We ventured into the forest and proceeded deeper inside.
Yuika leads the way at the front, with me and Ilmera walking side by side behind her.
“Hey Yuika. You mentioned stealth before, but can’t you do reconnaissance?”
Essentially, stealth means espionage, right?
“If only. That’s why I’m here at this school. Normally, someone from the Akaba clan would never attend Magic Academy since we specialize in sneaking around.”
“I see. So you’re also what Mathias called ‘inferior,’ huh?”
“That’s right. It’s not about summoning fire or ice—it’s simply that I wish to learn how to become better at reconnaissance and to suppress my magic.”
Yuika does have significant magic power… She’d likely be detected easily.
“What progress have you made so far?”
“If it were something you could learn within two or three months, it wouldn’t be so hard. I’m taking it step by step.”
That’s true.
But it’s the same for me.
It’s only thanks to Sharl that I’ve begun to understand basic studies. And as for the main goal of disenchanting spells, that’s still far down the road.
“We both struggle with controlling our magic discharge, huh?”
“That’s the way things are. Some dog somewhere once said we have to play the hand we’re dealt. I’ll do things at my own pace. Others don’t matter.”
That dog has a good point…
…Wait, do dogs talk?
“But you’re taking other classes, right? Like alchemy. Isn’t that unnecessary?”
“Knowledge is power. It will absolutely be useful in the future.”
You’re absolutely right… but haven’t you barely slept, Yuika?
“I’m only doing this because my parents told me to.”
Ilmera points that out.
“…Alchemy isn’t fun. We’re taught that magic ignores physics and chemistry, so why do I have to learn it?”
Fair enough—that’s not hard to understand.
“Alchemy isn’t fitting for everyone, huh?”
I took it kind of casually, but I can already assert it will absolutely not be useful in the future. Teaching it makes Sharl unusually happy and talkative.
“You two should try a bit harder… Ah, there are wolves coming. Three of them.”
Ilmera says that, so we stop walking.
“What do we do? There are just as many of us.”
Since the only people here today are capable fighters, we don’t need to think about defense.
“I’ll handle it. You two can just watch.”
Yuika steps a few paces forward as she says this.
“You’re too eager.”
“Yuika and Toko were bickering over who would attack yesterday. I’m surprised Yuika doesn’t get tired of it,” Ilmera adds, rolling her eyes.
“Are you tired of it?”
“Nope. Frank and I faced plenty wolves in April, so I’m over it. I’m holding out for bears now.”
“Will a bear show up…? Ah, there are wolves!”
From the depths of the forest, three wolves come racing out.
“Yuika, are you okay with this?”
“No problem.”
Yuika nods and dashes ahead with incredible speed—we’re talking fast enough to leave afterimages as she races toward the wolves.
“Wow, that’s fast.”
She’s even faster than the last time I saw her training. Clearly, she wasn’t giving it her all back then.
Yuika charges straight toward the wolves, quickly reaching them.
Suddenly, one of the wolves lunges at her with its mouth agape. However, Yuika easily sidesteps it by spinning to the side, and with one swift motion, slashes it with her dagger. The wolf is split cleanly in two and collapses to the ground.
“Wow, impressive…”
“I know, right?”
With one wolf down, the remaining two attack from both sides.
With fluid grace, Yuika stabs one in the head with her dagger while simultaneously decapitating the other wolf mid-leap with her other dagger.
At her feet now lie three dead wolves—two in pieces and one with a dagger wedged into its skull.
Yuika then pulls the dagger out from the last wolf’s head.
“You’re an assassin…”
“Rather violent,” Ilmera sighs.
She’s kind of scary…
“Finished!”
Yuika trots casually back over to us. Her face remains utterly expressionless, showing no trace of inner emotion. Come to think of it, Yuika is almost always like this.
“You’re really strong,” I say.
“I know, right? This is what I’ve got,” she replies.
“So do I.”
“Right. Let’s do our best with what we’ve got, then.”
“Yeah.”
“You two are really specialized… Let’s keep moving,” Ilmera adds as she leads us further into the forest.
More wolves appeared from time to time, but Yuika swiftly dealt with all of them with no difficulty.
“Guess the bear isn’t showing up, huh…”
We’ve been walking through the woods for about an hour now, but so far, only wolves have appeared. It seems that time before was an exception.
“Maybe we should set a trap?”
“What trap?”
“Like scattering some bait or something…”
“Then more wolves will show, probably,” Ilmera mutters.
Ilmera starts thinking deeply.
“Let’s take a break, huh?”
“Fine. Here you go.”
Ilmera takes out two sports drinks, handing them to me and Yuika.
“Thanks.”
“Much appreciated.”
We thank her and settle under a random tree, drinking our sports drinks leisurely.
“Probably not going to see a bear, huh… It’s not something you can just summon when you want,” Ilmera muses while taking her own drink.
“You mentioned earlier that you spent April dealing with Frank and mostly wolves—how was that?”
“Almost all wolves. Maybe two wild boars showed up, but one of them fled.”
A wild boar…
That sounds delicious.
“Bears must be really rare.”
“That’s right. That’s why I got my hopes up when I heard you guys encountered one. Is what Noel said true—that the higher one’s magic power, the more magical beasts are attracted?”
“I doubt that…”
With that kind of mechanism, magical creatures would swarm around lakes full of people.
“I was starting to feel the same way… But wait… What is that?”
Ilmera looks intently into the depths of the forest.
“What’s wrong?”
“There’s something… Something big… Is this it?”
Seriously?
“A bear?”
“Probably. That aura and size—it’s not from a wolf.”
“Could it be a wild boar?”
“Doesn’t seem like it.”
So it’s a bear then…
For real?
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