Chapter 20
Lucy Saint.
The eldest daughter of the long-established Saint family.
A beauty impossible to forget once seen.
‘Ah.’
Eleanor recognized her instantly, standing there at a loss amid the crowd.
Not only did she have a complete grasp of every distinguished noble lineage, but Lucy Saint’s portrait in particular had been so beautiful that Eleanor had once doubted its authenticity.
“Are you okay?”
But that was all.
At least, that was all Eleanor thought when she helped her.
“Um…!”
Until Lucy grabbed her.
With a resolute, almost solemn voice, she called Eleanor’s name.
And then—
“I’ll defeat you and become the top student!”
She declared her ambition.
For a moment, silence fell around them. Soon after, murmurs began to spread.
But Eleanor couldn’t hear any of it. Only one voice rang clearly in her ears.
“I’m Lucy Saint! Remember that name.”
Lucy Saint, who wanted to be first place.
That was the moment Eleanor’s impression of her changed.
After that, Eleanor didn’t really have any reason to meet Lucy Saint.
They were in different classes, and they weren’t close.
And yet, Eleanor couldn’t help but learn more about her.
“Did you hear? That new student in Class F took down a rank-3 monster alone on her very first day!”
“She was already famous during the entrance exam. Apparently, she knocked out her opponent so badly they had to forfeit!”
From the day of the entrance ceremony, Lucy Saint was the center of attention.
It wasn’t that Eleanor went looking for rumors—she heard them even when she did nothing at all.
Then one day, Lucy Saint came to find her.
‘Why?’
Eleanor felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity toward her.
Was it because she’d heard so much about her?
Normally, she wouldn’t have made time so easily. Yet strangely enough, it was hard to refuse Lucy Saint.
“I want to go into that forest…”
“That’s not allowed.”
Of course, no still meant no.
The Krag Forest, all of a sudden?
Eleanor assumed Lucy didn’t really understand what kind of place it was and was simply acting on impulse.
“You remind me of myself back then.”
She even brought up her own embarrassing past as she tried to dissuade her. She didn’t know why, but she felt she had to convince Lucy Saint.
“I understand what you mean, Eleanor.”
“Right, so—”
“But I still have to go.”
Lucy Saint’s deep blue-green eyes shone vividly.
“Please, Eleanor.”
It was an unyielding, resolute determination—one that couldn’t be broken.
In the end, Eleanor had no choice but to agree, on the condition that she would go with her.
Left alone, Lucy looked like the type who really would enter the forest by herself—and that was dangerous. What if she died because of bad luck?
‘Did she call me a friend…?’
As Eleanor contacted Arthur, the captain of the Krag Forest guard, the thought crossed her mind.
‘Why?’
Was that word—friend—really enough to make her react this strongly?
It was true that she felt a human fondness for Lucy, but even so, this was too much. Such familiarity after meeting only twice?
‘I need to be careful.’
Eleanor steeled her heart against the way she kept growing soft toward Lucy Saint.
At dawn the next day, they set out immediately.
But when Eleanor arrived, Lucy Saint wasn’t alone.
“You know, the thing we talked about yesterday. Our cozy little date.”
“Sorry for butting in, but I was worried…”
Two unwanted additions.
And one of them, in particular, was extremely irritating.
From casually draping an arm over Lucy’s slender shoulders to spouting nonsense about her.
Eleanor would have liked to ditch Hayden especially, but Lucy insisted he was necessary, so she endured it—for now.
“Oh no, did we teleport too many times at once, Lucy…?”
“I told you unnecessary physical contact is forbidden.”
She had to block his sneaky advances several times even during teleportation.
Before long, a familiar landscape spread out before Eleanor’s eyes.
“We’re almost there.”
The Krag Forest.
Sir Arthur, whom Eleanor hadn’t seen in a while, hurried over. Upon seeing Lucy and the extra people, worry immediately filled his expression.
Since he was naturally anxious, Eleanor reassured him by saying she’d take responsibility.
‘Two of them, at least…’
The one she excluded from that count was, of course, Hayden.
Given his ability to cast advanced magic like teleportation, he seemed far more capable than he looked.
‘He can probably take care of himself.’
Not long after entering the forest, they encountered goblins.
Three of them were visible at once.
Eleanor hesitated briefly.
‘Can Lucy deal with them quickly?’
If more goblins gathered, things would get troublesome. Fighting them wasn’t difficult, but Eleanor had friends to look after.
“Only step in if it’s really dangerous, okay?”
Eleanor decided to trust Lucy Saint. If things turned risky, she could always intervene.
“Kyaaah—!”
The three goblins, their eyes lighting up at the faintly glowing bow, charged at Lucy. Calmly, she pulled back the bowstring.
Ting—
With a clear sound, a rain of pure white arrows sliced through the murky air. In the midst of it, she dashed straight toward one goblin.
‘Why…?’
Why was she engaging in close combat?
She stopped shooting arrows and suddenly swung her bow.
Lucy Saint was an archer.
An archer was a ranged-focused awakened class—someone who hunted monsters from afar.
But she…
“K-kegh—!”
Thud!
Crunch!
She was beating the goblins to death.
‘What on earth…?’
Eleanor felt her basic common sense shatter into pieces.
She had never seen a hunting style like this.
When Lucy Saint looked at her afterward, Eleanor had no idea what expression to make.
Only the remnants of her rationality told her they needed to move somewhere else.
“More of them will be coming soon.”
At that, Lucy Saint should have followed—
She didn’t.
With goblin blood smeared on her cheek, she smiled brightly and pulled out her bow again.
‘Don’t tell me…?’
Kieeek—
The cries drew closer.
The start of the real hunt.
“Yes! This is it!”
A downpour of pure white arrows.
Fine golden hair fluttering with each movement.
Monsters crumbling like fallen leaves.
It was both beautiful and horrifying.
‘This is possible?’
It was a slaughterlike spectacle rarely seen even among warriors or swordsmen.
Lucy Saint was in no need of help.
From the center of the goblin horde, she drew all their attention. The three people behind her only had to deal with the occasional straggler.
As Eleanor beheaded a goblin that foolishly charged at her, she calmly observed Lucy Saint.
Her movements were far flashier than before. Awkward motions smoothed out, and her combat judgment grew faster and sharper.
Watching her, Eleanor thought—
‘You really…’
Just needed experience.
Eleanor reflected on how she had dismissed Lucy’s desperation as childish recklessness.
‘Lizardman has been defeated!’
‘Venomfang Fox has been defeated!’
Level up!
‘Yes! My EXP went up!’
After finishing the last monster with an arrow, I clenched my fist in triumph.
Having gotten the hang of things during the goblin fight, I urged Eleanor onward, hunting the next monsters right away.
As a result, I shot up to level 8 in just a few hours.
‘Have I ever had it this good after possessing <Hero·Status>?!’
I was so moved I felt like crying.
At this point, I was wiping clean my recent history of cursing the system and being reborn anew.
“Haa… ha…”
Of course, I was exhausted.
It was amazing I’d lasted this long with Lucy’s stamina and mana, but that was all thanks to leveling up. Every level restored both.
As I caught my breath, I looked back.
Eleanor and Theodore stared at me like they’d just witnessed an alien. Hayden, at least, was acting normal.
“Wow… I think I’m seriously falling for you, babe.”
“Weren’t we broken up?”
“Then let’s call it unrequited love for now?”
Even that nonsense was starting to feel dull.
Ignoring Hayden, I wiped my cheek with my sleeve. Close combat meant I was covered in monster blood.
‘Still, this was the best choice.’
Lucy’s ranged accuracy was 1%.
If I tried to hunt with arrows alone, I’d end up getting beaten up by the monster instead.
So I gambled on close combat. It had worked during our homeroom teacher’s surprise test, after all.
‘Didn’t expect it to work this well, though.’
I’d been getting excited every time the level-up notification popped.
Come to think of it, why was I taking a life-or-death game so seriously?
…A sudden wave of emptiness hit me.
“Shouldn’t we head back soon?”
Hayden lightly tapped Eleanor’s back. Snapping out of it, she nodded in agreement.
‘What a shame.’
But regardless of how I felt, the sun was already setting.
It was really time to return to the academy.
When I showed my reluctance, Eleanor added one more thing.
“We need to redraw the magic circle once we’re out.”
Hayden’s smile cracked slightly.
‘Guess you forgot—this was a day trip.’
Hang in there, Hayden.
I sent him a small message of encouragement.
Only in my heart.
