Chapter 28
Pop! Pop! Pop!
Here were two students getting mercilessly beaten by the weakest beginner hunting ground beast, the Spirit Sprout.
Sigrin and Bilharan.
Eee, eee!
Seeing the humans they’d always feared trembling and taking hits, the emboldened Spirit Sprouts rubbed their leaves together, making a triumphant noise.
‘I’ve got to land at least one hit…!’
Holding her stinging left cheek, Sigrin drew a dagger from her violin case.
But even trying to close the distance was tricky, as the Sprouts threw water droplet projectiles.
‘There’s a moment after the projectile attack when they generate a new droplet! I’ll rush in then!’
Sigrin offered her right cheek to the Sprout and immediately closed the gap.
Whoosh!
Too nervous, she swung at the wrong spot. Trying to swing again, the Sprout shot another high-pressure droplet, forcing her back.
“Aaaagh!”
Hit by another droplet, Sigrin fled.
“Loser.”
Bilha, watching blankly, made a highly insulting remark, but Sigrin had no time to care.
‘You dirty thing! I’ll use a projectile too!’
Sigrin pulled a light pistol from her violin case, hastily loaded it, and pulled the trigger.
Click, bang!
Shooting while running, Sigrin couldn’t handle the recoil and dropped the weapon.
Rolling noisily on the ground was a bonus.
‘Oh, right, there’s a cliff in this direction!’
Her body was flung down a steep downhill slope, practically a cliff.
Sigrin tumbled down the slope with a clatter.
The sky was the ground, and the ground was the sky. Her head spun.
Blood dripping from her nose, Sigrin wiped it with her sleeve.
She looked far too battered to be someone fighting Spirit Sprouts.
A head popped up from the cliff’s edge.
“Legendary loser.”
“…”
Bilha, confirming Sigrin’s survival, commented.
His voice carried pure admiration.
“Bilha, instead of just watching, could you help this weak, pitiful legendary loser?”
Clicking her tongue, Sigrin pulled an expensive high-grade healing potion from her weapon case and drank it.
“…”
Nodding, Bilha leaped down from the cliff and sat near the pitifully sprawled Sigrin.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
Thanks to the Spirit Sprouts that followed Bilha down, Sigrin was once again trapped under their attacks.
“…If you could kill them, I’d be grateful.”
Nod.
Lowering his mask, Bilha grabbed the Spirit Sprouts, holding them all in one hand.
Then… he stuffed the bundle of Sprouts into his mouth.
Eee! Eeee!
The Sprouts screamed pitifully in Bilha’s mouth, but he devoured them like a sprout salad.
“…Tasty?”
“…”
Taste?
He hadn’t really thought about it.
Crossing his arms, Bilha pondered what they tasted like.
When he finished evaluating the taste…
Uweeeek!
✦ ✦ ✦
“Ugh… ugh…”
“You shouldn’t put just anything in your mouth. It’s dirty, dirty.”
“Eh… ugh…”
“And you need to submit beast corpses to the Credit Exchange to get credits, so don’t eat them next time, just kill them. If you give me the corpses, I’ll dissect them properly to get higher credits. Are you listening?”
“Ugh…”
“I know it’s a bit shameless, but I need to fill my kill count… If I process the items well, can I take the last hit? Maybe about ten beasts for now.”
“Ugh… urp.”
“Goodness, you’re in awful shape… Oh! Now that I think about it, I read in the cheat sheets that Spirit Sprouts are toxic. Oh no…! Did you do it on purpose…!”
“…?”
Bilha leaned toward Sigrin, tilting his head.
“Don’t throw up on my head, please. And I’m weak, so leaning on me is a bit heavy.”
“…”
“Would it be a nuisance if I helped you here?”
Since he didn’t seem to understand, Sigrin spoke again.
“Help?”
Sigrin met Bilha’s eyes and smiled warmly.
“Huh?”
“…”
Bilha instinctively looked away. It felt like eating butter sprinkled with breadcrumbs.
“…Later.”
“Okay, got it. But please don’t lean on me. It’s a heavy weight for a loser.”
“Okay.”
Straightening her back, Sigrin checked her Kill Count Watch.
She felt uneasy, having strayed far from her original position.
[Current Location: Cardia Intermediate Hunting Grounds - Spirit Sapling Territory]
Kyaaaah! How far did I roll??
“…?”
“Bilha, we need to get out of here fast. I can’t believe I rolled into the intermediate hunting grounds.”
While Spirit Sprouts were small beasts below the knee, Spirit Saplings were far more threatening, reaching Sigrin’s height.
Spirit Sprouts could be defeated by strong civilians, but intermediate beasts were beyond them.
Spirit Saplings extended their branches to bind opponents, then attacked relentlessly. A civilian with low agility, once caught, would die instantly.
Having recovered with the potion, Sigrin rolled up her sleeves and tried climbing the cliff wall.
Tremble, tremble.
…No chance.
“Maybe, could you carry me up this rock cliff?”
“Dunno. Get on.”
Bilha tried climbing the cliff with Sigrin on his back.
Shake, shake, shake.
Bilha’s limbs trembled violently.
“Get off now!”
“Ehhh…”
‘Right, he can’t freely use his Core, so right now, he’s close to a civilian.’
Sigrin slid off Bilha’s back.
Damn it, we’ll have to circle around this terrifying intermediate hunting ground.
✦ ✦ ✦
‘I thought that princess would follow me around, taking the last hits on the beasts I hunted.’
Luca stuffed nearly dead Wisps into a bag and shook it.
Wisps were spirits created by evil gods that turned into magical beasts, only visible when they glowed while inhaling.
They approached people invisibly, then suddenly appeared, attacking with sharp blades on their hands, making them tricky to attack or defend against.
The seemingly empty, bulging plastic bag glowed as the Wisps inside lit up with each shake.
‘I’m oddly disappointed she’s not mooching off me.’
For some reason, Sigrin seemed to be hiding her strength.
That’s probably why she suggested hunting separately.
She likely wanted to move freely away from prying eyes.
‘She’s not in the Pebble Golem territory either. Did she go to the intermediate hunting grounds?’
Intermediate hunting grounds were only accessible to second- and third-year high school students, accompanied by professors or guild members.
A place where carelessness could cost your life.
Even Luca stuck strictly to beginner areas in the northern Lemaos hunting grounds.
Once, he ventured into an intermediate area alone and faced an intermediate beast.
No matter how hard he attacked, it barely took damage, and it was despairing. Even wrapping his weapon in ki only scratched it.
It was a lone beast, and he managed to kill it by luck, but he never wanted to go back until he’d learned and grown more.
Well, actually, I kind of want to go back. Intermediate beast corpses fetch a really good price.
‘Maybe I should’ve insisted on sticking together.’
Pushing aside his childish desire to earn money, Luca grew worried about Sigrin.
I don’t know how strong she is, but overestimating her strength and recklessly diving into danger could lead to serious injury.
Recklessness invites trouble, Princess.
Thwack!
Luca cleanly dispatched the Pebble Golem he was fighting.
[First freshman to defeat a Pebble Golem! +10 bonus credits awarded.]
[Panoplia High School Semester 1 (1/3) - Cardia Beginner Hunting Grounds]
[Luca Drümuel [N/A Affiliation]]
[Current Location: Cardia Beginner Hunting Grounds - Pebble Golem Territory]
[First Task: Spirit Sprout [1], Wisp [15], Pebble Golem [1]]
[Bonus Points: First Wisp Slayer (+5), First Pebble Golem Slayer (+10)]
[Submitted Credits: 15/500]
‘The Pebble Golem was tough, kept reviving even after being smashed. I get why it’s called the crown of the beginner hunting grounds.’
Stuffing the Pebble Golem corpse into his subspace bag, Luca checked his progress on the Kill Count Watch.
Not bad. But it felt a bit unsatisfying to wrap up and leave.
While catching his breath, a red-haired female student ran up, sweating coldly.
Sigrin’s other lackey, Apple Sitimtri.
“Hey, hey! Drümuel! Do you know where Miss went? I checked the Spirit Sprout territory, but she’s not there… By now, she’d usually be asking me to carry her heavy bag or hand over beast corpses…”
“If she’s not there, maybe she went through the Spirit Sprout territory to the intermediate hunting grounds?”
“Intermediate??”
Apple’s eyes widened, and Luca ruffled his hair before turning.
“W-Wait! Where are you going?”
“To find Sigrin. I know she’s good at hiding her presence, but I’m a bit worried.”
Something felt off.
For some reason, he kept picturing Sigrin struggling during the fitness test.
“Don’t ignore me!! Where are you going to find Miss…?”
“I only know it’s roughly the back path of the Spirit Sprout territory.”
“You…! You’re going to the intermediate hunting grounds!!! You can’t go there! You’ll get in trouble!!”
“I’ll get in trouble, so what.”
“You’ll die!!”
“I’ll die, so what.”
“You’ll be torn to shreds!! Painfully!! Fully conscious!!”
“Just the first verse.”
Apple trembled, pale with fear.
I know Miss is strong, but hearing she went to the intermediate hunting grounds made me worry.
Truthfully, I’d been searching for Sigrin nonstop because I was worried.
Since she often acted weak, sometimes it really felt like she was.
“If she’s in the intermediate hunting grounds and Sigrin’s not there, what then?”
Apple shivered, following Luca from a distance.