Chapter 39: Monster Extermination Festival ①
I didn’t have much to do for the two days until the next shared beast-drawn cart, so I spent my time indulging in gourmet food and strolling around Razbel.
The townspeople were calm, and it was a good town.
Perhaps because the number of customers had drastically decreased due to the war, I was warmly welcomed wherever I went.
Yeah, becoming a soldier to protect this place wouldn’t be a bad idea.
Thinking such thoughts, I left Razbel two days later.
On the return trip, I ended up with Kyouko-chan again, and we spent the whole journey talking.
We got along quite well, and I even ended up promising to go to a dungeon with her.
And so, I returned to Oldam Hunter Maso Academy.
The very first thing I did was go to Raku, give him some magical power, and play with him.
He’s become a large dog, something unthinkable in my previous life, but he’s a docile and affectionate boy, so he’s not intimidating at all.
When I borrow the beast tack and ride him, Raku happily runs.
He’s still a bit bad at stopping.
No, sometimes he doesn’t want to stop because he still wants to go for a walk.
He’s such a cute fellow.
Well, I’m a bit worried about the exam, though.
After playing with Raku, I went to report the results to Hiroki and the others.
It seemed they were gathered in Ami’s room as usual, so I dropped by.
The conversation livened up as Hiroki envied my new, pitch-black coat, and Naomi got hooked on my stories about Razbel’s restaurants.
“Eh? You went all the way to Razbel and you couldn’t meet him…?”
When I immediately showed them the magic circle, Naomi and Hiroki, looking a bit apologetic, seriously started working on learning it, exchanging words while struggling.
“Yeah. It seems he wasn’t feeling well. But his response was normally kind. He said he’d pass on the message properly.”
It seemed like the Knights Commander acknowledged something too.
“Hmm. Isn’t that good? So, what are you going to do until graduation?”
“Well, I’ll go to the dungeon. If I’m going to become a soldier, I want to train as much as possible.”
“I see. If you were free, we wanted you to help us out, but…” Akito said with a wry smile.
It’s fine if it’s during the respawn interval for the Apes and dinosaurs.
I don’t intend to go to the Golem floor because it’s scary.
In that case, there’d be a considerable wait for respawns.
I also have my promise with Kyouko-chan, so maybe I should introduce her to these guys?
“What floor are you guys on now?”
“Right now, we’re finally on the fourteenth floor. Since Akito can heal, I think we could go a bit further, but…”
Hearing that, I reconsidered and thought it would be difficult to include Kyouko-chan.
She’s actually quite strong. She said she’d have no problem going up to around the eighteenth floor alone.
“I can’t do it every day, but every other day would be totally fine, you know?”
“Really? That’s a big help! Hiroki keeps wanting to push further ahead, but going into unknown territory is scary, you know.”
“Hey, the one who wants to go furthest ahead among us is Rui!”
“No doubt about that.”
No, I only go because I can.
Before I could retort, the topic changed.
“Speaking of which, Rui, are you participating in the Monster Extermination Festival?”
“This guy wasn’t here yesterday, so he probably hasn’t heard about it, right?”
Huh? What’s that…?
“I haven’t heard. What kind of festival is it?”
“Only Class A first-years can participate, and it’s apparently an event where you hunt monsters outside with active Hunters.”
Huh? No, you don’t encounter monsters outside that easily, do you?
Even the escorts said they only encounter them about once or twice on a round trip between Oldam and Razbel.
Do they appear if you stray from the main road? I voiced that question.
“Apparently, it’s their once-a-year active period. It used to be feared in the past, but for the last few years, there have been zero deaths, so it doesn’t seem that scary.”
“Hmm. Sounds interesting, maybe I’ll participate.”
“Oh! If Rui’s participating, I’ll join too! Let’s do it together!”
“Maybe I’ll join too. It seems that for this festival only, the school doesn’t take half the earnings.”
Ooh! That’s great.
That said, if the monsters appearing are below the thirtieth floor, I can’t expect much, huh?
“When is it?”
“Ah, it’s not decided for sure yet. This was from the day before yesterday, but the teacher said it would probably be in about three to five days.”
So, if it’s early, it could be tomorrow? That’s really soon.
“They should at least look into that much! Useless!”
Akito and Naomi looked at Hiroki dubiously. As if to say the teacher had nothing to do with it.
However, having learned the truth, I couldn’t blame him anymore.
That said, I couldn’t defend him in this situation either, so I changed the subject.
“By the way, do you know what kind of monsters will appear?”
“Yeah. Apparently, a large number of Goblins will appear.”
Ooh. Goblins, huh… My motivation instantly vanished.
Well, I already said I’d participate, so I guess I’ll just enjoy it as an event.
“Naomi and Ami, aren’t you participating?”
“I’ll pass. I want a break once in a while.”
“Not me either. Goblin meat isn’t edible.”
Those two are the same as ever.
Meanwhile, when I looked over at Hiroki, his magic circle was complete.
“Ah, Hiroki, that will probably activate it!”
“Seriously?! Let’s go outside, outside!!”
And so, we went outside for his first test firing of Fireball.
However, when he tried to cast it again, the form collapsed, and it ended with only a small flame erupting.
Even so, Hiroki jumped for joy, saying he’d surpassed Naomi.
“Rui, please help me out a little longer today…”
As expected, she must have been frustrated too, because that evening, I ended up being tied down for a long time.
Still, it seemed like mastering it would take a little longer, but in Naomi’s case, it couldn’t be helped.
After all, most of the time she’d spent trying to learn it so far had been while cooking.
Well, but it’s probably about the amount of time Yuri had anticipated.
She only practiced it when we met, and it wasn’t too much of a burden. So that’s good, that’s good.
“Hey!? I’m not done yet!?”
“I know, I know. You’re almost there, so let’s keep at it, okay?”
“O-okay. Please?”
And so, with the return report finished, we disbanded for the day.
I hesitated about whether to greet Riana-san and the others, but it was late, and I felt like I wouldn’t be welcome, so I decided not to go.
There’s an event coming up, so I’ll probably see them then.
Then, when I returned to my dorm room, those petals caught my eye.
I’d brought them back to the dorm thinking it would be a waste otherwise, but the petals that didn’t fit in the refrigerator had withered. I’ve asked Yuri, the magic tool girl, for an additional one, but there’s no way she can make that many by herself, so it’s become a waste.
Well, these will be used in those lower floors anyway, so it’s fine.
Without these, it’s seriously life-threatening down there.
I wonder what happened with those potions.
I hope they were well-received…
Roosevelt-san just said his piece and left, so I only managed to give him a hundred bottles. Is that amount not really much?
There must have been many injured people during the war.
While hoping for such things, I felt relieved to have returned safely and went to sleep.
The next morning, when I woke up and went outside, a crowd of people had gathered for some reason.
The dorm supervisor, who usually sits inside at the reception, was outside making an announcement.
I saw Akito and Hiroki and ran over to them.
“What’s going on?”
“Ah, you’re finally here. It seems to be about the Monster Extermination Festival.”
“Apparently, there’s an unusually large number this year. Students who can reach the tenth floor are apparently forced to participate.”
Huh? Isn’t that backward?
If they don’t have the capacity, they shouldn’t be sending out students, right?
Is that really okay?
I had such doubts, but there was no one here who could answer them.
Since it couldn’t be helped, I brought about thirty potions just in case.
My offensive magic tool set was still in my hand luggage, so I’ll take it as is.
After that, I followed the dorm supervisor’s instructions and was made to gather in front of the school gate.
Over a hundred students were gathered there, and there were tons of guys I’d never seen before.
Probably, all students from first to fourth year were gathered.
By the time I found Naomi and Ami and joined them, a teacher’s speech had already begun, so I listened quietly.
“As I believe you’ve all heard, the number of monsters is high this year. Excessively so. Therefore, it has been decided that the entire town will respond. All those with power are to participate. However, you are still Hunter fledglings and lack experience. Thus, your role will be to exterminate any monsters that slip past the main force, stationed at the very rear.”
Hearing the teacher’s words, the students’ expressions relaxed.
But I couldn’t smile at all.
Just how large-scale is it if the entire town’s forces might fail to contain mere Goblins?
And with a scale like that, even a small mistake could lead to an incredible number slipping through, right?
I hope nothing strange happens…
Just in case, I kept accumulating magical power during my trip, so including my backpack, I’m at full capacity.
I’ve converted the excess into Maso, so I have no worries about my magical power.
Hearing about the strength of the monsters, I’ll probably be fine even if something happens.
But I worry if the others will truly be okay.
Goblins don’t appear in the dungeon here, but I’ve heard they’re equivalent in difficulty to monsters from the tenth floor.
There are about four teachers leading us, but they probably aren’t that strong.
They’re only strong enough to be defeated by Yuri.
Huh… Thinking about it now, that’s a bit strange.
There’s no way combat instructors would only be as strong as someone who can handle the fifteenth floor.
Since they also have the role of keeping students in check, they can probably handle up to the 30th Floor, right?
Is Yuri actually much stronger…?
While I was pondering such things, the instructors began to lead us, and we exited the gate, walking outside.
After walking for about two hours, we stopped, and the creation of a simple encampment began.
Amidst all that, someone called out to me from behind.
“Ah, Rui-san! I finally found you. Being forced into a monster extermination right after returning is quite the misfortune, isn’t it?”
When I turned around, there was Kyouko-chan.
At the sight of a sudden unfamiliar face, Hiroki and the others looked over curiously.
“Yeah, same to you. Everyone, let me introduce you.
This is Kyouko-chan; I met her when I was heading to Razbel.
She’s a transfer student and a fellow member of our Class A.”
I added, “It’s not like I hit on her or anything,” but for some reason, Hiroki and Ami gave me lewd, smirking glances, going, “Heeeh.”
And then Naomi muttered as if spitting out the words, “You’re the worst.”
“Wait, wait, wait! That’s not it! Right?”
“Ahaha, I was the one who approached him.
I overheard him talking with his escort and gathered he was an academy student…”
“Oh, is that so?
I totally thought Rui-kun was a philanderer, especially since he has Yuri-chan, you know?”
“No, if they’re not dating, then Rui isn’t in the wrong either way, right?”
“No way. His character is flawed!”
Hey!
Stop arbitrarily making me out to be a bad guy!
“Oh, yeah. Kyouko-chan, why don’t you join our party for the Monster Extermination Festival?”
“Is that alright?”
“No, I mean, you’re strong, right? We’re the ones who should be asking you, if anything.”
Yeah. Setting aside anyone else, I really don’t want these guys to get seriously injured, so a strong person is more than welcome.
She mentioned she didn’t have anyone to party up with yet, so this should be a relief for her too.
“Then, I’ll take you up on that.”
Once it was decided she’d join us, she immediately hit it off with the friendly Ami, and through that, she also warmed up to Hiroki.
Naomi and Akito, too, perhaps because Kyouko-chan is a commoner, didn’t seem to feel any reserve around her.
If she joins Hiroki’s party like this, it’ll be a relief for me as well.
While we were chatting like that, the simple defensive wall had been completed.
As expected of a world where you can get stronger by subjugating monsters.
Even if it’s simple, it’s a sturdy, stone-built enclosure.
“Those who are injured will be safe if they flee here, but by no means should you push yourselves too hard.
Food will be rationed, but medical expenses are your own responsibility.”
Eh, medical treatment is self-pay, seriously?
Isn’t that harsh?
Well, complaining to the teacher won’t get me anywhere, though.
And so, this Monster Extermination Festival, fraught with such questions, was about to begin in a rather haphazard manner.