The next day. It was the second day of classes at the academy.
“This is today’s class location.”
Several facilities at the academy were created by combining the powers of the Ivory Tower and the dwarves, and the artificial ruins were one of them.
As the name suggests, they were artificially created ruins where, if mana was injected, traps and golems that substitute monsters would automatically restore themselves.
“I think everyone knows well where this place is. It can be said to be one of the academy’s prides. It will be where you gather most of your practical experience before seeing the actual thing.”
Half of the guys are listening to my explanation, half are not.
I memorized their faces.
I’ll have to give them assignments later.
“Since everyone will know well how to conquer the ruins, let’s skip the lecture on basic strategies. Now. Then, before we start conquering the ruins in earnest, we need to create parties…”
This was also the first time we moved together with the main characters in the game.
Then, following that, I should put together Alicia’s party.
“If I tell you to group with close friends, it might be too harsh, so I’ll group you first for the first time. Alicia. Ludwig, Lumina, Lipa. You guys are group 1. And next is…”
Some were satisfied, while others had dissatisfied expressions when I grouped the teams.
But what can you do? It’s the law that when the instructor tells you to, the students have no choice but to do it.
“I will go in with you this time and help if there are any problems, so don’t worry too much. Also, it doesn’t count towards your score, so you don’t have to mind it too much.”
“Instructor! I have a question! From when can we go to the ruins by ourselves?”
“You can go to the artificial ruins by yourselves from the moment you can conquer the ruins without my help. And if the rank of conquering the artificial ruins becomes B or higher, you can start conquering ruins from then on.”
In terms of the main story, they start conquering ruins on their own after clearing the boss in chapter one.
It’s very unfortunate, but I can’t participate then.
But that doesn’t mean I can play around either.
Because I also have things to do in my own way.
I turned my gaze to Alicia and the leftovers in group 1.
When they, who received my gaze, were preparing to enter the ruins, a student raised his hand.
“Instructor, you have to keep going into the ruins. Will you be okay?”
“You’re worrying about me. Impressive. Alright. Here’s a praise sticker.”
“Ooooh!! But where do I put this?”
“If you collect ten, I’ll grant you a wish. Anyway, you don’t have to worry about me. The instructors at the academy aren’t that weak.”
If I get tired just from entering a few artificial ruins, not even real ones, I can’t even dream of the true ending.
After that guy, more and more students looked at me with worried gazes or encouraged me, saying things like “Hang in there.”
These guys have obvious intentions.
“Then let’s have group one enter first. The rest wait and read the ruins conquest guide. There will be a penalty for those below the average score on the pop quiz after class.”
“What happens if you accumulate penalty points?”
“Repeat the year.”
“……”
Repeating the year must be scary too.
Everyone glumly started reading the guide right away.
Watching them, I turned my gaze to Alicia’s party.
“Then let’s go in.”
The conquest of the artificial ruins could be seen as a tutorial in the main story.
Originally, it taught players the controls and combat tactics, but since it has become reality, there won’t be such lenient things.
“Does someone know the basics of conquering ruins?”
“To conquer traps, someone who has mastered professional trap-disarming methods should take the lead. However, heavily armored warriors or those with shields should be in the second row in preparation for monster attacks. In the third row, mages or those who can attack from a distance to support them should stand, and in the fourth row, those who can provide healing and large-scale support should be placed.”
Lumina raised her hand and answered. It’s the correct answer.
“Now. Then what should we do now?”
The fighter Alicia, the swordsman Ludwig, the mage Lumina, and the arcane engineer Lipa. It’s a slightly different composition from the basic party members.
So the three pondered, and Alicia raised her hand with a bright smile.
“We should deal with the traps through the mage’s magic or long-range attacks!”
“Discovering the traps?”
“We can use the fighter’s detection… Or those with good intuition can take the lead, right?”
“Correct. Here’s a praise sticker.”
“Yay~!”
Alicia, who preciously put the praise sticker she received from me in her pocket, jumped up and down happily.
Ludwig, who was looking at her enviously, asked Alicia.
“What wish will you make if you collect ten?”
“Hmm… Secret!”
“I’m jealous…”
“…Hey, shouldn’t we get going soon?”
Yeah. It’s not like we’re on a picnic.
As Alicia said earlier, she took the lead.
It was about ten minutes after she took the lead,
With a thud, a golem revealed itself.
The first monster of the tutorial, a golem.
It’s called a golem, but it’s made of mud, so it won’t be that difficult to deal with.
“I don’t think I need to particularly mention combat, right? Fight well on your own.”
“Yap!!”
“Hup!!”
“Fire Arrow!!”
“Fire Arrow!!”
Alicia and Ludwig, who quickly took the front, attacked the golem, and Lumina and Lipa, who could use magic, used magic to support the two.
Although it was their first time doing a combined attack, perhaps because everyone knew the basics, the golem couldn’t last long and collapsed.
“Hmph. This much is nothing.”
No, if you pose like that after beating that…
Watching Ludwig put away his sword while running his hand through his hair, Alicia slightly puffed out her cheeks.
“Teacher! Doesn’t it seem too weak?!”
“Don’t worry. As we progress, the numbers will increase a bit more. Let’s move on to the next.”
They made progress bit by bit, even disarming traps on the way.
Next time, the number of enemies will increase a bit more.
Thinking so, it was when we were walking.
– Rumble rumble!!
A sound like the ruins collapsing was heard.
At the same time, what appeared, breaking through the wall, was a monster baring saw-like teeth.
It was a Giant Rock Worm.
A greedy monster that eats rocks and swallows everything inside has appeared here.
Uh… This isn’t supposed to happen in the main story.
“A, a Giant Rock Worm!”
Lumina’s voice was filled with fear.
That’s understandable because the Giant Rock Worm is infamous to the point where it’s no exaggeration to say that if you encounter it in ruins, that party is annihilated first.
So it’s natural to be terrified after suddenly encountering such a thing.
“Stay back.”
I drew my sword and rushed at it.
And with one slash, when the rock-like hard shell broke, and the inner flesh was exposed, I thrust my fist in and activated magic.
“Lightning Spear.”
– Bzzt bzzt!!
The Giant Rock Worm, engulfed in the lightning that burst from inside its flesh, twitched and then went limp.
It fainted.
Then it’s right to finish it off here.
I approached the Giant Rock Worm’s head and used Moonlight Flash to cut off its head.
“Although there was a slight accident, there were no particular problems, so let’s just move on.”
According to the academy instructor guidelines, if a problem that can be solved with the instructor’s power occurs during class, the instructor can determine whether to continue the class at their discretion.
The Giant Rock Worm can be sufficiently dealt with at my level, and there don’t seem to be any particular problems next time, so I decided to continue the class.
“Yes! Teacher!”
Alicia maintained her unique brightness, but the other three didn’t.
“…Hey, a slight accident?”
“It’s a Giant Rock Worm?!”
“Ahhh…”
Alicia seemed fine with continuing, but the three seemed to want to return.
I spoke to them as kindly as possible.
“Oh. Are you scared?”
“W-who’s scared!!”
“This is nothing?!”
“…Huaang… I can keep going…”
It was magic that works everywhere after all.
The three, who instantly regained their energy, started to work hard.
Like that, they continued conquering the ruins, and afterward, they reached the reward room without any particular problems.
“I can give an overall evaluation of A.”
There were no particular problems other than very minor accidents.
Then, it’s natural to give an A.
***
“What would be important to that person?”
Ludwig, who was reading the guidebook, muttered without being able to erase the glumness.
Lumina also sighed at him, who said that while watching Lee Hyun enter the ruins with other team members.
“He was like that before too. He said catching the monster that appeared in the kingdom was no big deal.”
“He said something similar after fighting the great demon too.”
“I guess everyone knows Instructor.”
Except for Lipa, the three had all met Lee Hyun in the past.
The three raised their heads, looked at each other, and nodded slightly.
“Why did such an amazing person come to the academy as an instructor? Isn’t he someone who can be in a high position wherever he goes?”
“That’s definitely true. My father said he could even give Instructor Lee Hyun one of the positions of the Five Elements Generals…”
“My father also said he would give him the position of prime minister.”
But he refused both.
Of course, the position of academy instructor is honorable, but it’s not as much as the positions of the empire’s Five Elements General and the kingdom’s prime minister.
So Alicia thought to herself.
‘…Is it true? Those words…’
The words that he came to the academy to see her.
Those words kept lingering in Alicia’s mind.
Alicia went to the cafeteria to rest after class ended and met Lee Hyun, who was reading documents alone again, like yesterday.
Thinking it would be a waste to just pass by, Alicia ran over and sat in front of Lee Hyun.
“Teacher! Are you alone again?”
“You came?”
A gentle smile.
It was the same as the smile she had seen before.
Alicia, who smiled back at Lee Hyun’s smile, showed interest in the documents Lee Hyun was looking at. She had cookies and a strawberry drink she had ordered in front of her.
“What is it?”
“It’s nothing much. Just one of the instructor’s duties.”
“To Teacher, everything in the world seems to be no big deal. Catching a great demon is no big deal. Subjugating monsters is no big deal. Catching a Giant Rock Worm is also no big deal. What’s important to Teacher?”
“What’s important to me… Well, it would be you doing well in your academy life, right?”
“…There you go again. Seriously~. Teacher. People other than me will misunderstand if you keep saying things like that. So, from now on, it’s forbidden to say it to anyone other than me. Got it?”
Alicia, who poked Lee Hyun’s hand with her finger, smiled brightly.
But behind that smile, Alicia’s white cheeks were softly flushed like a peach.
.
.
.
The academy principal’s face turned pale upon seeing the letter.
“…N-no, why is the Saint of the Sword coming to the academy…”
It was because he heard the news of a visit from an absurd VIP.