<124 - Danger Class Third Years>
Seeing Jigoku aiming a gun at the third-years, Zilot let out a scream that was almost a wail.
“Hey, you crazy nut─! Stop it right now─! If you’ve heard even a rumor about how scary third-years are, you shouldn’t be doing something like that─!”
Third-years could turn passerby into hamsters with magic.
If you go against a third-year’s mood, you could end up cursed with insomnia where lying straight is uncomfortable, and turning to the side gives you neck and shoulder pain, and even sleeping face-down might make your chest feel weird.
If you steal a third-year’s spot in the cafeteria, all food would taste like cucumber.
There are numerous urban legends about third-years circulating in the Academy.
And perhaps, most of them aren’t legends but actual shocking experiences that have either happened or might happen in the future—experiences that no one wants to endure.
“Scared?”
The private pirate couldn’t care less.
“Hey, juniors. There’s been a tremendous thundering sound around here, so hurry and get out of the way.”
“Who would have the guts to have outdoor activities during the week when mosquitoes are rampant?”
Third-years had their own hilarious struggles.
Though they were reluctantly doing pest control and patrolling at the behest of professors, if an illness spread throughout the Academy, the professors would manage just fine in their own way.
Only the students suffered.
To ensure their safety, the third-years diligently completed their patrol missions and collected points.
They had seen second-years making accidents, but for them to see first-years already embroiled in incidents was a first.
“These first-years are really fearless. I mean, how could the mosquitoes… YIKES! What’s that? Why is that mosquito so fat?!”
The third-year seniors, guiding their staffs down, spotted giant mosquitoes that felt much larger than the usual giant mosquitoes.
Despite being large and repulsive, the previously skinny mosquitoes had ballooned to the size of large dogs after draining blood, proudly boasting their inflated figures like balloons.
Mosquitoes that had drunk the Dark Nourishment Elixir expanded sideways, utterly incapable of screaming.
That was the problem.
Shocked by the loud noise of the third-years, Jigoku, who had been observing with a frowning face, flinched.
BOOM!
With a ping, the defensive spell that rose over the third-year’s staff deflected the bullet.
“You, you…!”
“A first-year shooting a gun at a senior?!”
The seniors were astounded.
Jigoku, glancing around nervously, widened his eyes.
“Oops.”
“Oops?!”
“Sorry.”
“Sorry?!”
There was no sincerity in that apology whatsoever!
At this rate, there would be a fight with the third-years.
Hestia, like a firefighter rushing to suppress a blaze, tried to clarify.
“Senior, I’m sorry. That kid has a habit of pressing the trigger due to a syndrome, so he shoots randomly. Some of the first-years have already been shot because of it.”
Even the third-years, known for their craziness, were baffled!
“Shouldn’t someone like that be hospitalized in a mental hospital instead of attending the Academy?”
“I wouldn’t want to live in their dorm.”
“But you’d end up getting a mental illness just by being in the Academy anyway. Does it even matter?”
“True.”
“They might not have potential, but they’ll adapt well enough.”
The seniors shrugged it off like true big shots!
Hestia found that even more frightening.
What kind of experiences do you go through in third-year that you could brush off a gun incident so nonchalantly as if it were a minor mistake in daily life?!
“You fools!! Is this the time to be laughing!!!”
One of the [Flying Green Third-Years], looking like a leader with a green scarf around his neck, barked fiercely, instantly changing the atmosphere.
“What, what’s going on?”
“Right? I was just having fun talking to first-years.”
“Those first-years are the problem!”
As expected.
Brushing off a gun incident like that was indeed absurd!
Unlike confident Hestia, the terrified Rozhini and Zilot shivered and looked pathetically at Hestia.
Surely, the woman with crazy strength, swinging an axe with one hand, would handle it!
“How could the mosquitoes have sucked so much blood to grow that big?”
“?”
“Wait! Does that mean people were eaten?”
“??”
“Damn it! Did I arrive too late?”
“Oh my God. How many first-years must have been eaten for all those mosquitoes to be so fat they can’t even fly?!”
“???”
“Look at the fountain’s color. The water is tinged black; the magic must be extremely dense. It’s a massacre that has occurred to the point of mutation due to overflowing experience points.”
“Poor first-years.”
“Stay back. We’ll take care of it!”
Zilot, who was crouched in the bushes with just the spear poking out, was dumbfounded.
“Senpai, I think you’re misunderstanding something…”
“Don’t say a word!!!”
Leading the five-member squad of third-year flying corps, Squad Leader [Icarus] reassured Zilot and everyone with a voice filled with strong will and conviction.
“I understand your desire for revenge for your comrades, but this is a battleground that we third-years must resolve.”
“Right. The first-years should quietly return to the lounge, wrap themselves in blankets, sip cocoa, and soothe their bitter pain from losing comrades!”
The party commander added, assisting the squad leader in times of trouble.
While the poor first-years who had just lost their friends trembled in fear, the rage-filled attacks of the third-years poured over the fountain.
FLASH!
“What just sparkled…?”
BOOM CRASH!
A streak of lightning struck, and chunks of stone from the fountain erupted dramatically.
As Zilot turned back to look at the stone fragments that whizzed past his cheek, he glanced forward and saw the magic missiles unleashed by the seniors bombarding the fountain like carpet bombing.
“AHHH!”
“Fragments are flying!!”
“Do something, Hestia!!”
Rozhini, having spent all her strength plunging the mosquitoes into the water, cried out pitifully.
Zilot, the javelin user, was busy just trying to protect himself, and the poison speaker, Echo, wasn’t a combat type after all.
‘Does this count as a third serving?’
Determined to protect not only himself but also Rozhini and Echo, Hestia swung the axe furiously.
Yet, even while she gritted her teeth and swung her axe, Jigoku, who had struck the first blow from under the tree, only licked his lips and showed disappointment.
“What the heck? Why are these third-years so nice? Are all the third-years in the Academy not lunatics?”
“Don’t let your guard down.”
While everyone began to suspect that the rumors were wrong and looked at the seniors anew, Oknodie was different.
A pirate can distinguish between terrified crew members wanting to surrender their cargo willingly and those tense and ready to fight.
The movements of Oknodie’s muscles, the strength in her voice, her gaze, the tension in her expression—all indicated an imminent battle stance.
‘Why is she being so cautious?’
Jigoku felt strange, but he didn’t doubt Oknodie’s judgment.
After all, how guilty had he felt about the incident caused by his blunder during the monster warehouse mess?
Punching first against a third-year was akin to shooting a danger class—there was no guilt or regret in that.
But what if he hesitated to attack the third-years due to his mistrust in Oknodie, and an incident occurred?
He’d regret it.
He’d hate himself for not trusting Oknodie.
He was convinced of that.
BANG BANG!
So he shot.
In the chaos, at one approaching senior!
PING PING─!
With a feeble sound, the bullets bounced off yet again, blocked by the protective barrier.
The senior raised their staff, fuming.
“You! I can let you off twice, but not a third time! If you shoot one more time, I swear I’m gonna blow you away!”
“Then don’t approach Oknodie. Our girl is extremely wary of seniors.”
“I’m here to help you!”
The senior glanced at the bloodstone in Oknodie’s hand.
“Hey, that’s a bloodstone, right? That’s a dangerous item, so the seniors will handle that for you.”
“I don’t want to! That stone is mine!”
“The third-year seniors are using precious mana to help you out, so you should at least consider tips. Right? The seniors need some credit for helping too. What would the professors say if they found out we wasted precious mana they could have saved for lecture time?”
Jigoku, listening from under the tree, thought it was a reasonable argument, but Oknodie’s resistance was fierce.
“Don’t lie! The professors encourage mana usage; if they experience mana depletion, their mana capacity increases, right? They wouldn’t try to restrict it!”
Is that so?
Not knowing much about professors, Jigoku just watched the situation, uncertain whether he should shoot again or not.
With Oknodie’s continual defiance, the senior grimaced and tried to regain control of the situation.
“Hmm. What does this kid know? Hand it over while I’m still being nice. You should listen to seniors.”
“I don’t want to! No way! Don’t do it!”
“It looks like talking won’t work. You’ll need to feel some pain. The more you resist, the more you’ll get hurt.”
The third-year revealed their true colors, gathering energy at the tip of their staff with crackling sounds.
HA HA HA! So I could shoot after all, right?
“Cover me!”
Unlike the light skirmishes before, Jigoku loaded a special bullet.
While the third-year senior, trying to destroy her firearm with a very particular spell, was caught off-guard by Jigoku’s rapid-fire action.
The senior’s eyes widened.
Unlike an archer who wasn’t confident enough to keep their position and was charging their shot with [Aimed Shot] and [Charging], Jigoku was a trigger-happy rapid-fire shooter employing [Rapid Fire] and [Mobile Shooting].
And amidst all this, her shooting skills honed through combat made her accuracy reasonably good.
BANG! CRACK!
“ARGH!”
Hit by the bullet that penetrated the barrier, the senior twitched and slammed into a tree, hanging there in a dazed position.
It was a property-breaking method to penetrate a defensive barrier with a bullet of the same attribute!
Too swift and appropriate a response for a first-year, Jigoku felt a swell of pride for her outstanding performance.
‘At this level, Oknodie will surely think, “Wow, Jigoku is amazing!” and shower her with compliments, helping her forget the blunder from last time!’
With overflowing confidence, Jigoku turned to Oknodie, only to realize her gaze was not on her, which made her frown as she followed her line of sight.
There were Icarus and the squad members, dumbfounded at the sight of the unconscious third-year hanging from the tree.
“Oops. Do we need to shoot that too?”
