I Became a Mythical-Tier Tamer Due To A System Error

Chapter 65

Ponglaine Hall Second Student Cafeteria, first floor.

Princess Arlhardt looked around her surroundings.

……Images of the past and present overlapped.

The inside of the building, which should have been bright, was dark and gloomy because mana did not flow in.

There used to always be warm sunlight streaming through the small window by the stairs.

But now, it was filled with a red glow, creating a grotesque atmosphere.

A space that was familiar, yet unfamiliar.

When I slowly turned around behind me……

Clang! Clang!

I heard the sound of ghouls fiercely pushing at the door.

But even with brute force, the door tightly locked with iron chains did not budge.

In front of the door, desks and chairs were blocking the way.

……Of course, this was no absolute defense.

“The back of the door is blocked as well.”

Ren and Verdi came running late.

“This should buy us some time at least.”

Yes, buying time.

We would never be able to completely block the ghouls’ invasion.

In the meantime, while surviving in this building, we had to find a way out.

“Remi, let’s move upstairs. This place is dangerous.”

“……All right.”

Princess Arlhardt glanced at the door for a moment and then followed Ren.

Royal Academy Yggdrasil Second Student Cafeteria, second floor.

A small sound was leaking from the kitchen.

Scritch, scritch.

The survivors were preparing a meal.

With the ingredients left in the cafeteria, the fastest and easiest dish to make was only one.

It was curry.

“……”

Lapin was in charge of onions.

She peeled the skins and then clumsily chopped them with a fruit knife given by her senior.

She stared blankly at the crooked onion pieces and picked one up to eat.

“Nom.”

As she chewed the onion, it tasted spicy yet sweet.

Since she didn’t dislike it, Lapin picked up another piece of onion and ate it.

Seeing that, Haze beside her let out a small exclamation.

“Junior. Isn’t raw onion awful? Or is it your secret to staying healthy?”

“Sorry.”

“No, it’s not like you need to apologize…….”

“Then can I keep eating?”

“……”

What a peculiar junior.

Maybe if I interview her later, something interesting will come out?

Haze let Lapin do as she pleased.

Stopping her work for a moment, she jotted something down in her notebook while watching Lapin.

“Fuuuu……”

Queens was dripping with sweat, his focus wavering.

As he was peeling potatoes, he bowed his head and stopped for a moment.

“I–I saw it……”

When Queens muttered to himself, Haze, who had sharp hearing, immediately took interest.

“What did you see? Some kind of scoop?”

Queens met Haze’s eyes.

Then, as if making up his mind, he took a deep breath and jumped to his feet.

“That girl did something weird, and that’s why the ghouls appeared!”

Queens pointed his finger toward a black-haired student.

It was Bijou Lala of the Barrier Magic Department.

“……What? That’s a misunderstanding!”

Bijou flinched in shock for a moment, then widened her eyes and shouted.

Queens shrieked in fright and stumbled back.

Bijou was holding a knife for peeling apples.

Her gloomy expression and dark circles only made her scarier.

“I’m innocent! I was only trying to analyze the barrier!”

“Y–Yeah! You’re the only one here who knows barriers! So you must be the culprit……!”

“I’m not the culprit!”

As voices grew louder, McGrim, who was in the corner, crouched down and covered her ears.

Just as the atmosphere reached its worst.

“What’s all this noise.”

A voice came from the kitchen entrance, drawing everyone’s attention.

Verdi was standing there, looking at them.

Bijou’s heart sank.

“Bijou. Is what Queens said true?”

When Verdi asked, Bijou bit her lip.

At last, she spoke as if spitting out the words.

“……I admit it. While fiddling around to find clues in the barrier…… I think I accidentally awakened a wraith.”

“See! I told you I was right!”

Queens shouted with a triumphant expression.

Bijou shrank back but forced herself to say what she needed to say.

“……I’m sorry. I swear it wasn’t intentional. I was only trying to find a way out of the barrier. I wasn’t hiding it. I was going to tell you once I found solid clues.”

“How can we trust that……”

“We will trust her. So, did you find any clues?”

When Verdi answered, both Bijou and Queens looked startled.

Bijou quickly gathered herself and pulled out a parchment she had kept in her pocket.

“It’s still too early to be certain. But I think I found a hint.”

On the parchment was a drawing.

It was hard to make out, but Verdi instantly recognized it as a rough map of the surroundings.

“Somewhere in this place, there is a center of the barrier. If we reach that spot…… we might find a way to break it.”

We could escape the barrier.

When that point was mentioned, everyone’s attention sharpened.

“Can you locate the center?”

“There are a few suspicious spots. I’m working on detecting them one by one with mana.”

“How long will it take?”

“I still can’t give a definite answer, but……”

Bijou trailed off for a moment, then finally answered.

“……I think about half a day should be enough.”

“Half a day is too long.”

Verdi gestured as he spoke.

“I’ll give you a quiet space where you can focus on detecting the center. Finish within half a day.”

“Ah, yes.”

Bijou removed her apron and followed Verdi.

This time, Verdi looked at Queens.

“You, come too.”

“……Huh? Who, me?”

Queens looked around, then pointed at himself.

When Verdi nodded, Queens’ face turned desperate.

“Why me?”

“The number of ghouls has increased. We’ll need to go outside, so join the combat squad.”

“……Can’t I just stay here and peel potatoes?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You have no choice.”

Ah.

If I’d known this would happen, I would have gone into the Research Department.

Queens bitterly regretted applying to the Combat Department just to follow his parents’ wishes.

“The rest of you, keep preparing the meal.”

With that, Verdi left the kitchen.

Now, left in the kitchen were……

“……Hm?”

It was so quiet that Haze looked around again.

Only she and Lapin remained.

“Where did that tiny kid go?”

No matter how much I looked around, I couldn’t see that cute cadet wearing the beret.

“Oh my, a missing person case……?!”

Haze grabbed her notebook with eyes blazing, but.

“……No, she probably just went to the restroom.”

She had been in the kitchen until just a moment ago, so how could she be missing?

With a light chuckle, she began preparing the ingredients again.

Meanwhile, in front of the Yggdrasil main building.

The streets were decorated with flowers and colorful ornaments.

Street stalls stretched endlessly, and large booths for food and games had been set up.

It looked as if a festival had just been held in the square, but……

‘There’s not a single person here enjoying the festival.’

The people who should have been there were gone.

Instead, the place was packed with slowly moving ghouls.

That sense of incongruity was rather unsettling.

‘They’re as slow as slugs, but I can tell they’re moving toward the cafeteria.’

If this many of them gathered and rushed the building……

Even Ren wouldn’t be able to handle it.

‘Which means I need to thin them out a little.’

Honestly, I wanted to sweep them all away with Hwayo’s skill in one blow.

‘……But if I did that, I’d use up all my cost and lose any means of escape, so that’s out of the question.’

I walked lightly toward a ghoul.

I recalled something from the old game setting book.

Ghouls were the lowest-tier undead-type monsters.

‘They can’t see, but they sense smell, body heat, and sound.’

They were said to be so sensitive that even faint heat or tiny noises could be detected.

I stood before a ghoul and waved my hand in front of its face.

Graaah……

The ghoul just moved sluggishly, showing no reaction.

I let out a short breath of amazement.

‘It must be that the darkness wrapping around my body prevents it from detecting my heat.’

Not only that, but even when I walked, I seemed to make no sound at all.

‘This is truly…… like I’ve completely melted into the darkness.’

Through the ghouls, I learned valuable information.

I realized again how incredible the ability I had gained by recruiting Shurk was.

Anyway.

‘Let’s start with one.’

Srrng! I pulled out a titanium sword from subspace.

As darkness swallowed the blade.

I swung it lightly with one hand.

Slash!

With a clean stroke, the ghoul lost balance and fell weakly.

As proof of being slain, it turned into black ash and scattered into the air.

‘……Hah.’

It was almost shocking how easily it went down.

I didn’t even have great strength.

It felt like cutting a bundle of straw.

The sword wasn’t heavy, so I didn’t need to use both hands, and that meant my stamina consumption was low.

I looked around.

Standing in the middle of a field of ghouls, I couldn’t help but smile.

‘All of this…… means more experience for me, right?’

Of course, as the lowest-tier monsters, their experience gain was poor.

But wasn’t there a saying that dust piled up made a mountain?

If I caught enough, I might get some real results.

I stomped forward quickly and swung my sword.

Slash! Slash!

The ghouls didn’t recognize me, but they seemed to react to the sound of cutting.

Graaah……

When I killed one ghoul, the others nearby chased in my direction.

‘Well, that’s even better for me!’

That saved me the trouble of chasing after them.

Stabbing and slashing, I swiftly dispatched the ghouls.

Before I knew it, I had gotten into the rhythm of hunting, and my efficiency improved.

Of course, it wasn’t like I wasn’t getting tired at all.

After swinging my sword for a long time, fatigue built up in my muscles.

‘Maybe I should rest a little.

But in a place swarming with ghouls, where could I possibly rest……?’

I didn’t ponder long.

Kicking off the ground, I leapt high.

I landed lightly on a nearby three-story building and leaned against the wall to rest.

‘I’ve hunted for quite a while now, let’s see how effective it’s been.’

I pointed into the air, and a hologram appeared.

Riz Villed Dedencman Ludwig

Health: 10

Mana: 8

Strength: 8

Willpower: 9

Agility: 12

‘What a dazzling improvement this is…….’

I let out a brief sigh of admiration.

‘Just three months ago, my stats were barely around 1.’

I felt proud of myself for raising Villed, who had been so pathetically weak, to this point.

‘With stats like these, I’m still below average.’

The road ahead was still long.

But I decided to value the fact that my growth was as fast as a protagonist’s.

This time, I checked the Animal Farm.

Soul Flame ‘Hwayo’

Level: 12

Mood: Sleeping, Stress 0%.

Absolute Shell ‘Boogie’

Level: 12

Mood: Sleeping, Stress 0%.

Immortal Phantom ‘Shurk’ (Summoned)

Level: 16

Mood: Excellent, Stress 0%.

‘Shurk already had the highest level, but it went up another one.’

It had originally been level 15, but it had grown from ghoul hunting.

It seemed the system was that the more monsters I defeated using animals’ powers, the more their levels rose.

I pulled out a water bottle from subspace, drank, and stood up.

‘Now that I’ve rested enough, time to go back down.’

Just as I drew my sword again to descend.

Aaaaaargh!

From not far away, a chilling scream rang out.