Ch.164163. Journey? (5)

# 163. Journey? (5)

As always, our teacher was working hard for his students, for us.

Every time I saw him like that, I couldn’t help but admire him.

‘Ugh… what a terrible smell…’

The smell was intentionally added by the staff.

The smell I was experiencing now was that of fresh blood.

Despite being artificially introduced, it felt quite realistic to us.

Perhaps it was because of the atmosphere of this place, or maybe because of the social climate. I wasn’t sure.

“I really hate these smells…”

The building with the fortress walls from which the smell emanated.

After exiting that building, Amelia expressed her displeasure like that.

“Who actually likes the smell of blood?”

“I thought you did, but I guess not.”

“…”

Dumbfounded by her comment, I stared into space and sighed.

Reina, who was standing beside me, responded with an innocent reaction.

“I thought so too…”

“Why are you ganging up on me too?”

“Well… when we see you fighting, it’s hard not to think that way…”

Ignoring her comment that made me reflect on my usual behavior, I asked Reina about our next schedule.

“Anyway… when are we going to our next destination?”

I asked Reina, but the person who answered wasn’t her.

A large bus positioned in front of us.

Amelia pointed at the bus and said:

“We’re going now, on that.”

“Ah… okay…”

“Why that reaction?”

“It’s nothing… I’m just not feeling great because it’s getting late.”

It was the time when today’s sun was finishing its work and preparing to clock out.

Since it was that time, my energy was inevitably a bit low.

And since it was the first day of the school trip, having woken up early probably contributed to it as well.

“Let’s go quickly…”

***

After about an hour of traveling by bus, we arrived at a certain place.

It was a hotel that was quite frequently seen on the internet.

Eve, overwhelmed by the hotel’s magnificent exterior, said:

“Wow… looks like we’re staying here tonight?”

“You sound like a country bumpkin reacting like that.”

“What did you say!?”

Chris and Eve were arguing like Leo and Aelin.

Ignoring the two of them, I followed Gloria into the hotel along with the other students.

‘It really is magnificent…’

It was indeed magnificent, probably because it was a hotel where even upper nobility frequently stayed.

It’s absolutely not because I’m a country bumpkin that I felt that way.

Absolutely not.

“Everyone, please follow the rules I explained on the bus. If there are any problems, contact me immediately.”

After Gloria finished speaking, I headed to my assigned room with the others who would be sharing it with me.

As soon as we arrived at the room, Chris, Raicle, and I unpacked our bags. Chris, who was indeed a country bumpkin, immediately threw himself onto the bed.

“And he was criticizing others earlier…”

“Truly acting like a country bumpkin.”

Chris continued lying on the bed, ignoring our criticism.

Fortunately, we had separate beds.

“If we had to share a bed, I would have punched him.”

“At least wash up first…”

“We’re going to the hot springs soon anyway, so what’s the point?”

“Then get up quickly, you idiot.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Everyone gathered their pajamas and towels and headed to the hot springs.

As expected, without any surprises, the hot springs were divided into men’s and women’s baths.

Chris sighed deeply at the sight.

“That’s disappointing… I was kind of hoping…”

“You sure like to hope, pervert.”

The person who criticized Chris wasn’t me or Raicle.

I looked in the direction of the voice.

The people I saw were also carrying pajamas and towels to change into, just like us.

“You’re not disappointed too, are you?”

“Well… I haven’t really thought about it.”

“That’s a relief then.”

For some reason, Rachel entered the women’s bath with a relieved expression.

The other girls followed Rachel into the women’s bath.

“Let’s go too.”

“Why isn’t there a mixed bath?”

“If you’re that upset, try sneaking into the women’s bath and get arrested.”

“That’s going too far…”

Ignoring Chris who had been talking nonsense, I entered the men’s bath with Raicle.

“Hey! Wait for me!”

The three of us entered the men’s changing room.

We were preparing to enter the bath.

Having already undressed completely, I stepped onto the scale with just a towel draped over my shoulder.

“67? You’re skinny as hell.”

“How is 67 skinny?”

“At 180cm and 67kg, you’re skinny, you fool.”

Since I had always been this weight at this height, I didn’t think much of it.

However, Chris, who weighed himself after me, had a different reaction.

“Wow… I’m so fat?”

“You’re saying you’re fat at 73kg?”

Honestly, objectively speaking, it wasn’t a weight that would be considered fat.

Especially given his height.

Chris, stepping off the scale, asked Raicle who was about to enter the bath:

“Aren’t you going to weigh yourself?”

“I’ll weigh less than you anyway, pig.”

“W-what did you say…”

Chris seemed hurt by being called a pig.

These guys’ standards seemed quite different from mine.

“Let’s go in too.”

I dragged the depressed Chris into the bath.

As soon as we stepped in, Chris’s expression darkened even more.

With a face like he had just eaten something disgusting, Chris looked around at the people there and said:

“Is this… hell?”

“If this is hell, you’re one of its residents too.”

“This isn’t what I was expecting…”

***

On the opposite side, in the women’s bath.

There was someone there who had the same reaction as Chris.

“This isn’t what I was expecting…”

“You’re really perverted too.”

“I’m not being perverted…”

Rachel said, gazing longingly in the direction of the men’s bath.

Seeing this, Eve sighed deeply and said:

“Even if things went as you wanted, he wouldn’t come, you know?”

“I’m just saying… Can’t we rent this place out?”

“That’s a good idea!”

Luna and Rachel were talking nonsense just like Chris.

Gloria, hearing their nonsense, brought them back to reality.

“Even if you rented it out, would Albert come?”

“He might…”

Realizing the impossibility of what she was saying, Rachel stopped mid-sentence.

Then she slowly immersed herself in the bath.

“Ah~ This is refreshing~”

“You sound like an old man…”

“Isn’t that a bit harsh?”

“Sorry…”

“Wow~ This is nice… There’s a reason this place is famous.”

They were thoroughly enjoying the hot springs they hadn’t visited in a long time.

Among them, the ones who seemed to enjoy it the most were those who had complained earlier.

Rachel, who now seemed quite satisfied with the situation, looked at Luna and Gloria with a mischievous gaze and said:

“Are all elves like that?”

“Like what…?”

Realizing where Rachel’s eyes were directed, Luna covered her chest with her hands.

Then she showed the same reaction as Reina earlier.

“You’re like an old man…”

“I’m really envious… What do you have to do to get like that? Do elves do something special?”

“There’s nothing like that!!”

While they were exchanging such silly jokes, suddenly numerous energies appeared from the mountains behind the hotel.

And as soon as those energies appeared, some people looked in that direction.

Among them, Gloria, who detected those energies the fastest, said to the students:

“Everyone, please get out of the bath and evacuate quickly.”

***

At that time.

At the Academy, graduation exams for the students were in full swing.

The person who entered the exam venue prepared by the teachers.

Her exam was highly anticipated by many people.

And she was living up to their expectations.

“This is much easier than I thought.”

The graduation exam consisted of three trials.

Of course, it would be good to overcome all three trials, but it wasn’t strictly necessary.

For the Imperial Academy’s graduation exam, passing just the second trial was enough to graduate.

“But can other students do this too?”

Countless monster corpses.

Standing on top of those corpses, she spoke those words.

It was because it was her that such an absurd number of monsters were defeated; it would be quite challenging for other students.

And this was just the first trial.

As soon as she passed the first trial, she looked at the giant monster that appeared and said:

“There’s not even time to rest.”

The second trial consisted of a horde of orcs.

She pointed her staff at the horde of twenty orcs.

-Crack!-

An ice spear formed at that moment.

The spear flew like a bullet and pierced the heads of those monsters.

-Thud!-

The monsters fell to the ground, spewing bright red blood.

She looked at those monsters and said:

“It’s still easy so far.”

Of course, if it were other students, they would have used up all their strength at this stage or failed here.

But she was on a completely different level from those ordinary students.

The third trial revealed itself as soon as the second trial ended.

Even after realizing the nature of the trial, she maintained a relaxed expression.

Then she said to him:

“This is more boring than I expected. Is it because I already knew about it?”