The Earthworm Awakens
As the second day of the hunt dawned on Sunday, the number of Rhinos we had herded together had noticeably dwindled. The herding units spent most of their time tracking down scattered Rhinos in pairs or threes, which naturally left the cleanup units with far less work. With no more hordes charging in, even the anvil units joined the search. Limpid, with its flight capability, should have shone here, but Sabrina-senpai refused to give me any opportunity.
“The Rhinos are near the border now. Flying around might provoke the Taraen army.”
“You’re right.”
Currently, Taraen had stationed troops near the border after agreeing with Alitus that monsters like Rhinos might cross into their territory. Though Taraen was one of the Four Kingdoms Alliance, no one knew what would happen if they discovered Alitus’s independently developed flight module. Besides, since Black Fairy was the registered unit, its flight specs weren’t impressive anyway, so there was no need to show off.
Thus the day ended watching dust clouds from afar, and only after nightfall could we finally escape the forest where we had been left alone. The tense hours worrying that a monster might suddenly appear were over at last. Even if it was to avoid Enlow’s suspicion, I had become completely useless. I had only fired my gun three times in total. Hitting twice from long range was a decent haul, but that was all. Everyone else must have racked up double digits by now.
This, too, was intentional. Enlow simply didn’t want to see the CT Club in action. At times like this, Rendel needed to shine and flatten Enlow’s nose, yet Rendel’s condition seemed off. Until yesterday his lack of activity made sense since artillery was his main role, but even after that he showed little motivation. Even when Rhinos rampaged at distances he would normally dash in and slice apart, he often turned away if other cadets were nearby. Once he swung his sword yet failed to bring a Rhino down. The same man who used to carve through metal Aindiums like tofu.
Clearly something was wrong with his condition or mental state, so I opened a private channel without thinking.
“Senpai. Why did you let that one go just now?”
“Just… the others came here to earn money too.”
Oh no. Had he caught a case of the “good protagonist syndrome”? The viewers would riot if he kept this up. Reading forum posts criticizing Rendel left a heavy feeling in my chest. I tried urging him a few more times, but Rendel only hunted the bare minimum and let time pass. Why was he acting like this?
After Sunday’s hunt ended, I returned to camp, washed up, and stepped out to see Rendel leaving the base. Even at a time like this, he was still running diligently. I should use this chance to find Enlow and tell him to start tomorrow’s operation. We had to depart early Tuesday morning to return to the academy, so tomorrow was the only time left. Rendel’s state worried me, but I couldn’t just watch our goal slip away after coming this far.
*
“So you’re saying we’re catching that monster tomorrow?”
“Yes. If we take it down, we’ll gain tremendous fame. Ah, of course the safety of the residents matters more, but still.”
“Right. Safety is important.”
Enlow said that, yet he was clearly more interested in the former. In the original story, the giant monster had been too much for Alitus’s Aindiums alone, forcing them to request help from Taraen’s Aindiums and army. As a result, they secured only a small amount of Ellydium. Even so, Rendel’s reputation for facing the monster alone spread throughout the region, and the king personally awarded him, holding a grand ceremony at the academy. It was only natural, since they had eliminated a dangerous creature without casualties by cooperating with an ally.
Enlow, unaware of the monster’s true strength, eagerly accepted my proposal.
“Fine. We’ll move tomorrow afternoon. Keep a separate channel open. Just me and Grik might not be enough, so I’ll call in the others. Don’t you skip out either. And don’t call Rendel.”
“Understood.”
I nodded calmly while feeding him lies, putting Enlow at ease. The moment that monster appears, don’t you dare run. I’ll be calling Rendel right away.
After finishing the strategy meeting meant only to deceive the bait, I returned to find Rendel coming back to camp. I quickly approached and grabbed his arm. His expression when we faced each other near the deserted hangar wasn’t good.
“Senpai. Are you feeling unwell?”
“…Not really.”
So something was wrong somewhere.
“Nothing happened to you?”
“Huh? Me?”
“Yeah. That guy called Grik showed up too. From what I saw at the interview, it looked better to keep your distance from him.”
“Ah. He’s an acquaintance. He’s not a bad person.”
“Is that so?”
Rendel frowned slightly and stared at me.
“Senpai, if something’s wrong, please tell me.”
“…Got it.”
His answer came after a strange pause, but it was better than nothing. Time to change the mood.
“Oh, right. You still haven’t used the hammer, have you?”
“Uh, huh? Oh, yeah, I guess not.”
Rendel looked flustered, as if caught off guard by the unexpected question.
“Don’t tell me you forgot our bet?”
“No, it’s just…”
“What a shame. If you had used it without thinking, I would’ve won.”
“Haha. If I used something without thinking, it’d be the sword.”
Ah, he laughed. I didn’t know why, but maybe his mood had improved. If he stayed like this until tomorrow’s monster subjugation, that would be ideal.
**
Rendel swung his sword at the monster before him. The straight line he had practiced tens of thousands of times aimed for its vital point, yet it carried neither speed nor power worthy of him. In the end the Rhino’s hide was deeply cut, but it survived and fled, only to be brought down by concentrated fire from other cadets. Rendel, who would normally have pursued and finished it immediately, merely watched blankly.
“Haa…”
The diligent cadet who always approached both training and real combat seriously was nowhere to be seen. Only a teenager sighing heavily remained. And the source of those sighs spoke to him.
“Senpai. Why did you let that one go just now?”
Luna’s voice, gently scolding yet coaxing. Rendel was startled to find his heart almost softening for a moment. He took a deep breath, composed himself, and answered as if nothing were wrong.
“Just… the others came here to earn money too.”
Even to his own ears the excuse sounded unconvincing. He clicked his tongue softly.
After finishing their morning run on Saturday, Rendel had gone to fetch a towel and water for the exhausted Luna when he happened to overhear Enlow and Grik talking with her. It wasn’t intentional. He had simply worried that Luna, as a CT Club member, might get caught up in something troublesome while speaking with the student council guys. Yet their conversation had been unsettling. Something about him not being reliable, and Luna agreeing to help Enlow despite clearly disliking him as a fellow student council member.
Rendel doubted his ears but decided to assume Luna had her reasons and not make a big deal of it. Then the next day, during the strategy meeting, seeing Luna choose the forest as Enlow had suggested planted a small seed of doubt. Watching Luna openly drive prey toward the Vivald-class senior while only pressuring him made that doubt grow steadily. Yet whenever there was a break, Luna would still contact him privately to say he had worked hard. Rendel knew he should find such behavior disgusting, but he simply couldn’t.
Maybe she had her own circumstances. Or maybe she really didn’t trust him. With those thoughts filling his head, he reflexively swung his sword and caught a Rhino, which now lay scattered across the plains. After the Vivald-class had nearly exhausted its shells, Rendel alone had hunted as many as the rest of the unit combined. This should be enough, he thought.
But that night Luna met with Enlow and the arrogant first-year again. When she returned and ran into him, she spoke to him as casually as ever. The more Rendel talked with Luna, the colder his mind grew. She was definitely hiding something. He had been certain of it—until she said:
“Oh, right. You still haven’t used the hammer, have you?”
Rendel’s mind went blank. He had been wondering why she kept pushing a hammer that would only be a burden on him, yet Luna brought up something completely unexpected. Talking about their bet, she looked utterly pure and delighted. Had he misunderstood something? Confusion slowly filled Rendel’s head.
**
The final day of the subjugation. At last the target they had worked so hard to prepare for over several days was about to appear. I had been holed up in the forest since morning, eaten a light lunch, and kept a close watch on Enlow and Grik’s movements. The Rhinos were nearly wiped out. The ones that escaped wouldn’t dare attack the residents now.
“We should be able to withdraw this afternoon. The reward distribution will take place after the final exams. It’s a bit early, but well done, everyone.”
“““Thank you for your hard work!”””
The instructor declared the Rhino hunt over and assigned guard duty until late afternoon just in case. Now was the perfect time to lure out the monster.
“Enlow-senpai. Grik. It’s time.”
“Good. Give me the coordinates.”
“Yes. The coordinates are—”
While flying around discreetly, I had detected signs of something enormous moving in the forest. The coordinates I gave Enlow were near a cliff where something could easily hide, not far from those traces. I recalled the moment the creature had appeared in the original story. Enlow, growing impatient with Rendel’s continued success, chased a Rhino into the forest and accidentally awakened the monster. The problem was that Enlow had entered from the direction near the border, and since he hadn’t expected the monster to appear, he panicked and fled, dragging it toward Taraen’s border. To prevent international friction, Rendel threw himself into the fight and bought time. Meanwhile, Alitus and Taraen confirmed there was no malice between them and launched a joint attack that felled the monster, after which Rendel, who had performed exceptionally, received part of its corpse.
To obtain the monster’s corpse intact, what I needed to do was adjust Enlow’s actions. The infiltration would be toward Alitus’s interior, not the border. And instead of accidentally encountering the monster, we would deliberately go to awaken it. With just those two changes, the story’s progression would shift dramatically. Just like right now.
“W-what the hell is that?!”
Less than ten minutes after entering the forest, Grik’s panicked voice crackled over the comms.
“Can the three of us even take that thing?!”
Enlow, clearly terrified, turned his unit around. Who had said the three of us could handle it? I had only told them a monster was there.
Kraaa—!!!
Behind the two fleeing student council pilots rose a long, massive monster over a hundred meters in length. Its body looked as though it were clad in steel. The creature officially named “Earthworm” had finally revealed itself.