Practical Exam (5)
Kuuooooooooo……
At my shout, the Ghoul’s gaze swung toward me.
Yet just as it seemed about to dismiss me and turn away—
Whish!
The creature suddenly locked onto Medeia.
Like a beast that had scented irresistible prey, it charged madly toward her.
Damn it. The curse?
Rian had said it before. The black mana pouring from the curse on Medeia was terrifying in its density.
With that much black mana nearby, there was no way a high-ranking undead like a Ghoul would simply ignore it.
Rian stepped up beside me.
“I’ll cast holy magic.”
Medeia followed at once, weaving magic that summoned rotten roots and vines to bind the Ghoul’s body.
But—
Thud-thud-thud!
The Ghoul tore through them with ease.
“I-I’ll bind it again!”
Medeia’s face was openly flustered as she prepared another spell.
I stopped her.
“My Lady, please wait a moment.”
“Wait?! Can’t you see that thing is—!”
She cut herself off mid-sentence.
Apparently she had just remembered I could not see.
“…No. The Ghoul is coming. We have to bind it!”
“I know. Even so, please wait just a little longer. When I give the signal, use your magic then.”
The Ghoul had shredded Medeia’s binding magic without difficulty, but that did not mean the spell had been useless.
For the briefest instant, her magic had definitely pinned its feet.
That was the opening I intended to seize.
Wooooong!
Mana boiled up from my dantian like fire.
In the next breath it became aura, coiling tightly around my blade.
I sprinted toward the Ghoul and shouted to Medeia.
“My Lady! Now!”
“Got it!”
At my signal her magic flared.
Charruk!
Rotten roots and vines burst from the earth and wrapped the Ghoul’s body.
Kuuooooooooo……
In the instant the creature thrashed to free itself, I burned one of the cores I had stored in my heart.
Ziiiiiiiiing!
A deafening roar split the air.
At the same time my aura surged violently.
“Kh…!”
The price of using a core was internal injury, but it was bearable.
Unlike the duel with Hate, this time I had used only one.
This attack ends it.
Having spent a core, I had to kill the Ghoul with this single strike.
If I failed, I would be the one who fell.
Thud-thud-thud!
The moment I reached the Ghoul’s face, it tore free of Medeia’s bindings.
Kuuooooooooo…!
It howled and swung a massive arm.
I slipped past the blow lightly and brought my sword down on its neck.
Tuk!
The instant the tip of the blade touched its throat, the violently thrashing aura detonated.
KWA-AAAANG!
The tremendous shockwave hurled me backward.
Losing my footing, I crashed hard onto the ground.
“Kh… D-Did I get it?”
I forced myself upright just as the thick cloud of dust cleared, revealing the creature.
The Ghoul’s entire upper body had been blasted away; only the lower half remained, standing alone.
Confirming the sight, I simply collapsed flat on my back.
“I’m gonna die.”
The aftereffects of the core left me without even the strength to stay on my feet.
“Kh…!”
“Please endure it a little longer.”
“No, this really hurts, you know?”
“That means the wound is closing. Bear with it.”
After the battle, Rian was treating me.
“Thank you so much.”
While I was being healed, one of the Rene sisters—who had been sent flying by the Ghoul’s arm—came over to express her gratitude.
“I thought I was going to die for sure, but you saved me. I don’t know how I can ever repay this kindness…”
“Not at all. I only did what needed to be done. More importantly, is the other one all right?”
“Ah, if you mean my little sister, she’s fine. Treatment just finished, so she should open her eyes soon.”
“That’s a relief.”
Once my own treatment was complete, I rose and asked the question that had been nagging at me.
“How did you end up facing a Ghoul in the first place? I was under the impression they’re not the sort of undead you run into casually.”
“Well…”
Renela, the older of the Rene sisters, explained the situation.
When she finished, I shouted in sheer disbelief.
“You used holy magic to lure undead just to scrape a few extra points?!”
“I opposed it, but His Highness the Crown Prince…”
“Ah.”
I didn’t need further explanation.
That pathetic Crown Prince had pulled some idiotic stunt and dragged the Rene sisters into the mess with him.
I had no idea what the coward who had fled so disgracefully was doing now, but he had probably managed to run away just fine on his own.
I was not generous enough to spare concern for the likes of him.
The Rene sisters are badly hurt and the Crown Prince has run off…
It looked like I had won the bet with the Crown Prince after all.
While contemplating how best to work him like a dog for the next month, I approached Medeia.
“My Lady, are you all right?”
“…”
“My Lady?”
“I’m fine. Worry about your own body first. If you get hurt or pass out, who’s supposed to protect me?”
“Ahaha…”
I had nothing to say to that.
It was true I had pushed myself hard in the last fight.
But without doing so, we could never have beaten a Ghoul.
Medeia knew that perfectly well; she was simply speaking out of worry for me.
I changed the subject to lighten her mood.
“Still, we took down a Ghoul, so we earned a lot of points.”
I thrust forward the hand wearing the bracelet so she could see. Medeia seized my wrist tightly and checked the number displayed on it.
“Sixty points…”
“Oh! Looks like a Ghoul is worth fifty points. At this rate, first place won’t be a problem.”
I continued with a smile.
“We’ll win the bet with His Highness the Crown Prince as well. This way, My Lady and I can keep attending the Academy together.”
“Together…”
Medeia seemed to like the word “together.” She repeated it softly under her breath, a small smile blooming on her lips.
While we rested, the sun was already sinking.
“We should prepare camp.”
At Rian’s words I nodded.
“I’ll take the night watch.”
“I leave it to you. I used far too much holy power today; my eyes are about to close any second.”
Rian had indeed worked himself to the bone.
Throughout the battles against the zombie horde and the Ghoul he had cast holy magic without rest, then after the fighting ended he had not only healed me but squeezed out every last drop of his remaining holy power to treat the Rene sisters as well.
Right now even remaining on his feet must have been an ordeal.
“Rian, come over here!”
“Yes, come this way. The ground is soft.”
The Rene sisters beckoned to the priest who looked ready to collapse at any moment.
A tent had already been pitched where they sat—when they had set it up, I had no idea.
“Ah, the sisters are calling me. I’ll rest for a short while. I’ve erected a barrier of holy magic around the area, so undead shouldn’t approach for some time. Still, if anything happens, please wake me at once.”
“Sure. You worked hard. Get some rest.”
Rian went straight to the Rene sisters and took his rest.
As the sun finished slipping below the horizon, Medeia grew restless, glancing about as though searching for a place to hide.
I approached her slowly and laid a hand on her faintly trembling shoulder.
“My Lady.”
“Hic! W-What?!”
She startled at the sudden contact.
Yet she did not shake my hand off, which told me just how uneasy she felt.
“If you stay out here you’ll catch a cold.”
“I-I’m staying right here. Don’t mind me.”
“Then I’ll prepare our camp right here.”
I shrugged off my outer coat and spread it on the bare earth.
“Sit here. Ah, and we can’t light a fire—it might draw undead. Can you endure the cold?”
“…Yes.”
“Hmm, still, I’m worried. It smells a bit of sweat, but put this on at least.”
I removed my Academy uniform jacket and draped it over Medeia’s shoulders.
Only a shirt remained, but it was not yet cold enough to be unbearable.
Clutch!
Medeia gripped my sweat-scented uniform tightly and curled in on herself.
She looked thoroughly cold.
And then the sun was gone completely.
Ah, now I can see.
With nightfall I removed the blindfold.
Wearing it once my vision returned at night was simply stifling.
The world shifted from a black-and-white hologram into ordinary, colored sight.
Medeia…
Clutching my uniform and trembling, Medeia had transformed into the form of a mythical monster.
Seeing her curl up so tightly, desperate that no one glimpse her like this, made something in my chest ache.
I have to do this right.
No one had ever reached out a hand to the cursed Medeia.
No one had ever offered her love.
Only I could approach her.
And so, if I alone in all the world could comfort her, then I would gladly do so.
Whooooosh…
“Achoo.”
Well, resolving myself so nobly was all very fine, but giving her my uniform jacket might have been overdoing it after all.
The night wind was colder than expected.
Just then—
Rustle.
Medeia rose from her place and came toward me.
She took off the uniform jacket I had given her and settled it back over my shoulders.
In that instant—
“Kael?”
Our eyes met.