Academy Entrance Exam (8)
Thud. Thud.
The fiend’s severed head hit the ground.
“Uh… uhh…?”
Hort’s mouth fell open. He rubbed his eyes and looked again. The body of the headless fiend was dissolving into smoke.
“…This one was fake too.”
Hort, who had been staring blankly at the smoke drifting into the sky, turned toward the voice. There stood the Saintess.
She was calmly brushing her disheveled golden hair behind her ear. It was a picture-perfect scene. Yet one thing ruined the beauty.
The crude sword gripped in the Saintess’s right hand. That blunt cold weapon created a stark dissonance. Strangely, though, the way she held it looked almost natural.
No matter how you looked at her, the girl seemed far removed from the path of the sword. Her soft, voluptuous figure. Her slender fingers. Nothing about her suggested a traveler walking the warrior’s road.
When he first saw her, he hadn’t sensed even the slightest trace of strength. But the girl was strong. With a single swing of her blade, she had felled a fiend. Even though it was only an illusion, considering how the two of them had struggled against just one earlier, it was clear how extraordinary her power was.
“Oh dear… you’re hurt?”
The Saintess approached Hort. She suddenly seemed much larger. Her enormous breasts swayed with every step, but that wasn’t why. Her presence, which had felt small before, now loomed like a giant.
“I’ll heal you.”
“Ugh…!”
“It might sting a little, but please bear with me. It’ll be over soon.”
The Saintess placed her hand on Hort’s shoulder. A burning energy seeped into the wound where his greatsword had split the flesh. It felt like molten iron being poured into the gash. But the sensation lasted only a moment. As the heat subsided, so did the pain.
“This is only emergency treatment, so please don’t use that arm until you receive proper healing at the temple. Understood?”
The Saintess gave him a bright, gentle smile. Hort shook his head. He stood up and retrieved his hand axes.
“The fiend’s real body is still somewhere in this forest. Until we take it down, I’ll have to use my arm even if it hurts.”
“Brother, if the wound gets worse, it’ll be a big problem.”
“A warrior’s scars are his medals… ugh!”
“I said it’ll be a problem.”
The Saintess gripped his shoulder. Despite her delicate appearance, the incredible strength in her hand threatened to crush the bone.
“If you get hurt, Brother, my heart gets hurt too.”
“My shoulder…! My shoulder…!”
“So please listen to me. Alright?”
“I got it! I got it, okay!”
The Saintess finally released his shoulder. Hort stumbled back, clutching it. A bear-like man cowering before a rabbit-like girl.
“Sister Reine, are you unharmed?”
“Y-yes…!”
Reine wore the same dumbfounded expression as Hort.
“Hmm… It looks like both of you have a mountain of questions. Please don’t ask them.”
The Saintess raised a finger to her lips.
“What you saw here is our little secret.”
They both nodded. She was clearly smiling, yet something about it made them feel that failing to keep the secret would lead to terrible consequences.
“Anyway, taking down the fiend comes first.”
While they stood here, someone else might wander into the barrier and become the fiend’s prey. To minimize casualties, they needed to find and destroy the real body quickly.
“What should we do?”
Reine asked, clutching her staff tightly to her chest.
“Hmm…”
The Saintess tapped her lips with a finger, thinking.
“Just follow behind me.”
Honestly, having people trailing her would be a hindrance. The safest option was to leave the forest, but since they were already trapped inside the barrier, that was impossible. The next best thing was to wait quietly until the real body was defeated, but that carried the risk of being targeted again. So it was better to bring them along, even if they got in the way.
Even if they got in the way…!
“Alright! Let’s take that fiend down together!”
Hort raised his hand axes, burning with enthusiasm.
“Hey…!”
Reine, who had instantly understood the Saintess’s unspoken request to stay back and stay quiet, tried to stop the oblivious Hort. She didn’t want to admit it, but… stepping forward would only get in the Saintess’s way.
“That’s right. Let’s all do our best together.”
The Saintess smiled sweetly. Since she knew she couldn’t stop them, she accepted it quickly.
“I’ll match my speed to yours as much as possible, so please keep up, okay?”
“I’ll match you. You just run.”
“Can you keep up?”
“I may be big, but I’m pretty fast.”
The Saintess pondered for a moment, then nodded. “Understood. Then please take good care of Sister Reine while you follow.”
“Will do.”
The moment the words left her mouth—
Boom!
The Saintess shot forward through the forest. The mana she explosively released kicked up a violent gust of wind. Hort staggered as it slammed into his face.
“Think you can keep up?” Reine asked, looking up at him.
“…Is every Saintess like that?”
“No.”
Reine shook her head. Obviously, what was happening right now was completely absurd. There had been Saintesses who learned swordsmanship as a hobby, but none had ever reached this level. Just training holy power was already overwhelming—where would she find the time to train mana as well?
Yet Saintess Elia had reached a high level in both holy power and mana.
“The Heavenly God Church, was it…?”
“Why?”
“If I believed in the Heavenly God, could I become that strong too?”
The answer to that was crystal clear.
“No. Absolutely not.”
That was not a realm one could reach through faith alone.
Elia possesses both Holy Power and Mana at an exceptionally high level. This is not something that can be achieved through faith alone.
Elia glanced back.
“As expected…”
She had spoken with such confidence that she’d held out a little hope. But sure enough, they couldn’t keep up.
She gradually slowed her pace. That was when it happened.
A massive greatsword flew toward her slender neck. Elia arched backward, dodging the strike.
“Ah…!”
Several strands of her golden hair were sliced away. Elia scowled fiercely and thrust her sword sideways. It sank deep into the abdomen of the fiend that had tried to slit her throat. She then lifted the blade, splitting its upper body in half.
This one was fake too. Its head split open like a blooming flower, and the fiend’s form vanished.
How dare you touch my beautiful hair!
Elia twisted her lips, vowing to beat the fiend to a pulp.
“Haa… ha… Found you!”
While she was burning with vengeful fury at the illusion dissolving into smoke, Hort arrived, panting heavily.
“Put me down already!!”
Hort was carrying Reine tucked under his arm like luggage. She flailed her arms and legs helplessly.
“You’re even faster than I imagined… cough!”
When Hort met Elia’s eyes, he coughed as if he’d choked on something.
“D-did something happen…?”
A chilling aura hung in the air.
“Not at all.”
Elia offered a gentle smile. Hort flinched. It was undoubtedly a beautiful smile, yet it carried the terrifying chill of a predator enraged.
“Let’s move. I’ll run slowly this time, so please keep up.”
“R-right.”
They resumed searching the forest. Thirty minutes passed as they followed behind Elia.
In all that time, Hort never got a single chance to step forward. The fiends kept coming. Some charged from the front. Others leaped from the bushes. At one point, several surrounded them like a trap.
I’ll take the rear…!
Step aside.
Then the side…!
I said step aside.
Every time a fiend’s illusion appeared, it vanished just as quickly.
Swoosh!
With a single swing of her sword, Elia drew a golden line that severed a fiend’s neck. Its head dropped like ripe fruit. One at a time. No—everything in her line of sight was cut down in a single stroke.
Just who the hell is she?
Both Hort, who was watching the scene directly, and Reine had the same thought. No matter how much natural talent one had for the sword, it was hard to believe a girl who had just turned twenty could single-handedly destroy fiends. And the fact that this girl was a Saintess made it even harder to accept.
They wanted to ask who she really was. But she had told them not to ask, so they couldn’t bring themselves to do it.
It was known that she had lived in a rural convent before becoming the Saintess. But maybe that convent was actually a front, and she had been an adventurer all along? Given her abundant real combat experience, it seemed entirely possible.
Or perhaps… a hero from the past had been reincarnated? The legendary Sword Saint or something?
Reine immediately shook her head vigorously. A dead person being reborn? That was impossible.
“There’s no end to them.”
The number of illusions was steadily increasing. Now four appeared at a time as standard.
“Judging by how fiercely they’re resisting, it seems we’ll meet the real body soon.”
One corner of Elia’s mouth curled up into a smirk. Seeing that, Hort coughed again and flinched. For some reason, it was terrifying. His instincts screamed danger.
“Found it.”
A fiend that looked identical to the others. Its arms were abnormally long, and both hands gripped greatswords. The difference was the magic circle floating behind it like a shield. The circle flashed.
Smoke rose like mist, and more than ten illusions surrounded them.
“Trying to overwhelm us with numbers, huh.”
Elia flicked the tip of her sword playfully.
“No matter how many trash mobs you throw at me, they’re still just trash.”