Chapter 32

Chapter 32

The bandits were horrified.

They had watched many times as that door claimed lives.

Among them were even mages who had graduated from the academy.

A door that even those individuals could not open was unlocked by just one student.

And in less than 30 seconds!

"Those guys actually opened it."

"That is impossible. A freshman like that opened a door that even adult mages could not."

"Is this really the time for admiration! We need to stop them from entering!"

The bandit shot an arrow.

Several arrows descended in an arc and plunged downward.

The students, who were the targets, vanished inside the building.

"Shit!"

The bandit cursed.

The danger had come to their doorstep.

The reason they risked setting up a tent outdoors was because they could not abandon the supplies sleeping inside the laboratory.

"Hey, behind you."

The bandit pointed behind them, his face contorted in a frown.

The intruders were not just the students.

Dozens of monsters.

Raising their voices while talking just now had been a mistake.

They were gathering rapidly towards this place like a swarm of bees.

"We will follow them and enter the laboratory. There is no other way now."

The instructed bandits leaped down the steep hillside.

* * *

The students who entered the laboratory regulated their breathing.

The inside was much wider than they had expected.

The end of the long corridor was indiscernible.

"Do not turn on the lights until I instruct you to."

Tania held back from igniting a flame.

And she also mulled over the hidden meaning in his instruction.

There are monsters.

She confirmed that the monsters still had their eyesight.

Dozens of monsters had been drawn as if mesmerized by the flame that erupted from the old dead tree.

Even a small spark needed to be handled with caution.

"Sir Joshua, I smell blood."

Talleon sniffed several times.

A sickeningly familiar, fishy smell.

It was the same smell he had grown tired of experiencing in the dormitory.

"There are monsters. And there might be other survivors as well."

"There are survivors here?"

"I’m only saying it’s a possibility."

Joshua did not proceed straight ahead but turned a corner and entered the first room.

He put a finger to his lips.

The students held their breath, following the instruction to wait quietly.

How many minutes had passed?

A rough breathing sound accompanied by ground vibrations could be heard.

It was coming from the laboratory entrance.

"Shouldn't we wait until the other two guys come back?"

"We can just guard the entrance. They will have to come back out eventually anyway."

"Idiot! They can just break down a wooden wall like this. Those guys had weapons. Plus, at least one of them can use magic. We don't know what they will do."

Four bandits gathered and were making a plan.

They did not know the opponent's strength or the inside of the building.

If information is lacking, their movement is restricted.

It was a natural consequence.

However, the fact that time was running out made people anxious.

"We are going in. Let's leave a mark so the two who went outside know we have entered."

Joshua waited.

After the conversation was heard, footsteps were heard again.

They grew closer and then faded away.

"It seems they have passed."

Gavinu muttered quietly.

"Let's let them enter the interior first."

"Then they might monopolize the laboratory's resources first."

"That will not happen."

Gavinu tilted his head.

Whenever he suggested a possibility, Joshua always answered with a firm tone.

It was not that he was trying to disregard him.

Strangely, his predictions had never missed the mark.

If he said no, it was no, and if he said yes, it was yes.

It was almost like precognition.

"Does magic include a spell that foresees the future?"

"What kind of sleep talk is that?"

Tania, who was also a mage, answered sarcastically.

"I asked just in case."

"Unfortunately, there is no such spell. The reason I refuted your statement is that I have information."

Gavinu flinched.

With just a few casually spoken words, he had pierced right through my thoughts.

Haha, he let out an awkward laugh and scratched his cheek.

"Have you ever been to this laboratory?"

"I have been here about six times."

Tania frowned at Joshua's answer.

"Only those with a professor's permission are allowed to enter the laboratory. I don't mean this in a bad way, but the former Senior was......"

"I was a worthless piece of trash, yes."

"I-I did not mean to say that much."

"I know, but it is not a lie that I have been here six times."

I had only visited with other characters, not as Joshua.

The memory from that time was faint.

However, with [Clever], blurry memories are transformed into clarity.

[Clever] urged me to praise it.

I reacted indifferently, thinking it was just something that naturally needed to be done.

[Clever] seemed angry.

I ignored its whining and focused on the present.

"......Senior, there is one thing I want to ask. Do you know the situation in other places?"

Tania was suffering from the doubt that resided in her heart.

The situation outside the academy.

It was not that she had never thought about it.

When she worried about her family's safety.

She had been comforted by her reunion with her sister, Lucille.

Lucille had told her not to worry about their territory.

She had forgotten about it for a while, but...

"I don't know."

"If you know but are hiding it because of me, I can handle it."

"No, I really don't know."

Joshua answered firmly.

THE Survival was a game created with the premise of survival within the academy.

However, that did not mean one could not explore outside the academy.

It was possible to go outside.

Rainwood Territory was quite far from the academy, but I had visited it twice.

And I had encountered rumors about that place much more frequently.

In conclusion, the Rainwood Territory faced a different fate in every playthrough.

"Do not lose hope until you confirm it with your own eyes."

It was the best answer.

Even if she was not satisfied with this, I had nothing more to say.

Tania still wore an uneasy expression.

If I were to make up sweet words and whisper them, her anxiety would subside.

But later, when she learned the truth, it would return as greater despair.

I did not want to take on a risk that was equivalent to a bomb just to gain a little trust.

"Aaaargh!"

A scream was heard.

The three people looked at each other with startled faces.

Joshua calmed the three nervous people with a hand gesture.

"A rough, cracking voice. It belongs to a middle-aged man."

Gavinu analyzed the scream that had just been heard and said.

"It must be a bandit."

"What could have happened?"

"He must have encountered a monster."

"So there are monsters inside, after all."

"They will be easier to kill than living people."

"If you are going to point out my mistake from a moment ago, please stop. I am reflecting on it enough."

"I pointed it out to mean that reflection alone is not enough."

Gavinu sighed.

Tania, who felt the same way, felt stifled.

The two firmly gripped their respective weapons and made a decision.

"By the way, is it not a little hot in here?"

Talleon pointed out an anomaly that no one else had mentioned.

The room was sweltering.

That was partly because four people were crowded together in a small room.

But it was muggy for a separate reason as well.

Their entire bodies were drenched in sweat, making them feel sticky and sluggish.

"You are right, Talleon."

"Right?"

"We will change formation. Talleon and Gavinu go to the center, and Tania will take the rear."

Joshua moved the shield he wore on his back to the front and secured it on his left arm.

It was time to use the items I had exchanged for alcohol and tobacco with the guard.

"Monsters attack by biting. If bitten, they become infected through the wound and turn into monsters like them. That is the basic pattern. But as time passes, some individuals evolve into variants, influenced by the power they wielded when alive."

"W-What are you suddenly talking about?"

"The one we are about to face is a variant. Be careful of other attacks."

Joshua spoke calmly and stood up.

"And don't hesitate to kill the bandits."

He walked out of the room they had entered and stepped back into the corridor.

An intense heat enveloped their bodies, as if a fire had broken out.

I blocked it with the fireproof cloak I was wearing.

"Could it be, magic?"

Tania trembled.

The sudden gust of hot air was not unfamiliar.

The identity of the energy seeping into the air.

Since she had learned about it since childhood, she would never be confused.

Mana.

Therefore, she was certain that the source of the heat was a mage.

"Groooar!"

A monster rushed at them from the front.

It was an abominable sight, unlike anything they had seen so far.

Flames blazed on its rotten skin.

Joshua blocked the flames spewed out by the rushing monster with his cloak.

The sparks that hit the cloak fell to the floor like raindrops and subsided.

"The cloak did not burn."

"......Tania, is that magic too?"

The two boys rubbed their eyes.

The material of the cloak was cloth, and cloth is easily flammable.

However, the cloak Joshua wore was different.

"Could it be, an enchanted item?"

A thought flashed through Tania's mind.

The only theory that could explain the phenomenon before their eyes.

Enchantment, imbuing a spell circle onto an object.

Another question arose in her mind as her thoughts reached that point.

"Enchantment is a highly difficult task, so even a very small item should be incredibly expensive."

"I traded it for alcohol and tobacco."

"That is ridiculous!"

"It is true. More importantly, focus on the enemy. That bastard is not dead yet."

Joshua struck the head of the zombie that had approached nearby with his bludgeon.

The zombie was thrown off balance but stood up again and lunged.

Talleon darted out from the side and slashed its arm.

"Hey, should we bet on who is more helpful to the group?"

Talleon said, nodding towards Gavinu.

"Are you confident?"

"Do you not know that I have already secured one compliment from Sir Joshua? You are lagging behind me."

"Stop your nonsense. That was just a one time thing."

"Then you better take this seriously."

Tania clicked her tongue, looking exasperated.

"Is this the time to say such things? Seriously."

Joshua silently did what he needed to do even as the boys chattered.

I pushed the zombie away with the shield.

I crushed its leg with the bludgeon.

After confirming that it had completely fallen, I opened my mouth.

"Am I a scorekeeper?"

Joshua asked the two boys.

"Please do."

"I can trust Sir Joshua's assessment."

"Fine. First, you both get a 100-point deduction."

The two looked at me with awkward expressions.

"How come?"

"Who said it was okay to chatter during a fight?"

"W-Well, it helps relieve tension and everything."

"You two need to be tense."

I knew why Talleon had provoked Gavinu into competition.

It was because he wished for his friend's growth.

A stagnant person does not survive.

One must constantly contemplate and act to improve, even if just slightly.

If that is not possible, they are not worth the effort of bringing along.

"But there is a monster on fire in a wooden building, and yet it is perfectly fine."

"The building is wrapped in magical power."

"......No way."

Tania, noticing the strange detail, her eyes sparkled.

"What is it?"

"The fact that magical power is imbued into the building means that it is still being managed. If it is being managed, it naturally means there must be someone who should be doing it. That is to say, there might be a surviving mage inside."

"Is Tania right?"

The conclusion of the students' question and answer session was always Joshua.

Joshua nodded at Talleon's question.

There is a person.

A third survivor who is neither a zombie nor a bandit.

I had an idea of who the person was.

And also where she was.

"Follow me."

After dealing with one zombie, the corridor fell silent again.

The silence sent chills down one's spine.

There were two groups hostile to them inside.

Their nerves were constantly on edge, not knowing when they might suddenly appear.

[Cool] and [Patience] were working hard.

If not for the two traits, I might have collapsed from dizziness.

"It seems much bigger than it looked from the outside. Am I seeing things?"

"No, it is actually wide. The laboratory is a facility where the space has been expanded using magical tools."

Talleon and Tania exchanged words.

Gavinu sent a nervous glare, warning the two.

In the darkness, even a small signal is dangerous.

"Being cautious is good, but even so, you cannot hide your footsteps."

Joshua intervened and scolded them.

Gavinu's face flushed, perhaps because he had not considered that point.

"Stop for a moment."

There was a man leaning against the wall, waiting for death.

An unkempt beard.

Tanned leather clothes.

He was one of the bandit group.

Part of the flesh on his neck was torn off, possibly from being bitten by a zombie.

He had lost a lot of blood.

He was losing his life from excessive bleeding, and he had only a few minutes left at most.

"Fuck. Why, why did I end up like this."

I approached the man, who was lamenting his fate.

If left alive, he would surely revive as a zombie and become a nuisance.

I must kill him before that happens.

As I lowered my head, pulled out my dagger, and met his gaze.

The bandit's eyes were filled with strong resentment.

"Run! I am a bait. They were waiting for the moment you stop!"

The abandoned bandit, unable to contain his anger, confessed his comrades' plan.

His desperate cry was a signal to the hidden bandits.

Arrows flew through the air, cutting through the darkness.

Three arrows at first.

Followed by three more.

A total of six arrows rained down, threatening them.

Joshua could not use [Shield] magic against the swiftly launched attack.

Instead, he deflected two arrows with the shield he had worn on his left arm in advance.

Joshua looked around to find the whereabouts of the remaining arrows.

"Huff, huff."

I turned my head at the sound of gasping coming from behind me.

The students surrounded Gavinu, their faces pale white.

One arrow was lodged in his shoulder.

Blood seeped through the coat he was wearing, staining it red.

The boy pressed down hard on the wound, but the blood did not seem to stop.

"I-I am sorry, Sir Joshua."

Gavinu apologized like a child who had made a mistake.

The most composed boy among the three looked up at me with a tearful expression.

He was only in third year.

It was a terrifying situation for a sixteen-year-old to endure.

"Hey."

A gruff voice came from inside the passage.

It was the remaining group of bandits who had shot the arrows.

"The arrows we shot now are coated with a poison made from crushing wild poisonous herbs. If left as is, the wound will not be the problem. The guy will die from the poison that’s entered his body. Fortunately, we have the antidote. We want to make a trade. Send a signal if you are willing to accept."

The students' anxiety grew at the word 'poison'.

They would die without the antidote.

Once that thought takes root in one's mind, it is not easy to escape.

All three remained silent.

They did not know what to say at a time like this.

Joshua approached Gavinu and knelt down.

"The fact that they want a trade means it is not an instantly fatal poison. It will be the kind that causes dizziness or a gradual paralysis of the nerves."

"......Can I survive?"

"I don't know yet. But I will not let you die."

Gavinu shut his eyes tightly and nodded.

"Don’t lie down. Don’t lose consciousness. Minimize your movement as much as possible. Talleon, protect Gavinu. It is dangerous here. Hide in a room because monsters might come. I will find you."

"What should I do?"

Tania asked, placing her hand on her chest.

"You will hunt those bastards with me."