It was the day of the practicum.
Despite the unexpected change of location, everything seemed to be proceeding without any particular trouble.
Aside from a few people who found it bothersome, the atmosphere was not bad at all.
It almost felt like an outing.
It reminded Aisel of the field trips she had gone on as a child.
There was an oddly pleasant sensation in stretching her stiff body beneath the sunlight.
“YAAAWN!”
Aisel pushed her inexplicably gloomy mood aside.
Today was supposed to be an enjoyable practicum, yet something about it left her uncomfortable.
She exhaled the breath that had been sitting heavily in her chest and moved about aimlessly.
“I feel a little stifled.”
Her strangely heavy eyelids lowered.
Why did he have to tell her so firmly not to go and leave her feeling so unsettled?
It made her feel as though she had broken a promise, like a disobedient child who refused to listen.
Sigh…….
“I shouldn’t think like this. Happy thoughts, happy thoughts.”
She was already here, after all.
Aisel lightly patted both cheeks.
She suppressed the restlessness in her chest and tried to refresh her mood.
Even so, she could not shake the strange feeling nagging at her.
When she glanced around, she saw groups of people gathered in the clearing, chatting among themselves.
Aisel had been looking for someone as well, but Ellin noticed her first and approached.
“Senior Aisel.”
“Oh? Ellin? You’re here early.”
“Yes. I wasn’t planning to arrive this early, but…….”
Ellin glanced at the people gathered throughout the clearing.
Sensing the detached air surrounding her, Aisel nodded as though to say she did not need to explain any further.
“…It doesn’t seem like I’ll be alone today, and I didn’t want to get swept up in the crowd and end up never finding you.”
“I see.”
Ever since witnessing what had happened, Aisel had found herself growing somewhat fond of Ellin.
Even though it had been unintentional, she also felt a little guilty.
If Ellin had been a romantic rival, that would have been another matter, but if she was not…….
‘There’s no reason we can’t become friends.’
Aisel looked at Ellin.
“So, what was it that you wanted to explain?”
The Supervising Professor was once again going over the precautions and objectives of the practicum in the distance, but neither Aisel nor Ellin had much intention of listening.
They had already familiarized themselves with the relevant information through the handouts they had received.
Neither of them saw any need to listen to the same precautions being repeated.
“Um… well.”
Ellin’s eyes darted around as an awkward expression crossed her face.
Perhaps there were simply too many ears around them.
Aisel nodded in understanding and watched the hesitant Ellin with an amused smile.
In truth, Aisel had not originally intended to participate in the practicum.
It overlapped with one of her classes, and the credits did not seem valuable enough to justify skipping a lecture for it.
Unlike Ellin, who was required to attend because of Basic Natural Studies.
‘If Professor Aiden had refused the private lesson… no, the review, I wouldn’t have come.’
Aisel closed her eyes and enjoyed the bright weather.
It was a shame to miss a lecture, but now that the professor had promised to review the material with her, surely she could allow herself to enjoy the outing a little.
Of course, Ellin’s suggestive remark about wanting to clear up a misunderstanding had also played a part.
Half of Aisel’s reason for participating in the practicum was guilt over accidentally overhearing Ellin getting rejected, and the other half was curiosity.
She also wanted to become friends with her if possible.
‘And it bothers me that she specifically chose the practicum to talk about it.’
Perhaps it was simply because this was the only time their schedules overlapped…….
Aisel shrugged and told her to speak whenever she felt comfortable.
“We have plenty of time now that we’re here. Just tell me when we find somewhere suitable.”
“…All right.”
Once the practicum began, everyone would scatter through the forest to gather medicinal herbs, so there would be more than enough opportunities for them to talk privately.
The professor gathered the students together and raised his voice.
“The reason we conduct this practicum is so that you do not merely look at medicinal herbs in a botanical guide, but can also identify them when you encounter them in an actual forest…….”
Hearing the professor’s ever-enthusiastic tone, Ellin let out a dry laugh.
“What?”
“No, it’s just… the professor seems very energetic.”
Aisel tilted her head.
She had indeed gotten the impression that he had been unusually enthusiastic from the beginning.
Naturally, most of the students barely listened, pretending to pay attention at best.
Their minds were entirely occupied with what they had brought for lunch.
She occasionally heard people nearby discussing what food they had packed.
Ellin also let the Supervising Professor’s words flow in one ear and out the other.
Originally, this class was supposed to take place in a forest artificially cultivated inside the Magic Tower.
If the Magic Tower had not abruptly sealed off that floor, there would have been no reason for them to come outside at all…….
“Well, this isn’t bad.”
Aisel raised a hand to shield her eyes from the brilliant sunlight.
The Department of Knighthood conducted everything from running drills to training outdoors, but even so, they rarely came all the way out into a forest like this.
And although they practiced swinging swords according to their manuals, fighting something truly alive was still unfamiliar.
“I might as well cut down a Slime or two while I’m here.”
“…The Second-Ranked Student among the Department of Knighthood’s second-years is going after Slimes?”
“If we were practicing in the Magic Tower, that would be one thing, but there’s nothing besides Slimes out here in the wild.”
She could hardly cut down something that did not exist.
This was the Imperial Capital.
Spirit Mountain might have an impressive-sounding name, but ultimately, it was only the mountain behind the academy.
If creatures such as goblins had been living here, the security patrol would have dealt with them long ago.
Individually, they might not amount to much, but once they formed a colony, they became troublesome in their own right and could even harm civilians.
That was why wild Monsters were systematically exterminated, unlike the ones inside the Magic Tower.
‘Though with the Monsters in the Magic Tower, it’s less that they don’t exterminate them and more that they deliberately raise them.’
They were raised so undergraduate students could gain experience fighting Monsters.
Aisel herself remembered facing them several times.
She briefly recalled the Department of Knighthood’s midterm exams held inside the Magic Tower.
They would capture one or two goblins from an appropriate floor and bring them before the student.
There was an examiner present, along with an experienced emergency team capable of intervening immediately if anything went wrong.
The students fought under their protection.
‘It hardly even deserves to be called fighting.’
An exam where even losing could never lead to the worst possible outcome?
That was little more than a controlled exercise straight out of a textbook.
For especially dangerous Monsters, they even substituted holograms.
Aisel smacked her lips.
“The only reason Slimes can’t be completely eradicated is because they’re born from tree sap. They aren’t particularly difficult to deal with. They become annoying when their numbers increase, so I thought I’d hunt some while you’re doing your practicum.”
“…Go ahead.”
When Aisel gave her a questioning look, Ellin nodded as though telling her to do as she pleased.
In truth, Aisel also felt like swinging a sharpened sword rather than a Practice Sword for once.
“Then please gather the medicinal herbs while making sure not to injure yourselves. As for mushrooms, do not touch them carelessly. If you are unsure about anything, come and ask me.”
Aisel and Ellin moved along with the students dispersing from the clearing.
“Did you already have somewhere in mind?”
“I did originally, but the location suddenly got changed to the mountain behind the academy. I’ll just have to search.”
In other words, she intended to dive in headfirst and figure things out as she went.
Ellin grumbled.
She seemed dissatisfied that she would no longer be able to obtain the medicinal herb she had wanted.
“I’m not even sure there are any useful herbs here to begin with.”
“It’s only the mountain behind the academy.”
Aisel said it in a tone that told her not to expect too much, then sliced through a wriggling mass of slime on the ground.
It was so small that she might not even have noticed it without looking closely.
If it had not trembled threateningly at her, she probably would have missed it entirely.
‘…That’s strange.’
The translucent form spasmed before going limp.
Aisel had dispatched it effortlessly, yet something about it bothered her, and she fell into thought.
“Have any other students been allowed into this area recently? Maybe another department held a practicum here?”
“No? I haven’t heard anything like that. Wouldn’t they use the Magic Tower for something like that?”
“That’s what I thought.”
Aisel looked down at the Slime, which sagged like a mass of transparent jelly.
She could not explain why, but something about it felt unsettling.
“Why?”
“No… it’s nothing.”
‘If nobody has managed this area recently, why is the Slime so small?’
Since Slimes lived on tree sap, they should normally grow much larger.
This one looked as though someone had swept through the entire area once, and it had only spawned recently afterward.
Aisel watched it collapse before turning away.
She found herself brushing the matter aside by telling herself that they were still only at the edge of the forest.
And yet, for some reason, the sight remained lodged in her mind.
Along with the professor’s warning.
‘I’m probably worrying for nothing.’
That had to be it.
No matter what anyone said, this was still the Imperial Capital.
Once they had ventured far enough into the forest that no one else could be seen when they looked around, Aisel leaned against a nearby tree.
“Why don’t you tell me now?”
Ellin scanned their surroundings before drawing a breath.
“Whew… Senior. I don’t actually like Professor Aiden.”
“…What?”
“You gave me that slice of cake last time because you thought I was upset about getting rejected.”
“Then what about when you were talking to the professor and crying?”
“I-I wasn’t crying!”
“You were crying!”
They both shouted at each other before their eyes met.
An embarrassed silence descended between them.
Ellin cleared her throat to dispel the awkwardness, then puffed herself up as though nothing had happened.
“It wasn’t anything like that. I was just… upset because I couldn’t get what I wanted.”
“What you wanted? The professor?”
“No! I told you that’s not it!”
When Aisel gave her a suspicious look, Ellin huffed angrily.
“I have absolutely no interest in that kind of relationship with the professor! That blond-haired professor always acts so condescending, like he’s above everyone else, judges me however he wants, and talks as if he knows everything about me. He’s infuriating!”
After venting her anger, Ellin suddenly sucked in a breath, realizing that she had said too much.
Aisel’s gaze had sharpened……
“…They say a strong denial is a strong affirmation.”
“I told you, it’s not like that! He might be a little handsome, but I will never, ever develop that kind of relationship with the professor! I absolutely refuse.”
“Well…….”
Ellin opened one eye and glanced at Aisel with obvious dissatisfaction.
“You seem to like Professor Aiden, though, Senior.”
Aisel’s eyes widened.
Her expression practically screamed, How did you know?
Ellin curled the corner of her mouth into a sly grin, as though she had expected exactly that reaction.
“You make it painfully obvious how much you like him. How could I not know?”
“Me? When?”
“All the time. I can tell just from the way you’ve been treating me like a rival.”
“…….”
Faced with the abrupt reversal, Aisel almost denied it.
But then she remembered what she had done and firmly shut her mouth.
‘Ugh… If only I hadn’t made that slip at the café terrace.’
That memory struck too close to home for her to argue.
Ellin tossed out a smug “See?” before her expression suddenly hardened.
She had been searching through the undergrowth for medicinal herbs while they talked.
“Senior, look at this.”
Something pale emerged from beneath the grass that had been concealing it.
A gelatinous form.
It possessed too definite a shape to call it liquid, yet it was too ambiguous to call solid.
“…A Slime?”
It was indeed a Slime.
It was simply somewhat larger than the others.
Its appearance was otherwise the same.
And yet, the reason for their uncertainty was that it had been torn apart so badly that its original shape was nearly impossible to recognize.
Aisel rested a hand against her chin.
This was about the size a Slime would normally reach if left unmanaged.
“It would actually be stranger if Slimes didn’t grow this large.”
Unless all the trees had collectively fallen ill, or their sap production had somehow diminished, or something had caused the Slimes to die off en masse, this should have been their normal size.
Of course, there were always exceptions. Some could reach the end of their natural lives, allowing a younger generation to replace them.
That was why Aisel had not questioned it too deeply at first…….
“But they should either all be small or all be large. It’s strange for every individual to be a different size like this. It’s not as though there’s a natural predator here.”
Any Monsters that could have preyed upon them had long since been thoroughly eliminated by the security patrol.
There was no possibility that other Monsters had simply wandered into the middle of the Imperial Capital, either.
This was unmistakably unnatural.
This sort of uneven population was more reminiscent of unmanaged wilderness on the outskirts than a mountain in the middle of the city.
“And these are claw marks.”
And judging by the wounds, whatever had done this had not torn the Slime apart to eat it……
It looked as though it had shredded the creature for sport.
“Senior!”
The instant Ellin cried out in alarm, Aisel’s eyes widened as well.
Awooooooooooo—
A wolf’s howl.
A sound that absolutely should not have existed here.
The hunter had sounded the signal to begin.