I Became the Academy’s War Hero

Chapter 8: If You Want to Resort to Force (3)

‘I was wondering who would try to stop me… but this is unexpected.’

I thought it would be either the Cadet Commander or the beast trainer nearby, or maybe Frederick—who still held a grudge against me.

I looked at Michel and tried putting all my strength into my restrained hands.

Just as I expected, they didn’t budge an inch.

‘…Impressive.’

Some might say it was just a common remote spell, but as a seasoned veteran of MAGA, I could tell.

It might look simple at a glance, but this was far from easy.

From a distance of at least a hundred meters, she had precisely and swiftly bound only my wrists, nothing else.

Unless one had an exceptionally advanced ability to control mana, such a feat was impossible.

And yet, she had done it without even blinking.

‘He’s got talent too good to be wasted as just a staff officer, even on a second look.’

Of course, assigning him as a combatant would be difficult since his area of specialization was too specific.

Not that there was any need to worry about that now.

As soon as I relaxed my hands, Michel withdrew her wand and released the spell.

“That should be enough, Colonel Carter.”

From behind, she slowly walked down until she reached the front of the spectator seats.

“Wouldn’t you agree, Cadet Commander?”

“……”

The Cadet Commander beside her glanced back and forth between Michel and me before nodding, looking dissatisfied.

I already knew what that meant.

“Enough? What do you mean by that?”

I tilted my head slightly.

“Oh, so what you’re saying is… you were testing me, Cadet Commander?”

“Rather than a test…”

“So this so-called welcoming ceremony was really a test in disguise. How childish.”

My tone dripped with sarcasm, and the irritated Cadet Commander snapped back, glaring at me.

“What, can’t we test you? You wouldn’t want an unqualified man entering Karbenna either, would you?”

“Of course not.”

“Then why—”

“Then you should’ve asked for my consent to test me in the first place. There was no need to trick me with something called a ‘welcoming ceremony,’ was there?”

Not that I’d actually been fooled, anyway.

Before he could argue back, I continued, cutting him off.

“Well, I suppose it was a kind of initiation, huh? You probably wanted to see the washed-up veteran from the Special Task Force flounder against a low-rank beast.”

“H-Hey, Carter—no, Instructor Carter! That wasn’t my intent at all…”

Ignoring the flustered Cadet Commander trying to save face, I looked around the stands.

“I joined Karbenna as an instructor to teach practical tactics. Not as a combatant. I trust you understand that?”

My words—bordering on admonishment—were followed by an uncomfortable silence.

Among the gazes fixed on me, a few clearly carried hostility.

Ironically, the one who looked the most relieved was my old rival, Frederick.

With a faint sigh, I lowered my head slightly.

A short gesture of respect toward Michel.

“If there’s nothing more to discuss, I’ll take my leave now, Chairwoman.”

As soon as Eugene Carter left the scene, Michel Bernhardt rose from her seat with a light smile and exited as well.

The other professors, seeing this, also stood up.

“It’s a relief we avoided the worst-case scenario, but I’d appreciate not being dragged into things like this again. Well then.”

“W-Wait a moment, Nigel!”

The trainer, Nigel, left immediately after his beast regained consciousness.

Rubia Magnus sat for a while with a moved expression, then, realizing no one else was left, hurriedly rushed outside.

Left alone on stage, the Cadet Commander clenched his teeth in frustration.

“Damn it…!”

“I told you, didn’t I? Don’t underestimate that Carter fellow.”

Frederick, who had somehow come down to the stage, spoke calmly. The Cadet Commander rubbed his forehead.

“…I admit it. I was short-sighted.”

However—

“This is only the beginning, Director.”

…He still hadn’t learned his lesson.

Frederick almost said that but decided to stay silent.

Even for him, Eugene Carter’s performance had been astonishing.

If things kept progressing like this, perhaps he’d get to see that man reform Karbenna sooner than expected.

So Frederick simply nodded and turned away.

“I’ll be looking forward to it.”

A faint smile spread across his lips.

Six days had passed since the welcoming ceremony.

The current date was February 28th, one day before the start of the semester.

Early in the morning, I was heading toward the Beast Habitat Zone with Rubia.

“I’m indebted to you again.”

“Oh no, not at all.”

She could have complained at least once, but instead, she remained cheerful the entire time we walked—over two kilometers.

‘She’s surprisingly sturdy, come to think of it.’

I could occasionally feel her gaze on me, but I deliberately ignored it.

“It’s fascinating, though.”

“What is?”

“You know, the stereotypes. About beasts.”

Assuming my silence meant interest, she continued.

“I mean, it’s one thing for scholars like me, but I didn’t expect the Empire’s legendary war hero to take interest in classifying beast species.”

“When you’ve hunted as many as I have, you tend to notice certain things.”

At that, the conversation paused for a while.

In the distance, a forest thick with spruce trees came into view.

Not all beasts were harmful to humans.

The definition of a beast referred merely to a creature imbued with mana.

As long as it didn’t pose a major threat to humans, there was no need to stir unnecessary trouble.

The existence of the ‘Beast Habitat Zone’ within Karbenna followed the same reasoning.

In any case, without understanding a beast’s nature, subjugating it was difficult.

Data collected from relatively low-risk beasts was used to combat more dangerous ones.

That was the modern principle of beast extermination.

‘At least, until the Apocalypse began in earnest.’

A long, fence-like iron gate blocked the entrance.

From its surface upward, I could sense a faint flow of mana.

Seeing that, several spell formulas came to mind instantly.

‘Touch it and you’ll trigger both an alarm and an electric discharge. A common setup.’

Recalling Eugene Carter’s memories, we headed toward a small control booth to the right.

A neatly dressed man holding documents stepped outside.

“Instructor Eugene Carter, Professor Rubia Magnus, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Yes!”

“From the time of entry, you’ll have a hundred and fifty minutes—so, it’ll close again at ten a.m. Please keep that in mind.”

I glanced at my watch and nodded.

When the man went back inside and pressed a few switches, the mana enveloping the gate dissipated.

Creak!

With a loud metallic sound, the gate swung open.

With an excited look, Rubia grabbed my arm.

“Let’s go, Eugene!”

“Please, don’t pull so hard.”

The Empire categorized beasts into three classes: Safe, Caution, and Dangerous.

This Area 23, located between Building G and Building H, was a Beast Habitat Zone where only Safe-class beasts appeared.

‘I should tread carefully for now.’

Honestly, I had been quite lucky during the welcoming ceremony.

My opponent had been a trained beast, and I’d already known the perfect strategy for the Benamaur Red Wolf.

If things had gone wrong, I was prepared to use my trump card—the Magic Eye of Intimidation—and in the end, I had.

However—

‘It’s not something I can recklessly use again.’

It was a highly useful ability when facing one or two low-rank beasts, but its effectiveness faded considerably against multiple opponents. The mana consumption was also significant.

Even as a ten-year veteran of MAGA, there were still things I didn’t know.

I had trained my stamina, strength, and agility every day without fail, but beasts were a different matter altogether.

With a body I wasn’t yet fully accustomed to, I couldn’t predict what variables might arise when facing one directly.

That was one of the reasons I brought Rubia along.

Her combat sense was notably lacking, but even so, she possessed far superior aptitude for large-scale engagements compared to me in my current state.

As we walked along the winding forest trail, Rubia’s eyes couldn’t seem to stay fixed on one place.

Her bright, clear eyes and innocent smile glowed even more beautifully in the sunlight.

I paused for a moment to give her time to observe.

“You don’t seem to come here often, do you?”

“No.”

Examining small herbs sprouting between the trees, Rubia replied,

“My subjects are purely theoretical, so I rarely get to do fieldwork… and I’m a bit conscious of how the other professors might see it.”

“…I suppose that makes sense.”

Professors of Beast Ecology or Herbology might wonder why she was so interested in something outside her field.

But that was Rubia Magnus.

A woman who took as her motto, ‘There’s no such thing as meaningless learning.’—something that might sound corny to some, but not to her.

Then, as if suddenly remembering, she turned toward me.

“Oh dear, listen to me rambling. You said you were looking for something, right?”

“Yes.”

I handed her an old, crumpled piece of paper.

The moment she saw the circular shape drawn on one side, Rubia flinched.

“Isn’t this an Ironstone Snail?”

“Yes. That’s what we’re looking for.”

“Ah…”

Her expression immediately turned uneasy.

“That’ll be difficult. Their roaming range is too wide, and they’re small in size.”

I figured as much, which was why I’d prepared something in advance.

I took out a small leather pouch carefully tied and kept in my inner pocket.

“Would this help?”

Inside the pouch gleamed a rough-textured, reddish iron ore.

Beasts of Caution grade and higher were generally hostile to living beings—especially humans.

Some could detect humans even from five kilometers away and attack without hesitation.

In such cases, there was no need to go looking for them—they would come for you.

The problem was the opposite case.

Safe-class beasts were rarely hostile toward humans, and even when they were, it was so subtle that one could hardly notice. Which made them much harder to find.

Thus, we had to rely on other means to lure them in.

The “Zeppelin Red Iron Ore” I had brought was precisely that.

“Where did you get something so rare…?”

“I asked an old colleague for help.”

To think that my old acquaintance Belfor had a side job as a collector of rare minerals—what a small world.

‘Well, saves me money, so I can’t complain.’

If I had tried to buy it properly, it would’ve cost at least a gold coin.

The mana-infused ore soon began to emit a red glow.

After I finished channeling mana into it and placed it gently on the ground, a faint red dust began to rise.

“All we have to do now is wait.”

I led Rubia about twenty meters back.

Thankfully, the wait wasn’t long.

Rubia pointed ahead and whispered excitedly,

“Eugene! Over there!”

A snail the size of a pebble was waddling toward the red iron ore.

Its shell looked like a round rock reinforced with steel plating.

“The shiny surface—that’s made of red iron, right?”

“Yes.”

When hiding inside its shell, it looked like an ordinary stone. But the Ironstone Snail also utilized metallic refraction to enhance its camouflage.

Since these creatures lived their entire lives consuming the red iron components they were born with, opportunities to replenish them were rare.

For beasts whose survival instinct outweighed their hostility toward humans, this was an irresistible lure.

Sure enough, within twenty minutes, over a hundred Ironstone Snails had gathered near the ore.

“I didn’t think there’d be this many Ironstone Snails in this forest.”

“Indeed.”

I glanced at Rubia.

“Can you restrain them for a bit?”

“…You mean, keep them from scattering?”

“Five minutes is enough.”

Rubbing her lips thoughtfully, Rubia seemed to make up her mind and drew her wand.

“Paralyze Field.”

A magic circle appeared on the ground, pulsing in a deeper crimson hue than the one surrounding the ore.

At the same time, I dashed right up to the edge of the circle.

The snails outside the circle scattered in panic.

The remaining ones—at least eighty—were still within range.

‘That should be enough.’

Without hesitation, I activated Mana Devour.

Iron Body – D

Hardens the user’s body to be as durable as steel.

“…D-rank, huh.”

Considering the beasts I absorbed were among the weakest of their kind, it wasn’t entirely surprising—but I couldn’t say I was satisfied.

‘At least, not with the rank.’

Still, the Iron Body skill would be more than enough to intimidate the cadets and could also prove useful when training people like Francia or Rubia later on.

‘Against beasts… I’ll need to reach C-rank at least.’

Beyond that point, they’d start seeing right through me.

While I was checking the skill, Rubia tidied up the area and retrieved the red iron ore.

“Here it is, Eugene.”

The ore had shrunk to about half its original size.

I bowed my head slightly in thanks.

“I hope I haven’t dragged you away from your class preparations too much.”

“Oh, no, not at all…”

She waved her hands shyly, then her eyes suddenly brightened.

“So, what exactly were you trying to do?”

“Well…”

“Ah! Don’t tell me—it’s to gather reference data for that new beast classification system the Empire’s been developing, right?!”

Once again, she jumped to her own conclusions.

“Uh… You could say that.”

It wasn’t entirely wrong, so I went along with it.

Rubia muttered something under her breath, then made a small exclamation as if she had confirmed a theory.

“I knew it.”

“Knew what?”

“Huh? Did I say something?”

Feigning innocence, she casually hooked her arm around mine.

“Let’s hurry, Eugene! We don’t have much time!”

“We still have more than thirty minutes left…”

Of course, any protest was pointless.

‘She never listens in times like this.’

Matching her pace, I started mentally organizing tomorrow’s plans one by one.