chapter_0137

Mesugaki Tank Enters the Academy –
137

Mesugaki Tank Enters the Academy –
137

“Oh, damn it. More
footsteps.”

“Everyone, be alert.
Let’s see what’s happening.”

Jacob swallowed hard as he
listened to the distant footsteps.

It was the third morning since
the field trip started. This forest had turned into hell.

Students from the Academy were
ambushing other parties to avoid failure, while those who were
ambushed retaliated by attacking weaker groups for better grades.

In this hellish scenario where
survival of the fittest was experienced firsthand, Jacob’s party was
playing the role of the weak.

The truth was, Jacob’s party
hadn’t been formed with this kind of situation in mind.

They had no intention of
achieving high grades in this field trip.

They were just a group of old
friends who aimed to gather enough loot to avoid failure and planned
to spend the rest of their time leisurely camping in the forest.

As such, their party wasn’t
particularly strong in combat. They would struggle and likely be
defeated by a boss on the 10th floor if they entered the Academy
dungeon.

As a result, they had become
prey for other parties since the first night when Lucy Allen started
her pillaging.

They risked their lives to
collect loot, only to have it stolen.

They fought monsters with
blood, sweat, and tears to gather loot, only to have it taken again
by another party.

Overcoming numerous hardships
one by one, they painstakingly collected loot, only to face another
party’s attack and lose it all again.

For Jacob’s party, this field
trip was not an educational experience. It was bullying. Bullying for
the unforgivable crime of being weak.

This was not the field trip
Jacob had imagined.

He had dreamed of a field trip
where he could hunt monsters with his friends, and at night, talk by
the warmth of a campfire under the stars.

‘How did a field trip that
was supposed to be enjoyable turn into this?’

Jacob gritted his teeth as he
listened to the approaching footsteps.

‘We’re not just going to
keep getting robbed. I won’t allow it. We’ve gained experience
through these many hardships. This time, we will fight back properly.
Yes. We will steal too!’

With that decision made, Jacob
tightly gripped his sword. But when he saw the face of the person
emerging from the bushes, his resolve crumbled.

“Nice to meet you.”

Arthur Soladin. The Third
Prince of the Soladin Kingdom and one of the most powerful
individuals in the Academy.

The people behind him were
also incredibly skilled, enough to be members of Arthur’s party.

For Jacob’s party, no matter
how desperate their struggle was, they couldn’t win against them.

‘Damn it. Anyone but him!’

Jacob bit his lip as he
recognized who they were. There was no point in resisting. They would
just be crushed by their overwhelming force. It would be wiser to
plead for mercy.

“We don’t have anything,
so please don’t take anything from us.”

“Ah, don’t worry. We’re
not here to steal your loot.”

“…Really?”

“Yes. If we were planning to
rob you, would we be having this conversation?”

He had a point. If Arthur
intended to loot them, there would be no need for such a dialogue. A
single command would be enough to make Jacob’s party kneel.

“Then why?”

“I’m formulating a plan
right now. For it to work, the students of the Academy need to unite
as one.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“Do you think it’s right
for the culprit who turned this field trip into a mess to be
gleefully roaming around?”

The culprit responsible for
this chaos. There was no need to explicitly mention who it was;
everyone wandering the forest knew the name.

Lucy Allen.

The most powerful force in the
forest.

The one with the most
exceptional knowledge at the Academy.

At the same time, the Genius
of the Century who continuously breaks new records at Soul Academy.

The person who saved Jacob’s
life during the entrance exam.

“I intend to let her
understand what original sin she has committed. I’d love to pay her
back with just our party, but Lucy Allen is too strong for that.”

“So, you’re planning to
gather everyone at the Academy to attack her together?”

“Exactly. I don’t want to
give Lucy Allen even the smallest opportunity.”

Arthur’s words, stating that
they needed to prepare thoroughly to bring her down because anything
less would just lead to Lucy destroying everything, showed his
determination.

It showed how deeply committed
he was to this plan.

“Of course, everyone who
participates will receive proper compensation. We’ll fairly
distribute the loot Lucy Allen has accumulated.”

A fair distribution of Lucy’s
loot.

Since the first day, Lucy had
been amassing loot by pillaging numerous parties at the Academy.
Nobody knew exactly how much loot she had, but it was undoubtedly a
substantial amount.

If they could seize that and
distribute it fairly, Jacob’s party might even avoid failure.

“Is that really true?”

When Jacob’s friend asked,
reaching that conclusion, Arthur nodded.

“I swear on my honour as
a prince.”

A promise made by a prince
from a kingdom carried great weight.

As Jacob’s party began to
murmur with hope, Jacob, the instigator of this gathering, stepped
forward.

“I’m sorry, Prince
Arthur.”

“Are you telling me you
refuse my proposal?”

“Yes. Lady Allen is my
benefactor. She saved my life. I cannot betray her.”

Lucy had probably already
erased Jacob from her mind. To a star like her, who would rewrite
history, someone like Jacob was insignificant.

But, no matter what, beings of
the earth cannot forget the stars of the sky. Arthur looked at Jacob
who was bowing his head and then laughed softly.

“Aren’t you going to ask
what your friends think?”

“Oh! That’s…”

“No, Prince, we agree as
well.”

“How could we attack
someone who saved our friend’s life?”

As Jacob raised his head in
surprise, voices echoed from behind him. They all agreed with Jacob’s
stance.

“What if she considers
you her enemies?”

“We don’t have anything
to lose anyway! You can take dust from our empty pockets!”

Jacob’s usually talkative
friend spoke with a trembling voice, and Arthur couldn’t help but
laugh.

Amidst the silence of others,
Arthur chuckled for a long moment before clearing his throat and
continuing with a gentle smile.

“Ah, I see. I’ll
respect your decision. Just don’t interfere with our plans. If you
do, we’ll have no choice but to consider you our enemies as well.”

With those final words, Arthur
left, and Jacob’s legs gave out, causing him to collapse to the
ground in relief.

‘He’s truly terrifying. It
must be the royal blood. His spirit is no joke. I thought I’d be
eaten alive.’

“Hey! You crazy idiot!
How could you blurt that out without consulting us?”

“I thought we were dead
for sure, talking to the prince like that, you trash!”

“Screw you! Damn it! Go
hunting monsters alone and get the loot yourself, you bastard!”

But Jacob couldn’t dwell on
the past incident any longer. Before Jacob could even process the
situation, his friends affectionately started hitting and kicking the
back of his head.

Over the past two days,
perhaps due to the excessive pillaging, other students at the Academy
had grown significantly more wary.

Even when Phoebe stepped
forward, far from feeling reassured, they were quick to raise their
weapons.

Not that it changed anything,
of course. It’s not like glaring harder was going to stop our party’s
force, right?

After receiving buffs from
Phoebe, Joy would launch an initial magic attack, and in the chaos
that ensued, I would break through to draw the aggro. Then, along
with Frey, we would take down each opponent one by one.

Even if they teamed up against
us, those sloppy fighters couldn’t even scratch me.

After looting yet another
party, I put the spoils of war, which they had effectively paid as
their tuition for being taught a lesson, into my inventory and took a
look at everything I had collected so far.

Wow, I really gathered quite a
lot. This would be a significant haul even by game standards.

Maybe because I gathered it
all by running around on foot, it felt incredibly satisfying.

With this, I’d basically
secured first place in the field trip.

As I smiled contentedly at my
collection, I heard the rustling of bushes but didn’t bother to turn
around. I already knew who it was.

“Perverted Fox? What
brings you here?”

“Isn’t there only one
reason for me to come here?”

“Ah…”

As soon as the fox raised her
voice, Joy cast me a sympathetic glance.

Phoebe did too. While she
usually gave off nuanced looks when we were pillaging other students,
at this moment, even she seemed to pity me.

“You really are
something, damn perverted Fox. How disgusting must you be for others
to pity me?”

When I stared at her with
unabashed disgust, the Fox, tails and all, wagged enthusiastically.

“I quite like that look.
Could you glare at me a bit more?”

‘Die.’

“Why are you still alive?
It’s revolting. Just die. Go kill yourself.”

“Hmm, what a savoury
treat. Though I’d love to indulge more, I have something to tell
you.”

With that, the Fox returned to
her human form.

Standing quite tall for a
woman, while I was practically a kid by comparison, I naturally had
to look up at her as she changed form.

Seeing the way she looked down
at me with those creepy eyes made me thoroughly annoyed. For some
reason, being around her always seemed to anger me.

“If you’re livestock,
then act like it and crawl on all fours. Why are you pretending to be
human? Sit, you repulsive perverted Fox.”

“Woof!”

Watching the Fox, who now
barked like a dog without even being told, should have calmed me
down… like hell it did!

Damn it.

Being around this pervert
makes me feel like I’m getting contaminated.

“So, what is it you want
to say?♡”

“Woof!”

“Are you the Master of the
Forest and yet unable to grasp the situation?♡ Sloppy.♡ Below
pathetic.♡ You’re a moronic piece of livestock who can only engage
in perverted acts.♡”

The Crazy Fox seemed pleased
with my words and panted happily, only to clear her throat awkwardly
under the harsh glares from Joy and Phoebe before continuing.

Of course, she was still
crawling on all fours at that moment.

“It seems the Academy
students are planning to attack you all together.”

‘Centred around Arthur?’

“Is it the foolish
Pitiful Prince leading them?”

“Did you know?”

Of course. After causing so
much chaos in this forest, how could the hatred not be directed at
me?

My reputation was already in
the pits anyway. Naturally, I had to become the public enemy.

“I could hide you in the
mansion.”

‘No need.’

“Hiding in a pervert’s
home? No thanks. It’ll reek of lewdness.”

Why would I need to hide? The
loot is literally walking right up to me.

“Do you have a plan?”

“Of course.”

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