When Reina saw the Lich Knight appear, she pretended to be somewhat flustered.
Yeah, *pretended*. Her expression and tone were anything but flustered.
“Looks like something went wrong with the adjustment. This is a real problem.”
“You don’t sound like it’s a problem at all.”
“Well… it’s a bit off, but it’s still within the acceptable range.”
Your “acceptable range” is pretty broad, huh.
“Alright, Rudion. I’ll prepare to capture it, so hold it off until then. It’s fine if you get hurt, but try to be careful for now!”
Well, since she said she’s preparing, I guess I’ll have to draw its aggro.
I charged at the Lich Knight, poked its side with my sword to grab its attention, then ran in the opposite direction of where Reina was.
“Groooar!!”
Whether my taunt worked or not, the Lich Knight quickly started chasing me. With its entire body covered in armor, every step it took made a clanking sound.
The Lich Knight. Literally a mix between a Lich and a Death Knight.
It’s not something you’d normally see in the original story, but here I am, facing it.
Appearance-wise, it’s no different from a Death Knight swinging a sword, but the Lich Knight also uses magic.
Thanks to the Death Knight’s armor, it’s incredibly resistant to physical attacks, and with the Lich’s traits, its magic defense is top-tier too.
You could say it’s a case of compensating for the weaknesses of both mages and warriors while maximizing their strengths. A monster that truly embodies the term “no elemental weakness.”
Whoosh!
Crash!
Its greatsword swung toward me.
It didn’t seem as fast as I expected, so I dodged without even using any evasion skills. Thinking about it now, I might’ve been too casual about an attack that could’ve sent me flying if it landed.
But honestly, it didn’t feel that dangerous.
Maybe the training I did with Lilith had an effect on me too.
Anyway. The Lich Knight swung its sword, spammed magic, and caused all sorts of chaos trying to hit me, but sadly, after experiencing Seria’s serious magical bombardment, this just felt like child’s play.
“Professor, how much longer?”
“Almost done.”
I was getting bored of stalling, so I asked, and that was the response I got.
So, it’ll be over soon, I thought, but then someone intervened between me and the Lich Knight.
“Halt!!”
I saw someone running toward us, and who else could it be but the Necromancer guy playing the villain in this episode.
Whiny voice. Unkempt curly hair. Thick horn-rimmed glasses.
Chubby and plump physique. Even the shabby, tattered fashion that looks like they threw on some rags.
Just looking at that unappealing appearance, there was no way to mistake them for someone else.
Wow, they’re really ugly… Maybe it’s because I’ve been seeing nothing but handsome guys and pretty girls at the academy lately. Seeing something below average is kinda fascinating. How can someone be so uniquely unattractive?
The ugly guy started yapping at me, trying to argue about something.
“I, I did! I did everything here! So that thing is mine!”
Seems like he was claiming ownership of the Lich Knight that appeared here, arguing that since he polluted this land, it belongs to him.
Judging by the way his eyes lit up as he glanced at the Lich Knight, he was probably imagining himself controlling it and going on a rampage… Sadly, that’s not gonna happen.
If he had the specs to control something like that, he wouldn’t have been kicked out as an early-game villain.
At that moment, the Lich Knight let out a roar.
“Groooar!!!”
Not sure if the guy, who had been dodging and parrying, felt something like anger.
Honestly, with the combo of a skull head and armor, it’s hard to tell if it even feels emotions.
But one thing’s for sure… the Necromancer blocking its path was a perfect slab of meat to slice through, unlike me, who had been dodging all its attacks.
“W-wait! Stop! Obey my command!”
“Groooar!!”
The guy tried casting some half-baked magic to control the Lich Knight, but the result was predictable.
Swipe—
The Lich Knight’s sword cleanly severed the Necromancer’s left arm from his body.
“Huh…?”
I could’ve helped, but I didn’t really feel like throwing myself in to save a villain.
Unlike the main characters, I guess I just don’t have any attachment to him? I didn’t feel much of anything.
Maybe it’s because Reina, who can heal, is nearby. At least I didn’t feel any pity seeing him in pain.
“Aaaah!!! My arm!! My arm!!”
But the loud screams and the gushing blood were definitely gross.
I’d seen mangled limbs before, but I was out of it then. Seeing something like this with a clear mind is really unsettling.
Well, at least he’s not dead. Once we capture him, Reina can patch him up.
Right on cue, Reina shouted over to me.
“Rudion! I’m ready, so keep him from moving!”
Seems like everything’s set, so I casually swung my short sword.
Kaaang!
Before I knew it, the Lich Knight had closed in on me, swinging its greatsword, but the attack bounced right off, sending the heavily armored body tumbling backward with a loud thud.
At the same time, Reina hurled the magic stone she had been fiddling with toward the fallen Lich Knight.
The magic stone began to absorb the Lich Knight whole, radiating energy as if it was about to explode any second. But as Reina picked it up and channeled her mana into it, the energy gradually subsided.
“My arm!! My arm!! Aaaah!!”
Reina, who had been completely focused on the magic stone, didn’t seem to care about the commotion beside her. Only after the stone had fully stabilized did she turn her gaze to the Necromancer.
Then, she casually kicked the severed arm toward the Necromancer, rolling it to their side, and proceeded to heal it.
It looked incredibly half-hearted, but the effect was anything but.
The severed arm reattached itself.
“Aaaah!!! Aaaah!!!”
But the Necromancer kept screaming, seemingly unaware that their arm was fixed… until Reina suddenly spun and delivered a roundhouse kick to the back of their neck.
“Ugh.”
*Thud.*
The noisy screams stopped, and the surroundings instantly fell silent.
“…Wow, you’re ruthless, Professor.”
“Don’t sass me. I was going to knock them out anyway, even if they had calmed down.”
Reina, as if it were no big deal, casually slipped the magic stone containing the Lich Knight into her pocket.
A monster in a pocket… reminds me of that one manga, but I’d better not say its name, or I’ll be in trouble.
After successfully capturing the Lich Knight, Reina and I mounted our horses and headed back to the empire.
I ended up carrying the unconscious Necromancer, which brought the weight of our luggage back to its original level, despite having lightened it earlier with magic stones.
“Shall we head back to the Akadeumi?”
“No. Take us to the knight’s headquarters.”
Upon returning to the empire, Reina instructed the coachman.
We had no choice. We couldn’t bring the Necromancer to the Akadeumi.
Even though the nearest knight’s headquarters was quite a distance away, and handing over the Necromancer involved a lot of tedious procedures that delayed us significantly… I guess we’ve managed to prevent any future incidents.
Somehow, we unintentionally solved a problem.
We returned to the Akadeumi as quickly as possible, but by then, it was already past midnight, well into the early hours of the morning.
“Good work. It’s late, so go get some rest.”
“You worked hard too, Professor.”
Reina and I parted ways at the entrance, and I was left alone.
On the way back to the dormitory.
The messenger I had put in my bag rang.
Who could it be at this hour?
I took out the messenger and checked it. It was that person who always sends messages.
[Seria: Rudion.]
…Seria? Wait, isn’t she supposed to be asleep by 10? Why is she still up?
Seria’s messages kept coming.
[Seria: Looks like you’re back.]
[Seria: I was worried because you were late.]
[Seria: What happened that made you come back so late?]
[Seria: Never mind. I’ll hear it directly, so no need to reply.]
[Seria: Just come back to the dormitory first.]
Come back? Is she waiting outside or something?
With that thought, I quickened my pace a bit, and on the way, I ran into Seria, who was walking toward me.
Seria, who had approached me, smiled with a tired face.
“…Rudion. Hurry up and come here.”
“Hey, why aren’t you asleep at this hour?”
“I waited and waited, but you didn’t send any messages… I thought maybe you forgot again, so I sent you one.”
Seria said that and showed me her messenger.
And there, lined up, were the messages Seria had tried to send me.
[Seria: Rudion? Did you get in okay? (Failed to send)]
[Seria: You’re still not back? (Failed to send)]
[Seria: It’s already past 10. (Failed to send)]
[Seria: You’re still not here? (Failed to send)]
[Seria: Still? (Failed to send)]
[Seria: Rudion. (Failed to send)]
[Seria: Rudion. (Failed to send)]
[Seria: Rudion. (Failed to send)]
[Seria: Rudion. (Failed to send)]
[Seria: Rudion. (Failed to send)]
…What is this? It’s creepy.
Maybe it’s because the “Failed to send” messages are marked in bright red. Seeing my name repeated like that gave me chills.
Anyway, Seria continued what she was trying to say.
“So… I waited until you came back.”
“What were you going to do if I didn’t come back today?”
“…Good question. But since you came back like this, it’s fine, right?”
You’re really reckless. I’m grateful you waited, though.
I couldn’t just send Seria away after she waited for me, so I decided to walk her to the girls’ dormitory.
Going near the dormitory of the opposite gender is against school rules… but who’s going to see at this hour?
It didn’t take long for me to realize how naive that thought was.
