Chapter 48
Chapter 48
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: How to Steal the Protagonist's Woman
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Luna screamed at the teaching assistant.
"Wh-what is this!?"
The teaching assistant called out to Luna from a distance.
"Just stay quiet, and it'll be over soon enough."
Luna was gripped tightly in the massive hand of a golem.
It was a golem made of sand.
Luna had followed the teaching assistant, and the place he led her to was some forest.
She had been too distracted in class today to hear the warnings not to go to the forest training grounds.
She had trailed after him warily, even as he dragged her into the woods.
No matter the gap in skill, she could already cast wind-attribute escape magic, so she followed confidently.
But the teaching assistant suddenly stopped, snatched her bracelet in an instant, and shoved her into a pile of sand.
Then, the sand clumped together in a flash, forming the golem's full body and binding Luna with one hand.
"Do you think you can get away with this!?"
"What kind of tone is that for a professor~? Hahaha!"
The teaching assistant sneered and laughed at Luna's words.
'The binding is weak. If I can just take down this golem somehow!'
She had to do something to break free first.
Luna tried desperately to focus and cast a magic circle.
But she had always relied on her bracelet for casting, so whenever she tried to draw one now, it shook violently and scattered in the wind.
"Hahaha! They say you're such a model student, but you're just a fake know-it-all!"
'Ugh... I have to focus... focus...'
Luna ignored the teaching assistant's taunts and concentrated.
Not relying on the bracelet...
The moment she visualized and began drawing a magic circle with her own mana...
Fwoosh!
"Wh-what!?"
"Huh!?"
The instant Luna moved her fingers to draw the magic circle, it had already appeared before her eyes, glowing sky-blue and aimed at the golem.
'Yes!'
In her joy, even in this dire situation, a bright smile burst onto Luna's face.
But she quickly assessed the situation.
'This should be enough!'
She poured her mana into the "Blades of Wind" spell.
Shwishshshslash!
Though low in destructive power, the multiple blades flew threateningly toward the golem.
'It's made of sand anyway. In this gap... Huh!?'
"Wh-what is this..."
The golem, which should have collapsed with cuts all over, was unscathed without a single scratch and tightened its grip on Luna.
"Urgh... Haaah!"
"Pfft... Puhahaha!"
The teaching assistant suddenly laughed and shouted at Luna.
"I don't know what you did, but it was entertaining to watch. If you'd used magic the moment you got caught, you might've escaped by now. Too bad."
Luna couldn't comprehend the teaching assistant's words at all.
"If your mana hadn't already been sucked dry by that golem, that is."
"M-mana golem?"
"Luna Staatfeldt, do you know what happens when mana exhaustion hits?"
"Urgh..."
Luna tried to cast another magic circle, but her head began to spin.
She was entering mana exhaustion.
The teaching assistant looked pleased at her state and continued his explanation.
"At first, your body loses strength. Then, suddenly, your vision blurs and dizziness sets in."
"Urgh!"
Gazing at Luna, the teaching assistant spoke calmly, like he was lecturing.
"From that point, it's basically over. You want to use mana but can't. And if it keeps draining..."
"Haa... St-stop..."
"You won't even be able to open your mouth because your body goes completely limp."
Luna's face had already paled, her head drooping limply.
"Don't worry, mana exhaustion wears off in an hour. However..."
"Haa... Haa..."
"I'll make sure to enjoy you while you're still fully conscious."
Tears welled up in Luna's eyes from the injustice.
She had finally found someone she liked.
Yet she was about to lose her first experience to this man she despised, not him. It was infuriating.
As her strength drained away, Luna regretted inwardly.
'...If I'd known, I should've at least confessed.'
"Alright, that's it..."
The teaching assistant wore a satisfied expression as he approached Luna.
That's when a man's voice came from behind.
"What the hell are you doing?"
"Wh-what!?"
Startled by the presence, the teaching assistant whipped around.
At the sound, Luna laboriously lifted her dilated eyes to look.
In her blurry vision, one person appeared.
"Damn, the rumors were true. No, you're even worse."
It was Seong Suho.
On my way to class to squeeze in even one more minute of sleep, I overheard female students mentioning a name I couldn't ignore.
"Luna, she won't run into something weird, right?"
"Nah... No way..."
"Wait, what's that about?"
"Huh?"
I got the full story from the girls.
'...The teaching assistant was supposed to be fired, right?'
I asked the girls for one favor and bolted toward the forest training grounds.
The place I arrived at was a dense forest.
"Damn, this is too big."
Rustle.
Something was stirring violently inside.
"Over there!"
What I found was a situation that matched my predictions too perfectly.
Except I hadn't predicted the golem.
Luna was caught in the golem's grasp, and the professor was standing far off, grinning like an idiot.
The moment I arrived, he panicked and started babbling nonsense at me.
"Y-you bastard! Why are you here!? Get out now! I'll let this slide!"
"What bullshit. Shouldn't I be saying that? Get lost quick, and I'll pretend I didn't see."
"...Y-you bastard! How dare you talk to a professor like that!"
More than his crimes being exposed, he was furious at his authority being trampled.
He began casting a red-glowing magic circle with his staff.
"You're not getting expelled—you're getting buried as a corpse forever!"
I figured he'd try to cover it up and run, but he seemed intent on escalating.
'This guy's completely insane.'
From what I was seeing, he was exactly the type Armonia warned about.
For scum like him, there's the perfect medicine.
'Yeah... No choice! Let's do it!'
As I watched the rapidly forming magic circle, I raised my arm and flicked a steel ball like a pebble.
Bang!
"Kiyaaack!!"
A pig-like squeal echoed.
(XX: This demon!)
The demon wasn't me—that guy was. I just sprinkled some holy water.
The teaching assistant was sprawled on the ground, foaming at the mouth and trembling.
He clutched his groin with both hands, of course.
I walked up and stomped on his back with one foot.
"Whew, he's getting fired anyway. It'll work out somehow."
"Yeah?"
"He's like this anyway, so now we can... Huh?"
I assumed beating the golem's creator would stop it.
But a completely different scene unfolded.
"Aaaah!!"
Instead, the golem squeezed Luna tighter and started rampaging through the forest.
And it began slowly approaching me.
Luna, her face deathly pale, barely opened her mouth.
"Mana... Run... away..."
I recalled golems stop when their controller is subdued.
"What the hell! That thing!"
"That?"
It was the thing from today's class, right in front of me.
The special magic professor had clearly said mana golems were lethal to students like me or Luna.
"Fuck, gotta shoot another one first."
I aimed at the slowly approaching golem's head and fired a steel ball.
Bang!
Ting!
"What the!?"
I hit it dead on.
Sand should've scattered everywhere.
But the steel ball shattered against a sudden blue barrier before reaching the head.
"No, then what do I do!?"
"No way! Luna right now..."
Unlike usual, Armonia was yelling in my head.
The golem, which had been far off, was almost here.
Armonia kept screaming in my mind to run.
...Run away like this?
Don't make me laugh...
There has to be a way...
"Yeah!"
I pulled out the superconductor bullet I'd gotten yesterday from my pocket.
I placed the gleaming silver bullet on my finger and prepared to fire.
"...No, not my mana—there's more!"
I instantly created a magic circle on the teaching assistant's back.