075

The next day.

Jessie was so drunk that she didn’t remember anything she had said.

No, it wasn't just that she didn't remember her words; she couldn't recall almost everything that had happened that evening.

‘Maybe she’s just pretending not to remember because she’s embarrassed.’

Her memory from the moment we met at the pub entrance was practically a complete blank, enough to make me suspect that.

But the problem was that only Jessie had lost her memory.

Since that day, Sordian had started to subtly rush me with his blazing eyes.

“You should just go monster hunting alone…”

“Shouldn’t you be there to see if I’m using mana correctly or not, teacher? Besides, Guard Captain Rozalin emitted aura to protect Teacher Cassian, so I should also protect the teacher…!”

For some reason, I got goosebumps and politely refused.

Sordian refused my refusal.

“So hurry up and make time!”

“No, why…!”

I went to class, avoiding Sordian.

No, I was about to.

That is, until Instructor Qantaii and Gwen, who had heard the rumors, came to find me.

“Teacher! No, senior! I heard you discovered a method for teaching Sword Aura! Why didn’t you share it with us?”

“I’m disappointed! We were colleagues who stood together against the teachers of Class D and E, weren't we? Huh?”

“To think you would even teach that vile C class teacher Jessie Sword Aura first! Are you abandoning us now that we're no longer useful and leaving?”

“Do you prefer young, innocent, and obedient people?!”

Hey, let’s not say things in the hallway that students might misunderstand.

After calming down the instructors and going in, I was faced with the students.

“Teacher. I heard you're going to hunt monsters?”

“...That’s not true for now, but where did you hear that news?”

“The seniors who went to the village yesterday heard it, and the rumor spread.”

It seemed that the students who were out and about had heard Jessie’s shouting.

“Don’t tell me you guys too?”

“No, we believe we will awaken our aura soon because you teach us so well, teacher!”

The students were startled by the mention of a real battle and waved their hands.

It seemed the battle with the flock of harpies had left them with trauma.

It was a bit different from the fight with the orcs.

The battle with the orcs had given them the courage to think they could easily handle monsters, but the battle with the flock of harpies had only left them with the wariness that they could die in an instant if they underestimated monsters.

“Yes, that’s a relief.”

“But the people who have awakened are a bit different.”

“...?”

It was the students who had awakened their aura who were eager for a fight.

Pan, Bridget, and Eleveth looked at me with an itchy look in their eyes.

“We can’t use aura in sparring with other students.”

“Because you forbade it, saying it was dangerous.”

Aura was a power that could cut anything, and therefore, aura could only be blocked by aura.

If the students who could use aura sparred carelessly, they could seriously injure their opponents.

“But in a real battle, we should be able to swing it freely, shouldn't we?”

The children who had gained power seemed to be itching to use their strength properly.

It couldn't be simply seen as them being intoxicated with power.

Then Pan spoke with a serious expression.

“I want to know how far I can go with my aura. You also need that kind of data to create grades and theories, teacher.”

Was it because he had been coming and going to my dormitory training ground to practice?

Pan knew exactly what would pique my interest.

“I’ll think about it for now. I can’t just bring in monsters when Hati is not here.”

I calmed down the students’ complaints and proceeded with the class.

After the day’s work was over, I immediately went to the advisor’s office in the administration building.

It was to see Avril.

“There’s a day when you come to see me first like this.”

Avril looked at me with a surprised expression.

“I think you know why I’m here.”

“The students are excited. The instructors are excited too. Aura and a real battle. Is it because of monsters?”

Avril had already grasped the rumors and atmosphere circulating within the school.

With Hati gone now, I needed the power of Goldline, which could not only extend its influence across the continent but also mobilize money and manpower.

“Is it possible?”

“...Yes. It was an interesting topic for me as well.”

Avril had also awakened his aura through this opportunity.

“I’ll arrange an opportunity.”

“Please make it an opportunity where the students can be as safe as possible.”

At my request, Avril gave me a look that said, "Of course."

* * *

“Ugh, it’s only been a few days since winter ended, but the weather is terrible.”

Hati stuck his tongue out in disgust.

“You’ve been in hotter places than this.”

“This body isn’t adapted to the heat. It’s a body that has only experienced the gentle and beautiful weather of Akarind, where all four seasons are peaceful.”

“Tsk tsk, such a person is living like a homeless person in the trashiest guard captain’s office in Akarind? So I’m saying, let’s talk to that money-grubbing bastard and get a new guardroom built.”

“Hey, it’s a waste of money. Money should be used to help our juniors grow up beautifully.”

The steps of the two people, who were having a small chat, stopped at the same time.

“This is really good.”

“That’s what I’m saying. Did you feel it too, big sister?”

“Yeah. My skin is tingling.”

“I see why Brother Pan has such monstrous senses.”

“The effect of mana is great.”

Their gazes were directed to one place.

Nothing was visible to the naked eye, but they felt a strangely unfamiliar energy.

It was one of the abilities they had gained after awakening Sword Aura, and with it, they could detect objects or living beings in places their vision could not reach.

They could detect a pickpocket hiding and approaching, or a sword flying at them, without even seeing it.

And just like now.

Even a druid who was secretly approaching, shrouded in magic and hidden in the forest.

“Hati.”

At Rozalin’s signal, Hati charged fiercely and raised his mace.

“Hmph!”

With a light shout, a dark red light shimmered on the mace.

Unlike Sword Aura, which had the shape of a sword, it was a dull, circular shape near the iron ball, and its unstable wavering made it look like a destructive flame had bloomed on the iron ball.

And its power was just like that.

Kwaaaaaaaang!

With a roar as if a battering ram, not a small mace, had been swung, the ground, several meters wide, caved in.

The roar was so great that it even swallowed the screams of the people who were swept away by the explosion.

“Oh, five of them.”

Hati licked his lips with his tongue and raised his head.

As he ran here, he could feel a wider range of gazes.

From those crawling on the ground to those coming through the trees like monkeys.

At least a hundred warriors were aiming at him.

But he didn’t feel like he would lose.

“Hehehe. This is really good.”

Because in his hand was the weapon he had so desperately wanted in his past life.

And above all.

“Wow, this is good. Mana is the best. Ugh.”

Because Rozalin, who had approached him at some point, was standing firmly behind him.

It seemed the savages of the Great Forest had also unconsciously felt it.

They were only watching and aiming their weapons, and couldn't easily enter.

And for good reason, as the power that Hati had just emitted was an ability that was incomprehensible to their common sense.

To overturn the ground with just one swing of a mace.

“It seems it’s not Gias. If it’s not a wicked power, then is it mana?”

In that confrontation, a person appeared from between the bushes.

A wolf-head-shaped skull and a grayish-white fur coat over revealing clothes.

And a huge wooden staff with a blooming flower.

It was Ulf.

She looked at Hati and Rozalin with interest.

“Mana, how unclassy. We don’t call it mana, we call it aura.”

“Aura? A name derived from breath (αύρα)? What a cute name. To breathe life into a sword, like an act of alchemy.”

“Hey, are you dissing our teacher right now?”

Rozalin retorted sarcastically as usual.

“No, to be honest, I was a little surprised.”

Ulf shook her head.

It was her honest feeling.

“I have seen the sword that my Pan wields. But the mana that bloomed from that sword was not so pure. It was turbid and chaotic, just containing the resentment of that child.”

Was that so?

Rozalin thought back on Pan’s mana.

She didn't know.

At that time, she couldn’t even feel mana, let alone emit aura.

It seemed there was something that only a 6th-circle mage had grasped.

“So, what brings you here? I spared you when you ran away with your tail between your legs, did you come back because you want to die? You didn’t come just to show off that clumsy aura, did you.”

“I did.”

Rozalin grinned and drew her sword.

And almost simultaneously, the people who had just caught up to Hati and Rozalin’s steps began to enter the forest one by one.

They were the members of the Firestorm Mercenary Guild.

“To get some revenge for last time, and while I’m at it, get some compensation for the assault.”

“Compensation for the assault?”

“They say there are many good elixirs in the Great Forest. I’ll have to get some moss that grows on the branches of the thousand-year-old tree, the scales of the diamond carp, the leaves of the dryad queen, and things like that.”

“The nature of a thief remains the same. It seems proper education is needed this time.”

The petals on Ulf’s staff trembled as if a wind had blown.

At that, the mana extending from the staff began to awaken the entire forest.

The sleeping trees lifted their roots above the mounds of earth as if they had gained life.

— Guh, uh, uh!

A sound like wind leaking from a tree trunk came out, and the branches touched the ground, shaking off their leaves.

The startled animals seemed to move away for a moment, crying out, but soon, their eyes glowed green and they returned.

Thousands of birds sat on the shoulders of the walking giant trees, and the crawling vines stuck their heads out like snakes.

“Wow, she’s scary in the forest. A 6th-circle mage who can even take down demons.”

It was not just any place, but the Great Forest, where a druid could best display their abilities.

But even so, it wasn’t scary.

Before regressing.

They were those who had fought and slaughtered not only thousands of monsters but also dozens of demons without mana.

An opponent of this level seemed just right for them to test their aura and go on a rampage.

“Well, it seems doable.”

Rozalin raised her sword in a high stance.

A deep blue aura soared from her sword.

It was a deeper aura than the one that had appeared on Hati’s iron ball, the stage that Cassian had named ‘Runner’.

“But what to do, I’ve gotten a little scarier too.”

She swung her sword down from where she stood.

And at the same time.

— Guh, uh?

One of the tree spirits standing next to Ulf was split in half.

The tree, a giant of several meters, slowly fell to the left and right.

The animals and people stared blankly at the scene, not knowing what had happened.

Kuuuuung!

With a huge impact sound, a cloud of dust rose.