Chapter 10
“Huh? Professor?”
[First, Idnia Kache Betelgeuse. That suggestion is commendable, but proceeding that way will cause bottlenecks due to the narrow path.
Even if the skeletons are cleared, there’s no way that many students can arrive on time using a single path.
Currently, the forest roads are divided into five major routes… If you want to proceed with that method, each dormitory should select one route and move accordingly.
This isn’t a suggestion—it’s an order.]
Byuremhyde commanded that each dormitory take one of the five forest paths.
This essentially meant that Idnia’s proposal had been accepted.
The only question now was—who would take the lead and defeat those skeletons?
“I’ll lead since I made the proposal. Is there anyone who will join me?”
When Idnia looked around the room, Christian Dupont raised his hand.
“Wait! Lady Betelgeuse, I believe you’ve never learned magic!”
“Yes, that’s correct. But fortunately, I’ve been trained in traditional martial arts…”
“No! How can we let a woman go in front? I’ll take the lead!”
“Well… I’d hate to see frail boys used as arrow fodder…”
Idnia, who had already entered the academy without taking the entrance exam by gaining extra points from capturing wanted criminals and subduing monsters, viewed the boys before her as pampered kids raised in cozy homes.
However, the male students couldn’t bear the idea of letting a girl take the lead, so they all rushed to volunteer. As a result, a vanguard group was formed on its own.
Christian Dupont and other students trained in magic formed the front line and began to break through.
“Aha! She’s quite amusing, isn’t she? Idnia Kache Betelgeuse!
As expected of the daughter of the former Saintess!
I didn’t have high hopes for humans, but occasionally, some truly spirited individuals appear!”
Byuremhyde was quite delighted once the students entered the forest.
She appreciated that Idnia didn’t keep her idea to herself, but announced it to everyone, allowing all dormitories to plan and attack their routes.
Even the students from the Southern Kingdom’s Notos dorm, who had been lying down in protest, entered through Route 3, which pleased her.
“But the lead students are actually handling the skeletons well.
Wouldn’t it have been better to just leave them all at the starting point and penalize them to make things more interesting?”
Baroness Byurem didn’t seem to like how Idnia was being praised and sided with Byuremhyde, suggesting ways to further torment the students.
“Ah, Baroness Byurem. Now that I think of it, you were a classmate of her birth mother, the former Saintess Flora.”
“……”
“Don’t worry, I’m not blaming you for that.
Certainly, if we wanted to torment the students, it might have been better to freeze them all at the start and give out penalties…
But I hate the idea of those fools thinking they somehow got the better of me.”
Even if the students were penalized at the start, they’d believe they pulled one over on Byuremhyde.
To her, that was an unbearable humiliation. Thanks to Idnia’s initiative, however, they avoided such disgrace.
“But at this rate, they’re going to clear it all.
The students are following the lights you placed, and the front group is now reaching the dorm.”
“That’s easily adjustable. Now… deploy!”
Byuremhyde cast a spell—without even chanting.
Suddenly, the skeletons placed throughout the forest changed their movements.
All the skeletons from the other routes converged toward Route 1. Among them, one skeleton began to sprout crystals and started to evolve.
“A c–crystal golem?!”
“That’s a monster even elite adventurers struggle with, Professor Byuremhyde!”
Professor Dneve panicked and tried to stop her.
Even veteran adventurers might be able to deal with a crystal golem, but not without risk. One wrong move, and someone could die.
Unleashing such a monster on students?
“Relax, Professor Dneve. I’m only sealing off Route 1, the so-called safe path, to see their true potential.
Do you honestly think I’d let them die?”
‘Says the one who got an extra hundred years on her sentence for doing exactly that…’
He swallowed his retort.
“Mr. Gibbles! Prepare to rescue the students. Deploy the moving armors into the forest!”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Gibbles took the artifact, the Warden’s Lamp, and began controlling the armored constructs.
But then—
CRAAASH!
“Huh?”
Byuremhyde sounded shocked.
“The crystal golem shattered?! Wait—who did it?!”
Incredibly, the crystal golem had been destroyed.
Byuremhyde had planned to throw it in front of the unsuspecting students, thinking the path was safe. She wanted to scatter them in fear, then pick them off one by one to keep them from reaching the dorm.
But suddenly—it had been smashed.
One of the students had struck down the crystal golem.
And in a single blow?
From the Euross dorm, three boys had volunteered.
Christian Dupont—born with a 1-star potential but steadily growing thanks to his noble house’s diligence.
Athos—a 2-star character from a knightly family, hoping to join the Cardinal’s Guard like his older brother.
Persifier—a 3-star adventurer-turned-student who entered the academy to formally study magic.
Among them, Persifier was the strongest.
Christian made the most noise, but quiet Persifier and Athos were actually stronger than him.
Thanks to them, the Euross dorm’s vanguard cleared Route 1 with ease, and students started returning to the dorm plaza one by one.
Just when about half the students were still in the forest…
A skeleton blocked the mountain path.
Then, crystals began to grow all over its body like frost—until it transformed into a massive being.
It had evolved into a crystal golem.
“What the—?! No way!”
“Skeletons evolving into warriors is one thing—but a crystal golem? That breaks the rules!”
Some students grumbled, referencing the popular trading card game Wizard War from the world of “Awakened Girl Concerto.”
“Oh no…”
Idnia had anticipated that Byuremhyde would place more skeletons midway, so she had also placed another elite team (Team 2) that had pre-learned magic.
She was sure they’d try to reinforce the middle to stop the students.
But to deploy something the students couldn’t possibly defeat?
The terrified students broke the “teams of three” rule and began fleeing in disarray.
Two groups merged and ran down the path together. Seeing this, Byuremhyde’s monitoring spell gleefully activated.
[Rule violation! Rule violation! Deploying enhanced skeletons.]
Until now, the skeletons in the forest had all been low-grade.
They were animated bones of unburied humans, simple and lightweight—hardly a threat in direct combat.
However, their lack of life made them fearless and capable of unnatural, puppet-like movements with swords and clubs.
Weak, but eerie and relentless.
But once enhanced, everything changed.
Magic infused their bones, making them stronger and increasing their flexibility and reach.
Unlike the low-grade ones, these wielded weapons with terrifying range and accuracy—arms dislocating and extending like a whip.
Still light, but far deadlier.
“Eeeek!”
“Ahhh! The professor’s insane!”
“Is she trying to kill us?! We pay tuition!”
“Mama, Papa!”
The students panicked and ran chaotically, breaking the 3-person rule even more.
Each time they did, Byuremhyde’s spell delightedly summoned another wave.
[Rule violation! Rule violation! Deploying enhanced skeletons.]
[Yay—oops, I mean… Ahem. Technical issue, technical issue.
Students, please remain calm and follow the rules… Pfft.
Please, follow the rules.]
As they heard Byuremhyde’s laughter, all the students realized—bitterly—that they were nothing but toys to this malicious dragon.
But then—
To be continued…
