Chapter 42
An Academy Field Trip Is Guaranteed to Be Attacked (6)
Oskar stood leaning against the wall, his sword planted in the ground.
“This is seriously unbelievable.”
He roughly wiped away the blood running down his forehead and surveyed his surroundings.
He could not see anything.
Forests were dark by nature. The forests of Pritchenkaya were especially dark, to an almost sinister degree. Even in broad daylight, it was difficult to see any light.
So naturally, once buried beneath the soil under that forest, finding a source of light would be difficult.
That much, he could understand.
But...
“Why is there a cave beneath the forest? This country is insane.”
Oskar let out a hollow laugh and raised his sword.
One of his legs had broken from the impact. He could manage to walk while leaning against the wall, but even that would not be easy.
Should I wait until help arrives?
He was a student.
Naturally, a rescue team would be dispatched after a major accident like this occurred during class.
On top of that, he had three extra orbs tucked inside his clothes. From what he had heard, each one was a magical tool equipped with a tracking function.
Therefore, unless something went wrong, remaining where he was would be the safest option.
However...
Did those bastards make it out?
That was the problem.
Having three orbs meant he had stolen at least two from other students.
He had defeated two of his classmates and taken their orbs. It had been part of the exam, so it could not be helped, but now that things had turned out like this, it became troubling.
He had effectively taken away their tracking devices.
If those two were buried somewhere beneath this collapsed earth, they might never be rescued.
Oskar sighed.
The pain rising from his broken leg was dreadful.
Even so...
“I have to save them.”
He wiped away the blood and opened his eyes.
His green eyes gleamed in the darkness.
He had to save them.
Because they were his classmates?
Because he was a good person?
Because he was the son of Gilles Ver, the hero of the Hero Party?
No.
Because he was a knight.
A knight of Thales never abandoned the weak in the face of hardship.
He recalled what his father, the Lord Protector, had taught him since childhood.
“Aaaagh! Help us! Is anyone there?!”
“Please help us! We’re trapped under here!”
How noisy.
Ivan clicked his tongue as he walked through the tunnel.
Inside a tunnel where vision was severely restricted, the loss of one sense naturally heightened the others, particularly hearing.
Therefore, one should never shout inside a tunnel.
Especially not if that tunnel was part of a battlefield.
Not only would it provide an excellent directional marker for enemies beyond the passage, but screams scattering in every direction would echo along the tunnel walls and distort one’s sense of direction.
Once someone became lost like that, fear would grow.
Humans had not been made to live in darkness.
Untrained people panicked under such circumstances.
They screamed again, lost their sense of direction again, and the vicious cycle continued.
Click.
Ivan listened to the screams and drew his pistol.
He closed his eyes and continued walking.
One step.
Then another.
Never rushing, yet never moving leisurely either.
His stride was so precise that it seemed measured with a ruler.
Straight ahead.
He counted every step he had taken.
His stride was exactly eighty-six centimeters.
Therefore, by counting his steps, he could map his movement from the point where he had entered.
An officer of the Annihilation Unit was required to master field triangulation alongside map reading.
Oskar’s last confirmed position.
Isabel’s position.
The location where Ivan had jumped down.
By plotting those three points without error, he could continue moving with absolute confidence even through tunnels stretching out like a maze.
“Please help us!”
The screams were close.
Ivan raised his pistol and aimed at roughly waist height as he walked.
Taking the average height of a dwarf into consideration, that was approximately where the head would be.
Of course, shooting a dwarf in the head with a pistol would not necessarily kill one.
Those bastards were disgustingly sturdy.
“Is someone there?!”
“We’re here! Over here!”
“What is your name?!”
“Patrick! No, wait, why does that matter?!”
Of course it mattered.
Ivan smirked at the voice echoing from the end of the tunnel.
That awkward manner of speaking.
A dwarf.
They were wandering through the tunnels in search of their target.
Ivan sensed the dwarves moving away again after hearing the stranded student’s answer.
So not every student was a target.
“You’re lucky.”
The boy named Patrick had survived because he revealed his name first.
The dwarves in the tunnel were probably searching for Oskar or Isabel.
Enrique was in the area.
That meant they could not afford to drag things out.
Vampires also possessed excellent night vision, and fighting Enrique inside a tunnel would be one of the worst ways imaginable to commit suicide.
Therefore, those two students would at least not be killed by the dwarves.
“Where are you going?! Where are you?! Please save us!”
“Shh. Quiet.”
Before the student knew it, Ivan had approached and clamped a hand firmly over his mouth.
Ivan felt the boy’s sharp intake of breath, along with damp sweat, tears, and other bodily fluids against his palm.
He quietly patted the child’s shoulder and whispered.
“The men who just asked your name are the ones who dug this tunnel.”
“...Mmph?!”
“That’s right. You nearly died. So stay quiet.”
“Phew...! W-Who are you, sir?”
“A rescuer. Now, stay quiet. Do you have your orb?”
“Oskar took it from me!”
Of course things would not be that easy.
Ivan clicked his tongue and asked,
“Is Oskar nearby?”
“Yes. The ground collapsed almost immediately after we lost to him...”
“Can you walk?”
“Y-Yes!”
“Take this.”
Ivan pulled out an orb from his waist and handed it to the student.
“Walk about ten meters in that direction. At least that far. You should be able to see the sky. Climb out and wait for rescue there. Enrique will find you soon.”
“Th-Thank you so much!”
“Quiet. The enemy is still nearby.”
Ivan patted the boy’s shoulder a few times and moved on.
“What is your name?!”
“Patrick! No, wait, why does that matter?!”
Good.
A rescuer.
That worked out well.
He could escape with them while they were at it.
Thankfully, both of those idiots seemed to be alive.
That was one less thing to worry about.
Oskar sighed and staggered forward.
He was about to shout for help when he suddenly closed his mouth.
Something was strange.
He asked for a name... and then there was no sound.
There was no reason for them to whisper.
If there were other students nearby, the rescue team should have shouted even louder to announce their presence.
Therefore, the fact that the voices had abruptly stopped was strange.
Oskar’s instincts sounded an alarm.
“Anyone else?! Are there any other survivors?!”
Oskar swallowed and listened carefully.
The voices of the two students had ceased completely after that man’s shout.
One possibility came to Oskar’s mind.
What if it was not normal for a cave like this to exist beneath the forest of Pritchenkaya?
Now that he thought about it, the walls were far too smooth for a natural cave.
What if this was not a natural occurrence at all?
What if someone had dug out these tunnels and prepared a trap?
Then the man shouting as though he were rescuing students was...
“An enemy.”
Oskar gritted his teeth.
Fighting an unknown enemy in complete darkness, where he could not see even an inch ahead, was foolish.
Even more so with one leg broken.
It would be better to wait.
In any case, he possessed a tracking magical tool.
As long as Enrique was nearby, a rescue team would arrive soon.
He only had to wait until then.
Oskar gritted his teeth and tightened his grip on his sword.
“Me! Over here! Please help me!”
“What is your name, student?!”
Another shout echoed from deep within the cave.
A different survivor was screaming.
This was driving him insane.
Oskar forced himself upright.
He let out a long sigh, squeezed his eyes shut, and swallowed several moments of hesitation.
Then he opened his eyes and shouted,
“Oskar, son of Gilles Ver, Lord Protector of Thales, is here!”
Damn it.
Wasn’t it obvious?
Anyone meticulous enough to set a trap like this would naturally be aiming for a high-value target.
And the most valuable target in the forest of Pritchenkaya was him.
Of course, Isabel was here as well, but it would be difficult to claim that she was worth more than he was.
Her father was missing, whereas his own father was still a duke of Thales.
Naturally, if they intended to kidnap someone, abducting the duke’s son would be the better choice.
The same was true even if they were not kidnappers.
His own father had accumulated far more grudges than the Hero, Maximilien.
In other words, there was a very high chance that he was their target.
The fact that they had been asking for students’ names from the beginning was suspicious enough.
“Found you.”
A low voice echoed.
Oskar clenched his teeth and raised his sword.
Was this really the right thing to do?
Who would ever know he had risked his life like this?
Who would acknowledge it?
“I will.”
Goodwill should serve as a light for oneself alone.
The greatest virtue of goodwill was self-sacrifice independent of another person’s recognition.
A knight of Thales never abandoned the weak in the face of hardship.
Oskar ground his teeth and held his sword upright.
Gilles Ver raised a fine son.
Ivan smirked as he watched him.
He slowly continued forward and raised his pistol.
Step by step.
Neither rushing nor walking leisurely.
He counted each step while maintaining an exact stride.
Pistol raised, sights aligned at waist height.
He listened to the heavy footsteps, calculated their stride, inferred their height, and adjusted his aim.
Then he waited for the footsteps within hearing range to enter effective firing distance.
He determined Oskar’s position and shifted the firing line away from him.
Straight ahead.
Aim.
Hold breath.
And then—
Fire.
Bang—!!