.

The sight of her rushing in, growling, reminded me of my former adjutant.

“I’m okay.”

I calmed the girl down because we couldn’t keep doing this.

“I would like to hear your name, Sister. Could you tell me?”

I gently coaxed the angry puppy-like girl.

“Ah, I’m late with my greetings.”

The girl cleared her throat.

“I am Reine Van Agnia of the Agnia County.”

“If it’s the Agnia family, that’s the famous family known for fire magic, right?”

“You know about it?”

Reine’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Isn’t the Count of Agnia the Magic Tower Lord of the Western Magic Tower?”

“That’s right!”

I’m not interested in magic.

But when I was a Sword Saint, I built up connections with Wizards while handling the Empire’s affairs.

I was friends with Archmages, as well as Magic Tower Lords.

Of course, not anymore.

“I am a descendant of the great warrior, Glaus.”

“Stay out of this!”

The first Berserker, Glaus.

How could I not know that name?

It was a name I heard so much from Commander Lagtree when I was on the battlefield.

‘Do you know how great a warrior Glaus was, Adrian?’

‘Shut up! Focus on the battle!’

‘He was a true Berserker who led the battle to victory even with twelve arrows in his back and a spear through his abdomen.’

‘Agh…! Their defense line is collapsing!’

Before I became a Sword Saint.

When my hair was black.

We won the battle, but the defense line collapsed, and I got kicked in the shin with a military boot.

“This isn’t the time to be doing this. The test has already started.”

“That’s right! Battle! Battle!”

Hoth started running forward.

“Saintess, let’s ditch that idiot and hunt by ourselves.”

I wanted to shout “Hunting! Hunting!” and run out like that guy, but…

“No. We’re a party during the test, so we have to be together even if we don’t get along.”

“I don’t want to be with such a stupid guy…….”

“Would you put up with it for my sake?”

“Haa… If the Saintess says so, okay.”

I started running after Hoth.

“Let’s go. We’re going to miss him at this rate.”

“Yes.”

The corpses of Magical Beasts were scattered along the path Hoth had passed.

All of them had their heads cleanly cut off.

He wasn’t a novice at hunting.

Even if he seemed simple and ignorant, his swordsmanship was certain.

“Heuaaa!”

Hoth was fighting a bear Magical Beast.

It was bigger than Hoth.

Every time it swung its forepaws, the trees cracked and broke.

He was putting up quite a fight.

Should I step in a little?

It was then.

“Saintess, stay behind me, it’s dangerous.”

Reine raised her staff.

“Burn.”

A red magic circle unfolded above the staff.

The surrounding air heated up.

Magical power exploded from the glowing magic circle.

-Boom!!

With a roar, a flame shaped like a dragon’s head opened its mouth wide and rushed towards the bear Magical Beast.

-Bang!!

The magic hit directly.

The bear Magical Beast couldn’t even scream and was burned black.

“Hey kid! You’re stealing my prey!”

“Who are you calling a kid!”

Reine grumbled.

“That bastard is complaining even though I helped him.”

I sighed inwardly.

At this rate, it seems like I won’t have a chance to step in.

“Kid, let’s have a match.”

“I’m not a kid!”

“The person who defeats the stronger Magical Beast wins.”

“Are you even listening to me?”

“Hey, Saintess! You join in too. You defeat the Magical Beasts too.”

That’s music to my ears.

“You son of a bitch! There’s no way the delicate Saintess can defeat a Magical Beast!”

No.

I can defeat them too.

I really feel like throwing away the dignity of the Saintess.

“I can help you all and defeat the Magical Beasts.”

I made Divinity bloom on my right hand.

“Divinity has the power to purify evil Magical power.”

Healing Magic isn’t the only thing you can do with Divinity.

There’s also Purification Magic.

I can defeat Magical Beasts with this power too.

“So I too….”

“Kid, let’s start!”

“Stop calling me a kid!”

Reine used magic on Hoth and ran out.

“Stay right there! I’ll burn you before I burn the Magical Beast!”

“Puhahaha!”

I rubbed my forehead.

“Aigoo…….”

It feels like taking care of two children.

Still, the Magical Beast hunting progressed smoothly.

Hoth drew the Magical Beast’s attention from the front, and Reine burned them with magic.

I was at the level of the party’s mascot.

My role was to cheer from behind.

Occasionally, hiding in the bushes and smashing the faces of Magical Beasts that popped out was the only hunting I could enjoy.

Ehehe, fun.

I had to think like that to barely soothe the boredom.

“Huh?”

The two of them disappeared while I was distracted for a moment.

It’s quiet.

What was noisy until just now suddenly became as silent as a mouse.

……Unpleasantly so.

I looked around.

Nothing had changed.

It was just an ordinary, lush forest.

It was then that I heard a scream.

“Kkeuaaaack!!”

A sound like pain was choking him.

I ran to where the scream came from.

“D-D-Don’t come! Don’t come! Kkeuaack!!”

Blood splattered.

An arm holding a sword floated into the sky.

And then it fell weakly to the ground.

“Kkeueueueuk! Euk!”

The man, whose arms had been cut off, crawled on the ground, fallen.

But he didn’t get far before a sword fell on his head.

-Kwajik!!

A sound like crushing an apple was heard, and the man’s head split in half.

It wasn’t a performance.

It wasn’t a surprise event prepared by the academy.

The man, who was twitching and trembling, really met his death.

And what brought that death was.

“……Demon?”

Two arms that stretched long to the floor like a monkey.

A rectangular greatsword in each hand.

Black smoke was flowing out between the yellow teeth.

Looking at the cloudy eyes, it wasn’t an intelligent Demon.

But it’s not an opponent to be ignored.

Demons are always tricky opponents, anywhere, anytime.

…Why is there a Demon in a place like this?

Let’s think about that later.

Defeating that guy before another victim appears is the priority.

I checked the sword that was dropped next to the corpse.

It would have been difficult with my bare hands, but.

Just having a sword changes things.

Easy.

How many Demons have I beheaded on the battlefield?

I suddenly ran quickly out of the bushes.

Pick up the sword.

Swing the sword greatly from bottom to top.

The Demon’s body was cut vertically.

All of these actions were done naturally in one move, like water flowing.

“I need to report this right away.”

It was at that moment.

Several presences suddenly surrounded me, as if they had sprung up from the ground.

-Thud, thud

Five Demons, identical to the one I had just cut, appeared, dragging their long arms.

I checked the corpse of the guy I had defeated.

It had disappeared like smoke.

“I knew it… It didn’t feel good to cut….”

It was a troublesome Demon that used Illusion Magic, even among Demons.

I should have realized it from the moment the surroundings became unpleasantly quiet.

I was already in his hunting ground.

…I didn’t know there would be a Demon.

He will continue to attack until he catches his prey.

There are two ways to get out of the hunting ground.

Die and leave.

Or, defeat the main body and leave alive.

Then where is the main body?

It’s somewhere here.

The barrier range is limited.

He must be hiding somewhere, controlling his phantoms.

The way to find him is simple.

Kill everything you see until you catch the main body, and it’s over.

Simple, right?