By Zephyria 
Not long after returning to the dormitories from the vacation trip, a new semester began at Merzel Academy.
The differences from the previous semester were that ‘the courses offered were slightly different from the first semester’ and that ‘those who had obtained a Class Certification of 8th Class or higher could go on missions outside the academy, and the number of missions they went on could be substituted for attendance days.’
In other words, if you worked hard on missions, you wouldn’t have to attend as many classes.
Of course, not everyone could receive requests just because they wanted to.
Among the numerous requests that came in each month, the number of requests that White Class could handle was limited, and those who had just obtained their certification rarely received designated requests. Most people usually built up their track record by occasionally handling requests distributed by the school.
…This is Polargehen’s explanation.
However, as a result, it became irrelevant to me. The expectations and trust placed on a ‘genius’ who had been recognized for his exceptional abilities in the White Class Certification exam and had obtained Red Class 5th Class were on a different level.
Yes, that’s my story.
Thanks to that, I received a designated request today as well, and I was outside the school instead of attending classes to solve it.
If there was one thing I was dissatisfied with… it was that Corso always followed me on my way. Since the requests often involved dealing with Fiends directly, Corso’s accompaniment was even more unavoidable.
If that was all, it would have been better.
There was one more companion on this mission. It was Ardian, who had also become Red Class 5th Class this time, like me. The Hunter Request Management Bureau had issued an order to act in pairs of two due to ‘the dangerous nature of this request.’
That’s because the content of this request was not just about exterminating Fiends that had attacked a village.
It was to investigate the overall ecology of Special Management Zone W-2941, which was designated as Hazard Level C.
Here, Special Management Zone refers to land that has been contaminated by the influence of Fiends that invaded this land en masse during the Niflheim War, resulting in barrenness or harsh environments. This contaminated land is teeming with unknown creatures that have been ‘Fiend-ized’ and are completely different from their original forms, which is why they want to investigate it.
It can be seen as a miniature version of Niflheim, but there is a big difference in the danger between Niflheim, a remote island where you have to be prepared to die once you enter, and the contaminated land that has sprung up here and there on the Empire’s land and is relatively easy to manage.
Therefore, unlike Niflheim, which only Black Class, especially the Nibelheim Special Dispatch Unit, can enter, anyone can enter the contaminated land with permission from the management bureau. Of course, only hunters with combat power are allowed to enter the contaminated land.
Anyway.
The request is said to be a bit too much for a Red Class hunter to handle. Red Class hunters with 5th to 4th Class status usually only take on D-rank Special Management Zones, which have the lowest hazard level.
However, the reason why the investigation of the C-rank Special Management Zone was entrusted to these newly certified individuals was that the number of Fiends that have been rampant recently has increased dramatically.
In short, they are short on manpower.
As a result, I am currently at the threshold of W-2941, a Hazard Level C Special Management Zone, with Ardian and Corso.
‘Why is that guy who said he was just going to scout around so late?’
Sitting at the entrance of W-2941, which looked barren and desolate, I looked beyond it and cursed Ardian inwardly. It felt like it had already been 20 minutes since the guy who said he would go in first to check around the entrance had left and not returned.
‘It’s not like he’s going to get beaten up somewhere.’
At that moment, I felt a presence approaching me with a clattering sound, so I glanced back. It was the skeleton I had temporarily taken out as a standby force, chattering its teeth and peering around.
His name is Sword.
He was the skeleton with the Netherworld Spirit that had won against Herman by wielding the weapon I had given him before. Now that I could summon the Netherworld Spirit I wanted separately, I had a shadow contract with my favorite individual, so I could store it in the shadows and take it out immediately without having to form a Magic Circle every time.
And there were two more that I had a shadow contract with besides this one.
One is a small but very agile skeleton named ‘Little,’ and the other is a very large and sturdy skeleton named ‘Big.’
I deliberately named them intuitively.
To make them easy to distinguish.
“What’s wrong?”
When I asked Sword, who was peering around, he stared at my hand with his empty eye sockets. It seemed he was curious because I was taking out Mana little by little and condensing it.
I stared at Sword for a moment, then turned my head back to what I was doing. It was ‘condensing my Mana to a high density.’ The Mana, which was condensed into a sphere, was receiving strong pressure, becoming as hard as a stone and slowly increasing in size.
“…It’s a gift for my benefactor.”
Because I haven’t repaid Newit yet.
It was a gift for him.
That was all the answer to Sword’s curiosity, but it seemed to be enough to satisfy him. He chattered his teeth in response.
“Ray.”
Just then, Ardian returned. I put the unfinished gift in my Hyperspace pocket for safekeeping and stood up. Ardian, who had come close, pressed his lips to my cheek. Even though Corso was standing next to me like a wooden statue without saying a word, he didn’t seem to care about his gaze at all.
But he restrained himself in front of the other kids, so I thought he was aware of public morality. I frowned and glared at him sullenly.
“Don’t bother me.”
“Just one kiss before we go in.”
Then, without my permission, he arbitrarily pressed his lips to mine. His actions of constantly pecking and groping were annoying, but I silently accepted the movement of his tongue, which tapped and asked me to open my lips.
Since the vacation trip a few days ago, he’s been rubbing his lips against mine whenever he gets the chance.
I still don’t know what he means by teaching me emotions, and it’s annoying that he keeps sticking to me, but when we actually do it, I feel good, so I’ve never really pushed him away, only telling him not to do it.
Is this okay?
I sometimes have that thought, but I haven’t come to a conclusion. And I’m aware that my ambiguous attitude is making Ardian more brazen, so I’m not really in a position to say anything.
But this time, because of the situation, I firmly pushed his chest with my elbow, as he buried his face in my neck and acted like a spoiled child.
“Stop it. Did you scout properly?”
Only then did Ardian stop clinging to me. He smiled with a sweet curve in his eyes and said.
“There was a road that had been paved from the entrance to the inside. It seems to be the road that the hunters who last came to investigate a few years ago made. I don’t know how far it goes, but I think we should follow that road first.”
“I see. I understand.”
I brushed past Ardian and took the lead. Sword, Ardian, and Corso followed behind me.
Not long after stepping into the land of W-2941, there was a straight road that seemed to have been artificially paved, just as Ardian had said. The area around the road was barren, and only small forests of dry trees were scattered here and there.
A little further inside, traces of buildings that had rotted and mostly disappeared began to be found. It seemed that people had lived here a long time ago.
“Is the influence of the Fiends… this great?”
When I muttered as I looked around, Ardian, who was walking next to me, answered.
“Many Ramble have special toxicity. The land that has been eroded by the fluid they shed shows various phenomena and becomes desolate. It is not often found in the Empire, but it is abundant in Niflheim, and they came over in large numbers during the Niflheim War and had a huge impact.”
I glanced at Ardian out of the corner of my eye.
“…You know a lot.”
Ardian just smiled as usual.
“Knowing history is one of the necessary virtues.”
There is nothing wrong with that logic. Especially since he is a prince of an empire. Therefore, I consciously suppressed the suspicion that had sprung up strangely. I had decided to trust him, so I didn’t want to do something that would seem like I was arbitrarily doubting him and going back on my word.
I was lost in thought when it happened.
One of the plants that had grown large even in the desolate, cracked land suddenly twitched and opened its large leaves wide, revealing sharp teeth. The moment I passed by it, it stretched out its stem like a rubber band, so I stopped in surprise and turned to look at it.
“……!”
Sword, who had come forward to protect me, grabbed the sword hanging from his waist. But before that, Corso, who had drawn his sword, slashed diagonally.
Whoosh!
The flash of the sword in an instant split the huge, gaping mouth of the plant in half. The unnamed plant, spitting saliva and staggering, was falling apart in two.