Practical Training (3)

The professors, excluding me, jumped in shock at the unexpected turn of events.

“Wait a second. Is that even right?”

“Something about their movements seems off.”

“The monsters we captured definitely weren’t this ferocious before, were they?”

Just as the professors said, the monsters had been surprisingly docile until the moment they went berserk. Of course, that didn’t mean they were actually tame, but there was no reason for them to suddenly rampage like this.

I looked at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the scene unfolding before my eyes and spoke first.

“We should move immediately.”

“?!”

The professors stared at me with wide, round eyes, completely dumbfounded.

'Yeah, no kidding.'

I felt the weight of it all over again thanks to Elric’s mess and continued speaking.

“Right now, our priority is rescuing the students instead of standing around. Even with the anklets on, variables can still appear.”

Elric, who had obtained the position of head professor through connections, essentially held the second-highest authority after the chairman. That was why the professors immediately began moving in a hurry at my command.

'Perfect.'

Jukchang-i threw in a jab while watching me stand there leisurely, unlike the other professors. Seeing this, even I had nothing to say if someone called me trash. But the truth was, I had my own role to play.

'Just wait. I have something I need to do too.'

I ignored Jukchang-i’s pouty snort and stared more closely at the screen. Soon, I spotted a monster that looked slightly more intelligent than the rest.

'That one should do.'

With that thought, I used Mind Reading on the high orc visible on the screen.

Then—

His thoughts flashed through my mind in an instant. However, because I had used it on the one shown on the screen, the transmission wasn’t very clear.

'Still, this should be enough.'

'Yeah.'

From reading that orc’s thoughts, it seemed there was a mastermind behind this. Otherwise, there would be no reason for it to think it had received an order.

'It’s obvious. It has to be a demon.'

In the previous timeline, I had been too busy just trying to survive to even consider this, but now that I thought about it, it made ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠no sense for the monsters to go berserk naturally. It wasn’t just one or two—nearly a hundred of them had suddenly rampaged all at once. How could that possibly be natural?

'It’s clearly artificial. No doubt about it.'

'What else? I’m going to go beat the crap out of that demon.'

I didn’t know which one had done this, but it looked like the righteous Jukchang needed some education.

'Then let’s go!'

I licked Jukchang-i and began moving.

At the same time.

While the students were panicking from the monsters’ rampage—

There was one student calmly purifying the rampaging monsters. And that student was none other than—

“Th-thank you, Saintess.”

“I’m only a candidate.”

It was Sena, the future Saintess. She answered with a benevolent smile. The student who had received her help stared at her in a daze for a moment.

Then, shortly after—

A kobold charged at her with a monstrous roar. Without hesitation, Sena unleashed her divine power toward it.

The next moment—

The kobold rolled across the ground, beginning to burn in golden flames. Sena struck it with her staff.

Blood sprayed from the kobold as its flesh was crushed. The sight of a Saintess candidate subduing a monster somehow felt more like animal abuse. Sena wiped the kobold’s blood from her face and spoke.

“Hoo. Anyway, we shouldn’t linger here. Hurry to the building where the professors are. There’s a barrier there, so it should be safe.”

“What about you, Saintess…?”

The student in front of her kept glancing at Sena nervously. It was the first time she had seen this student, so she didn’t know her name, but the expensive-looking accessories made it obvious she was a noble.

'Nobles are all the same, I suppose.'

The intention behind that question was painfully obvious. She clearly wanted someone to act as a shield.

'How wicked of a noble to think that way.'

When she thought about it, Professor Elric truly was righteous and cool. In the past, when she had only pretended to be fine on the outside while feeling nothing at all, the only one who had counseled her was none other than Elric.

Back then, everything around her had felt like shades of gray. She couldn’t feel emotions, pleasure, or even pain. She had simply carried out the orders of the Sun God’s church with mechanical determination.

And the one who had saved her from that was none other than Professor Elric. During every counseling session, he had spoken to her seriously about teaching her emotions. He had even said he would teach her about pleasure and pain.

'He punished this unworthy disciple with a green wooden rod.'

Just remembering the sensation of being struck by the bamboo spear made her face flush. At the same time, her breathing grew rough from excitement.

“Haa… haa…”

“Saintess?”

Had she become too immersed? The student was looking at her with a puzzled expression. Sena cleared her throat awkwardly.

“Ahem. Anyway, I have something else I must do.”

“Isn’t it dangerous for you too, Saintess?”

“I’m sorry, but I am a Saintess candidate. I cannot abandon people in danger just because I might be at risk.”

“Ah, I see…”

“Instead, I will cast a barrier for you.”

With those words, Sena unfolded a divine barrier around the student in front of her.

A barrier spread out around the student.

'As expected, the barrier is weaker than I thought because of the regression.'

It was only a mid-tier barrier at best, so that was only natural. Of course, if it had been her before the regression, even a mid-tier barrier would have been on a completely different level.

Sena felt a pang of regret inwardly and opened her mouth.

“Then please hurry and go before the duration ends.”

“Yes!”

With those final words, the student ran off. Sena shifted her gaze toward a distant building for a moment.

'Will Professor be okay?'

Unlike the previous timeline, his combat power had grown stronger, so there was probably no need to worry too much. The current professor should be able to take care of himself. Besides, he was inside the building, so he should be safe.

'I need to head straight to where the cause of this incident is.'

Since it had indirectly threatened the professor, she could never forgive it. She needed to find the mastermind behind this situation right now and kill them.

Having organized her thoughts, Sena began walking toward the demonic energy she could sense. A chilling killing intent radiated from her.

Meanwhile, at that same moment.

Jukchang-i was having the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠time of her life. Just how frustrated had she been to be this excited?

'It’s not like I wanted to do that either.'

If I didn’t, the heroines around me would get suspicious. With that thought, I swung Jukchang at the approaching goblin.

The next instant—

The goblin writhed in agony before foaming at the mouth and fainting.

'Seriously. Anyone watching would think it’s dead.'

'Well, probably.'

Having experienced unimaginable agony, dying might have been preferable. At least death would end the pain.

I stabbed the fainted goblin with Jukchang, killing it.

'As expected, Jukchang is fair to everyone. It pierces so well.'

While Jukchang-i and I bantered back and forth and slowly advanced, a familiar figure entered my sight.

The high orc I had seen on the screen earlier appeared. If it was here, that meant a demon was nearby. As I scanned the surroundings—

The high orc that had been designated as the boss of this practical training swung a crude kitchen knife at me.

Its speed was surprisingly fast for such a massive body. But that was all. There were far too many unnecessary movements in its attack. I simply lowered my head and dodged.

'Whoa, that was close.'

It was natural for Jukchang-i to be confused. If I had blocked it, the orc would have been writhing in pain from Jukchang’s curse. But—

'Just look at that huge body. There’s no way it would die from that.'

Exactly. Not only had my mana shrunk to a mere grain, but my physical abilities had weakened tremendously as well. So I had no choice but to dodge the attacks and counter.

I closed in right in front of its face and swung Jukchang.

The high orc took a direct hit to the face from the fair-to-all Jukchang. At the same time—

The high orc let out a sound like a pig being slaughtered and clutched its face. No matter who it was, everyone became equal before Jukchang.

'Even the dwarves who made it were puzzled.'

Agreeing with the author’s note, I struck ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠down with Jukchang once more.

The high orc was already begging for death after only two hits. It really had no grit whatsoever.

'If it were me, I would have endured much longer.'

'There’s no need to get hit on purpose!'

With that thought, I approached the high orc to grant its wish. Then, just as it desired—

I sent it to the afterlife without any further pain.

'Alright. Shall we go then?'

I walked past the high orc and continued forward. A short while later—

“Hmm? A human?”

Finally, the demon who was the culprit behind this incident appeared before me. Just like the Demon King, it had black horns on its forehead. Its appearance was otherwise indistinguishable from a human. The only real difference was the cowardly bat wings on its back.

As I observed the demon in front of me, it spoke.

“What? How did a human get through all those monsters to reach this place?”

The demon frowned, looking genuinely confused, and asked the question. I answered her question with one of my own.

“Rather, how did a demon manage to infiltrate this place?”

“Whatever, I don’t care about that. Let me hear your name, human.”

“Isn’t it common courtesy to introduce yourself before asking someone else’s name? Didn’t your boss teach you that?”

As I mentally made excuses for Jukchang-i’s words, the demon in front of me scowled fiercely and answered in a cold voice.

“Your way of speaking is unpleasant, but… well, it’s true, so if I were to give my name…”

“Shut up! I’m not interested! Taste the Jukchang your boss suffered!”

In an instant, I cut off the demon’s words and charged at her with Jukchang raised.

It felt like Jukchang-i had thrown in a jab at the same time, but I figured it was just my imagination.