The Subjugation of Grillish (1)
The world is bound to have variables. But who could have predicted one this massive?
“Kyaaah!”
“Take Luden and run!”
“Hold out until the end!”
The demons suddenly invaded the Roden family’s territory while everyone had been living in peace. She couldn’t understand it. This was nothing more than a remote village. Her family ruled over it. Yet for some reason, a demon legion had come here—as if they intended to slaughter every last human.
That was how her father and mother died.
She wanted nothing more than to stay by her family’s side, but her older brother forcibly dragged her away through a hidden passage. Then, at that moment—
Thud! Thud!
A pounding sound echoed from afar. The demons must have discovered the secret passage. Just when she thought it was over—
“Luden. Take this and run straight down this path. You can do it, right?”
Her brother, Cain von Roden, handed her a spatial ring with a grim expression. Luden shook her head, tears welling in her eyes.
“No! You’re just trying to stay behind alone!”
“That’s not it. I just left something behind.”
“Then I’ll wait here!”
She had been far too young back then. Unable to grasp the reality of the situation, she stubbornly refused, not realizing she was only making things harder for her brother.
Cain frowned at her reaction. For the first time, the brother who had always been kind to her raised his voice.
“Luden! Stop being stubborn and go! You’ll make Father and Mother’s sacrifice meaningless!”
Shocked by his anger, Luden could only stare. The one person who had always treated her with the most kindness was now furious. As a child, she couldn’t help but be devastated.
Perhaps that was why she uttered the words she would regret for the rest of her life.
“I hate you, Brother!”
With those final words, Luden fled in tears. She never looked back. She was too terrified to see what expression Cain wore.
She kept running until her feet bled. Not long after—
“Haa… haa…”
She finally escaped the hidden passage. But instead of safety, she found only a cliff. There was nowhere left to run.
Then—
“Phew. Found you at last.”
A demon emerged from the passage. He looked nothing like an ordinary demon. She didn’t know who he was, but she knew she could never defeat him, even if she died and came back to life.
She slowly backed away.
Thud.
Before she knew it, she was cornered with nowhere left to retreat. If she had known this would happen, she never would have said those words to her brother. If she was going to die like this, then why had her family and their retainers sacrificed themselves?
Just as she clenched her fists in frustration—
“?!”
A sudden light burst from the cliff beneath her. Looking down, she saw a magic circle hidden beneath the grass. The moment the light from the circle engulfed her—
“Hah!”
Luden shot upright, drenched in cold sweat. She frantically looked around and let out a sigh of relief upon realizing she was in her usual academy dorm.
“Haa… It was just a dream.”
Even though it was a nightmare she had often, she still got confused every time. But it couldn’t be helped. To her, that nightmare was something that had actually happened.
Vrrr! Vrrr!
The alarm crystal vibrated. It always seemed to go off right when she woke up like this. Wiping the sweat from her chest, she stood up. Then, as she opened the window, she made the same vow she always did.
One day, she would take revenge on the demons who had destroyed her village.
***
Three weeks had passed since the field trip. Fortunately, nothing major had happened in the meantime. I had worried that the butterfly effect from the previous incident might cause problems, but it seemed I had simply been overthinking things.
The only thing left for me to prepare for was the final episode of the first semester—specifically, the final exam episode happening this afternoon.
This is basically the most important episode so far.
This episode revolved around the protagonist’s character. More precisely, it was the protagonist’s own episode. During the final exam, the demon who destroyed the protagonist’s family would appear. Unlike during the practical evaluation, he wouldn’t cause a terrorist incident. Instead, he would simply show up in front of the player. Essentially, the core of this episode was fighting him.
It’s completely different from before.
While the practical evaluation and the Holy Federation episodes had multiple routes and phases, this one had none. All I had to do was eliminate Grillish when he appeared during the final exam.
There’s no need to worry too much.
It was an extremely important episode, but I had prepared well. I obtained the status ailment removal bracelet to counter his abilities. I had also eliminated Chris in the Holy Federation. Thanks to building favor with the Saintess, I had leveled up. The difficulty shouldn’t be too high.
All we have to do is take him down together.
Just as I was thinking that—
Squish.
A heavy weight suddenly pressed down on the top of my head. Looking up, I saw Miroel resting her chest on my head while speaking in a deliberately stern voice.
Disciple. Are you not focusing?
“Ah, my apologies.”
When I immediately apologized, she let out a small sigh.
Haa. Disciple. Time Arrow is a technique that’s difficult to use with ordinary concentration. Are you really thinking about something else right now?
Miroel was usually kind, but when it came to training, she was as strict as a drill sergeant. I apologized once more and refocused on training.
“Huu.”
I slowly manipulated the mana in the air. There were two ways to handle the mana drifting through the atmosphere. The first was through breathing—that was the basic technique of the Divine Archer. The second was interfering with the mana in the air. After breathing, all I had to do was channel a small amount of my own mana into it.
But the third method was—
“Ugh!”
—to control the mana in the air and suppress space itself. If I succeeded, everything except my designated target would be unable to move, as if time had stopped. Even if movement was possible, their bodies would move sluggishly. In effect, it was no different from stopping time. From the opponent’s perspective, it was the height of unfairness.
Boom!
At that moment, the mana swirling in the air exploded like a bomb. The only silver lining was that Miroel’s help prevented me from suffering internal injuries. Panting, I wiped the cold sweat from my brow.
“Haa. I’m really reminded once again how amazing you are, Master.”
So you finally recognize my greatness. Ahem!
She placed her hands on her hips, looking immensely proud. How starved for praise must she have been to get this smug over something like this?
Still, that was that.
“Let’s end training here for today, Master.”
What? Suddenly?
“I have something I need to do right now.”
?
Miroel tilted her head in confusion. Just then—
“Baran! Where are you?!”
Risa’s booming voice rang in my ears. Her voice was so loud that every student in the training hall turned to look at her.
I really don’t want to leave the private training room anymore.
Thinking that to myself, I stepped out of the training room. There, I saw Risa, along with Kanya, Sherry, Luden, and Lillia.
“Ah! Baran! I called everyone!”
Risa waved at me. Just as planned, she had done what I asked.
“Baran, is something wrong?”
“Why did you suddenly call us all here?”
“Did something happen?”
“……?”
They all tilted their heads, question marks practically floating above them. It seemed they found it strange that I had gathered them like this.
I got straight to the point.
“There’s the first-year final exam this afternoon, correct?”
“Yes. That’s why all first-years have the morning off.”
“Right. Anyway, before the exam, I wanted to give you all this.”
I took out the bracelets I had obtained during the field trip from my spatial ring. They looked exactly like the Bow of the Beginning, but their actual effect was to completely nullify status ailments once.
Considering Grillish’s ability to trigger trauma through illusions…
This item was practically essential. Just as I smiled kindly and showed them the bracelets—
“Wait, Baran.”
Risa stared at me with a pale face. Not just her—Miroel and the others were also narrowing their eyes at me, as if asking what I was thinking.
What? Why were they looking at me like that?
Just as I was wondering, Risa flailed her arms and shouted.
“How many people are you trying to date at once, giving couple bracelets to all of us?!”
They had completely misunderstood.