Eventually, the giant’s ragged breathing slowly died away.
[Buo! Buo!]
Sooty let out a delighted cry to celebrate their victory.
“Th-The giant collapsed.”
“...What?”
“The giant collapsed, Christine!”
“—!”
Christine, who had been crouched on the floor with her head buried in her arms, finally raised her head. Her eyes still trembled as she cautiously looked out the window.
“It... really did.”
Her eyes widened at the sight of the giant sprawled motionlessly on the ground.
Just what had happened?
Then, something small and black caught her attention.
[Buuo~]
Sooty fluttered proudly around the two girls, showing off its accomplishment.
“...What is that?”
“This thing?”
As Julia held out her hand, Sooty flew over and settled onto her palm. It puffed out its chest and tilted its head up, clearly trying to look impressive.
However, Julia’s response was merciless.
“My family’s freeloader.”
[Buo! Buuo!]
Sooty immediately grew angry. It shot back into the air and viciously tugged at Julia’s hair.
.
.
.
Chapter 23: The Transfer Student
“Big Sis!”
“Ceres!”
After dealing with the boss and hurrying back, Ceres stopped at the sight of two children and one small creature running toward her.
Sooty, apparently having appointed itself their guide, fluttered at the very front.
[Buo!]
As if demanding praise for protecting the children well, Sooty lifted its chin arrogantly, prompting Ceres to lightly tap its forehead.
Good job.
“Ceres! Where were you?”
“I had something to do.”
“You weren’t in the classroom, and nobody else knew where you went either!”
Ugh, he was loud.
Antonian was normally tolerable, but every now and then, he became noisy like this.
“You two don’t seem hurt.”
“Don’t change the subject! Where did you go?”
“Brother.”
“...?”
Antonian, who had been rattling off complaints nonstop, glanced down at the small hand clutching the hem of his clothes.
“Why are you mad?”
“What? I’m not mad!”
“If you were worried, you could’ve just said so. Why are you getting angry instead?”
“W-Who said I was worried?!”
“Brother, you really weren’t worried about Ceres?”
“T-That’s not the point!”
Ignoring the flustered Antonian, Julia ran to Ceres and wrapped her arms around her.
“Antonian is so mean, isn’t he?”
“He is.”
Ceres gently stroked Julia’s hair as she watched Antonian stand there in a daze.
I’ve never seen anyone win an argument against Julia.
“Ceres, I saw a monster! It was super scary, and then all of a sudden it just dropped over.”
“You’re not hurt, are you?”
“No! Christine is okay too!”
“That’s good.”
Ceres glanced down at Sooty. The little troublemaker must’ve taken care of the giant Julia encountered. She tapped its forehead in praise once more.
[Buuo~]
Sooty let out a satisfied trill while Ceres swept her gaze over the surroundings. Thankfully, there didn’t seem to be any major damage. A few buildings looked battered, but it could’ve been much worse.
“Huh? Ceres!”
At Julia’s startled cry, Ceres turned around and spotted someone familiar.
Even though the Black Forest had only just disappeared, a man was strolling into the Academy calmly like nothing had happened.
It was Kainel.
“What are you doing here?”
“I heard a Black Forest appeared.”
“...And you came all the way here yourself?”
Honestly, it wasn’t that strange. A Black Forest had emerged at the Academy. The nobles who sent their children here must have hung onto Kainel and begged him to do something.
A-rank Black Forest would be easy work for Kainel Persia. Weak or not, parents were still parents. If nothing else, he had probably shown up just to escape all the panicking and complaints.
Still...
“You already knew I was here, so why bother? You could’ve stayed home and enjoyed another bowl of soup instead.”
“......”
“...What?”
Why was he looking at her like that now?
Ceres frowned slightly at Kainel, who was radiating displeasure for some reason. His hand suddenly reached toward her left ear beneath her hair.
“Ah...”
A quiet gasp slipped out of her.
He’s absurdly quick to notice things like this.
She’d been grazed while dealing with the boss earlier. Maybe she’d rushed too much. Though she had avoided the attack, one of the claw-like nails still nicked the tip of her ear.
“What were you thinking?”
“Huh?”
“Why are you hurt?”
...What nonsense was this lunatic spouting now?
“I asked why you got hurt.”
There was actual irritation flickering in his eyes, which made the whole thing even more ridiculous. She seriously considered smacking him in the back of the head.
“I’m the one who got injured, so why are you angry?”
Did he think she got hurt because she wanted to? This guy really would pick a fight over anything.
“Come with me.”
“Why? It’s not work hours yet.”
“You need treatment.”
“I know. I can just heal myself.”
“Then stop arguing and come.”
“I said I can treat it myse—”
Whoosh.
“Hey...”
Before she could finish, Kainel grabbed her hand and pulled her along.
Ceres stared at him in disbelief yet again.
Good grief...
Fine. Whatever. She didn’t have the energy to argue after taking down the boss anyway.
In the end, Ceres let herself be dragged out of the Academy by Kainel.
“Now then, you two should come with me. I brought some delicious snacks.”
Kainel’s aide, Del, ushered along the two Drow siblings, who had been standing there blankly watching the entire exchange.
When Sooty noticed the cake box in Del’s hands, it smacked its lips eagerly.
***
“It’s really been cleared.”
“......”
By the time Crown Prince Aseraian arrived at the Academy with his soldiers, the Black Forest had already disappeared. All that remained were the corpses of giants scattered across the grounds and the occasional ruined building.
“How did Grand Duke Persia know?”
“I couldn’t say...”
At his aide’s words, Aseraian found himself wondering the same thing.
How did Kainel know that the entire situation would already be resolved before they arrived?
“What’s the damage report?”
“There are some seriously injured, but no deaths. As for the buildings... as you can see.”
“That’s fortunate, at least...”
This was an A-rank Black Forest. For things to end with only this much damage was a miracle. The problem was that they had no idea what caused that miracle in the first place.
“Your Highness.”
Aseraian, who lost in thought, looked up at his aide’s voice.
Someone was hurrying toward them. It was Matthew, captain of the Academy guard.
“Greetings, Your Highness.”
Matthew bowed respectfully. Aseraian got to the point.
“Explain what happened.”
“Yes.”
After bowing once more, Matthew recounted everything he had witnessed.
“A female student?”
“Shadows? You’re saying shadows attacked the monsters?”
But the more the two listened, the more bewildered they became.
A female student? And shadows?
“Do you remember her face?”
“It was too dark to see clearly... My apologies.”
Everything had happened so suddenly that he’d had no chance to make out her appearance.
“From what little I saw... I believe her hair was platinum blonde...”
Even that wasn’t entirely certain. It only looked that way beneath the dim light.
“Platinum blonde?”
For a moment, one particular person came to mind. A young woman who had been catching Aseraian’s attention rather often lately.
But he soon shook his head. The woman he knew didn’t seem like someone who could wield a sword at all.
“Your Highness, the boss’s corpse is over there.”
“Let’s go.”
At his aide’s words, Aseraian pushed those thoughts aside and headed toward the dead boss.
He finally knew the reason the Black Forest had vanished so quickly. The boss had been killed. But it only made this situation more puzzling.
Who had managed to take down an A-rank Black Forest boss in a short amount of time? If the guard captain’s account was true, the most likely culprit was a female student.
“...Impressive.”
A low murmur escaped Aseraian’s lips.
The boss itself was massive, easily over ten meters tall. But what caught the Crown Prince’s attention was its hands.
The long black claws extending from them looked as sharp as forged blades. It felt as though the slightest brush against them would tear a body to pieces.
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