Chapter 49
Chapter 49
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 49
Chapter Title: Incompetent Allies
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“Zzz….”
“….”
I opened my eyes.
And… while dangling off the edge of the bed, I tried to figure out what was going on.
“Hmm….”
Thwack.
A soft leg kicked my side!
I flinched on reflex, but my mind, still half-lost in dreams, couldn’t quite process the situation.
“Smack….”
Thwack. Thwack.
Finally, I grabbed whatever was clinging to my side and shoved it off the bed with all my strength.
Thud!
“…Huh?”
…But far from pushing it away, my body bounced back and I tumbled off the bed.
“Mm… What is it, human?”
Leviathan finally rubbed her eyes and sat up.
Her long, flowing hair, her vertically slit pupils…
It wasn’t the loach form of Leviathan—it was her in human shape.
[Why are you in my bed?]
I was so stunned that I forgot to pull out my whiteboard and just slashed mana through the air.
“Mm… Good things are meant to be shared, human.”
[There’s good stuff in the room next door too—why sleep in my bed?]
“You just looked like a decent pillow substitute, human.”
[You used me as a pillow?]
“That’s right.”
[But why are you so shameless about it?]
“What’s the problem, human?”
She still didn’t get what the issue was?
No, more importantly—didn’t you sleep in the fish tank?
Why the hell were you suddenly in human form, sleeping in my bed?
“Ugh… This bed’s no good today….”
[Today?]
“….”
[Have you been sleeping in my bed this whole time?]
“…Yes.”
Whoa.
She was totally insane.
No wonder my body had been aching lately… This damn fish had been using me as a pillow.
[Want to get kicked out?]
“….”
Leviathan stared blankly at me for a moment… then widened her eyes and wiped away tears with the back of her hand.
“Wah… You begged for my help yourself… and now you kick me out, you cruel human….”
…What looked like tears—seawater—plopped onto my blanket, drop by drop.
[Your tears are black.]
“Oh.”
Leviathan flinched for a second, then casually rubbed her eyes as if nothing was wrong.
“…Dragons’ tears are black by nature, human.”
The real problem was that seawater soaking into my bedsheets.
‘…Hold on.’
I whipped my head around and pointed out the more fundamental issue.
[How did you even get out?]
Fine, whatever with the fish tank that basically transplanted the abyss.
But right now, Leviathan was sitting on my real-world bed—in human form, right in front of me.
“This form is just a spirit visible only to you, human.”
[A spirit that can kick me?]
Leviathan smirked and wagged a finger.
“You underestimate dragons too much. Even as a spirit, with enough will and power, interference like this is child’s play.”
Ah, got it.
[No dinner for you today.]
“What!?”
***
Hundreds of students gathered in the auditorium.
Tension hung in the air as they were about to be transported to the sub-space for evaluation… but next to me was a cat shattering the mood.
“Nyaaooow….”
[What’s wrong?]
“Don’t wanna do it, nyaa….”
Neru was rolling on the floor, clutching her face with her front paws—no, her hands—wailing.
“You know what, top student?”
Serros poked my arm from the side.
“Our cat broke a magic tool playing with it during the last midterm eval.”
“Nya, nyaaak! How’d you know, nyaa!”
“How do you think~?”
“Nyaaooow!!”
We’d soon be heading to Veronica’s sub-space.
Teleport points were all random. Luckily, we’d stick with our team members…
‘Ah, I just wanna do this solo.’
Tch…
That’s when it happened.
[ ! ]
[ Limit Break Quest Appears! ]
‘……A quest?’
[ Clear the quest to break your limits! ]
I blinked in a daze.
The system had never given me anything like a ‘quest’ before.
‘Wait, no… Technically, the Leviathan thing was a quest too?’
But… at a time like this?
Ignoring my questions, the system floating before my eyes began its countdown.
[ In 29 hours, 9 minutes, and 16 seconds, the quest details will be revealed. ]
‘…It’s giving me a quest like this right now?’
Seriously?
A quest with no details, only revealed after time passes?
What kind of joke was this…
“Ah.”
As the countdown blinked relentlessly before me, Delphine’s voice echoed through the entire auditorium.
“The evaluation will follow the survival format I announced earlier, competing for points.”
Her voice was as clear as ever… but her expression wasn’t great.
You could tell she’d been saddled with this job.
“The main evaluation will last three days.”
“Ah….”
“We’re screwed.”
Groans erupted from the students.
Surviving even one day was tough… three days?
“The sub-space will feature magic beasts and a separate ‘disaster.’”
Like the team project last time, magic beasts would swarm the sub-space.
But this ‘disaster’ they mentioned…
‘Ugh… Gotta steer clear as much as possible.’
Student council president, Cornelia von Delbar.
…She’d be making a special appearance in this exam as the president.
She was already a monster beyond human norms, and now she was officially slotted as the ‘disaster.’
“Hunt magic beasts or other students to earn points. Get eliminated, and you’re out.”
It was a team project, midterm evaluation.
The other events were all just warm-ups. This final exam was the real deal.
“Of course, simply surviving for a long time without doing anything will also earn points.”
The infamous turtling strat.
It guaranteed some score.
Surviving among monsters like Cornelia was an achievement in itself.
“Cheating…”
Delphine’s gaze swept across the auditorium.
“I trust you won’t. We’ll be watching everything anyway.”
- Fizzle.
The auditorium lights went out.
In an instant, all light vanished, leaving only the students’ tense breaths.
“Then… good luck.”
With those words, space warped.
That familiar sensation from before—reality splitting, the ground crumbling beneath my feet.
[ In 29 hours, 1 minute, and 56 seconds, the quest details will be revealed. ]
The final evaluation had begun.
***
Rustle.
“Ah, there you are at last. Mask Guy?”
In the unfamiliar surroundings unfolding before me, I ran into a voice I really didn’t want to hear.
“Why is it so hard to get a look at your face?”
“Right…! How dare you avoid Lady Ricotta…!”
“…Exactly.”
The woman named Ricotta continued with unnecessarily exaggerated gestures.
‘Can I switch teams?’
My brow furrowed on its own.
Exam or whatever, I just wanted to quit right now and go home.
My lips itched.
‘Fuck.’
I swallowed a mouthful of curses I wanted to spew.
“Hmph.”
Ricotta flicked open a hand fan and tilted her chin up.
“But I’m a noble, so I’ll graciously let it slide.”
That familiar… oh-so-familiar noble lady speech pattern.
Must be standard in noble society.
“Allow me to introduce myself… I am Ricotta von Bakery.”
Ricotta placed a hand on her chest and bowed gracefully.
The other team members behind her clapped, faces full of admiration.
“Lady Ricotta…!!”
“As expected of a noble…!”
Not interested.
Who she was, what she ate to grow up, what family she came from.
Honestly, zero curiosity.
‘Man, I miss Cornelia.’
I sorely missed the president, currently out there as the disaster.
It hit me anew how she was the least noble-like yet the truest noble.
“First… I’ll be the team leader. I’m the only noble here.”
“Yes, of course…!!”
“Thank you!”
I swallowed a sigh inwardly.
What did being team leader have to do with being a noble… What connection did leadership have with bloodline?
“Very well. Let’s start by hunting magic beasts for points.”
Ricotta snapped her fingers with exaggerated elegance.
“Yes!”
“Got it!”
“If Lady Ricotta says so…!!”
“Heh heh heh….”
Fine… there was no helping it.
Teamwork was essential for points, and that meant sticking with this crew for now.
[Okay.]
Hundreds of characters surged in my mind… but all I output was one.
With a stifled sigh, I silently bowed my head.
***
“Kyaa, kyaak…!!”
“L-Lady Ricotta!!”
A massive magic beast charged relentlessly, and one of Ricotta’s lackeys threw himself in her place.
“Grah…!”
I tuned my mana to bind the beast’s legs.
In that brief opening, the other teammates rushed in and finished it off.
“Huff… huff….”
“…Help faster next time.”
…Those words reached my ears.
Directed at me…?
‘You’re the ones who told me to support in the first place?’
Wasn’t it you all who said you’d handle the front line while I backed you up from behind?
Without me, we’d have wiped over ten times by now.
And they knew it, yet complained first?
Impressive.
“Oh dear….”
Ricotta looked down at the teammate who’d taken the hit for her.
There was no blood on the surface.
Just a ripple of blue light standing in for the wound.
“No helping it… Let’s set up camp first.”
With that, the injured guy became dead weight.
The rest scattered to gather branches and foWrath materials.
Left behind, I silently pieced together branches one by one.
“You have no idea how many points we’ve lost because of you.”
“Sorry, Lady Ricotta….”
I paused my hands and muttered inwardly.
‘If you hadn’t been lurking there like an idiot, it wouldn’t have happened.’
One was a blame-shifter.
The rest were just useless.
Was this secretly a hidden camera show designed to piss me off?
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
【Fragment of Wrath】
Even when life was shrouded in misery.
I never shed a tear.
And I never bowed my head.
: Abilities rise in proportion to Wrath.
I swallowed my sobs and devoured the world in fury.
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
‘Isn’t this activating?’
I was seriously about to lose it.
…That’s when my deranged thoughts were interrupted.
- Kerrrrk…!!
A massive magic beast burst through the bushes, charging straight at Ricotta.
“L-Lady Ricotta!!”
“Wh-what?!”
By the time Ricotta turned, the beast’s claws were already upon her.
- Fizzle.
I drew 【Leviathan】.
“Kyaa!!”
The beast’s claw grazed her arm amid a ripple of blue light, and at the same time, my blade cleaved its body.
“Wh-what happened?!”
The teammates came rushing back at her scream.
“Are you okay?!”
“Lady Ricotta!!”
They swarmed to support her.
But Ricotta, sniffling, pointed triumphantly at me.
“Y-you! What are you doing?! Top seat my ass—you can’t even handle this right…!!”
“R-right!! What the hell?!”
“Top seat… and you can’t protect Lady Ricotta?”
Hmm.
Let’s calm down and think.
You set me up as support.
That prissy noble lady ordered me to build shelter and do chores.
Conclusion reached.
‘Okay, decided.’
Gripping 【Leviathan】, I tuned my mana.
My hand merged as one with Leviathan.
“You—!”
As Ricotta opened her mouth to yell again.
Swoosh…
“Huh?”
“Wha—?”
The four teammates before me crumbled into light and vanished.
‘There’s a saying for this.’
The refreshing sensation made me grin wide.
‘The most terrifying thing on the battlefield isn’t a competent enemy… it’s an incompetent ally.’
And just now, I’d proven it firsthand.