### Chapter 52: Practical Training (4)
“Now it’s about time to return.”
At the assistant’s words, James glanced at the watch on his wrist.
There were only about two minutes left until the end of the practical session.
“That’s right. Let’s prepare the students for their return.”
“Understood!”
On his command, the assistants, who had been waiting, sprang into action.
The medical department students, who had been waiting for three hours, finally showed signs of relief on their faces, now that they had the hope of going home.
In the midst of all this, Cecilia, too, waited anxiously for Rab Netoire’s impending appearance.
Whirrr.
As the assistants activated the return magic linked to the students’ signal devices, one by one, they began to arrive at the forest entrance where they had first gathered.
“Whew… I really thought I was going to die.”
“How much did you collect?”
“I? This much. And you? Can you possibly take first place?”
Fortunately, there didn’t seem to be any serious injuries.
The emergency signal device had not been triggered, leading the professors to believe that all the students had safely returned without any accidents.
“Where is Rab Netoire? Surely, his results weren’t so poor that he decided to hide?”
As the staff were wrapping things up by checking on the students, a loud voice suddenly rang out, inquiring after Rab.
Disturbed by Maiten’s loud voice calling out for Rab Netoire, James looked around but saw no trace of Rab.
“Hey, is it functioning properly?”
“Yes, yes! It’s definitely activated! Since the magic spell was correctly initiated, there must be something wrong with Rab’s signal device.”
“…Damn it!”
Signal device malfunction, and a student who hasn’t returned.
Something unsettling pricked James, prompting him to immediately send a request for assistance to the Academy.
“Professor! Where is the Young Master?”
At that moment, Cecilia from the Department of Medicine rushed over and asked James, the person in charge.
“Lady… it seems there’s a problem with Rab’s signal device. Since the magic linked to his signal didn’t activate, he’s likely continuing the practical session somewhere within the forest. Don’t worry too much. Our faculty will soon go in and retrieve the Young Master.”
“Is… is that so…”
Lady Cecilia’s eyes, though slightly calmer than before, still trembled with unease.
‘To make such a beautiful woman worry like this. Rab, please, let this just be a simple malfunction.’
James felt an instinctual sense of foreboding, the same feeling he’d experienced on the battlefield. His unease grew, knowing that when this intuition kicked in, there was often an accident where someone ended up either injured or worse.
His heightened sixth sense was warning him that Rab’s situation appeared to be an intentional incident.
“I think he’s deliberately avoiding coming back.”
As Maiten stepped forward to inquire about Rab’s whereabouts, he began to tease.
“What do you mean?”
“Obviously… because of his poor grade in the bet against me, I think he’s refusing to return. It’s not surprising; after all, the guy who can fumble something as basic as his signal device would certainly have a reason to do this, don’t you think?”
“…Maiten, I understand your feelings toward Rab, but this is a serious situation, so I recommend you choose your words wisely…”
“Say that again.”
Chilled to his very core, a terrifying voice issued from Cecilia herself, causing even James to momentarily step back in surprise. Though momentarily thrown off, Maiten, realizing Cecilia was just a member of the medical faculty, regained his composure quickly.
“I didn’t say anything wrong, did I?”
SMACK!
“AAAAAHHHHHHHH…”
With a powerful strike, Maitan flew back and fell to the ground, unable to even scream in pain.
Though it didn’t seem like anything had ruptured, the pain emanating from a man’s most sensitive and vulnerable area was enough to send even the toughest individuals into convulsions.
“Will you punish me as a professor?”
“As a professor, I should punish you, but this time, Maiten went too far, so I will overlook it. Lady Cecilia, don’t worry too much. It might be a minor mishap like losing the signal device, as Maiten suggested. The Academy will send out a search team shortly, and we’ll find him quickly.”
“…I hope that’s all it is.”
While James was comforting Cecilia, professors from the Academy arrived in response to the call.
“What’s the situation, Professor James?”
“One student hasn’t returned from the Forest at Night. Though the teleportation spell was used, he hasn’t been transported anywhere, indicating either an error with the signal device or that he’s lost it.”
“Fortunately, it’s just that… if only his is broken, then…”
“Let’s confirm the details after we find the student. For now, our first priority is to establish his condition.”
“Understood.”
In no time, many of the Academy’s most senior professors gathered.
Looking at the map of the “Forest at Night,” the professors selected their searching areas and prepared in case the student had wandered into the deeper parts of the forest.
In case of serious injuries, the head of the Department of Medicine, Morziana, stood ready with immediate teleportation magic.
With Professor James of the Combat Department leading the way, the group headed towards the forest’s entrance.
As the sun set, the forest was even darker, the shadows of the dense trees creating an eerie darkness that induced chills.
“Let’s go inside-”
“Huh? Why are there so many people here?”
At that moment, a voice came from right in front of them.
Everyone turned and saw Rab, covered in wounds, standing there with an exhausted face.
“I thought I was about to die getting here. And why are professors from other departments here as well?”
While Rab stood there confused, Cecilia rushed over and embraced him.
“EEK!”
“Young Master! Are you okay?! Look at those wounds…”
“Rab! Are you all right? Was there some sort of trouble inside?”
“I’m fine. I did get injured a little, but nothing life-threatening. Hold on a moment, though. There’s something I need to fetch.”
Ignoring the crowd of people asking about his condition and situation, Rab disappeared momentarily into the bushes before reappearing.
Sssshhhkk—Sssshhhkk—THUD!
Sssshhhkk—Sssshhhkk—THUD!
“What… what is that?”
Shortly thereafter, Rab dragged out a corpse covered in white fur.
“It’s the creature that tried to kill me.”
“…What?”
“You’ve never seen one before either, Professor. Clearly, it shouldn’t have been near the entrance… Someone must have had me targeted, though I’m not sure if it was aimed at me or the Academy.”
“…Let us treat your wounds first. We’ll investigate the monster’s body.”
“Thank you.”
“That’s settled then… Thank you for being alive.”
“It’s nothing. I’m just going to collapse now.”
“Goodness, Young Master?! Young Master!”
“Quick, carry him!”
*
“Was it a failure?”
“I apologize! We thought the starving creature would devour him instantly, but we didn’t expect it to play with him and offer him a chance…!”
“That’s fine. A mere experiment was always bound to fail this way. Aren’t these creatures, after all, brutishly led by instincts?”
Though the man’s tone was forgiving, the subordinate couldn’t shake the tension.
This man, a black mage serving the Evil God, was notorious for his ruthlessness and cruelty, prompting the underling to tremble for his life.
“Still, it’s intriguing.”
“…?”
“Have you gathered information on the target?”
“Yes, indeed! The target is Rab Netoire, who up till now has been considered nothing more than a foolish troublemaker. However, within the past year, he’s undergone significant changes and even recently earned the Academy’s top ranking. Even the intelligence department isn’t entirely clear on the cause of his drastic transformation.”
“Could it be that he changed so much within just a year…?”
The man examining Rab Netoire’s information couldn’t help but voice his intrigue repeatedly, now giving notable attention to the young man he had initially dismissed.
“Could this truly be a mere change in mentality, or…”
“Would you like us to kidnap him for further study?”
“No. With today’s incident, the Academy will certainly increase its vigilance. While we can explain today’s event as merely an abnormal mutation, further interference would be problematic.”
“Then…?”
“Leave him be. With all eyes on the Academy now, we are free to act discreetly.”
“Yes, understood!”
As the subordinate left, the man sat back into his chair, tapping on the armrest in deep thought.
“If distortion… If the distortion mentioned by the Lord is linked to him, this might offer a crude explanation.”
Muttering barely audibly, the man then chuckled with evident delight.
“Summon Jester.”
Though no one was around, an unseen force seemed to exit the space upon the man’s order.
“Let’s verify this. Are you merely a lucky kid, or… are you destined to be our rival?”
