episode_0212

Dungeon hunters have their own principles. That is, not to interfere with the magical beasts each is hunting. Simply put, it’s similar to not recklessly stealing monsters in a game. Sometimes, by mistake, a hunter might snatch a magical beast another was targeting; in such cases, it’s customary to compensate the one who spotted it first and reconcile. Of course, the best course of action is generally to avoid getting involved in a fight, as it’s common sense and etiquette in this field. More importantly, it’s best to observe from a distance, as one could be swept into the attack. Interfering with someone else’s operation could result in casualties.

But a good girl like me wouldn’t do such a rude thing, would I? So I retorted. “No, it wasn’t. This magical beast attacked first.” I firmly faced the Restraid knights and said. The previous rules only apply when the magical beast is successfully caught; if it escapes, the situation changes. “By the way, why did you let the magical beast get away? We almost died because of it.”

At my words, the knights became furious. “Shut up! We were in hot pursuit. You’re the one who interfered!” “Such a brazen kid. No business ethics at all…” The armored knights of Restraid scoffed, barely listening to my words. “Hey, do you even know who we are?” “Who are you?” They pointed to their shoulders. A blue metallic mark, depicting a helmet and an anvil, was visible. “See? We are Restraid. Does that clear things up?” “A mere student picking a fight with us, how absurd.” For some reason, they seemed quite annoyed. *It seems they had trouble finding the magical beast.* The knights’ voices grew rougher. “You, what school are you from? Who told you to talk back to a hunter?”

“I’m from Aegis Academy.” Hearing my words, the ‘can’ guys whispered something. “Aegis Academy? Wasn’t that under our jurisdiction?” “The foundation stepped away from it a while ago.” “Even so, it’s the southern district, right? That’s our territory.” “That’s true!” Seemingly emboldened, the ‘can’ knights immediately pointed their fingers and flared up even more. “If you’re from Aegis Academy, you should know your place even more! You don’t want to work in our territory, do you?” “Hey, are you going to lower your gaze?” What kind of thugs are these? I protested more strongly. “Sirs, I told you, that magical beast attacked first!” I knew all four major clans were trash, but I hadn’t expected the Restraid Clan members to be this idiotic.

“Hmph… Is that so? Who do you think will believe your words? You interfered with the magical beast we were tracking, and we lost it. You must take responsibility!” “We clearly saw it. You interfered with our hunt!” Only then did the Violet selves realize what these knights wanted. *These guys just want to trample us!* *Are they planning to use us as scapegoats?* I roughly deduced the situation. The Restraid members had been hunting a magical beast. Due to a personal issue, their operation went awry, and the magical beast escaped. It then chased after passing hunters’ vehicles and attacked us when it saw us. To confirm my deduction, I lightly provoked them. “By the way, sirs, are you really part of the Restraid Clan? That armored suit, anyone can buy it if they have money, right? No, wait. Is it a fake? Anyway, aren’t you the incompetent ones for letting the magical beast get away?”

“What? This brat!” Seeing them enraged, I was certain. They just wanted to see someone else bow their head. The knights furiously drew their weapons. When they struck the ground with their enormous swords, cracks appeared in the floor and stones flew. *Thud! Thud! Thud!* “How dare a mere student insult our clan? This is intolerable. Apologize at once!” “What nonsense…” I clicked my tongue inwardly. To boast of being part of a prominent clan with such childish displays of power. As I ignored them and turned to leave, a cold, brutish hand grabbed my shoulder. “Didn’t you hear me? Kneel and apologize right now!” “Hey! Let go!”

As I was getting angry, Sophieel Unnie stepped between me and the knight. Her slender white hand pushed back the heavy gauntlet of the armored knight. “That’s enough.” “Who are you now?” The knight menacingly pointed his greatsword at Sophieel. At that moment, a flash of light gleamed. *Clang!* The knight’s greatsword, aimed at us, was repelled far back with a shower of sparks. Then, a cool voice was heard. “…!” “I told you to stop.” Sophieel Unnie, holding her sword, glared at the knights with an uncharacteristically fierce gaze. *I couldn’t see it!* *So fast!* I was amazed. Perhaps because of the sheer speed, the knights looked dumbfounded.

Sophieel smoothly drew her sword from its scabbard. The massive sword the armored knight had been wielding was swept aside as if it were a reed swaying in the wind. The impact was strong enough to push back the armored suit’s arm, which had powerful output. “You bitch!” While the knight whose sword was repelled was flustered, an adjacent knight instinctively swung a halberd. A flash of light gleamed. Her blade moved smoothly as if following a trajectory drawn in the air. The spearhead lost its force and slid to the side. The next moment, the pommel struck the knight’s chest. The heavy armored suit was pushed back a step. “W-what strength…” As the knights retreated, Sophieel slightly furrowed her brow. ‘Raiburn-Hykes, it works.’ She felt both admiration and regret for the combat technique her younger sibling had recently started teaching her. ‘It’s truly impressive. It can repel even an armored knight’s attack. But I’m not used to it yet. It’s not enough to teach other students.’ As Sophieel expected, her opponents were utterly bewildered. They seemed stunned to see their prized armored suits and greatswords so easily repelled. “Wha—what?! Who are you, really?!”

When the knight shouted, Sophieel pulled out her ID. “I am Sophieel Arklight, an agent of the Inspection Bureau. Excuse me, but this student under my supervision is currently undergoing rehabilitation training. Please stop intimidating her.” Her resolute and calm voice pressured the knights. “What, does being from the Inspection Bureau make you everything? Aren’t you going to properly supervise your student?” One knight said with a trembling voice. Their attitude was somewhat intimidated due to having witnessed her skill moments before. “So what? It’s a fact that you interfered with our hunt! Shouldn’t the Inspection Bureau be managing things properly?” Sophieel smiled faintly, looked at the knights, then tapped the black box attached to her chest. “First, everything you’ve done so far will be recorded by our Inspection Bureau. According to regulations, it’s standard procedure to wear this. If you wish, we’ll have no choice but to seriously address the facts of this incident at an official level using this recording.”

Embarrassment was conveyed through the knights’ helmets. Words mixed with shame and anger came through. “So?” “If that happens, everything the esteemed Restraid knights did will be revealed, won’t it? Distinguished knights like yourselves should have been able to catch a magical beast of this caliber quickly. We might need to investigate why you let it get away. And we’ll have to determine if it truly was our student’s fault. Only then can an apology be made.” Information about Restraid flashed through Sophieel’s mind: strict regulations, strict hierarchy, confidence. What would happen if their superiors saw this video? They would surely discipline them for letting a hunted magical beast escape. “Be careful. I’ve heard that the prestige of the three major clans isn’t what it used to be these days. There’s a lot of discontent among other hunters. Is there really a need to cause friction?” Finally, she drove home a subtle insinuation as a wedge. Whether her logic worked, the knights stumbled back, unable to hide their sheepish expressions, and retreated.

“Ahem… We’ll let it slide. Student, be careful next time, alright?” “As knights, it’s also important to generously overlook the mistakes of the foolish. We’ll be leaving now.” They then turned and walked away. *Knights, my ass? Just a bunch of idiots!* *Good riddance! Go become magical beast fodder!* Violet, who had been badmouthing Restraid, suddenly admired Sophieel’s skill that she had just witnessed. “Unnie, what was that just now? It was incredibly fast!” Sophieel smiled slightly and replied. “It’s nothing special. I learned it from my younger sibling… I’m still very lacking. But by any chance, do you know what this is?” Violet felt a sense of déjà vu from Sophieel’s movements a moment ago but soon tilted her head. “I don’t know!” Violet scratched her head, smiling brightly. Watching her, Sophieel recalled her younger sibling’s warning. ‘Seijis’s idea seems wrong. This child doesn’t know the Raiburn-Hykes system.’ Wondering what her younger sibling had been doing in the future, she followed behind Violet.

Leaving the nasty Restraid ‘cans’ behind, we found the car that had been chased earlier. “Thank you for drawing their attention! We were retreating, and a magical beast chased us; we thought we were going to die!” “It suddenly charged out of the dust, what was that about?” Indeed, it was true that the magical beast the Restraid members had lost was wildly agitated and charging at people nearby. “Even so, leading it to us was a bit much! Hand over the money!” “We’re sorry!” After receiving a promise of compensation from the idiotic hunters, I descended into the deep layers. There, the ruins of an empty outpost and abandoned cargo filled the area. While we waited, the subsequent trucks driven by Violet selves arrived. *They’re here!* While the search team Violet selves dealt with the incoming magical beasts, the rest of us loaded the cargo onto the trucks. Sophieel Unnie also stepped forward to help us with our work.

“Wow, Unnie, you’re strong!” “It’s nothing much…” Her strength was indeed impressive, befitting a future scholar. She easily lifted and carried large cargo that would take two Violet selves, using body enhancement, to barely lift. Thanks to her, the work finished quickly. “Let’s go home now!” I closed the truck door and got into the driver’s seat. While driving through the wilderness after leaving the deep layers of the dungeon, I replayed the day’s events in my mind. *Those Restraid Clan guys are really arrogant!* *How dare they pick a fight with us? Let’s blow them up too!* *We’re out of ammo. Later!*

If Magnabyss was a group of sinister mages, Restraid was a group of stubborn armored knights. They were relatively better than Luminexa and Raphlaxia, which were full of perverted scientists, but there was an implication in Part 1 that they weren’t exactly good guys either. And there was the scholar’s warning. If I wanted to fight against giant clans, corporations, or evil factions in the future, I had to consult her first. *She said not yet, right?* I don’t know what “yet” meant. *Still, isn’t the armor cool? It looks like something out of a movie!*

If Magnabyss possessed artifact interpretation and magic application technology, Restraid possessed excellent material engineering and mechanical engineering, applying rare dungeon materials and Aether. That’s how they could operate such powered armored suits. *They also made Stregonix’s armor plating, didn’t they?* *They probably make most heavy armor too, don’t they?* The knight’s armor was indeed cool. It seemed like quite expensive equipment, but I wanted a set. *Knight Violet!* *Violet Knight!* As the gate came into view, we chuckled. “Violet, are you having fun daydreams again?” “Yes!” Why did Sophieel Unnie always ask us questions whenever we had fun thoughts? I wondered.

*By the way, did you see the technique Unnie used earlier? It was incredibly fast!* It was so fast that I couldn’t properly see it, but Sophieel smoothly deflected the large sword swung by the knight. It was a posture reminiscent of Tai Chi from a martial arts movie. *Didn’t the Obsidian Legion members use a similar martial art?* *Did they?* As I recalled, there was mention that the Obsidian Legion members used a unique martial art. The Witch also used a strange counter-technique. Since its name wasn’t mentioned, I don’t know what it was. *Maybe it’s Unnie’s unique technique!* *As expected, she’s a future scholar!* We should also create a martial art later. “Violet-style swordsmanship” would be a good name.