Field Trip (2)
Field Trip (2)
'An automatic Save Point, right now... Did I let my guard down a little?'
Including this one, an automatic Save Point had been set three times without me dying.
[Arrived at the Seal Grounds. A new 'Save Point' has been set.]
[The Seal Grounds], huh...
The first automatic Save Point had appeared at the [Awakening Ceremony], and the second upon [Academy Entrance].
And now, it was the [Seal Grounds].
It seemed that arriving at a specific location could trigger a new event, not just specific ceremonies or major occurrences.
Which meant this place was just that important.
Well, considering this was the Demon King's Seal Grounds, its importance was a given.
Looking back, it all made sense, but I only ever realized these things after the fact.
It always felt like I was playing catch-up, which made me feel a bit pathetic at times like this.
I patted both my cheeks with my hands.
'Get a grip.'
"You seem surprised as well, Alex."
Balea spoke up beside me, having noticed me slapping my cheeks.
"Yes, I was a little startled."
Damn right I was surprised.
"There is no need to worry too much. We haven't been scattered very far. A short walk should bring us to the assembly location where the Headmaster is."
At my words, Professor Niel replied while looking straight at the Princess.
That professor was certainly consistent.
Seeing the professor's behavior, I cast a pitying look toward Manuel.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
Well, because Professor Niel had completely stolen your role and your spot.
Manuel was still young.
Though considered an adult in this world, he would've been in high school in my past life, so he really was young.
He still had a long way to go before he could handle Professor Niel.
Anyone could tell Manuel had joined this group because of the Princess.
Since he knew my true skill, he didn't look down on me the way the others did.
Even being in the same group as me didn't damage his honor much, since he had the airtight excuse of us being family.
But thanks to Professor Niel, he hadn't been able to take a single step closer to the Princess.
Hesitant because he was a duke's son and bound by the aristocratic etiquette he'd been taught, he'd ended up getting cut in line by the professor.
"Now that everyone has regained their composure, prepare yourselves."
At the professor's command, the party snapped to attention.
Except for the Princess, who had already drawn her sword, the others hurriedly drew their weapons as well.
Manuel gripped the famous sword he'd brought from home, while Balea and Piar raised their swords, if only for form's sake.
I also unsheathed the sword slung across my back.
Piar and Princess Aisha stared wide-eyed at the sword I was holding in one hand.
"That is clearly a two-handed sword..."
Because I had grown taller, it didn't look as absurd as it had when I first carried it, but it was still a massive sword that seemed impossible to hold with one hand.
It was only natural that they were shocked to see me wielding such a blade so effortlessly with one hand.
"You aren't using the dagger you used before."
Balea seemed to recall the dagger I'd used when I fought her not long ago.
"This was originally my main weapon."
I used daggers often because they were easy to conceal on my body and made using abilities simpler, but what I'd spent years learning and training with was this greatsword.
Hum.
I funneled mana into the greatsword.
A small red haze—visible only to my eyes—flared at the tip of the greatsword.
Now, I could activate my ability without needing to hold a dagger.
The professor gave my sword a curious look before quickly shaking her head and addressing the Princess.
"Let us depart, everyone. If we take too long, our scores might be penalized."
"Which way should we go?"
At Balea's question, everyone looked toward Professor Niel.
She surveyed our surroundings, dense with giant trees and creeping vines, looking slightly troubled.
"Were we teleported deeper inside than expected? This will make it hard to locate our position."
Muttering softly to herself, her eyes darted here and there before finally settling on me.
"Um... you're from the Knight Faculty, right?"
"Yes."
Was I that hard to talk to? There was no way she didn't know, yet she was asking useless questions.
"Then, could you climb up any of these trees and check our surroundings?"
When she said that, I glanced at the tree standing beside me.
It was a thick, tall tree that would be impossible to wrap both arms around. Even someone other than me—any inherited ability user with physical enhancement—could easily climb it.
"I am also in the Knight Faculty."
The Princess raised an objection from the side, but—
"Surely you wouldn't expect Her Highness the Princess to climb up a tree, would you?"
Instead, the atmosphere shifted as if I were the one being scolded.
As expected of a seasoned politician.
Manuel also stared at the professor with wide, surprised eyes.
Wait, it's bad if she corrupts my nice, wholesome brother already...
I felt annoyed at being dragged into her pace and wanted to say something back, but decided to do as she asked for now.
"What am I looking for from up there?"
"You'll know once you get up there."
Yeah, yeah. Cursing a streak in my head, I began to scale the tree.
Coating my hands and feet with mana, I dodged branches and zipped upward smoothly.
It was a speed that would make Spider-Man jealous.
After climbing to a height equivalent to the fifth floor of an apartment building, I reached the top of the tree.
Once I looked around from up there, I immediately understood what she meant.
In the distance, a single pillar of blue light stretched all the way into the sky.
"Fascinating. What kind of ability is that? Is it a laser ability or something?"
Or maybe a beacon ability.
Either way, the origin point of that beam of light was clearly the destination the professor had mentioned.
Since I was already up in the tree, I took the opportunity to survey our surroundings.
From below, it had felt like a jungle choked with trees and vines, but the Seal Grounds looked completely different from up here.
Though an endless sea of foliage stretched out, snow-capped mountain ranges were visible in the distance, as well as what appeared to be a lake.
Far off, I could even spot flying beasts—no, monsters—that looked like tiny specks. If they were visible from this distance, they had to be monstrously huge.
Crack.
In the middle of the forest, I could see trees snapping and toppling to carve a path through the woods.
"This place is definitely dangerous."
Looking at it from up here, it really hit home that this was indeed the Seal Grounds.
After double-checking the pillar of light once more, I leapt down.
Thud.
I landed on the ground with a faint sound, and everyone's eyes turned toward me.
"I saw a pillar of light shooting up into the sky."
I pointed in the direction where the pillar of light rose.
"That's right. That was done by the Headmaster."
Professor Niel answered me coldly, then turned around to gently explain to the Princess.
"Now then, let us set off."
She took the lead once again. Now that we knew our destination, everyone began moving in the direction I'd pointed out.
As we pushed through the jungle-like forest, thick with trees, vines, and dense foliage, a stifling sensation washed over me.
Though I hadn't traveled extensively in this world, there was something strangely off and bizarre about this forest.
There was barely any wind blowing, and both the air and mana felt inexplicably sticky.
I could feel several times more mana than in other places, but it was an ominous, unsettling kind of mana.
Perhaps because of that, the vine-covered forest looked exceptionally gloomy.
The rest of the group seemed extremely tense as well.
Right then, the professor spoke up again.
"As you all know, this Demon King's Seal Grounds is the place where heroes, alongside countless soldiers and knights, fought against the Demon King and monsters during the Great War to seal him away."
She continued her explanation as we walked.
After the Demon King appeared, the front lines were pushed back relentlessly until, with the help of the miraculous ability users known as heroes, they were driven all the way back here.
In the process, the Old Empire and numerous nations perished, and countless soldiers, knights, and civilians died. Yet in the end, they succeeded in driving the Demon King and the monsters back to the eastern edge of the continent—to these Seal Grounds.
Regrettably, however, the heroes could not slay the Demon King and instead sealed him here, with the sealed Demon King's mana sweeping across the surrounding area and trapping the monsters within.
Exhausted from sealing the Demon King, the heroes and humanity were unable to fight any further.
They had no choice but to designate this place, where the monsters gathered, as the Seal Grounds and turn back.
Though it was a story I already knew, hearing it while actually standing in the Seal Grounds gave it a whole new weight.
"Then, is this unpleasant feeling because of the Demon King's mana?"
"The Demon King's mana... Some also refer to it as demonic energy."
Professor Niel kindly answered the Princess's question.
Come to think of it, a strange sort of energy was mixed in with the stagnant mana.
It was a kind of mana I felt like I'd seen somewhere before.
A thought nagged at me for a bit before it finally clicked.
It resembled the mana I'd seen from the female instructor who committed suicide at the entrance ceremony, and from the guy claiming to be Piar's master.
All sorts of wild imaginations flooded my mind.
From the sealed Demon King brainwashing that master guy to the Empire's researchers setting up a laboratory in the Seal Grounds to analyze demonic energy.
Tsk, I guess I read way too many manga and web novels in my past life.
Brushing off those useless fantasies, I focused strictly on keeping the facts in mind.
The professor's lecture continued after that.
Thanks to the professor's frantic efforts to get on the Princess's good side, she gave us a thorough lesson even here.
It was annoying as hell to watch, but since it was useful to us, I decided to shut up and listen attentively.
As we trekked through the woods, I abruptly came to a halt. A strangely unsettling feeling brushed past me.
"Hold on a moment."
I brought the group to a stop and scanned our surroundings. Nothing seemed noticeably different.
I pushed mana into my ears. It was quiet.
There was no way it should be this quiet. Something was definitely there.
This time, I infused mana into my nose. A foul, unpleasant stench seeped into my nostrils.
Found it!
"Why did you stop us?"
Just then, the professor frowned and questioned me.
"Monsters."
I pointed toward the 2 o'clock direction.
At my response, the professor knitted her brows.
"Are you serious?"
"Yes."
"You noticed before I did?"
"I have a good nose."
I tapped my nose with a finger.
Thanks to my nose, I barely managed to confirm it.
Come to think of it, the movement of mana was slightly different here too. Because the mana flow differed from the outside, even I almost missed it.
"Ah, he is right. Something is approaching."
The professor wore a look of disbelief, but at the Princess's agreeing words, her expression turned awkward.
But she soon sensed it herself.
"It is just as Her Highness says. Everyone, get ready."
Her shameless favoritism was so blatant it almost felt refreshing.
"Since monsters have appeared, let us practice combat formations. While students in the Administration Faculty and Inherited Ability Faculty do not learn this separately, formations are crucial when dealing with monsters."
Still, an academy professor was an academy professor after all. She properly delivered the necessary explanations—of course, while gazing dotingly at the Princess the whole time.
"Depending on the inherited abilities of your group members, various formations can be created. Fortunately, we have students from the Knight Faculty here, so students from the Administration Faculty and Inherited Ability Faculty should fall back first."
At the professor's command, Manuel and Balea promptly stepped back.
"And students from the Knight Faculty, please step forward. The knights will block the monsters first, and after that, the nobles will slay the monsters using their abilities."
In short, she's just telling the knights to be meat shields.
"Ah, Princess, please step back a bit and protect the other students. Other monsters might appear while fighting. It is better to have one of the knights guard the other ability users."
What she said made sense, but in the end, it basically meant I was the only one standing in front.
The Princess seemed to think the same and looked over at me, but I waved my hand behind me to signal her to fall back.
Because the professor's logic was actually sound.
Grrr.
Grrr.
Through the dense forest, black panther-like monsters revealed themselves.
It wasn't just one. Two of them, one large and one small, appeared before us.