Demon King of the Royal Class

Everyone seemed way too frightened, even considering that it was all part of the mission.

Doubts were starting to creep in about whether this was really just a group mission, and it was becoming blatantly clear that some were thinking it might be better to just give up, since the situation felt so dire.

However, clues about the survivor were gradually accumulating.

The survivor attacked the camp at night, and they had multiple camps scattered throughout the island. It seemed they ate their meals at their camp, but it was impossible to tell which camp they would be at any given time.

The survivor appeared to be a cannibal.

It was uncertain whether there was only one survivor, or if there were several.

By now, everyone had realized that capturing the survivor was the specific condition for the mission.

Capturing whoever was on the island was the quickest way to complete the mission, but it also posed considerable risk.

After finishing dinner, the group prepared for bed, unable to hide their apprehension.

“The alarm system has been set up.”

Harriet had installed a magic alarm system around our camp that would go off if anyone besides us approached. That was the best safety measure we could take for now.

Everyone entered their own makeshift shelters, soaked in a feeling of unease.

Erhi would stay up all night to keep watch.

***

Beep, beep, beep!

The blaring of the alarm threw the camp into chaos.

“What’s happening?!”

Those who came to their senses quickly crawled out of the shelter. Cliffman, Ellen and I were the first ones to react.

The alarm had sounded, but by the time we realized it, it was too late.

—Aaah! Help meeee!

—Aah!

We could hear two screams echoing from within the darkness of the forest. The others emerged from their shelters as well. They seemed to know that something had happened, as they were all stricken with fear.

“Wha... What do we do?”

Harriet’s face was pale with fright.

Both of the appointed watchmen had been kidnapped.

“It looks like Erhi and Adelia have been captured...”

Both Erhi, who was on permanent watch, and Adelia, who was presumably on duty at this time, had disappeared.

“If they’ve taken two, they’ll definitely be slower. If we follow them now, we might be able to catch them,” Cliffman suggested.

Vertus nodded quietly in agreement.

“That may be possible, but...”

Everyone stared into the dark jungle, which had become even more forbidding. It seemed like they were finding it hard to take the first step in.

Could we really go into that pitch-black darkness and capture the attacker? It was clear that we wouldn’t be able to distinguish anything clearly, and the likelihood of us encountering danger was high.

“I can use light magic.”

Adelia had been kidnapped right before our eyes, and Harriet stepped forward, as if to somehow overcome her fear.

Vertus looked at Harriet and nodded.

“Good. Then let’s leave right now.”

Ellen and Cliffman, who were the most skilled at combat, armed themselves with machetes, while Vertus, Riana, and I each took a javelin.

“It might be even more dangerous to stay in camp. If we’re going to go, all of us need to move together,” said Vertus. “Grab everything you can, down to the smallest knife.”

Everyone nodded.

If we played our cards right, we could end the mission that night.

“Rescue the two kidnapped classmates and leave this dreaded deserted island.”

This moment seemed to offer an unparalleled opportunity.

***

In the middle of the night, the jungle was bone-chillingly dark.

Rustle... Rustle...

Harriet led the way, summoned a sphere of light to illuminate our path, with Ellen and Cliffman flanking her as guards.

Vertus and Connor Lint were in the center, while Riana, Heinrich, and I took up the rear. Heinrich also lit a piece of wood, creating a torch to maintain the fire and illuminate our rear. Both the front and rear of our group could offer light to guide the way.

“There are footprints left behind.”

“Where? Show me.”

The rain had stopped, enabling Ellen to spot the intruder’s footprints. Vertus narrowed his eyes at the sight of the footprints.

“They’re not well-defined... but it’s clear the attacker is large.”

Judging by the size of the footprints, the intruder was definitely a large individual. That seemed to make sense, considering they had managed to flee with two kids, either being carried or slung over the shoulder.

“Alright, let’s keep following these tracks.”

Following the footprints could lead to us capturing the intruder. Everyone sensed the heightened tension, anticipating the possibility of combat.

“Is... is this really... okay?”

Connor Lint’s words betrayed his doubt. He was questioning if this was truly part of the mission. His worries were in line with everyone else’s.

“Is this really just part of the mission? What are the teachers doing? Could this, in fact, be a real situation?”

Perhaps even this suspicion and fear had all been planned by the teachers as part of the group mission. However, students being kidnapped right before our eyes made us wonder if there was a need for such things to really happen in a test.

However, what awaited us was a potentially more dire situation...

We all moved forward in silence, thoroughly vigilant of our surroundings. The intense fatigue had been momentarily lost amidst this terrifying tension.

After walking for some time, those in the lead suddenly came to a halt.

“There’s something over there.”

At that warning, everyone held their breath. There, where Ellen was pointing, something shimmered, like a faint light.

“What is it?”

“Should we go after it?”

As we briefly exchanged opinions, the distant light started moving toward us.

Shortly, we could make out who they were. Someone who moved through the jungle as swiftly as the wind soon revealed themselves.

“Are you guys also out searching?”

It was Delphine Izadra.

***

It turned out we were not the only ones combing the jungle in the middle of the night; Class B was also on the move. It was the first time since the group mission had begun that we were gathered in one place, albeit a few members short.

Class A and B had come together. Charlotte and Vertus, while not exactly joining forces, both wanted to resolve the current situation quickly. They quickly started a conversation.

“Two people have been kidnapped?”

“Yes.”

Charlotte and Vertus were holding a discussion as representatives of their respective classes, while the rest were keeping guard of the surroundings.

Although there was a competitive aspect to this mission, students of both classes were mentally exhausted. Focusing on victory was one thing, but Charlotte and Vertus both seemed eager to share information if it meant bringing an end to the mission as soon as possible.

“Both Lanian and Cristina were kidnapped as well.”

The day before, one person had been taken from each class, and now, it was two each. The remaining number of participants was down to eight per class. Vertus, with his arms crossed, stared into the darkness of the forest.

“Given the timing of it all, I’m confident that it can’t possibly be just one person mounting these attacks...”

As with the day before, it was impossible for a single attacker to hit two camps simultaneously. Vertus seemed to think there were at least two attackers. Charlotte nodded in agreement with his speculation.

“Yes, I know for a fact that there’s more than one.”

“... You’ve confirmed that?”

“We were further ahead of you guys. We discovered that the tracks split into two.”

Thanks to Delphine, who was skilled in hunting and tracking, Class B had been able to move more quickly and discover more information than us.

“Now that it’s come to this, let’s each follow one of the tracks.”

There were two sets of tracks.

Charlotte proposed that Class A and B each follow one set, and Vertus agreed.

One set of tracks led deep into the island, while the other seemed to head in the opposite direction. Charlotte left the choice up to Vertus, who chose to follow the tracks leading further inland.

“But if there are two attackers and capturing both is the condition for success, what happens if both groups capture one?” asked Riana. She was wondering if there could be a situation where both classes claimed victory.

“Since it’s about scoring extra points, they might evaluate other aspects as well... But I think it’s more troubling that we need to catch both to complete the mission.”

If it wasn’t just one but two attackers, the mission wouldn’t end until both were apprehended. Thinking about that seemed to cause Vertus a headache.

It was nighttime, and despite having some light, visibility was limited. While we continued to follow the tracks, Class B, which could rely on Delphine’s tracking expertise, would likely be able to move more quickly.

The howling of unknown nocturnal creatures could be heard in the jungle at night.

Swish!

“Wh-what was that!”

The sound of something stirring in the thick underbrush startled the kids, and I was no exception.

Cold sweat beaded on everyone’s faces and the backs of their necks.

“There might be nocturnal predators around that could suddenly attack us. Be careful.”

We had already confirmed the presence of large felines and other dangerous predators. Leaving the attackers aside, there was a real possibility that these predators might attack us as well.

It was obvious from everyone's expressions that they believed entering this dense jungle in the middle of the night was madness.

Whoosh!

“The ravine,” Ellen said.

Soon, we reached the ravine that we had discovered earlier on.

“It looks like they crossed the river here,” she continued.

Just as Ellen had said, the tracks ended at this point in the ravine. However, due to the torrential rain, the ravine was almost flooded, and the water was about to overflow its banks.

“How did they make it across?” Vertus asked.

The state of the ravine, and the water flowing through it, was such that jumping across was out of the question. If we stepped into it, we would be swept away in an instant.

Yet, it seemed clear that the attackers had crossed it.

“Look, over there... Can’t we use this?”

Connor Lint set down the bundle of rope he had been carrying over his shoulder.

“Oh right, we have this. Good job bringing it.”

Following Vertus’s instructions to bring whatever we could, Connor Lint had brought the rope along. Honestly, it seemed unlikely that Connor would be of much help, and he’d been brought along only because it wouldn’t be sensible to leave him at camp. Unexpectedly, however, the rope he had turned out to be useful in this situation.

“We could tie this to a tree on this side, and fix it to the opposite bank in order to make it across.”

Naturally, such an idea occurred to everybody.

“But how do we take it to the other side?”

The fact remained that we needed to transport one end of the rope to the other side. Vertus looked at Ellen.

“Ellen, can you jump across?”

“No.”

Ellen’s response merely confirmed Vertus’s belief that it was absurd to leap across such a distance.

We needed to cross, but there was no way to get the rope over to the other side.

‘No, that’s not entirely true. There is a way.’

“If we tie a stone to the end of the rope and throw it across, that could get it to the other side,” I said.

Vertus nodded.

“We could do that, but that only gets the rope across. It won’t be tied to a tree or anything. In the end, someone has to cross over to tie it—”

Vertus clamped up mid-sentence as realization dawned on him.

It wasn’t just Vertus. Everyone looked silently at Connor Lint.

There was one person who could make it across.

Someone whose body was capable of making the crossing.

“Hey... you guys... W-Why me? Why do I...?”

Vertus laid a hand on Connor Lint’s shoulder.

“We believe in you, Lint.”

Connor Lint lacked the guts to refuse that kind of insistence.

***

The operation proceeded smoothly, with the female students all averting their gazes from the ravine as Connor Lint used Teleportation to cross to the other side of the ravine naked. Cliffman tied a stone to the rope and threw it across, and Connor Lint hurriedly tied it to a nearby tree.

Then, I crossed the ravine on the taut rope and handed the clothes I was holding to the guy on the other side.

“W-What kind of ridiculous situation is this...?”

“At least you are contributing,” I said.

Connor Lint turned red with embarrassment. “I didn’t sign up for this!” he shouted.

Nevertheless, Connor Lint’s abilities had turned out to be quite useful during this mission. Once dignity was set aside, no one was as exceptionally gifted as him.

“Hey, guys! It’s okay to cross now!”

A fierce torrent roared through the deep ravine below, and all of us had to make it across, relying on just one rope. Naturally, those who weren’t gifted in combat talents hesitated, and their hesitation was obvious to all.

Harriet, in particular, was pale as a ghost, trembling as if she believed there was absolutely no way she could do this.

Ellen was the next to cross after me, and Cliffman followed after her.

As Cliffman made his way to the midpoint, clinging fiercely to the rope, Ellen, Connor Lint, and I saw something...

Something that was approaching from behind the group...

“Wh... what... What is that...?” Connor Lint murmured, his face turning ashen.

“Run!” Ellen screamed.

“What are you guys doing? Run away, you fools!” I shouted.

Only when my yelling joined Ellen’s did the others look behind them.

In the darkness, something was approaching the remaining kids. Something with glowing, blood-red eyes.

A survivor on the uninhabited island...

Vertus stared blankly at the approaching behemoth, murmuring to himself in disbelief, “The survivor is not... human...?”

It was not a human...

“Krowwwwwwr!”

A greenish face with crimson eyes.

“Aaaah!”

The kids scattered in panic and began to flee at the appearance of an orc.

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