The Academy is Doomed

Chapter 20

Marion rose to his feet.

“Baron Kaim, I must excuse myself for a moment.”

“What?”

Amon’s father, Baron Kaim, had been drinking, not even bothering to get up when the monsters appeared.

“It won’t be long, why don’t you just rest?”

“No…….It’s purely out of personal curiosity.”

“Curiosity?”

Curiosity about the strength of the man named Amon.

‘From what I’ve heard from Sloth, he seems to be quite gifted, but I’ve never had a chance to see it.’

In fact, Sloth had asked him to duel her a few times in the beginning, as a gesture of goodwill.

But each time, Amon would back down, saying, ‘A duel with sword aura? Are you going to kill me?’

‘So Sloth asked a few times, and then she got tired of it and stopped. I never got a chance to see him in action, since he only teaches the theory.’

Marion swallowed hard and turned to Sloth.

“Come on, let’s go.”

“……Yes.”

Sloth followed Marion, seemingly wide awake.

A few moments later a horde of monsters, hundreds of them, swarmed toward the entrance of the village!

“Oh my…….”

Orcs, trolls, and goblins were a dime a dozen along with ogres, and minotaurs!

In the midst of all these monsters, Amon stood alone, swinging his giant axe in a sweeping motion.

Kwajik, kwajik!

Clang, clang, clang!

With a single swing of the axe, getting one is easy, and at times, even up to five!

The monsters were flying like leaves being swept by a broom.

“……My common sense is crumbling.”

Marion’s words made Sloth’s cheeks flush.

“Ooh, maybe my father can do it.”

“……He could.”

Sloth’s father, the Marquis of Pid, was a grandmaster swordsman.

He was one of the Grand Sword Masters, the highest ranking knights in the Empire.

‘Of course, that doesn’t mean he’s stronger than him.’

Her father has highly honed swordsmanship and aura blade that can shatter even the largest axe in an instant.

The mere sight of a Sword Aura makes Amon shudder, so a fight between them would be a lost cause.

‘But…….’

Something Amon is better at than her father, the Grand Sword Master.

‘Feral.’

The ferocity with which he rampaged among the monsters, so much so that it was hard to tell whether he was the monster or the monster was Amon.

‘He can fight like that with nothing more than his physical abilities and instincts, without even learning proper swordsmanship? And if he learns swordsmanship, he’ll be able to fight…….’

Sloth decided.

‘No matter what, I must stop him from learning swordsmanship.’

* * *

After defeating all the monsters.

‘Hmm, come to think of it, it’s been a while since I’ve killed a monster.’

It’s been three months and ten days since I left the territory!

I was worried that my gut might have died.

As Amon anxiously fiddled with his axe, he sat on a pile of dead ogres that had been split in half.

“Hahaha, it’s you again, Master, slaying all those monsters single-handedly!”

“It’s good to have you back!”

Amon shook his head at the villagers’ impatient praise.

“Don’t be silly. It’s been a while, and I’ve gotten a little sloppy.”

The villagers immediately changed their demeanor.

“I see flattery doesn’t work on you, Master. I thought you’d be fine after drinking some of the teacher’s water.”

“Your cuts are certainly rougher than before.”

Amon sighed heavily.

“I guess that’s the result of being a teacher.”

“Huh, complacency is scary.”

“But what is the other side?”

“Don’t you know?”

I sighed again.

“Well done, Amon.”

“Huh? Are the seniors here?”

“Yep. They came to watch.”

Amon patted the ogre on the rump.

“What’s there to see?”

Marion and Sloth’s cheeks twitched.

‘After killing all those monsters in one fell swoop, there’s nothing to see?’

Dumbfounded, the other two decided not to respond to Amon’s nonsense.

“Well, is that it, by the way?”

“Yep. I think we’re done for now…….”

Amon clicked his tongue.

“Judging by their reactions, I’m sure there’s more to come.”

“……Huh? Reaction?”

The villagers chattered.

“A drake?”

“Silver? No, considering the weather these days, maybe iron?”

Marion and Sloth scratched their heads.

Drake? Isn’t that a family name? And what’s with the silver and iron?

Realizing they weren’t getting it, Amon explained.

“Not the family name, I mean Drake, the monster.”

Marion gasped at that.

“By drake, you mean a subspecies of dragons?”

Amon frowned.

“Don’t say that later, even as a joke. You’ll get in trouble.”

In trouble with who?

Seeing them scratching their heads at the unintelligible words, Amon explained.

“Anyway, the way these monsters reacted, it was like they were running away from somewhere.”

“……Huh?”

“Yes. Look. Ogres, trolls etc. Why would a swarm of monsters that can’t mix together suddenly swarm us?”

“Well, I see.”

In other words, they were running from something.

And Amon guessed that ‘something’ was drakes.

Drakes were the only monsters in the area that caused ogres, trolls, and other monsters to flee in droves.

“Drakes, by the way…….”

Even she, who was in the military and swept the battlefield, had never actually seen it.

“Rumor has it that it’s huge, with a body reminiscent of a castle wall and scales like iron armor. It was said to be as fierce as an ogre. And, as a subspecies of dragon, it’s said to be able to breathe…….’

Oh, who says I can’t say that?

At least, given Amon’s panicked advice, it didn’t seem like it would do any good.

“Hmmm, I’m looking forward to it, though. I hear Drake can use Breath and Roar too…….”

Marion’s words brought a smile to everyone’s faces, including Amon’s.

“Drake is coming to our town and you’re excited?”

“Uh……! Mmm, I’m sorry. My mistake.”

Marion apologized hastily.

“I only said that because I’m a wizard, and I’m interested in the Breath and Roar, the end of magic. I apologize again.”

“……Tsk, tsk, I see.”

“But is the…… rake such a dangerous monster that you are afraid of it?”

I scratched my head at the question.

“Dangerous, yes, because once he’s in your face…….”

“Mmm…….”

“It destroys all the potato fields in town.”

“Yeah……potatoes?”

“Yes.”

Marion cocked hsi head.

“Are people in danger or something?”

Amon shook his head.

“They’re people, if they run away, that is.”

“……Uh, well. I see.”

“But they like potatoes so much that they want…….”

What the hell are the potatoes in this place?

“Well, if it weren’t for the Elder Drake, we could keep the potato fields…….”

“……What? Elder Drake?”

Wasn’t that the monster described in the monster book as ‘something that only appears in literature occasionally’?

“……Does he come out often?”

“I’ve only seen him twice so far. If he showed up more often, the potato fields would be plowed under.

“……Hmm.”

“Well, he doesn’t come around often.”

A moment later Amon was able to update his Elder Drake encounter count to three that day.

* * *

The Drake estate was in an uproar in the early morning.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Block it! Block it!”

The Elder Drake, a lizard so huge it could be mistaken for a castle wall, which was huge enough to knock down a small building with a single step, had finally invaded the Drake territory!

“You, you bastard!”

The villagers desperately hit and pushed the Elder Drake to chase it away, but it didn’t care at all and just buried its face in the potato field.

-Grrrrrrrrrrr!

From the mouth of the village, the Elder Drake was desperately fought off, but it was impossible to stop its rush for the potatoes.

Meanwhile, Marion saw Amon clutching his head and screaming as the Elder Drake appeared, and he exclaimed.

“That’s the Elder Drake! Amon, I’m a mage of the Sixth Circle, I’ll help you!”

Marion charged forward, preparing a giant fire spell!

‘Ugh! Mana depletion…….’

The Elder Drake’s immense magic resistance prevented her from doing any damage, and she collapsed after running out of mana.

And another.

‘……That Elder Drake.’

Sloth muttered as she drew her sword.

‘My father said he took one down once,’ she exclaimed, unleashing a blaze of Sword Aura.

‘If he can take it down, so can I……!

And how much time passed?

‘Hmph! Mana……!’

Sloth is also exhausted, unable to do much damage to the Elder Drake’s scales!

In any case, all of the Academy’s combatants had been eliminated except for Amon, and the non-combatants were in a state of panic.

“Eh, Elder Drake!”

Anar’el shuddered, her long ears folded back, as the roar of the potato-devouring Elder Drake was terrifying.

And the Deputy Headmaster, distracted by the Elder Drake’s dominance over ‘her’ potatoes, was furious.

“Boris! Chloe! Let’s go! We must beat him to death!”

“Vice Headmaster, wake up!”

“You’re going to die!”

In the midst of the cacophony, Baron Kaim Drake fell to his knees and sobbed.

“……ooh, our potato field is…….”

How helpless human power is in the face of the great scourge that is this Elder Drake!

“Uh, Mother, pull his hind legs!”

“Ugh, it won’t pull!”

“Damn!”

Elder Drake’s scales have long since smashed Amon’s axe, the villagers’ equipment, and everything else!

So everyone was trying to grab the potato-eating Elder Drake and pull it down but everyone is slowly realizing the futility of their efforts.

‘Oh, is this how it ends…….’

Is this how the potato field we’ve worked so hard to cultivate for so many years is going to end?

Everyone was in tears when they realized this.

“I haven’t been here in a while, what’s all the fuss about?”

A familiar voice suddenly sounded overhead.

Amon looked up in surprise.

There, floating in the air, was an old man with black hair.

“Uh, old man!”

“It’s you, Amon!”

The grinning old man plummeted to the ground.

He placed his hand on the bridge of Elder Drake’s nose as the villagers pushed and pulled desperately.

Ugh!

The Elder Drake stopped frantically scooping up potatoes, and the old man opened his mouth.

“You bastard, what do you think you’re doing?”

-K, Guo Wu Wuk…….

“Go away now.”

-Gurrr…….

Suddenly, the Elder Drake’s head snapped up like a docile puppy, and he spun around, his tail drooping like Anar’el’s ears.

And then it thumped helplessly away!

The villagers, stunned and gasping at the sight, muttered.

“Huh, huh, huh……to, the Elder Drake has fled…….”

“There’s half the potato field left…….”

They rejoiced with tears in their eyes, even though it was only a narrow victory.

After all, they had saved half the potato field!

Panting, Amon pushed himself up and walked over to the old man.

“Uh, old man, thank you.”

“How’s work going, anyway?”

“……So-so.”

“Heh, heh, heh. I’m surprised you’re a teacher of students when not so long ago you were just a fingernail.”

“……Did you see me from the inside of my mother’s belly?”

Amon smirked.

“Anyway, let me introduce you, those are my seniors.”

Marion and Sloth had their faces buried in the dirt as if they were dead.

“They don’t look so good right now.”

“They usually are.”

“…… Huh?”

“And those people over there are the headmaster and vice headmaster.”

“Ho-ho, an elf and a dark elf were in charge of the academy?”

The grinning old man walked toward Anar’el and Brestle.

“You must be our Amon’s superior. Take good care of Amon. I am Caselag.”

Anar’el opened her mouth in a daze at the old man’s polite greeting.

“De…….”

“Eh?”

“Dd…….”

Anar’el continued.

“Drah, Gon…….”

She mumbled, her eyes rolled back in her head, and she passed out.