In a dimly lit space that felt like it was out of a horror novel, a crowd gathered, draped in black robes with a beaded necklace with a red-eyed cross in hand. There were dozens of them, at least. Before them stood a man dressed like a priest with robes darkened like the church’s colors. His eyes emitted a sinister purple hue, the whites of his eyes darkened like that of demons.
_”Behold! The infidels call the teachings of the great god evil, yet they too are merely pawns in the grand design of death!”_
Behind the shouting man was an indescribable mechanical device. Pipes and cables descended from the ceiling, connecting to this mystery machine, which resembled a huge heart, emitting some unimaginable sounds. Screams that could double as groaning sounds. A chilling sight, yet the kneeling followers gazed upon it with awe.
_“Their spilled blood, flesh, and souls hasten our plans! There are no fools more foolish than those who think themselves clever!”_
_”Ooooooo-!!”_
Gasps erupted among the followers at his shout. Looking at them, the man raised his hands and shouted,
_”For the great death!!”_
_”Martyrdom!”_
_”Martyrdom!!”_
_”Martyrdom!!”_
_”For the great death!!”_
_”Ooooooo-!!!”_
The enthralled followers began to scream wildly, and the man watched with satisfaction.
_”Go! Go forth and fulfill the will of the great death! Bring death to all! Until the last moment, death!!”_
With his shout, the ecstatic followers rushed out of the space…
“Seriously, you look more bizarre the more I look at you. What good is faith if you end up dead?”
In the empty space, the man turned around at the voice from behind him. There stood Kentric, a guy with a skinny frame and round glasses, staring at the mechanical device with eyes glazed in insanity.
“You will never understand things like this, you infidel.”
“I don’t even want to understand you. We are foes in many ways.”
“Just say what you need and leave.”
The man glared at Kentric’s mocking tone. Kentric nodded and approached the machine behind him.
“I was planning on it anyway. Just came for a final check.”
The man responded, and Kentric replied in a nonchalant tone as he inspected the machine.
“Such a nuisance.”
And with that, the man muttered while looking at him.
*
Thanks to Eleor’s blessing, Rudell and Leje enjoyed lighter movements as they jumped between the ancient trees of the forest.
“It’s still quiet here.”
“Yeah, see anything?”
“No, nothing special.”
Rudell shook his head in response to Leje’s question. The only things his light-tinged eyes saw were other teams’ students and the professors watching them, along with monsters lurking in the forest. There were no signs of the church anywhere.
“Do you think those guys will really show up?”
“They will definitely show up.”
Even without the original story to guide them, those who dared to assassinate a princess were bold enough. They wouldn’t miss a chance to wipe out some annoying pests at once.
Far away from the royal road, with few people looking for them and filled with monsters…
A perfect place to discreetly deal with anyone annoying without raising eyebrows.
“Uh?”
At that moment, something strange caught Rudell’s attention.
“What’s wrong?”
“It looks like a battle is happening over there…”
The silhouettes of students and monsters seemed to be engaged in a chase. With a worried thought, Rudell leaped over the trees. Leje followed closely…
Not far from their location, Rudell came to a halt.
What he saw were ragged students fleeing for their lives…
_”Kuwahhh-!!”_
_”Human! I’ll kill you, human!!”_
Behind them was a horde of monsters.
“Those are…”
“Orcs, right?”
Roughly dressed, resembling a pig-human hybrid. They were indeed orcs, iconic minions in the fantasy world alongside goblins.
“By the way, those guys don’t look like fighters.”
“Yeah, looks that way.”
The students looked more like they’d rather sit at a desk than explore the forest. Although one of them appeared to be a wizard, he was too busy being dragged away by others.
“What should we do?”
“I don’t think we need to help…”
Rudell answered Leje’s question. After all, other teams were basically competitors as well…
Even if Rudell didn’t help, the supervising instructors would intervene if the situation became life-threatening.
But…
“Let’s help. No harm in wiping the light out.”
“Alright, then…!!”
As if waiting for those words, Leje drew her sword from the scabbard at her waist.
Swish. The sword glimmered with a cold light…
“I’ll leave the support to you!”
“Got it.”
As Rudell nodded, Leje dashed toward the orcs, leaving trails of magic light.
Watching that scene, Rudell let out a short breath and prepared his magic.
_”Icicle Sphere.”_
*
Without Rudell even having to step in, Leje had handled the orcs in no time. A whirlwind of blood raged, and when the red mist of blood settled, there was nothing left around.
“She cleaned up in a flash.”
“I think the priest’s blessings definitely helped.”
Just then, Leje turned to Rudell, who had approached.
“Th-Thank you… Thanks to you, I lived.”
“I thought I was a goner…”
“If we hadn’t intervened, the supervisors would have stepped in.”
Leje shrugged in response to the gratitude from the students.
“By the way, what happened that made you run from monsters?”
“Well, it’s just…”
The students turned their heads with hesitance at Rudell’s question.
Then, a boy in a black robe appeared in front of them.
With pallid skin and red eyes, dark circles under his eyes, and a skinny mouth that mumbled incessantly.
But most eye-catching was the pendant hanging around his neck.
A silver skull-shaped pendant that anyone could easily recognize its meaning.
“Is that… someone…”
Seeing that, Rudell cautiously asked the student next to him.
“Yeah, he’s a necromancer.”
“Whoah…”
Now that he thought about it, there was someone from a necromancer family in the original story.
Recalling the original, Rudell let out a low groan.
Most novels feature necromancers as villains, but here, they were quite a respected profession.
After all, they had incredible potential in being able to communicate with souls despite many restrictions.
They offered final farewells to those grieving unexpected goodbyes, guided suffering souls to the world of the dead, or helped tortured souls from turning into monsters.
Though generally avoided due to the nature of the job, their social status was still high.
“His name is… Capeles, right?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“Why can’t you see the souls… what’s up with that…”
As he murmured like a half-crazed person, another student nodded in place of him.
“What kind of situation makes you this deranged?”
He remembered his impression of Capeles had a gloomy edge, but he wasn’t mad.
However, the image Rudell saw now pointed to someone who was half out of their mind.
“We’re not sure either. They say they can’t see the souls…”
“You can’t see the souls?”
“Oh… You’re Lord Rudellheit Weinstein… Nice to meet you…”
“Nice to meet you, Capeles.”
Though from a different branch, they both walked the path of magic.
Rudell bowed his head while watching Capeles bow back.
“By the way, may I ask what you mean by not seeing souls?”
“Oh, that? It’s nothing much…”
Capeles, chuckling at Rudell’s question, continued.
“I can’t see monster souls… It’s like they’ve all been sucked into somewhere…”
