045. Basic Monster Understanding (2)
045. Basic Monster Understanding (2)
Plod— plod—
The monster that had been confronting Lee Yu-ri turned its back and walked toward the lecture hall podium.
With every step, the misshapen creature's form began to writhe.
Crrk—
First, skin like black insect carapace covered her body.
The extra arms and legs that had sprouted retracted into her torso.
Luxuriant gray hair spread across her once-bald head.
And four of the six eyes slid shut as they found their proper places.
By the time she stepped onto the podium, the grotesque monster's appearance had vanished without a trace,
and in its place stood a beautiful woman with flowing gray hair and a cheerful expression.
Tap.
"Greetingsh! New cadets! I am Instructor Yoo Mi-ra, in charge of 'Basic Monster Understanding'!"
She turned around and greeted the cadets in a lively voice.
"......."
The cadets, stunned by her unorthodox entrance, couldn't even think to return her greeting.
"As you can see, my ability is shapeshifting."
Instructor Yoo Mi-ra carried on as if this reaction was nothing new.
Then she plucked the round glasses off the middle-aged woman I was holding and set them on her own face.
"And this thing is something I've been working on—splicing my genes into a monster... Well, as you saw, it's not exactly a success."
"...Grruuu..."
At the instructor's words, the woman I had caught groaned as if unhappy, then slowly— melted away.
The monster that had been disguised as the instructor was a blue slime.
I looked down at the slime and then sheathed Moonlight back at my waist.
At that, Yoo Mi-ra turned toward me, her eyes glinting with keen interest.
"Your name, cadet?"
"...Jin Yu-ha."
"Aah, I knew it! So you're the one the Slaughter-Crazed Woman's got her eye on...!"
Slaughter-Crazed Woman?
I frowned at the unfamiliar label.
"Are you perhaps referring to Instructor Baek Seol-hee?"
The moment I asked, she went pale as if she'd made a mistake.
And then she said in a trembling voice.
"...Uh, c-cadet?"
"Yes?"
"...Please, I beg you. Could you keep it a secret that I called her that?"
"Yes, understood."
I nodded for now.
"Ohh! Cadet Jin Yu-ha! You're someone I can talk to!"
Instructor Yoo Mi-ra clapped me on the back— thump, thump.
'Hurts.'
Come to think of it, my next class was Instructor Baek Seol-hee's anyway.
I'd decide what to do when I got there.
Honestly, I was a little pissed.
Good thing I remembered there was a mutation-type ability user among the instructors who could mimic various monster bodies.
Otherwise Gukbap could've gotten hurt outside of party activities.
Ahem—
Yoo Mi-ra cleared her throat and said.
"Anyway, since you're already up here, why don't you be my teaching assistant for a bit."
"...Excuse me?"
"You just said 'yes,' so I'll take that as permission! Let's get class started!"
What—I never even said I'd do it.
The instructor handling the required course really marched to the beat of her own drum.
*
"Alright, since today's the first day and orientation... I'm thinking we'll just get a taste of what 'Basic Monster Understanding' is like, why you need this course, and wrap it up there."
Instructor Yoo Mi-ra adjusted her glasses.
"First, let me explain exactly what this class is."
Beep—
She pressed a button on the small remote in her hand.
A massive hologram projected behind her, filling with images of all kinds of monsters.
From nameless F-Rank Monsters to famous S-Rank Monsters.
And scenes of those monsters bursting out of gates and demolishing buildings followed.
"Everyone was pretty startled a moment ago, weren't you?"
Instructor Yoo Mi-ra paused the footage, smirked, and looked toward the student who had screamed earlier.
The female cadet ducked her head in embarrassment.
"This place, Velvet Hunter Academy, is the world's finest training institution for producing hunters. And with so many experienced hunters gathered here, you could say it's probably the safest place on earth."
She'd dropped her earlier slapdash air and was speaking with the attitude of a sharp researcher.
"However, when and where a Gate will appear is impossible to predict."
Mmm—
"To put it bluntly, just like what happened a moment ago—right here, in this lecture hall, where everyone believes they're safe, a Gate could suddenly open and monsters could come pouring out."
She grinned at the students' rigid faces.
"Well, that's of course an extreme hypothetical. Just because a Gate opens doesn't mean an immediate Gate Explosion occurs—those are exceedingly rare."
And then Yoo Mi-ra turned her head toward me.
"So, Cadet Jin Yu-ha. How did you know that I'm a mutation-type ability user and that the instructor here wasn't human but a monster?"
I felt the need to give a good answer here.
'I figured it out because I'd never seen that monster before...'
Telling them I already knew she was a shapeshifter and that her hobby was researching humanoid forms from monsters would be a dumb move.
I shifted my gaze to look at the blue slime beside me.
The defining characteristics of a Blue Slime were definitely...
I compared what I knew about Blue Slime traits against the woman I'd just been holding, and I spoke.
"...Actually, I didn't know from the start that you were a shapeshifter, Instructor."
"Oh?"
Yoo Mi-ra's eyes went wide at my reply.
"Rather, I first noticed Blue Slime characteristics in the monster disguised as the instructor."
"And what were they!?"
Her eyes shone with curiosity as she asked back.
It seemed like I'd tripped some weird switch.
But since I'd already opened my mouth, there was nothing I could do about it now.
"...It was trying to hide it with a pale complexion, but the veins visible on the surface were all entirely blue. The color was far too pronounced for human veins."
"Aha! But wasn't that alone insufficient to identify it as a monster?"
"And the sweat beading on the instructor. That sweat was gradually dissolving its clothes and emitting blue smoke. That seemed consistent with the acidic fluid continuously secreted by Blue Slimes."
The smile on Yoo Mi-ra's face deepened by the moment.
"And, most decisively—an instructor brings in her own monster, it attacks students, and she still takes absolutely no action? Even if it wasn't a monster, doesn't that warrant treating it as a Demonized Human?"
"...."
I shook my head, watching Yoo Mi-ra's jaw go slack.
"I figured it was more plausible that the grotesque monster was actually the instructor and this 'instructor' was the real monster than that a Velvet Academy instructor was a Demonized Human."
Clap clap clap—!
"Perrrfect!!!!"
Yoo Mi-ra beamed and applauded.
"There! What Jin Yu-ha just said—that contains every reason you need to take this class!"
She spun— around to address the students.
"The reason you take Basic Monster Understanding. It's to equip yourselves with comprehensive knowledge about monsters."
Ahem. She cleared her throat.
"If you possess sufficient knowledge, then even in a dangerous and urgent situation like the one just now, you can calmly analyze your surroundings and make sound decisions."
Yoo Mi-ra swept her gaze across each of the students, who were now focused on her.
"And perhaps that knowledge will save your life. Or a comrade's life. Each and every cadet here is a person of enormous value. I hope that none of you will ever lose your precious life simply because you didn't know something."
Her eyes curved into crescent moons.
"Please do keep that in mind. With that, class is dismissed for today."
Clap. Clap. Clap. Clap. Clap.
In contrast to its shocking beginning, her class ended by leaving them quietly moved.
* * *
Streeeetch—
"Urggghhhh— nuwaah—!"
After class.
I immediately went to find Lee Yu-ri and pinched her cheeks, pulling them taut.
"You idiot. What were you thinking jumping in like that!?"
I scolded her.
"B-buuut..."
Lee Yu-ri spoke with both cheeks stretched out like a slime.
"It's a good thing that whole situation was a setup by the instructor. What if it had been real?"
Streeeetch—
"Urrraaaahhhh—"
"You did the same thing last time in Camela Forest. Jumping in without thinking—is that just a daily thing for you now?"
At my nagging, Lee Yu-ri tried to hang her head low.
Oh no you don't.
Press—
I held both of her cheeks and lifted her face.
"Hey, Lee Yu-ri."
Her face flushed bright red.
It seemed like even she knew what she'd done wrong.
"...Whhhaaat."
She answered in a tiny voice.
"Back then you might've been the party leader, but right now I'm the party leader. In an emergency, moving without the party leader's orders is going against orders. You said that yourself."
"...I know."
"If there's ever a dangerous situation like that, before you jump in—look at me first."
"...."
"If it's something you want to do, I'll basically always take your side, no questions asked. Do you really not trust me that much?"
"N-No, that's not it..."
Tch.
Yeah, that still pissed me off.
Not even during party activities, but in class—in a theory class, of all things—she almost got hurt?
Instructor Yoo Mi-ra.
She did finish with a pretty decent speech, I'll give her that.
But still, I decided I owed her some payback.
* * *
"Instructor Baek Seol-hee."
"...Hm?"
"What's the Slaughter-Crazed Woman?"
The instant I brought that up.
For the first time, I saw her expressionless face twist into something murderous.
'...Hm, was that too much?'