The Academy’s Guide to Useless Students – Chapter 12

12.

‘Why is my spine tingling like this?’

There’s no abnormality, yet my shoulders feel heavy. Should I brew some tonic?

“Yo! Crappy Mankey!”

“Good morning, Miss Cletta.”

But seriously, how long is this girl going to keep calling me Mankey?

I’m not ugly, but I’m definitely not a Mankey!

Dogs have better features than this.

“Mankey, you don’t look well?”

“Looks like I had a rough night’s sleep.”

“Well, that won’t do. We have practical training today, Mankey.”

Yeah, I know.

So, I’m feeling a bit tense.

But it’s not because of me.

“Don’t worry, I’ll cover for you. Just don’t stress.”

You should worry about yourself.

Today could be Cletta’s day of reckoning.

It’ll be my first time witnessing the effects of the ‘Aggro’ artifact. Cletta has potential, but she’s still just a beginner character.

‘…She’s not really planning on dying, right?’

Isn’t that why I’m here?

“Hmm?”

An all-too-familiar face entered the classroom.

“Wow. Did she also not sleep? She looks like a zombie.”

Cletta’s observation isn’t an exaggeration.

Laura Freeze’s blank, pale skin gives off an aura of someone who’s not quite alive. The dark circles around her eyes make her look like a walking corpse.

‘Huh?’

A cadet passed by in front of Laura Freeze at the podium and walked over to me.

“Hey, I think Laura Freeze is looking for you?”

“Is she talking about me?”

“Yeah, she keeps calling for you.”

At a glance, it seemed Laura Freeze was repeatedly pouting her lips.

Is she not calling me? Is she trying to summon some god of the underworld?

“Mankey. You’re close to that Mad Woman, right?”

“Not really.”

“Is that so? But you’re always around when the Mad Woman is.”

“It’s just a coincidence.”

It’s always like this. Troubles happen around the protagonist. If they don’t, it becomes a problem. I have to be the target of trouble instead.

“Hey, that Mad Woman is glaring at you… Isn’t she actually a monster?”

“Haha…”

They say a look could kill.

I can relate to that sentiment now.

So what?

This was all her doing.

“Laura, do you have something to say…?”

“……”

She silently walked to the back seat.

That’s scarier. If this were a horror genre, I’d surely be heading for a bad ending.

“Attention! Today we have off-campus practical training. Ensure to prepare your cadet weapons!”

Off-campus training━━

In the lower dimensional spaces, it was a fabricated illusion created using the “tent” spell. To put it in game terms, a mock training ground. However, this ‘practical training’ was a wild area where artificial skills did not reach.

If you’ve developed a sense of reality through training, this was your chance to apply it.

“Group formations will be made of four people each.”

With a total of 24 members in the class.

Precisely six teams would be formed.

But my group was short on members.

“Cowardly bastards. I don’t need any scrubs either.”

“……”

I looked around at the gathered members.

Honestly, there wasn’t anything to look at.

Just Cletta and me.

Damn. Nobody else showed up.

On the other hand, Laura Freeze was the epitome of popularity. Perhaps it was because she showcased her ‘skills’ during the duel with Cletta. Everyone seemed eager to take her along. Meanwhile, everyone was shaking their heads and distancing themselves from Cletta’s wild nature.

“Would you like to join our group?”

“Will you save me?”

“Excuse me?”

“Help me!”

That was wrong.

We’re not communicating.

Everyone is avoiding Cletta.

I’d expected this, but it was more difficult than I’d imagined.

“Let’s just go as a pair, Mankey.”

Is she shortening my name to Mankay?

I seriously just want to slap her silly.

“We can’t do that. All classes have ‘evaluation scores.’ If you fail to form a group, you’ll be penalized.”

“What’s wrong with losing some points?”

You’d get expelled, you idiot.

Instructor Geoffrey penalizes as mercilessly as his ignorance.

It’s not intentional. His grasp of numbers is just tangled. He belongs to a group that thinks bigger is always better.

“You absolutely must form a group.”

“Got it. So, anyone will do?”

“Anyone will do.”

Cletta Barriet confidently pounded her chest and strutted off somewhere. I was wondering where she could be going without finding anyone in the classroom. Then I understood when she brought someone back.

“Mankey. I brought two members. Nice and clean.”

“Impressive.”

“Right? I can be quite the firecracker.”

Impressive, indeed. She managed to bring Instructor Geoffrey and the sub-instructor along.

Such a rookie move.

“Yuto… Cletta Barriet… What kind of prank is this?”

“I’m sorry.”

Why am I apologizing? Damn it.

“Well, I understand the general situation. Don’t worry. Cadets only learn for combat training. It’s common for unexpected formations to happen in the field where you’ll fight ahead. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

That is wise advice.

So please, rescue us.

“But it’s strange. If there are going to be leftover members… why doesn’t it add up?”

I pointed to a corner of the classroom. The last two members were writing ‘leave forms.’

“……They really must have hated it.”

Right?

I could understand their feelings pretty well.

But what can you do?

Don’t worry. I’ll pull my weight.

Luckily, thanks to Instructor Geoffrey’s insistence (?), I managed to snag two cadets.

The pair kept their heads down, busy with each other. I felt a bit sorry for them, so I decided to pay a little extra attention.

“Alright, is everyone here? Let’s set off!”

Whether she knows what’s going on inside or not,

With Cletta Barriet’s robust shout,

The march toward practical training began.

“Everyone, please check your armament status one last time.”

Just after arriving at the destination.

I gathered my group to take some maintenance time. The practical training location was the western forest of Zone 3 of the Empire. The Bitraise Empire is divided into five zones.

Explaining the zones is troublesome, so I’ll skip it.

Anyway, somewhere in this vast forest, six teams were scattered around.

The objective of the training was to collect three trophies each from monsters.

“Let’s finish this quickly. After all, we’re just dealing with trolls.”

Boom!

Cletta bravely smashed her shield down. Trolls in the forest indeed will be ‘trolls.’ Their varieties are graded, and at the forest’s entrance, it’s just ‘low-level trolls.’ Cletta’s attitude might have seemed lethargic, but she overlooked one important fact.

“Miss Cletta. Don’t let your guard down.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

I genuinely warned her.

The permitted range under the instructor’s control was only up to the troll’s forest entrance. Beyond that lies the so-called higher-level trolls. Though still called trolls, they are massive monsters akin to ogres. Creatures that no mere cadet could possibly face.

I understand.

While everyone else will be busy hunting low-level monsters in this class, our group will face ‘those things.’

Gurururuuu━━

“Eh? What’s that sound?”

“…Isn’t that the sound of something approaching?”

Cletta and the two companions also clutched their armaments tightly.

“What are those…?”

Thud. Thud.

Boom. Boom.

Screech! Screech!

From all around the bushes, they appeared.

Low-level trolls, hunting trolls, high trolls, and the chief troll. The last one was a creature distinctly beyond the troll category.

“Screech! Kill! Humans!”

Here they come.

“What? This is the forest’s entrance! Why are all those guys popping out?”

What in the world, it’s all your fault.

Don’t underestimate the curse of aggro. It was time to face reality whether we liked it or not.

“Everyone hide behind me! You there, stick girl, you’re the mage. Prepare your area spell.”

“Area spell? I can’t do that!”

Class B cadets could do it quite well.

Even if an area spell succeeded magically, because of insufficient mana, it’d be hard to deal any damage.

In other words, from the moment we confronted them,

Their deaths were a foregone conclusion.

Hooong!

Ka-THUNK━━!

Cletta’s large shield shattered against the hunting troll’s spear. It was the consequence of both the limitations of cadet weapons and Cletta’s lack of skill.

Hooong.

Thud!

“Shit! …”

Soon after, Cletta’s tiny body was flung away like a piece of paper by the high ogre’s fist. Crashing into a tree, she was left twitching occasionally. It must be the convulsions from the pain.

“P-Please… save me.”

One member crumbled to the ground. Perhaps witnessing the pooling blood around Cletta foretold her imminent demise.

“Screech. Humans are delicious. I’ll chew on your bones. Screech!”

Chop. The frail cadet girl was caught in the chief troll’s massive arms.

“Gyaah! Let me go! Someone save me!”

She screams while hanging upside down.

Her uniform skirt flipped over.

Revealing her damp undergarments.

As liquid trickled down her smooth, milky belly, the ground became drenched with either urine or tears.

I held my breath and drew my sword.

Swish.

“Dante! Please heal Miss Cletta!”

“Um… huh?”

The man’s face was stunned, as if he couldn’t discern whether this was a dream or reality. I placed my hand on his shoulder. Even though he’s just a passing extra, I knew about his low-level healing arts.

“Use healing! I’ll handle things here.”

“Y-You?”

No need for an answer.

Just need to prove it.

“Stop it… Mankey… you… will die…”

That’s sick.

Even while dying, she still calls me Mankey. I nodded encouragingly, swinging my sword.

“Don’t worry. We’ll survive.”

Because I’m here.

They’re just tiny pests not even close to the Undesirable Great Serpent. There’s no way they’ll win against me. To me, their movements are sluggish like turtles. Meanwhile, my movements are not something they can catch up to.

Swish!

“GRAAAAH! My… my arm!━━”

I first severed the chief troll’s arm.

I rescued the frail cadet girl and moved her back to where Cletta and Dante were.

The trolls were so stunned by the spectacle they barely followed with their eyes. They often lost track of where I stood.

“Screech… human… won’t let you go!”

Right. It’s your role to charge even when you know you’ll be outclassed.

But wait a little longer.

I have something to wait for.

Ah, here it comes.

[Cletta Barriet’s obsession strengthens.]

.

.

[Experience Points increased significantly.]

.

.

Ah, tasty.

The brat must have realized now.

This little brat can’t live without me. I’m now someone she can’t go without until I tame the curse of aggro.