Chapter 55

Chapter 55

Explosion

Including me, Amon, Lucia, and the student named Crank who had entered last.

The four of us sat around the map in the strategy room.

Crank had a large shield on his back.

“He looks like a tank...”

With this, including Amon, there were two tanks in the team.

Composition-wise, it absolutely could not be called good. I might need to use Amon as a dealer instead of a tank.

“Ahem.”

Suddenly, Crank, who was sitting in a chair, cleared his throat.

He ended up making the strategy.

Since I could not see the map, I was naturally excluded, and Amon honestly said he had no confidence in things like strategy.

In Lucia’s case, when she said, “W-would it really be all right for someone like me to make the strategy...?” everyone passed over it without answering.

Thus, the one remaining was Crank.

“Wouldn’t second place be not bad?”

Crank seemed to have no confidence in strategy either, because he said this in a quiet voice while examining the map.

“Mandragora is completely useless to me.”

“I-I think it would be the same for me... It does not taste good either...”

At Crank’s question, Amon answered, and Lucia added after him.

Amon and Lucia were from the four elemental families.

Since they had grown up eating all sorts of elixirs from childhood, something like mandragora would have little effect on them.

“If we end up taking second place, I do not need mine. Considering what happened in the Labyrinth too... Zeto, you can eat it or whatever.”

Amon said this while glancing at me.

“Th-then if that happens, whoever wants mine can take it too. It would have been useless to me anyway...”

Lucia lowered her head in the middle of speaking.

“Since everyone was so motivated, I had been considering aiming for first place and then exchanging rewards with second place, but...”

The story changed.

The mandragoras for Amon and Lucia would remain, and even if I split them fairly with Crank, I would obtain two people’s worth of mandragora.

“In that case, I have no choice but to aim for second place as planned.”

It seemed it only needed to not be obvious.

I felt bad for my team members, but to begin with, without me, this composition would have difficulty even taking third place, let alone second.

Even if we aimed for first, there was no guarantee that we could absolutely do it.

“Then if we do not take first place, it is useless to you all. But can’t we sell the weapon brought out of the armory? I need a large sum of money right now...”

While the team members’ goal was inevitably being set as first place, Crank said this.

At this, Amon glared at Crank and opened his mouth.

“I know that selling weapons from the armory is forbidden because it violates the academy spirit. It is a tradition that has continued for decades and hundreds of years, so breaking it will not be easy. I, too, want to donate my weapon to the academy someday before I die.”

“Hmm... I need money urgently, but if so, there is no helping it...”

At Amon’s answer, Crank let out a low hum.

Putting aside Amon and Lucia, Crank, a commoner, could certainly need money.

“It is true those weapons would not sell at auction either.”

Weapons chosen from the armory appeared as unsellable items in the game too.

Perhaps it would be different at the “black market,” where even unsellable items could be sold, but entering the black market at my current level carried great risks.

Strong villains could be encountered quite often at the black market.

Meeting those sorts should be avoided if possible.

More importantly, Crank seemed to be suffering from financial problems.

If so, perhaps it would be better for him to take second place and resell the mandragora instead.

“More importantly, the question is whether we can get to the armory...”

Amon looked at a sheet of paper placed on the map and brought up a realistic issue.

It was the paper Crank had received from Edward when he came in last.

The paper had the composition of the other teams written on it.

“Team 1 is one thing, but Teams 3 and 4 look strong...”

Crank scratched his head and said that.

Team 3 did not have any special members aside from Eisel, and Team 4 had Yuri and the heir of the Aisin family.

Unlike our team, Team 4 had two people worthy of the names of the four elemental families.

Crank did not seem to have much talent for making strategies.

It seemed he had only been forced to take it on.

Thinking it would be better to help somehow, I spoke to Crank.

“Did you say earlier that only Team 1 was far away on the map?”

“Yes, only Team 1... Judging by the team composition, perhaps the instructor tried to balance it that way.”

According to the markings on the map, Team 2, Team 3, and Team 4 were gathered inside a fairly large forest, while only Team 1 was located apart from the others.

“Then... how about we move first and go strike Team 1?”

At my proposal, Crank immediately examined the map.

Then Crank raised his voice as if he had discovered something.

“...It looks possible? Team 1 is relatively closest to our team too.”

“I think Team 1 will probably come toward the forest where the other teams are. Even if they start far away, they will want to watch the state of the battle. Is there high ground on the way Team 1 would come?”

“High ground... There is. But why high ground? Since the other teams are in the forest, even if we go up to high ground, it will be hard to see the situation in detail.”

Crank, examining the map, pointed to one part of it and spoke to me in a reluctant voice.

“Not Team 1... How about we are the ones who go to the high ground?”

I tapped the map and proposed.

“You mean we will go to high ground and strike Team 1...”

“Even if Team 1 does not pass directly below us, we will be able to see where they are moving... Then we can strike from behind too.”

Amon and Crank nodded as they organized my words.

“Then what we need to do is set. We avoid the eyes of Teams 3 and 4 and leave the forest. Then we immediately go up to the high ground and wait for Team 1.”

I explained this to the three people sitting around the map.

We would let Teams 3 and 4 fight each other in the forest, eliminate Team 1 in advance, and then fight the winner of Team 3 and Team 4.

Our opponents were still inexperienced first-year students.

They would not make any remarkable strategies.

It had been like that in the game too.

[ D-Disciple... Did you not want to eat the mandragora...? As for weapons, am I not enough...? ]

Sierra’s worried voice rang inside my head as she watched me.

It seemed that watching me work hard to make a strategy made her think I was seriously aiming for first place.

But just as she said, I did not need another weapon.

Why would I take a weapon I could neither sell nor use?

I merely smiled faintly.

***

After strategy time ended, the small-scale mock battle began immediately.

We entered the illusion magic, and the spawn location matched the information on the map.

We were able to quietly leave the forest right away.

In the process of leaving the forest, I did not particularly feel anyone chasing after us.

We arrived safely at the cliff that served as high ground, and the other team members, excluding me, were lying on their stomachs at the edge of the cliff, looking down and searching for where Team 1 might be.

In the forest over there, Teams 3 and 4 seemed to be battling, as booming sounds occasionally came from that direction.

Seeing a few trees burn from time to time, it seemed Yuri was rampaging.

Since I did not need to look below the cliff, I sat leisurely on the ground, enjoying the cool wind.

“What if... Team 1 is too scared and does not move at all...?”

Crank, looking below the cliff, spoke in an anxious voice.

“If it were me, I do not think I would move... Th-that is why I did not understand this strategy when I first heard it either...”

“Haa... Lucia, do you think all students are like you? It amazes me that someone as cowardly as you attends the academy.”

“Uuuh...”

Following Crank’s words, Lucia spouted nonsense, and Amon rebuked her.

At this, Lucia began sniffling again.

In the middle of such idle chatter, Crank, who had been quietly looking below, shouted softly.

“There...! They’re here...!”

At the news that Team 1 had come, everyone who had been examining the cliff focused their attention.

“Why are they coming...? Are you not scared, you people...!”

Lucia, who had found Team 1, stopped sniffling and instead grew angry at Team 1.

Because she had spoken extremely quietly, her shout likely could not be heard by Team 1 below.

Amon watched Lucia, sighed, turned around, and looked at me as he opened his mouth.

“If we are going to attack, now seems suitable. Luckily, they are passing right below the cliff.”

“That is good news. Then shall we head out?”

I smiled and rose from my seat, brushing off my clothes.

“Miss Lucia? Please.”

At my call, Lucia rose from her seat.

Even if we attacked from high ground, we were not many in number, and excluding Lucia, all three of us had to engage in close combat.

Though Amon had a ranged harassment skill, its range was short, and it was, after all, nothing more than harassment.

Even my Rebellion Against Heaven could not yet reach all the way down there.

Still, we could not leave everything to Lucia at such a good timing, so it seemed better to descend personally and raid Team 1.

After rising from her seat, Lucia immediately cast magic on Amon, Crank, and me in order.

The magic Lucia cast on us was wind magic called “Touch of Wind.”

When this magic was applied, one would float on the wind right before falling and avoid receiving fall damage.

“It feels like... the wind is fluttering around me...? No chant, how amazing, Lucia!”

Crank, after receiving the buff from Lucia, smiled brightly and gave her a thumbs-up.

“Hehe... I am a proper member of the Windless family too...! Th-this much is nothing...!”

Having received praise, Lucia puffed herself up proudly, her short hair swaying.

“Making a fuss over one buff spell...”

Amon, watching this, clicked his tongue.

Chantless casting was not especially special in this world.

If the magic was well-practiced, one could use it without a chant as much as one liked.

Since it only slightly reduced casting time, each mage had different preferences regarding it.

“I will leave the signal to you.”

Standing at the edge of the cliff, I turned my head toward Amon as I said this.

Soon, Amon stood beside me and looked down...

“Now!”

...and gave the signal.

I, Amon, and Crank jumped in time with the signal.

The cliff was higher than expected, so falling took some time.

I saw Crank, who had his shield on his back, falling below.

We had jumped at the same time, yet why he was falling first, I did not know.

“Because the shield is heavy?”

By common sense, there was no way.

Crank was falling freely as if he had entrusted his body entirely to the wind.

At this rate, Crank seemed likely to reach the ground first.

It happened just before Crank touched the ground.

“Huh?”

With Keen Senses at level 7, I could accurately hear Crank’s bewilderment.

—Thoooom!!!

Then Crank crashed down exactly as he had fallen, and dust rose with a roar.

“He did not receive the buff...?”

The one who had cast the buff was Lucia.

I had thought that even if fighting enemies was difficult for her, she would at least cast buffs properly... but it seemed I was wrong.

Lucia was a bomb itself.

Since Amon had been following commands well, I had unconsciously failed to account for Lucia’s absurdity.

The moment I confirmed that Crank had crashed, I drew “Sierra” and stabbed it into the cliff beside me.

—Grrraaaaate!!!

The cliff was being scraped away, and I was able to receive a little resistance, but... because Sierra was far too sharp, I had to give up on stopping completely.

—Boom!!

Then Amon, who had been falling faster than me, also crashed into the ground.

It looked like Amon had created gauntlets just before he fell, so he probably had not died.

I decided to fall toward the area where the trees were nearby.

Then I kicked off the cliff and dropped precisely onto a tree.

—Rustle! Rustle!

My body rolled this way and that as I struck and was stabbed by countless branches.

—Thud!

In the end, I was able to fall to the ground.

“Ugh...”

When I immediately raised myself, a little pain remained.

[ You managed to fall where the trees were. More importantly, the magic did not activate... Then what on earth did that child named Lucia cast...? ]

Even Sierra seemed quite puzzled, her face showing distress.

Leaving Sierra behind, I raised my body and immediately burst out of the bushes, heading toward where Amon should be.

Soon, I saw Amon in a handstand position with his gauntlets buried in the ground.

Amon, in that ridiculous posture, came to his senses at the sound of my footsteps.

As soon as he came to, he tried to pull the gauntlets stuck in the ground free.

Amon, who had his feet on the ground and was straining, seemed unable to overcome his irritation and finally glared upward, shouting loudly.

“Lucia, you bitch—!!! Get down here this instant!! I’ll slam Stone Shower into that disgusting face of yours—!!”

Amon was extremely enraged.

Team 1, who had been some distance away, heard Amon shouting and came running.

“What are they doing over there...?”

“Aren’t Zeto and Amon Team 2?”

“I think they tried to attack us!”

They seemed very bewildered by the sudden situation.

They had not attacked yet, so there was a moment to catch our breath.

Just then, Lucia’s voice came from above the cliff as she looked down.

“I-I’m coming down now...!!”

Soon, Lucia, the source of all this, dropped from the cliff.

““...””

At Lucia’s answer, Team 1 seemed even less able to understand the current situation and blankly watched Lucia falling while holding her skirt, desperately trying to cover her underwear.

Just before Lucia touched the ground, a fluttering wind blew, lifting her as if wrapping around her, and soon her feet touched the ground softly and lightly.

“So you use it properly this time...? You are truly... Haa...”

The dumbfounded Amon tried to get angry at Lucia, then stopped, sighed, and focused on pulling out the gauntlets still stuck in the ground.

“I-I’m sorry... I was supposed to cast ‘Touch of Wind’... but I think I cast ‘Blessing of Wind’ instead... Where is Mr. Crank...”

Lucia, who had lowered her head deeply and was tearing up, looked around for Crank.

Then, perhaps having found Crank, Lucia screamed and ran off.

“...Mr. Crank!!”

Checking Crank’s condition from afar, I saw blood pouring from his mouth.

He would probably die soon.

It seemed he had not managed to fall on the side where his shield was.

Would he have died even if he had fallen on the side where the shield was?

I did not know that much.

Fortunately, the illusion magic had been set so that pain would not be felt, so he did not look like he was in pain.

“Lucia... I was happy, if only for a moment... Whether it was Blessing of Wind or Touch of Wind... Cough...”

“Mr. Crank! Y-you can’t die! What about the armory...!”

Crank and Lucia exchanged that conversation, and after a short while, Crank’s body began scattering away into ash.

“Please do my part too...”

With those wistful words as his last, Crank completely turned to ash.

Watching that sight, I was so dumbfounded that I could not even say anything.

One of four team members had died before we even fought.

“They already have one dead, we have the numerical advantage!”

“Formation!”

“Now’s our chance to sweep away those irritating four elemental families!”

“Ice Arrow!”

Now Team 1 was no longer simply watching.

They had already finished preparing for battle.

“Fuck... Why won’t this come out?”

Amon, unable to pull the gauntlets out, spat curses and lost his temper.

Watching him, I offered one sentence.

“Wouldn’t it be better to cancel the gauntlets?”

“If I dispel the magic, it will take some time to make the gauntlets again, so I don’t know if that would be all right.”

Was he talking about cooldown?

Certainly, without the gauntlets, close combat, which Amon was confident in, could become a little difficult.

Lucia over there was sitting on the spot where Crank had disappeared.

Was she shocked that she had killed him with her own mistake?

It was only a mock battle, so he had not really died, but Lucia could not stand up.

“A bomb is still a bomb, then...”

The thought flashed through my head that perhaps it would have been better to use a strategy where we simply threw Lucia into the middle of the enemies.

“For some reason, they haven’t gotten their heads together! Now!”

“Everyone, attack!”

“This is our chance to wipe out the unlucky four elemental families!”

“Ice Arrow!”

Naturally, Team 1 did not wait for us to regroup.

The four members of Team 1 began charging at us in their own ways.

I had not anticipated Lucia’s incredible mistake.

If left like this, Lucia would die first, and Amon would suffer at least some injury since he had no gauntlets.

However, it would not be very natural for me to be unable to do anything against Team 1.

A good idea occurred to me.

Moreover, if Chapter Two of Rebellion Against Heaven was used too long, did I not vomit blood?

I stepped in front of Amon, who was struggling with all his strength to pull out the gauntlets.

—Clang!

Drawing the sword at my waist, I knocked away a flying arrow.

Then I quietly spoke to Amon, who should be behind me.

“...Give me three seconds.”