Lena Youngstern (6)
The situation could be summed up quite simply as I sprinted through the heart of the imperial academy—no, the water park—alongside Kano and the princess. Right now, in the middle of this flooded academy, the two main bosses that the cadets would normally have to fight with their lives on the line were as follows.
One was the massive water dragon coiled up on the western side of the central plaza. It was the creature that Team Crown Prince, led by Crown Prince Leonhardt, would face with their dazzling sword aura and holy power. Naturally, it was a divine beast strong enough to force the crown prince to go all out. The problem was that when the crown prince fought at full strength, his madness would flare up—until he realized that the saint’s holy power could calm it. In the end, this divine beast existed solely to create an opportunity for the crown prince to grow interested in the saint before vanishing from the story.
And the other one was…
“……Grrrrrrrr.”
The one standing tall on the eastern side of the central plaza, exhaling breaths mixed with an unpleasantly heavy vibration. An ancient spirit beast—Freya. For some reason it was nicknamed the White Tiger, but the creature before us was a water-attribute tiger with pure white fur accented by striking blue markings. This raised a fundamental question about the worldbuilding. A water dragon was one thing, but why a tiger all of a sudden? And if water was the theme, why call it the White Tiger?
But from the perspective of the author rather than a third-rate extra, the reason was painfully obvious.
‘They must’ve gotten lazy designing the boss monster.’
Left: Azure Dragon. Right: White Tiger. The original author had clearly been pressed for deadline and just slapped some Eastern fantasy clichés onto a Western romance fantasy with a fresh coat of paint. What a lazy writer. If it had been me, I would’ve at least placed a tentacle monster or water slime so the heroines’ clothes could melt off… No. That wasn’t something I should be thinking about right now.
Anyway, calling it a water tiger somehow made it sound as weak as a neighborhood mutt, but reality was completely different.
“W-what is that…?”
On the hill overlooking the white tiger, Princess Eiphrid poked her head out from behind me, her lips trembling violently. As someone with exceptional talent for magic and an unmatched sensitivity to the flow of mana, she was clearly shaken.
“Th-that thing… looks insanely strong…”
If even she froze up at first glance, the water-attribute mana radiating from Freya had to be overwhelming. True to its nature as a spirit beast, it sparkled beautifully atop the water’s surface. It really was a pretty boss monster. Well, more like an incredibly massive and elegant cat than a tiger?
Kano Ameri, who had stuck close to my side, shouted over the sound of the rain.
“According to the original prophecy, that thing is a spirit beast that the remaining cadets would have to team up to raid just to have a chance! What the hell are we supposed to do with just the three of us?!”
“So we’re dropping the honorifics now?”
“Who cares about that right now!”
I cared. It would be a huge pain if we met again later and I couldn’t remember whether we’d switched to casual speech or not. I swept my dripping bangs back and answered in a completely dry tone.
“You two just need to pin it down.”
“……Pardon?”
“There’s no need to kill it. Subduing it is enough.”
At my shameless declaration, Princess Eiphrid’s face turned deathly pale as she shook her head frantically.
“I-it’s impossible, impossible, completely impossible! How are we supposed to subdue a monster like that?! Can’t you feel that overwhelming mana? It’s pure, powerful, and enormous! That’s a calamity!”
The princess was on the verge of a full-blown panic. Which made sense. A delicate flower who had spent her entire life in the imperial palace’s greenhouse learning only refined magic was now facing a wild, giant boss monster head-on. Of course she was terrified.
I explained in a calm, gentle, yet extremely practical tone.
“Don’t overthink it. Just use the earth magic you’re so good at to firmly bind all four of that giant white tiger’s legs. Whether it’s mud or rock, the goal is to shackle it.”
“T-to bind the feet of a spirit beast like that with earth magic, I’d have to get extremely close! If I fire mana from this distance, it’ll scatter before it even reaches!”
“I’ll take care of that part. When I give the signal, just pour every ounce of your earth mana into me. Understood?”
“It’s impossible, impossible, I said it’s impossible! We’ll die!”
Watching the princess repeatedly cry that it was impossible, Kano Ameri let out a deep sigh.
“Haa… The princess is already this terrified, and without a proper strategy, it really is impossible, right?”
Eiphrid and Kano. The world’s top-tier magic genius and the transmigrator who was hiding her Sword Master-level power were standing side by side, whining that it couldn’t be done. This was exactly why kids who only trusted their talent and grew up in greenhouses struggled in real combat.
“Then I guess we have no choice.”
I shrugged. Then, without hesitation, I kicked the princess square in the back.
THUD!
“Kyaaaaah?!”
With my full-powered kick, the princess’s body rolled forward, tumbling straight toward the rain-soaked ground. After rolling pathetically through the mud, she landed with a splat right in front of Freya—well within striking distance.
“Kwaaaaaang—!”
Seeing prey roll right in front of it, Freya let out a ferocious yet somehow adorable roar. Covered head to toe in mud, the princess looked back at me, trembling. Her expression was a chaotic mix of shock, betrayal, and utter disbelief.
I met her gaze and pumped my fist encouragingly.
“Princess, fighting! You can do it! Show them the power of the imperial family!”
Kano, who had witnessed this insane act in real time, stood there with her jaw hanging open.
“Are you crazy?! You used the empire’s princess as bait?!”
“No.”
I stared past the pouring rain at Freya as it rose to its feet, the corners of my mouth curling into a cold smile.
“I’m going to save Lena my way. Without letting a single person die. So just follow me.”
Kano and I ran at full speed through the torrential downpour.
SWOOOSH—!
Far off in the western central plaza, a brilliant light split the sky as if the sun itself had risen. Every time an explosion shook the ground, pillars of water hundreds of meters high shot into the air. It was clear proof that Team Crown Prince was putting on a spectacular show. The scale was so grand it made me want to just sit back with popcorn and watch. It truly had the majestic feel of the original story’s main event.
But this wasn’t the time to spectate someone else’s fight—or rather, someone else’s water show. I had to take care of my own problems first.
Splash, splash!
Kano, who had been running right behind me and kicking up sprays of water, shouted while panting heavily.
“Huff, huff! Hey, Ian Ash! Why the hell are you going this far to save Lena Youngstern?! You even threw the princess as bait!”
It was a perfectly reasonable question from Kano’s perspective. From the viewpoint of someone who knew the original plot, a third-rate extra like me had no reason to risk his life by jumping into the middle of the main villain’s rampage.
I kept running without slowing down, eyes fixed forward, and answered casually.
“Because she’s my friend?”
“……What?”
“I protect my people. That’s my rule.”
For a moment, Kano’s footsteps seemed to falter. But the feeling of being moved lasted only a second before she screamed.
“Then what about the princess you just threw into the mud?! You know how terrifying that spirit beast is! It’s something that takes every remaining cadet working together just to barely defeat! How the hell are you planning to handle it?!”
Where Kano was pointing, I could see Princess Eiphrid frantically running around, desperately raising earthen barriers to avoid Freya’s massive front paw. Any trace of imperial dignity had long since been abandoned.
I grinned at Kano.
“Simple. I just need to pull out one very sharp famous sword.”
“What is it? Did you steal some kind of artifact?”
“Nope.”
“…Huh?”
Kano looked at me with clear anxiety. Usually, that kind of gut feeling was right.
“That famous sword is you, Kano Ameri.”
“……Eh?”
“Look over there.”
I jerked my chin toward the princess, who was rolling around pale as a ghost.
“The princess is about to become tiger food for real. You gonna leave her like that?”
“That’s because you, you crazy bastard…!”
“Don’t worry about that power-hiding concept you’ve been so desperate to maintain. Right now the princess is too busy trying to save her own life to have the energy or attention to notice what kind of power you use. So hurry up and go protect her. There’s no prophecy about the princess dying, right?”
“You… you truly evil son of a—!”
Kano ground her teeth and spat out curses, but in the end she was just a soft-hearted ordinary-person transmigrator.
“Ugh, fine! I’ll only fall for this once!”
Kano leaped into the air. The moment the sword in her hand sliced through the sky, the curtain of rain was cleaved apart in reverse. Flash—! An icy, overwhelming sword aura instantly filled my entire field of vision. Sword Master-level power exploded toward the underside of Freya’s jaw.
“Kyaaaaang!”
Freya’s gaze instantly shifted from the princess to Kano.
‘Perfect.’
The world’s greatest magic genius would draw aggro and put up defensive barriers. Meanwhile, the Sword Master-level dealer would deal damage and mess with its focus. Those two wouldn’t die even if they took a few hits.
‘Project: Get to Work, Power-Hider’ successfully activated.
Then it was about time for me to start earning my keep too.
‘I can’t believe I’m using it like this.’
Clutching the potion bottle I had prepared for Lena, I took a wide detour around the plaza.