Beast Hunt (1)
It had been a full week since I started patrolling the academy on night duty to hunt down that ghost.
During the day, I dragged myself through the professor gig—which didn't suit my constitution at all—and at night, I roamed the grounds, giving up sleep entirely for several straight days.
"I can't take this anymore."
I hadn't gotten a single lead the whole time. The academy—this ridiculously sprawling chunk of land—wasn't something you could fully comb in just a few days of wandering.
Finding that faint sound amid all this vastness was like hunting for a needle in a desert. Pounding the pavement day and night on foot had me on the verge of madness from exhaustion.
"If today's another bust, I'll take tomorrow off..."
No amount of catnaps could keep my body going. Far from a Swordmaster, I was just a regular schlub—if I kept this up a few more days, I'd drop dead.
I needed to wrap this up fast, but there was no end in sight. Hell, I was starting to wonder if it was all just bullshit rumors.
Time to rest.
"Just one last sweep over here..."
Even so, bound and determined to finish what I'd started, I hauled my battered body around the corner of the corridor.
"Grrr..."
A low rumble echoed from somewhere.
"...?"
I whipped my head toward the sound slicing through the silence straight into my ears, but nothing was there.
Still, that nagging déjà vu and gut instinct kept me rooted, staring without turning away.
"Grrrr..."
The growl rolled out again, deep and guttural.
"A beast's growl...!"
Inhuman, laced with raw savagery. No doubt about it—that was an animal, not a person.
The second I clocked it, I bolted toward the source.
I rushed up and peeked behind the wall where it'd come from, ready to ID the thing.
"Won't show itself, huh?"
Nothing. Not a beast, not even a whiff of one. Just empty space staring back at me in silence.
"...But it sure left its mark."
There, plain as day: gouges in the floor from something heavy.
Weird shape, but uncannily like a footprint. Definitely a beast's track.
Should I follow it...?
I wavered for a split second, then nixed the idea. The ghost stories said every cadet who'd trailed the tracks came back busted up bad.
Right now, I couldn't take a stray dog, let alone a beast. Smart move was to bail.
"At least it really exists."
The truth behind the academy ghost story I'd chased fruitlessly for a week. Finally, after that endless slog, I'd confirmed it.
"The academy's beast."
It was definitely a beast. No question there.
But was whatever lurked in the academy just some run-of-the-mill animal? Nah, I didn't buy that.
Even the average students here went to the empire's top school—kids who could fistfight bears without breaking a sweat. No way they'd limp back from a normal beast.
A mana-wielding beast. The kind the world calls magical beasts or mana beasts. I was dead certain.
"Professor Swalder."
To dig deeper, what next? Hit the books? Run experiments? Wrong track.
No need. This was the academy. Crawling with walking encyclopedias.
All I had to do was grab a tome on magical beasts.
"Oh? Professor Nameless. What brings you here?"
Monster Studies Professor Swalder welcomed me warmly when I showed up at his office.
"Got a minute?"
"Of course. What do you need?"
His easygoing face matched his friendly vibe. I'd half-expected him to blow me off, but he was plenty receptive—made it easy to dive in.
"I was on night duty yesterday."
"Ah, heard you've taken over all the shifts lately. Must be rough."
"Yeah. While patrolling near the male dorms, I found these tracks."
With that, I pulled a sheet from my pocket. A rubbing of the print I'd dashed back at dawn to make.
I held it out, and Swalder adjusted his glasses for a close look.
"That's a footprint."
"Too big for a dog—figured it might be a magical beast."
"Looks like it."
Over a handspan long, subtly broad. Even to my untrained eye, no way that was canine.
"I think it's the thing from the rumors."
"Ah, those rumors?"
"Yeah. So you know about them too, Professor."
The whole damn academy did. And it still hadn't been caught? That was something.
"You believe in ghosts?"
"Not a chance."
"Then why sweat the rumor...?"
"No smoke without fire, right?"
"Fair point. Very logical."
He nodded, convinced. I shoved the rubbing at him again.
"Any clue what beast made this?"
He studied it harder, mulled it over, then turned to me cautiously.
"Can't say for sure from just the rubbing, but... looks like a Sharkwolf."
"Sharkwolf?"
"Wolf-shaped magical beast from coastal areas. Shark head, great swimmer, fins and all."
Never heard of it. Probably small potatoes.
But gut alone wasn't enough—I probed gently.
"Strong one?"
"Just average. Academy uses 'em for classes a lot."
Figured. Not a heavy hitter.
Still, not total pushovers. If they pitted 'em against cadets, they had to be a solid match.
"Hold on..."
Chewing on his words, something clicked as off.
Used for classes here. Meaning...
"The academy uses them for classes, so..."
"Right. We've got a few on grounds."
That sealed it. The rumored beast was a Sharkwolf.
"Used any lately?"
"Common breed. Think we got dozens in recently..."
Swalder trailed off, fuzzy on details.
Dozens. Easy to spot one or two gone, but that many? Not so much.
One slipping out was plenty plausible.
Lame leak...
Thought it was Abraxas, but nah—just a runaway beast. All that hustle for squat. Deflating.
...Gotta wrap it proper, though.
Might as well finish strong since I'd come this far.
How tough could tracking one brainless beast be?
"Mind if I check their locations myself?"
First, tally the numbers. Then hunt for real.
I kept it polite—not keen on sounding like I doubted him.
"Er... Other profs probably checked 'em out on request?"
His reply fell flat. No irritation, no welcome. No headcount, no hard no—just a dodge.
That possible?
Swalder ran Monster Studies. If not him, who?
"You don't know?"
"Not really. Beast management isn't my wheelhouse."
"Isn't that the Monster Studies prof's job?"
"Our department handles it... but not me specifically."
Didn't track. He was Monster Studies—should manage beasts—but claimed otherwise.
Was Swalder pulling my leg?
Then it dawned.
"Monster Studies has two professors."
"Our department" doesn't fly solo.
Click—he flashed two fingers like he'd been waiting.
"Ridwick would know."