『Guide to group assignments on the basics of Mana Transactions.』
Students blink at the words ‘group assignment’ plastered on the bulletin board. New students who have just entered Aplia do not know what it is.
Group assignment.
Freshmen did not take the nuance of the word itself too badly.
‘Working together to solve a task that is difficult to do alone.’
If you just look at it for that purpose, isn’t it a good thing?
“Group assignment?”
“Is that what you did at the secondary academy? “Something like getting together, discussing, and writing a report?”
“The one that ends during class?”
Some students have experienced group work at a secondary academy. However, they don’t know.
“What, then it’s not a big deal?”
The group task they experienced and the group task they will face now are stories on a different level.
“······.”
Of course, not all students know the meaning of group work. Unlike other students, there are also students who remain silent in front of the bulletin board.
‘Group task.’
They are students who heard about the group assignment from seniors who graduated from Aplia.
‘Obviously, the seniors…’
They recall advice they received from their seniors.
『The moment when you witness the abyss of humanity.』
『One of the team members will definitely disappear.』
『Trust no one.』
『The only thing you can trust is yourself.』
『When I noticed it, I was alone.』
These are stories that seem like something out of a ghost story.
The images of seniors preaching about ‘group tasks’ with wide eyes flash before my eyes.
‘I don’t know what it is…’
It would never be a good story.
Moreover, the professor who planned the group assignment was Professor Rania, known as Aplia’s Nightmare.
I can’t help but feel ominous.
They looked away in silence. At the end of my gaze, I see the back of Professor Rania disappearing into the distance while humming a song.
‘Ominous.’
They sense that a new disaster is approaching.
2.
“I feel like I’m going to die from really hard times, senior.”
There is a forest not far from the royal castle. In fact, it was just a forest, and since members of the royal family often used it as a walking trail, it was treated as no different from a palace.
A forest thoroughly protected by knights.
A forest managed with all sincerity by the royal family’s servants.
sniffling.
Deep in the forest, I was having a drink. As I was eating the snacks spread out on the mat, I suddenly tilted my head.
“How difficult is it?”
The guy sitting next to me opened his mouth to my question.
“It’s mentally difficult. “I feel like my mind is completely exhausted…”
The person sitting on the mat and drinking together is my former subordinate. Hound, Kalt, retired from the battlefield and now serves as the royal hunting dog.
“That’s it, senior.”
Kalt opened his mouth, chewing on the snack he had brought as a snack.
“Aren’t I on escort duty these days?”
“Oh, I know that.”
“That’s really hard. It’s hard to cry. That princess is not normal. really.”
I smiled bitterly and drank my drink.
‘The first princess’s escort mission.’
That was precisely the mission Kalt was currently carrying out. Considering Princess Lruel’s temperament, it was understandable that Kalt would make such a crying noise.
‘Because he is a person with a temper.’
Even I didn’t feel like I was being swayed by her. But how great was Kalt? Out of pity for her, I added:
“The original escort mission was a bit shit. “You can’t go far because you can’t leave the guard.”
“There is that too, but…”
“So, they are having a drinking party in a place like this. Hey, who makes a date for a drink in a place like this?”
I sighed and shook my head.
In fact, the reason why people are sipping alcohol in this forest is because they are considerate of Kalt.
Due to the work circumstances of Kalt, who was in charge of protecting the first princess, it was difficult for him to go for a drink far away from the villa.
‘It’s basically nonsense.’
Drinking in a forest managed by the royal family?
If someone caught him, he would have nothing to say even if he was arrested for lese majeste.
‘In the first place, it would be difficult to break in.’
Of course, this is a story based on the general public.
Since I, Kaltna, and I were far away from the general public, it wasn’t that difficult to enter the forest.
But that’s it.
Wouldn’t it be a bit odd to be drinking in a forest like this?
“This might be the first time you’ve invited your old boss to this forest for a drink.”
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As I was grumbling, Kalt took a swig of his drink and smiled.
“Still, it’s quite charming, isn’t it?”
“Damn the luck, man. “Sitting on the floor like this and having a drinking party reminds me of the old days and makes me feel like shit, right?”
When you sit on the bare floor and drink a glass like this… old memories naturally come to mind.
‘Memories from the battlefield.’
I remember sitting down somewhere and drinking while chewing dried and shriveled beef jerky. Of course, it may have been good at the time, but…
‘I was chewing beef jerky covered in dust and drinking bitter liquor. On a bloody battlefield.’
When I think about it now, all I can do is cry.
I sniffled, swallowed my nose, and said.
“Why did you really drink that because you liked it?”
“It’s a bit surprising to me when I think about it now. “I wonder what taste that strong drink tasted like, haha…”
Kalt smiled bitterly and continued.
“Still, senior.”
“What are you doing?”
“Unlike the battlefield, this is a pretty good place, isn’t it?”
He pointed at the night sky with his empty glass.
“Open view. The sound of grass blades swaying in the night wind. Twinkling stars and moon. “Isn’t it quite charming?”
“I feel like shit just by looking at the stars.”
“Anyway, you are not romantic, you are romantic.”
“Have you tried making a deal with a star? “How much did I get ripped off by that f*cking star?”
“This is why wizards…”
Tsk tsk, as I looked at Kalt clicking his tongue and shaking his head, my fist naturally went up.
‘It’s about to hit.’
As he was clenching his fists with that thought in mind, Kalt let out a long sigh.
“Anyway, there is too much work these days.”
“···job?”
“Yes, this is a secret? “I heard that an unidentified maid came into the villa not long ago and disappeared without anyone noticing?”
hmm.
“I don’t know what on earth they were doing, but the royal castle was in complete disarray. The palace wizards’ labs will burn down, and the guard captain will go missing…”
“Uh, um…”
“Because of that, the kingdom is in chaos right now. Anyway, it seems like it has something to do with the First Princess… but there needs to be evidence.”
“···There is no evidence?”
Kalt nodded.
“Yes, the method is very vicious. They knocked down the wall and set the lab on fire to leave no trace? Does this make sense?”
“No, there are some things that don’t make sense…”
I opened my clenched fists.
I quietly lowered my arm and picked up the snacks to eat.
“It’s a maid with black hair. It’s hard to find someone who’s seen that face properly, so this is it…”
“······.”
“what? “Why aren’t you saying anything, senior?”
“No, well, just…”
I filled Kalt’s glass with alcohol. Then he stretched out his hand and tapped Kalt on the shoulder.
“You’ve been through a lot.”
“Why are you doing this all of a sudden?”
Kalt blinked and took a sip of his drink.
It was a story of one midsummer night.
* * *
Snacks are always served at a drinking party. Here, snacks are not just limited to what goes into your mouth.
‘Something to talk about.’
That was also a great snack.
In that sense, there was no end to drinking between me and Kalt. I could stay up all night for days and nights just by bringing up stories from the battlefield.
“So, that Sarah is 88 years old…”
“The saintess’s personality seems a bit terrible.”
And more than anything, Kalt was the person who watched Sarah and Remia’s shit together with me.
“Yes, Sipal! “How much am I…”
The only person I could talk about this openly with was Kalt. As we continued to talk like that, the day was already getting brighter.
“Ugh, I can’t do it anymore.”
Kalt sat leaning against a tree and let out a short breath. The breath was full of the smell of alcohol.
“Senior, aren’t you drunk?”
“I think I’m starting to feel a little tipsy now.”
My face felt a little hot, but my mind was fine. To begin with, wizards don’t get drunk very well unless it’s something very strong.
‘What was it? I also had a thesis.’
Why wizards don’t get drunk.
I remember there was a paper that dealt with that. While I was trying to remember, Kalt spoke in a bewildered voice.
“Isn’t this your first time drinking alcohol with that body?”
“It’s almost the first time.”
“You are truly quite worthy…”
I shook the bottle of alcohol in my hand.
I was too lazy to pour alcohol into a glass so I was drinking from the bottle. I emptied the remaining drink in one go and wiped the corners of my mouth.
“Wow.”
Kalt glanced at me as if he was waking up. I snorted and stood up from my seat and walked over to Kalt.
“hey.”
“Why are you doing that?”
Then, with a tap, he touched Kalt with his toe.
“Can you go on a mission in that condition?”
“It just takes one bath and it goes away.”
“But you still have to get rid of the smell.”
I put the chestnuts on Kalt’s forehead with my finger. Mana flashed from my fingers.
Deodorization.
The smell of alcohol on Kalt’s clothes and body disappeared as if it had been washed away. Kalt opened his eyes and asked again.
“Oh, what is it?”
“Well. “It’s a spell I developed because I didn’t want to see those old bastards whining.”
“oh·····.”
Leaving behind Kalt, who was exclaiming in surprise, I stretched out. It was time to sort things out. The Kalt guy had been glancing at the magic tool connected to the villa from earlier, so I thought it was time to go back.
“Shall we sort it out soon?”
Kalt also nodded.
Just like that, we had put away our drinking glasses and erased all traces of where we had been sitting.
“Oh right. Seniors.”
The rising sunlight illuminates the forest.
Just as I was about to return to Aplia and Kalt to the villa, Kalt called me out.
“What?”
“It’s not confirmed yet, but I think you should know.”
As if the intoxication had subsided a little, Kalt opened his mouth in a calm voice.
“A large number of corpses were found in Anatole’s estate and in the alleys of Kadinak.”
“···dead body?”
“Yes, given the circumstances, it seems like factions from the slums were fighting each other… but the problem is the characteristics of the corpse.”
Kalt said.
“The body was very dry. “It was as if something had hit me.”
A corpse sucked into something.
The moment I heard that, I frowned.
‘Cardinac, a skinny corpse.’
When I connected the evidence, only one thing came to mind.
“It’s not clear yet, but on our Hound side, the circumstances are…”
“it’s okay.”
I shook my head.
There was no need to hear more.
“If it happened in the night city of Kadinak, and in the Anatole territory near Kadinak… I’ve said everything.”
I stretched my arms out in the sunlight.
When I stretched out my arms with my fingers crossed, my knuckles made a loud clicking sound.
“Succubus Queen, Lepe.”
The only thing I could guess was that bat bitch.
3.
“······.”
Belnoa looked at the corpse.
It was a body that had flowed through an underground waterway and was caught in an iron bar. I didn’t know where it came from.
There is no doubt that the body is there.
However, the shape of the corpse was a little strange.
‘···Dried?’
It’s a skinny corpse.
It looks as if the vitality has been taken from the body.
And, above all… that face was strange. Belnoir tilted his head, looking at the happy face. The more I looked at it, the stranger the corpse was.
‘···What on earth is this?’
Belnoa looked at the place where the body came from.
Something continued to flow through the underground waterway that extended all the way to the outside of the royal capital.
Dark red blood that does not mix with water.
Finely divided pieces of meat.
And finally······.
“···Ugh.”
Even the stench that stings your nose.
Belnoa was born and raised in the slums and has been exposed to all kinds of medicines. Belnoa realized that this odor was some kind of medicine.
This is a scent I smelled somewhere.
That too, quite recently.
Something passed through Belnoa’s mind.
– Inspiration, what is this?
-Looks like he didn’t clean up after all. They say this guy is an apple rat.
-······Apple rat? I don’t think it deserves such a cute name.
-Well, I don’t know. You clean it up. Belnoa.
Something strange that I couldn’t overcome because of inspiration.
This was a similar type of stench to the odor it gave off. Belnoa frowned and looked at the things flowing through the water.
“······What on earth is this?”
A word from the author (author review)
Do you say that writers shine when they incorporate their own experiences into their writing?
I have a feeling there will be a lot to write about the group assignment…
