Chapter 28
The moment Eila finished speaking, the potion splashed on the drake’s hide began to corrode it rapidly.
“It’s a good potion to use against high-ranking monsters like drakes, with their tough hides.”
Thanks to Felix inflicting a scratch earlier, the potion focused on that area, causing the hide to corrode even faster.
The drake, just about to strike Felix, let out a pained screech.
Kraaaagh—!
Felix didn’t miss the opening. His sword struck fiercely once again at the wounded area.
Seeing that, Eila threw another potion with all her strength.
Felix caught the flying bottle mid-air and poured the contents onto his sword, still embedded in the drake.
Kaaaagh!
With a loud shriek, the drake’s body began to tremble violently.
Kaagh! Kaaaagh!
Moments later, the creature let out a strange wail and collapsed onto the ground.
Eila limped over toward Felix.
Felix had collapsed atop the drake as soon as it was slain.
His face was visibly exhausted, but he forced himself up when Eila approached.
“Don’t walk, Eila. You’re hurt,” he said with concern.
But Eila shook her head, forcing a smile.
“I’m fine. It’s nothing serious—just a graze.”
She looked at Felix intently and cautiously asked, “By the way… did you awaken your aura?”
Felix hesitated for a moment, then nodded with a calm smile.
Eila couldn’t hide her joy and beamed brightly.
“Congratulations! I had a feeling you would, but you awakened it even sooner than expected. I’m proud of you.”
“…You expected this? That I’d awaken my aura?”
Felix looked surprised, and Eila hesitated.
Of course, she knew from the original novel that Felix would manifest his aura at a remarkably fast rate.
But she couldn’t say that honestly.
“Not so much expected as… believed in you,” she replied with a soft smile.
Although the medicine he had been taking was incomplete—unlike in the novel—and took slightly longer, she never doubted that he’d succeed.
Felix smiled faintly as if he had suspected that.
“It’s all thanks to you, Eila.”
But then his expression turned stern.
“Still, you were too reckless earlier. You told me yourself that it wouldn’t wake up, remember?”
Eila shut her mouth awkwardly at his scolding.
In truth, she too was shocked by what had happened.
“The novel clearly stated it wouldn’t awaken on a full moon…”
Until now, she had prepared for future events based on the original story, but the various changes caused by her actions seemed to have altered the course.
“I guess I let my guard down too much. I need to be more cautious about trusting the novel blindly.”
If Felix hadn’t awakened his talent in time today, both of them might have died.
Just thinking about that gave her chills.
Soon, Eila glanced around.
Her gaze landed on the shattered egg she had noticed earlier.
“That must be the cause.”
A high-ranking monster like a drake sleeping soundly when magical energy peaks on a full moon night didn’t quite add up.
It was likely that the drake had gone into a deep sleep to recover after laying its eggs.
“…I’m sorry. I accidentally stepped on the drake’s egg. I think it woke up because of the noise.”
Eila lowered her head in apology.
“You stepped on an egg?”
Felix looked puzzled, then began scanning the surroundings.
After a moment, he called out, “Eila, come here. There are more eggs nearby.”
Eila hesitated but walked over to him.
In the center of a patch of blooming evening primroses lay several eggs, both large and small.
“Did the drake lay all of these?”
She mumbled in awe. Felix picked up the smallest egg and examined it.
“I don’t think this one is a drake egg. It’s much smaller than the others.”
“You’re right. Why is it so small? And the color is… odd.”
“Judging by the size and hue, it definitely doesn’t seem like a monster’s egg. It’s more like…”
Felix trailed off, a serious expression settling on his face.
“…a divine beast’s egg.”
“What?”
Eila gasped, and Felix held the egg out to her.
Though she didn’t know as much about monsters or divine beasts as Felix did, she could feel an unusually pure energy radiating from the egg.
“Here, take it.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I don’t think I could raise it properly anyway.”
Eila’s eyes sparkled.
Normally, a divine beast’s egg was unimaginably rare and could fetch a fortune.
And yet, Felix was giving it away without hesitation.
“You’re really kind.”
At her heartfelt compliment, Felix blinked blankly.
He had merely offered the egg because he felt he hadn’t properly repaid her for the medicine she gave him.
Being suddenly praised so genuinely made his chest feel strangely warm.
Now that he thought about it, Eila had always looked at him kindly since the beginning.
“Maybe… Eila asked for my help because she thinks I’m kind?”
If so, he figured there was no need to correct that impression.
Felix nodded with an overly proud look.
“Yup, I’m super kind.”
Eila chuckled warmly, gently cradling the egg in her arms.
She had no idea what it was, since it didn’t appear in the original novel.
“But it definitely feels strange… There’s a faint glow too.”
As she stared at it curiously…
“Sit here for a second.”
Felix’s sudden voice startled her, and she stepped back.
“W-Why?”
“Just sit still. I need to check your wound.”
He had her sit on a nearby rock, then rummaged through his bag for a handkerchief and a bottle of medicine.
Dabbing the wound with the damp cloth, his touch was swift yet incredibly gentle.
“Now I’m going to apply the medicine. It might sting a little.”
Felix said casually as he uncorked the bottle.
Eila shut her eyes tightly.
A sharp pain flashed briefly—but quickly subsided.
When she opened her eyes, he was wrapping her wound with a bandage, his expression serious.
Watching him, Eila felt her face grow hot.
“I had medicine too… but no need to mention that.”
Trying to break the awkward silence, she asked:
“Do all swordsmanship students carry this kind of stuff around?”
Felix nodded as he closed the lid.
“Well, that, and I’m just too kind to ignore someone who’s hurt.”
He once again flashed that shameless expression.
Eila stared at him in disbelief, then ended up giggling along.
A few days after Felix and Eila had left the forest.
A group moved steadily through the woods—upperclassmen from the Swordsmanship Department out on field practice.
As soon as they entered the forest, they noticed monster corpses scattered everywhere and tilted their heads in confusion.
“Instructor, the monsters are dead,” one student reported.
Instructor Haron of the swordsmanship department nodded.
Just as the student said, the monster bodies were cleanly decapitated in multiple spots.
“Seems some highly skilled students passed through here.”
At that moment, Haron didn’t feel anything unusual.
Groups of students occasionally entered the forest to carry out subjugations, after all.
But as he inspected more of the bodies, his eyes narrowed.
“This level of precision… It looks like they were handled by a single person.”
