Avoid Former Co-Workers

49 – 49. Defense of Osoptera (1)

Osoptera moving south. Garrisons and residents of the empty West. Commander Meuniher drool at the heterogeneous situation in the western part of the state of Sheet, which was delivered from Dahlia.

‘I never thought he would do something like this to get the number of cases.’

The fact that even the garrison of the territory was taken out was obviously the work of the nobles who were in charge of the territory.

It would make sense if Osoptera had completely left out the garrison and territories as if they were expecting it to come down.

It means that he doesn’t want to see the damage to his territory in the situation where the demon appears, and he doesn’t want to deal with it himself.

It was a move worthy of them, faithful only to greed and profit and loss, grabbing and slandering the person who left the job to others and bringing down the person’s status or reputation.

‘I can’t empty this place.’

I didn’t even have to scout several times. Even a single reconnaissance confirmed that Canolatl was still overcrowded, and the moment they pulled their troops out of Lemtert Village, they would relentlessly attack the villagers and try to fill their starving stomachs.

I had no choice but to leave the rest to them.

“Dahlia. Lead your squad immediately and move to Levant Academy.”

– What? To the academy?

Osopteras moving south will notice that there is no food left and will aim for humans. Even more ferocious with hunger.

Even if I try to guess where the Osoptera heading south like this is going, there is only one place left.

“As soon as possible. If the squad is late, you should arrive first.”

With the skills of those scumbags, let alone defense, after all of them are annihilated, only the beasts’ stomachs will be full.

***

‘It’s gone! At las!’

Just in case, Junon kept his eyes on the window. Fortunately, they seemed to back off after seeing Sylvia buy her cake. I’ll be at peace now

I was only sweating cold and receiving stinging stares, but it was fortunate that I was able to feed them something by coming into the room where they were hard to see.

I chose a fairly expensive place because they could save money and come in and watch.

I never thought I’d be spending the money I saved for my allowance at the academy like this.

‘Doesn’t soothing a crying girl require more mental strength than most training?’

Rather, training was much more convenient.

“Junon, why don’t you eat?”

Sylvia asked a question right away when she didn’t eat the young cake.

“I’ve been here often. You eat a lot.”

Of course, it tastes good, but the problem is that I don’t have much appetite right now, so I couldn’t get my hands on it.

I can’t bear to tell Sylvia the truth.

“But…”

“It’s okay, so don’t worry about it.”

To be honest, even now I was a bit scared. I didn’t want to receive any more of the eyes of the Sylvian believers who secretly watched me, regardless of whether they were men or women, saying, ‘Just mess with my child!’

Then my eyes naturally go to the cake.

‘More than that… As expected, it seems familiar.’

Cake usually gets smeared with cream when you eat it, and as it is a soft bread, it is easy to break into pieces while cutting it.

However, the knife held in Sylvia’s hand is subdivided while maintaining her original shape without paying much crumbs.

Even when drinking tea, I take a posture that would make people feel uncomfortable, and maintain good manners.

As if it would be unthinkable to ask in her mouth, Sylvia was pretending to be a precocious and noble woman.

Isn’t this really the collection of desires the Count wanted to create? I thought so.

“Come to think of it, you haven’t returned to the Count’s family since then, have you?”

Sylvia, who cut her bite-sized flat piece of cake and put it in her mouth gracefully, quietly nods her head.

“I was an illegitimate child anyway. The money in Count Kutelli’s family will rot and overflow, so they won’t come to pick it up, and even if you don’t see me at all in the social world, it won’t be weird.”

It was fortunate. Still, she wondered if she would be in a bit of trouble if the family directly filed a dispute.

Why, aren’t there parents like that? People who ask them to spit out the amount of money they spent raising them, or force their children to repay them.

As those examples were absolutely not normal humans, it was likely that it could be the case with the head of a count family stained with greed.

However, on the contrary, the fact that there was no contact from the count’s family in the current situation is also a problem.

This time, I’m going to work with the intention of cutting out the roots among the nobles.

‘As expected, Sylvia was also going to get caught up in it.’

Should I say that it is very explicit?

She was at a loss when Sylvia suddenly burst into tears, but she thought that thanks to her, she was doing better.

She’s a bit far from the academy, so she’s brought to the city west of the Les Brandt capital, to Sylvia.

If it was this town, she wouldn’t let Sylvia get involved in it.

“I couldn’t eat it all, so… Can I take all the leftovers?”

“Of course. Sylvia, do whatever you feel comfortable with. Oh, and it looks like the wandering troupe has come right in front of you. Do you want to go see it?”

“Yeah! I’m going, I’m going!”

If you don’t enter the eastern side of the academy, nothing special will happen.

Aris. Erica.

The two could not participate in the subjugation due to overslept and personal circumstances.

Since the academy has confirmed that Erica is returning this time, I think they will probably handle this issue well among themselves.

Anyway, even if one or two students are not enough compared to that time, they have memories of the past, so there is no big problem.

I wonder if they are steadily preparing for the arrival of the monsters. Junon guessed so.

“But I have to pay for this…”

“Hey, hey… Ms. Sylvia? I’m begging you, so can you do it for me?”

“Why are you using honorifics again? It’s strange today.”

“A respectful word…? Uh… That, yes! That’s strange! I’ll pay for it first! Follow me!”

So he took Sylvia, who was excited about the fact that they had more time together, and gradually moved further away from the place where the accident was about to happen.

Without knowing what will happen in the future.

Meanwhile, at the academy, the statue erected on the students’ main commute route was damaged.

Two students passing by tilted their heads when they found this.

“Was it originally broken like this?”

“No. I never did. Yesterday, I went to school this way and I was fine.”

“Oh, didn’t the nobles destroy it again because they didn’t want to see it?”

“No way.

“Well, speaking of the things they carry, they must be wands, orbs, or artifacts. But then something is strange.”

“Isn’t it? Since it’s broken, I wonder if someone cut it with a knife… Huh…?”

“Why. Did the guy you have a crush on pass by? Why is this?”

“That, that… It’s a beast!!!”

I follow the gaze of my motive, asking what kind of nonsense that is, to confirm it.

In front of the two of them stood a demonic beast that mistook the severed part of the statue for prey and ate it.

***

Caw. Caw.

A crow passes over the stage after the play.

Even though it was like that dark feather, it gradually went down, and the surroundings slowly began to be stained with darkness.

The first performance is over in an hour, and the second one is also coming to an end, so it means it’s time to go back.

“Sylvia.”

“What the heck…! I-I didn’t sleep!”

“You seem more boring than I thought. Sorry, Sylvia. I didn’t know you were this kind either.”

“No… It’s not that it’s boring, it’s just that it’s a bit long and my eyes are tired… Ugh…”

“That’s boring. I was about to say that on the way too, but you were already asleep.”

I also found the play boring, but there was no other leisure activity other than this to pass the time.

I had already eaten a hearty lunch, and I looked around and ate a cake nearby, but even this is just dessert.

Then, all that was left was to take this overflowing time away in a safe place.

‘The time seems just right.’

Since we met at an ambiguous time, I was planning to spend time until evening came, so I’ve accomplished my goal, and I think I just need to go back to the academy.

However, she is about to tell Sylvia that she should stop and return to her academy.

-Me, what is that!!

-Save me!!

Suddenly, along with the screams of the residents running away as if being chased by something, things that should never have existed here in the western part of the academy were visible in front of my eyes.

‘That… Why are you here?’

Green, brown, yellow, etc. Grain-colored outer skin and well-developed hind legs for running.

A pair of antennae attached to the head, a middle leg protruding toward the chest, and a pair of wings spread over it.

If you look at this far, you will be able to say that it is a herbivore without fail.

However, he is absolutely not a herbivore.

It is the same size as a wolf, which could shake a human’s center of gravity if it collided head-on with a person.

It looks like it can only chew grass, but how bizarre are its sharp teeth that seem to be able to chew even meat due to its developed carnivorous nature.

Even a pair of sharp scythe-shaped forelimbs that look very useful for cutting meat.

It was a demon called Osoptera.

Now that I’ve figured that out, there’s no time to think.

“Sylvia. Can you support me?”

“Okay. I’ll follow you.”

“It would be nice to hit them with something hard, but they can jump, and it’s okay if they’re heavy, but they can fly for a short time. Therefore, slow attacks won’t work. Just keep the front legs in check.”

“Then… Don’t make it into weapon form. Okay.”

Smart. Sylvia also recited the characteristics, so it seems that she understood it correctly.

I broke a leg of a wooden chair and lifted it.

It’s a stopgap, but it’ll be enough to shatter bones with a swing of a blunt weapon.

Cutting in among the residents fleeing in dismay, he brandished a blunt weapon at the locust beast.

-Kwajik!

A part of Osoptera’s internal organs exploded.

The demonic beast, which has not yet stopped breathing, attacks the human with a life-and-death plan, and its sharp, scythe-shaped forelimbs swing, but it cannot reach the human flesh, which was only seen as prey.

At the same time, the sound of scraping and scratching is left, and the path is disturbed once again.

Junon’s magic shield is completely blocking both front legs.

When the forelimbs, the main attack part, couldn’t penetrate the transparent curtain and only made a scratching sound, the pair of forelimbs were cut cleanly in a short moment. It was because of the sharp blade of wind that Sylvia saw the gap and quickly fired.

As soon as I put a blunt fist into the abdomen, one of the monsters convulsed and clung to the ground.

It meant that life was slowly fading because the broken bones had pierced the organs.

Not long after, Osoptera died completely.

“Eh, the demon is dead…?”

“I think I’m definitely dead… I’m alive thanks to you two…”

“Where did these come from? It’s definitely near the city center, so monsters won’t be able to invade…”

The buzzing residents are still tinged with fear.

Because demonic beasts suddenly appeared and threatened my life, I have no intention of tackling them.

However, Osoptera is the type that lives in groups. We should not rule out the possibility that they have already settled more in the city.

What’s more, the academy is right in front of you.

Lebrand Academy’s students are the ones who can become soldiers who can defeat the beast in case of emergency, but it means Osoptera passed through the academy and passed through here.

‘What happened?’

Did Aris and Erica see this obvious thing at the academy?

If the inside of the academy is full of monsters like it was back then, we can’t just leave it alone.

It means that the Academy, the last pillar of the duchy, is collapsing.