Damn Academy chapter 104

104 – The Circulatory System (6)

It took quite a while to get to the point I had marked on the map.

All you can see are green meadows and cumulus clouds floating over low hills. Occasional cork trees. Only these three

This was the border of the Sotherton circulatory system. It is said that if you enter properly, the greenery is so thick that you will see a large forest and strangely shaped cliffs that look black.

After walking for a long time, we arrived at the meeting point only around twilight in the evening.

A tree that stands alone on a round meadow. I saw Luna sitting there with her back leaning against her.

I approached her slowly so as not to startle her.

In the meantime, a bird flew into Luna.

A blue bird sits on the back of Luna’s hand, snooping over her head and looking up at her face.

She raised her arms and held her face close to hers, meeting her eyes. They communicated with each other as if they had been raised for a long time.

I had to stop. It looked like something out of a picture. I have never seen a wild bird voluntarily fly to a person and communicate with it.

Isn’t this a special talent that cannot be reached through effort and skill?

While Luna is interacting, she senses my gaze and turns her head away. And the bird fluttered away and flew away.

I couldn’t contain my curiosity and asked.

“With the bird… did you talk?”

Luna shook her head.

“Leaks can’t speak.”

Ah, that’s right. That’s a stupid question. The way they interacted was so natural that I thought they were communicating separately. It’s just instinctive.

I hurriedly turned around.

“Did you wait long?”

She shook her head again.

An awkward air flows for a moment. Tricia is the type to spill her words if left alone, but Luna holds back her emotions and rarely talks about everyday life.

What can I do? I have to speak hard.

“We didn’t eat on the boat.”

Nodded.

If that’s the case, it means that I’ve been starving since morning. Aigoo. It’s my fault for telling me not to bring food, but I don’t show any complaints or difficulties.

“Wait a minute.”

I’ll put off the wild experience until tomorrow, and first of all, I’ll have to fill Luna’s stomach with worldly food. I feel guilty for starving a child who has no energy because he is already lying in bed.

I cut off some branches and gathered the firewood in a suitable place. Then Luna, realizing my intentions, she sat down in front of him and set fire to the pyre she had gathered with her magic.

Even if you don’t have to talk, teamwork goes well.

And from across the hill, a pack of silver wolves the size of bulls sneaks up on me, watching me. I knew it because I had heard the story before. These were the spirits that Luna handled.

One of them had a flat stone in his mouth, and he sneaked up next to me, put it down, and ran away.

I was trying to figure out why it was brought there, but I realized it only when I saw Luna sitting discreetly on a similar-shaped stone. She must have been considerate not to sit on the bare floor.

“I have told the children beforehand, but they are still afraid of you. Understand me.”

Of course you should understand. They are grateful Thanks to Luna’s spirit, we didn’t have to stay up all night and watch. The spirits were monitoring a wider area than the naked eye could see.

One Luna can easily fill the role of two or three members of her team… It is truly an amazing ability.

I put the sausage Trisha gave me on her skewer and grilled it over the fire. The bonfire and food were excellent for erasing the silence.

I handed the well-cooked sausage to Luna.

She shook her head.

“You first.”

“I ate. Eat now because you have to move a lot tomorrow.”

“….”

Luna grips her skewer with both her hands. She has only used a fork and knife all her life, so she blows and bites the end of her meat as hard as her fingernail.

If you just watch her, it’s sweet that an aristocratic modesty can be seen in each and every one of her demeanor. It’s like a person from a different world than me.

A plan to live like a primitive tribe for a week with such a delicate and precious girl. Your bright clothes will get messy, and your body will be overworked, so there won’t be a place that doesn’t hurt. Is it right that I am doing well?

The sun was setting and it was gradually getting dark.

Contrary to my worries about her, Luna’s expression was calm. She took another bite of her sausage and spoke softly.

“… It’s good.”

And I can’t take my eyes off the small bonfire. A faint smile appeared on his lips as if he liked the atmosphere of this camp.

“Tomorrow will be a bit difficult.”

It’s a word that breaks the atmosphere, but I had to say it. Our destination was different from others, and the journey would be many times more difficult.

“It’s okay.”

Even so, Luna’s smile did not fade.

***

When I opened my eyes, Luna was already up and combing her hair quietly in the morning sunlight.

Somehow she had changed into her new clothes. This time it’s a pure white dress. And she can’t see the clothes she wore first, as if they were buried in the ground. I didn’t even bring my luggage, so where did I get it? Did you even run an errand for the spirit?

“… Did you sleep well?”

When I greeted her, Luna turned to me and replied.

“Yes. Thanks to.”

“… ?”

Thanks? What did I do all night…?

Leaving aside the rubbish, I jumped up and warmed up first. Then, after asking for Luna’s understanding, I threw away the clothes I was wearing before putting on her mask and changed into other clothes. After wearing a mask, it was to prevent others from recognizing it.

As soon as I finished getting ready, Luna stopped brushing her hair and got up.

Just like before, she noticed my intentions before she even spoke her words and was ready to act.

It’s to the point where I’m sorry for matching it so well.

I retrieved the maladiroot I had planted in the ground before I went to sleep, converted Isildrien’s sapling into a wooden sword, and inserted it into my waistband.

“Shall we start soon?”

Luna nodded and followed me.

Now we have to move in earnest.

In order to enter, you must become a member of the circulatory system by ingesting animals and plants from the circulatory system. However, changing ingredients for a few days does not solve everything.

In a week, it would be possible to enter the first half of the circulatory system somehow, but it was far from enough to enter the heart. At least it was possible to live here for a few months.

So the method chosen to shorten the adaptation period was to hunt individuals at the top of the food chain.

According to Zverev, energy in the circulatory system accumulates in small animals along the food chain, is most concentrated in top predators, and returns to the earth.

My plan is to hunt the most powerful beasts and rob the circulatory system of energy.

For that reason, our destination is a place that no one else goes. It was the danger zone where the apex predators lived.

***

Kaang!

The sword in my hand flies away and pierces the ground.

The last remaining one couldn’t catch her sword and rolled on the floor pushed by her power.

“Damn, damn.”

All the members of the group lost their pulse at the surprise attack that came in openly.

The plundering team, consisting of three top-ranked students from the combat department and one from the alchemy department, was devastated without being able to resist properly.

A dark-haired girl stands tall and calm in the center of the crowd spread across the floor. Right to Zion Izarel.

As I heard, it was a monstrous skill. Surprisingly, she repulsed them without shedding a single drop of sweat without taking out her magic sword or artifact. I couldn’t imagine what she would be like if she showed her true skills.

An entity that plunders the plundering team. Shion was a figure who played on top of others.

The expressions of the fallen group members were distorted. It was a powerful force that would not be left behind even if it faced any other team. She never thought that she would break down so easily.

She said the man who had crossed her sword with her for the last time.

“Damn it… What do you want? Did you come to get revenge by robbing another innocent group?”

Shion inserted her sword with a sullen look on her face and said.

“No. Beef jerky.”

“… What?”

She didn’t say it twice.

The group leader, who was watching her, alluded to her.

“Jerky Ramen…… In the bag over there….”

Then Shion went to the place where she had stored her belongings and began searching through her at random. She tossed the dried fruit, canteen, bread, and other provisions on the dirt floor. Then she picked up a wad of jerky, put one in her mouth, and put the rest in her pocket.

I didn’t forget to say thank you.

From noble mtl dot com

“I’ll eat well.”

“….”

“Oh, have you seen the masked man?”

“… No. I didn’t see it.”

“Yes.”

Shion immediately left her seat, leaving them behind.

The members of the plundering group were shocked to see that, and their mouths hung open.

“What is it? Did you raid us for the beef jerky?”

“Well, more than that, maybe we just got caught unlucky and took the jerky together.”

She made all preparations for the raid, but she was of no use to Shion.

“Right, we were just unlucky. It was said that there is no answer to the three major disasters in joint classes.”

There are those who had to be especially wary of even the students of the robbery group, which belong to the axis of the strong. Shion Izarel, Gail Varianne, and the masked man.

One of them saw Zion walking away and said.

“He’s heading northwest? Are you going to the danger zone?”

A place inhabited by a giant monster who has gone mad because of too much magical power. The professors put special emphasis on the dangers there.

Soon after that, the conversation continued one by one.

“Well, aren’t we going to find that masked guy?”

The story of Shion chasing a masked assailant after a certain incident in her entrance exam was now an open secret.

“Perhaps. I think I’m so glad I didn’t meet that masked pervert.”

“I understand Shion and Gail, but why are masked perverts so dangerous?”

“Someone overheard what the combat department professors were saying. During the entrance exam, I surprised Shion who was dealing with the golem at the top. And it was said that it groped for the wounded Shion’s thigh and bounced. He’s a real madman.”

“What? Didn’t he treat the leg injury he suffered while fighting the golem together? Did everyone know that?”

“Hey, think about it. I was treated, but would you go looking for me with poison like that? There is no reason to wear a mask unless you are a pervert.”

They all fixed their eyes on Shion’s lower body, who seemed to be moving away. She always wore shorts that were bare skin below her mid-thigh to operate an accelerated artifact mounted on her ankle.

Those who were watching him gulped their saliva. Rumors are always expanded and reproduced, so it was impossible to know which ones were true.

I didn’t know anything else, but I could intuit that the danger zone was a place I should never go to no matter what.