Chapter 32
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 32
Chapter Title: Ambush
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Eventually, Lydia and Veronica decided to let it slide.
They were the ones who'd started it, after all.
And in the end, everyone had come out unscathed.
Still...
"If anything like this happens again, I'll make sure to crush you for real next time."
No matter how you sliced it, launching killing blows during a simple exam was infuriating. Whether those blows could actually hurt them was a separate issue altogether... but that was that, and this was this.
Aren wasn't some saintly gentleman who could just overlook it.
"Sure. That sounds fair."
"Ah, Aren! If anything like that happens again, make sure to tell me...!"
"You gonna scold her if I do, Lydia?"
"Eek?!"
Lydia jumped in surprise at the question.
She rolled her eyes around for a moment before squeezing them shut tight.
"I-I'll scold her...!"
"Pfft... Got it, Lydia. If that day comes, I'll be sure to let you know."
"Y-Yeah...!"
She nodded her head vigorously.
'She's so cute.'
He wanted to grab her cheeks and slobber all over them until they were drenched in saliva.
What kind of heart-attack-inducing cuteness was this?
She was like a little pet animal stepping up to protect its owner—adorably fierce. He felt like stuffing her in his pocket all day and hugging her tight at night.
...Ahem.
Anyway, he was in a good mood.
He could really feel their concern for him. Especially Veronica—cool and aloof on the outside, but worrying about him like that... It meant she had at least a shred of affection for him, and that made him happy.
'If I keep pushing like this, it'll work out.'
Once midterms were over, he'd have to pull ahead in their progress.
'And outside of training sessions, I should actively make more time for us.'
A girlfriend who grumbled but did everything he asked... Tsunderes weren't as popular these days, but there was still something touching about them.
And his Veronica was the cold beauty type to boot...
'Uniform play sounds tempting.'
Anyway.
"We've got all the points, so should we bail and call it a day?"
Veronica pondered Aren's question for a moment.
Then.
"...Just to be safe, let's wait a bit longer before we go. We've still got about an hour left on the timer, right?"
"B-But what if another team shows up in the meantime...?"
Lydia asked cautiously. She was still clutching a pile of point orbs to her chest.
"Hm... We'd just let 'em pass? If they try to take more, it'll turn into a real UFC match."
Honestly, things were already teetering on WWE territory—nay, they'd crossed the line a little...
"UFC? What's that?"
"Oh, you know, something that gets a man's heart racing."
"...That's unique."
After that, Aren, Veronica, and Lydia passed the time with some idle chit-chat. It felt oddly surreal, like picnicking in the middle of a battlefield.
At the start of the exam, lounging with his head on Lydia's thigh had been pure bliss, but resting after a fight felt entirely different.
In any case, as they were killing time like that—
KABOOM—!!!!!!!!!
A massive explosion rocked them from the west, accompanied by faint vibrations.
And in the air, mingled faintly.
A trace of an aura that had no business being here.
"Sounds like a fight's going on."
Veronica muttered indifferently, assuming it was monster hunting or students clashing.
And that was a perfectly reasonable guess. The battle they'd just wrapped up had been massive, after all.
But Aren shook his head.
"No."
"...No?"
"It's not just some ordinary fight."
"What do you mean?"
If this were simply combat during the exam...
"There shouldn't be any demonic energy mixed in."
"...What?"
Dirty Demon Cultists were here.
Thud—!
"Gah—!"
"Y-Your Highness...!"
Frederic went tumbling across the ground. But only for a moment—he sprang back to his feet in an instant.
He raised his sword again, pointing it at the uniformed opponent... no.
At the Demon Cultist.
"Heh~ As expected of the Golden Generation, huh?"
"Shut your mouth."
"Pfft. So full of pride. Even though you're just scrambling to protect one girl."
That was right.
The reason Crown Prince Frederic had hit the dirt was all to shield one woman.
In the sudden ambush, one of their commoner teammates was already gravely wounded and unconscious. After a fierce battle, all that remained were the Demon Cultist before them, Frederic, and—
"...Adelia. Stay behind me."
According to Aren, the 'romance novel heroine' and nothing else.
The Demon Cultist smirked mockingly at the Crown Prince, who held his sword high to protect Adelia.
"It's pointless, you know. Should I just kill the Crown Prince here too? But that'd raise the risk a bit..."
The Demon Cultist pondered.
Her goal was solely to secure the woman named Adelia. Some collateral damage was fine, but if the Crown Prince was the target, that changed things.
Some idiots might seize the chance to take him out.
But that was a fool's move.
Killing the empire's Crown Prince would provoke the full wrath of the empire against the Demon Cultists... It was a poisoned apple.
"Hey, why not just hand over that girl? Then we can all walk away no problem."
"No."
"Hmph? I really don't get it."
Demonic energy began to rise from the Demon Cultist's body.
The Crown Prince of the Golden Generation, renowned as a genius, was at mid-Sword Expert level. Even he tensed at the power emanating from her—what the hell was she?
"Is she your girlfriend or something? Promised marriage maybe?"
"......"
"Guess not. Then why risk your life for her? Does she put out if you play hero?"
"......"
The Crown Prince's face twisted in rage.
The Demon Cultist, seeing it, cackled even louder.
"Ahahaha! So that's it? You just wanna hit that, huh? Guys with dicks are all the same—dying to swing it but pretending otherwise. So creepy~"
"...Shut your mouth."
"Ooh, hit a nerve?"
"......"
"Puhuhu!"
The Crown Prince trembled with humiliation.
"...I'll kill you."
Aura coiled around the Crown Prince's sword—an edge sharper and clearer than any peer Sword Expert could muster.
But—
"Guess I'll toy with you a bit then drag you off. Or maybe kidnap the Crown Prince too while I'm at it? Hmm..."
To the Demon Cultist, it was laughable.
Her level dwarfed his by leaps and bounds. The uniform was mere disguise. She'd questioned if she even needed to be here for such a trivial mission, but...
"Decided! I'll bundle our Crown Prince up with her as a set~"
This might make it fun.
Right then, the Crown Prince charged. He circled behind her in a flash, swinging for her neck—but
—Slash.
KABOOM—!!!!!
"Guh...!"
His sword didn't connect. Instead, she caught it, and her fist slammed into his gut with a bursting sound, sending him flying.
The Crown Prince rolled across the ground several times before crashing into a tree.
Drip, drip—
Blood trickled from his mouth. He struggled to rise, but his body wouldn't obey.
"Oops... Went too hard? Probably burst a few organs... Eh, he'll live."
That level was treatable with potions anyway. The Demon Cultist grinned and headed toward Adelia, slumped against a tree.
"Now, time to collect today's main prize~"
Bright golden blonde hair and jewel-like blue eyes.
The epitome of a pure, innocent beauty.
Securing her would end the mission. No more of this tedious academy life.
"I won't hurt you, okay? You'll have your precious Crown Prince with you, so no tears. Got it?"
"......"
Adelia ground her teeth inwardly. If she stayed like this, she'd be kidnapped.
She didn't know why, but the enemy was after her specifically.
No point asking—they wouldn't tell her anyway.
So, she had to fight back somehow. The commoner teammate was critically wounded because of her, and the Crown Prince lay broken nearby.
'...I can't just sit here.'
She tried summoning her spirits—her specialty.
But.
'...Why?'
They wouldn't emerge.
"Not working, huh?"
"!?"
The Demon Cultist chuckled at Adelia's panicked face.
"Guess you haven't fully awakened them yet."
She hummed a tune and reached out for her.
'...Am I really getting caught like this...?'
She hated that.
But reality didn't bend to wishes.
No one was coming to save her. The Crown Prince might get taken too.
In the end, she stared at the approaching hand and squeezed her eyes shut.
And then.
——Slash
KABOOOOOM—!!!!
"!?"
"Hm. A real Demon Cultist, after all."
When she opened her eyes, a black-haired man stood before her. The Demon Cultist's severed arm lay on the ground as a bonus.
'...Aren?'