Ch.237Side Story: Midterm Replacement Exam – 4

The King of the Yetis, Shark-Hati, did not know how he was born. He didn’t know why he had such a name either. He simply called himself that because it existed in his memory.

The first thing Shark-Hati did upon appearing in the world was to instinctively command his subordinates, who recognized themselves as his kin, to create weapons.

Though he had no memory of it, he could somehow make weapons; though he had no memory of it, he could somehow make armor; though he had no memory of it, he could somehow tame and ride mounts.

These ‘memories without memories’ pointed Shark-Hati toward only one path: go out and destroy the world. Burn everything to ashes.

Every yeti listened without question. Though he didn’t know where they came from, new kin kept appearing, and as soon as they were created, they perfectly understood their roles.

As time passed, when he finally ventured outside wearing the best-forged axe, the largest mount, and the finest armor, Shark-Hati was overflowing with confidence.

“Should we take a few subordinates with us? Just the boss alone might not be enough for a sample.”

“You talk as if we’re picking fruit.”

He believed no one could stop them—until his subordinates were defeated by a single human. Even as he fled in panic, he couldn’t believe what had happened.

All the subordinates by his side were dead. The terrible screams as their limbs bent backward broke the morale of the others. After those incomprehensible words were spoken, only three or four were captured.

—Assemble!!!!! Everyone assemble!!!!!!

Shark-Hati let out a mighty roar, summoning all his scattered subordinates from across the snowy mountains. From far away came the sound of horn trumpets, and yetis riding mounts rushed in.

He pushed his arriving subordinates to the front while positioning himself at the very back. First, he would send other yetis to tire the human, then he would advance last to kill the human. This wasn’t cowardice—it was strategy.

After killing them, he would desecrate the corpse and tear it to pieces—

“See? I told you if we followed him, he’d gather them all for us.”

“You’re right. We don’t need to search elsewhere.”

However, something about those humans’ demeanor was unsettling. Despite being surrounded by a yeti army of over a hundred, they were calmly muttering in their own language.

“If we spare only that one again, will he run back to the gate?”

“Rather than wandering around the snowy mountains, this is much faster.”

I tucked the now useless map inside my coat.

It had just been proven that instead of trudging through this tremendous blizzard searching for the gate’s coordinates and remaining yetis, it was much easier to spare the leader and follow him.

“It’s surprising that they’re already emerging outside, though.”

I frowned while examining the gate. Karna did the same.

A dungeon break hadn’t occurred yet. By our calculations, this gate had more than a month remaining. Yet these creatures were already emerging and beginning their activities outside. How this was possible remained a mystery.

“Well, that’s for the Archmages and the Magic Association to figure out, not us. Let’s go in.”

“Yeah.”

Karna followed behind me, fidgeting with his sword. He’d been like that for a while, probably because he’d just been watching while I cleared the gate.

“I’ll keep it a secret, so you can take down a few. If we both keep quiet, no one will ever know.”

“K-kiss?! Ahem. No, no. We shouldn’t do that. Mira, these are yours to defeat. Why are you trying to pass them to me?”

Despite his words, his twitching fingers showed he was clearly restless. I inwardly smirked.

‘They said he used to have such a fragile personality.’

His transformation into a murderous ghost was largely due to that fragility. But now he was desperate to swing his sword. It seemed his mindset had changed significantly since returning to human form.

I didn’t need to worry about him becoming a murderous ghost again.

‘If that were going to happen, it would have happened already.’

I stepped through the gate. An ancient ruin-like spectacle greeted us.

In the distance stood bizarre stone structures, and between the gate and the city stretched a well-maintained wall.

It was truly worthy of being called a city. The only differences were that the inhabitants were yetis rather than humans, and these yetis were hostile toward us.

And the fact that ballistas, not arrows or magic, were aimed at us from the wall.

—Uooooh!

They were massive ballistas, each requiring five yetis to operate. The leader who had fled earlier was now on the wall, encouraging his subordinates.

I couldn’t help but laugh. Even a single one of these yetis was strong enough to make trolls look weak, and their leader was comparable to a Twin-headed Ogre.

And these creatures were firing ballistas with arrows several meters long? If they had appeared on Earth instead of this world, it would have been a horrific disaster.

—Kuooo!

As the yeti leader lowered his hand, the ballista fired with a booming sound. My body reacted before my mind as I watched the meter-long arrowhead flying straight toward me.

I slightly twisted my upper body and extended Eternal to the side. After stepping just one pace sideways out of the arrow’s path, I brought my blade to that spot instead.

The semi-transparent blade pierced precisely into the center of the arrowhead. I felt a slight recoil in my left arm from absorbing that brute force. I tensed my elbow.

—Kwaddeuddeuk!

The arrow, split perfectly vertically, struck the ground, creating vibrations and dust.

—…

The yetis stood dumbfounded, seemingly at a loss for words. Despite having nineteen loaded ballistas remaining, none made a move to fire.

“You’re really not going to do it?”

Nodding, nodding—after confirming that head moving up and down, I drew a magic circle with my left hand. This was for a quicker and cleaner method than killing them one by one with Eternal.

A sphere rotating clockwise appeared above the magic circle. As it gained speed, it began to rise. The yetis’ blank stares fixed on that round, purple object.

Soon, lightning filled the sphere.

The electricity with its tremendous power made the yetis’ fur stand on end even from a distance of over ten meters. By the time the leader realized the danger and pointed, it was already too late.

—Kwagwagwagwagwang!

Lightning struck from the clear sky.

The bolt shot from the sphere instantly reduced the nearest yeti to ashes. Not just burned to death, but literally turned into a handful of ash. Terror rose among the yetis as they witnessed their comrade’s fate.

Two. Three. The lightning continued to blast them apart. The power was so intense that sometimes even yetis standing next to those turned to ash died along with them.

The thunder sound I had deliberately added seemed to heighten their fear, as they covered their ears and trembled. The lightning that had appeared in the clear sky calmly continued its slaughter.

I leaped onto the wall in one bound. Amidst the lightning striking in all directions, the yeti leader faced off against me.

I aimed Eternal at him. Sensing he had nowhere left to retreat, he let out a final roar, summoning his last courage.

“Let’s go.”

Though his reunion with his previously captured subordinates happened in a much more unseemly manner than that final roar.

“You want us to investigate whether these are magical beasts or demonic beings?! Hey! What are you doing! Move that equipment!”

The yeti leader and his subordinates, captured with all their limbs broken, were immediately sent to the Magic Association.

Upon hearing that they might be intelligent magical beasts capable of using weapons and building cities, the Tower Masters, who had been grimacing while dissecting octopi, rushed in without hesitation.

As evident from Karna’s reaction, they seemed especially enthusiastic since this was their first encounter with yetis.

“…So it really was just an octopus.”

“Yes. It showed none of the characteristics we’d expect from a magical beast.”

Surprisingly, the octopus was just an ordinary octopus. Though it was the size of a 25-ton dump truck, it was a real creature, not a magical beast.

The Tower Masters seemed to interpret my reaction as mere personal curiosity.

“Tool-using magical beasts and gates that allow creatures to emerge without a dungeon break… It seems we have more factors to consider.”

Having delivered samples to the Magic Association and completed the substitute test, it was time to inform those around me. Laura, the Imperial Princess and Guild Master of the Eternal Guild, frowned upon hearing my report.

It was a natural reaction, given that a new variant gate had appeared when countermeasures for monster gates weren’t yet fully established.

“Well, it won’t be difficult for the people here. If those forces appeared on Earth as they are, that would be another story.”

The yetis’ level was manageable even for regular knights—they were assigned to the Royal Guard only because of the difficult terrain. If the Royal Guard were deployed, it would be no contest.

“That’s a relief to hear.”

Seeing Laura’s relieved expression, Rosaria quietly spoke up.

“So, has the beach been decided as our travel destination?”

“It’s not officially decided yet, but it’s practically confirmed.”

The teachers had been considering the southeastern beach for some time. Some professors were persistently advocating for the mountains, but their arguments were essentially meaningless unless the sky fell, according to the explanation.

“If you say it’s a good place, Mira, then it must be amazing. I’m excited.”

Rosaria grinned broadly. Watching her, Elysier added a comment.

“It’s too early to rejoice when one important matter remains, Rosaria.”

“What? Don’t you dare say midterm exams.”

“I’m talking about swimsuits. Surely you weren’t planning to go to the beach in your current attire?”

Rosaria stopped in her tracks and quietly touched her stomach. Then, with a face suddenly full of confidence, she said:

“Oh, I thought it was something serious. I can just buy one there. They do have swimsuits here, right?”

“Of course they do. Don’t worry.”

I had heard Karna’s excuse about not bringing a swimsuit when he followed me to an underwater gate. Even without that, I’d seen them several times at the department store run by the Crate family.

“Indeed. And conveniently, you have someone right here who can help you choose.”

At Elysier’s words, as if by agreement, everyone in the club room turned their gaze toward me.

It was the moment my fate was sealed, regardless of my own wishes.