Their Objective
"You can't see souls?"
Rudell couldn't hide his bewildered expression at Capelles’s words.
For Necromancers, souls were what they manipulated.
In other words, they were like mana to mages.
"Literally… I can't… see souls…"
Perhaps the shock was considerable, as tears began to well up in his unfocused eyes.
Of course, it wasn't something Rudell couldn't understand.
A Necromancer who couldn't see souls.
That was no different from a mage unable to use magic, or a swordsman unable to wield a sword.
"Waaaaah—!!"
"..."
Capelles began to wail, a sorrowful sound escaping his throat.
Rudell couldn't hide his awkward expression at the sight.
What if, one day, his own mana suddenly disappeared?
He imagined he would probably look no different than the man before him.
Thinking this, Rudell approached Capelles.
"Calm down, Capelles. We don't know yet if this is a temporary phenomenon or not. Maybe we can go to a temple and see if there's something wrong with you."
"Thank you… ‘sniffle’…!!"
Seemingly encouraged by his consolation, Capelles raised his head, sniffling.
"Do you remember anything unusual? Being bitten by a bug… or perhaps triggering a trap…"
"Nothing like that… I did have a strange feeling ever since we entered the forest…"
"A strange feeling?"
"It's like something was constantly pulling at me…"
"Hmm…"
Rudell let out a low groan at his words.
"Did anyone else feel that way?"
"No, we're fine…"
Rudell turned his head and asked the other students, who shook their heads and replied.
"Hmm…"
Something that only reacts to Necromancers… Whatever it was, Rudell thought it was definitely not ordinary.
He spoke to the student who appeared to be the team leader.
"What are you planning to do now? It will be dangerous for Capelles to spend the night out here in this condition."
"We were just worried about that… As you can see, without Capelles, we don't have any combat specialists…"
Without the undead they commanded, Necromancers were essentially less capable than ordinary mages.
Given their proximity to the center of the forest, encountering monsters in their current state would lead to a truly dire situation.
Of course, with the proctors monitoring them, their lives wouldn't be in danger, but if a proctor had to intervene, that would result in a penalty.
They were in a Catch.
"..."
Rudell looked at them for a moment, then turned his head towards Leje.
She let out a short sigh, as if telling him to do as he pleased.
Since they had decided to create a debt, it wouldn’t hurt to make it a little bigger.
With that thought, Rudell spoke to the student who was the team's representative.
"Our camp isn't far from here. How about you come with us?"
"What? B-But… we're competitors…"
"Competitors or not, it feels wrong to leave someone in danger."
Although Rudell said this, they didn't really have a choice.
Get attacked by monsters, incur a penalty, or shamelessly accept protection.
The choices available to them were crystal clear.
"…I can't decide this on my own."
Responding to Rudell’s words, the student approached the others and began to discuss the situation with them…
Before long, the student returned, letting out a short, resigned sigh and bowing his head towards Rudell.
"We will accept the Young Master's kindness. We won't forget this."
"That's enough."
With a faint smile, Rudell extended his hand towards him.
* * *
After sending them to the camp, Rudell and Leje continued their journey through the dark forest.
"Are you sure this is alright?"
"What is?"
Rudell tilted his head at her question.
"What is? I'm asking if it's okay to just take anyone in like that. What if they're a Cult pawn?"
"Well… Elleanor is there too. I don't think it'll be a problem."
As befitting her title of Saintess, she could sense the holy power of others.
And, according to her, the holy power of those belonging to the Death Eater Cult was easily distinguishable.
Since she was at the camp, even if there were Cult pawns among them, it wasn't a major concern.
Moreover, while the Cultists were said to be skilled in combat, they wouldn't be a match for Kurt.
"Hmm…"
"If you're that worried, should we just go back?"
They had searched a fairly wide area, but hadn't found any particular traces of the Cult.
Since it was still the first day of the test, this much should be sufficient for today.
"W-What are you talking about!? Why would I be worried about them?!"
"Yes, yes, I understand."
She was so easy to read.
Chuckling to himself, Rudell thought this.
Even though she pretended otherwise, it was easy to see that she cared about others.
Leje turned her head away with an embarrassed expression, and Rudell smiled faintly as he watched her.
They stopped and began to retrace their steps.
However, that was only for a moment…
"…?"
Rudell, who had been leaping between the trunks of giant trees, stopped moving with a puzzled expression.
"What's wrong?"
"Just now…"
He thought he saw something strange…
With that thought, Rudell focused mana into his eyes.
And what he saw was a group of people moving somewhere.
"There, someone's moving."
"Really? Hmm…"
At Rudell’s words, Leje narrowed her eyes and peered into the darkness.
Her eyes shimmered with a faint blue light…
"He's right. Who would be out this late?"
It was already past eleven at night.
Most of the students would have established their bases and be resting in preparation for the next day.
"Hmm…"
"Shall we take a look?"
A low groan escaped Rudell's lips, and as if reading his mind, Leje asked.
"I think that would be best."
A strange, ominous feeling lingered.
Rudell nodded at Leje’s question, and together they headed towards the faint figures moving in the distance.
* * *
Having spotted the suspicious group, Rudell and Leje followed them, concealing their presence.
Before long, the group stopped. Rudell and Leje looked down from the branches of a nearby giant tree.
"Looks like they're Cultists, right?"
"I think so too."
Unidentified individuals cloaked in jet-black robes.
The ominous-shaped rosaries in their hands indicated their affiliation with the Death Eater Cult.
"What are they doing?"
"It looks like they're preparing some kind of ritual…"
Leje narrowed her eyes as she spoke, and Rudell replied.
The basic form of all magic was a circle.
Magic was activated by inscribing the appropriate formulas onto a representation of the circulation of magic.
In that sense, the formation they were currently in looked like nothing other than a preparation to activate some kind of magic.
"What should we do?"
"What else?"
Rudell responded to Leje, who asked while observing the scene.
The answer was practically a given.
"We take them down."
Whatever they were planning, they couldn't be allowed to do as they pleased.
With those words, Rudell jumped down from the tree.
Leje also drew her sword and followed him to the ground.
"Who are you!!"
At the same time, the Cultists, noticing the two, drew their weapons and shouted.
Of course, that posed no threat to Rudell and Leje.
"Gah!?"
Leje, who had rushed in without a word, beheaded the nearest Cultist.
Before they could react, her sword sliced another Cultist in half.
"Damn it! Enemies! Attack!"
"Death to the infidels!!"
Another Cultist collapsed, spewing blood, and only then did the remaining Cultists rush towards Leje…
Swish!!
"Urk!?"
"Kragh!?"
With the sound of wind being sliced, Shadow Thorns erupted from the darkness, piercing their bodies.
The dark forest, where even moonlight couldn't penetrate.
It was the optimal environment for Rudell.
In a mere few seconds, the surrounding Cultists transformed into cold corpses, littering the ground…
"Looks like we're done here."
"Leje, could you step back for a moment?"
"Alright."
As Leje sheathed her sword, Rudell drew upon his mana.
Rudell's shadow spread wide, and the bodies of the Cultists on top of the shadow sank into it and disappeared.
"Ugh, I still can't get used to that."
Leje shuddered slightly, as if goosebumps were rising on her skin.
Ignoring her, Rudell, having finished cleaning up, turned his head and looked over the scene. It looked quite ordinary.
"Hmm…"
Letting out a low groan, Rudell lowered his stance and began to examine the markings on the ground.
And…
"This is…"
Having discovered something, Rudell narrowed his eyes and stared at it.
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