Ogre Sightings in Tirhi
Once our turn ended, we lingered to watch the other teams fight, and before I knew it the sun had climbed high overhead.
Students who had finished combat training drifted off toward the practice grounds for personal drills, and the area around us grew steadily quieter for it. Teams still waiting their turn stood ready, while a sizable crowd had gathered at what looked like another class’s arena right beside Class A’s.
“Is someone famous fighting over there?”
“No idea…”
I didn’t know either. By now I had given up trying to predict every event inside the Academy. Saving so many students at the entrance ceremony had spawned far too many variables.
Still, Enri’s question sparked my own curiosity.
“Why bother wondering? We can just go see for ourselves.”
Angela glanced at us, then strode ahead as if the answer were obvious.
“Angela, I’m coming too!”
“…Young Master, will you take a look as well?”
“Yeah. I was curious anyway.”
Elizabeth and I followed Angela to the neighboring class’s arena. There stood a familiar blond boy, eyes fixed forward, paying no attention to the crowd around him.
William Grants—the original protagonist of this world.
So it was Class B’s arena.
William wore light armor suited to his speed-focused style and held a shortsword as he faced the opposing team.
“Oh? It’s William.”
I had been wondering how his party members might have changed now that I occupied his original place. The moment I saw them with my own eyes, I could only stare in shock.
Why is Dahlia Campbell over there?
In the game she had been the Information Guild’s branch manager, an NPC who never once left her guild building. Yet the red-haired girl whirling dual daggers in reverse grip was unmistakably Dahlia Campbell.
Ting! Clang! Ting!
Blades met and sparks flew. William and Dahlia’s movements stood a full tier above the rest of their party. Whenever William thrust, Dahlia’s daggers followed in perfect rhythm, landing extra hits. She deliberately offset the timing of her strikes just enough to make them nearly impossible to block—an impressive display.
Gold and crimson wove together, hammering the enemy like a storm of speed and force. The opposing team did not simply take it, though. Their mage, gathering mana for a counter, unleashed a wide barrage of fireballs.
“William, shall we try cutting those too?”
Dahlia asked playfully. William shook his head with the most serious expression in the world.
“We’ll dodge and break through.”
“Sounds good.”
The two charged straight into the rain of fire without a trace of fear. They slipped past each incoming fireball one after another, never once slowing their steps. In the end the fire mage had no choice but to cancel the skill—closing the distance would have caught his own allies in the blast.
The moment the flames from the sky ceased, the pair became fish in water, weapons flashing. Opponents toppled one by one into helplessness. The last student—the fire user—collapsed with a pained groan, and the match ended almost as quickly as it had begun.
“Wow, William’s gotten ridiculously strong!”
I shared Enri’s thought. Even during our sparring match I had sensed it, but William’s growth rate now clearly outpaced anything from the game.
“That’s really a commoner?”
“No wonder they’re called the ace team of Class B.”
“That red-haired girl’s skill is something else too.”
From the spectators’ comments, it seemed they already held ace status within their class.
Thank goodness at least you’re growing this fast…
Everything had changed so drastically, and the events were already a mess; I had worried the protagonist’s growth might suffer. Thankfully he was living up to the role and thriving.
When William and his teammates came down from the arena, Enri shot both hands into the air and waved hard.
“William!!”
“Enri?! Ah—Young Master and Young Lady are here as well!”
Spotting our group, William hurried over at a run.
“Haha… I’m embarrassed to have shown Young Master such crude tactics.”
“Not at all. It was an excellent fight.”
It truly had been. If my own battles felt like strategy simulations, theirs were pure fighting-game combat. As someone who knew nothing of spear techniques, I had no idea how to coordinate like William’s team did.
“Ah! Allow me to introduce my party members. From the left: Miss Dahlia Campbell, Miss Asher Nadia, and Miss Adriel.”
Dahlia Campbell, the striking red-haired branch manager of the Information Guild; Asher Nadia in her wide-brimmed mage’s hat; and Adriel, dressed so openly as a priestess that no one could mistake her.
I shouldn’t talk, but… another harem party.
My own party could be excused—I had simply taken the seat meant for him. Yet even after forming a brand-new group, William had somehow gathered only pretty girls. Maybe that handsome face really did the work for him.
Judging by gear and weapons: swordsman, thief, mage, priest.
Their looks stood out, but the party balance looked solid as well.
“Blondie, you’ve put together a fine party.”
“Thank you, Young Master. Hearing that from you makes me truly happy. Hahaha.”
Two front-liners, two back-liners. The lack of a dedicated tank was a pity, but if William simply took a shield in his free hand, the party would be perfect.
“Truth is, we’re all commoners. Mixing with nobles isn’t easy, so we just banded together among ourselves.”
Not a carefully planned composition—pure coincidence, it seemed.
Damn protagonist correction…
I was still eyeing him with a half-sour look when the red-haired girl, Dahlia Campbell, suddenly stepped right up to me.
“Young Master Winchester, hello. If it wouldn’t be too rude… might the two of us have a quiet word in private?”
It was Elizabeth, not me, who answered the brightly smiling Dahlia. Her eyes narrowed as she regarded the other girl with clear wariness.
“…Miss Dahlia Campbell, was it? What business do you have with Young Master?”
“That’s right! Why do you suddenly need a private talk with our Young Master?!”
Enri had jumped in as well.
“Oh my, I’m so sorry. I simply wanted a little private, secret conversation with the splendid and wonderful Young Master Winchester.”
“S-s-secret conversation?!”
“What exactly do you mean by that?”
“Ohohoho… how embarrassing. Of course I couldn’t tell all of you. It’s a secret, after all.”
Enri looked startled; Elizabeth openly hostile.
She’s just teasing them.
Dahlia flushed as if shy, yet her eyes were clearly laughing. Watching her toy with the two of them, I sighed.
“Dahlia Campbell. Don’t play with people too much.”
“Oh my, ‘play’? Young Master, your words are far too harsh.”
“Enough. You have business with me, don’t you?”
“Of course.”
As I spoke with Dahlia so naturally, the others stared in surprise. I addressed them.
“I’ll step away for a private talk. It may take a while, so feel free to dismiss yourselves first.”
Leaving the frozen group behind, I walked with Dahlia to a deserted spot behind a building where no one passed.
“Oh my… leaving your lovers behind like that?”
“Trying to toy with me now too? Enough. Start by explaining why the Information Guild’s branch manager is at the Academy.”
The sly smile vanished from Dahlia’s face in an instant, replaced by a professional seriousness.
“I’m here to deliver the report on the commission you entrusted to us last time… and because there’s something I need to investigate personally.”
Her mention of the commission report stunned me.
“The commission is finished…?”
Already? That shouldn’t be possible.
“Yes. Lately there have been multiple sightings of monsters rarely seen around the Academy.”
I had commissioned her for monster-sighting information because the Episode 1 boss of Hero Con Brio was a monster that had fled the battlefield wounded. Its species was—
“Right now in Tirhi, rumors are circulating of ogre sightings on the outskirts of the city.”
An ogre.