I Became the Academy’s War Hero Chapter 28 : Things Are Getting Interesting? (1)

Chapter 28: Things Are Getting Interesting? (1)

‘…What’s this?’

At the strange sight that unfolded at the end of the battle, Colonel Belfor was montarily overco with doubt.

He had been so shocked that he almost failed to finish the fight properly.

Fortunately, his body moved on instinct, allowing him to subdue the enemy—but even after the battle ended, his confusion didn’t fade.

At the final mont, Eugene Carter’s sword had swung twice.

And both strikes happened at precisely the sa ti.

‘Does that sword have so kind of special power I don’t know about?’

No, that couldn’t be it.

The Special Task Force was overflowing with artifacts of that caliber. That’s why he had been willing to lend it out so readily.

More importantly, if the artifact had any special abilities, it would have been categorized separately long ago.

‘…Then, was that all his own ability?’

When had he developed such a skill?

He’d known for a long ti that Eugene had excellent combat instincts and intuition—but he’d never expected him to pull off a technique like that.

While Walter and Belfor were still reeling from the final scene, Eugene, having completed Mana Devour, raised the recovered Lukezax without hesitation and drove it down onto the creature’s neck.

Its head rolled helplessly toward the nest.

After that, Eugene swiftly began sorting through the artifacts.

“This one’s trash… this one’s still usable.”

After selecting only nine out of roughly twenty artifacts, he picked Lukezax back up—only to soon drop it again as if discarding a useless blade.

“…Why?”

“…I thought it was just my imagination.”

Eugene frowned awkwardly and muttered softly.

“Can’t use it. This thing’s useless now.”

A pitch-black miasma was seeping out from Lukezax.

Rattle, rattle.

Inside the carriage bumping along the rough dirt road, I sat deep in thought.

This ti, thanks to Belfor volunteering to act as coachman, I was able to remain inside the carriage for both trips.

After finishing the werebeast hunt, I used Mana Devour on the incapacitated creature.

Since it was a B-rank beast and quite large, the process took longer—but the payoff was worth it.

※ Through the effect of Mana Devour, the following ability rank has increased.

[Animal Instinct S ―> Animal Instinct S ]

Once a stat or ability reaches S-rank, it almost never rises any further, regardless of danger level or effort.

To have pushed it to S in a single go…

‘No wonder it’s called EX-rank Mana Devour.’

It was a satisfying result—but I couldn’t completely relax.

There was no denying that Mana Devour was a top-tier, borderline broken ability, but in MAGA, there was no such thing as a power without risk.

After the werebeast hunt, I burned its entire nest to ashes.

Once the nest was destroyed, the spreading tendrils of corruption across the ground quickly sank back into the earth and vanished.

After leaving the cave, we carried out a formal search for survivors.

There were none.

We built a large grave at the village center and took a mont of silence.

The artifacts we’d collected were piled roughly in the back of the carriage.

I ran my hand along the back of Lukezax’s blade and sighed.

Walter, sitting beside , glanced at and asked carefully,

“Was the reason you brought us here because of the artifacts?”

“Of course not.”

Though that had been one of the reasons, I’d chosen this location mainly because it was ideal for training.

‘Though now that things turned out like this, any kind of field practice here is impossible….’

Still, recovering several useful artifacts—including Lukezax—was a big success.

‘It’s just a sha I can’t actually use the most important one.’

As I stared quietly at the blade, the artifact began to blink, almost as if it had been waiting for to look.

Corrupted Lukezax [Advanced ―> Interdiate]

A single-edged sword forged by the magic swordsman Luke, who lted down his own bones.

※ Has been corrupted due to prolonged exposure to a beast. [Upon use: Inflicts status ailnt ‘Deterioration’]

‘So, so artifacts can be inspected like this.’

I still couldn’t figure out what triggered this damn Status Window or when it decided to work.

Anyway…

“To use this, I’ll have to purify it first, right?”

When I asked, Walter nodded as if the question were obvious.

“Don’t think you’ll get purification stones for free. You know how rare they are nowadays, right?”

“Of course I do.”

A Purification Stone is created by extracting all mana from a mana stone and imbuing it with healing or purification magic.

It’s mainly used to treat humans exposed to curses or corruption.

Rarely, it’s also used to cleanse artifacts—but under Apocalypse Mode, that’s almost unheard of.

Due to the flood of beasts and the surge of civilian casualties, the demand for Purification Stones had skyrocketed.

Except for a few places like the Mage Tower or the Imperial Palace, most areas were suffering from severe shortages.

“Even Karbenna only keeps about ten for church use, as far as I know.”

“For church use, huh….”

“You know the church’s inventory is managed entirely by the Dean, right?”

“So to use a Purification Stone, I’d need Frederick’s approval?”

Walter shrugged and nodded.

‘Well, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to try….’

Since I’d be eting with Frederick soon for the conference anyway, I decided to keep that as one of my options.

The next person that ca to mind was Rubia, who was connected to the Mage Tower—but I shook my head silently.

‘It’s not ti to contact the Mage Tower yet.’

It’s not like I needed to use Lukezax imdiately, anyway.

You never know what opportunity might co next, so I just needed to stay alert.

I gave the Status Window one last glance.

Through clearing the Non-Regular Schedule [C—3013 Exploration], you have earned the following reward:

: Alleviation of Withdrawal Symptoms

After reading that, a faint smile ford on my lips.

“…Hmm.”

Well, I’d say that was a pretty fruitful weekend.

That sa day, late evening.

Step, step.

Leaving the dical wing, Eric Halenber was crossing the plaza.

As he trudged along, the words of the dic echoed in his ears.

“Okay. Looks like you don’t need to co back to the infirmary anymore… You can go about your daily life as usual. Just take it easy for another two weeks—no intense activity, got it?”

“…So it’s really over, huh.”

As he suddenly recalled the previous battle, he bit his lip hard.

He had long known there was an overwhelming difference in strength.

Though he had been lucky enough to score four wins and one loss, even back when Francia had been stubborn and unyielding, he had often found himself on the verge of defeat.

He had simply hidden it and pretended not to notice.

Even within Karbenna—or the entire Empire, for that matter—Francia Brida possessed a potential that could not be underestimated.

With a proper ntor, she would grow faster than anyone else.

If she used that power for the Empire, she could beco a war hero—or, even if not, one of the greatest rcenaries of her ti.

‘Well, that’s how it should be.’

Were you planning to beco a politician? A man of wealth?

You never intended to stand against your family that way, did you?

To avoid the scrutiny of the Halenber family and other noble houses, nothing was more reliable than overwhelming strength.

Then his current record—four wins and two losses—might hold so worth after all.

“…Yeah. That’s enough.”

Eric steadied his heart alone, firmly believing it was the best choice he could make.

On his way to the second-year, Class 3 dormitory.

As he turned a corner, two shadows fell over him.

“Ugh!”

Before he could react, Eric was thrown to the ground. He glared upward sharply.

“……”

The shadows belonged to Billy Gray and Philip Petra.

“E, Eric…”

Billy reflexively reached out his hand, but Philip quickly yanked his arm back.

The sight was confusing even to Eric.

“…What the hell are you two doing?”

“Let’s go!”

“S-sorry, Eric!”

The two disappeared without even helping him up.

“Hah….”

Ignoring the stares around him, Eric gripped the window fra and stood.

When he resud walking past the corner—

“……”

This ti, Francia Brida was standing in the middle of the hallway.

He flinched for an instant, but soon regained his poker face.

Acting indifferent, he walked right past her.

When he entered the dormitory interior, his classmates in the lounge were chattering excitedly.

But the mont they saw Eric, they all fell silent—as if nothing had happened.

It was the sa scene Francia had experienced just a few days prior.

As that mory overlapped vividly in his mind, Eric hurried into his private room as though fleeing.

“Huu….”

After locking the door, his gaze swept around the room—and landed on the desk.

“…What’s this?”

There was an envelope lying there.

At its edge, the signature of the Halenber family had been scrawled.

To Eric.

18―22, four people at 9. Four days from now.

The received goods are to be entrusted to a superior code holder until the Imperial Conference. You will receive separate instructions on the day.

If you carry out this task properly, the previous expulsion issue will be nullified.

Make absolutely no mistakes, my son.

It was a letter from his father.

“……”

Eric instinctively began decoding the ssage.

“4, 18, 22… that’s D, R, V… so the district na containing all three is….”

He pulled an old map of Karbenna from his drawer and began examining the district nas.

“…Here it is.”

It took him less than three minutes to locate the assembly point.

“9 Dreve Street.”

He then cross-checked the location against the current map of Karbenna.

It turned out to be the parish warehouse behind Building C’s training grounds—a place that had been used for trades before.

The rest of the letter was simple.

It was the first deal of the new sester, and with an upcoming conference, caution in distribution was necessary.

They were likely planning to keep circulating the goods until the very last mont, whether between Code Blue or Code Red mbers.

The details varied, but in essence, it was the sa work as always.

Delivering the Hokhma smuggled through the western harbor safely to the buyer—a simple broker’s job.

In reality, Eric’s role was rely supervisory.

His father, not wanting to lower the deal’s credibility, had him guarantee the product’s effectiveness using the Halenber na.

And yet, his father had made canceling the expulsion contingent on completing this mission…

“…Guess the other party must’ve hoarded an enormous amount.”

Anyway, that was the entirety of the letter.

After assessing the situation, Eric tucked the envelope into his chest and threw himself onto the bed.

There was no reason to panic or hesitate.

He had done this countless tis before, and there was no risk of it coming back to harm him.

Even so, his head was a tangled ss.

He couldn’t erase the image of her weeping bitterly in the middle of the Brida family’s ruined territory, surrounded by ashes.

But Eric shook his head forcefully.

“…What could I possibly do now?”

Everything was far too late. There was no turning back.

He had already decided to live carrying the Halenber na. Helping her was impossible.

Besides, she now had an outstanding ntor in Eugene Carter. Things couldn’t be better for her.

Suppressing his heart again and again, he forced his eyes shut.

That night felt endlessly long.