Student Council (2)
Time passed, and the exam finally began. The student council members quietly observed the situation from the waiting room located on the island. Then the vice president, Gajil, adjusted his glasses and spoke up.
“President. Is there a particular reason we’re conducting the training this early? We held it in the second semester last year as well, but we still gave them a proper preparation period, didn’t we?”
At the question, every other student council member turned to look at Elsa. It was true—the schedule felt unusually rushed compared to normal. However—
“I’ve received reports that the demon army’s movements have grown increasingly suspicious lately. As a result, students may end up being sent into battle far sooner than we anticipated. And it could happen without warning.”
The moment they heard those words, the student council members’ eyes sharpened. They too had faced the demon race in combat. They knew exactly how cowardly and underhanded those creatures fought. That was why Elsa’s decision made sense. If the students weren’t trained like this, they would simply be slaughtered.
“When you put it that way, training them as quickly as possible does seem like the correct choice. Still, will the underclassmen be able to handle it? I’m especially worried about that student with the bandages over his eyes.”
The pink-haired woman, Michuri, spoke with clear concern on her face. At her words, Elsa quietly observed the mana screen. Soon her gaze settled on the one student whose eyes were covered by bandages. Unlike the others, Baran appeared perfectly relaxed. Looking at him, Elsa finally spoke.
“It’s fine. Even with his eyes covered by bandages, he is still an academy student. There’s no need to worry too much.”
The student council members fell silent, watching Baran with uneasy eyes. Well, their reaction was understandable. After all, they had missed the long-term mission during the first semester. It was only natural they had no idea how skilled he truly was. If she herself hadn’t witnessed his abilities firsthand, she would probably be wearing the same worried expression.
“President. When should we make our move?”
Gajil, standing beside her, asked the question. Elsa quietly scanned the mana screen once more. This time the student council was strictly positioned as the underclassmen’s enemy. Therefore, they needed to act as viciously as the demon race itself.
“We’ll move after the freshmen have established their base.”
With those final words, the student council members sipped their tea in silence, continuing to observe the first-years’ progress.
Roughly an hour had passed since the exam began. During that time I had moved quickly across the area, memorizing the terrain.
‘Even with Mind’s Eye, this island is so vast that it’s surprisingly complicated.’
My level had risen quite a bit by now, so I could maintain focused use of Mind’s Eye for a fairly long period. Still, because the island itself was enormous, mapping out the geography had taken longer than expected.
‘Well, when you consider I managed to memorize it in just one hour…’
From anyone else’s perspective, that speed would seem astonishingly fast.
It was then that Miroel’s voice reached me.
“Disciple. What do you plan to do?”
Having finished scouting the terrain, I thought it over carefully.
‘Sigh. There are way too many things I need to accomplish in three days.’
The most critical thing above all else was the hidden piece. I had to secure it no matter what. The difficulty of the upcoming Time Dungeon would shift dramatically depending on whether I obtained it or not.
‘Without that, the difficulty becomes literal hell.’
So my primary objective had to be acquiring it. Once I had it, my secondary goals would be securing first place and subjugating the student council president.
The rewards for this quest changed based on the final score. That meant I absolutely had to take first place.
‘And then there’s the matter of defeating the student council president…’
This was the real problem. Elsa von Liones, the student council president, possessed strength that rivaled the professors. Subjugating someone like her—even if I used Possession, I wasn’t sure it would be possible.
‘Of course, there’s a penalty, so landing even one solid hit counts as victory.’
The bigger issue was that her level had risen by two since the last time I checked.
‘As expected, the smartest approach is to gang up on her with the rest of the party.’
Having organized my thoughts, I started moving to locate my companions. But at that exact moment—
-Kirrruk!
A monster bared its killing intent in my direction. A hobgoblin wearing a suppression collar was approaching. Without hesitation I created a bow and swung it toward the creature’s face.
-Whoosh!
The hobgoblin’s head exploded from the impact. Immediately afterward, the bracelet registered an additional three points.
‘Hmm. As expected, I’ll never reach first place just by hunting normal monsters.’
Even after defeating quite a few, I was still hovering around tenth place. To claim first, the only real answer was to take down the student council.
‘I need to find them as quickly as possible and establish a base.’
Just as I was about to move again—
“Kyaaaaaaaah?!”
A distinctly feminine scream suddenly rang out nearby. Normally I wouldn’t have paid any attention to such a sound, but for some reason this particular scream felt far too familiar. Wondering if my suspicion was correct, I hurried toward the source. Sure enough—
“Where do you think you’re touching?!”
The woman screaming was none other than Risa. I was utterly dumbfounded by the scene before me. Because Risa was currently being molested by plant tentacles.
‘Wait, why does this feel so familiar?’
Come to think of it, she had been tormented by tentacles during the performance evaluation as well. And now the exact same situation was repeating itself.
“Disciple! You mustn’t look!”
Miroel, her face flushed bright red, covered my eyes with her hands. Wait, my eyes are already covered by bandages—why are you covering them? Realizing her action was strange, she quickly moved her hands to my ears instead.
“Since your eyes can’t see anyway, at least cover your ears!”
While I stood there stunned by Miroel’s behavior—
“Somebody help… Baran!”
Risa must have spotted me, because her tear-filled eyes suddenly sparkled with a bright smile. Of all people, I had to run into her. I couldn’t decide whether this was good luck or terrible luck.
“Please help me… Kyaa! Don’t look!”
Realizing how embarrassing her current state was, she blushed furiously and told me not to look. Hey, I’m supposed to be blind, you idiot.
“Oh, that’s right! Baran can’t see! Anyway! Please help me! I might lose my first time to this tentacle monster!”
Risa was so desperate she was babbling incoherently. Normally I would have rescued her without hesitation. But for some reason, memories of all the times she had teased me flashed through my mind.
‘Sigh. Now that I think about it, I’ve suffered way too much because of her, haven’t I?’
If the monster had gone berserk like last time, that would be one thing. But right now it was under suppression. That meant the scenario she just described wasn’t actually going to happen.
Maybe that was why.
“Hmm. Why should I?”
I unconsciously acted out of character. Risa’s eyes widened.
“Pardon?”
“Now that I think about it, you’ve teased me quite a lot recently, Risa.”
“T-that was just a joke! You know that! You know how much I like you, Baran!”
If this had been an ordinary situation, those words would have flustered me. But her expression made it obvious she was only saying them to escape her current predicament.
“I-I’m sorry! For all the teasing! So please, I’m begging you, Baran!”
“Yes. As the kind person I am, I suppose I should save you.”
Having received her apology, I swiftly created a bow and killed the plant monster wrapped around her in a single strike.
The next instant—
-Squish!
A thick, pure-white liquid gushed from the plant’s severed stem, completely drenching Risa’s face and clothes.
‘Uh… I didn’t see that coming.’
I approached her quickly, feeling a bit flustered. Risa pouted and muttered.
“Ugh. This is way too sticky.”
She frowned while touching the liquid. Maybe it was also because her uniform had been torn in several places, but from a man’s perspective her current appearance looked incredibly lewd.
I offered her my hand.
“Are you all right, Risa?”
“Yes, I’m fine. Still, I never imagined you had that kind of side, Baran.”
“Pardon?”
“To threaten me like that while I was being subjected to such things by a tentacle monster.”
She began acting as if she had been genuinely traumatized. I answered in a deliberately cold voice.
“Risa. Fake crying won’t work on me.”
“It won’t?”
“No.”
“What a shame. Tsk!”
As expected, I really couldn’t let my guard down around her. Just as she took my hand to stand up—
“Huh? So you two were here… Kyaaaaaaaah?! What exactly are you doing right now?!”
Canya, who had just spotted us, let out a feminine scream with her ears burning red. What? Why was she reacting like that?
Wondering what was going on, I turned my gaze toward Risa. Torn stockings. A uniform ripped open in all the important places. Disheveled hair. A body covered in sticky white liquid. And finally, the way she was looking up at me with her face also covered in that same fluid.
The moment I took in the full picture, I understood instantly. From an outside perspective, it looked like we had just finished doing something extremely obscene here.
And it seemed I wasn’t the only one who thought so.
“Baran. It felt really good.”
Risa lifted the corners of her mouth, licking the liquid from her face as she spoke. It was the exact moment a massive misunderstanding was born between us and Canya.