Episode 9
On the second day of our training camp, we continued our practice in the mountains. As we ventured slightly off the path, we found ourselves in an open grassy field. We hadn’t ventured too deep into it, but a pack of Hellhounds with jet-black fur came charging toward us.
“Oh! A worthy monster to defeat has appeared… Huh? What’s that?”
Leading the pack were seven humans. Among them, I recognized the one at the center with red armor and hair that defied the wind without moving—an unmistakable figure, Goose.
“Are those… Goose and his group?”
Lamia noticed them by my side.
“They’re here too…”
I didn’t particularly want to meet them, but it couldn’t be helped
.
“Hey! You guys over there! Help us!”
Goose waved his hand towards us, pleading for assistance.
“Uh, there seem to be quite a few monsters…”
Nyuma said, her face contorted. From the distant forest, a much larger number of Hellhounds than we had imagined were steadily approaching. It seemed Goose and his group had brought them all here.
“Well, with 14 of us, we should manage somehow. Shall we help them?”
In response to my question, Lamia nodded vigorously.
I didn’t have a specific reason to help Goose, but I had to live by a certain code of honor. Abandoning fellow academy members here would go against that principle.
“Everyone, get ready! Here they come!”
At Lamia’s signal, we all rallied our spirits.
The seven individuals, as if leading a procession of Hellhounds, continued to approach us with Goose at the center. Even when it seemed like they might make contact with us, they maintained their speed, passing by us without slowing down.
“…Huh?”
Everyone was surprised and frozen in place. Even when we turned to look, the seven showed no signs of slowing down as they distanced themselves from us.
They ran away!?
“Scoundrel Hellhounds! Don’t gorge on scraps and upset your stomachs!” Goose shouted those words before fleeing. As soon as they recognized us, they decided to use us as bait and abandoned us.
We all locked eyes. The pack of Hellhounds was approaching dangerously close, so turning our backs was too risky. We had no choice but to stand our ground.
The protagonist never knew there would be such hardships after ‘escaping’ from a battle. For now, our focus was on the enemies right in front of us.
“These guys are weak to ice, I’m going to freeze them in place! Take them out one by one!” I didn’t wait for others’ responses and cast an ice spell. A feeble ice sphere hit the Hellhounds, making them flinch, at least.
Lamia, Ryuuki, and Irio, who were in the front, took on several of the Hellhounds. Lamia managed to defeat them, but Ryuuki and Irio seemed to struggle just to defend themselves.
Nyuma took the opportunity to shoot the Hellhounds’ weak points and reduce their numbers.
However, more Hellhounds kept coming one after another. There were too many of them, and it felt like a losing battle.
Ariniki and Elsha, who had summoned an ice golem, remained solid and worked together, so they were safe for the time being.
“We…we can’t keep this up!”
“It’s…it’s impossible!”
Ryuuki collapsed, unable to stand any longer. Thanks to his armor, he could endure the Hellhounds’ attacks with just “it hurts,” but at this rate, he would be torn apart.
“Don’t give up!”
“It’s impossible! I said it’s impossible!”
Even Lamia’s leadership couldn’t motivate Ryuuki, who was proving to be quite unheroic for a tank. It seemed clear why he was left behind. He lacked the courage for his role.
Nevertheless, the situation was dire. There was one option, but it was difficult to choose. It involved spreading poison magic to all, even at the risk of harming our allies. However, considering past criticisms, it was a challenging choice.
“Hehe. Viper, are you in trouble?” A cheerful voice came from nearby. I looked over in surprise to see Roelotius, a mage-like figure with a staff as tall as himself.
“N…Roelotius-san!?”
“If you’re willing to dress up as Violet, I might tell you how to get out of this situation. The costume is a maid outfit.”
Roelotius presented his terms to me as if we were casually negotiating. We didn’t have time for this!
“I have no choice! I’ll do it! Hurry, tell me!”
“You’re not using polite language, are you? Well… the key to mastering magic with multiple attributes is combining them. Viper, you’re skilled in poison magic, right? Imagine spreading ice magic like you’re dispersing poison magic,” Roelotius explained.
“That makes sense!” It clicked in my mind immediately. Essentially, I had to scatter tiny ice particles as much as possible. In terms of appearance, it would be like a poison mist, but the substance would be cold. I envisioned it and raised both hands.
“Diamond Dust!” I shouted, and a flurry of pure white snow burst forth from my hands. The Hellhounds were gradually slowed down as the blizzard-like snow covered their vision. While it might be tolerable for humans for a short while, it was a lethal temperature change for the Hellhounds.
“It’s a bit chilly, but… we can do it!” Lamia said, her sword slicing through the immobilized Hellhounds one by one.
Irio, like finishing off a trapped boar, systematically took down each Hellhound.
“Now, for the next lesson. We’ll pierce them all with ice pillars. Viper, use earth magic to raise the ground, coat it with water, and then freeze it with ice magic.”
“Well… I can’t do that all at once…”
“I will properly teach you later. For now, give it a try.”
This old man was surprisingly tough. I crouched down and placed my hands on the ground, focusing on a point where the Hellhounds were grouped a little further away. I raised the ground like spikes, coated it with water using water magic, and then hardened it with ice magic.
The earth moved as if spikes were growing from it, and it pierced through the Hellhounds, clearing the entire pack in one go.
“They’re… all gone…” Elsha exclaimed, completely lacking a sense of urgency.
“Hehe. You did quite well,” Roelotius said, looking satisfied.
For now, we had successfully dealt with the pack of Hellhounds. As Ariniki provided healing to everyone one by one, we gathered around Roelotius.
“Thank you, sir. About the magic earlier, was it you?” Lamia asked.
“I didn’t do a thing. That was all Viper,” Roelotius replied.
“What… can you really do such things as an F-class? Even an S-class mage couldn’t pull off something like that!” Lamia’s eyes widened in astonishment.
“Well… I mean, I just learned it now.”
“Just now!?”
Lamia’s positive reaction was quite something.
“Hehe, that’s a good reaction,” Roelotius chuckled.
“Well… by the way, who is this elderly gentleman?” Lamia asked.
Roelotius stroked his beard and replied, “I’m Roelotius. I used to teach at the military academy in my younger days, but now I’m just a retired old man.”
“Ro… Roelotius!? The legendary great sage!? The one from the old stories!?” Ariniki stopped her healing and exclaimed. It seemed like everyone knew about Roelotius, and they all froze in place, each stuttering, “Um…”
Was Roelotius really such a big deal? Despite his prevertness, he appeared to have quite a reputation.
“Well, forget about me. More importantly, should we help him?” Roelotius pointed his staff toward the sky.
In the distance, we saw Goose being carried through the air by a large Griffin. Fortunately, it seemed that none of the others had been captured.
Well, even if we let this slide, it wouldn’t count as betrayal or lying. But it wouldn’t sit right if he were to die like this.
I borrowed a bow from Nyuma and shot the Griffin down with my long-range marksmanship. Goose managed to create a cushion of wind magic and land safely on the ground.
Since he had fallen so close, I decided to approach and see how he was doing.
“Ah… Viper! Thanks, man!” Goose got up and ran toward me. Just as he approached, I raised the ground beneath him, causing him to stumble.
“What the… What are you doing!?”
“I helped you because I wanted to defeat you in the class competition, remember? Don’t run away like a leftover scrap,” I declared.
Without using treachery or schemes, I defeated Goose squarely. With a grimace on his face, he walked down the mountain alone.
