1-Second Invincible Player in the Game - Chapter 50

1-Second Invincible Player In The Game 50

50. Magical Department Students (1)

We only have a few joint classes for theoretical subjects.

Most are taken separately by each dormitory.

For herb collection, it was a subject exclusive to the Schlafe Manor’s magical department.

And among those Schlafe guys…

“Hmph, after ripping everything off from us, this is where you end up?”

The Lethe friends who had devotedly gifted coins were scattered about.

I just stared at the indifferent floor.

Because I felt a sting for not living up to expectations.

“Damn it, how shameful. Despite all the help you guys provided…”

Expressing regret, Rendel, still swollen, gritted his teeth.

Fortunately, it seemed he had carefully preserved and reimplanted the teeth that had been knocked out.

“Don’t make me laugh! Who, ouch!”

Looks like the toothache remained.

“Ugh… You better brace yourself, Hershel! I’ll show you hell throughout our academy life!!”

“This is already hell, Rendel. After spending a day here, even you should have a feel for what it’s like, right?”

“…”

Seemingly at a loss for words, Rendel scanned the members of Lethe behind him.

As I glared back, those still sporting bruises on their faces shrank back, hurriedly avoiding eye contact.

They all seemed cautious, having been through something, but Rendel, daring to be defiant on his own, felt impressively bold in a way.

“Tch.”

Watching the guy leading his pack away, I smacked my lips.

It’s not an exam or class, so I can’t rip off their harvest like during the coin days.

“Um, over there…”

“Hmm?”

“If you’re done talking, maybe we should start too.”

I looked at the girl who had become my partner.

She kept her distance as if frightened.

Her name was…

I definitely heard it, but it’s slipping my mind.

“What was your name again?”

“Cl, Clave Don Gravel.”

Ah, it was Clave.

Truth be told, her face was familiar, but names tend to slip away easily.

Well, it’s probably because of her timid nature that she lacked presence.

Even being an acquaintance of a playable character from the Schulafe Department of Magic, that’s saying something.

“Hey, everyone else is moving now, you know?”

I looked at the man with his hair tied in a ponytail.

The man scanned Clave and me with a wary gaze.

“Yeah, we should start moving too.”

First-year Schulafe students weren’t completely hopeless like the second and third years.

The condition for the third exam was to be within the top 70 teams, so it was just a matter of not having proven their abilities yet.

About one-fifth are expected to go to the Burger Department next semester, but this man is set to rise directly to the Adel Department.

If this woman is that guy’s friend, then I need to make a good impression.

“You’re quite pretty, aren’t you?”

The expression seems too vague to say for sure.

“……”

Clave flinched and stepped back.

Was that a compliment, or something a brash person would say…

“Ahem, no. It’s nothing. Follow me. I have a rough idea where the Merilly roots are.”

As I took out the prepared rope, Clave’s complexion turned pale.

* * *

Rendel frowned as he looked at the three people.

“Are you that scared of him?”

They are pitifully pathetic.

If they were treated that badly, they should think of revenge.

“Rendel, you were unconscious then, remember? You didn’t see how cruel that guy is…”

One of them clenched his legs.

The other two hadn’t even been hit by him.

“Ugh, just thinking about that barbarian still makes me shiver.”

“Rendel, if you had seen the helmet getting crushed at that moment, you’d never want to get involved with those guys again, right?”

Rendel spat out in disbelief.

‘Foolish guys. Just dealing with that b*stard would make me an officer.’

There were ranks among the Lethe members.

When I explained to the first-class officers what Hersel had done, they gave permission to deal with it and even a firm promise to promote to the officer ranks if I succeeded.

They knew the truth as well.

“Have you already forgotten the perks of becoming an executive? You can build connections with the royal family! Do you have any idea how significant that is?”

All nobles harbored a longing for the royal court.

Even if one were to be cast out from their family, having those connections guaranteed success.

And Lethe made it possible.

“If you don’t like it, leave. I’ll handle him myself if I have to.”

Rendel followed the snow footprints left by Hersel with angry strides.

The others, unable to resist the temptation, stealthily followed behind.

* * *

The tip of my nose stung in the frosty wind.

As I exhaled, I neared the area abundant with Merrily roots.

‘Hersel, that woman has been aiming her staff at your back since earlier.’

‘I’ve noticed.’

True to the mountain, cliffs lay everywhere.

I stopped at the edge of a precipice, a fall waiting to happen.

“We’ve arrived.”

I took out a rope and observed Clave’s complexion.

As she attempted to draw a spell with a pale face, I furrowed my brow.

“So, you were planning to do this here after all… The roots were a lie, weren’t they?”

“Stop your nonsense and keep watch.”

Leaving the deluded Clave behind, I hammered a large nail with a ring into the ground.

After thoroughly stomping on it to ensure it was secure, I threw the rope over the cliff.

Below was a fairly spacious area, the entrance to a cave.

Thud.

I gripped the rope and descended the cliff.

Acrophobia was a thing of the past for me, having fallen off cliffs twice before.

Almost sliding down, I looked towards the cave, expected to be full of Merrily roots.

At that moment, Clave’s scream erupted from above.

“Wait, what are you trying to do now… aaahh!”

Clave was scattering tears as she fell.

As I was about to hit the ground, I swiftly cast a weight-reduction spell from my gloves.

In an instant, Clave’s body became as light as a feather, and I wrapped her gently in my arms.

“I told you to be prepared, Hersel.”

Looking up, I saw Rendel, arrogantly jutting out his chin.

The crowd following him murmured, seemingly not in on the agreement.

“Re, Rendel… It’s one thing with Hersel, but what if you mess with that girl too?”

“Scared? It’ll be treated as an accident, no worries.”

Rendel, the scoundrel, proudly ignited a flame at the tip of his wand and brought it close to the rope.

I drew my wand, annoyed by every move of his detestable face.

Oh, magic.

Please, grant me the power to drag this man to hell.

After using the weight-reduction spell, my mana was nearly depleted.

But thanks to my specialty in magic, I could still activate the spell with little mana, weakly pulling at Rendel’s ankle.

The man on the icy path slipped and fell.

“Whoops!”

Rendel began to slide down the cliff as if on a slide.

In the midst of it all, he grabbed the rope, and the flame at the end of his wand…

Whoosh!

“aaagh!”

Halfway down, Rendel screamed, clutching the rope as if it were a lifebuoy.

The rope, singed by the flame, couldn’t bear his weight and snapped!

Thud!

I approached the man buried in the snow.

Rendel lifted his head, seemingly not too injured.

Then, with a grave expression, he said,

“I have one request as a prisoner.”

A prisoner, huh.

He’s foolish in his actions but seems aware of his predicament.

“Shall I listen?”

“…Just don’t hit my face.”

“That’s easy.”

I trampled on Rendel again and again, and gave him a good knock on the head.

As the beating became rampant, he curled up like a mouse and began to sob.

Feeling utterly refreshed, I shouted to the ones above.

“If you want to save Rendel, bring me a rope now!”

“Is, isn’t he already dead?”

“Ugh… he, he’s still alive.”

“···Alright, I got it. I’ll bring it right away.”

Well then, shall I go gather some roots while they’re coming.

“Clave, this way. Help out since you’re here.”

“Huh? Oh… Ah, okay.”

Clave, seemingly more terrified, began to follow with slow steps.

Upon entering the cave, the sound of a beast snoring reached us.

From noble mtl dot come

Purr-r-r-rumble.

A giant white-furred fox was hibernating.

I stopped Clave, who was aiming at the fox with his staff.

“Clave, there’s no need to provoke it unnecessarily.”

“But, just in case…”

“It won’t wake up even if you’re loud. Just don’t touch it.”

Whether there was a sound of footsteps or not, we walked comfortably, and Clave, seemingly reassured, exhaled and followed.

The deeper we dug into the cave, the darker it became.

Just as I was about to take out the prepared torch from my bag, Clave swung his staff, and I felt sheepish.

Whoosh-

The size of the flame was no joke…

“Huh? It really exists? The bud that the professor showed us. It looked like this, right?”

Clave’s eyes lit up at the sight of a single sky-blue flower.

To be this happy over something so trivial.

“Bring the fire a little closer.”

Perhaps a bit of the wariness had faded.

The hesitation had significantly decreased.

After taking five steps, Clave’s mouth fell open in astonishment.

“Wow… Could it be, this is everything?”

“That’s right, it’s the Merrily flowers.”

Flowers hidden here and there.

All together, there must be at least fifteen blossoms.

Considering the bounty was a hundred coins, these are worth fifteen hundred coins.

The worst one will be sacrificed for credits, and another will be given to Clave as a reward for his labor.

“You just light up the surroundings there.”

“Uh, okay…”

He carefully packed the diligently dug-up roots into the gathering bag.

Just as he was about to collect everything and leave, a static noise filled the cave.

Crackle-crackle─

Looking towards the entrance, my mouth opened wide without realizing it.

Rendel was crawling on the ground, a staff clenched in his mouth.

Wrapped around his belly was a rope, its origin unknown.

‘That guy… his persistence is remarkable.’

‘…That Rendel is as stubborn as you are.’

As if drawn by a drunken spell, the electric orb crashed into an unintended target.

But perhaps the static had traveled along the ground, for the sleeping giant fox awoke.

“It’s awake! What do we do now…”

While Clave stomped his feet in panic, Rendel smirked mischievously.

“Giggle, I’ll explain to the professor that you were done in by a magical beast. Farewell, then.”

As if being pulled up by someone above, Rendel’s body began to rise.

I didn’t miss the timing and picked up a stone from inside the cave to throw.

Thwack!

“Hurry and pull… Urgh!”

It hit him right in the crotch.

Rendel was hoisted up like a lifeless body, completely disappearing from view.

‘You rascal…’

‘It was a mistake, a mistake.’

And what about that yawning fox?

The creature that seemed only drowsy sniffed around, then scrunched up its face and growled.

That bipedal beast, three meters tall, is no mere punching bag like Lethe, but a true monster.

To me, who had only ever had others deal with monsters, it was quite a nerve-wracking situation.

“Hmm.”

With a hopeful glance, I peeked at Clave.

“What should we do…”

I could only sit on the ground, on the verge of tears.

…Don’t expect anything.

I have no choice but to try something with my magic.

* * *

The servants swept the garden paths.

I watched the season fade away, consoling myself during the lonely times.

The lady of the house set down her teacup on the saucer with a clink, having sipped it on the terrace.

“It feels somewhat empty without it.”

At the lady’s words, Aol revealed his upper teeth with a slight smile in response.

“The absence feels more significant now that they’re gone.”

“I wonder if they’re doing well…”

“Erusel is a child taught by Sir Coulro. Hersel, well, even if isolated, will manage on his own.”

The lady of the house smiled faintly.

“That’s true. There’s nothing more dangerous there than a mythical beast.”

Aol blinked slowly, reassured by the lady’s seemingly calm demeanor.

“So, as Mirsel wishes-“

“I’ve told you, they’re still too young.”

The lady’s response was icy cold.

“…”

Seeing no sign of compromise, Aol rose from his seat and left the terrace.

Mirsel, who had been clinging to the wall, waiting for the outcome, shone with anticipation.

As Aol shook his head, Mirsel’s face fell with disappointment.

Then, the lady’s voice startlingly pierced the air.

“Mirsell? How many times do I have to tell you, it’s still too early to go to the academy,” his mother said.

Aol patted the gloomy Mirsell on the back.