All-Master Player Of The Academy [EN]: Chapter 65

◈ Chapter 65

Don’t Do Well for Free – 1

“Kyaaaa!”

As they approached the market, soldiers and knights were surrounding a man with disheveled hair.

Some knights were bleeding, likely struck by the large, blood-dripping axe he wielded.

“Hee hee! Hee hee! Hee hee!”

“Kahelduk!”

“Huh?! Uh?! Babada! Baba! Babada!”

The disheveled man, a monster in appearance, was about to strike a knight with his axe, laughing maniacally.

Everyone’s face paled at that hideous, mad laughter.

Before Ian could step forward, Baba drew his sword and charged.

—Clang!!

The axe and sword collided.

As they swung their weapons at each other without hesitation, Baba pointed at the fallen knights and shouted.

“Get them out of here!”

—Clang!! Clang!! Clang!

“Kaaaaaa! You’re in the way! In the way! In the way!”

At his shout, the surrounding soldiers and knights retreated, dragging the injured with them.

Meanwhile, Baba kept Kahelduk from running towards them.

“In the way! In the way! In the way! In the way! I’ll kill you!”

“Try it, you moron!”

Kahelduk burst into mad laughter, swinging his axe.

Baba mocked him, skillfully moving his sword to parry the attacks.

The knights watched their movements, mouths agape.

The fierce battle between the two Masters was an education in itself.

“Wow… it’s like watching art.”

“How is his sword so fast?”

It was so fast that afterimages remained, making it seem like there were dozens of swords.

Kahelduk, blocking Baba’s continuous attacks with his axe, began to sustain injuries all over his body.

“G-Get, get, get out of the way!”

With a terrible scream, a blue light erupted from his left hand.

An Aura Blade [a weapon formed from concentrated magical energy].

As proof of reaching Master level manifested, Baba also created an Aura Blade.

—Clang!! Clang! Clang!!

Aura clashed against aura, axe against sword.

“Kyaaa!”

Half-moon shaped arcs of aura poured from Kahelduk’s axe.

Baba blocked it with a net-like aura and attacked him again.

The duel between the two was intensifying.

And then.

—Thwack!!

“Ugh… Ugh…”

Baba emerged victorious from the fight.

Kahelduk’s arm was deeply cut by Baba’s sword.

Staggering in pain from the impact, he swung his axe to push Baba away.

“Uaaaaa!”

He ran quickly.

The place he headed to escape was, unfortunately, where Ian was.

“Get out of the way!”

Ian, facing him as he swung his axe with a hideously distorted face,

used the Heavenly Demon Art, Chapter of Destruction [a powerful martial arts technique].

Pound Fist [a specific move within the Heavenly Demon Art].

He struck with a fist containing a powerful force that could shatter even the clouds obscuring the sky.

—Crack!!

The bridge of his nose shattered in one blow, and Kahelduk’s body flew far away.

Even though he was injured, a Master was knocked out with one hit.

The atmosphere, which had been heated by the battle between Baba and Kahelduk, instantly cooled down.

“Ugh… Ugh…”

Kahelduk, rolling on the ground, twitched.

He couldn’t even cry out in pain, and as he slumped, Baba stabbed him deeply in the neck.

Those who saw it were relieved.

“Wow, waaaa!”

And cheered.

In any case, the danger was gone.

As knights and soldiers sorted out the situation amidst the cheering crowd, Baba couldn’t take his eyes off Ian.

* * *

The day after the man-eating Kahelduk, a figure of terror who had recently plagued the Baradis County, died.

Graegin and several scholars emerged from the ruins.

“Are you done?”

Ian, who had been meditating all day, asked, and Graegin shook his head.

“No. Not yet. The rest of the investigation is being done by other scholars now. And I’ve put your name down as the first conqueror [the first to successfully explore the ruins]. But what about you? Did you report?”

“No.”

Paul had gone to the Baradis territory for Leila’s treatment.

When Ian explained the situation, Graegin smiled bitterly.

“Then what are you going to do? Are you going to go there? Or stay here a little longer?”

“Don’t you have more research to do?”

“I do, but it’s not like I have to be there. But I heard the man-eater came?”

“Yeah. He did.”

“Wow. It must have been a mess. Did you catch him?”

“No. Baba did.”

‘But it’s just spooning after he caught everything [taking credit for someone else’s work].’

It would be difficult to say that he caught it.

While Ian was talking to Circe, Graegin received Myane, who was sitting on his shoulder.

It seemed like he was trying to relieve the fatigue accumulated from the ruin investigation by stroking the fluffy fur of Myane.

“Anyway, I heard those two were enemies, and in the end, that bad relationship ended.”

-Grumble.

At that moment, Graegin’s stomach growled.

He touched his stomach and smiled awkwardly.

“Let’s go get something to eat.”

The two headed to the food stall they had gone to yesterday.

Inside, several adventurers, scholars, and their escorts were seated.

As they sat in the empty seats, the employee from yesterday ran over.

“Are you ready to order?”

“Two meat soups and two servings of wheat bread.”

“Yes~.”

After she left, the door of the food stall opened.

A man with a red beard.

It was Baba, who had killed the man-eating Kahelduk yesterday.

As those who saw him were shocked and tried to get up, Baba revealed his teeth.

“This time, I’ll turn all the freeloaders into my hair dye [a threat implying he will beat them until they are bloody]. If you’re going to run away, pay and leave.”

As he growled, everyone took out money and put it on the table before leaving.

Ignoring them avoiding him, Baba walked towards one side.

His steps were directed towards where Ian and Graegin were sitting.

“Hey. Young friend.”

“What.”

“I’ve been thinking about it all night yesterday.”

He pulled up a chair, sat down in front of them, and sighed.

“That punch you threw at Kahelduk yesterday. I don’t think I could have avoided it either? So I’m asking, who did you learn from? You’re too strong for your age.”

Was it the Sword Saint [a legendary swordsman]?

Or the Forest Keeper [a powerful guardian of nature]?

Or was it the Emperor [the ruler of the land]?

“What are you going to do if I learned from someone?”

“If you learned from the Sword Saint, I’m going to ask for his whereabouts. As someone who uses a sword, I must fight the Sword Saint…”

“Is that so important?”

Strong people always try to fight to the death for no reason.

As Graegin asked as if he couldn’t understand, Baba nodded.

“It’s important. Only the strong recognize the strong, and only the strong understand the strong.”

“Hey. Old friend. In my opinion, you’re not ready to face the Sword Saint yet.”

Ian said, sipping his soup.

According to Circe’s report, the Forest Keeper is weaker than the Sword Saint, but the difference is minimal.

And the skills of the Forest Keeper he saw before and Baba fighting Kahelduk yesterday.

No matter how much he compared the two, Baba was several levels below the Forest Keeper.

But would Baba be a match for the Sword Saint?

“Ha. That’s something you only know when you fight. Anyway, if you have any thoughts, I’d like you to tell me. I’ll pay you.”

“How are you going to pay?”

Baba grinned and grabbed his sword.

“If there’s someone you want to kill, I’ll definitely kill them. Then I’ll go. Enjoy your meal.”

After he left, the food came out.

While Ian and Graegin were continuing their meal, the door of the food stall opened.

It was a familiar face who came with the soldiers.

Hellid, a handsome silver-haired boy who was also a student at the Academy, said with a surprised expression.

“I heard you guys were here and came right away.”

“From who?”

“From Father Paul. But why are you here?”

“You’re talking like we shouldn’t be here?”

As Ian said, sipping his soup, Hellid shook his head.

“Ah. It’s not that… Ian. You remember the promise you made with me before.”

As Ian nodded, Hellid said seriously.

“Can I use it now?”

Now, the remaining schedule for the vacation was to report to Paul, receive the relic, and go to the Sun Church.

There was no major problem with the remaining schedule because he had conquered the ruins earlier than expected.

So Ian replied casually.

“As long as it doesn’t take too long, I don’t mind… why?”

“Strange things are happening in the Baradis territory right now.”

At those words, Graegin was intrigued.

“What are you talking about?”

“At night, the voices of dead people can be heard… and they’re taking the living.”

“Huh?”

What is this again?

As Graegin wondered, Hellid said even more seriously.

“And it’s been targeting Leila for the past three days. So Father Paul won’t be able to leave Leila’s side for the time being.”

Paul not being able to move means that the completion report of the request is delayed.

Of course, he could push to get it, but there was no need to do that.

Besides, he could solve one promise, so there was nothing bad about it.

Ian got up from his seat right away.

“Let’s go.”

‘Circe. Is the tiger that escaped from the ruins in the Baradis territory?’

While Circe was reporting the other information she had learned by connecting to the truth, Graegin also got up.

“Hoo. This. This. Then I should go too.”

“Huh? You too? Aren’t you busy?”

“The Baradis County invests quite a bit in the Archaeological Society. And there’s something that bothers me.”

“The tiger?”

“Yeah. A tiger appears in the Curtid ruins research. That bothers me.”

Hellid, who didn’t understand their conversation, was puzzled.

Graegin told him the story written on the stone tablet.

“There’s definitely a legend like that around here. And Leila also said that this incident is the work of a tiger.”

As expected, he’s good at information gathering.

As they left the food stall and got into the prepared carriage, Hellid began to tell what he had investigated.

There was a powerful tiger here a long time ago.

That tiger was famous for harassing and eating people.

But one day, the Botar Kingdom took over this place and the tiger disappeared.

Since then, the people living here have been able to live in peace without worrying about tigers.

But it was a legend that the tiger might reappear someday.

“I just thought it was a legend, but it’s real…”

“Were there any relics related to the tiger?”

“Unfortunately, no. It’s just a legend passed down between villages.”

As if trying to find out while the carriage was moving, Graegin began exchanging information with Hellid.

As Hellid groaned after hearing the results of the investigation in the ruins, Graegin asked.

“Since when?”

“The work itself has been going on for about 10 days. We found out about it 4 days ago. And it happened to Leila 3 days ago.”

“Did you investigate anything else separately?”

“I’ll tell you later. Leila has to hear it too. I’ve investigated quite a bit at her request.”

When Hellid said with a serious expression, the carriage stopped.

“This is the Baradis mansion.”

It was quite a large and luxurious mansion.

Ian and Graegin, who were looking around the beautiful mansion with white bricks and lots of ivy, found a middle-aged man walking from the garden.

“That’s Count Eldan. Leila’s father.”

His complexion was very dark.

That’s right.

An unexplained phenomenon.

Who would be at ease when something related to the death of a person is happening to their daughter?

He forced a smile when he saw Ian and Graegin.

“I’m Eldan Baradis. I heard the story from Hellid. Please take care of me.”

“I’m Ian Brandon.”

“I’m Graegin Urkul.”

“I heard you’re the winner of this year’s Hero Festival? And this one has been ranked first in the written exam for several years…”

There was pity in his eyes.

His daughter also went to the Academy, but suffered a major injury that caused her to lose her circle [magical abilities] in less than a year.

Seeing the students of the Academy, he couldn’t help but think of Leila’s different future.

“Let’s go inside for now.”

He led them inside.

Walking through the mansion, Hellid asked the two.

“Do you feel anything?”

“Not at the moment…?”

“I don’t have anything either.”

“Myaaaa~.”

.

Ian, Graegin, Myane, Circe.

None of them had anything to say.

Eldan was bitter at their reaction.

“The voice is only heard every night.”

“Ah.”

“Would you like to go to my daughter’s room first? Father Paul is there too…”

“Yes.”

They went inside the mansion and headed to the largest room on the first floor.

Passing through a marble corridor and arriving in front of a door with a dignified feel, he knocked on the door.

“I’m coming in.”

“Yes.”

A weak voice was heard.

When the door opened, Ian was startled.

‘This….’

A girl with striking freckles on her pale white hair was sitting on the bed.

The problem was her condition.

Her complexion was pale and there were dark circles under her eyes.

Her arms and legs were thin like wooden blocks and her whole body was emaciated.

As soon as he saw her, Ian could grasp her condition.

‘She’s been gradually deprived of her vitality. Her soul has a big wound.’

‘At this rate, she’ll die within 10 days even if left alone.’