The Academy’s Weakest Became A Demon-Limited Hunter

I arrived at the hideout by cutting across Josena Forest beside the campus.

“Senior Dorothy.”

“You’re here, President.”

Dorothy, who was sitting on the roof, greeted me. She had set her witch hat aside, so her light purple hair, reflecting the sunset, stood out.

I lightly jumped up, kicked off the nearby tree, and landed on the roof. Then, I sat beside Dorothy, and we looked up at the sky together.

“Have you eaten?”

“Yes. How about you, Senior?”

“I roughly ate two whole chickens.”

“Is that what you call ‘roughly’…?”

Dorothy parted her lips to speak, “President.”

“Yes.”

“You know, back when we fought the fairy, what he said back then—”

“You can forget it.”

I interrupted Dorothy to respond.

If she remained alive, she would become a transcendent being, and a great calamity would befall humanity.

No matter how one looked at it, it wasn’t an appealing proposition.

So, I had to insist on my answer to Dorothy.

“Whatever happens, I’ll stop it. You just need to stay put, Dorothy.”

I pretended to be nonchalant, as if it was nothing because I wanted to reassure Dorothy.

Whether it was a catastrophe or anything else, I was determined to stop it somehow, hoping Dorothy would survive no matter what.

“…I was going to say that.”

…What?

“Pardon?”

I looked at Dorothy. She was smiling sweetly.

“You know, President… it’s like, well, I’ve been thinking that… I just want to spend my whole life with you… yeah, with you.”

Dorothy’s cheeks flushed, seemingly embarrassed.

As the mood became awkward, she tried to smile even wider.

“So, I wanted to ask you a favor. I know it’s shameless of me… but if it seems like something bad might happen to people because of Big Sis, I want you to stop it. Big Sis has no one else to rely on but you.”

I realized my worries had been unfounded.

Seeing Dorothy’s smiling face, my worries dissipated, like the cool relief of a heavy burden lifted from my chest.

My resolve became even stronger.

“Why bring up shame? It’s only natural”

I chuckled.

“Why not? Let’s do it.”

I had already lived through this world, and I had come to care for this girl far too much.

I was going to protect her, no matter what.

“Nihihi, that’s reassuring.”

We looked at each other, joked around, and then looked back up at the sky.

For a while, no words were exchanged.

Dorothy put her hat back on and gently rested her head on my shoulder.

Her face was hidden under the brim of her hat.

“Hey, President.”

“Yes.”

“I’m sorry.”

Dorothy’s voice trembled slightly.

“I’m sorry for making things hard…”

“It doesn’t really matter. If you still feel guilty about it, make it up to me by staying by my side.”

Dorothy knew how to read people’s emotions.

Even though I was good at hiding my expressions, it was hard to conceal the emotions I hid within.

Well, it’s okay. Everything will turn out fine.

I reassured myself.

***With each step I took, the fallen leaves crunched underfoot.

When I looked to the side, I saw the academy janitor sweeping the ground with a gentle wind spell and multiple brooms.

The height of autumn was passing, and winter was slowly inching its way in.

Nothing much has happened.

Except for the occasional stalking by my sister, Eve, nothing out of the ordinary happened.

Instructor Ron continued delivering his usual quality lectures in the Class A classroom, as if he’d never fought with me and showed no unusual behavior under the watch of Phantom Cat Cheshire.

He occasionally suggested playing chess with me. Of course, I declined every time.

The assassin who failed, Methel Valencia, remained trapped inside her dreams in Düpfendorf’s solitary cell.

Even though she was being held hostage on purpose, Instructor Ron showed no signs of looking for Methel. He was just leading a normal academy life.

Luce is calm too.

According to Aria, Hegel Magic Tower Master.

There were no more signs of Luce breaking into the lab after that.

Luce merely followed me normally.

And then, one day,

“There will be a duel evaluation soon.”

Orphin Hall, 2nd-year class A classroom.

Professor Philip Meltron made the announcement.

“I’ll distribute two duel request tickets to each of you. I trust you all know what to do, so I’ll skip the explanation.”

I forgot…

There was a duel evaluation. I hadn’t been paying much attention to it for a while.

It wasn’t particularly important. I had resolved to duel Luce in the duel evaluation of Semester 2 Year 2, but it was mainly to gauge my skills.

Given that I had gained the unique trait [Archwizard’s Domain], I could roughly match Luce’s combat power without any additional buffs.

By saying nonsense like “I’ll face you as Isaac, not as the Ice Sovereign,” while pretending to be sincere, and intentionally lowering the effects of [Vs. Human Combat Power] before engaging, it would be quite a valuable combat experience.

If I lose, it means my combat sense is lacking that much, and if I win, it means I’ve been managing my combat sense reasonably well.

It would serve as a good standard for judgment.

“Then, once your Dueling opponent is decided within the week, make sure to report it.”

***“Luce.”

“…?”

It was after the morning class ended. I tapped Luce’s shoulder as she sat at her seat.

I pointed towards the classroom door and started walking, and Luce followed me without a word.

We stood facing each other in a shaded area behind the building.

I could hear the voices of students wandering around the campus, but this was a secluded spot away from prying eyes, so it was fine.

“Isaac, you pervert.”

“What are you saying out of nowhere?”

What with the baseless insult…?

“What are you trying to do with me in a secluded place like this?”

Luce tilted her head with a gentle smile, like a noble lady, and pressed me for answers.

Using [Psychological Insight], I could constantly read that she just wanted to be with me all day.

“Don’t worry, I haven’t thought of anything weird.”

“It’s fine. I don’t plan on saying no to whatever you want to do.”

“That’s quite a dangerous statement…?”

Luce smiled bashfully.

She was always cold to others, but she always smiled warmly at me.

That smile was remarkably graceful and delicate, especially compared to her bold words and actions.

“First, this. I thought it would cause a fuss if I gave it to you in front of people.”

“Huh?”

I took out two duel request tickets from my pocket and handed them to Luce.

Luce looked at the two tickets with a puzzled expression.

“Luce, I challenge you to a duel.”

By handing over a duel request ticket, one could challenge the receiver of the ticket to a duel.

The receiver had the right to refuse, but if they received two duel request tickets, they must participate in the duel.

Luce accepted the two duel request tickets.

“…Is this revenge? You’ve never beaten me even once because you’ve been holding back your strength.”

Revenge, huh? I suppose I did have a bit of that feeling.

259 matches, 0 wins, 259 losses. That was my record against Luce.

If I had to pick the person I sparred with the most at this academy, it would undoubtedly be her.

“It’s not really that. I was planning to duel you anyway. And, Luce.”

“Yes.”

Why did you secretly go into Teacher’s lab?

It was hard to ask that directly while looking into Luce’s blue eyes.

“…Let’s go eat.”

Luce smiled.

“Sure.”

***“You’re planning to duel Luce Eltania?”

“Yes. I still haven’t been able to beat her.”

Late at night, in Aria’s lab at the Hegel Magic Tower.

We talked as we entered through the secret passage.

“If you use your real strength, even Luce Eltania wouldn’t stand a chance… You deceiver.”

“Well, if I lower my level a bit…”

“Then, she wouldn’t like it.”

…That’s true.

If I show myself fighting earnestly while matching my level to Luce’s, it would feel like I’m being deceptive.

Luce would probably feel very uncomfortable facing me like that.

Was I thinking too much about myself…

It was necessary to nicely justify it in advance by saying, “It’s just to evaluate my combat sense,” and persuade her.

“That’s true. Thanks for letting me know.”

“Let’s skip the pointless talk. There’s a problem.”

“Pardon?”

The effect was to prevent the detection of mana from outside the barrier.

Completely blocking a strong release of mana would be difficult, but since Aria set up the barrier, it should be able to contain most mana leaks.

We passed through the barrier and entered the secret lab, stopping before a strange rift. As usual, a solid barrier surrounded the rift.

Something… doesn’t feel right?

For some reason, it felt different from the last time I was here.

“Can’t you feel it? The faint mana.”

“What is this?”

Aria spoke seriously, “Even the powerful Netherstorm that completely sweeps away natural mana cannot reach this far beyond the rift. However, observations confirm that this mana is not natural mana.”

The fact that it wasn’t natural mana meant it was mana within someone’s body.

“In other words, it’s the mana of someone unimaginably powerful.”

Aria uttered a chilling conclusion.

“It’s presumed that someone in the Nether is watching this rift. Is there a possibility it’s the Nether King?”

“No, the Nether King is always cautious about letting his mana extend outside the Nether.”

A mysterious powerhouse was targeting anyone who might cross through this rift into the Nether.

If someone could extend their own mana beyond this rift, I couldn’t even begin to imagine just how powerful they must be.

Could it be…?

I approached the barrier and extended my hand in front of it.

If they were that powerful, their mana perception had to be monstrous.

I let my ice mana flow through my extended hand. Suddenly, the faintly flowing mana became denser.

“This is…?”

Aria’s eyes widened.

It had been a while since I’d seen such a surprised reaction from her usually emotionless face.

It’s certain…Nôv(el)B\\jnn

The being beyond the rift sensed my mana and reacted intensely.

It knew me.

“Hmm.”

Aria crossed her arms and leaned her head against the wall.

“You can probably sense it, but even for you, it would be hard to stay safe in the Nether. I’ll ask just in case, do you really think you can make the crossing?”

Round 1 Dorothy mentioned it.

She said that reaching the Icy Lake was almost impossible for me.

Honestly…

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

Why the hell is everyone acting like this

I exhaled slowly, gathering my emotions.

Suddenly, memories of my intense exam-prep days came to mind.

Whether it was when I started my exam prep or now, the unbearable sense of hopelessness was exactly the same.

However, now everyone’s lives were at stake, and the success rate was depressingly low, making the problem all the more significant.

I had to bear this weight.

But still…

Round 1 Dorothy had worried about me. Yet, she still showed me the way to the Icy Lake.

She must have guessed that I wouldn’t want to see her self-destruct.

“Of course, I have to do it.”

No matter how many of those monsters were in the way, I couldn’t give up.

I looked at Aria calmly and smiled kindly.

“It’s not much longer now. I’ll be relying on you until the end, Teacher.”

“…”

Aria looked at me impassively, quietly exhaled, and nodded.