5 – Entrance Ceremony 3
The last remaining mask in my hand split in half with a creak.
“What exactly are you?”
Lucas, who had come closer, looked at me with a guarded expression in his eyes. Not only Lucas, but other students also looked at me with the same expression.
It wasn’t just a gaze at a good-looking person.
Was it because they were surprised to see me handling the mask, or because even Lucas was sweating and catching his breath while I stood there as if nothing was wrong, or maybe it could be both.
“············.”
Not only Lucas but the other students also waited for my answer, but I couldn’t say anything.
It was damn hard!
“I feel like I’m going to die!”
My arms and legs trembled, and I wanted to lie down on the floor right away.
My face inside the mask was soaked with sweat.
The reason why the other students thought I was fine was simply because of the nature of a poker face.
I just wanted to lie down on the ground and rest, but for some reason, all the students’ attention was focused on me, so the clown character worked hard.
I walked to a position where as many students as possible could see me.
“It seems like everyone is curious about my identity.”
Feeling the concentration of all the students’ gazes,
I bowed my head and placed my right hand on my left chest.
Just like an actor on stage finishing a performance and greeting the audience.
“I’m sorry for the late introduction, I’m a student just like all of you, and my name is Rocky, just an ordinary clown.”
As soon as I finished speaking, I heard a loud “kukung” sound coming from behind me, as if a hole had been punctured in the air.
Although I didn’t look, I knew there was something there. Surely, it was a golem and dozens of demons. It was the defeat event that occurs in Croaca. It wasn’t a stage designed to be defeated from the beginning, but rather a stage where defeat was certain.
“But who am I?”
I’m a veteran who has been playing Croaca for 10 years, a handsome flower boy, the ideal type of every woman, the enemy of every man, a handsome jester. That’s me. That’s why I was able to defeat the golem, a defeat event in Croaca.
Even now, in this reality, nothing had changed. With the power of combining forces, I could easily defeat one golem.
That’s what I thought. Until I confirmed that there were two golems. What the hell is this? I didn’t expect two of them to appear.
“This is unbelievable.”
“How are we supposed to defeat that?”
The other students either sat down hesitantly or took a step back, as if giving up on fighting.
But why am I laughing in this situation? Is it because of the jester’s nature, or because of a gamer’s pride? I didn’t find this sudden and unexpected situation unpleasant.
The golems and demons remained in their positions. Perhaps because the golems and demons were still, the students started to have hope.
“Why aren’t they moving?”
“We’ve done enough at this point.”
“Then we don’t have to defeat them, right?”
The students were either tired of fighting or leaning towards not fighting anymore. And their judgment was correct.
In reality, the professors had already finished evaluating the students, and whether they defeated the golems or not, the grades wouldn’t change. Yet, there was a reason why I had defeated the golem in Croaca and why I wanted to defeat it now.
“Because it’s fun.”
As if possessed, I moved forward, and there were two or more people making the same foolish decision as me.
Lucas Leonhart and Clara Adelian.
“Roki, it seems like we don’t have to defeat them, so why are we moving forward?”
“To me, is Mr. Lucas, who says such things, also walking forward like me?”
“Both of you, quiet down. We’re going after the golem anyway.”
As Clara Adellian said, the reason the three of us are walking forward is one: to capture the golem. However, our reasons for wanting to capture the golem are different.
Lucas is testing himself as an unmanned.
Clara is fulfilling her curiosity as a magician.
I, as a gamer, am challenging a new event.
But before we could capture the golem, there was something we had to do first. We had to first deal with the mana around the golem.
“Before capturing the golem, it seems like we should tidy up the mana around. Who’s going to do it?”
As I spoke, the three of us looked at each other, gauging reactions. I was the first to speak.
“Mr. Lucas seems quite tired. How about resting while dealing with the mana around? I’ll take care of the golem specifically.”
“Tired? I’m perfectly fine. With so many mana creatures around, isn’t that something a magician handles well?”
“What nonsense. Who was the one who caught the most mana creatures in the first place?”
If someone was to fight the golem, someone else had to deal with the mana. And all three of us wanted to fight the golem, not deal with the mana. As I pondered on what to do, a good idea flashed in my mind.
“I have a good idea. Could you lend me your ears for a moment?”
Lucas and Clara leaned in, curious about my claim of having a good idea.
I gestured to the students who were standing around, looking dazed from encounters with the mana. Many were unconscious, and there weren’t many left standing.
“How about using those over there?”
“Those cowards won’t easily engage in a fight.”
Though Clara dismissed my suggestion as impossible, I looked at Lucas and said, “If someone among us is good at persuasion, wouldn’t that work?”
Clara, who had heard my words, also looked at Lucas. Frankly, in order to use them, it was necessary to have the status of the prince Lucas.
“Are you telling me to persuade you now?”
“I didn’t say that specifically, did I?”
I stared at Lucas, saying so. Yeah, I’m telling you.
“Ha.”
Lucas sighed briefly and walked towards the students. He spoke in a very cold voice, different from the one he had just been speaking in.
“What are you all doing? Do you not intend to fight in front of the enemy?”
“Well, but…”
“Why did you come to the academy? I came to test myself. Unlike outside, here I can only know how far I can go with just one window.”
His words had a strangely compelling power. A characteristic only the nobility of the empire possesses, [dominance].
“So I want to test myself. If you also want to test yourself with me, stop doing stupid things like giving up in front of the enemy and fight.”
While I was watching this scene, Clara spoke to me. She wasn’t as much as Johanna, but Clara was also a character I liked, so I listened to her words.
“Where did you learn swordsmanship? No way, you couldn’t have.”
I could tell what she was trying to ask. She was probably going to ask where I learned swordsmanship. I’ll have time to talk to her about this later.
“What, are you two having a friendly conversation without me?”
“Clara showed a lot of interest in me.”
Behind Lucas, who had approached without notice, there were still students who could fight, holding their weapons.
“Tsk, I didn’t say anything. By the way, can they really fight properly? It looks like some of them are swept up in the atmosphere.”
“Ha ha, don’t worry. I know a powerful spell.”
I didn’t want to use this method, but I guess I have to.
“Hello everyone, I introduced myself earlier, but I’m Loki.”
As I spoke, Lucas and Clara stared at me, trying to figure out what I was going to say.
“Are you nervous?”
The students, as if they couldn’t believe what they were hearing, widened their eyes. Before they could gather their thoughts, I continued without a break.
“I didn’t ask you to capture a golem, just to catch a few imps. If you’re scared, you can take a break. I’ll handle everything.”
“What did you say?!”
“Do you think we’d be scared of just a few imps?”
“Yeah, we’ll make sure not a single imp gets away.”
I left the energized students behind and signaled a ‘V’ to Lucas and Clara.
“How’s that? A spell to boost your morale.”
“hahahaha, you’re something else.”
Lucas chuckled as if he couldn’t help it, while Clara turned her head, ignoring me.
“Oh, Clara, please don’t ignore my spell! How was it?”
“Shush, are we not going to capture the golem?”
“No, we have to go quickly. If we don’t, the indifferent Clara might steal all the credit for my spell.”
“You!”
Lucas and I rushed towards the golem, paying no attention to the imps coming at us.
The imp charging at us was met with a powerful blow and went flying.
A man with a giant body and a granite-colored skin. He was the heir of the Isar tribe.
Kuran Issar.
“I, Kuran Issar, a warrior of the honorable Issar tribe, will protect you all from the Mana Beast. Yield the grand prey ahead to you!”
“Kuran, thank you. Let’s exercise together next time!”
Thanks to that, I could keep running without stopping.
“Take care of yourselves!”
I lowered my head at the voice coming from behind.
The wind passed above my head and tore through the Mana Beast in front of me.
A woman manipulating spirits with pink hair. A daughter of the Reviden family.
Sepia Reviden.
“I’m different from the others! I wasn’t idling like an idiot, but resting to catch the golem.”
“hahahaha! With such strong power, your words inspire trust.”
Aside from these two, we received help from a few others, allowing us to ignore the Mana Beast and keep running.
Finally, we arrived in front of the golem.
Seeing it up close, I was amazed by its size. I had run this far, but I hadn’t really thought about how to capture it.
However, my mouth, borrowing the characteristics of a clown, uttered some strange words.
“Well, then, let’s put on the best show for the students who helped us up to this point.”