Chapter 81
Joshua led his comrades and hid behind a large rock.
He then looked around his surroundings.
He saw sothing wriggling beyond the bushes.
“It is zombies, right?”
Tania muttered as she lowered her voice.
“Serena, what do you think based on your judgnt?”
[It is zombies, no doubt about it.]
Serena answered with a face full of conviction.
As her detection magic developed, she was able to distinguish the movents of living organisms.
“What should we do?”
Joshua closed his eyes for a mont.
[Cool] and [Clever] combined their strength to refine his thoughts.
The number of zombies.
The risks posed by the environnt.
And the remaining distance to the lake.
Advancing while fighting was unreasonable.
Unlike the knight units, these girls, being mages, had relatively slow reactions.
If they were ambushed from the bushes, they could not avoid it.
“We avoid fighting. We will move slowly as we are doing now. I want Serena to continue guiding the way.”
[Leave it to .]
“And watch your feet. There is a possibility of traps.”
[Traps?]
“The rcenaries who first challenged this request installed them. The forest is an easy place to make traps.”
The comrades took their steps slowly.
They lowered their waists and each took charge of one direction.
Though it was an uncomfortable posture, no one complained.
“I thought it would be different outside, but this feels similar to being trapped in the mine.”
Adela answered as if she were in pain.
The lush jungle had a strong sense of being closed off in a different sense.
While continuing to move, Serena raised her hand.
Her pupils wandered like a child who had lost their way.
[They are everywhere.]
“The number?”
[There are two or three in every direction.]
“Understood.”
Joshua drew his dagger.
Holy attribute magic was too conspicuous for dealing with enemies.
“I will handle the ones on the left, Adela.”
“Yeah?”
“You help too.”
“What do you want to do?”
“Create ice as sharp as an awl. And drive it into the zombie's head in one breath.”
Adela took a deep breath slowly.
She felt her breathing, which had quickened with tension, return to normal.
“I can do it.”
“Good.”
Joshua nodded.
Her trauma had not been resolved yet.
It was necessary to teach her about her own possibilities.
[I will tell you where they are.]
The two people moved in the direction Serena taught them.
Lowering their waists, they quickly took up positions behind the zombies.
Joshua adjusted his grip on his sword.
He grabbed the zombie's neck and pierced it with the sword in one breath.
The bastard struggled violently.
On the opposite side, he saw another zombie struggling.
Thud!
Soon the zombies collapsed.
He checked if there were any that reacted to the sound, and confird once more through Serena.
[No problem.]
He returned to his spot along with Serena’s signal.
He checked on Adela.
She had a pale face drained of blood.
“Any injuries?”
“……None.”
“It was not a bad show of skill.”
She hesitated while showing an embarrassed expression.
“I have been practicing in my spare ti.”
“Yes, practice consistently.”
Joshua knew the fact that she practiced every night with Tania.
It was his intention.
He had not recovered all the mana stones.
Because they were children with a strong desire for improvent, he believed they would utilize them.
“W-Wait a minute, did you perhaps know?”
“I don't know what you are talking about.”
Adela rolled her eyes in embarrassnt.
Tania, who had practiced with her, also lowered her head and hid her face.
“The small talk ends here. I know a place to take a rest. Don't relax your tension until then.”
They moved again.
The pink mist they had seen near the entrance grew stronger and stronger.
It was a characteristic of Lake Eria.
And because they did not know what this mist was, the rcenaries who had challenged it were defeated.
“Senior, what on earth is this smoke?”
“It is mist infused with mana. If you inhale it for a long ti, hallucinations occur.”
“W-Who on earth made this?”
“It is our target, that bastard is also a variant.”
“Is it similar to Professor Gordon whom we t at the research center?”
“Yes.”
Joshua held his staff and used magic.
[Sanctuary] was one of the spells he learned through the knight order’s warehouse.
He created a veil of light around them.
Inside this veil, the opponent’s magic grew weak.
“The closer we get to the lake, the stronger the power of the mist will beco.”
“What happens if we fall into a hallucination?”
“I don't know.”
“Huh?”
“Because only the person themselves knows what soone who falls into a hallucination will see.”
Tania shut her mouth and bit her lip.
Knowing the identity of the mist, her gaze kept drifting toward it.
If one falls into an illusion, from what mont does it start?
Perhaps it might be from the mont after he finished the explanation.
[Would it not be good to set a code word? So only we can know.]
Serena suggested an opinion implicitly.
“In what way?”
[Creating nas other than our real nas.]
“It would be fine to try it.”
[How should we do it?]
“I will leave the judgnt to you.”
The three female students gathered in one place.
They discussed what nas would be good with one voice.
“I am the Ice Witch.”
“I am Ifrit.”
[I want to be Gaia.]
“Luna is fine with Draco, right?”
Joshua’s eyebrows twitched.
For things created spontaneously, they were nad after things related to their respective abilities.
“By the way, Joshua, you are ssiah.”
Adela spoke while letting out a snort.
“Understood.”
Joshua answered indifferently.
It remained to be seen whether this plan would be useful.
Adela grumbled at his cold reaction.
Just before she could make a silent protest.
Snap!
An unnatural sound was heard from the ground.
At the sa ti, soone’s scream erupted.
“Kyaaaaaaah!”
Sothing that snatched Tania’s ankle pulled her into the air in an instant.
He quickly checked what was caught on her foot.
It was a snare.
A hunter's thod.
Having gone up to the top of a tree, she covered her mouth late.
[The bastards are flocking in.]
He could tell the existence of zombies even without Serena’s answer.
Tania looked down at him with an anxious heart.
He drew his dagger and gauged the distance.
It was considerably high.
Even with [Strength Enhancent], it was not easy to hit such a distance accurately.
If he made a mistake, Tania would be hit.
“Tania, cut the rope with fire.”
“Okay!”
She gathered mana in her hand and created a fla.
The rope was cut.
Luna safely caught her as she was falling.
“What are you going to do about the ones approaching?”
Adela asked in a trembling voice.
“We run, keep running forward from here.”
Joshua began to run forward through the jungle.
He felt the existence of the monsters following behind.
His chest began to feel tight.
As expected, this body was still physically lacking.
[Patience] cheered him on to do his best.
“Huff, huff, I cannot run anymore.”
The first one to get exhausted was Tania.
She panted with a painful expression.
The other two people were equally exhausted.
“Twenty seconds.”
“Huh?”
“Endure for just twenty seconds.”
“Are you saying I don't have to run once the twenty seconds are up?”
“Yes.”
Tania bit her lip hard.
She could not show a weak appearance alone.
She began to count twenty seconds in her heart as he said.
One, two…….
In an urgent situation, twenty seconds felt this long.
Nineteen…… twenty.
When the end finally arrived.
“W-Wait a minute.”
The end of the land after exiting the bushes was a cliff.
And below it, a river that looked deep flowed.
“Are we jumping from here?”
“It’ll be fine.”
“It looks dangerous.”
“You will not die from this height. Though you will get bruises.”
“That is a problem in itself.”
“Think of it as getting a big bruise, though you might get a fracture if you are unlucky.”
“……For your information, I cannot swim either.”
“I know. I chose this way considering even that.”
Tania looked back.
The zombies had pursued them to right under their noses.
It was not a ti to hesitate.
“Hold my hand tight.”
Adela encouraged her while grabbing her hand.
She thought of her sister, Lady Lucile, and it gave her strength.
They kicked off the ground at Joshua’s signal.
They fell down.
Feeling the resistance given by the air, they fell straight into the water.
Adela supported her as she was struggling because she was not used to swimming.
“Puha!”
The river water was flowing from upstream to downstream.
The current was strong.
The depth was also considerable.
Fortunately, the opposite side was not as steep a slope as the cliff they jumped from.
“Adela, your role is important from now on.”
“What is it?”
“Block the river water, like a sluice gate that controls the water level.”
“Do you think I can think of such a formula in this situation!”
“You can do it. It is you who saves us.”
Adela narrowed her brow.
Tania, who was next to her, was engulfed in increasingly large splashes.
She was rapidly losing her physical strength due to the river water.
She closed her eyes tightly.
She scraped together the knowledge in her head.
In theory, she had no confidence in losing to anyone.
Except for just one person.
“Dammit! You should have said this kind of thing sooner.”
She spread her hands.
Ice flowers blood in the direction the river water was flowing down.
The surrounding area froze at a terrifying speed.
Bang! The ice wall prevented the comrades from being swept away.
“Luna, return to your true form. You are to pull us up to the ground.”
“Yes!”
“You guys also grab onto Luna.”
Luna canceled her polymorph.
Having returned as a dragon, she swam skillfully and went up to the ground.
Those who barely escaped from the river water cald their breath.
“Joshua, I really hate you.”
A soaking wet Adela answered while on the verge of tears.
“I see.”
“Don't take being hated for granted!”
“It is a familiar thing to .”
After coming up to the ground, everyone sat down and cald their breath.
Luna shook her body with all her might and shoved her face forward.
It was the appearance of a child wanting praise.
When he stroked her chin, she gave a smile with her eyes.
“You did well.”
“My body is cold.”
“I know a place worth resting. I plan to warm up our bodies there.”
“I think it would be good to hurry.”
He agreed with her words.
He looked at the three people while turning his head.
They were wringing out the moisture on their hair or clothes with their hands.
“Um, I am sorry.”
Tania spoke while lowering her head.
“If I had not been caught in a trap, we would not have had to fall into the river.”
“You don't have to apologize.”
“……But.”
“There are more things you can do. So don't be discouraged by this kind of thing.”
The other female students also comforted Tania with smiles.
“Thank you, everyone.”
“Now check if there are any lost items. If there is no problem, I plan to go to the hideout I know.”
Each checked the backpack they were carrying.
Fortunately, there seed to be no items swept away in the current.
“It seems a problem occurred for Serena.”
Serena looked at her notebook with a sad expression.
Because the notebook had absorbed water, the writing was not being done properly.
“Don't worry. I have packed an extra one.”
Unlike their backpacks, his was a subspace backpack.
The items inside were not affected by external influences.
The notebook was the sa.
He handed the notebook he had packed just in case to her.
Serena gripped it tightly as if she had received a grand gift.
[I will cherish it.]
It was a monuntal first sentence.
Joshua let out a light breath.
“I can get you as many notebooks as you want.”
[The first is always the most precious.]
“I am not sure about that.”
[Hehe.]
Adela spoke while rolling up her sleeve.
“How much further to the hideout you know?”
“Just a little further.”
“Really? My clothes are so heavy I cannot move a single step.”
“Follow .”
[Clever] guided the way based on the experience of having co here in the past.
The cave was discovered quickly.
He created fireflies in his palm and sent them flying inside.
“It is a place where it would not be strange for zombies to co out.”
“Rest assured. This place is close to the lake, so normal zombies cannot even get close.”
“……Really?”
Adela answered with a tired voice.
Strangely, she felt reassured by the words he said.
“Let us go inside.”
Joshua took the lead and inspected the interior.
Even when they reached the middle of the cave, no presence of people was felt.
The surrounding area was very clean.
“Tania, I want you to start a fire.”
“Everything I brought as kindling is wet, what should I do?”
“I will give you what is in my backpack.”
“Senior’s backpack feels like so magic lamp huh.”
“I prepared it just in case.”
Joshua took out blankets along with kindling from the backpack.
“Take off your clothes and wrap your bodies with blankets.”
“Hey, we are girls by the way, do you not feel shy or embarrassed?”
“Those emotions are not helpful for survival at all.”
Adela let out a sigh as if it were trivial.
She did not know.
He had [Cool].
Emotions like those between a man and a woman were cut off as soon as they flowed into his head.
“Are you feeling unpleasant because of what I said?”
“……Not really.”
“Then that is fine.”
“Hmph, what an insensitive person.”
He knew what kind of answer they wanted.
Their appearances were excellent.
For beginners of , survival using beauty was the standard rather than their abilities.
But he was different from such inferiors.
“Rest for a while.”
“Where are you going?”
“I have sothing to check.”
He intended to go to the inner part of the cave.
It was necessary to check if the hideout was safe.
And if his hunch was correct, there was a possibility that another survivor was here.
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