Chapter 18

The Academy is not only the world’s top educational institution but also the world’s top tourist destination.

The main building, where education takes place, closes every Saturday and Sunday, and each time, crowds of people come to visit and then leave.

A towering building so high that even bending at a 90-degree angle doesn’t reveal its end.

Barriers ahead of their time, filled with the essence of magic.

Books recording the history of dragons and a bow said to have been written by the first elf.

The Academy itself is a massive museum, an art gallery, a holy site for various races, and the ideal for mages.

However, ordinary people who aren’t interested in such things mainly enjoy boating on the canal.

They spend time with their families, eating something while floating above.

For just 90 coppers, there’s a culture where the ‘Four Seasons Canal Club’ will take you on a gondola ride around the outskirts of the Academy.

While doing so, they explain the history of the Academy and even engage in light chatter.

It’s inevitably well-received for its value.

However, the Four Seasons Canal claims a few casualties every year.

These are people who ignored the warnings on the signs or, knowing better, drank the canal water believing in superstitions.

The seemingly transparent canal water contains a poison that even the holy water of the church cannot purify after three hours.

So, please be careful… said a club member vigorously rowing the gondola today.

“Actually, we’re puzzled too. It’s been over three hundred years since the canal purification began. Yet, the toxicity remains extremely severe. We’re still actively researching what kind of deadly poison it contained in ancient times and how to detoxify it.”

*

“How can we make the poison even stronger?”

[Do we really need to make it stronger?]

“That’s true. Thinking about it, making it too deadly might accidentally kill students who fall in.”

[···Finally, a normal thought!]

“To prevent that, I’ve included poison resistance training in the curriculum. I’ve even tested it on myself, so there’s no need to worry about safety.”

I laughed as I saw Belva, dumbfounded, close her mouth.

Indeed, I no longer feel even the slightest effect from most deadly poisons.

I’ve gradually adapted to various poisonous plants and insects from the jungle, including Plentera’s poison, increasing their intensity.

Soon, I might be able to kill a Raptor just by spitting.

Why didn’t I think of this earlier?

Ice in the Ice Field, fire in the Volcanic Region.

Each region has distinct attributes, making the jungle seem a bit lacking in comparison.

Now, I don’t feel that way at all.

Poison feels much more effective than ice or fire.

Here’s how to use it.

First, prepare a liquid medium that can hold the poison.

Saliva works, but due to its limited quantity, blood is generally used.

Slightly cut your wrist to apply it to a weapon, then stab a Raptor.

“Kaaaah! Kaaah!”

The Raptor collapses after exactly three seconds.

Of course, using it on a Raptor isn’t the right method.

It requires close combat.

It’s a method for dealing with enemies wearing armor, where you can’t strike from a distance.

There’s a separate method for hunting soft-bodied creatures by maximizing stealth.

I took out a red thorn I had prepared in the Void Space.

A chill swirls around it.

It was my blood, frozen into a thin needle with ice power.

If you blow it hard through something like a straw, it can reach about a hundred meters.

Once it pierces, it melts with the body’s heat, injecting the poison.

Although only a minimal amount of poison can be injected, preventing death, it has the advantage of causing limb paralysis, blindness, and disrupting internal magic circuits, making the fight easier.

[Another gruesome idea… But can such a small thorn really fly a hundred meters?]

Ah, right.

Belva has been busy visiting Academy students lately.

So, she hasn’t seen it.

It surprisingly flies quite far.

I loaded the thorn into a wooden straw, took a deep breath, and blew it out.

With a strong wind, it flew straight, half-embedded in a tree before dripping down.

[It’s just that your lung capacity is good······.]

Is that so?

Actually, I can’t quite remember how weak I used to be.

I wonder how well I could survive if I went back to the very beginning with my current self.

*

A month and a half after starting the Academy construction work.

Inside a building made of woven wood, shaped like a container box, I was looking up at the gently risen full moon.

That’s when it happened.

Belva suddenly called me.

The urgent tone in her voice made me straighten my posture.

[I’m sorry! I should have investigated more thoroughly···!]

It’s not the first time Belva has panicked like this, but it’s not common.

First, I calmed her down with a steady voice and asked for a clear explanation of the situation.

[He has started his activities in earnest. He sent intelligent beings this way······.]

“Voice?”

[Yes. I don’t know how he bypassed my surveillance, but he has dispatched mercenaries here. He’s probably after the Dimension Power.]

When I asked about the mercenaries, Belva explained that their official designation is ‘Dimension Mercenaries.’

They move across dimensions to fulfill requests.

Hearing that, I imagined alien species you’d see in SF movies, but she said it’s not like that.

She added that dimension travel is not their power but the client’s.

Then, their combat strength is an unknown.

No. If they can crawl into such a remote dimension, it’s better to assume they have some level of skill.

There are no fools who gamble without confidence.

I roughly understood the situation.

But there was still an unresolved question.

“Belva. If they can send mercenaries like this, why hasn’t anyone done it before? Sending someone to another dimension isn’t exactly…”

“It doesn’t seem like only that guy can do it.”

[My job is to prevent such things. For dimensions where resistance is impossible on their own, the Watcher can hide them.]

“So you’ve been hiding them until now?”

[That’s right. This is a Primitive Dimension, and civilization hasn’t even been born yet.]

That’s really strange.

I tilted my head.

There was a flaw in Belva’s words.

“Then, why is it breached now?”

At my words, Belva, who seemed to have been pondering all along, opened her mouth without hesitation.

It was a somewhat absurd answer.

[That might be… because of someone I know.]

Hmm.

I had a hunch this would happen since last time.

Ever since I realized Belva wasn’t just a voice, I’ve been suspicious.

Even if a cousin buys land, it hurts, so how could I not be jealous of Belva, who’s in charge of a Primitive Dimension with all its resources intact?

According to Belva, Watchers aren’t much different from humans.

They have clear emotions and desires.

So, it was bound to happen someday.

Unless Belva was a hikikomori stuck in a room.

[……]

What I already knew has happened.

No need to be surprised.

I’ve been preparing my best.

I don’t think my efforts are lacking.

“You can’t stop it, can you?”

[…Yes. It’s frustrating, but the situation itself is legal, so there are restrictions.]

Let’s do it.

If they fight here, I have the advantage since I know the terrain.

I asked Belva about the mercenaries’ equipment and current location.

4 Orcs in full plate armor.

10 Elves with bows.

15 Humans in light breastplates.

50 Goblins in their underwear.

Quite a colorful group.

Are they taking on a joint request from a guild or something?

Still, there seems to be discrimination between races, as they’re all sticking together.

That’s very fortunate.

The mercenaries landed somewhere between the Volcanic Region and the Jungle Area.

It’s quite a distance from here.

Climbing up a tree and focusing my magic power into my eyes, I could vaguely see the mercenaries.

They seemed to be panicking from the heat of the Volcanic Region and the rough ecology of the jungle.

Of course, the Elves were climbing trees and starting to scout the area.

That’s going to be a problem.

If I don’t take out those pointy-ears first, it’s going to be a real hassle.

They’re already identifying poisonous plants and insects and avoiding them.

They’ve shared that information with the Humans.

Even if the Orcs and Goblins didn’t hear it, they might cooperate at any moment.

Hmm…

Seeing them use bows, their combat power doesn’t seem to be much.

Rather, it’s the Orcs I should be wary of in a frontal fight.

One swing of their axe can split a thick tree in half.

In terms of strength alone, they seem stronger than me.

Let’s avoid close combat.

If the mercenaries have any brains, they’ll avoid the large species.

Then, there’s no creature in the jungle without Plentera that can wipe them out.

Seeing them already slaughtering small dinosaurs, I understand why protection is needed.

This dimension still has no way to defend itself against a sufficiently advanced dimension.

“Stay quiet and hidden.”

I put Miho and the little demons into a hideout I prepared earlier.

I also gave them enough food and water.

In the end, I’m alone.

With a strange feeling, I smiled and pulled out a dagger from the Void Space.

Climbing back up the tree to scout, they’ve already come quite far.

They’re looking around as if searching for something.

Probably me.

Rather than waiting, it’s better to attack first.

Climbing the tree, I rushed forward.

The distance between me and the mercenaries quickly narrowed.

Then, one of the Elves in front raised his hand to focus the Elves.

[Wait. There’s a strange presence.]

[Is it the target?]

[Probably.]

I didn’t slow down.

Instead, I wrapped my dagger in magic power and prepared to attack.

[He’s coming!]

In an instant, arrows flew towards me as if they had been waiting.

Even if I twisted my body to dodge, they followed a strange trajectory and stuck into me like guided missiles.

It doesn’t matter.

This won’t stop me.

I swung my dagger at the commander leading the Elves.

He quickly moved to block with his bow, but in doing so, he didn’t see the dagger coming from below.

My hand pierced the Elf’s abdomen.

Of course, my hand was soaked in poisonous blood.

“Can’t… talk…”

I kicked the staggering guy down and pulled out the arrows stuck in me.

The wounds started to heal instantly.

I thought there might be poison, but no.

I looked at the Elves who had lost their leader.

There were eyes filled with panic and fear.

What are they doing?

I asked, slightly bewildered.

“Aren’t you going to fight?”

Only one has died.

They probably didn’t expect it, but there’s no time to be flustered.

The way to survive is always the same.

Just kill.

Or die.

No one wants to die, right?

“……”

“Alright.”

I smiled at the Elves drawing their bows with stiff faces.

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