<139 - Unchanging Comradeship>
During the Ironman Triathlon practice time.
Everyone wanted to conserve their stamina and eagerly hopped on the lifeless Golem, but the Golems weren’t so quick to grant access.
“Lowly Golem! You should be honored and bow your head. I, Honor Fried Chicken, a member of the Three Great Meritorious Families of the Empire, shall be your master!”
With that passionate declaration, a massive rock fist slammed down onto Honor Fried Chicken’s head.
As blood dripped from his forehead, he crawled out of a fist-shaped impression in the ground, prompting the other students to rethink their approach.
“O mighty Golem! I, Skola, descendant of archers and a renowned marksman, humbly request that you allow me to be your friend and grant me access to ride!”
Prostrating himself in an attempt to curry favor, the Golem instead kicked the ground with a thud.
Thud thud thud!
Through the hazy cloud of kicked-up dirt, Skola, spitting and crying, dashed towards the riverside.
Neither threats nor submission would work.
The tyrant of the mount-riding realm.
The absolute dominant force in the master-servant relationship.
With supreme authority, the Golems stood beside Oknodie and Hestia, who were watching the chaos unfold with blank expressions.
Princess Masugaki discovered them and exploded with frustration.
“Useless♡ Lacking insight♡ Can’t even pick a good master♡ Why do they treat us roughly while granting access so easily to those over there?”
Despite her irritation, Hestia readily answered in her cute way.
“Well, I have a mini Golem. That’s why they see me as a friend.”
Showing off, Hestia pulled out the mini Golem from her pocket and gave it a little tap.
The mini Golem, wriggling out of her pocket, stumbled like it hit a pillar and then fell onto her palm.
“Mooouuu”
“Mooouuu”
By the looks of the restless adult Golems, it was hard to tell if they recognized her as a friend or if they were just scared of the child snatcher.
“So who’s that little one over there?”
“Not a little one! That’s Oknodie!”
“Little Oknodie.”
“Humph. I don’t expect much from you if you’re going to tease me like that while I let you see.”
Princess Masugaki, with her mouth poked out like a duck, squabbled from below, but it didn’t bother anyone.
The Golem they were riding swiped the ground with its hand, sending Princess Masugaki flying into the distance.
“…Is she dead?”
“Don’t worry. The Princess has quite extraordinary initial stats!”
“Stats?”
“The Imperial Family can eat a lot of food!”
Hestia may not know because she’s an NPC, but people from noble families or the royal family, and even the Empire’s people, never have to worry about their health.
Having grown up consuming a wide variety of foods, their food encyclopedia collection rate is inherently high, and their health stats are thus greatly boosted.
Initially, even if a player tries hard, it would be nearly impossible to become healthier than these folks.
If Hestia found out that Princess Masugaki was healthier than her, she would probably be shocked!
While the upper class students were making a ruckus with the Golems, the true chaos erupted in front of the horses.
“Heheh, I got a horse!”
“Dorothy! That’s far too good for a backwater country bumpkin like you. Hand over the reins quickly!”
“Are you an idiot? Come on, Rudolf. Let’s ignore those dumbasses and take a lap!”
“What about that girl? This isn’t good. You, come here! Stupid ox, if you don’t want to be whipped, chase after her right now! If you don’t, I’ll beat you up!”
“Mmmer!”
The horse owners fled, with students in hot pursuit.
A complete chaos broke out.
“Hoho. Look at them. I was planning to cover escaping and chasing training in the next lecture, but they’re really pushing ahead. The principal must have had a reason for saying this year’s 981 class is special.”
Professor Plato watched the scene with satisfaction.
*
*
The lecture time concluded safely.
Most students had barely managed to handle the mounts they had reluctantly chosen, and during the taming process, they had been dragged along wildly by their crazed horses or were wrestling with cheetahs.
“Whoa! Isabel, what happened?”
Isabel was among the students who had it rough; her clothes were soaked in saliva, looking as if she had been hit by a jelly bomb.
“I caught a big dog, but it was licking me like crazy.”
“Wait, dogs could also be mounts? Wasn’t that one of the animals you brought along?”
“I thought it would be useful since it’s smart. I didn’t expect this side effect.”
“Glad I didn’t pick that one.”
Hand Ohchun grimaced, clearly loathing the situation.
“What did you pick, Hand Ohchun?”
“A giraffe.”
“…Does the giraffe see monkeys as food?”
“Don’t know. Don’t ask me anything.”
Having experienced their mounts, they couldn’t shake off the feeling that the trials ahead were going to be tough.
If the principal’s flag assignment was the first thing to raise their tension upon entering the academy, the impending threat loomed from Professor Plato’s Ironman Triathlon.
Essentially, it was the upper class trial corresponding to the feared “Mana Evaluation Test” in the lower class.
“Little lady, do Golems behave well?”
“Somewhat!”
“How peculiar. As far as I know, Golems are supposed to be extremely aggressive towards humans without ownership.”
Even if Hestia claimed to have coerced a Golem, what on earth was Oknodie doing?
With curiosity in her eyes, Jezel asked, and Oknodie cheerfully replied.
“I don’t know why, but when I showed them my pocket, the Golems started to listen to me!”
Oknodie displayed a pocket full of rocks.
Jezel pondered deeply.
Why were the Golems scared?
Golems that lived off eating stones.
The pebbles in her pocket.
Stones that were essentially part of a Golem’s body.
A young child proudly showing off fragments of her or her kin’s body as if they were trophies.
‘…Somehow I feel like I understand but keeping quiet might be better for our little lady.’
Oknodie’s reputation had been on a downfall recently.
She was destined to become the Demon King.
Shouldn’t a Warrior eliminate her now?
The border folks supporting Oknodie were in cahoots as well.
Jezel, you protecting Oknodie isn’t because you’re some ‘Dark’ merchant in the future class, right?
Birds of a feather flock together.
All sorts of slander and verbal attacks were floating around.
Recently, Jezebel, Hand Ohchun, and Isabel were also caught in that ripple.
“Why not just lower your tail and get away from that wicked little girl? Unless you want to end up in a mess yourself.”
“What are you planning to do by isolating our little lady?”
“It’s obvious. To stop the birth of the Demon King who’ll become an enemy of the Empire and a calamity for humanity. We need to expel her from the academy and call for the Empire’s extermination decree immediately!”
With a confident rant, a student from the Imperial faction was met with Jezebelle throwing a pocket at him.
Reflexively swinging his sword, the imperial student cut through the air to reach the pocket only to inhale the powder spilling from it and scream.
“Ugh! What did you throw at me? I can’t see! My eyes and nose are burning too much…!”
“It’s a spice used for making spicy dishes. Typically given to those wanting to experience a spicy flavor.”
“Y-You think you’ll get away with this?!”
“You should be the ones taking care. All attacks toward Oknodie will be considered attacks on us.”
“Cough cough. Just wait…!”
Shouting like a villain, the student fled, fumbling.
Hand Ohchun asked.
“What kind of school is this that it’s so dangerous? Just dropping out and hiding in the countryside seems a lot safer.”
“Even amid all this, those crazies will keep growing in this insane academy. Can you imagine the chaos when those madmen graduate as fourth years and are unleashed into the outside world?”
“Such madness. I can already imagine my hometown’s mountain being pulverized to dust.”
If there was a grudge that couldn’t be avoided, then it was better to stay in the academy to gather more knowledge and grow stronger than to run away from the fight.
“That student from earlier was Tataiya Chickenmakani, a member of the renowned Chickenmakani family of swordsmanship. With him are Honor Fried Chicken and Princess Masugaki of the three Great Meritorious Families of the Empire.”
“Doesn’t that essentially mean they’ve turned the entire Empire against us?”
“If you’re scared, you can withdraw.”
“I’m not someone who can pull back when someone like the esteemed Sanim mustered the courage to fight against the Empire!”
“Nor will I.”
Hand Ohchun and Isabel proved their strong comradeship.
“Don’t forget about us.”
“If needed, we will assist you with anything.”
Dorothy and Rockbell, who had formed bonds during the entrance exam, also stepped forward, pledging their support.
Even without direct conversation, Hestia, Jigoku, and Lotto, who were in the same group as Oknodie during the principal’s lecture, would surely help when the time came.
Oknodie wasn’t alone.
For every enemy trying to make her a foe, there were just as many friends standing by her side.
“If Oknodie becomes the Demon King, I want to be the commander of the Demonic Beast Army!”
“……”
Dorothy’s intention of offering help seemed a bit impure, but either way, she was a capable forest guardian for an apprentice.
“Can you keep an eye around Oknodie and if any danger arises, would you let us know?”
“Of course!”
Jezel asked Dorothy to watch over Oknodie while she couldn’t stay close due to lecture time, and with Rockbell following her, who had a significant moral debt since betraying Dorothy once before, they were not lacking in force.
“Oh no! You need to come here quickly!”
Dorothy felt a sense of reward for the task she entrusted.
Just less than a day later, she produced results.
“What’s going on?”
“Oknodie is abusing a student!”
“…What?”
“She set up a Burning Ring and is making a lower class student jump over it!”
“…I have no idea what’s going on, but I’m coming right now.”
Jezel turned off her Magic Watch’s communication and hurriedly rolled up her mat.
“I have urgent matters to attend to, so I’ll end today’s trading here. I ask for everyone’s understanding.”
“No! I still haven’t bought the doping potion!”
“I couldn’t exchange the lottery ticket to buy the item that increases physical strength by 20%!”
With the tests looming ahead, the dark merchant, who had been trading with the lower-class students, might see no noteworthy change in her reputation from running to help.
