NOVEL NEXT Chapter 60
<60 - A Lecture That Dims the Appetite>
The young adventurers-in-training aren’t exactly bright.
They’re called the inferior students of the Adventure Department, so it’s no surprise their approach is dull.
Thus, he had no interest in the boring lectures.
He even emphatically avoided the upper class lectures due to the restrictions making it tough to access them.
It’s a lecture by the legendary hero, but if anyone could grasp this opportunity, it wouldn’t be special at all, right?
‘The principal’s words were right; there’s bound to be at least one interesting student. Oknodie. This student is interesting.’
The Destroyer felt a sense of freshness.
A mere new student presenting a perfect score about the secret of [The Unyielding Sheep]? If this kid were an active warrior, they might have solved the problem much faster than they did 15 years ago.
“Want to hear the truth?”
“Of course!”
“Then let me tell you.”
The Destroyer began recounting the traces of slaughter hidden behind the idyllic scenes, recalling the truths he reached five years ago.
*
Fifteen years ago, the first person to request help from the Adventurer’s Guild was a shepherd who lost his sheep.
The culprits? Fellow shepherds.
In a hinterland village where food was scarce, they secretly slaughtered sheep, making it seem like monsters did it, and exhausted adventurers ended up catching trivial monsters or returning empty-handed.
Meanwhile, the culprit became bolder.
He killed the owner of the stolen sheep and hid his corpse inside a sheep’s skin.
The wild animals were the first to notice.
The smell of the corpse hidden among the sheep.
That made them fearful.
The scent of death hinted at the presence of a predator lurking among the prey.
Even starving wolves, their ribs protruding, couldn’t muster the courage to attack the dysfunctional pasture of sheep.
As seasons passed and the sun flowed down,
The culprit set his sights on another shepherd’s sheep and took his life as well.
He filled that void with new refugees who ran away from the lord.
Raising sheep for years earns little in return.
It’s hard to find a merchant willing to offer a proper price to the hinterland shepherds.
That’s why it could be rationalized that the reason for the shepherd’s disappearance was that they voluntarily sold their sheep and went away.
Shepherds sensing something odd called for adventurers repeatedly, but all they did was wander the wilderness beyond the hinterland village chasing nonexistent monsters.
Eventually, all the shepherds fell victim, and the bizarre coexistence of sheep and corpses continued.
The sheep did not cry, nor did they graze, and they could not walk properly or look ahead.
The starving villagers collaborated with the killer, who had become the village chief, receiving food in return for keeping the secret.
Thus, the chief “raised” the sheep, and the occasional survivor who escaped while shedding their sheep’s skin became the next meal.
And they made a request.
To find out why the sheep have disappeared.
And so, more sheep came to the village.
That’s the secret of [The Unyielding Sheep] that lasted for ten years.
“That was a pretty distasteful request.”
This also explained why the rewards varied each time.
The compensation was based on the sacrificed ‘sheep’’s cash on hand.
The Adventurer’s Guild was tricked.
Occasionally catching trivial monsters was acknowledged for the reward even if it didn’t require much effort, and a perception was established over ten years that these were easy requests, so who could fathom it?
Many rookie parties passed through the sheep village.
Some made money and left the village, while others went missing and became new sheep.
The long history of the sheep village came to an end, exposed by the Destroyer.
*
“Isn’t it scary? An adventure story made from human malice worse than a monster.”
“It’s chilling, but it was fun!”
“…Fun? A story about people dying all over?”
“Adventurers are usually thought to be those who catch monsters or explore unknown areas. It was a chance to indirectly have a rare experience in the Adventure Department, so I was happy!”
“Why is that happy?”
“It feels like we’re discovering and eliminating monsters hidden in human society, like exploring the unknown in our everyday lives. I felt that heroes are adventurers too, and adventurers can have quests like heroes!”
The Destroyer chuckled at Oknodie’s genuinely excited expression filled with thrill.
“What a cheeky kid. You might not be a hero, but you have the qualities to be a good adventurer.”
“What’s that?”
“Not being afraid.”
“Oooh. What’s that? It doesn’t sound impressive at all.”
“People often get scared. When they feel incompetent and lack the confidence to solve incidents, when they’re overwhelmed by undesirable, ugly truths they wish to avoid. When they’re afraid of approaching the unknown entity.”
The Destroyer reached out to the fearless girl.
He slapped her outstretched hand, grasping a piece of paper with telekinesis.
Giving a warning to the awkward Oknodie, he said,
“You still need to understand a bit of fear. If a mere new student wanders around without fear, who knows where they might end up as a sacrificial lamb?”
With that malicious story, he waved his hand.
“The lecture is over. Since you got the answer right, this explanation of the lecture ends here. I put in a few points to celebrate your high performance, so don’t starve and head to the cafeteria.”
“Thank you!”
“Oh, by the way, they said there’ll be lamb skewers for lunch today.”
“…….”
“Kukuku. Make sure to eat a lot. If you can.”
The lecture was fun, but the professor’s personality was too harsh.
Oknodie left the classroom with a dissatisfied expression clearly showing that feeling.
“If she’s showing such a clear expression, she’ll probably be dead.”
The new student’s first class had a backstory of the legendary hero that was not revealed.
The village chief who figured out the identity wasn’t just an ordinary person addicted to cannibalism for survival.
That might have been true at first, but over time, he met a wandering dark sorcerer who had set his sights on his own corpse and exchanged corpses for magic.
Decay prevention.
Zombie-like movements of the dead.
Curse of silence.
With various spells, he maintained sheep management conveniently.
Once his identity was revealed, it got even more absurd.
The sheep’s awakening.
Breath of decay.
Corpse bomb.
Spells that could instantly make an ordinary adventurer into a puddle of blood poured down continuously.
In the span of ten years after his immature past, it wasn’t just the hero who grew stronger.
“What if a precious talent goes out full of overconfidence and dies? That wouldn’t be good.”
For that reason, the principal generally doesn’t allow first years to practice.
But can’t experiencing being ambushed in a ‘dream’ count as practice?
The Destroyer headed to the research lab of the alchemy professor.
“You want first-year students to build indirect experience through dreams?”
“Uh-huh.”
“You, who were throwing a tantrum about not wanting to lecture?”
“Yeah.”
“Now that’s odd. I can’t believe you’re so interested in it.”
The alchemy professor smacked his lips.
“Well now, if you’re that bright, maybe I should charm you into attending my lecture?”
“Cut it out. She’s still a first-year.”
“She can skip grades.”
“Shut up. Don’t mess with someone who’s already staked a claim. Keep your ethics in check, you witch.”
“How petty. It’s not like it’s going to wear down from being shared.”
“So when will they dream this? During the next lecture time?”
“They should be learning my lecture during lecture time. Why would they dream then?”
“…Wait, you don’t mean…?”
“They’ll dream it tonight.”
After witnessing the massacre of an entire village, he resolved.
Let’s handle things promptly as they come to mind.
*
[You understood the truth of the incident during the retired hero Destroyer’s lecture.]
[Situational Understanding Experience +30]
[Analytical Thinking Experience +20]
[Willpower Experience +10]
[You obtained 3000 points as a bonus for completing the challenge.]
Hidden lectures pay well.
But the price is harsh.
“Oknodie. Are you sick?”
“No.”
“Then why didn’t you eat the lamb skewers and gave them to me instead?”
“They’re a bit hard to eat.”
“Greasy?”
“Just something about lamb doesn’t sit right with me.”
“I guess I understand. Lamb is a bit cute, after all.”
Isabel understood Oknodie’s picky eating habits.
She understood, but she picked up the lamb skewers placed in front of her and transferred them one by one back to Oknodie’s plate.
“Well, still eat it all. If you want to grow tall, you need to eat a lot.”
“I think being 2m 30cm was too tall for a girl. I’m just going to be satisfied with 2m 20cm.”
While making a ridiculous excuse, Oknodie piled the skewers back on Isabel’s plate.
“You still sound completely unreasonable?”
Looking at Oknodie with disdain, Isabel thought about how it might be scary if she really ended up over 2m after eating this.
“What are you just staring at? If that little rat doesn’t want to eat, just give it to me.”
Son Ohchun snatched the plate and stuffed the lamb skewers into his mouth.
“Wow, you really have an appetite.”
Jezel chimed in.
“What? Don’t you hate lamb skewers too?”
“Have you already forgotten who’s waiting for you after lunch?”
“Oh, the principal.”
Son Ohchun laid the plate he had snatched down in front of Jezel.
The food-loving monkey humanoid couldn’t help but think about the Dragon Principal’s lecture, and suddenly her appetite dimmed.