episode_0087

As if time had stopped, the whole world fell into silence.

All students’ eyes were focused on me at once.

Cold sweat runs down my cheeks.

The students, who were a little embarrassed, soon nodded with understanding eyes.

…Convinced?

“Kuhm…!”

Even Professor Kaline cleared his throat and laughed.

Damien, you ungrateful bastard. I never thought I would treat you like this, despite how hard I worked to take care of you.

They say the person they fear the most appears, but why did I come out?

“No, that bastard…”

“Ha, Hashal? Well, Damian probably doesn’t have any malicious intent or anything like that. It must have been because the training was difficult…!”

Millia did her best to defend Damian. Although his voice was trembling.

“Well…just watch closely for now. It would be a good opportunity to watch the battle of the masters.”

Only then did the students return their gaze to the screen after hearing the professor’s words.

Damian, who hesitated as if embarrassed by my sudden appearance, immediately raised his greatsword.

My fantasy grinned and rushed towards Damian.

—-

What Professor Kaline said was wrong.

Because what happened after that wasn’t a battle.

The moment the long sword and the great sword collided, the great sword was cut off.

Not with sharpness, but with great force, as if digging in and crushing it.

“Ugh…!”

Next, the left hand extends. Full of ominous crimson energy.

Damian hurriedly tried to block it by raising the great sword that had been cut in half.

The sword explodes with heavy drinking.

Damian’s body was launched backwards as if hit by a train.

The speed could only be described as firing.

Damian flew dozens of meters and rolled violently on the ground, vomiting blood.

Shattered metal fragments were scattered here and there in the grassland.

…Even if I hit it myself, it wouldn’t be that bad.

It looks like he’s using his killing power properly.

“Weak! You are as weak as a bug!”

He speaks too.

Although it’s not a line I would say.

“Wow…! Big…!”

Damian collapsed and vomited blood.

A bucket of blood pours out onto the floor.

Pieces of internal organs were scattered throughout the pool of blood.

The damage from that single blow would be greater than that of a monster’s attack that was repeated dozens of times.

Damian wiped the blood flowing from the corner of his mouth and stood up unsteadily.

Well, the great sword has already been shattered and only the handle remains.

“A few of your internal organs must have exploded, but you recovered well. I like that. Then, let’s check where and how long you can stand!”

Fantasy rushes in.

Leaving behind an afterimage-like eye glow.

What followed was one-sided violence.

It’s like a carefully tuned melody so that the opponent doesn’t die easily.

When you extend your arm, you hit back with your fist.

Damian’s hand disappeared. Literally, like powder.

When you swing your leg, you hit it with your toe.

Damien’s leg bones were crushed. My right leg was limp like a mollusk.

“Now, now! Now you have one pair of limbs left! What can I do?”

My fantasy was constantly laughing.

Like a cat playing with its prey, it seemed like it was enjoying slowly tormenting the other person.

Damian’s body bounced around like a basketball along with the sound of meat being chopped.

Good job, really Hashal…!

No, no, what are you saying now? That wasn’t real, it was fake. Because it’s a fantasy. I am real.

Then should we call it fake and real Hashal?

Whatever it is, feel free to pat that ungrateful guy for me.

“Hashall…?”

Maybe I was having too much fun watching it, but Milia glanced in my direction.

“Hmm, it’s Damien after all. You have great tenacity, don’t you think, Millia?”

“Is that so…?”

Millia smiled awkwardly and avoided my gaze.

—-

It didn’t take long for Damian to transform into the object that was Damian.

Maybe about ten minutes?

The nightmare finally came to an end when my fantasy happily looked down on Damian, who died because he could not endure it.

Damian, who was lying down, got up and took off his helmet.

Although his entire body was drenched in cold sweat, he looked resolute and did not tremble in fear.

As expected, your mental strength is great.

It was as if there was no feeling of fear.

“…You had a hard time. Can you stand?”

Professor Kaline’s voice was full of regret.

Was he a person who could make a voice like that?

“Yes. It’s okay…”

Damian shook his head for a moment and got up from his seat and headed this way.

He made eye contact with me and paused for a moment.

“It’s okay, Damian…?”

“Yeah…honestly, it was hard, but it’s okay now.”

Damian tried to smile.

Millia took out a handkerchief and wiped Damian’s forehead.

The hem of the light yellow cloth was dyed darkly.

“Well, they fight well. I still don’t understand the part where I came out at the end.”

“Haha…”

Damian smiled awkwardly.

What are you laughing at, you bastard?

“It was an amazing achievement to succeed in subduing the Commander-in-Chief through a war of attrition. If it were an actual battle, retreat would have been recommended… but sometimes there are battles where you can’t retreat. However, it is unfortunate that I let my guard down for a moment after cutting the head. Please remember. There is no physical vital point for the commanding officer.”

Kaline calmly evaluated the battle.

“As for the fourth battle…I don’t have much to say. It was natural that we couldn’t win.”

Some students giggled and laughed quietly.

Yeah… that would be funny.

They say the person you are most afraid of appears, but it turns out that the friend you often stick with has appeared.

I rested my chin and glanced at Damian.

Damian subtly avoided my gaze.

I’m not angry, so look over here, Damien. Are you really not angry?

…In the end, we didn’t make eye contact until the end.

Only Millia smiled awkwardly.

—-

The practices that followed were nothing special.

Edgar did well in his own way.

Since he was an aspiring paladin, he was able to prevent the restoration of the necromancer species.

The sword, with its faint, holy light, continued to cut through the monster’s body.

In the end, the fundamental lack of skills held me back.

Unlike Damian, Edgar did not yet have the skills to avoid or block monster attacks.

Edgar, whose face was pierced by a tentacle, trembled and then fell limp.

Unfortunately, Milia’s compatibility was very poor.

If my first opponent had been an ogre, I would have won without difficulty. But the troll was too much.

With stabbing weapons such as bows and rapiers, the wound area is relatively small, and it is difficult to expect significant bleeding.

Especially in the case of arrows. Unless you forcefully pull out the arrow stuck in it, almost no blood flows.

If it were the bow I was using, I could neutralize it for an instant… but Millia’s bow itself wasn’t that strong of a bow.

“Kaaaa!”

Millia groaned at the sight of the troll, which had been transformed into a hedgehog by hundreds of arrows, and was still running wild.

The arrows that were pushed out by the regenerated flesh fell to the floor.

However, this did not mean that Milia was particularly defeated.

Because she wasn’t dull enough to be attacked by a troll.

Perhaps because it was a dream, there was no sign of running out of arrows.

Those who are not hurt and those who are useless even if they are hurt.

What ultimately determined victory or defeat was the difference in physical strength.

“Oh…!”

The troll’s club flew towards Milia, who lost her footing due to exhaustion.

The scene that happened after that was…

Well, honestly, it wasn’t a good look.

Would you say it was fortunate that he was hit on the back rather than the head?

“I lost…”

“There was nothing we could do because our compatibility was so bad. Thank you for your hard work, Millia.”

“If you want to fight with a bow against a troll, you’ll have to think carefully. Because the final blow is not enough.”

Damien and I comforted Millia, who was depressed.

Maybe you could use an enchanted bow…or shoot a giant arrow that would blow off your entire head.

Either way, it may not be possible right now.

Next was Ophelia.

Ophelia cut down the troll and ogre with her wind blade, and as soon as the monster came out, she pointed the tip of her finger at her chest.

Blood spurted out from the punctured heart along with a “picking” sound.

Her body fell limp.

That’s right, I don’t want to fight with all my might, and I don’t want to be seen dying an ugly death.

Professor Kaline frowned.

“…Do not think that you can meet a noble end on the battlefield.”

“Keep this in mind.”

After answering appropriately, Ophelia returned to her seat.

Throwing a glance in my direction.

…Do you think you have something to say to me?

Something to do with my sister.

—-

“Then, I will conclude the lecture with this. Judging by the expressions on your faces, it seems that practice using the MT-V has proven to be sufficiently effective. I have to express my gratitude to the Faculty of Magic.”

It looks like this teaching method, which only I am not good at, will become established as a regular curriculum.

The effect itself certainly looks excellent.

Training where you literally fight to the death, but don’t suffer any injuries other than mental shock.

There is no other way to do rehearsal.

As Professor Kaline left the classroom, the students gathered together and started to go outside.

“Then, see you later Hashalle.”

“Yes. Millia is eating well too. Oh, and Damian. You will have special training in the future. You know why, right?”

“Uh…”

Damien answered helplessly and returned with Milia.

I was still sitting in the lecture room. There would be someone coming to see me.

“Do you mind if I talk for a moment?”

Look.

Ophelia spoke to me.

In a somewhat more cautious tone of voice than before.

“No problem. As long as it doesn’t take long.”

“It won’t be that long. This is not the story to talk about here, so I would like you to follow along.”

“Sure.”

Ophelia left the classroom.

I took out a cigarette and followed her.