The protagonist’s training wrapped up surprisingly smoothly.
Even though it was a lower class, they had some basic physical abilities.
“Is it really okay to barely do this and get some food?”
Since he was saying that, I decided to have him do 3 sets starting tomorrow.
What about increasing the intensity? That’s for him to figure out after tasting the joy of growth!
So, after finishing training that day, with timing being a bit awkward, we decided to have an early dinner.
When Artes asked if it was okay to have two bowls, I said yes, but stretching the truth a bit, he almost swallowed without chewing.
Was it like this when consuming consumable items in the game?
Well… at least he was eating well, so it felt rewarding to buy for him.
Thinking I should eat too, I looked at my plate and saw Seria stealthily moving a piece of meat from her plate to mine.
“Rudion. Eat this too. I’m full after just one.”
“Then why not just order the basics instead of always getting doubles?”
“…I don’t know. Just hurry and eat.”
She always does this.
It’s a bit awkward to refuse when someone offers, so I accepted it, but there was really no need for this.
I have plenty of money, so I could just say if you want more, order another but that didn’t change anything.
Maybe since she didn’t have to worry about money, she just picks the most expensive options without caring about her portion size.
At this rate, she’ll never develop a habit of saving money. But being a princess, I suppose it’s fine.
Anyway, just when I thought today’s schedule was wrapping up…
Ding!
The messenger in my bag chimed again.
Reflexively, I thought it might be Seria, but she was eating next to me, so it couldn’t be her.
Curious, I took a look and… the moment had finally come.
[Reina: Come to my personal lab right now.]
This was the first call from Reina, who hadn’t contacted me even once until now.
But calling me while I was eating was a bit much.
I couldn’t just throw away the food I had, so I hurriedly ate and stood up from my place.
Seria asked why I was rushing, but as I stuffed the last few bites into my mouth, I couldn’t respond. I just showed her the message Reina sent.
“I’ve been anxious with no work, so she must finally have something for me.”
Hmm. I couldn’t respond but nodded in agreement with her words.
There was a time when the moon passed, and I got paid again, yet nothing happened, making it quite uncomfortable. I even wondered what she was planning to make me do.
“Be careful. Make sure to message me when you get back to the dorm.”
“Mm-hmm.”
“And don’t just say you’ll let me know. If you forget this time, you won’t get off easily.”
Maybe because I experienced Seria’s sincere magic bombardment today, the “won’t get off easily” felt particularly heavy.
I exchanged some casual farewells and left.
Reina’s personal lab was inside the upper class building.
It was originally in another location but seemed to have moved here since she became the professor in charge of the upper class.
As I entered, Reina was already waiting for me, having packed various things.
“Did you come?”
“What do you need me for?”
“Midterms are coming up soon.”
Saying that, Reina handed me her heavy bag.
Judging by how heavy it was, it seemed packed with various special tools, not just magic scrolls.
“I’m going to catch some monsters to use for the midterm practical exam. If we delay too long, I’ll be tired tomorrow, so let’s move quickly.”
“Then why not leave a bit earlier?”
“They only come out at night, so leaving early won’t mean much.”
I see…
Wait a minute. The monsters Reina plans to catch are ones that only appear at night?
“Are those monsters Lich and Death Knight?”
“Oh? How did you know? Did I tell you that?”
Isn’t that something you bring in at the first-year level?
Lich and Death Knight would be considered at least the level of a second-year upper class final exam, if not higher.
And that’s not something you can do alone; ideally, you’d need a team of 4-6 people.
“I don’t know what you’re thinking, but that’s not the case. I’m just going to get a sturdy punching bag.”
“Ah-ha.”
So the professor has it all figured out?
Since Lich has high magical defense and Death Knight has high physical defense, it seemed Reina planned to use them to gauge the students’ attacking power.
I got the general idea of the purpose, and we headed outside to set off.
Following Reina to the academy entrance, a carriage was parked right in front.
The carriage departed immediately upon boarding, moving at quite a fast pace.
Reina explained while staring out at the moving scenery.
“We’re not going far. Recently, undead have been appearing often near the empire. We should be able to do some work there.”
The sudden emergence of undead likely meant a Necromancer was on the loose.
I could immediately tell what episode this was related to.
The Necromancer’s Attack.
In the early days of the second semester, an undead would attack the protagonist coming out from the lower class building.
However, at that time, the protagonist was quite strong, so he easily repelled the attack, but then a horde of strong undead came, and he struggled a bit.
While he managed to stall them, Seria would blow them away, and the professors who arrived late would apprehend the Necromancer, bringing the incident to a close.
The captured Necromancer wouldn’t appear again, essentially just a villain for the early part of the story.
“I was planning to keep an eye on things for the second semester.”
I didn’t expect to get entangled like this.
As I was having those thoughts, Reina suddenly turned her gaze from the window and spoke to me.
“So, how are things with Seria lately? I hear you two are getting along really well.”
“I don’t know about getting along, but we go around together all the time.”
“People say being together all the time means you get along.”
Is that so? It’s just that we’re both in the same upper class, and I’ve spent more time together since helping with Lilith’s training.
But… when you think about it, it is indeed quite rare for someone as cold as Seria to even suggest going together or responding to messages.
That’s not entirely wrong to say we get along.
Of course, I wish she would make more friends, but for some reason, she doesn’t seem interested in that.
“I hope you get along well. She finds it difficult to interact with others, but she’s a kind girl.”
“I know. You won’t find anyone as kind as her.”
She doesn’t have many lines in the original, but in every scene she appears in, she only helps others; how could she possibly be a bad person?
She’s even labeled as ‘Disposition: Absolute Good’ in the character book. She can’t not be nice.
Of course, thinking back to the time she blew up the cafeteria ceiling and blamed it on me, I can’t help but wonder if that’s changed… but probably not. I think.
As we chatted about Seria, the carriage soon arrived at the gate leading outside the empire.
We arrived pretty quickly since the academy is located near the border.
Speaking of borders… once you step beyond the wall marking the empire’s boundary, it doesn’t lead to another kingdom but truly goes into the wilderness.
You can think of it as game-style geography.
Inside the empire is like a village, while outside is a hunting ground vibe.
Because of this, various kingdoms seem to be distanced, each surviving on their own.
After all, it’s a world where monsters suddenly pop up.
People need to create safe zones to live without anxiety.
Of course, it’s called a hunting ground, but the paths are all well-paved, and you could navigate easily to other kingdoms.
While you could end up traveling for days or weeks, it would be ridiculous for anyone to lose their way on the well-marked paths.
Thinking like that, I find it impressive that Lilith managed to escape all the way here.
“We should go from here.”
“Okay.”
Following Reina’s cue, I strapped on my gear and got off the carriage.
It was already getting late in the evening, and the sky was slowly darkening.
“Do you know how to ride?”
“I’ve never tried, but I’ll give it a go.”
Since it would be a serious waste of time to walk to the place where the undead appeared, we decided to ride the two horses pulling the carriage.
I worried a bit since I had never ridden a horse before, but my overall stats weren’t low, and since the load was heavy, it didn’t gallop too quickly, so it was quite manageable.
Had we been riding for about 40 minutes? I began to sense a malevolent energy rising in my view.
“We’re here. Get down. Tie the horses up here.”
If I were to lose the horses, there would be a grand calamity of having to walk all the way back to the empire.
So, I secured the horses tightly, ensuring they couldn’t escape by tying them as firmly as I could.
…But what if they got loose? I tied them up so many times it seemed they could never escape.
“…I guess you’re not exactly handy, huh?”
In the end, I received that comment from Reina… but hey, at least it’s secure, right?
If I can’t untie it later, I can just cut it. That’s better than letting the horses escape.
With the horses tied up, Reina and I quickly moved towards the ominous energy.
As we walked, I felt an ominous aura rising from beneath my feet.
Of course, this energy was only visible to me, but honestly, it wouldn’t matter much if it weren’t.
The ground was darkened, clearly indicating an infestation by some malice.
Originally, monsters would naturally form here, but it seemed this land was artificially tainted by a Necromancer.
“Um, the energy isn’t overwhelmingly strong, but… if we pull it all together, we might manage?”
As Reina looked around and mumbled, she opened the bag I was carrying and took something out, placing it on the ground.
“Whoa, this is heavy. Rudion, can you put this over there?”
What she pulled out was a glass vial containing a sealed magic stone.
I had expected something like this when she mentioned working near the empire, but seeing a stone the size of a human head right in front of me felt exceptionally ominous.
After placing the vial per her instructions and returning, Reina began pouring her magical energy into it.
Before long, the vial shattered, and the magic stone began to emit light.
As it did, all the dark energy rising from the earth began to siphon into the magic stone.
As the ground that had been tainted began to regain its color, the once violet magic stone gradually darkened.
At the moment most of the ground regained its original appearance…
Crack-!
The magic stone started to fracture.
Then black smoke started leaking from it, and it began to gather and take form.
“…Huh?”
Noticing that, Reina let out such a remark.
“What’s wrong?”
“No… it was supposed to spawn two, but why is it just one?”
That’s right.
Reina clearly said she wanted to catch a Lich and Death Knight. The magic stone was likely tailored to summon exactly those two.
But what was forming before my eyes was just one.
And that meant… no way…
“Uggghh… uugh, groooaaar!!”
Oh no, it really fused.
Introducing the Lich Knight from the mix of Lich + Death Knight.
Seeing that, Reina subtly asked,
“Um… Rudion? Is this possible?”
Excuse me, Professor? A Lich Knight is something that graduating students might need to strategize seriously to stand a chance against.
But since I was her direct assistant and a graduate student, the only answer I could give was one.
“Well… I’ll give it a try.”
If the professor says to do it, I guess I have to. What choice do I have?
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