Chapter 17: Mandragora Hunt (1)
A single notice hung on the bulletin board.
[Notice]
[Roten Village Mandragora Hunt Team List]
[This list was created through random selection.]
“Don’t bullshit me!”
Checking the list, Evan picked up a stone and threw it at the board.
His extreme reaction was due to the members of his assigned group.
[Group 9: Evan Lafard / Jack Reed / Jaina Vaberin]
Jaina was in his group.
Too coincidental to be random, he was certain of foul play.
“It’s a scam. A blatant scam. Random, my ass.”
“Young Master, calm down. At least I’m in your group.”
“Those cheating bastards, it’s rigged!”
Evan looked ready to tear down the notice and storm the Head Instructor’s office.
“Calm down for now!”
Jack physically restrained him.
“Rigged or not, shouldn’t we check the test details first? Passing the test is what matters.”
The notice Jack pointed to wasn’t just a list.
More importantly, the evaluation details were written at the top.
[End-of-Month Evaluation — Mandragora Hunt]
[A test to hunt mandragoras in the forest near Roten Village. Use your weapons to catch as many as possible within the given time.]
[Caution 1: Must stay in groups of three. If caught separating, the entire group gets zero points.]
[Caution 2: Use the signal scroll immediately in any dangerous situation.]
[Caution 3: Do not leave the designated control zone.]
The notice detailed the test and precautions, Ending with the schedule to head to Roten Village the following week.
But Evan was too worked up to register this.
“Despicable Academy scum. Succumbing to power. Jack, should we bribe someone too?”
“The list is already out. Changing it now would cause bigger problems.”
“Then let’s take out Jaina. If we break something so she can’t take the test…”
“Wouldn’t that get us expelled?”
“Damn it! Shit!”
While Evan denied reality, Jaina, who’d seen the list, approached.
Having manipulated the list via an assistant, she feigned innocence.
“What a coincidence! Let’s do well, Evan, Jack.”
“…”
“Yes, please take care of us, Lady.”
Unlike the polite Jack, Evan neither spoke nor looked at her.
“Can’t you hear me?”
“…”
Evan didn’t realize.
The more he ignored her, the more Jaina’s interest grew.
“Evan? You don’t hate me, do you?”
“It’s not that. Just a hassle.”
“It’s a test, so let’s focus on that. Though, if we have time, we might talk personally.”
“Sigh…”
While talking, someone called Jaina from afar.
“Oh, I gotta go. Let’s talk properly about the test later. Bye.”
“Take care, Lady.”
As she left, Evan finally spoke.
“I’ve got a great idea.”
“What?”
“We’re going into the forest for the test, right? No one’s around.”
“Yeah.”
“Then we knock her out. That’s fine, right? It’s an accident during the test.”
“Oh~”
“And if you carry her unconscious, there’s no issue, right?”
“Oh…”
Caught in their scheme, Jack vaguely felt he might be the biggest victim.
***
The rural village of Roten, far south of the Academy.
This idyllic village, Usually quiet, was bustling with villagers gathered in the square.
“Come on, Lansed folks are coming, so we need to prepare. Everyone, lend a hand.”
Led by Elder Holman, the villagers prepared a welcome.
The welcome was for Lansed Academy personnel coming to hunt the village’s troublesome mandragoras.
This time, unlike usual, it wasn’t just assistants.
Cadets were coming, so they prepared with extra care.
“These kids are coming to help us. We should feed them well and make their stay comfortable.”
Though small, Roten was prosperous.
Thanks to a single specialty: the fruit called Tand from the Nakoa tree.
Unlike typical fruits, only those fallen from the branch held true value.
Known as the divine fruit, it boasted heavenly sweetness, the king of fruits.
The finest were tributed to the royal family, so precious were they.
The Nakoa trees, bearing this fruit, thrived in the forests around Roten.
Thus, villagers harvested them, living prosperously every year.
A rural village, yet richer than many Kingdom cities.
“Don’t think it’s a waste. Our livelihood depends on the Academy’s help.”
But Nakoa Tand wasn’t coveted by humans alone.
Mandragoras, called living plants, Settled under Nakoa trees, feeding on fallen fruits.
This reduced harvest yields if left unchecked.
Catching mandragoras was useless and tricky due to their speed.
So the Academy sent assistants annually to cull them, like pruning.
In return, some harvested Nakoa was sent to the Academy, forming a mutually beneficial relationship.
“But Father, why are they having cadets do this instead?”
“Hey! Call me Elder outside. Well, a close assistant said they’re replacing the end-of-month evaluation with this.”
Due to years of close ties, the Elder was well-informed about Academy matters.
“Evaluation? Isn’t it dangerous for kids to enter that forest?”
“Kids? They’re better than our village youths. And assistants and instructors will guard the area, so what’s to worry about?”
“Oh, they’re guarding the forest. Fair enough.”
“Besides, compared to the western forest, this one only has those pesky things, right?”
“Just checking, Father… Elder.”
“Just do our part and prepare. Stop chatting and help your friends.”
The Elder ordered his son to help and shouted to everyone in the square.
“Come on! Young men, center around my son Oliver to carry heavy stuff like tables. Women, prep the ingredients. Wait, where’s Gain again?”
Looking for someone, a woman cautiously stepped forward.
“Yes, Elder. He’s probably at the port, drinking again.”
“Haha, when will that Gain ever grow up?”
“Should I send someone?”
“No need. If we had someone for that, they’d be better helping here. Gain would just slack off anyway. Don’t mind him.”
“Understood.”
The Elder clicked his tongue, noting the absence of Gain, the village loafer.
“Sigh, when will he mature? Useless guy.”
A deserter during a critical time was annoying.
But on the flip side, it was just one person.
And a useless one at that, so the Elder didn’t dwell on it.
“I need to prepare to greet the guests.”
With everyone, including the Elder, busy, no one paid attention to Gain.
Not knowing he wasn’t at the port drinking, Nor luring an innocent girl into the forest.
***
While festival preparations were in full swing,
The blond youth Gain crawled through the forest, drenched in blood, using one arm.
“Ugh… Please, save me…”
His legs were grotesquely twisted, bones exposed, and his right arm was gone below the shoulder, gushing blood.
With such severe injuries, the ground he crawled over was soaked with blood.
“Save me… Please…”
Even on the verge of death, Gain crawled desperately.
With blurring vision, unsure of the village’s direction, he moved with a fierce will to survive.
“Ugh…”
But perhaps due to excessive blood loss, He soon dropped his head.
“…”
Gain was dead.
A quiet silence enveloped the forest.
Rumble!
The silence was brief as roots burst from the ground with a tremor.
The thick roots crushed Gain’s head.
Crunch!
The impact pulverized his head.
Blood-soaked roots rose, and a massive entity emerged from the earth.
“Human…”
It was a mandragora.
Specifically, an adult mandragora, called an Alraune.
Mandragoras typically lived about a year.
Most were hunted by humans, animals, or other monsters, shortening their lifespan.
But without interference, they could live centuries.
This adult had survived by chance and passivity.
“Human…”
Harboring resentment toward humans who slaughtered its kin, The Alraune endured and endured underground.
Living over a century, it fed on its kin’s deaths, becoming a monster.
“Human… I’ll kill…”
It had killed Gain, who wandered into the forest, by luring him with Nakoa trees deep into the woods and attacking mercilessly.
It consumed and digested the now-dead Gain.
Gurgle, gurgle.
The Alraune’s body twitched, enveloping the corpse.
Like a snake digesting prey, it stilled, Then burrowed back into the earth.
Crackle!
The Alraune dug deep and vanished.
All that remained was blood-soaked soil and torn cloth scraps.
This ferocious Alraune was recorded in the Kingdom’s classification as follows:
[Alraune: Adult Mandragora]
[Danger Level: 5]
[A level 5 threat, rarely seen. If encountered, immediate retreat is advised. To hunt it, at least two aura-level knights or a fire-based mage are required.]