"No... I can't do this anymore...!"
"Help... I don't want to die..."
Two girls fled across the open plains. Both were third-year students in the Knight Department and participants in the Monster Hunting Festival.
They had ventured into the festival as part of a group of five close friends, but a sudden attack by a powerful monster had scattered them. Now, separated from their companions, they ran for their lives.
"We never should have entered this festival..." one of them whimpered, her voice trembling with tears as they sprinted hand-in-hand.
They were dear friends, but their decision to join the event had been nothing more than a whim. Both were already betrothed, set to marry into their respective fiancés' families immediately after graduation. Since they weren't pursuing careers in the Knight Order or any other military profession, they had no need for the accolades or recognition a good showing at the festival would provide.
As third-years nearing the end of their time at the Academy, they had only entered because they wanted to make one last memory with their friends.
The price of that complacency was now being paid in full. They were currently in the middle of a desperate flight, pushing themselves to the limit as they scrambled toward the Plain Entrance.
"I hate this, I really hate this... How did everything go so wrong?"
"Where's Nia? And York? Or Jean? What happened to everyone else?"
They cried out the names of their missing friends even as they forced their heavy, leaden legs to move, but they were in no position to worry about others.
A wolf emerged from a patch of tall grass nearby.
"Gaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
The two girls let out piercing shrieks.
The creature was a scaled wolf. Among the denizens of the plains, it was a mid-tier threat—neither exceptionally strong nor particularly weak. Under normal circumstances, the two of them could have fended it off without much trouble. However, they were utterly exhausted from running, and they had long since dropped their weapons.
To the wolf, they were nothing more than defenseless prey.
"Gaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
The wolf kicked off the ground and pounced.
Just as it lunged, a massive shadow threw itself between the girls and the beast.
"Hrah!"
"Gyan!"
A Power Boost-enhanced strike roared through the air as a greatsword swung. The dull-colored blade carved through the wolf, scales and all, shearing the creature in half.
"Huff... huff... You two. Are you hurt?"
"Professor Oddman!" they cried out in unison.
The man who had intervened was Beick Oddman, an instructor in the Knight Department. A large-framed former knight, he taught Swordsmanship and was notorious within the Academy as a middle-aged teacher who despised mages with a passion.
"Can you stand? I'll get you to the edge of the plains. Just hang in there a little longer."
"Professor...!"
Tears welled in their eyes, overcome by the relief of their rescue.
To be perfectly honest, neither of them had ever liked Oddman. He was unrefined, overbearing, and obsessed with lecturing students about "guts" and "willpower." On top of that, he was a lecherous man who constantly ogled the girls' bodies. While he somehow maintained a decent level of support among the boys, the female students generally detested him.
"Professor, thank you so much!"
"You saved us!"
However, when their lives were on the line, their perspective shifted. Feeling ashamed of their previous disdain, the two girls looked up at Oddman with newfound respect.
(The girls are looking at me with such intensity... This feels incredible!)
Meanwhile, Oddman was fighting a losing battle to keep his face from breaking into a lewd, slovenly grin. He was vaguely aware that the female students didn't think highly of him, but having them look at him with such admiration was intoxicating.
(T-Those misty eyes... They're definitely falling for me! There’s a real chance one of them might ask me to 'hold them as a graduation memory'!)
Beick Oddman was forty-one and single. He had once been a member of the Knight Order, but he had been discharged following a series of troubles with women—specifically, for stalking a female colleague. He had been rehired at the Academy solely because of his prowess with a blade, but his personality remained as warped as ever.
Incidentally, his hatred for mages was rooted in the fact that the boyfriend of the woman he had stalked was a Court Mage.
(I don't know why the monsters are rampaging, but I can't let a golden opportunity like this go to waste! I'll use this crisis to show everyone what a magnificent, sturdy man I am!)
Despite the fact that students were being attacked all across the plains, his thoughts were utterly inappropriate. The fact that his mind was filled with such tawdry fantasies in the face of disaster suggested that he was, in a sense, a man of terrifyingly singular focus.
"Alright... you two, stay close. Follow me!"
Oddman huffed, gripping his sword as he prepared to lead the way. However, a pack of wolves suddenly burst from the surrounding brush, encircling them.
"What!?"
"Kyaa!"
Oddman’s eyes went wide as the two girls clung to each other in terror. The wolves were the same species as before, but there were nearly ten of them.
"This is... not good," Oddman grunted.
Taking them down wouldn't be a problem on its own. He was an instructor, after all; he was confident he could win without taking a single hit. But doing so while protecting two defenseless girls was another matter entirely.
(This is bad... I finally managed to impress them. It won't mean a thing if I let them die here!)
"Grrrrrrr..."
Faced with the low growls of the pack, Oddman began to sweat from the pressure.
(I have to do something... At worst, I'll have to sacrifice one of them so I can save the other...)
He cast a subtle glance at the girls, trying to decide which one to save based on her looks. But before he could make his decision, salvation arrived from elsewhere.
"Earth Thorn."
"Gau!?"
Sharp spikes of earth suddenly erupted from the ground, impaling one of the wolves. That single strike triggered a chain reaction as spikes burst forth in rapid succession, exterminating the entire pack in an instant.
"This..."
"Are you all right, Professor Oddman?"
"You!?"
Oddman gasped as he recognized the boy's face.
The one who had arrived at staggering speed was a student from his own Swordsmanship class—Rest, a first-year from the Magic Department. Oddman remembered him clearly because he had defeated the Second Rank of the Knight Department's first-year class, Danila Betras, during their very first session.
"What are you doing here!?"
"I'm currently on duty for the Student Council Executive Committee. More importantly... you must retreat to the Plain Entrance immediately!"
"What? I don't take orders from—"
"It seems something incredibly dangerous has begun to move... Tell Management they need to evacuate the students all the way back to the Royal Capital!"
Rest didn't even wait for a response. He took off again at an incredible velocity, leaving only a blur behind. Even to Oddman’s trained eyes, the boy's speed was almost impossible to track.
"Dangerous, he says... What is that brat talking about...?"
"He wiped out those wolves in a heartbeat... He's so dreamy..."
"Such refined power. It was magnificent..."
"Wha—!?"
Oddman's voice cracked. The two girls he had been protecting were now staring in the direction Rest had vanished, their eyes filled with genuine adoration.
Until moments ago, that envy and respect had been directed at Oddman. But by annihilating the pack in a single move, Rest had completely stolen their hearts.
"I knew it... I absolutely hate mages!"
Oddman gnashed his teeth, his fists trembling with bitter resentment.