Chapter 48
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: For a Comfortable Future!
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The forest after sunset was far more eerie and damp than during the day.
-Grrr...
-Kieeeek!
"Uwaaaah! Get away! Don't come any closer!"
Grotesque cries from the demons echoed through the woods alongside the students' desperate screams, like a twisted roundelay.
Beyond the underbrush, one party was surrounded by a horde of ghouls, resisting for dear life.
A flash of magic lit up the area.
Of course, not everyone was getting crushed helplessly. Some groups were holding their own quite well against the demons.
But Dane and Yuria paid no attention to the commotion. Dragging their mud-caked bodies, they silently pressed toward the heart of the forest.
"Hoo... ugh... hoo..."
Yuria heaved ragged breaths as she irritably chucked an empty potion bottle aside.
"Tastes awful... Urk, my stomach's churning. They expect us to drink this crap?"
"Can't be helped if you need to refill your mana."
"But, Lady... you sure about this? That insane plan you mentioned earlier."
Anxiety flickered in Yuria's voice.
"I'm not even sure if your body can handle my full magic output. One slip, and you might lose more than an arm."
"Doesn't matter."
Dane didn't break stride. Her hand unconsciously clutched her side, still throbbing. The wound had already vanished, but the memory lingered.
"If I fail and end up half-crippled, Senior will patch me up. He said I've got cockroach-level vitality flowing through me."
"Wow, you've gotten ruthless. Is this really the same ghostly lady who used to haunt her bed?"
"People adapt to their environment."
Dane gave a wry smile. But her goal was unshakable. Once she wiped out all the catastrophes Kasian had mentioned, she'd return to her home estate and merge with her bed for three straight months.
Yeah, this is just a two-year overtime stint. Tough project, psycho boss, world goes to hell if it fails—that's all.
If she truly carried the hero's bloodline, she couldn't just sit idle. She hated dragging her body around, but she hated the world turning into a living hell even more.
For the sake of my comfy retirement, I'll burn today's body to ash.
"Get ready. We're almost there."
The trees were growing sparser. Far off, a massive shadow loomed in the darkness, its fierce blue eyes glowing ominously.
"Yuria, secure the distance."
"Got it, ready."
Instead of spreading out, the two lined up single file.
Dane in front, Yuria behind.
From within Belial's helmet, blue eyes flickered in puzzlement.
What are they planning?
The standard tactic was for the mage to hide behind the swordsman. But they were too close. No room to cast like that.
"Mana release."
Yuria murmured softly. Crimson mana rose from her body like heat haze.
A secret technique learned from Erendel: forcibly unlocking the body's limiters.
All or nothing—ten seconds of mana liberation.
Including the potions she'd force-fed herself moments ago, she wrung out every last drop of mana in her body.
She'd probably be bedridden for days after, but who cared.
Had she ever burned her mana this desperately just to incinerate someone?
"Pour it all out. Hold back, and we're dead."
"I know! Shut up and focus! You suggested this—if you miss, I'll kill you!"
Yuria aimed her staff not at the enemy, but at Dane's back. The tip glowed red-hot.
Only then did Belial catch on. The spell's targeting wasn't him.
No way...?
"Here we goooo!!!"
Dane bellowed. At the same moment, she focused her mana on her back and sword tip—a needle-like form compressed to the extreme, built solely to endure impact and pierce.
"Fire!!"
Kwaaaaang-!!!
[Gravity Magic: Gravity Excel]
[Flame Magic: Flare Cannon]
Gravity magic reduced the weight, while the flame explosion's recoil propelled her forward. The two forces combined into thrust that shoved one person—Dane's back—with everything they had.
Paaang-!
Dane's body rocketed out like a golden meteor.
"......?!"
Before Belial could react.
Too fast. Beyond what the eye could track. The surrounding air tore apart with a deafening boom.
A normal human would've shattered from the acceleration and magic the instant they launched. But Dane had the hero's blood Kasian vouched for.
Hold on! Hang in there, you lump of meat! Vacation after this!
Crack. Snap.
Her bones screamed. Fierce pain lanced her back. Her vision flashed white.
Dane bulged her bloodshot eyes and thrust her sword arm forward.
The black armor loomed closer in slow motion.
Belial instinctively raised his greatsword. Couldn't dodge. If he couldn't dodge, he had to block.
"Speed is mass, you tin can!!"
Kwaaaaaang!!!
The colossal boom shook the entire island.
The shockwave from the impact uprooted trees by the roots. Dust billowed up like a mushroom cloud.
"......"
Erendel, watching from the cliff above, gaped.
"Crazy bastards...."
"Whoa..."
Kasian propped his chin, watching with keen interest.
"Human cannon, huh? Using her own body as the projectile? Fresh idea. Desperation really sparks creativity."
"That's not creative, that's insane! She survived because it's a hero's body—any normal person would've been minced before impact! That's not tactics, that's suicide bombing!"
"It worked, though. Looked hard to block. Should've tried using Kyle like that for breaching gates in old sieges. Honestly, I considered it."
"Why didn't you?"
"Figured the saintess and you would kill me if you found out."
"........"
Erendel had no comeback. Yeah, if Kasian had told Kyle to play cannonball back then, she'd have booted him from the hero party and buried him.
"Anyway, let's see the results. Pass or fail."
The thick dust gradually settled, revealing a gruesome scene.
"Grk..."
Belial, who seemed immovable, had been shoved back considerably. His greatsword couldn't withstand the recoil and had snapped in half. And...
Right in the center of Belial's breastplate. A crack spiderwebbed across the once-impenetrable jet-black armor. A clear, effective hit.
"......No way."
He stared incredulously at Dane sprawled on the ground.
Dane was a wreck. Her sword naturally broken, her sword hand drenched in blood.
But she was smiling.
"See that... you tin can bastard...."
Dane raised a trembling middle finger.
"Landed... one hit, right?"
Thud.
Dane's head lolled limply. She'd passed out. From behind, Yuria collapsed, her mana fully depleted.
Silence fell over the battlefield. Belial set his shattered greatsword on the ground.
"It's over..."
Whoosh...
Belial's body dissolved into black smoke and scattered.
And so, Yuria and Dane survived the final exam.
======
After the exam, in the academy's office.
I lounged with legs crossed, flipping through documents.
[Final Exam Results Report]
"Hmm."
"The results are dismal."
Erendel, sipping tea beside me, clicked her tongue.
"Out of 200 examinees, 154 dropped out or failed midway. Survivors who endured or met the conditions... a measly 46."
Survival rate: 23%. A catastrophe for a normal exam, but by my standards, not bad.
"More held out than I expected. I figured around 20."
"Your bar's too low, isn't it?"
"In this cushy peaceful world, 46 didn't flee at the sight of demons and swung their swords to the end. We've netted all the prime cuts."
I circled the passers' names with a red pen.
"These 46—we'll shortlist and send to Elicia."
"To the Princess?"
"Tell her to recruit them into the knights first. We've purged the rotten upper crust, so refresh with these. Battle experience, guts—prime seeds."
"Should they be thrilled or horrified?"
"Family honor. Legendary hero party member vouching for them. Tell 'em my identity, and their jaws'll drop."
I closed the file.
"And... the top two scorers?"
"Infirmary. Day three of coma."
"Oho."
"You... see Yuria's condition? Beyond mana depletion—her mana circuits overheated, nearly caused full-body paralysis."
"......."
"Not just spamming spells. She compressed mana beyond limits and dumped it into one point. An academy student's body can't take that."
"She controlled it herself. Precision control's essential to reach that level anyway."
"Fair point."
"Then we're good. Breaking limits proves growth."
"You madman... If you were their dad, you'd be in jail for child abuse by now! No, the kids would've run away before we could report you!"
"Their dad?"
"I-it's just a figure of speech! Can't you get metaphors?"
Erendel flushed and huffed.
"Still impressive, right? They breached Belial. Just two students."
"Gotta admit that. Freakish talents."
I couldn't wipe the grin off my face. An absurd plan, and Yuria's firepower making it real. You can't teach that.
Instinct that blooms only on the precipice.
"Let's go. Three days—they should be stirring."
I stood.
"Gotta give 'em their graduation gift. Got some heartwarming news ready for when they wake."
"What news?"
"Deputy appointment letters."
"You'll get assassinated someday... I guarantee it."