056 – Matchmaking (3)
The combination of Rakan and Irene was incredibly good.
Rakan was good at finding monsters at the level of a detection dog, and Irene was strong enough to deal with a goblin village alone.
Because of that, by the time the buckle was dyed red, the bag containing the monster’s ears was almost full.
“Should we go to camp? My ears are full.”
You have to bring monster ears to the camp and submit them to the instructor to get points, so if you have ears in your bag, you have to submit them to get points.
Irene thought for a moment.
If you submit this amount now, there is a high probability that the 1st team today will be Irene and Rakan’s charge.
The problem was that if they were ranked first by the next day, Rakan and Irene had to fall on the third day according to the rules.
However, if we kept collecting ears, we were able to turn off the aggro of monsters with good noses at night.
Weak monsters, which are not a problem for Irene, will come flocking to me, but I was able to sleep through the night instead.
Because the sequence battle lasted for 5 days, conditioning was very important.
‘······ I don’t want to miss it.’
It was clear that Rakan was the king maker in this rank-and-file battle.
If Rakan teamed up with Charlotte or someone with moderate skill, the score could be reversed.
“Irene, what are you worried about?”
“Well?”
“I feel like I’m thinking hard on something.”
Irene’s face turned slightly red.
I don’t want to miss Rakan, but to be honest, it’s a bit embarrassing.
Rakan knelt down until he said he wanted to become Irene’s slave, and Irene pretended not to win and accepted Rakan as a team.
But now Irene is in a more pitiful position.
I was too proud of myself to hold on to Rakan not to leave the team.
Irene looked at Rakan.
Rakan was looking at Irene with a really innocent expression.
My conscience was too pricked to keep deceiving Irene’s heart.
Irene bent her pride and decided to be honest.
“If we go on like this, I think you and I will be number one by the next day. If that happens, we will have to separate.”
Irene glanced at Rakan’s expression.
Rakan said calmly, as if he had no idea.
“What else do I say? If that’s the case, there’s an easy solution.”
“Is there a solution?”
“You can buy a lot of items you need at the camp with points.”
Points were used not only as a standard for determining rank in a simple ranking match, but also as currency.
Water, food, luxury tents, monster repelling perfume, insect repellent perfume, lightweight bags, clothes, etc. were able to be purchased with points.
“Anyway, we will get a lot of points in the future, so we just have to proceed with this rank battle richly. And you have to control your condition.”
“My condition?”
“It’s me, did you do anything more than just carry your luggage and chase monsters? You did all your hard work. In the future, you will have to fight almost all of the contestants in duels, but if your condition deteriorates, I will be in trouble too. So, it is right to use points even in terms of taking care of your body.”
Rakan used to tighten the mouth of the bag with ears and secure it to the luggage bag, he said.
“Then let’s go back to camp. By the way, will the instructors’ eyes widen? We are probably the only people who have gathered this amount now.”
“······uh. I will.”
“Then let’s go.”
Irene looked at Rakan walking in front of her with strange eyes for a moment.
He was so pure that he couldn’t tell if he had no thoughts or if he had a squirrel in his head.
‘······· For now, it is true that I am more regretful.’
Irene followed after Rakan.
Rakan glanced at Irene who was following him and grinned.
‘After about four days, you can take off your top secretly.’
Rakan wasn’t an idiot, and he realized that Irene felt sorry for him.
If I continued to fan the regretful feelings, I didn’t know if Irene would just pass by when I took off my top.
Of course, if you just take it off, you can break it into pieces like a mankey, so you’ll either fall into a pit or take off your top under the pretext of changing clothes.
Rakan’s steps became lighter.
* * *
obi – obi – obi-
The alarm placed on Rakan’s bedside rang.
The alarm set for 6 in the morning rang.
Rakan got up quickly, turned off the alarm, and turned on a small lantern that was lit with magic stones.
Then a very comfortable interior was revealed.
There were two military beds, two plush sleeping bags, a small fireplace that radiated heat with magic stones, and even a dehumidifier with aromatic candles.
They were all purchased with points.
Rakan reflexively poured the warm water on the small stove into a mug and handed it to Irene.
“Did Irene sleep well?”
“······uh. But you really don’t have to do this.”
“Nope. You need to adjust your condition. What would you like to eat today? We have jerky, we have Type 3 battle rations, and we have bread.”
“I’m going to eat the 3rd type.”
“Wait a minute and I’ll warm it up.”
Rakan faithfully served as a supporter as he told Irene on the first day.
Carrying Irene’s luggage for her was the basics, and she did almost everything except for combat, such as cooking, exploring, and cleaning up the dormitory.
In addition, as a two-person team, it was a combination of knights and wizards that matched very well, so it helped quite a lot in battle.
When chasing the gnolls, using wind magic to hide their body odor.
When there are archers or wizards on the enemy team, they use mana barrier magic to make them more accessible.
It helped in various ways, such as making the enemies instantly lose sight with flash magic.
Irene felt very sorry and grateful to Rakan because she never thought that she would really take care of her like this.
Irene got up with Rakan and Irene’s water bottle and sword.
“I’ll bring you some water.”
“uh. Have a safe trip.”
Irene came out of the temporary dormitory, or more precisely, the cave used by the Gnolls.
It was morning and the mountain birds were crying.
The three monster-repellent incense candles and five insect-repellent incense candles placed outside the cave were almost all burning.
Although it was the first time Irene had experienced a rank battle, she thought that she would be the only one to have such a luxurious battle.
Irene put away the incense candles that were blowing white ashes and headed for a small stream nearby.
There was nothing that affected Irene’s mood.
Irene filled the water bottle with water and washed her face.
As the cold water hit my face, I felt a sense of relief.
‘Now I have to go back.’
Irene got up with a full canteen and a bayonet. Then, I felt something strange.
‘what······?’
I can’t tell you, but I felt something strange.
It’s just a forest I’ve seen normally, but it’s a very different feeling, don’t you think?
I wondered if even a goblin was hiding, so I tried using the detection system auror operation ‘magic detection’ more widely, but nothing happened.
‘······The mind seems to have sharpened.’
Well, it’s already been 3 days.
As we were going through the middle of the rank-and-file battle, it was possible that the day had come without even knowing it.
Irene returned to the cave.
Suddenly, Rakan had finished preparing the meal.
“Come on, sit down. I will cool off.”
“······okay. thank you.”
Rakan watched as Irene devoured her battle food.
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Just looking at it made me feel like my heart was filled with something.It was like being friends with a stray cat.
At first, I was very wary of Rakan, but as I tried to get to know him with all my heart by giving him food and water, I felt the same way I felt when I saw a stray cat that did not run away even when he came right next to me.
‘Is today the mark?’
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Just as I thought that it would be okay to take off my shirt, Irene opened her mouth.“I think we should start collecting points from today.”
“yes? Oh, yes. It’s the third day today.”
Maybe it was because Charlotte had first place in a ranking match last year, so she hid points like Irene and Rakan.
He was probably thinking of submitting the Life Coins that he hid until the last day of the 5th and stolen from the ears of the monsters and the participants at once.
“But did Charlotte-senpai collect as much as we do?”
A whopping 46 Life Coins were obtained from duels with the participants collected until yesterday.
Each piece was worth 20 points, so in terms of points, it was 920 points.
And the registered points were 432 points.
Then the total is 1,352 points.
Last year, when Charlotte took first place in the rank-and-file match, the accumulated points were 1,531 points, so it was only 200 points difference.
However, it seems that it is not only Rakan and Irene to hide the points, the overall amount of points was small.
The currently registered points are 432 points, but the difference from the first place Charlotte team is only 35 points, so they are currently in second place.
Points were inevitably collected because of the fact that you cannot carry monster ears at night.
However, if I continued to use points, I thought I would miss the 1st place, so Charlotte and Irene were competing with each other for 1st and 2nd places.
“Including this time, seniors have played 3 rank battles and have 3 rings like me. I will unconditionally collect 1,500 points or more in this ranking match. Probably 2,000 points… No, I’ll collect more than 3,000 points. We have to think about collecting more than that.”
“·······3,000 points? If we want to get 3,000 points, we have to catch 82 more people. Is it possible?”
“I have to. Otherwise, you may miss the first place.”
Irene quickly teased the spoon.
“Let’s eat and go. Starting today, let’s hunt whatever we see, regardless of whether it’s a monster or anything.”
“OK.”
* * *
Tigris, as the security officer for this high-ranking battle, patrolled the Forest of Water Lily every morning to ensure the safety of the students.
There was nothing special so far, but Rota and Arphem’s clan would think of Tigris as a threat, so there was nothing wrong with paying attention.
“Hey~ It rained last night, so a rainbow appeared.”
The barrier magic instructor Terima, who had been following Tigris, even made a rainbow and talked to Tigris, who didn’t want to talk to him somehow.
“exactly?”
“yes. Look over there. Isn’t it pretty?”
“Please check if there is anything wrong with the barrier magic than that.”
“There is absolutely nothing wrong with the barrier! I checked it myself last week and it was fine.”
Tigris and Terima were currently circling the outskirts of the Water Lily Forest.
The outside of the forest of water lily was made of a 2.5m high barbed wire, and a 5m high magic barrier was applied in case external monsters broke the barbed wire.
“Isn’t the barrier magic strength able to block an orc attack?”
“Yes. you’re right. Of course, if trolls and ogres are trying to get in, they’ll break through…”
Terima pointed to the bracelet artifact on her wrist.
“There is an immediate response to this artifact. There’s a broken iron fence, so let’s go right away.”
“······Hmm.”
“You really don’t have to worry. It was quiet until last night. You seem to have raised the two disciples much better than that.”
Terima said with a fuss.
“We did a virtual counting of points, and Irene collected about 1,500 points and Charlotte collected about 1,600 points, right? Charlotte has already collected the highest marks in the history of the Imperial University. Hey, isn’t it great?”
Even without Tigris’ response, Terima was able to play the drum and play the drums on her own.
Tigris didn’t seem to be able to stop Therima even if he shut his mouth, so he decided to just listen.
“However, because we did not submit Life Coins or Monster Ears to each other, Rule 7, which made it impossible for the 1st team to dominate, became useless. Originally, I tended to skip this trick because the level of the students was to a certain extent, but how could I have known that such a huge monster would come out like Charlotte and Irene?!”
Tchrist knew the story well enough.
So, the head of the Nation Department was planning to introduce a new rule that would not allow those who placed first in last year’s ranking match to participate, and would disqualify those who did not submit monster ears and Life Coins within 36 hours.
“Oh, of course, Sir Tigris and his disciples are not the problem…”
“Stop talking for a second.”
“······yes?”
Tigris stopped at a strange feeling.
“Do you have any problem? Are there any problems with barriers or iron fences?”
Tigris looked around.
It was full of forests, trees and grass.
Tigris noticed a grass basking in the sunlight through the crevices of the thick trees.
And I checked the grass of the same species next to it.
The colors of the two grasses were subtly different.
The color on the side exposed to sunlight was darker.
I thought it was an illusion, so I tilted the grass and put it into the shadows, but the grass on the side receiving the sunlight was clearly dark in color.
Tigris took a step back and checked the tree.
The tree on the left and the tree on the right were the same oak, but the leaves of the tree on the left were darker.
And the tree on the left was especially taller than the other trees.
The alarm rang in Tigris’ head.
“Are there any barriers or iron fences under the ground?”
“yes? uh······. There is no barrier, although the iron fence is digging in about 1m.”
“Then you mean things like moles and giant worms might pass under the ground?”
“Giant worms dig all over the ground, so the iron bars are twisted. Then the alarm goes off right away.”
“What about the Forest Keeper’s Vines?”
“What about the forest keeper…?”
Terima noticed what Tigris had seen.
Tigris had seen the path passed by the forest keeper.
The Forest Keeper is a level 4 plant type monster.
The forest keeper moves in a very unusual way, not by walking on two legs, but by riding on the roots and trunks of trees and grass.
And just like the name of the forest keeper, his body rapidly grows the trees and grass that have moved, and in the process, the color of the leaves gets darker or the tree grows bigger.
Normally, when they encounter humans, they just pass by like wild animals or monsters, but when they see humans breaking trees or pulling grass to get rid of them, they start to go crazy.
The trees and leaves of grass are rapidly grown and crushed to death, or the vines protruding from their hands are put into the mouth, eyes, and nose, and then the inside of them is shredded to death.
In addition, the strength of the skin was so hard that it was hard to cut without the sword of a 4-star knight, so it was listed as a 4th-grade monster that was higher than the orc or beomchi.
“Forest keeper originally moves only when it rains… Oh my God.”
“Stop the sequel and evacuate the students immediately. I will hunt the forest keepers.”
“All right. I’ll let you know right away.”
Terima immediately picked up the communication crystal and started communication, and Tigris immediately followed the path the forest keeper passed.
The forest keeper was a monster that was no different from fear to the lords of the southern region.
This was because when the forest keeper began to riot, the trees in a radius of at least 100 m moved according to the will of the forest keeper, resulting in at least double-digit casualties.
‘At least 3 of them…’
Three riots at the same time could result in triple-digit casualties.
Tigris’ mind was complicated.
Why did the forest keeper appear at this time?
When I think back on my previous life, the only thing I can remember from this matchup is that Rakan touched the relic of his lover and fell into a coma.
However, since Tigris brought the lover’s relic, there was no way that would happen.
‘Is it just a coincidence?’
Due to martial law, there was a sense that the rank-and-file battle started a little late.
Usually, rank battles are held in the first week of May or the end of April, but this rank battle started in the third week of May.
Therefore, it was slightly intertwined with the period from late spring to early autumn, when forest keepers are active.
Tigris cleared his complicated hair.
It was right to analyze the cause later and organize this situation first.
First of all, it is unreasonable to follow the forest keepers blindly.
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Judging by the traces, at least three of them moved, whereas Tigris had only one body.If so, there is only one way.
Guide the Forest Keeper towards Tigris.
Tigris drew his sword and cut the tree next to him.
thud! thud! thud! thud!
The neatly cut down tree fell like dominoes as it hit the tree next to it.
– Whoa, whoa, whoa!
Then a long, low cry rang out from the front.
It was like howling a whale in the deep sea.
I could see the ground shaking in the distance.
Wow!
A troll with its body covered with dark brown hard bark came out from a height of 3 m.
That was the Forest Keeper, the fear of the forest created by the Demon King of Extinction by combining druids and trolls into a chimera.
– Whoa, whoa!
The forest keeper stretched out his hand.
Then trees began to fall sideways from all sides and attacked Tigris.
Tigris moved forward, cutting down the trees at once.
The forest keeper put his hand into the ground.
Then a vine that came out of the forest keeper’s hand flew toward Tigris like a snake.
But in front of Tigris’ sword, that hard vine was useless.
Before long, Tigris arrived in front of the forest keeper.
A silver arc cut through the forest keeper’s chest.
Since the Forest Keeper is a chimera of a troll, a decapitation would allow him to wander around unconscious for several minutes.
Therefore, cutting the heart, the weak point of the troll and the source of life, was able to reduce the damage.
– Whoa, whoa…
The forest keeper fell down, spilling green blood.
Where the green blood touched, moss, mushrooms and small grasses grew and covered the surroundings.
Tigris looked around.
Even though Tigris killed it as simply as possible, the area around 50m in radius became a complete mess.
Tigris checked the lover’s necklace.
The light hasn’t come on yet.
That said, Charlotte, Irene and Rakan were not in danger yet.
The three are not the only ones at risk.
Other students were also at risk.
‘I’ll have to find it soon.’
Tigris gave his feet more strength and followed the trails of the other forest keepers.