Chapter 129
“With this, I think we’re done cleaning up.”
Torono pulled his sword out from the monster’s corpse.
A short, unpleasant scraping sound rang out, and the fallen monster immediately turned into black ash that scattered away.
As the ash drifted in the wind, the smell of burning seeped into the air.
Elined lightly scanned the surroundings before taking the first step forward.
“Let’s head north.”
We had already dealt with a considerable number of monsters.
Now, the only ones left would be to the north.
Catching our breath for a moment, we followed Elined, taking positions around her as if guarding her.
Each time our feet stepped on broken branches, the rustling echoed through the forest.
The wind blowing in the distance somehow sounded duller than usual.
As we walked for a while, Torono furrowed his brows.
“……Don’t you smell that?”
The acrid stench of burning that had been faint earlier gradually stung our noses.
With every gust of wind, the smell grew stronger, and the air at our feet felt subtly warm.
Elined halted her steps.
Torono moved to the front, narrowing his eyes as he looked ahead.
“Tch, so they’re still left.”
Fwoooosh―.
At the edge of our sight, orange flames curled between the trees.
“A monster using fire in the forest, huh… this’ll be troublesome, Lady Elined.”
Crackle―! Crackle―!
The bark of the trees burst with the heat, sending flames climbing higher into the sky.
Elined and the others each drew their weapons and advanced toward the fire.
As they watched the source of the flames, Torono, who was leading the way, blinked.
“……Wait. Isn’t that a person, not a monster?”
A shadow inside the fire.
Through the flames, the figure of a human appeared.
A man engulfed entirely in fire.
“……That’s that spiky-haired bastard!”
Kunking, the one who had taken an overwhelming first place in the Comprehensive Exam.
The last person we wanted to run into.
He was walking slowly, his whole body wrapped in fire.
“What the hell are you doing? Burning down the forest like this! Put it out right now!”
Torono shouted as he moved closer.
KWA-KA-BOOOOM―!
A deafening explosion erupted.
The shockwave gouged into the ground, scattering dirt and ash in every direction.
Using the blast as propulsion, Kunking shot toward Torono in the blink of an eye.
“……Whoa!?”
CLAAAANG―!
Torono’s sword collided with Kunking’s flaming fist, unleashing a thunderous crash.
“Urgh!”
The impact sent Torono staggering back several steps.
His arm trembled slightly.
“……You, you tried to kill me? For real?”
Torono could clearly feel it.
That attack carried unmistakable ‘killing intent.’
“You idiot, don’t you know the protective wards are gone now? Didn’t you hear the professors say not to fight? Be careful, damn it—at this rate, you’ll get us killed!”
Torono shouted, but Kunking only flared up with even stronger flames as if he hadn’t heard a thing.
“L-Lady Elined? That guy… something’s seriously wrong with him….”
Torono’s voice shook slightly in shock.
“…I knew it. Typical Hetarion bastard—filthy through and through.”
“Burning down the forest… he’s probably trying to stage it as some accident scene. To do something this horrific….”
“We might not even be the first. Other cadets could’ve already been attacked.”
“That lunatic…”
The group seethed with hostility, backing Torono’s words.
At that moment, Kunking raised his arm.
RUMMMMBLE―!
It looked like an explosion was about to erupt from his arm.
He was ready to strike again.
“……H-he’s coming!”
Torono braced his sword again as Kunking kicked off the ground and launched himself forward.
FWOOOSH―!
Kunking, blazing like a living fire, brushed past Torono.
……It wasn’t a failed attack.
He wasn’t aiming at Torono.
Realizing it, Torono spun around and shouted.
“Dodge, Lady Elined!”
At the same moment, Elined swiftly moved her arm.
CLAAANG―!
A flaming fist came crashing down on her like lightning.
She blocked it with her sabre, but a scorch mark remained on her cheek.
“L-Lady Elined, your beautiful face—scarred…!”
“It’s nothing. Don’t make a fuss.”
Elined pushed Kunking’s fist away with her sabre, retreating as she glared at him.
……Getting close to him was far too dangerous now.
The fireman in front of them was fire itself.
Even if they all attacked at once, in this state, their entire team would just be roasted alive.
They needed more people.
“Let’s retreat for now.”
It was a swift decision.
Just then, Kunking suddenly clutched his temple and let out a guttural scream instead of pressing the attack.
The flames wavered for a moment and weakened.
They couldn’t waste the opening.
Without looking back, Elined and the others threw themselves in the opposite direction.
Branches whipped against them as they ran, the stench of burning stabbing into their lungs.
Even while moving, Elined raised her hand to her ear, trying to connect with Field Overseer Lahan.
But… for some reason, communication kept failing.
Only static filled the signal.
“We can’t reach the overseer.”
Elined frowned, and Torono cursed between ragged breaths.
“Damn it, what the hell is the overseer even doing….”
“There’s no choice.”
Elined steadied her breathing and gave quick orders.
“Use mana communication to call for support from other cadets. To bring him down, we’ll need more people.”
“Understood.”
Torono and the others nodded.
“Kunking himself is the problem, but the fire clinging to his body is just as dangerous.”
Elined glanced back.
Her eyes fixed beyond the burning forest.
“If we don’t stop him now… it’s only a matter of time before this island becomes a sea of fire.”
After a long moment of deliberation, she spoke firmly.
“…If we don’t kill him, everyone here will die.”
A massive wildfire that started in the north of the island was rapidly spreading.
[The entire northern region of the island is engulfed in flames. All cadets must evacuate to the southern safe zone. Do not approach the fire under any circumstances. Repeating, all cadets must evacuate…]
The fire consumed everything, trees and grass alike.
The smoke around the flames clouded vision and choked the breath.
Within that fire, a cadet was crawling along the ground.
An injured leg kept him from standing.
“Ah… p-please, someone save me…!”
He desperately cried out to the shadow looming over him, but it was useless.
The shadow—no, Kunking—stood right before the cadet.
As Kunking slowly raised his arm toward him—
“Aaaahhh!”
A sudden gust of wind swept through.
Ash and sparks scattered in a whirlwind, filling the air.
In that instant, the cadet vanished from Kunking’s sight.
……And some distance away from Kunking, a brown-haired cadet, Ren, was standing.
At his feet lay the unconscious cadet who had fainted.
“Kunking, I’m disappointed.”
Ren caught his breath calmly, then spoke in a low, resolute voice.
“What were you trying to do… to a fellow cadet?”
With that cold gaze, I stared straight at Kunking.
“To the point of taking someone’s life… is competition really that important to you?”
But Ren didn’t attack recklessly.
He was fully aware that not only was his strength insufficient to defeat the current Kunking, but if he fought here, others would be dragged into the fire and explosions.
For now, survival was more important than a reckless fight.
Ren lifted the unconscious cadet as if to support him, then quickly ran to safety, away from the flames.
How far had he run when a familiar voice reached his ears?
“Ah, hurry up! Our Princess was crying her eyes out thinking you died, Ren!”
Waving his arm with a bright smile was Keirin, with his crimson-red hair.
Beside him stood the Princess and her guards.
“W-who said I was crying!”
The Princess flared up in denial, but the corners of her eyes were tinted red.
She wiped her eyes with her sleeve and shouted.
“Seriously…! That was dangerous! Running off like that, do you know how worried I was? Don’t ever do that again!”
Ren scratched the back of his head with a faint smile.
“Remi, I’m sorry for worrying you. But ignoring someone in mortal danger isn’t something a knight should do.”
Hearing his answer, Keirin lightly slapped Ren’s back with his palm.
“Exactly! It’s cool that you saved others too! But hey, couldn’t I go alone? If I just dump a bucket of water on that fireball guy, wouldn’t he snap right out of it?”
Keirin laughed as he spoke, but the Princess glared at him with dagger-like eyes.
“Don’t joke around, Keirin. This is serious. Rather than fighting, we should go to the place Miss Elined called for assembly and check our numbers first.”
“Ugh, sorry…”
Keirin slumped dejectedly.
Still, the Princess’s words weren’t without reason.
If Keirin attacked recklessly, other cadets might get caught up in it too.
“…Then, let’s move quickly.”
The Princess’s group also responded to Elined’s mana communication.
One by one, cadets were gathering to stop Kunking.
The assembly point Elined designated was a bit south of the island’s central area.
There was still time before the fire spread that far.
When Ren and the Princess’s group arrived, dozens of cadets were already gathered there.
With the cadets’ cooperation, the evacuation headcount had just been finished.
Fortunately, there were no casualties.
The five hundred and thirty cadets had either already settled in the island’s outskirts or were safely evacuating there.
About seventy cadets had responded to Elined’s call and gathered here.
They were the ones who intended to fight Kunking.
Everyone fixed tense gazes on Elined.
“…The moment the protective ward disappeared, he set fire to the island and attacked cadets. This situation is clearly intentional.”
Elined’s voice was resolute.
“I state it plainly. If Kunking burns down this forest, all of us will die. Before that happens, we must subjugate him.”
As soon as she finished speaking, voices erupted from the cadets.
“She’s right! He’s a Hetarion, after all!”
“From a family of criminals!”
“If we don’t kill him, we’ll be the ones who die!”
Everyone here echoed Elined’s words with a single resolve.
The air brimmed with determination laced with hatred and fear.
Watching from a distance, Curio quietly spoke.
“But something feels strange. Didn’t you notice as well, Lord Luga?”
“Hm…”
Luga stroked his chin.
“That student Kunking’s mana was unstable. It didn’t seem like something he was doing of his own will. More like… a puppet being controlled by someone else.”
Luga narrowed his eyes.
“But I am curious about who is pulling the strings of that puppet… let’s watch a little longer. The Academy’s students have grown quite a bit—they can be trusted. If I judge that Her Highness is in danger, we’ll deal with it then.”
“Understood.”
The seventy cadets finished preparations and were about to march north, where Kunking was.
Step―. Step―.
Heavy footsteps grew closer and closer.
At last, a man appeared, drenched in sweat and gasping for breath.
“…Villed?”
Every cadet’s gaze locked on him.
As if they were looking at someone who shouldn’t be here.
While whispers and murmurs spread, only Elined slowly stepped toward Villed.
“How are you… here?”
A trace of bewilderment slipped into Elined’s voice.
“Let’s talk.”
But Villed replied with a blank expression.
“Just the two of us.”
Torono quickly cut in from the side.
“Hey, what the hell are you talking about, popping out of nowhere like this? We don’t have time for this….”
“Fine.”
“…What?!”
When Elined agreed, the cadets, including Torono, froze with shock.
But Elined gestured lightly to restrain them.
“This won’t take long.”
Calming the cadets, Elined followed Villed, who had already begun walking.
…How far had they walked through the forest?
When they were far enough that the others could no longer hear, Elined turned to face Villed.
“So, what is it you want to say?”
“I need a favor.”
“…A favor?”
At that, Villed fixed his gaze on Elined and spoke.
As she listened to his proposal to the end, Elined’s eyes widened.
She covered her mouth with her hand.
“…Are you saying this in your right mind?”
“I don’t like dragging things out. Let’s just say this is a kind of debt.”
Villed stepped closer. Looking down at Elined, he wore a faint smile.
“You know the saying well. Nobles never forget a debt… and right now, I intend to owe you one.”
“…”
Elined couldn’t say a word in reply.
“So, what will you do?”
As Villed pressed her, Elined’s eyes trembled.