126. The Hunt (6)
126. The Hunt (6)
"......Captain Rebecca. Something about this is weird."
A weasel-like woman who had returned from scouting scratched her head as if things had gone sideways.
At that, the bald captain—Rebecca—twitched an eyebrow.
"What."
"Those little punks...... no, the cadets. I can't find a single one."
"......What?"
"I figured there'd be at least one or two nearby, but even after widening the search range quite a bit, I didn't spot a single rat-bastard."
The Demonized Humans' original plan had been to eliminate the cadets from the outskirts as stealthily as possible.
No matter how newly enrolled they were, numbers couldn't be ignored. If those guys started to work together, dealing with them would take time—and then there was no telling when the Magic Emperor might return.
"No, what's going on? Wasn't there still a week left in the exam?"
The weasel-like woman gaped as if dumbfounded.
They'd definitely heard as much from the cadets' chattering voices outside the tunnels just the day before. So how had things ended up like this?
When things failed to go as planned, Rebecca swallowed a groan.
"The possibility that the exam already ended and they left."
"Well...... there were signs they moved, so I put one of ours on tracking duty, but......."
Just then.
"Captain! Vice-Captain!"
Right on cue, the subordinate she'd ordered to track them returned.
Huff— Huff—
The woman was panting roughly, as if she'd come running in a hurry.
"Th-The center of the island! All the cadets are gathered there!"
"......The center of the island? What are they doing there?"
"They're tearing into each other like crazy! All the cadets split into groups!"
"What? Are they playing war or something?"
Rebecca, who had been composing her thoughts for a moment, let out a short laugh.
"......This is rather good, actually."
It had diverged from the initial plan of picking off cadets one by one, but the current situation wasn't bad.
If the cadets were distracted fighting each other, they could seize the opening and strike. Perhaps they might even be able to eliminate a significant number of cadets in a single day.
"Is it a melee?"
Rebecca asked to grasp the details of the situation.
"Yeah! They, uh, w-like, some of 'em dressed like cavemen, and some wearing armor and stuff, and they're fighting to the death......?"
"......Cavemen?"
Rebecca momentarily wore an incredulous look at the word that had popped out of nowhere.
"What were they wearing? Elaborate."
"Well......."
The subordinate who had returned from patrol rolled her eyes around before soon wearing an expression of realization.
"Ah! Exactly like what we're wearing now!"
"......."
"......."
The Demonized Humans had been hiding in tunnels for days, eating nothing but tree roots. Unable to even wash freely, they were in a rather filthy state.
"......If that's the case, then there's no need to disguise ourselves separately. Prepare yourselves. We're moving out at once."
Though momentarily flustered, Rebecca soon regained her composure and gave the order to her Demonized Human subordinates.
*
Hup—!
The Demonized Humans sprinted toward the island's center where the cadets were gathered.
Even though they hadn't eaten or rested properly for a long time, every single one of them was a Demonized Human listed among the country's criminals. With each kick of their feet, the scenery leaped backward, stretching the view.
However.
Whoooooosh—!
"Halt!!"
BOOOOM!!!
A single arrow carrying formidable Mana blocked their path. Rebecca's expression hardened and she scanned her surroundings.
"Show yourself."
She glared toward the back of a tree and spoke in a low voice.
And from that spot, a boy carrying a sword on his back revealed himself.
"As expected. Even if you're bald, a captain is still a captain, I guess."
"......."
"......."
"......."
The Demonized Humans who confirmed the boy's nonchalant appearance were struck speechless, their eyes flying wide open.
The boy who had appeared had an unusual, striking appearance.
"Schlurp."
"......Fuck. Crazy."
"Who the hell is this kid......?"
One of the women pointed a finger at him and shouted.
"Huh!? Him! He's that one! Th-The one they said was hot as hell!"
Jin Yu-ha had appeared before people long starved of men, so it was only natural that they were stirred up.
"Everyone shut your mouths."
But Rebecca silenced her subordinates with a single phrase and glared at him.
"Little boy, who are you?"
"Who else? An academy cadet."
"You're blocking our path knowing who we are?"
"The Demonized Human bastards who've been hiding like mole-rats and finally peeking their heads out, obviously."
Jin Yu-ha stretched his arms high overhead and limbered up nonchalantly.
"What took you so long? I thought my neck was gonna snap from waiting. If I'd known you'd be this late, I could've gone and watched the whole show first."
Jin Yu-ha twisted the knife further.
"And man, you guys look...... wait, is cosplaying cavemen and fighting your hobby, too?"
A mix of emotions rose over Rebecca's face. Absurdity, tension, unfamiliarity, rage, incredulity.
'What is this brat counting on to act like this? And how did he even know we existed?'
Heugh— Heugh—
"J-Jin Yu-ha! You're t-too fast!"
"Ah, you made it, Sofia?"
Jin Yu-ha turned around with a bright smile at the voice behind him. And then he bowed his head courteously.
"And the 'Magic Emperor' has also come. I have been waiting."
On Sofia's back, 'Chairwoman Rina' was being carried, her face radiating annoyance.
"You goddamn bastard."
And upon confirming her presence, the Demonized Humans' eyes snapped wide open.
"......Th-The Magic Emperor!!!"
"C-Captain! You said there was no Magic Emperor!!!!"
"W-We're all g-gonna die!!"
The Demonized Humans were thrown into panic by Rina's utterly unexpected appearance. And the same was true for Rebecca.
Because the 'Magic Emperor Rina' was such a terrifying existence that Demonized Humans were supposed to bow their heads and hold their breath the moment they saw even her shadow.
'Shit, it's a total misplay! The Magic Emperor! This has gone wrong!!!!'
Rebecca chewed her lip until it bled. The Demonized Human Society's directive had clearly stated that the problem of Rina's existence had been handled. But the figure before her eyes was unmistakably the Magic Emperor Rina.
Even amid the chaos, she completed her judgment in an instant and cried out.
"Everyone, I'll take care of things here! Scatter and head to that location!"
"......C-Captain!"
"Follow orders! Get the hell out of here!!!!"
"U-Understood!!!"
Hup!
Hup!
When Rebecca roared at them, the subordinates scattered in all directions.
Watching this, Chairwoman Rina tilted her head.
"Hmm......? Did you not say these scoundrels were Demonized Humans? Yet the captain remains alone, and the subordinates flee? Have these wretches retained something like loyalty among themselves?"
"Nah, no way. As if Demonized Humans have anything like loyalty."
"Ho-oh?"
"They're just scared their heads will explode. The guys under the Demonized Human Society get a bomb planted in their brains that blows if they disobey orders. So die this way, die that way—either way, they're dead. They're just deciding they might as well follow the order first."
"Ho-oh, is that so......?"
She let out an exclamation as if she'd heard something interesting. But the person here was, of course, not Chairwoman Rina. It was Reina, the Homunculus who resembled her.
This was exactly the personal favor I had asked of Sofia while I was meeting with Shin Se-hee: to bring Reina here.
'So we could prevent the captain from sneaking over there.'
It was an unavoidable measure to achieve zero cadet casualties.
'Even if I fight her one-on-one, she has an area attack, so I can't safely protect the other cadets behind me.'
But I also lacked the power to take on all the Demonized Humans alone. That was why I'd brought Reina—who looked exactly like Rina—to this spot.
And the plan had worked beautifully.
"Reina, thank you. You can go ahead and undo the gigantification now."
"Huff, you goddamn bastard."
"Still, we protected the cadets thanks to you."
"......Tch. Anyway, can you handle it? Even at a glance, this one looks like a pretty heavy hitter."
Reina spoke in a curt tone but couldn't hide the worry in her eyes.
"Hmm, normally she'd be an opponent I couldn't handle by myself......."
Schling—
I drew the sword at my waist.
"Right before the exam, I ate something pretty rare and good."
'I really do need to get Instructor Baek Seol-hee a nice gift.'
"And I've also got Sofia."
I glanced back briefly.
"So just sit tight and enjoy the show from that tree over there for a bit. I'll wrap this up soon."
"......Don't go dying."
Whoong—
Reina, now mini-sized again, ruffled my hair briefly and then bobbed through the air, settling onto a tree branch.
Rustle.
Crinkle—
And then she opened the popcorn she'd brought.
Nom nom nom.
'She just said something with a dead-serious face, and then she opens popcorn?'
I wore a dumbfounded look for a moment. But there was someone here watching this situation with even greater dumbfoundment. None other than Rebecca.
'What...... is this?'
The moment the Magic Emperor appeared, she had considered herself finished. So she'd thought she had to hold her off for even a single moment, and recklessly ordered her subordinates to flee.
But what had just happened?
The absurd comedy skit unfolding before her eyes scraped through her mind like a processing error, and then the whole picture clicked together.
'That over there...... isn't Rina......?'
Rebecca's eyes sharpened instantly.
And the Mana enveloping her seethed and boiled up.
"......You brat, you really, you really dared to deceive me!!!"
"Nobody told you to fall for it. And tricking a baldy isn't exactly hard."
CRRRUNCH—!
Unable to suppress her fury, a grinding sound escaped from between her teeth.
"......Fine. Let's see if your skills are as hotshot as that smart mouth of yours."
"Yeah. Well, my blade's not exactly packing any mercy either, so brace yourself. My master told me never to go easy against Demonized Humans."
Jin Yu-ha snorted, aiming his sword toward Rebecca.
Before long,
Jin Yu-ha and Rebecca.
The representative of Velvet Hunter Academy clashed with the captain of the Demonized Humans.