The Academy Students Are Way Too Strong (2)
"Whew... I've got mine all put away. Kariel, you?"
"I'm done too. This is... hard to believe, but it looks like we've been hit by a terror attack."
An unprecedented crisis had brought the magic show to a dead stop, and Ishilla and Kariel first gathered in every spell they had already cast. Nothing was more dangerous than unfinished magic left to run wild.
The professors told the students that once their magic was secured, they were to take shelter somewhere safe. Most of them finished the work—and still couldn't bring themselves to take a single step.
"Has everyone else already evacuated? What about the headmaster?"
"The moment that strange noise hit, she flew off in that direction."
"The headmaster's taking this long? Ermia herself?"
"This... this is seriously dangerous, isn't it? We ought to just run..."
"We're fourth-year combat mages, for heaven's sake. Shouldn't we be able to help somehow?"
The students piled one remark on top of another, too busy trying to make sense of the situation to do anything else. Kariel and Ishilla slipped off to a corner and called out quietly.
"Arthur."
"Betz."
"Yes."
The instant their names left the girls' lips, the escort knights shot forward and dropped to one knee. Kariel addressed Arthur and Betz.
"Given the circumstances, I will give you an order as crown princess. I trust there are no objections?"
"Command us, Your Highness."
"Report what has happened, and why no outside reinforcements have arrived."
"The fountain in the central plaza exploded, and monsters poured out. According to the Shadows' report, similar disturbances have broken out all across the capital, and our forces have been scattered. We believe it to be a diversionary operation."
"Thoroughly... planned. And bold of them. They dare commit terror in the capital of the Aethernia Empire—and at the Academy, no less?"
At the report, Kariel ground her teeth. Her vivid crimson hair trembled faintly as searing mana wrapped the air around her.
When her fury showed no sign of cooling, Ishilla gently brushed a hand across her cheek. The chill of that hand—ice magic was Ishilla's specialty—snapped Kariel back to herself.
"Kariel, calm down."
"Hah... Sorry. Thank you, Ishilla. Betz... have we assessed the damage and the casualties?"
"The facilities in the central plaza are destroyed, and there are many injured. Fortunately, there are no deaths. There is, however, one further matter I must report."
"What is it?"
"Lady Ermia Belfast... was struck by an unknown spell. Her movements have been sealed."
"What? That's—insane..."
The news hit like a thunderbolt. Both Ishilla and Kariel went white with shock.
Ermia Belfast was the sort of person who could annihilate half the empire even if she turned the whole of it against her. Was sealing someone like that even conceivable?
The shock knocked the composure out of both of them for a moment, but a glance around brought it back.
"I can hardly believe the headmaster ended up like that... but this might be more manageable than it looks."
"You think so too, Ishilla?"
"I do. Which means they either poured an enormous amount of power into the seal, or they only managed it through some trick."
Once her thoughts reached that far, Kariel gave Betz his orders.
"Betz. Do you know where Lady Ermia was sealed?"
"Yes. In front of the fountain in the central plaza."
"Go. Confirm Lady Ermia's condition, and eliminate every monster."
"But I am charged with Your Highness's protection..."
"That is an order, Mervet Betz."
"...Understood."
Bearlike as he was, Kariel's escort obeyed. Ishilla turned to Arthur, still down on one knee.
"Sir Arthur, please follow Sir Betz and help retake the central plaza. I'll be fine."
"My lady. Should His Grace the Duke hear of this, I am as good as dead."
"If there's any trouble, I'll explain it to him myself."
"Even so, it will be far too dangerous. Are you truly certain?"
"I said I'm fine! Really."
Unlike Betz, whose loyalty ran like clockwork, Arthur answered back at every turn. It wasn't that he disliked obeying. He had spent so long at Ishilla's side that she was as good as family, and he was genuinely afraid for her. Ishilla knew it, which was why she didn't harden her tone.
Then a cry split the strange silence—a voice like nails dragged across iron, sharp and instinctively repulsive. Monsters were sprinting in from the direction of the central plaza.
"Smell of magic. Humans. Want to eat."
"Hey—hey, shit, look over there!!"
"Ghouls? Why do they look like that?"
"Does that matter right now?! Look how many are piled up behind them!"
Just as the student who spotted them first had said, it wasn't one or two ghouls. Nearly twenty ragged things came charging at the students, long claws dangling.
"Damn it, Betz! Deal with those first!"
"Yes."
"Arthur, you too—hurry!!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
From their corner, Ishilla and Kariel hurriedly sent the knights out. But before Arthur and Betz's charge could even close the distance, the order had already become useless.
A wet slash. Then another.
"What is this? They're weaker than the monsters from combat practice."
"Huh. For real?"
A burst, then a boom.
"Hey! They really are! How are they all dropping to a single Fireball?"
"Unbelievable. What made these things think they could charge us?"
Every student preparing the magic show was a mage-in-training who had already finished combat practice. More accustomed to fighting than their peers, they had begun casting the instant the ghouls appeared—and this was the result.
"Wrongwrongwrongwrong—"
"Humans. Strong. Still want to eat."
"Then eat my rock!"
A thunderous crash. The gap in power was like a grown man against a child. Wielding their own signature spells, the students tore the ghouls apart until there was nothing left of ghoul but scraps.
Ishilla and Kariel let out hollow laughs at the sight. So did Arthur and Betz.
"Ghouls aren't usually this weak...?"
"Their claws are as hard as swords. Quietly troublesome things—and yet, looking at them now, they are nothing but soft meat."
"F-for now, both of you proceed as ordered and retake the central plaza. Those things don't look like much of a threat to us."
"Understood."
The evidence was sprawled right in front of them. There was no refusing to believe it. Arthur and Betz ran for the central plaza without another word.
Flushed with confidence after crushing the ghouls, the students called out.
"The monsters that invaded our Academy—we'll put them down with our own hands!"
"Yeah! These filthy things stopped the magic show. Kill every last one of them!"
"Waaaaah!!!"
"Looks like... we can't sit this one out either, Ishilla."
"Mm. This might even be easier than the magic show."
Ishilla and Kariel traded a sharp little smile.
"I'll search as I head west."
"Then I'll take the east. Once we've checked everything, we meet in the center. Understood?"
"Mm. Don't go blasting fire everywhere and burn yourself. Know your limits. Hehe."
"Ha. And you—don't go giving the ghouls a chill they didn't ask for, you half-baked kitten."
"Eeeek!! Bet you who catches more! I'm not going easy on you!!"
Ishilla, who had started the teasing only to get needled worse, took off toward the west in a patter of light steps. Watching her go, Kariel let a small smile slip.
Life as a crown princess meant incidents never really stopped, terror attack or no. Somewhere along the way she had grown numb to danger—but this was not carelessness.
Me, Ishilla, the other students... we've all gotten far too strong.
These ghouls were clearly no rabble. Had they faced the students from combat-practice days, even killing a single one would have been a serious ordeal. They were high-grade monsters. And yet, for reasons she couldn't name, the students now were bursting these same ghouls apart with a single ordinary attack spell.
On top of that, she had already sent Betz and Arthur toward the central plaza, where the strongest enemy was sure to be. The empire's current strongest knight, and an Expert-rank knight besides—no matter how powerful the opposition, it felt like an excess of force.
In the end, Kariel was not being careless. The attack simply wasn't capable of threatening their safety. And if she wasted any more time, she was going to lose her bet with Ishilla.
So Kariel broke into a run toward the east as well.
A soft, wet puncture—the clean, unmistakable sound of something sharp sinking into soft skin.
I had my arms around Ailenna and my eyes squeezed shut, which only made my hearing sharper. It seemed the same for her, her view blocked because I was holding her. Her ears trembled weakly.
Maybe it was because I had braced for the blow. The pain still hadn't risen much.
Ailenna's blue eyes burned with a fierce, ominous rage. She clenched her teeth and drew up her mana. I had bought this opening with my own body. She couldn't afford to waste it.
If I die... so be it. At least I saved Ailenna.
That alone was enough that I could have raised a glass to myself.
"Um... excuse me?"
"Shut up... you monster! Jinwoo—how dare you touch Jinwoo...!"
"No, no. Elf sis, Master? Maybe save the affection for later..."
"Eh... huh?"
The world's most horrible scream was nowhere to be found. A familiar voice reached my ears instead. Ailenna and I froze mid-embrace, dumbfounded, and turned around.
"Master. You really ought to mind the time and place. A ghoul was about to jump you from behind. If I hadn't been here, it would have been a disaster."
"I-Ishilla? How are you here?"
"The students have all scattered to hunt down the monsters. I came here as one of them. You're not hurt, are you?"
I pawed frantically at my back and chest, checking for wounds. Fortunately, there wasn't so much as a scratch, or even a tear in my clothes. I was completely fine.
"Ki... eh. Ek."
"Ugh. Die."
A crunch. Right behind me, a ghoul lay collapsed with a massive spear of ice driven through its chest. When the thing groaned, Ishilla detonated the mana in the ice spear and finished it off.
Wasn't that... a little too easy? Wasn't this supposed to be serious enough that they'd stopped the magic show and evacuated everyone?
"Hic... hnn... Jinwoo, I'm so glad you're safe. I'm sorry..."
"Why are you crying? I didn't even get hurt. And what are you sorry for? It's fine."
If anyone ought to be sorry, it was me. If I'd just run when Ailenna told me to, none of this would have happened. I soothed her as she clung to me and cried, and asked Ishilla a question.
"If you're all out hunting monsters... how much of this has actually been cleaned up?"
"Well, taking the center as the starting point—from here through the west, we've cleared everything. The other directions are only a matter of time."
I had no idea where the guards had gone, or why the students were playing vigilante in their place. Still, if the outcome was good, that was good enough.
"Then... would it be all right if I didn't evacuate just yet, and checked on a few things? I'm worried about the shop staff..."
"Of course. Let's walk to the center together first."
That Ishilla agreed so readily told me the situation was being put out far faster than I'd expected.
"Hah! Hah!"
"Kuwaaaaaah!!!"
"Still not dead? How about this? Hm?"
"Ki. Kieeeeeek!!"
On the road toward the center, students prowled with eyes wide and sharp, hunting down the monsters scattered everywhere. Strangely enough, it was the monsters who were frozen with fear, hiding from the students.
They were all familiar faces—regulars at the stall. Some of them had even come for the chicken skewers, and seeing them unhurt put me oddly at ease. Well... they were all on our side, anyway. Good kids who'd come to save an ordinary person like me. That was fine, I supposed.
"Hoi!"
"No no no no no no—"
"If you meant to kill, you should have been ready to die. You little brat."
"Kieeeeeek!!!"
A clean slice. Watching them carve up a ghoul that monstrous with nothing more than a flick of the fingers...
Hmm. Were you always this strong?
I didn't know where Ermia had gone, but at this rate, maybe it really was fine to just leave it to the students. That was the thought that came to me.