Chapter 44

(4)

7.

Right after the mock hunt began.

Ulan and Delia headed into the forest 10 minutes earlier than the other students. It was Stella’s consideration to secure a base for the monsters.

How long had it been?

After walking for a while, Ulan stopped in his tracks.

“Hmm, this should do.”

While carefully observing the surroundings.

He cut down the vines hanging from the trees as long as possible. Seeing this, Delia asked with a curious expression.

“What are you going to do with that?”

“Tie it.”

“Tie what?”

“You and me.”

Huh? What does that mean?

Delia tilted her head in confusion.

Not long after, she understood what Ulan meant.

“Huh?”

Delia’s eyes widened.

Suddenly, Ulan lifted her body into the air. The world spun before her eyes, and soon the scenery changed.

Shortly after.

She realized her current position.

“······!?”

This wasn’t the ground.

Broad and firm muscles. It was Ulan’s back.

‘What? What’s going on?’

Why am I being carried like this?

Flustered, Delia struggled to move.

To get down from Ulan’s back. But strangely, she couldn’t move her body except for her arms.

And not long after.

Delia realized the reason.

Swish!

The tough vines quickly wrapped around her body.

It was Ulan’s doing.

He had tightly bound himself and Delia with the vines. As if he didn’t want to be separated from her.

“U, Ulan?! Wha, what are you doing······.”

“They’ll be here soon.”

Unlike her, who was completely flustered.

Ulan answered in a calm tone.

“So it’s safer to stay like this.”

Delia stopped struggling.

She understood the situation at once.

Since she couldn’t use magic now, the safest place for her was by Ulan’s side.

But there was a problem.

“You’re, too, close.”

“It’s easier to protect you if I’m close.”

“That’s, true, but······.”

But this is too close!

A silent scream echoed through her reddened face.

Meanwhile, Ulan continued to wrap the vines around them without a care. Not long after, an unbreakable knot was completed.

As the situation unfolded like this.

Delia had no choice but to resign herself to it.

So she quietly leaned on Ulan’s back, and suddenly realized something new.

‘Hmm? It’s much more comfortable than I thought.’

She thought it would be uncomfortable, but it was surprisingly fine.

Probably thanks to Ulan’s broad back.

Poke poke!

Delia pressed her fingers into his back muscles.

His back was much firmer than she expected.

She wondered how much training it took to build such muscles.

‘Are all men’s backs like this?’

While having such trivial thoughts.

Suddenly, her ears twitched.

Flicker!

Her pointed ears trembled slightly.

Soon, Delia’s eyes narrowed.

“······Someone’s coming.”

“How far?”

“Pretty, close. They’ve, stopped now.”

Probably students chasing them.

While carefully observing the flow of magic, she quickly grasped the students’ actions.

“They’re, setting, traps.”

There was a crack in the magic of the earth and forest.

They were probably using these materials to set traps to capture Ulan.

“What are, you going, to do?”

“Lure them.”

“Lure?”

“I don’t plan to step into their traps.”

A reasonable decision.

Delia asked curiously.

“But, how, will you lure them?”

“First, cover your ears.”

“Ears?”

Just as she made a puzzled expression.

Suddenly, Ulan took a deep breath. After noticing his rapidly expanding chest muscles.

“······!?”

Delia’s eyes widened.

She had a bad feeling.

“W, wait! Like the entrance ceremony······!”

Just as she recalled what happened in the auditorium.

Ulan grinned. As if to say she was right.

Seeing his smile, Delia tightly closed her eyes and urgently covered her ears.

It was the right decision. As soon as she covered her ears, a deafening roar exploded like a shockwave.

“I am─! Here─!”

Kwa ga ga ga ga!

A powerful shout that shook the surroundings.

The impact was so strong that even the tree branches shook.

“Come─! Hunt me─!”

After the roar subsided.

Delia frowned. Even though she covered her ears, they felt numb.

‘I should have used magic.’

In this situation, wouldn’t they have allowed a spell to protect her hearing? Swallowing her regret, she immediately spoke.

“But, will they, really come?”

“They’ll definitely come.”

The mock hunt has a time limit.

If 30 minutes pass, the monsters win.

Meaning, the hunters have no choice but to come to where Ulan is, whether they like it or not. Even if it means their traps are useless.

“They’re here.”

Just then, she sensed their presence.

The sound of six pairs of footsteps. Facing the students in sight, Ulan took out a sticker.

It’s hunting time.

8.

Meanwhile, at that time.

Stella was swiftly running through the forest.

With light, cat-like movements. She heightened all her senses to detect the students’ presence.

“Hmm, everyone’s doing well.”

The students had already set traps around the area where they thought Ulan would be.

They planned to lure Ulan into the trapped area and then attack him all at once.

“The intention is good, but······.”

It was still clumsy.

Not that the traps were poorly made.

The operation itself was sloppy.

“At this level, they might be able to catch a 3-star monster, but······.”

Their opponent is Ulan.

A true monster hunter who took down a 5-star monster. There’s no way he’d fall for such traps.

“Hehe, I wonder how he’ll handle this.”

The monster role has limited violence.

Plus, with the penalty of having to protect someone, he’d have to reveal his true strength under these conditions.

As anticipation filled Stella’s eyes.

‘Found him.’

She finally sensed Ulan’s presence.

So, she suppressed her presence as much as possible and moved to a spot where she could see him.

Shortly after.

‘Huh?’

Stella tilted her head in confusion.

Because of the scene before her eyes.

‘Why are they like that?’

Delia was being carried on Ulan’s back.

The problem was, beyond just being carried, they were tightly bound together with vines.

It looked incredibly uncomfortable. Stella kept tilting her head in confusion.

Just then.

“Whooosh!”

Suddenly, Ulan took a deep breath.

Soon after, a deafening roar swept through the area.

“I am─! Here─!”

“······?!”

The shockwave hit the forest.

The tree branches shook violently, and even Stella frowned. Her ears went numb from the sheer volume.

‘Ugh, at least it’s outdoors.’

Plus, there was some distance, so it was manageable. If she had been close, her eardrums would have been destroyed.

Wait. Close?

‘De, Delia? Is she okay?!’

She was the closest to Ulan.

Stella hurriedly looked at her.

Fortunately, she didn’t seem to have fainted. Probably because she covered her ears before the shout began.

‘Then······.’

This shout was prearranged.

Meaning, it was part of the plan. It was a bit unexpected, but not bad.

‘There are monsters like that.’

Monsters that set traps and mimic human screams to lure people.

Although Ulan didn’t set traps, by revealing his location, he rendered the students’ traps useless.

The situation was getting more and more interesting.

As Stella’s lips curled up.

Thud thud thud!

Suddenly, multiple presences were felt.

Six students were rushing towards Ulan from all directions. They held large stickers in their hands, shouting at each other.

“Ignore that barbarian!”

“Only target Delia Arpen!”

A simple but good strategy.

Delia was bound.

If they could block Ulan even for a moment, they could stick a sticker on Delia.

‘They’re like a suicide squad.’

A six-person suicide squad. It had a nice ring to it.

But just as they were a dozen steps away.

Boom! Rumble rumble!

Suddenly, the ground shook.

As if an earthquake had struck. The sudden change left the suicide squad with panicked expressions.

“Wh, what’s going on?”

“Fall back for now!”

The shaking was quite intense.

Enough to make it hard to keep balance.

Perhaps because of that? The suicide squad decided to retreat. But Ulan was much faster.

Slap!

With a loud sound like a slap, bright red stickers were stuck on the faces of the suicide squad.

Every single one of them.

“H, how did he······.”

With a dazed mutter.

The six-person suicide squad was instantly subdued. All of them had blank expressions. They couldn’t even touch his clothes, let alone stick a sticker.

Meanwhile, around that time.

Stella was dumbfounded.

She had watched the battle from a distance, so she saw everything that happened.

‘He gauged the distance······.’

Just as the suicide squad got close.

Ulan stomped the ground. The ground erupted as if exploding, causing an earthquake-like vibration in the area.

Once the suicide squad’s formation broke.

Ulan finally took action. The result was as clear as day.

‘I knew he was strong, but I didn’t expect this much.’

Creating vibrations by stomping the ground.

It’s not like he’s a giant from a myth.

As she let out a hollow laugh.

Thud thud thud!

With multiple presences.

Numerous students appeared.

But the location was peculiar. They weren’t on the ground or in the bushes, but all on the trees.

‘They must have thought there were traps on the ground.’

The suicide squad had two objectives.

One was to stick a sticker on Delia Arpen, and the other was to check for any possible traps.

Meaning, one objective was achieved.

“Team 1, capture the barbarian!”

“The rest, target Delia Arpen!”

After exchanging words.

The students all jumped down towards the two.

Over twenty of them. With this many rushing at once, even Ulan would be helpless.

Stella’s eyes sparkled.

‘Now, show us your true strength······!’

It’s time to show it!

As she inwardly cheered.

Rip! Tear!

Suddenly, the vines binding Ulan tore apart.

Were they that easy to break?

Just as she thought that, Ulan roughly grabbed Delia by the nape.

“U, Ulan?”

Was she anxious from the sudden action?

Delia asked in a flustered tone.

“What are, you doing······.”

But she couldn’t finish her sentence.

Ulan, who had grabbed her body with both hands, suddenly threw her into the air with all his might.

“······!?”

A completely unexpected action.

For a moment, everyone’s thoughts stopped.

A huge gap was created in an instant. Ulan rushed into that gap like lightning.

Slap! Slap! Thud!

Stickers were attached in the blink of an eye.

After achieving his goal in an instant, Ulan lightly caught the falling Delia. Of course, Delia was half out of it.

It all happened in an instant.

The students who fell to the ground blinked in confusion. As if they couldn’t comprehend what had just happened.

‘Ah, it’s over.’

Stella laughed hollowly.

She finally realized. The students had lost their will to fight. Not to mention, all the students had stickers on their faces.

But she wasn’t disappointed.

In fact, she had an excited expression.

‘He’s much stronger than I thought!’

Strength and agility far beyond common sense.

If measured by the Military Department’s standards, he’d be at least a high-ranking knight.

The fact that such a talent could be nurtured as a hunter excited Stella greatly.

‘Now, then······.’

I should announce the end of the exam.

Stella quickly revealed her presence. To declare the end of the mock hunt.

But then a problem arose.

“Huh?”

While she was distracted for a moment.

Ulan had disappeared without a trace.

“What? Where did he go?”

He was just here a moment ago.

As she looked around.

Shiver!

A chilling sensation ran through her body.

“······!”

A creepy feeling running down her spine.

Soon, her hunter instincts sent a warning.

It was the first time she felt this since hunting a 7-star monster alone in the Eastern Jungle.

It was the fear of death.

Stella hurriedly stepped back. But the opponent’s attack was faster.

‘No! It’s too late······.’

As her eyes widened.

Slap!

“Ouch!”

Pain shot through her forehead.

As if she had been flicked. A moment later, Stella realized something was stuck to her forehead.

“Th, this is······.”

A bright red sticker.

As she stared at it blankly.

“This is the end.”

A familiar voice suddenly rang out.

Ulan had approached her without her noticing.

Meaning, the target her instincts had warned her about was Ulan. Stella blinked in confusion.

“Wh, why me······.”

“I told you before the hunt started. Stick stickers on everyone except me.”

So he stuck one on her.

After his confident reply.

Stella couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

“Pfft! Ahahaha!”

This is ridiculous.

A freshman who can hide his presence better than a professor who’s been on the battlefield for over a decade.

Stella revised her earlier judgment.

‘Ulan isn’t at the level of a high-ranking knight.’

Because Stella herself was at the level of a high-ranking knight. Meanwhile, Ulan was much stronger than her. So to put it simply······.

‘He’s at the level of an expert.’

Beyond the threshold of a high-ranking knight, nearing the level of a master. Stella guessed that Ulan had reached that level.

‘I should report this to the higher-ups.’

Originally, Ulan was reported to have the combat power of a mid to high-ranking knight.

Shortly after, Stella, who had snapped out of her thoughts, looked around at the gathered students and said.

“There’s no room for disagreement with the results of this mock hunt. Everyone agrees, right?”

Of course, there were no objections.

Stella grinned.

“It’s your victory. Ulan.”

The mock hunt, which had started so suddenly, ended with Ulan’s overwhelming victory.

9.

After Stella’s lecture ended.

Ulan turned to attend the last lecture. Of course, before that, he had to endure Delia’s fierce anger.

“Why did, you throw, me!”

Delia shouted with a red face.

And she had every right to.

When the students attacked, Ulan had thrown her into the air without a word.

But he had his reasons.

“There was no time to explain.”

If he had taken the time to explain, Delia might have gotten hurt. So he decided to handle the situation first and explain later.

And it all worked out fine.

After explaining his reasons, Delia nodded with a flushed face.

“······I understand, the situation.”

It’s good that she understood.

But she still seemed angry.

The fact that she avoided eye contact was proof.

“But, I was, really scared······.”

Fidgeting with her fingers.

Suddenly, she blurted out something unexpected.

“If we, have dinner, together, I’ll forgive you.”

“Dinner? Tonight?”

“Yeah. Tonight.”

Her small face nodded up and down.

While constantly glancing at him.

He thought she’d be angrier, but who knew a meal would calm her down. Ulan, with a surprised look, replied.

“Alright. Let’s eat together.”

“Re, really?”

“Yeah. Shall we meet by 6?”

“Y, yeah.”

Delia’s expression brightened.

As if her anger had subsided.

“I have, something, to say, so you have to come, okay?”

“What? If you have something to say, just say it now······.”

“No, I’ll, tell you later.”

After shaking her head.

Delia quickly disappeared from sight.

He didn’t know what was going on, but at least her anger seemed to have subsided, which was a relief.

But not everything was a relief.

“I’m late.”

While talking with Delia.

He had slightly missed the next lecture time. Sensing he was late, Ulan immediately started running.

Thud thud thud! Thud thud thud!

A dust storm rose from his sprint.

His destination was where the day’s last lecture was about to begin. The Military Department’s armory.

Chapter 13. You Shouldn’t Have Done That

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