Chapter 22: Demons Rising [2]
Luina Berchef was a person with orthodox chivalry who believed in upholding justice and protecting the weak.
What would she do if a real demon appeared before her?
If she realized that she had to fight against a being like a demon?
How would she act? Would she stand by and watch, or would she try to do what she could?
Furthermore, would she become more cooperative with Gerhard in his efforts to stop the demons, or not?
'Although the reliability of the prophecy book has declined a bit, it predicted that the entire continent would be engulfed in war by demons.'
It wasn't something that could be handled by one individual or a single family.
He needed allies.
The prophecy said that if left alone, Aint Armian would stop it, but he was now aware that his own actions could change the future.
He couldn't even guess what kind of butterfly effect the changed future might cause, so it was right to prepare as much as possible for the aspects that could be prepared.
"In that sense, you're quite suitable."
Second in rank at the academy, and the daughter of a former Arch Duke family slowly recovering its fortunes.
And a future Royal Knight certified by the prophecy book, which had slightly lost credibility but was still mostly accurate.
She couldn't be more suitable as an ally.
Originally, he had planned to just show her the evidence, but now that Hyde had something come up, he had no choice but to make her his escort and let her see with her own eyes.
"...What do you mean all of a sudden?"
"I mean, please be my escort."
"I haven't agreed to it yet."
Luina's brow furrowed.
"Why should I do that? I'm busy with the midterm exams too."
"You ate the mandrake root."
Her demeanor was quite different from before. It seemed she hadn't fully assimilated the spirit medicine's energy yet, as she appeared rough and unrestrained.
"...How long do you think you can use that?"
"This is only the second time. And it will be the last."
"Even so, intruding on the exam site is a bit..."
As she hesitated, Gerhard spoke again. He didn't intend to ask without offering something in return.
"I'll be visiting my family during the upcoming vacation. I'm thinking of mentioning the Berchef family to my father."
"...Are you threatening me now?"
"No. It's a proposal. If you help me, the interest on your debt might not accrue for a while even after you graduate."
"Even so, I..."
"I think we've built up a reasonable amount of trust."
"Even so..."
"The rebuilding of the Berchef family might be advanced by who knows how many years."
Luina grabbed his hand.
***
The first-year midterm exam wasn't particularly special.
They showed off to each other in exactly the same way as the second-year students had done in the northern mountain region until recently.
The differences were that it wasn't in pairs but solely for the knight department, the duration was two days, and it was a real exam rather than a practice.
Dense mountains. A man and a woman were moving between them.
"Keep your presence hidden as much as possible. Don't let the professors or instructors notice us."
The man, Gerhard, spoke while wearing a stealth cloak that concealed his presence and aura.
"Didn't you say you bribed Professor Grad?"
"Just because I bribed him doesn't mean it's okay to walk around openly, don't you think?"
"I'm glad you at least have the awareness that this is problematic."
Luina, also wearing a stealth cloak, sighed softly.
"So where are we supposed to go?"
"Wait and see."
Gerhard took out a map from his pocket. It was a map with red and blue dots moving around.
"According to the map..."
"...Isn't this a professor's map?"
"That's right. I received it along with instructions to avoid bumping into instructors or other students."
"...Hah. Professor Grad. I'm not even surprised anymore."
No, at this point, it might even be a good method since he let them in. She muttered lowly.
Gerhard thought he had handled it well and looked for a number. A dot marked with 38. That was Gerhard.
"Ho-oh."
He noticed a dot marked with 2 not far from them, and his eyes lit up.
"This way. Let's go."
"Yes. We really must just gather the spirit medicine and leave immediately."
"Of course."
"When you say it, somehow it doesn't seem obvious."
The two quickly entered deeper into the mountains. Monsters appeared emitting foul odors, but thanks to keeping their presence hidden as much as possible and with the help of artifacts, they somehow managed to avoid them.
Thanks to checking the map and avoiding others, they didn't even encounter other students or instructors.
The anomaly occurred then. When Gerhard and Luina reached about the center of the mountain region.
───!
──!
Monster roars and cries began to be heard from all directions.
An ominous energy spread from everywhere.
The dots on the map became busy with movement, and student screams echoed through the mountains.
"...What is this?"
Luina drew her sword in confusion.
Before them stood a troll with bloodshot eyes and flaring nostrils.
Its prominent veins and muscles, along with the drool it was dripping, indicated that it wasn't in a normal state.
─!
Sword and club collided. The club was split in an instant by the blue aura sword.
But even after losing its weapon, the troll didn't lose its fighting spirit, extending its fist with rolling eyes.
Bang!
A small hole formed in the ground. Broken fragments flew in all directions.
At the same time, stone spears from all around struck the troll, but the creature seemed to lack the defense mechanism that all living beings possess.
Ignoring the spears embedded in its back, it just kept rushing at Luina to kill her.
It smashed trees with its body, and even when its arm was cut off by Luina's sword, it didn't care.
It was madness itself.
"What on earth is this?!"
"It's berserk. Be careful! The troll doesn't know pain now, so you must completely cut off its head to finish it."
A berserk monster is in a completely different state from a normal monster. Because it burns everything while consuming its life force, each one is never easy to deal with.
An anomaly serious enough to halt the exam immediately.
Though he hadn't expected it to instinctively see through the stealth artifact, Gerhard remained calm.
'It has begun.'
Because he knew this was what was meant to happen, as mentioned in the prophecy book.
'The monster wave occurs even though there was no contact with demons from Veriana.'
What a joke, is it playing hard to get?
Gerhard snorted and cast a spell.
For now, it was time to deal with that persistent creature.