Quit The Hero Party

EP.37 The Stench of Decay (2)

A peaceful afternoon in Apuria.

The incident happened in an instant.

Boom!

Explosion!

With that signal, Apuria was overrun by beasts. Or maybe “overrun” is the wrong term.

Beasts erupted from everywhere in Apuria. From the ground, the ceiling, the windows of the hallways, and spewing from the outer walls of buildings.

There were quite a few of them.

It’s not about their numbers; it’s their sheer volume that feels off.

It would be easy to think these are the results of someone’s failed experiment. However, the knights stationed in the Apuria Academy had an instinctual feeling.

-This is a terror attack.

At first glance, they might seem mindless, but there’s a discernible pattern in the beasts’ actions. They are beasts controlled and raised by someone.

-Someone is controlling these beasts.

The beasts led by magical energy follow a mana source. The one controlling them must be a Greater Demon. But there can’t be a Greater Demon here.

The knights had plenty of reason to think so.

Apuria is an academy located within the Royal Capital.

Meaning, it’s under the protection of a barrier surrounding the Royal Capital.

And, no ordinary Greater Demon would be able to break through the barrier. Even if they did, they would mutate and lose their human form.

So, it can’t be a Greater Demon.

That leaves one possibility.

-A Betrayer has appeared.

Betrayers are those who have sold their souls to demonic beings, still retaining their human essence. They are special. They possess magical energy yet are essentially human. They are free from the barrier surrounding the Royal Capital.

“There is a Betrayer inside Apuria.”

The Guard Knight for the princess.

Habel, the highest-ranking officer here, speaks up.

“If they can cause this level of chaos, they must be at least a professor level mage. The demonic being they contracted with must also be quite powerful.”

He quickly reaches a conclusion.

“Therefore, it won’t be easy to identify them promptly. That will be a task for later. What we must prioritize now is the protection of the students, and….”

The last sentence leaves Habel’s mouth as a grim thought. He understands the weight of that sentence.

“The protection of the Fourth Princess, Ayla.”

The knights spring into action.

As always, for the sake of their noble charge.

2.

“……”

Ayla gazed blankly at the scene before her.

Beasts were rampaging through the academy.

From somewhere, more beasts continued to pour out. Walls crumbled. This very situation was not unfamiliar to Ayla.

‘I’ve experienced something similar once before.’

It was before she’d awakened as a child of the Stars.

A terror that targeted her before her Awakening.

A figure who had reached the ranks of a Great Mage at that time.

The court mage, Gelik.

He became a Betrayer, orchestrating the royal terror incident.

Ayla remembers vividly the uproar caused by that event.

-Come this way, Princess.

The Betrayer Gelik scattered the beasts and pursued her. Ayla ran. Logically, the young and weak Ayla could never escape from Gelik.

Yet, she did escape.

-Protect with your lives!

The reason Ayla managed to run from Gelik wasn’t due to her own abilities. It was not her power.

-Princess, please run!

-We shall handle this! You must go!

Countless knights shielded her.

-Hurry, go!

-It is our duty.

The knights, sworn to the royal family, gladly sacrificed themselves. All to protect Ayla.

That day, many knights fell.

Leaving behind their fallen comrades, Ayla ran.

‘I just kept running.’

Believing someone would come to help her.

After running and running, she ended up in a place that, in retrospect, seemed completely random.

‘The Royal Library.’

Why she ran there, she couldn’t say.

Since it was before her Awakening as a child of the Stars, she couldn’t even rely on intuition as an excuse.

A coincidence.

At the end of that coincidence.

-Princess?

“Princess?”

There stood a mage.

Blink.

Ayla blinked her eyes once. Shaking off the memory that lingered, she focused on the present.

“Are you alright?”

-Are you alright?

She tried to brush it off, but something unusually resonated.

Ayla looked at the woman standing before her with hazy eyes.

Ashen-haired.

Blue-eyed.

A figure bearing features that overlapped with the mage from her memories.

The blue eyes directed her way.

“Princess.”

The woman asked.

“A message just rang out. Did you hear it?”

Struggling to gather her mind, Ayla replied.

“…No, I’m sorry. I didn’t hear it.”

“The knights are looking for you, Princess. I thought I might take you there, if that’s alright?”

Ayla slowly nodded her head.

“Yes, thank you.”

“Please wait a moment. I need to clear a path first.”

“What?”

“We can’t just pass through there.”

She pointed down the hallway.

Beasts swarmed the corridor. They hadn’t charged yet, but there was no guarantee they wouldn’t attack if they got closer.

“We need to clear them out first.”

Saying that, she relaxed her shoulders.

She rotated her wrists.

Crack.

Then, she took a step forward. Her gait resembled when she entered the classroom.

Not too fast, nor too slow.

A proper pace with adequate strides.

The difference in her stride was evident when she closed the distance to the beasts, being roughly three steps away.

Boom!

Suddenly, her step bore weight.

Enhance-Strength.

The spell shimmers.

Crack!

Cracks form on the floor of the hallway. She leaps off the ground and charges at the beasts, her ashen hair fluttering behind.

Haste.

The spell sparkles in an instant.

She swings her arm. A quick, snappy motion snatches a beast by the head. She crushes it.

Thud.

With the splatter of blood, she extends her hand forward. Her fingers flick. An intangible shockwave tears the beast’s mouth open and pierces through its body.

Corpses of beasts pile up.

Ayla watched, dazed, at the sight.

“Ah…”

Among the beasts, the monster dances.

Their numbers were unimportant. As the ashen-haired one swayed, the beasts retreated a bit.

Mindless beasts sensing fear instinctively.

Dozens of beasts stepped back before a single human.

Yet, whether they attacked or fled, the outcome remained the same.

Charging means a swift death. Retreating means getting obliterated by shockwaves. There’s no hesitation in her series of actions.

Suddenly, her side profile became emotionless.

“Ugh…”

Ayla closed her eyes. She turned her head. When she opened her eyes again, the situation had already come to an end.

The beasts that filled the corridor had completely vanished.

In their place were bloodstains covering the ground.

When she turned her head, there was a beast missing its head. Another beast with its heart punctured. Beasts with gaping wounds or splattered against the walls.

There were many of those.

Quite a lot.

The blood-soaked corridor looked like a beast had rampaged through.

Drip.

Blood flowed to Ayla’s feet.

Following the trail of blood, Ayla shifted her gaze.

“……”

At the starting point of that blood, stood Professor Rania.

She shook off the blood on her hands, lightly tilting her head as her ashen hair waved in the wind.

There was almost no difference from before.

Just a few drops of blood splattered on her robe.

“Ah.”

She turned back.

And casually added, as if it were no big deal.

“It’s alright now.”

Rania approached Ayla.

Ayla gazed up at her, who had stopped before her, dazed.

“Hmm…”

She seemed to be contemplating something.

Eventually, she pulled something out from her robe.

Black gloves.

The gloves she wore during her lectures.

Donning the gloves she retrieved, she reached out her hand. It looked like she was inviting Ayla to stand.

“Let’s get up.”

-Let’s get up.

In that gesture.

-Get up, Princess.

Ayla envisioned another figure overlaying that moment.

The mage who had reached out to her, back then, as she turned her back on the beasts.

Ashen-haired, blue-eyed.

And that seemingly indifferent expression.

Those memories intertwined.

Overlapping with the scene, Ayla instinctively muttered.

“…Raniel?”

“My name is Rania.”

“Ah! I-I’m sorry…”

Ayla hurriedly covered her mouth.

Startled by her own words, Ayla widened her eyes.

‘What is this…!’

Calling a woman by a man’s name. To Ayla, it felt extremely disrespectful.

“Ugh…”

Feeling embarrassed, Ayla lowered her head. In a whispering voice, she said.

“I’m sorry, Professor Rania…”

“It’s fine.”

Though she said that, there was a hint of discontent in her voice. Ayla held onto the hand she extended and stood up.

‘She must be upset, right?’

She thought to herself, glancing at her retreating figure. A white neck peeked through her swaying ashen hair.

‘…Sweat?’

Beads of cold sweat dotted that neck.

‘…She must be exhausted.’

It’s only natural to be tired after facing such beasts in such a short time. What’s the offense to someone like her?

‘I’m sorry…’

Ayla internally murmured, trailing behind her.

3.

‘Ugh, so creepy.’

I absentmindedly rubbed the back of my neck.

The moment I heard the name Raniel, my heart lurched.

‘How perceptive can one be?’

I glanced back subtly.

Princess Ayla was trailing behind with her head lowered. At least, there seemed to be no hint of suspicion.

“We have arrived.”

As we walked, we soon reached the knights’ stronghold.

“P-Princess!”

“Ah, Habel.”

As soon as we reached the stronghold, knights recognized Ayla and rushed out. One knight, at the forefront, knelt before Ayla.

“Are you safe?”

“As you can see, I’m fine, Habel.”

“Thank goodness, truly thank goodness…! I’m so sorry for not being by your side…”

“It’s alright, Habel. It was my fault. And…”

Ayla pointed at me.

“Here, Professor Rania protected me.”

The knights’ gazes turned toward me.

The knight named Habel approached and bowed deep. He expressed his gratitude with a lowered head.

“I am Habel, the guard knight of Princess Ayla. Thank you very much, Professor Rania.”

“I was just fulfilling my duty.”

I waved my hand lightly.

Though it felt strongly like overtime, after all, I had my responsibilities to fulfill.

‘I never expected that what I saw there would lead to this.’

For now, protecting Princess Ayla was my priority, so I left it behind…

‘I should clear the path now.’

I contemplated returning to that corridor.

Before doing so, I confirmed a few things with the knights.

“Where are the students evacuated to?”

“Ah, we borrowed the Spell Training Room…”

“Several professors and knights are guarding it.”

That was undoubtedly a good choice.

The outer walls of the Spell Training Room are sturdy. It would take a significant beast to break through.

‘And from what I can see…’

The beasts did not seem very high-tier. At least, it appeared that no beast could break down the door to the Spell Training Room.

“Ah, Professor Rania.”

One of the knights who seemed to recognize me added.

“The shelter also has Professor Rosel in it.”

“Then it should be safe.”

I nodded my head.

If my Master is there, even if a Betrayer appears, they won’t be able to enact any sinister plans.

‘I don’t have to worry about that side.’

My tasks became clearer.

“Where are you going?”

“I need to stop by somewhere for a moment.”

“Then we will accompany you…”

“It’s alright.”

I waved off the knights who were about to follow and entered the building alone. The moment I stepped inside, a foul stench tickled my nose.

“The stench of decay.”

I couldn’t help but murmur.

“The stench of decay is overwhelming.”

The smell sharp enough to tickle the nose felt familiar.

Familiarity shouldn’t be felt in such a place, yet I felt it. My face wrinkled in disgust.

I spread my gloved fingers.

I folded my thumb.

Silence.

The sound of footsteps vanished.

The presence was erased.

No beasts charged me anymore.

Then I folded my index and middle fingers.

Tracking.

Spell-Capture.

A long trail stretched before my eyes. I walked along that trail. The destination wasn’t far.

The door at the end of the hallway.

I don’t know how long it’s been there. At least, I had never seen it while passing through the hallway.

A door that suddenly appeared.

I stood before that door. Standing there, I folded the remaining ring and pinky fingers.

Anti Spell.
Unlock.

The spell that locked the door tore away.

My fingers touched the doorknob. I pulled it.

Creeeak.

The door opened with a loud noise, and the stench intensified. I peered inside.

“Ha.”

I burst into laughter suddenly.

“Well, meet again, stench of decay.”