The Fiend's Hunting Grounds
"Kyaa!"
The voice slammed into my ears without the slightest warning, and I screamed before I could stop myself. I clapped both hands over my ears and whipped my head to the side. The man I'd seen yesterday was standing there—a blonde, tanned warrior from the Southern Kingdom. No question about it. This was Hot Ragtree, the so-called son of barbarians.
"...Tsk."
I clicked my tongue. If a battle-crazed lunatic like him was in my party, my share of the prey would shrink dramatically. I'd been hoping for a weak, useless team, but of all people, I got stuck with this guy. He looked like he'd only be good for swinging a sword from the back line.
"Ah...! You son of a bitch! I thought my eardrums were going to explode!"
The girl who came storming up was already hurling insults. Her oversized robe dragged along the ground. She was even smaller than me—and I'm not exactly tall. She reminded me of an angry little lapdog.
"What? You wanna fight?" Hot drew his sword and thrust it toward her, grinning like an oversized mutt eager to play. "You got guts? I was just craving some pork."
The big dog and the little dog glared at each other, growling. Mana began to rise from both of them. It looked like they were about to clash any second.
"W-wait a moment!"
I'd been curious to watch a swordsman and a mage go at it, but as the Saintess I had to step in. "Both of you, please calm down. We're supposed to be a party that works together. Let's try to get along."
The two of them turned their heads toward me at the same time.
"Ooh...!" Hot's eyes widened like a child who'd found a new toy. "So you're the Saintess everyone's been talking about?"
Not everyone used honorifics with the Saintess. Only those of high status, and only in countries where the Heavenly God was the state religion. In the Southern Kingdom, which worshipped the God of Battle, a Saintess was just another foreign priest. Of course, not every southerner felt that way. Some treated me with proper respect; others didn't.
"You've got a body built for easy births—you'd make a great mother! I'm Hot Ragtree. Looking forward to working with you."
Hot held out his hand. What the hell is this idiot saying?
"You crazy bastard! How dare you spout that garbage to the Saintess?!"
The girl kicked Hot and charged at him. Her attack had no power behind it. Hot didn't even flinch. She glared up at the giant, puffing with rage.
"What? Did I say something wrong?" Hot blinked, genuinely confused.
"There's a limit to how stupid you can be. So it's true that southerners have nothing but air between their ears."
"A true warrior uses his body instead of wasting time thinking."
"You brain-dead moron. Keep talking like that and you'll end up in front of the Papal Court for blasphemy."
"Haha, then I guess I'll get to tour the Holy Kingdom."
I'd thought he had some charisma during yesterday's spar, but up close he was just a simple-minded battle junkie.
"Wow... what the hell is wrong with this guy?" The girl let out a dry laugh and clutched the back of her neck. The way she growled and rushed at him reminded me of my old adjutant.
"I'm fine, really," I said, cutting in before they could keep going. I couldn't let this drag on forever. I turned to the furious little dog with a gentle smile. "I'd like to know your name, if you'd be so kind as to share it."
"Ah, I forgot to introduce myself." She cleared her throat. "I'm Luine van Agnia of House Agnia."
"House Agnia? The family famous for their flame magic?"
"You know about us?" Luine's eyes widened in surprise.
"Isn't Count Agnia the master of the Western Magic Tower?"
"That's right!"
I had no personal interest in magic, but when I was the Sword Saint I'd built connections with mages while handling imperial affairs. I knew archmages and tower masters alike. Not anymore, of course.
"I am the descendant of the great warrior Glauth."
"Stay out of this!"
Glauth, the first berserker. How could I not know that name? I'd heard it endlessly from the Ragtree clan leader on the battlefield.
Do you know how great a warrior Glauth was, Adrian?
Shut up! I'm trying to focus on the fight!
Even with twelve arrows in his back and a spear through his gut, he led us to victory. A true berserker.
Dammit... the left flank is collapsing!
This was back when my hair was still black, before I became the Sword Saint. We'd won the battle, but the broken defensive line had earned me a boot to the shin.
"We don't have time for this. The exam has already started."
"That's right! Battle! It's battle time!" Hot immediately charged forward.
"Saintess, let's ditch that idiot and hunt by ourselves."
Part of me wanted to shout "Hunting! It's hunting time!" and run after him. But I couldn't.
"We can't. For the duration of the test we're one party. Even if we don't get along, we have to work together."
"But I really don't want to team up with that moron..."
"Could you do it for me? Please?"
"Ugh... if the Saintess asks like that, fine."
I started running after Hot.
"Let's go. We'll lose him at this rate."
"Right."
Along the path Hot had taken, monster corpses lay scattered. Every one had been decapitated cleanly. This wasn't the work of a beginner. He might look like a simple brute, but his swordsmanship was the real deal.
"Haaaaah!"
Hot was fighting a bear-like monster. The creature was even bigger than he was. Every swing of its forepaw snapped trees with a loud crack. He was putting up a good fight.
Should I step in a little?
That was when—
"Saintess, it's dangerous. Please stay behind me."
Luine raised her staff.
"Burn."
"Burn."
⟨ Flame Dragon ⟩
A red magic circle bloomed above the staff. The air around us grew scorching hot. Power exploded from the blazing circle.
Boom!!
With a deafening roar, a flame shaped like a dragon's head opened its massive jaws and lunged at the bear monster.
Crash!!
The spell struck dead center. The bear didn't even have time to scream before it burned pitch black.
"Shorty! You stole my prey!"
"Who are you calling shorty!"
Luine grumbled under her breath.
Even when I help him, he complains. I sighed inwardly. At this rate, I wouldn't get a chance to do anything.
"Shorty, let's make this a contest."
"I'm not short!"
"Whoever takes down the stronger monsters wins."
"Are you even listening to me?"
"Hey, Saintess! You join in too. Hunt some monsters."
Now that was music to my ears.
"You bastard! There's no way our delicate Saintess could possibly hunt monsters!"
Actually, I can. I was seriously tempted to throw away all this Saintess dignity and just go wild.
"I can help you both by taking down monsters too."
I let Holy Power bloom above my right hand.
Holy Power doesn't only heal. It can also purify. With this strength, I can bring down monsters too.
"So I can—"
"Shorty, let's start!"
"Stop calling me shorty already!"
Luine ran forward, flinging spells at Hot.
"Stay right there! Before you burn any monsters, I'll burn you first!"
"Bwahaha!"
I pressed a hand to my forehead. "Ugh..."
It felt like I was babysitting two children. Still, the monster hunting progressed smoothly. Hot drew their attention from the front while Luine burned them from behind with her magic. I was basically the party's mascot. My role was to cheer from the rear. The only fun I got was occasionally punching the faces of monsters that jumped out of bushes.
Ehehe, this is fun.
I had to tell myself that to keep the boredom at bay.
"Huh?"
While I was distracted for a moment, the other two vanished. It was quiet. The constant noise from earlier had suddenly died down completely. ...Uncomfortably so.
I looked around. Nothing had changed. It was still an ordinary, lush green forest. That was when I heard the scream.
"Aaaaaagh!!"
A sound like someone having their throat crushed by pain. I sprinted toward it.
"N-no! Stay away! Stay away! Aaaagh!!"
Blood sprayed. An arm still gripping a sword flew into the air. Then it fell pathetically to the ground with a dull thud.
"Ugh...! Gah!"
The man with both arms severed crawled desperately across the ground. But he didn't get far before a sword fell on his head.
Crunch!!
There was a sound like a watermelon being smashed, and the man's head split in two. This wasn't staged. It wasn't some surprise event prepared by the academy. The man twitched once, then went limp. He was truly dead.
And the one who had brought that death was—
"...A Fiend?"
Its two arms hung down to the ground like a monkey's. In each hand it held a rectangular greatsword. Black smoke leaked from between its yellow teeth. Its cloudy eyes told me it wasn't an intelligent Fiend. Even so, it was not an opponent to take lightly. Fiends were always troublesome.
Why is a Fiend here of all places?
I could think about that later. Right now, the priority was taking it down before it claimed more victims.
I checked the sword lying next to the corpse. It would have been difficult bare-handed, but one good blade changed everything. This would be easy. I'd cut down plenty of Fiends on the battlefield.
I burst out of the bushes in a flash. Grabbed the sword. Swung it upward in a great arc. The Fiend's body was sliced cleanly in half. The entire sequence flowed as naturally as water.
"I need to report this immediately."
That was when it happened. Multiple presences suddenly rose from the ground, surrounding me. Step. Step. Five more Fiends identical to the one I'd just cut down appeared, dragging their long arms.
I looked at the corpse of the one I'd slain. It had already vanished like smoke.
"No wonder... it didn't feel right when I cut it..."
It was an annoying Fiend that used illusion magic. I should have realized the moment the forest became unnaturally quiet. I was already inside its hunting ground.
I didn't expect a Fiend to be here.
It would keep attacking until it caught its prey. There were only two ways out of this hunting ground: leave as a corpse, or kill the main body and leave alive.
So where was the main body? It had to be somewhere nearby. The barrier had a limited range. It was definitely hiding somewhere, controlling its illusory clones.
The way to find it was simple. Kill everything in sight until I caught the real one. Easy, right?