Ch.35Chapter 35. You’re Mine (1)

“Wow, that’s cool.”

That was my first thought upon seeing the green horse knight.

From the looks of it, it seemed to be an Undead like the others, but its appearance was exactly to my taste.

CLANG-

And its power was considerable too.

When I casually crossed blades with it without thinking, I was sent flying by its strength.

‘I really want that horse. I wonder if there’s a way…’

The final monster marking the end of the inter-grade competition.

It certainly seemed like the Academy had put extra effort into creating this final boss.

“Hah. It changes direction quickly too.”

Whoosh- Whoosh- Whoosh-

As the green horse rapidly changed direction, the knight riding it began to swing its lance.

Clop-clop-

With the crisp sound of hoofbeats, the green horse knight approached the others in an instant.

Woong- CLANG-

I gripped my sword tightly and teleported right into the path of the knight’s lance.

Unlike before, I put more strength into meeting the weapon.

WHOOSH-

“Kyaaah!”

I heard Emily’s scream from behind me.

For a moment, I thought there might be something else besides this knight, so I quickly looked back, but that wasn’t it.

She was just startled by the shockwave created when my sword met the green horse knight’s lance.

‘I wonder if it would be hot to ride that thing.’

I turned my head back to look at the green horse.

It was a skeletal horse that looked evil to anyone else, but to me, it just looked cool.

Its visual design really triggered my desire to own it.

But it would be a problem if the horse’s body was too hot to ride.

“I want it…”

“Ryu, Sir Ryu. Are you alright?”

“Yeah. Take the others and get to safety. Elaine, you’re the only one I can trust here.”

“…Yes!”

While the green horse knight—let’s call it Greenie for convenience—failed to achieve its goal of slashing at the others and charged forward, I quickly instructed Elaine to evacuate.

Elaine immediately took Cynthia and Emily and ran to a corner.

She headed toward the cave-like area we had come from earlier.

Even her choice of escape route—a path she already knew—impressed me.

Indeed, she’s talented.

Whoosh-

Meanwhile, Greenie charged at me again.

This time, the knight aimed its lance directly at me in a thrusting motion.

A thrust rather than a slash is actually better for me.

It’s too easy to dodge.

Woong-

Timing my move with the knight’s attack, I teleported into the air and brought my sword down toward the knight’s body.

This time I infused it with mana, making it stronger.

CRASH-

‘What? Why is it so sturdy?’

I thought it would fly away with one hit like that skeleton knight from before, but this one was different.

There seemed to be some kind of protective magic surrounding its body.

Instead of feeling the impact of cutting through the knight’s body, I felt like I had hit some kind of barrier.

‘Tsk. Is this really at the level of Academy students?’

I put quite a bit of strength into that attack, and this is the result.

Is this really an Undead meant to be defeated by students?

“They designed this thing all wrong…”

I looked back and forth between Greenie, who had temporarily retreated after my attack, and Elaine’s group who had fled far away.

Elaine very intelligently went deep into the cave, completely out of Greenie’s sight.

It would have been troublesome if Greenie’s aggro had been drawn to them, but her judgment was excellent.

Clop- Clop-

‘Now I just need to take care of this one.’

Seemingly confused after its attacks failed repeatedly, Greenie was staring at me from a distance.

Looking at the brilliantly flickering green flames, I pondered.

How could I take just the horse without anyone noticing?

‘That’s definitely worth collecting. Hmm.’

It’s not exactly something I’d ride around on a daily basis, but you never know.

There might be an opportunity to use it someday.

Plus, since its body is skeletal, I probably wouldn’t even need to feed it.

Clop- Clop-

“Huh…”

After staring at me silently for a while, Greenie finally started to move.

Instead of charging fiercely like before, it was walking slowly like when it first appeared.

But it wasn’t just walking normally.

While making the clopping sound with its hooves, it was gradually rising upward.

The green flames wrapping around the horse’s legs flickered and burned more intensely.

Clop- Clop-

The green horse was walking in mid-air.

“Amazing.”

It can even fly.

I definitely need to get this.

The Academy probably put a lot of effort into making it, but if I take it without anyone knowing, it should be fine, right?

“Hehe.”

I couldn’t help but smile as I watched the green horse walking through the air with such majesty.

Come to think of it, I’ve already raided the Academy vault before, so what’s one horse?

**

“Is everyone alright?”

“…Yeah. I’m not hurt.”

“M-me neither…”

‘Sigh.’

Elaine inwardly sighed as she looked at the two visibly exhausted people, Cynthia and Emily.

They both claimed to be fine, but they probably weren’t.

Even Elaine herself was completely drained at this point.

“What in the world is going on?”

“Was the inter-grade competition always this intense…?”

“Not to my knowledge. Whew.”

Elaine sighed again and sat down against the wall, momentarily releasing her tension.

It felt like they had been in this dungeon for a week.

“By the way, do you know what that mounted knight was, Miss Franz?”

“N-no. It was my first time seeing such a monster too. It’s definitely an Undead though…”

“Will Ryu be okay alone?”

At Cynthia’s words, both Elaine and Emily reflexively looked toward the passage they had come through.

Somewhere in there, Ryu would be engaged in fierce combat with that creepy Undead.

They had fled so far that they couldn’t hear any sounds.

“We would only get in the way if we were near him.”

“…That’s true.”

Elaine and Emily answered in turn to Cynthia’s question, which sounded more like she was talking to herself.

Cynthia nodded slowly after hearing their responses.

Leaning against the wall, Elaine gripped her sword handle tightly, then released it.

‘Right, if we stayed nearby and accidentally drew the monster’s attention, we’d only be a hindrance.’

Neither Elaine nor Emily even considered the possibility that Ryu might be in danger.

Especially Elaine, who hadn’t thought that way at all.

She had realized it from the moment she saw him step on the Death Knight that had given the third-years so much trouble.

Ah, this person isn’t just someone a few levels above us.

The Death Knight that made her knees weak just by being in its presence.

Senior Gareth from the third year had crossed swords with such a Death Knight.

That alone was impressive, but what about Ryu?

He had played with that Death Knight as if it were a child.

Yes, “played with” was the perfect expression.

‘I don’t think he would even lose if he crossed swords with Father.’

“B-by the way, wasn’t that thing super creepy earlier?”

“Yes. It gave me a… bad feeling.”

Elaine snapped out of her thoughts at Cynthia’s words.

Cynthia seemed embarrassed about her earlier concern for Ryu and was quickly changing the subject.

“Undead… why would such a thing be here…”

“…Come to think of it, Miss Franz, you seemed quite knowledgeable about the Undead.”

“Huh? Oh, that’s…”

At Elaine’s words, Emily lowered her head as if troubled.

Elaine, who had no intention of making Emily uncomfortable, quickly waved her hands.

“Ah, I’m not trying to press you at all. I was just… curious. I knew nothing about them.”

“Same here. I’ve studied the continent’s creatures and monsters, but I’ve never seen an Undead either.”

As Emily looked uncomfortable, Cynthia quickly added to Elaine’s words.

“When I was young… I saw them in person…”

“…Huh? The Undead?”

“Yes… That… Haaa.”

Elaine and Cynthia’s eyes widened at Emily’s bombshell statement.

She had personally seen the Undead, which were believed to have disappeared from the continent.

And when she was young, no less.

Emily stopped mid-sentence, let out a long sigh, and then her breathing became rapid as her body trembled.

Seeing this, Cynthia quickly embraced Emily.

“N-no, if it’s difficult to talk about, you don’t have to force yourself.”

“…”

Cynthia hugged the trembling Emily tightly and patted her back.

Though they were curious, they couldn’t risk sending Emily into another panic like before.

And judging by Emily’s reaction, it definitely wasn’t a pleasant memory.

Swish-

After watching the two for a moment, Elaine stood up.

“Elaine? Where are you going?”

“I’m going to check the situation inside. Some time has passed now.”

“Ah. That…”

BOOM-

While Cynthia was responding while comforting Emily, they heard something collide from the side.

Shing- Thud-

Startled by the sudden noise, Elaine immediately drew her sword, and Cynthia stepped back, gripping her bow.

“Elaine!”

“…Huh?”

“Are you alright?!”

“B-brother… no, Professor?”

“Haaaa.”

The sudden appearance was a man with the same blonde hair as Elaine.

Crescen Academy professor, Kassis Sinclair.

“You! After encountering that Death Knight, you still thought about going further in!”

“…That’s…”

“Just because everyone says you’re doing well, you’ve lost all sense of caution! You’re still just a student! You must have realized this was an unusual situation!”

“…”

Everyone, including Elaine, Cynthia, and Emily, held their breath at Kassis’s outburst.

“I-I’m sorry…”

Elaine responded to Kassis, who had been shouting loud enough to echo through the cave.

Only then did Kassis seem to realize the situation and stopped speaking.

“Haaa. At least you’re all safe. You’re all the same. You encounter an Undead and still decide to go deeper into a dungeon where who knows what else might be? Hmph.”

“B-but…”

“What?”

“N-nothing.”

Cynthia tried to object to Kassis’s words, but when those golden eyes coldly stared at her, she lowered her head.

“Then let’s go back… Wait. Weren’t there four of you?”

“Yes… there were.”

“Sigh. Where’s the other one? Ryu, was it? The top-ranked commoner.”

“Well…”

Elaine momentarily looked at Cynthia.

Receiving Elaine’s gaze, Cynthia unconsciously looked at Emily.

Finally, Emily, the endpoint of everyone’s gaze, opened her mouth.

“H-he’s fighting in there. With the Undead.”

“…What?”

An incredulous sigh escaped from Kassis’s lips.